CIVIL WAR FLAGBEARERS
At the Battle of Gaine’s Mill, James Taylor (age 16) was carrying his unit’s flag when he was hit three times and twice rose to struggle forward. George Cochet took the flag and was shot. Shubrick Hayne took it up and was shot. A fourth flagbearer fell to a bullet. Next, Gadsden Holmes carried it and was pierced by seven minie balls. Finally, Dominick Spellman carried it for the rest of the battle.
– maroon 3
JOHN BURNS
When it was obvious that a battle was going to be fought at his hometown of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, 70-year-old John Burns grabbed his old musket and went to the sound of the fighting. Burns was a veteran of the War of 1812 and a patriot. On the way to the battle site, he exchanged his old gun with a wounded soldiers modern Enfield rifle. He fell in with the 150th Pennsylvania Infantry. He then moved between several units, basically doing his own thing, which was to take shots at Confederate soldiers. He managed to shoot a Rebel officer off his horse. Unfortunately, he was wounded in several places and disabled. As he lay in the woods, he managed to crawl away from the rifle and bury his ammunition before Rebels arrived. He was able to convince them he was a civilian searching for aid for an invalided wife. This was lucky because fighting in civilian clothes could have resulted in his execution. Not only did they buy his story, but they even patched him up. He took refuge in a cellar and sent word to his wife: “Tell my old woman to fetch the wagon and get me home.” His wife’s response was: “Devil take him. The old fool going off to fight and getting holes in his best clothes.” Burns became a hero in the North. He met Lincoln when he came to deliver his Gettysburg Address.
– https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_L._Burns
MEDAL OF HONOR FOR DISOBEDIENCE
Going into the third day of the Battle of Gettysburg, the Union hung in the balance. If Lee won, the South might succeed in seceding from the U.S. It all came down to Pickett’s Charge. On the fringe of the battlefield was the cavalry unit of Capt. William E. Miller. He was under order to remain in reserve and under no circumstances take part in the fighting. However, when Miller saw Confederate troops potentially breaking through, he ordered a charge. It was costly, but it blunted the Rebel assault. For his initiative and bravery, the disobedient Miller was awarded the Medal of Honor.
– maroon 28
WILLIAM CARNEY
William Carney was a sergeant in the famous 54th Massachusetts Regiment. The 54th was the most famous black unit in the Civil War. He participated in its assault on Fort Wagner. During the battle, he grabbed the unit’s flag when the flagbearer went down. He fought holding the flag for over an hour. He planted the flag on the parapet of the fort to inspire his comrades. When the attack failed and the men retreated, he continued to bear the colors. He was wounded seriously twice and staggered into the hospital with the flag still clutched in his hands. “The old flag never touched the ground, boys.” In 1900, he was awarded the Medal of Honor. He wasn’t the first African-American to receive the decoration, but his action on July 18, 1863 was the earliest Medal of Honor action by a black soldier.
– maroon 69
THE ANDREWS RAID (GREAT LOCOMOTIVE CHASE)
The Medal of Honor came about partly because of a daring raid in the Civil War. James Andrews had a bright idea. Andrews was known to the Union Army of the Ohio as a purveyor of intelligence about Confederate movements. Intelligence is what Brigadier General Ormsby Mitchel expected when Andrews asked to see him. Andrews had an insane idea, he and some volunteers would hijack a train and destroy bridges as they escaped to the north. The rail line he had targeted was the Western and Atlantic line connecting Atlanta to Chattanooga. It was called the “life-line of the Confederacy”. Cutting that line would cause major supply problems for the Confederate army in Georgia. On April 7, 1862, Andrews and twenty daring volunteers made their way singly and in pairs from Shelbyville, Tennessee to hop a train in Georgia. Clad in civilian clothes, the men did not attract any suspicion when they boarded. When the train stopped for breakfast in Big Shanty, Georgia, Andrews and his comrades hijacked the locomotive called the General, its tender, and three other empty cars. They headed north intending to cut telegraph wires and set fire to bridges. Things were looking good, but they had not reckoned with William Fuller. Fuller, the conductor of the General, did not know what was going on, but he was determined to get his locomotive back. With Anthony Murphy and Jeff Cain, he took off running after the train. The trio had gone about a mile and were ready to drop when they encountered a railroad construction crew. They commandeered a small work car which they used poles to propel it. They then switched to an old locomotive called the Yonah. Meanwhile, the Yankees were having trouble setting fire to the wooden bridges because of a recent rain. Finally, Andrews and his mates switched to the Texas, which even though it had to go backwards, soon gained on the General. Fuller rode precariously on the front to spot problems. Andrews tried dropping wood fuel on the tracks and then uncoupled two of the cars. Nothing could stop the Texas. With the Texas within sight and the General out of fuel, Andrews and his men jumped off and headed into the woods. The race had covered 55 miles. A manhunt ended up capturing all of the raiders. Since they were in civilian clothes, the Confederates could charge them with espionage. Andrews was hanged before a cheering crowd on June 7. Ten days later, seven more were executed. The others were held in prison. On Oct. 16, eight of the survivors escaped. Six were recaptured and later exchanged for Rebel captives. They were brought to Washington to be honored. Congress had recently passed a resolution calling for a new medal for valor. The Andrews Raiders (including the ones executed) were the first to receive the Medal of Honor. On March 25, 1863, the six were presented with the first Medals of Honor. This is why March 25 is Medal of Honor Day. In all, 19 of the Raiders earned the Medal. But not Andrews because he was a civilian.
– Garrison pp. 104-108
– https://www.historynet.com/andrews-raiders.htm
JOHN WILKES BOOTH
He originally wanted to kidnap Lincoln and exchange him for Confederate prisoners of war. The assassination was apparently unplanned until the day Booth heard of Lincoln’s theater plans. The Grant’s were supposed to accompany the Lincoln’s but recently Mary had offended Grant’s wife and they bowed out. They were replaced by Clara Harris, daughter of a Senator, and her fiancé Major Henry Rathbone. Booth snuck up the back stairs (the guard was having a drink at a nearby tavern) and shot Lincoln in the back of the head with a .44 caliber single shot derringer. He then slashed Rathbone in the arm and jumped to the stage. A spur got caught in a curtain and he landed awkwardly, breaking his leg. He yelled something, probably “sic semper tyrannus” (“thus be it to tyrants”) before exiting stage left. As he limped backstage, he stabbed the orchestra director who tried to stop him. He met up with 19-year-old David Herold, a dim-witted accomplice. They went to Doctor Samuel Mudd’s house to get his leg fixed. They hid along the banks of the Potomac for a week. With troops looking, they crossed into Virginia to the home of Richard Garrett and hid in his barn. Troops surrounded the barn and Herold surrendered. Booth offered to fight each of the soldiers, then yelled: “Well, my brave boys, you can prepare a stretcher for me!” The soldiers set the barn on fire. A shot was fired and Booth was found with a bullet in the side of his neck. The soldier claimed God willed it. The dying Booth spent his last hours on the porch. He said: “Tell mother I died for my country.” His last words were: “Useless, useless.”
https://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/abraham-lincoln-assassination
SUBSTITUTES
A few days after the firing on Fort Sumter, Lincoln called on the northern states to provide 75,000 volunteers for three months. After a couple of years of bloodshed, volunteers became scarce so a draft was instituted in March, 1863. Males ages 20-47 were eligible, but it was easy to get out. If you were rich. You could hire a substitute (like Grover Cleveland did) or pay $300 (like Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller). The money raised was used to pay bounties to get men to volunteer. Some less than patriotic men would enlist, collect the bounty, desert, move and repeat.
– Whitcomb 77-78
JACKSON’S DEATH
Stonewall Jackson was mortally wounded on the best day of his career. On May 2, 1863, Jackson led an audacious flanking attack on the Union army at the Battle of Chancellorsville. The attack was a completer surprise and helped Lee defeat a much bigger army commanded by Joseph Hooker. As night approached, Jackson was preparing to finish off the Yankees the next day. He and his staff rode out to the front lines to reconnoiter the enemy positions. It was dusk and hard to see clearly. As the group rode back, they encountered a unit of Rebel soldiers from North Carolina. In the darkness, the soldiers assumed the men were Union cavalry and fired a volley. Jackson was hit in three places – the right palm. the left wrist, and the left arm above the elbow. A litter was found and the badly wounded general was carried to a ambulance. Along the way, one of the stretcher-bearers was wounded and Jackson was dropped painfully to the ground. His left arm had to be amputated. It was buried on the battle site and there is now a memorial there. He survived the operation fine and seemed to be on the mend. His wife and baby came. But after a few days, things took a turn for the worse. Pneumonia set in (some experts think it was a blood clot in the lung). His last words were famously: “Let us cross over the river and rest under the shade of the trees.” Jackson’s death was a terrible blow to the Confederacy and the Army of Northern Virginia in particular. It may have changed the course of American History. If Lee had had his right hand man, he likely would have won at Gettysburg two months later.
– Whitcomb 97
THE FIRST CASUALTY
On April 12, 1861, Confederate cannons opened fire on Ft. Sumter in Charleston harbor. The Civil War began. Although over 4,000 cannon balls were fired before the fort surrendered on April 14, no one was even wounded during the bombardment. After surrendering, Maj. Robert Anderson was allowed to fire a salute before evacuating the fort. He planned on a 100 gun salute. However, during the ceremony one of the cannons exploded, killing Pvt. Daniel Hough. He became the first casualty of the war. He was buried on the parade ground. As a post-script, Anderson had taught Confederate General Pierre Beauregard gunnery at West Point. And Abner Doubleday (the supposed inventor of baseball) was Anderson’s second-in-command.
– Whitcomb 122
DR. MUDD
After Lincoln was assassinated, Secretary of War Edwin Stanton vowed that anyone involved in the assassination would get the death penalty. He didn’t get his wish as four conspirators got life imprisonment: Dr. Samuel Mudd, Michael O’Laughlen, Edward Spangler, and Samuel Arnold. Arnold and O’Laughlen had joined the conspiracy and was part of two aborted kidnapping attempts, but not the assassination. Spangler was not involved in the conspiracy. He worked at the theater. When Booth arrived, he asked him to hold his horse in the alley. Spangler turned the job over to a young man named Burroughs. Mudd had met Booth a few times, but it is still unclear what role he played in the conspiracy. Booth had been to Mudd’s house before and stopped there to get the doctor to patch up his broken leg. He did lie about a meeting with Booth in Washington and did not notify the authorities immediately after helping Booth with his leg. They all got life with hard labor. But Stanton managed to arrange for them to be transferred from New York state prison to Dry Tortugas in Florida. It had the reputation of being the worst prison in America. In 1867, a yellow fever epidemic broke out at the prison and when the prison doctor died, Mudd took over. His selfless actions caused the warden to ask for a pardon for him. In 1869, Pres. Andrew Johnson granted the pardon for Mudd, and Spangler and Arnold, who had assisted him. O’Laughlen had died in prison by then.
– Whitcomb 96-97
LINCOLN’S TRAITOROUS IN-LAWS
Mary Todd Lincoln was born in Kentucky and most of her relatives supported the Confederacy. Some of them fought for it. Her half-brother Aleck was killed at Baton Rouge and her half-brother Sam was killed in the Battle of Shiloh. Her youngest sister “Little Emilie” was married to Confederate General Ben Holm. He was killed at the Battle of Chickamauga. Emilie, although pregnant and with two young children, traveled to bury him. On the way home, she was stopped by Union officials. She refused to take an Oath of Allegiance. Her brother-in-law Abe intervened and she came to live in the White House for several weeks. Critics claimed that there was a spy in the White House.
– Whitcomb 206-207
THE MONITOR LOSES ITS BATTLE WITH THE SEA
Eleven months after its famous battle with the Merrimack, the USS Monitor was to join some other ironclads off the coast of North Carolina. The very unseaworthy vessel was to be towed by a sidewheeler the USS Rhode Island. The crew was not thrilled with the idea, but orders or orders. It would have been a hairy voyage, even in good weather. It became suicidal when a bad storm was run into. The rough seas were swamping the Monitor when Commander John Bankhead signaled the Rhode Island to cut the tow line and rescue his crew. In the process, two crewmen of the Rhode Island were swept overboard. Boats were sent to pick up the Monitor’s crew, but some refused to risk boarding the bobbing boats. Sixteen men went down with the ship. It had been such a nightmare that twenty survivors begged the Navy for discharges. The wreck was discovered 111 years later. In 1986, the location was designated a National Historic Landmark. Over the years various items were recovered and placed in the Monitor Center at the Mariners’ Museum. In 2002, the turret was brought up, along with two skeletons. In 2013, they were buried in Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors.
– Whitcomb 239-240 / https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Monitor#Final_voyage
WILMER McLEAN
Wilmer McLean was a pacifist who did not want anything to do with the Civil War. He owned 1,400 acres near Bull Run Creek in Virginia. In 1861, the war came calling. His house was used as a hospital and morgue. A year later, the sequel to the Battle of Bull Run roiled his life again. He vowed never again. He moved to the sleepy little village of Appomattox Court House. His house was the most substantial in the village. So when Grant was to meet with Lee, it was chosen for the meeting. Lee signed the surrender terms in his parlor. And then the Union officers, including George Custer, proceeded to steal all McLean’s furniture as souvenirs. In his old age, McLean would tell people how the war began and ended in his house.
– Whitcomb 240-241
LEE’S LOST ORDER
You could argue the South lost the Civil War on Sept. 13, 1862. That was the day Corporal Barton Mitchell of the 27th Indiana Volunteers found a paper wrapped around three cigars at a campsite near Frederick, Maryland. The camp had been used by the Army of Northern Virginia a few days earlier. Unlike a typical soldier, Mitchell did not simply crumple up the paper and smoke the cigars. Instead he read the paper and immediately started its journey up the chain of command. At one step, the signature on the document was recognized as that of Robert E. Lee’s adjutant. With this authentication, it reached Gen. George McClellan, commander of the Army of the Potomac. The notoriously cautious and slow Union commander had in his hands Lee’s Special Order #191. Lee was in the process of invading the North, hoping for a decisive victory on Northern soil. McClellan was playing catchup and there is every reason to believe Lee would have been victorious when they met. However, the “Lost Order” presented McClellan with Lee’s game plan. It outlined where the various parts of his army were going and where they would rendezvous. McClellan: “Here is a paper with which , if I cannot whip Bobby Lee, I will be willing to go home.” He ended up going home because even with this miracle, he still managed to botch the Battle of Antietam and allow Lee to escape back into Virginia. The war went on for another three bloody years. However, at least it ended with the Union preserved, which might not have happened if someone (we still don’t know who) had not left a copy of Order #191 abandoned at a camp site. If Lee had won the battle, England and France might have supported the Confederacy and it might have gotten its independence. By the way, although the incompetent McClellan only managed a bloody tie in the Battle of Antietam, it was enough for Lincoln to issue the Emancipation Proclamation.
– Whitcomb 241 / https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Order_191
BOOTH’S DIARY
During the trial of the Lincoln assassination conspirators, a Colonel Conger testified about the items he removed from John Wilkes Booth’s body. He neglected to mention Booth’s diary. Two years later, a Secret Service agent named Baker revealed the existence of the diary in a book he wrote. It was found hidden in the War Department archives. The House Judiciary Committee did an investigation and discovered that the diary was missing 18 pages that had been cut out. Nobody knows what Booth wrote on those pages, but the rest of the diary revealed that Booth had shifted the conspiracy from kidnapping to killing only the day before the assassination. If this fact had come out in the trial, some of the conspirators might have been saved from execution.
– Whitcomb 245
HARRIET TUBMAN’S SONG
During the Civil War, Harriet worked as a spy for the Union army. One time she got information about two Rebel camps that had over 800 slaves in them. The Union army made a surprise raid and set the slaves free. They wanted to transport them to safety in the North on ships, but the freed slaves were afraid to board “Lincoln’s Gunboats”. A Union officer suggested that if Tubman sang them a song, they might board the ships. Harriet made up a song on the spot: “Come along! Come along! Don’t be alarm! / Uncle Sam rich enough to give us all a farm! / Come along! Come along! Don’t be a fool! / Uncle Sam’s rich enough to send us all to school!” The blacks listened and filed onto the ships.
– Whitcomb 268-269
THE ORIGIN OF “TAPS”
In 1862, a Captain Robert Ellicombe was in charge of gathering dead bodies on a battlefield in Virginia. In the process, the Union officer examined each of the bodies before interring them. He was shocked to find that one of the dead was his son. Before the war, his son had gone to the South to study music. He had no idea that the boy had joined the Confederate army. Upon examining his son’s body, he discovered a piece of paper with some musical notes written on it. He requested and was granted a funeral for his son. He asked a bugler to play his son’s music at the burial. The tune was sad and haunting and quite an effect on the audience. Later, Ellicombe’s commanding officer Gen. Daniel Butterfield got the paper and summoned his bugler Oliver Morton to his tent. He asked Morton to tweak the music. The resulting music composition became known as “Taps” and became the standard “lights out” signal in the Union Army and many armies since.
– Ayres 27-29
THE ORIGIN OF “DIXIE”
The unofficial anthem of the Confederacy was written by a Northerner. Dan D. Hammett was born in Ohio, but was living in New York in 1861. Hammett, a song-and-dance performer, needed a new song for his act, so he composed a sappy song about life down South (where he had never been). The song was an instant hit and became a popular marching song for Rebel soldiers. It was a favorite of Lincoln’s, too.
– Ayres 34-35
THE ORIGIN OF “THE BATTLE HYMN OF THE REPUBLIC”
The music was originally a religious hymn. A Southerner named William Steffe set his poem “John Brown’s Body” to it. It became a popular marching song for Union soldiers. In 1861, Julia Ward Howe attended a military parade in Washington. Howe, who was an abolitionist, suffragist, and poet, was taken by the melody. When she returned to her hotel room, she could not sleep without setting new words to the melody. In 1862, she sold the poem to the Atlantic Monthly for $4. The song quickly caught on in the North as a patriotic alternative to “Dixie”.
Ayres34-35
SARAH WAKEMAN
Sarah Wakeman was born on a farm in New York. She was the oldest of nine kids in a farm family. The family was in financial straits so she left home as a teenager to fend for herself. It was easier to make money as a man so she disguised herself as a male to work as a boatman on a canal. When the Civil War broke out, the $152 bounty was too appealing to pass up. She enlisted in the 123rd New York Regiment of Volunteers as Lyons Wakeman. She was 17. There were no physicals back then so it was easy for her to get away with it. Her unit was eventually sent to Louisiana and she participated in the Red River Campaign. She fought in the Battle of Pleasant Hill. She survived, although she saw some of her comrades were killed. She herself caught dysentery and died of the “soldier’s disease”. Her identity was not discovered until decades later when letters she had written home chronicling her soldier experience were uncovered in her family’s attic.
– Ayres 69-70
– https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Rosetta_Wakeman
“WILD ROSE” GREENHOW
Rose Greenhow was a Southern belle who was living in Washington when the Civil War broke out. Her husband had been employed by the State Department before he died in a fall in 1857. Through him she had met many government and military officials. (She was close friends with Senator James Buchanan before he became President.) The vivacious Rose was a social butterfly and a must-invite to parties. Even though she was an outspoken secessionist. When the war broke out, she was contacted by a Rebel soldier about working for Gen. Pierre Beauregard (another friend). In July, 1861 she invited Sen. Henry Wilson to dine. He was on the Committee of Military Affairs. The charming Rose got him to reveal Gen. McDowell’s plans for his invasion of Virginia. Beauregard was not surprised in the First Battle of Bull Run and won a big victory. She then passed on detailed information about the defenses of Washington. McDowell’s replacement, Gen. George McClellan hired the Pinkerton Detective Agency to check her out. Allen Pinkerton himself tracked her and witnessed her passing secrets. She was arrested. The investigation revealed numerous love letters from many gentlemen who inadvertently gave her confidential information. She could have been hung as a spy, but her celebrity status prevented that. She was put in prison for five months. She managed to pass secrets even from there. At his point, the government decided to deport her to the South. Her trip was a triumphal march through worshipful fans. When she reached her destination, she pulled out a Confederate flag that she had sewn in prison. She had dinner with Jefferson Davis. He sent her as a diplomat to London and Paris to work her wiles on British and French officials to get support for the Confederacy. She wrote her memoirs which made her rich. Unfortunately, on her return trip, she insisted on taking a boat ashore in a storm and drowned. Possibly because of all the gold she was carrying with her.
– Bathroom I 78-80
MARY EDWARDS WALKER
In 1855, Mary Edwards Walker graduated from Syracuse Medical College. She was only the second American woman to graduate from medical school. When the Civil War broke out, she offered her services, but the Army refused to give a woman a commission as a surgeon. She settled for being a nurse, but was promoted to assistant surgeon for the 52nd Ohio Regiment. She sometimes crossed the lines to help Confederate soldiers and civilians. It is rumored that she also did some spying. In 1864, she was captured by Rebel soldiers and thrown in jail. She was held for four months and then exchanged for a Confederate officer, a male, she pointed out. After the war, she was awarded the Medal of Honor by President Andrew Johnson, but the award was revoked in “The Purge of 1917” because she had not performed bravely in combat. She refused to give up the medal. In 1977, President Carter restored the award. She is the only woman to have been awarded the Medal of Honor.
Mary was born to abolitionist parents and she became a women’s rights advocate because of them. She kept her name when she got married. She was particularly interested in clothing rights. She found men’s clothing more comfortable. At her wedding, she wore pants under her wedding dress. She wore bloomers and abhorred corsets (“corsets are coffins”). After the war, she spoke out for women’s rights wearing full men’s clothing, including a top hat.
https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/mary-edwards-walker
– Bath 2 pp. 140-141
FISHING FOR DISCHARGE
During the Wilderness Campaign both sides’ soldiers suffered from some of the most vicious combat of the war. And in the hellacious environment of a dense forest. Needless to say, some soldiers reached a breaking point. One morning, after a bad thunder storm the night before, a Union camp awoke to tree limbs and big puddles. And a soldier sitting in front of a puddle with a string tied to his rifle. The end of the string was in the water, as though the soldier was fishing. This, of course, gathered a crowd. His buddies asked him what he was doing, but he refused to respond. He just occasionally lifted the string to see if he had gotten a bite. Word quickly reached his commanding officer, who came up with a scowl on his face. The soldier had a reputation as a malingerer, so the officer began to chew him out. “What do you think you’re doing soldier?”, he screamed. But the soldier did not react. He just kept checking his bait. Finally, the officer called over the regimental doctor. The doctor gently asked the soldier what was going on, but the soldier still did not even look up. After fruitlessly asking a series of questions, the doctor turned to the officer and said “Well, I guess he has just cracked. I’ve seen this before after intense battles. Sometimes a soldier just snaps. We’ll have to send him home.” The doctor filled out the discharge papers and handed them to the soldier. He put down his rifle, went to his tent, packed up his stuff, and headed out of camp. He didn’t say a word, didn’t say good bye to his buddies. As he was leaving the camp, the officer grabbed him and said “Look, before you go, you just have to tell me what you were fishing for in that puddle.” The soldier held up the discharge papers, smiled, and kept walking.
“FATHER”
The Civil War is sometimes called the “brothers’ war” because some families were split in allegiance. Some family members joined the Union Army and others the Confederate Army. During the fighting around Richmond in 1862, there was a skirmish over possession of a hill. The Rebels launched an assault that was repelled with heavy losses. After the failure, the Rebel officer called to his side an older soldier who had a reputation of being a crack shot. The officer said “Do you see that young officer on the hill?” The older man could clearly see a young officer waving his sword, encouraging his men. “As long as the Yankees are led by that man, we won’t be able to capture that hill. Do you think you can hit him from this distance?” “Well sir, I reckon I can try.” He propped his rifle on a tree limb, aimed carefully and squeezed the trigger. The officer went down. The Rebels immediately launched another attack and this time, with their dashing leader down, the Yankees did not put up much of a fight and retreated. After the fighting died down, the old sharpshooter decided to return to the battle site. He felt kind of guilty for having to shoot such a brave leader and perhaps he was just wounded and he could help him. He found the officer’s body face down. Upon turning him over, the young man opened his eyes, looked at the older man, said one word, and died. The word was “father”.
- Bodkin p.83
- Above is the way I told the story to my students. Below is the original source.
-
The Civil War has many excellent anecdotes to share with students. The following is one of my favorites. It highlights the fact that the war divided families. Normally, I rewrite the story to make it more concise, but in this case, I have left it as a primary source.
The Civil War divided a nation, fracturing families as the North and South broke apart. The following primary source details an incident in the Battle of Malvern Hill in which a Union officer, Sgt. Driscoll, faces a great tragedy. Captain D. P. Conyngham was an officer in the Irish Brigade, Driscoll’s brigade, and described the incident shortly after the war.
“I had a Sergeant Driscoll, a brave man, and one of the best shots in the Brigade. When charging at Malvern Hill , a company was posted in a clump of trees, who kept up a fierce fire on us, and actually charged out on our advance. Their officer seemed to be a daring, reckless boy, and I said to Driscoll, ‘if that officer is not taken down, many of us will fall before we pass that clump.’
‘Leave that to me,’ said Driscoll; so he raised his rifle, and the moment the officer exposed himself again bang went Driscoll, and over went the officer, his company at once breaking away.
As we passed the place I said, ‘Driscoll, see if that officer is dead – he was a brave fellow.’
I stood looking on. Driscoll turned him over on his back. He opened his eyes for a moment, and faintly murmured ‘Father,’ and closed them forever.
I will forever recollect the frantic grief of Driscoll; it was harrowing to witness. He was his son, who had gone South before the war.
And what became of Driscoll afterwards? Well, we were ordered to charge, and I left him there; but, as we were closing in on the enemy, he rushed up, with his coat off, and, clutching his musket, charged right up at the enemy, calling on the men to follow. He soon fell, but jumped up again. We knew he was wounded. On he dashed, but he soon rolled over like a top. When we came up he was dead, riddled with bullets.”
SOURCE: Voices From The Storm: The Tragedy At The Battle Of Malvern Hill by Battefields.org and also found on Eyewitness to History: Battlefield Tragedy
THE IMPRISONMENT OF JEFFERSON DAVIS
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jefferson-Davis/Capture-and-imprisonment
After Richmond fell, Jefferson Davis and his wife and several cabinet members fled westward hoping to get across the Mississippi to continue the fight. He was captured by Union cavalry near Irwinville, Georgia on May 10,1865. He was wearing his wife’s shawl in what was mocked as a silly disguise. He claimed it was because he was ill. The arrest created a dilemma for the government. Although most Northerners wanted him tried for treason (and so did he), the Constitution was vague on the issue and a trial could have ruled that secession was legal. Davis made things awkward by refusing a pardon, unlike others like Robert E. Lee. So the government threw him in prison at Fort Monroe off the coast of Virginia. It was like a castle. He was put in a small cell under constant guard. The room was painted white and there was only one light. Davis suffered vision problems. The food was bad and he threw it in the faces of his guards at first. He was allowed no visitors, no mail, no exercise. His only companion was a mouse. His only friend was the prison doctor John Craven. Craven talked the authorities into allowing a better diet, newpapers, a few books, and a daily walk (watched by crowds). Eventually, he was moved to Carroll Hall where he had two rooms, a cot, a table, and chairs. His family was allowed to join him. He was finally released on May 14, 1867 after some prominent Americans went to bat for him. He was pardoned by Pres. Johnson in 1868. In 1978, his citizenship was restored.
– Lawrence 160-162
EMBARRASSING DEATHS – John Sedgwick
John Sedgwick graduated from West Point in 1837. He served in the Seminole War, the Mexican War, and posts in the west. By the time the Civil War broke out, he was a brigadier general. He commanded a division in the Army of the Potomac in the Battle of Antietam. He was seriously wounded, but was back and in command of the 6th Corps at Chancellorsville and Gettysburg. By the time of the Wilderness Campaign, he was second only to George Meade. On May 8, 1864, he lost the race to Spotsylvania Court House and found Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia at the crossroads. The battle ended in a bloody stalemate. On March 9, his corps was stationed in the center of the Union line. Sedgwick set up his headquarters only 100 feet from his front line. His tent was near some Yankee cannons. The area had been under sniper fire and several had been wounded, including Gen. William Morris. Sedgwick decided to advise the placement of the artillery despite the threat. His staff members tried to warn him of the danger of exposing himself. They and the artillerymen were ducking for cover. “What? Men dodging this way for single bullets? What will you do when they open fire along the whole line?” Sedgwick took no heed of the danger, which was no surprise. In the Civil War, it was considered necessary for officers to show their bravery to inspire their men. This partly explains why the life expectancy of a general was less than that of a private. (That and the fact that they rode horses into battle.) Sedgwick’s famous last words were: “They couldn’t hit an elephant at this dis-“. At that moment, he took a bullet in the head. Sedgwick was one of Grant’s most seasoned and competent generals. Sedgwick was one of four senior Union generals killed in the war (John Reynolds, James McPherson, Joseph Mansfield). The loss was keenly felt. Grant lamented that Sedgwick’s death was “greater than the loss of a whole division of troops.”
https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/death-john-sedgwick
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Sedgwick
– The Oxford Book of Military Anecdotes p. 275
STONE ON THE HEAD OF JACKSON
Stonewall Jackson was one of the greatest generals in American History, but he was one of the worst teachers, too. After heroically serving in the Mexican War, but before the Civil War, he spent some time as a teacher at Virginia Military Institute. He was terrible and his students hated him. He was strict and required a lot. And he sucked at teaching. He would memorize his lecture and recite it nonstop. If anyone interrupted him, like asking a question, he would start all over again. (I bet they learned quickly not to ask questions.) One day, as he was walking on campus, a student dropped brick on his head. He missed and it just brushed his hat. Jackson did not even look up, he just kept walking. A few inches to the left and the Confederacy would not have had its second best general and the war probably would not have lasted as long. Ironically, some of his VMI students were happy to serve under him in the war.
– Shenkman 100
DRUMMER BOY OF CHICKAMAUGA
Johnny Clem ran away from home to join the Union Army in the Civil War. He hooked up with the 22nd Michigan Infantry which adopted him as a mascot and drummer boy. Drummer boys were common in the war. They used their drums to relay orders to the men. Certain drum rolls meant certain commands. Normally, they would stay behind when their unit went into combat. In 1863, the Michiganders fought in the Battle of Chickamauga. Johnny hitched a ride on an artillery caisson to rejoin his buddies in the thick of the fight. Unfortunately, the Union lost the battle and Johnny was caught up in the retreat. Separated from his men, Johnny was spotted by a Union Colonel who chased him on his horse. Johnny used his sawed off rifle to shoot the officer off his horse and got away. Because of his courageous actions, Johnny became known as the “Drummer Boy of Chickamauga”. He was promoted to sergeant, making him at age 12 the youngest noncommissioned officer in the history of the U.S. Army. He rejoined the Army after graduating from high school. By the time he retired in 1915 he had been promoted to brigadier general. He was the last Civil War general on active duty. One year later, Congress promoted him to major general.
https://historycollection.co/20-historical-events-seldom-taught-in-school/3/
THE YANKEE VERSION OF “DIXIE”
The song “Dixie” is forever associated with the South before and during the Civil War. Ironically, it was written by an Ohioan named Daniel Decatur Emmett. He meant it to evoke a the positive effects of slavery, although it may have been a parody. It was first sung as part of a minstrel show in New York City in 1859. It was quickly adopted by the South as an unofficial national anthem. Interestingly, Abraham Lincoln claimed it was his favorite song and had it played by a band after he heard about Lee’s surrender at Appomattox Court House. Not every Northerner loved it. During the war, Union soldiers sang their own versions of it. Here is one:
Away down South in the land of traitors,
Rattlesnakes and alligators,
Right away, come away, right away, come away.
Where cotton’s king and men are chattels,
Union boys will win the battles,
Right away, come away, right away, come away.
Then we’ll all go down to Dixie,
Away, away,
Each Dixie boy must understand
That he must mind his Uncle Sam.
https://www.wearethemighty.com/history/union-troops-changed-words-dixie?rebelltitem=2#rebelltitem2 & Wikipedia
THE NEW YORK CITY DRAFT RIOTS
If you think the South was racist and the North was not, think again. There was plenty of racism in the North during the Civil War. From July 13-16, 1863, rioting in New York City resulted in hundreds of deaths. The rioters were mainly Irish immigrants, who ironically were the victims of racism themselves. The spark was a new draft law that exempted blacks, but not whites. A white male could avoid being drafted, but only if they could pay $300 for a substitute. At a time when most workers made about $500 per year, substitutes were only for rich white guys. The resentment was fueled by fear that blacks would take white jobs. Bosses had already hired blacks as strikebreakers. If the North won the war, what was the future like for white workers? The rioters started by burning the draft headquarters. They then looted businesses, burned bridges, and destroyed telegraph lines. They then attacked black neighborhoods. Black men were lynched to lamp posts. White women married to black men were murdered. A black orphanage was burned to the ground. It got so out of hand that 4,000 troops were brought in to quell the riots. Ironically, the unit had fought at Gettysburg. Since the rioters had barricaded their neighborhoods, the soldiers had to assault them. When the dust cleared, around 120 people were dead and the draft proceeded.
C.S.S. HUNLEY
Horace Lawson Hunley was born in Tennessee but his family settled in New Orleans. He grew up to be a lawyer and a member of the state legislature. He was also a marine engineer interested in building a submarine. His first attempt had to be scuttled before Union forces captured New Orleans. He moved on to Mobile Bay where the C.S.S. Hunley was built. It was 40 feet long. It was called a “fish boat”, “fish torpedo boat”, or “porpoise”. It had an eight man crew – seven cranked the propeller and one steered. The finished product was shipped to Charleston, which was being blockaded by the Union Navy. On a training run, the sub accidentally dived with hatches still open and five crew members drowned. A second accident claimed an entire crew, including Hunley himself. It was recovered and a Lt. George Dixon was given command. On February 17, 1864 the sub was sent out on a dark night to attack a Union warship, the USS Housatonic. The sub was spotted by sailors and shot at, but not considered a threat. It was equipped with a 22 foot spar that had an explosive attached. The sub rammed the explosive into the ship, but apparently the explosion was too powerful and the Hunley never came up. The Housatonic sank in five minutes and lost five men. This was the first successful submarine attack in history.
https://www.abandonedspaces.com/wrecks/h-l-hunley.html?fbclid=IwAR39vqgBm2wYgD6nbR-y8OQVlvUiv0USsa75dsPP2rSsAiFfwP02NNWmE-g https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._L._Hunley_(submarine)
MOTHER BICKERDYKE
Mary Ann Bickerdyke was born in Ohio in 1817. She was one of the first women to attend Oberlin College. She became a botanical doctor, using alternative medicines like herbs and plants. After the Civil War broke out, a friend who was a regimental surgeon wrote her a letter describing the terrible conditions in a hospital he worked at. She helped raise $500 of supplies and then delivered them. She was appalled by what she saw and immediately initiated a clean-up of the very unhygienic conditions. She stuck around and was appointed to the Sanitary Commission, an organization to aid wounded and sick soldiers. Her efforts came to the attention of Generals Ulysses Grant and William Sherman who became admirers of hers. She went on campaigns with their armies and established field hospitals. She was beloved by the soldiers and became known as “Mother Bickerdyke” or the “Calico Colonel”. She developed a reputation for disregarding rank when she battled for the well-being of the wounded. When an officer once challenged her authority to tell him what to do, she famously responded: “On the authority of the Lord God Almighty. Have you anything that outranks that?” In another incident, she confronted a drunken doctor who had neglected proper feeding for the soldiers in his care. When he was fired, he went to complain to Gen. Sherman. He said: “I can do nothing for you. She ranks me.”
https://historycollection.co/odd-details-about-famous-historical-events-nobody-talks-about/14/
FRANKLIN THOMPSON
It is estimated that around 400 women disguised themselves as men to serve as soldiers in the Civil War. One of the most famous was born Sarah Edmonds in Canada. The youngest of five daughters of a disciplinarian father who preferred sons, she worked on the farm doing men’s work and dressing like a man. Her favorite book as a child was “Fanny Campbell, the Female Pirate Captain”. Around age 17, she escaped and ended up in Michigan. She found that cross-dressing gave her male benefits of eating, traveling, and working independently. She renamed herself Franklin Thompson. She got a job as a book salesman. When the war broke out, she patriotically enlisted. It was easy since they did not do physicals back then. She was a nurse at the Battle of Bull Run and then was involved in the Peninsular Campaign. In this Union attempt to capture Richmond, she volunteered to be a spy. In various disguises, she managed to cross enemy lines to gather information. At one point, disguised as a laundress, she found some important papers in an officer’s jacket. Later in the war, she attended a wedding party in Kentucky to mingle with Confederate officers. One of them was suspicious of a healthy young man not being in the army, so he forced Franklin to join his cavalry regiment. In an upcoming skirmish with a Union unit, she switched sides in the middle of the fight. She found herself facing off with the officer and shot him in the face. (Or so her best-selling memoir “Nurse and Spy in the Union Army” claimed.) She suffered various injuries and illnesses during the war, but managed to avoid discovery in a hospital until her malaria forced her to go in. She did this secretly and was accused of desertion. This ended her stint in the military. She finished the war as a nurse in Washington. After the war she settled down and got married. She was awarded a $12/month pension from the Army. She is now in the Michigan Hall of Fame. Popular young adult author Ann Rinaldi wrote a novel about her entitled “Girl in Blue”.
Amazing pp. 410-412\
OVER EIGHTEEN
A very young-looking teenager showed up at a recruiting station during the Civil War. There were no birth certificates back then and recruiting sergeants were notorious for not questioning ages. However, this particular young man was obviously too young so the sergeant asked him if he was over 18. The boy insisted he was “over 18”. After giving him a look up and down, the sergeant said: “Truthfully, are you really over 18?” Boy: “I swear I am over 18, sarge.” The sergeant was still skeptical, but decided to enroll the boy. A week later, the sergeant was walking across the drill field and saw the boy standing near a tent. He approached the young man and said: “Look, you’re in the Army now and there is nothing I can do about it. But you have to tell me the truth. You’re not really over 18, are you?” The boy sat down and pulled off his shoe to the puzzlement of the sergeant. He reached in and handed the sarge a piece of paper. On the paper was printed the number 18.
ALBERT CASHIER
There were an estimated 400-750 women who served in the Civil War as soldiers. They were motivated by several reasons. Some were patriotic. Others were poor and wanted the pay. Many were in it for the adventure. A few probably joined to be close to their boyfriend or husband. It was possible to enlist because the physicals were nonexistent or cursory. It was easy to pull it off because people were much more private back then. You could bathe and go to the bathroom by yourself. And you wore baggy uniforms. One of these women was Jennie Hodgens, an Irish immigrant. She enlisted in August, 1862 as Albert Cashier. She was in the 95th Illinois regiment in the Army of the Tennessee. She participated in at least 40 engagements, including the siege of Vicksburg, the Battle of Nashville, and the Red River Campaign. Although 289 soldiers in her unit died from combat or disease, she survived the three years of war. After the war, she continued her life as a man. She worked as a farmhand, church janitor, and cemetery worker. Clearly, she preferred the benefits of life as a man. Her gender was not discovered until she was hit by a car and sent to a hospital.
CINCO DE MAYO
Shouldn’t you know what you are celebrating? Before you say you are celebrating Mexican independence, you’re wrong. You are celebrating one of the rare victories of the Mexican army. S(orry to be blunt, but it’s the truth.) In early 1862, French Emperor Napoleon decided to take advantage of the American Civil War to grab Mexico and its natural resources. The excuse was Mexico owed France money. French forces landed at Vera Cruz and then moved inland. The Mexican army retreated to the city of Puebla, which had already been fortified for a possible attack. When the French arrived, they attacked the entrenchments and were repelled three times. It was a shocking victory for the outnumbered Mexicans. They had defeated a modern European army. Unfortunately, one year later the French conquered Mexico, so the Battle of Puebla was moot. However, the citizens of Puebla celebrated it and it eventually caught on in the country. It became the second biggest secular holiday after Mexican Independence Day which is Sept. 16 in remembrance of independence from Spain in 1810. “The Fifth of May” is actually celebrated more in the United States where it is viewed as a Mexican St. Patrick’s Day.
ROBERT SMALLS
Smalls was born a slave in 1839. His master hired him out as a deckhand on local ships and he eventually rose to pilot of a cotton transport called the Planter, based in Charleston harbor. When the Civil War broke out, the ship was taken into the Confederate navy where it was used for a variety of jobs, including transporting arms. These jobs ended when Charleston was blockaded. Smalls was well-liked by the white officers and one night they went ashore and left him in charge of the black crew. They had planned an escape and this was the moment. Smalls brought his family aboard and the ship set sail. It had to pass a few checkpoints, but Smalls knew the passwords and put on the captains straw hat to conceal his identity. They passed by Fort Sumter and exited the harbor to surrender to the Union fleet. He became a celebrity in the North and the South put a $4,000 bounty on his head. The Union rewarded him with $1,500 (which he later used to purchase the house he was born in). He stayed on the Planter as its pilot and eventually rose to captain. Later, he commanded the ironclad Keokuk. He participated in numerous naval activities. He became a proponent of enlistment of black soldiers and recruited 5,000 himself after Lincoln agreed with his and others’ pleas. After the war, he went into politics in South Carolina and was elected to five nonconsecutive terms in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1874-1886.
INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT PICKETT’S CHARGE
- It would have been more accurately called “Longstreet’s Charge” as it involved three of his divisions – Pickett, Pettigrew, and Trimble. That was a total of 12,500-15,000 men.
- It was Lee’s desperate attempt to end the Civil War in one day. In the first two days of the battle, he had tested the flanks of Meade’s army and now he thought the center had been weakened and could be broken. Longstreet correctly argued that the Union position was too strong.
- The assault was proceeded by the largest artillery bombardment ever in North America. Over 150 cannons bombarded the Union position for about an hour. Most of the shells flew over and hit behind the Union lines. One of them almost killed Meade as he ate lunch in his headquarters. An orderly was cut in half by a cannon ball. At first, the Union artillery answered, but in order to conserve ammunition for the coming assault, it ceased firing. The Confederate artillery commander assumed his cannons had caused the cessation and told Lee it was a good time to attack.
- Rebel from six Southern states participated: Virginia (Pickett’s Division), Alabama, Mississippi, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Florida.
- When the Rebels got closer, the Union cannons switched from exploding shells to cannister. Cannister turned the cannons into giant shot guns.
- Gen. Armistead and some of his men got the furthest and briefly penetrated the Union line. Armistead was assaulting his best friend from before the war, Gen. Hancock. Hancock was wounded in the fight, but Armistead was killed.
- As it became apparent the assault had failed, the Yankees taunted their foes by yelling “Fredericksburg! Fredericksburg! Fredericksburg!” This was a reference to the Union’s suicidal assaults on Lee’s impregnable position at the earlier battle.
- Lee took responsibility for the defeat and offered to resign. Davis did not accept it. Pickett spent the rest of his life blaming Lee for what happened. “The old man had my division slaughtered.”
- Not everyone was killed or even wounded, but there were about 7,000 casualties. That was almost 50%, which is extremely high.
- Lee did not retreat immediately and hoped Meade would attack him. Meade got a lot of criticism for not following up the win by attacking Lee’s gravely wounded army. In fact, Lee was able to retreat back to Virginia and the war continued for two more years.
- In 1913, thousands of veterans of the battle came to the 50th anniversary reunion at Gettysburg. They reenacted the charge, but this time it ended with hugs.
MEDAL OF HONOR FACTS
- Today is Medal of Honor Day in honor of the award instituted on this day by Pres. Lincoln in 1861. There have been over 3,500 recipients. Here are some interesting facts:
- It is simply called the Medal of Honor, not the Congressional Medal of Honor. There are three versions of the medal. One for the Navy, Army, and Air Force. It is the only military medal worn around the neck.
- There are some perks that come with receiving it. For instance, higher officers must salute you, including the President. You are invited to every presidential inauguration and inaugural ball.
- There have been 19 double winners, including Tom Custer (George’s brother).
- The first recipient was Pvt. Jacob Parrott. He participated in the Andrew’s Raid in the Civil War. He and his 18 comrades earned the award for capturing a Southern train and attempting to take it to Union lines. Four of the Raiders received it posthumously. Over half of the medals over the years have been awarded posthumously. Ironically, Andrews did not get the award because at the time civilians were not eligible.
- Eight civilians have received it, including the only women, Mary Edwards Walker. Walker was a surgeon who worked on wounded soldiers at several Civil War battles.
- The youngest recipient was Willie Johnston. He was eleven years old when he refused to abandon his drum during a retreat in the Civil War. The oldest was Douglas MacArthur, who was 62 when he made his perilous escape from the Philippines.
- MacArthur is also part of the two father-son recipients. His father Arthur also received the award. The other pair is Teddy and Teddy Roosevelt, Jr. Interestingly, the son got his first, for bravery in D-Day. Teddy was recognized for the Battle of San Juan Hill in 2001 by Pres. Clinton.
- There have been five pairs of brothers who have gotten the award. Four pairs were for the same battle, but Antoine (Philippine-American War) and Julien (action rescuing Americans during the Mexican Revolution) Gaujot received theirs for separate conflicts.
- In 1916, 911 were revoked for actions not deemed worthy of the medal. 864 of the revocations were for members of the 27th Maine Regiment in the Civil War. The soldiers were promised the medal if they reenlisted. “Buffalo Bill” Cody lost his also.
- The battle that had the most medals awarded was Iwo Jima. 21 Medals of Honor were awarded for that battle. Seven were for jumping on grenades to save comrades. One of those Marines survived. Jack Lucas put two grenades under his helmet and then covered it with his body. He spent the rest of his life with two hundred pieces of shrapnel in his body. Another rare survivor of grenade covering is Kyle Carpenter who saved several squad members in Afghanistan in 2010.
https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/medal-of-honor-amazing-facts/
https://www.hfotusa.org/five-facts-about-the-medal-of-honor/
https://www.warhistoryonline.com/instant-articles/facts-you-didnt-know-moh.html
https://connectingvets.radio.com/articles/9-facts-about-medal-honor
CARRYING THE COLORS
One of the most dangerous jobs in a Civil War army was carrying your unit’s flag into battle. The colors, as they were called were carried at the front of the unit as it moved towards the enemy. This made them a clear target for enemy fire, plus there was a lot of prestige which came with capturing them. Why would someone volunteer for such a job? Some did it for the honor, but most were interested in the perks. A colorbearer was exempt from most duties. They did not have to participate in skirmishing. It might be a route to promotion, if you survived. Some did it for redemption for some mistake they had made, like desertion. Similarly, a soldier convicted of a capital offense might “volunteer” for the job to avoid a worse fate.
The record for the most color-bearers wounded in a single battle was the 26th North Carolina at Gettysburg. That day, Sgt. J.B. Mansfield started carrying the flag. He was shot in the foot and Sgt. Hiram Johnson took his place. Twelve yards later, he was shot. Pvt. John Stamper carried it to the middle of a stream when he was hit. Pvt. Larkin Thomas carried it a few steps, then Pvt. John Vincent for a few seconds before each was wounded. Pvt. John Marley and Pvt. William Ingram were killed within a few minutes of each other. Capt. W.W. McCreary waved the flag and was promptly shot through the heart and fell on the flag. Lt. George Wilcox grabbed it, took two steps, and was shot twice in the chest. Col. Henry Bergwin yelled “Dress on the colors!” and handed it to Pvt. Frank Hunnicut as he was shot through both lungs. Hunnicut was shot through the head as he clutched the colors. Lt. Col. John Lane was next. He yelled “It is my time to take them now. 26th follow me!” He was shot in the neck, jaw, and mouth thirty paces from the enemy line. Capt. W.S. Brewer then carried the flag to victory. Later in the battle, Brewer was wounded carrying it and so were the next three. The last was Pvt. Daniel Thomas who surrendered it at the end of Pickett’s Charge. He was one of the 89% casualties for the 26th North Carolina in the Battle of Gettysburg.
– Men of War by Alexander Rose
THE LAWRENCE MASSACRE
On this day in 1863, an infamous massacre occurred in Kansas during the Civil War. Kansas had been known as “Bleeding Kansas” before the war as pro- and anti-slavery forces battled for control of the state. This degenerated into a vicious guerrilla war between the Jayhawkers (antis) and Bushwhackers (pros). Violence escalated into atrocities. In September, 1861 a band of Jayhawkers led by Sen. James Lane raided Osceola. The town was looted and burned. Slaves were freed and some citizens were executed. Lane’s unit was matched by a band of Bushwhackers led by William Quantrill. Members included the Younger Brothers and Frank and Jesse James. Quantrill’s Raiders were given unofficial status by the Confederate government. It conducted ambushes of Union supplies and raided towns in Kansas and Missouri. It was such a thorn that a Union army general arrested several women associated with the Raiders and held them in a make-shift jail in Kansas City, Missouri. When the building collapsed, five women were killed. It was payback time for Osceola and Kansas City. The target was the home base for Lane’s Jayhawkers. On August 21, 1863 Quantrill and his boys rode into Lawrence, Kansas. The 400 men were unopposed. They began to set fires and plunder. Any man or boy who “could hold a gun” were targeted. It was a massacre. Between 160-190 men and boys were killed. Some were scalped. 85 widows were created. Lane escaped by hiding in a cornfield. Most of the buildings were burned to the ground. This was the last big fling for Quantrill’s Raiders. The Confederate government disowned it and it eventually broke up. Quantrill was killed by Union soldiers.
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/guerillas-massacre-residents-of-lawrence-kansas
https://civilwaronthewesternborder.org/encyclopedia/quantrills-raid-lawrence
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_massacre
FACTS ABOUT ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY
- Montgomery Meigs went to West Point with Robert E. Lee. When the South seceded, Lee joined the Confederate army and Meigs never forgave him. When Meigs became Quartermaster General for the Union Army, he was in charge of military burials. In 1863, Lee’s wife Mary was not able to pay the $92.70 in property taxes so the property was confiscated and sold to the government for $26,800. Meigs decided to make sure the Lee’s would never life their again by planting dead soldiers all over the property. By the end of 1864, over 7,000 soldiers had been buried, including in Mary’s rose garden near the house. Meigs was eventually buried in his creation, after his son who was killed in the war.
- The plantation originally belonged to George Washington Parke Custis, the adopted grandson of Washington. He named it Arlington. It eventually was inherited by Mary Anna Randolph Custis, who married Robert E. Lee.
- In 1870, Lee’s son Custis sued for return of his property. It took 12 years, but a court found that the property had been seized illegally without due process. He sold it back to the government a year later for $150,000. The threat of disinterring all those bodies probably played a role in that decision.
- For years, starting during the war, Freedman’s Village was located on the grounds. It was a community for freed slaves. Almost 4,000 are buried there.
- James Park was a slave on the plantation. When the Lee family fled, he stayed on. He dug the first graves and stayed on as caretaker for the next 60 years. When he died, he was buried with full military honors.
- The first soldier buried was Private William Henry Christman on May 13, 1864. He died of the measles.
- Two Presidents are buried there (and their wives) – William Howard Taft and John Kennedy. Other famous graves include those of Dashiell Hammett, Medgar Evers, Glenn Miller, Joe Louis, and Abner Doubleday.
- There are over 400,000 graves. Currently, there are more than 25 interments per day.
https://www.stayarlington.com/blog/9-fascinating-facts-about-arlington-national-cemetery/
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/8-things-didnt-know-arlington-national-cemetery
https://www.rd.com/list/arlington-national-cemetery-facts/
– The Greatest War Stories Never Told pp. 110-111
ALL IS FORGIVEN
For the 50th anniversary of Gettysburg, around 53,000 Civil War veterans came to the city to commemorate the battle. Many wore their Civil War uniforms. The highlight of the event was a reenactment of Pickett’s Charge. As the old Rebels walked across the field, old Yankees waited behind the famous stone wall. When the Rebels neared the wall, they let out a Rebel Yell and the crowd gasped. The Yankees responded with a “hurrah” and climbed over the wall to meet them. The groups exchanged handshakes and hugs. After all, the war had been over for fifty years.
– The Greatest War Stories Never Told pp. 128-129
FACTS ABOUT THE GETTYSBURG ADDRESS
- The ceremony was for the dedication of the national cemetery on Nov. 19, 1863. It contained only the Union dead. Some of them were being buried during the ceremony.
- The town of Gettysburg had only 2,500 citizens and 15,000 people showed up for the ceremony. Beds were at a premium. Lincoln stayed at the home of a prominent lawyer, along with 37 others. Only Lincoln and Edward Everett got beds for themselves.
- Lincoln was not the keynote speaker. That honor went to popular orator Everett. He had been a congressman, Governor of Massachusetts, and Millard Fillmore’s Secretary of State. He spoke for two hours and the speech was well-received.
- Lincoln was next and spoke for only two minutes. The speech was ten sentences and 272 words. (Everett used 13,607 words.) Lincoln was done so quickly that there is no photo of him giving it. There is one photo that shows him sitting on the platform.
- Despite the myth, Lincoln did not write the speech on the train. He actually spent a lot of time on it. He had no help. He wrote five copies of it and gave them to various people, including Everett and his personal secretary John Hay (who was later Secretary of State). Hay had gotten drunk the night before with come college boys.
- The themes of the speech included devotion, democracy, equality, and sacrifice. He does not mention by name the Union, the Confederacy, the Emancipation Proclamation, the Declaration of Independence, or the Battle of Gettysburg. He did not originate the phrase “of the people, by the people, and for the people”. That was first used in a John Wycliffe Bible in 1734.
- The speech was greeted with polite applause by the crowd, but few knew at the time that it was brilliant. One of the few was Everett who remarked to Lincoln that he wished he had been able to do in two hours what Lincoln had done in two minutes. Newspapers were divided with the “peace Democrats” panning it and the Republicans and war Democrats giving positive reviews.
- The entire speech is carved on the south wall of the Lincoln Memorial.
https://www.wuwm.com/post/seven-facts-you-didnt-know-about-gettysburg-address#stream/0
https://www.legacy.com/news/culture-and-history/10-facts-abraham-lincoln-and-the-gettysburg-address/
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/615530/facts-about-abraham-lincolns-gettysburg-address
http://www.american-historama.org/1860-1865-civil-war-era/gettysburg-address.htm
THE BARLOW / GORDON ENCOUNTERS
Brigadier General Francis “Frank” Barlow had a reputation for aggression. On July 1, 1863, his division was one of the first to see action in the Battle of Gettysburg. He decided on his own to move his men to a forward position on Blocher’s Knoll. This overly aggressive move created a salient that the Confederates were only too happy to take advantage of. Barlow’s men put up nary a fight when assaulted on three sides by Brigadier General John B. Gordon’s brigade. As his unit streamed rearward, Barlow was grievously wounded in his side. Falling from his horse, he lay on the field. Gordon, seeing a fellow officer in distress, stopped to give him a drink of water and read one of Barlow’s wife’s letters to him. Both men assumed Barlow had little time left. Upon leaving, Gordon promised to inform Barlow’s wife of his condition. Much to the Confederate doctors’ surprise, Barlow recovered and eventually was exchanged back to the Army of the Potomac. He later fought in Grant’s Overland Campaign and was in at the capture of Richmond. Ironically, some of his battles during this period were against Gordon. But he did not know that, having assumed the news of the death of Gen. James B. Gordon (a cousin) referred to his foe at Gettysburg. In 1879, the two men met at a dinner party. Gordon: “Gen. Barlow, are you related to the officer of your name who was killed at Gettysburg?” Barlow: “ I am that man. Are you related to the man who killed me?” Gordon: “I am that man.” The two men shook hands and became friends.
*** I have to be honest and point out that some historians have branded this story apocryphal. It first appeared in a Georgia newspaper in 1879 with Gordon as it’s source. There is no proof the two men had the encounter on the Gettysburg battlefield and the conversation in 1879 was based on Gordon’s memory. However, Barlow had a reputation for honesty and had ample opportunities to refute the story, but he didn’t.
https://www.historynet.com/general-barlow-and-general-gordon-meet-on-blochers-knoll.html
THE MOST FAMOUS FRIENDLY FIRE INCIDENT IN AMERICAN HISTORY
At Gettysburg, Lee won a decisive victory which forced Lincoln to negotiate a peace treaty with the Confederacy. The victory was sealed when Gen. Stonewall Jackson maneuvered behind the Union flank and rolled up their position on Cemetery Ridge. Well, that’s what might have happened if it had not been for the most famous friendly fire incident in American History. Going into the Battle of Chancellorsville in May, 1863, Jackson was Lee’s most dependable general and irreplaceable. Few historical figures leave the stage at the greatest moment of their life, but Jackson did. On May 2, he led the greatest flanking attack in the Civil War. Jackson marched his corps through the Wilderness (a dense forest) to assault the right flank of Gen. Hooker’s army. The rebel yells signaled the complete collapse of the Union right. As dusk lengthened shadows, Jackson and his staff road forward to reconnoiter the Union lines for the next day’s attack, which would finish it off. In darkness, Jackson and his men turned and headed back to their own lines. They encountered the 18th North Carolina Regiment. The skittish Rebels fired a volley at what they assumed was Union cavalry. Upon hearing yells to stop from Jackson’s staff, Maj. John Barry proclaimed: “It’s a damned Yankee trick! Fire!” A second volley shredded the night. Jackson was hit twice in the left arm and once in the right hand. The minie balls were .67 caliber. He was placed on a stretcher and to make things worse, he was dropped when shrapnel wounded one of the stretcher-bearers. Dr. Hunter McGuire amputated the left arm and Jackson was brought to a nearby plantation to convalesce. Lee realized the seriousness of the wound for the Southern cause. “He has left his left arm, but I have lost my right.” The wound was healing, but chest pains (originally attributed to the fall) were due to pneumonia. Mrs. Jackson and his baby daughter were there with him as he weakened. By the last day, Jackson was informed he would not survive. He accepted it and was comforted by the fact he would die on a Sunday. On May 10, he said his famous last words: “Let us cross over the river and rest under the shade of the trees.” In July, Lee fought the Battle of Gettysburg without his right arm and the rest is history.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stonewall_Jackson#Chancellorsville
https://www.historynet.com/how-in-the-world-did-they-shoot-stonewall-jackson.htm
https://www.historynet.com/stonewall-jacksons-death.htm
YOU CAN HAVE A GREAT PLAN, BUT…
The Battle of Chancellorsville began on May 1, 1863. Considered by historians to be Robert E. Lee’s perfect victory, his success was due more to the poor performance of the opposing general than to his own performance. That opposing general was Joseph Hooker. Hooker had the resume to become the aggressive leader Lincoln was looking for. His corps had opened the Battle of Antietam with an assault on the corn field where he battled Stonewall Jackson to a standstill. Hooker was wounded in the battle. At Fredericksburg, his men made the 14 futile assaults on Lee’s impregnable position. He had criticized Gen. Burnside’s unsubtle plan and after the battle was downright insubordinate as he worked to oust the commanding general. When Burnside gave Lincoln an ultimatum demanding the firing of Hooker, Lincoln fired Burnside, replacing him with Hooker. Lincoln was aware of Hooker’s scheming and his pronouncement that the Union needed a dictator. He wrote Hooker that he would risk that if Hooker would only win. Hooker, who got his famous nickname “Fighting Joe” when a newspaper left out the comma in a report that mentioned “Fighting, Joe Hooker…”, seemed to be the Patton he was looking for. As a bonus, Hooker restored the morale of the Army of the Potomac. He improved sanitation, diet, medical care, and training. He was right to believe he had built up a magnificent fighting force. And he was confident he would win. “May God have mercy on Gen. Lee, for I will have none.” He had the plan to do it. He would hold Lee in place at Fredericksburg and outflank him using his much larger army. On April 27-28, most of Hooker’s army crossed the Rappahannock and Rapidan Rivers and took Lee by surprise. On April 30, his vanguard reached a clearing called Chancellorsville. Hooker made the mansion his headquarters and pushed 70,000 men into the dense forest called the Wilderness. Lee had only 60,000 men total. He defied the principle of war that warns about dividing your forces (especially in the face of a larger enemy) and left a small force at Fredericksburg while marching the rest to attack Hooker’s turning movement. Hooker should have pushed quickly through the forest to reach better ground, but when his superior force ran into the Confederates outside Chancellorsville, he pulled his head back into his shell like a turtle encountering a much smaller turtle. That same day, Hooker was stunned when a cannonball hit the mansion, knocking him senseless. He refused to give up command and insisted on sticking to his decision to go on the defensive, thus frittering away the brilliance of his turning movement. The initiative went over to Lee, who daringly divided his forces once again to send Jackson on his own turning movement to hit Hooker’s exposed right flank. Hooker abandoned his offensive even though he still held the advantages. The Civil War should have ended in May, 1863 with the destruction of the Army of Northern Virginia, but instead it went on another two bloody years. All because “Fighting Joe” Hooker lost his ability to fight at the cusp of victory.
P.S. The word for prostitutes is not from Hooker’s men being notorious for enjoying “horizontal refreshment”. The word “hooker” predates the Civil War.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Hooker
THE SULTANA DISASTER
The 70 paid passengers probably grumbled when the 2,000 soldiers were put aboard the Sultana. Things would get much, much worse. The Sultana was a side-wheel steamboat that was only two years old. It worked the St. Louis to New Orleans route. On April 23, 1865, it put in to Vicksburg to repair a leak in one of its boilers. Earlier, Capt. J. Cass Mason had cut a deal with Union Army quartermaster Capt. Reuben Hatch to take on recently released prisoners from camps like Andersonville and transport them to the North. The government offered $2.75 for each enlisted man and $8 per officer. He offered Mason a bribe and Hatch would kickback some of the contract to Hatch. Almost 2,000 soldiers were crammed onto a boat that had a capacity of 376! Because a full repair would abort the deal, Mason insisted on a one-day patch job on the boiler. The boat steamed north on a flooded Mississippi with treacherous currents. At around 2 A.M. on April 27, 1865, the boiler exploded, destroying the center and setting the steamboat on fire. It is estimated that 1,168 people died, including 200 who succumbed to burns. Many of the dead were drowning victims. Bodies floated down the Mississippi for months after. It was the greatest maritime disaster in American History. Hatch, who was well-known for his corruption and incompetence, went scot-free because of his political connections.
https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/sultana-disaster
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sultana_(steamboat)
BRAXTON BRAGG TURNS HIS OWN REQUEST DOWN
I am currently reading Shelby Foote’s “The Civil War” series and he has an illuminating anecdote about Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg. Bragg was in the news recently because of the base-name controversy. One of our largest military bases is named after him, a Confederate general. Bragg was no Robert E. Lee. He was one of the most hated generals in his own army. A martinet to his troops, he was a leader who cared not a bit about his subordinates. He was infamous for his temper bitter outlook on life. Frankly, he got along with no one. This story will tell you what kind of personality he had. Before the Civil War, Bragg was stationed at an army post as commander of several companies. He was also the quartermaster of the post. This meant he was in charge of supplies. One day, Bragg needed some supplies, so he filled out a requisition form and gave it to the quartermaster – himself. As quartermaster, he turned down the requisition request. Company commander Bragg then wrote up a justification for the request which quartermaster Bragg again turned down. At this point, Bragg appealed his own ruling to the base commander. The base commander read all the paperwork and was flummoxed. He exclaimed: “My God Bragg, you have argued with every officer in the army, and now you are arguing with yourself!” bragg went on to become one of the worst Confederate generals. He lost every battle he commanded, except for Chickamauga where he was lucky to have an able subordinate take advantage of a gap in the Union line. In spite of his reputation, this guy had a major base named after him in 1918 at the height of the “Lost Cause” revisionism taking place in the South. It’s shame Braxton Bragg did not have the job of approving the base name.
THE “FIST AND SKULL” FIGHT THAT INTERRUPTED A BATTLE
In 1864, Gen. Grant’s Army of the Potomac moved on Richmond and tangled with Gen. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia in a dense forest known as the Wilderness. The three days of fighting left thousands dead. At one point, Rebels and Yankees tussled over a clearing called Saunder’s Field. There was a gully on the battlefield and in the thick of the fighting two soldiers took refuge in it. One a Rebel, the other a Yankee. During a lull in the fighting the two began to taunt each other. This led to a challenge to a fist-fight (what was slangily called a “fist and skull” fight) with the winner taking the other prisoner. So the pugilists climbed out of the gully and in the middle of no man’s land went at it. With hundreds of soldiers taking a break from fighting to cheer on their champion. And then it was back to the killing. In case you are interested, the Johnny Reb won the fight.
FORT PILLOW MASSACRE
The bugle sounded, followed by the Rebel Yell. What followed was the most infamous massacre of the Civil War. In March, 1864 Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest launched a cavalry raid into western Kentucky and Tennessee. One of his targets was Fort Pillow, located on the Mississippi River near Memphis. The fort was held by a white cavalry unit and African-American artillerymen. The Union force totaled 600. Forrest had 1,500-2,500 veteran warriors. It was not a strong defensive position. When Forrest arrived on April 12, his sharpshooters opened deadly fire (one of the first victims was the commanding officer) and his artillery bombarded the fort. It quickly became apparent that the fort was untenable. Forrest demanded unconditional surrender and promised the garrison would be treated as prisoners of war. The new commander, Maj. William Bradford, refused. The bugle initiated the storming of the fort. The Yankees put up little fight as the Rebels burst into the fort. Some of the garrison panicked and ran to the landing (led by the incompetent Bradford) where a gunboat did not provide the promised support. Many were shot down as they ran or drowned in the river. The rest threw down their arms in the fort and tried to surrender. Most evidence points to many of them being murdered. The death toll was around 300. Forrest lost 14. The North and South offered differing versions of what happened. Although the South argued nothing beyond the rules of war occurred, the North’s version still dominates the history books. Most historians side with the official version, although pointing out the massacre was probably exaggerated. Evidence supporting the war crime includes the fact that only 20% of the blacks were taken prisoner, as opposed to 60% of the whites. Also, the number of deaths greatly exceeded the number of wounded (the opposite of normal for a battle). And then there is the fact that Forrest was a slave trader before the war (and head of the KKK after) who was a notorious racist. He was one of the greatest cavalry commanders in American History, but apparently a man who either could not or would not rein in his men at Fort Pillow.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fort_Pillow
https://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/fort-pillow-massacre
https://www.britannica.com/event/Fort-Pillow-Massacre
THE FIRST TEMPORARILY INSANE MURDERER
Dan Sickles was born to a wealthy New York family. He entered politics as part of the Tammany Hall political machine. In 1852, he married Teresa Bagioli. He was 32, she was 15. He cheated on her a lot. For instance, he brought a known prostitute with him to the New York State Assembly and then with him to England when Teresa was pregnant. What was good for the goose was not good for the gander, however. On Feb. 27, 1859 he confronted Teresa’s lover in broad daylight on a Washington street. He shot him three times with different pistols. The dead guy was Philip Barton Key, the son of Francis Scott Key. At the time, Sickles was a Congressman. His seven defense attorneys used a novel temporary insanity defense which worked. It was the first successful use of this defense. The public forgave him. In fact, they were more upset when he took Teresa back. When the Civil War broke out, he raised a unit of soldiers and Pres. Lincoln made him a general although he had no military experience. He was one of many political generals, most of whom were bad. He was one of the worst. In the crucial battle of Gettysburg, he disobeyed orders to maintain a strong defensive position and decided on his own to move his corps forward to a “better position”. Robert E. Lee recognized an isolated unit when he saw one and the Confederates made him pay for it. In the subsequent ass-whipping, Sickles took a cannon ball to the leg and was carted off the battlefield chomping a cigar. (Incredibly, he was awarded the Medal of Honor 34 years later.) The leg was amputated. He donated it to the Army Medical Museum (it is currently in the National Museum of Health and Medicine) and would visit it every year on the anniversary. Sometimes he brought his dates. He stared in politics after the war and stayed in the game of amour. While Ambassador to Spain, he had an affair with Queen Isabella II. In New York politics, he played a key role in the creation of Central Park. Knowing of its location, he bought up property in the area and made a lot of money. He donated some exotic animals for the Central Park Zoo. At age 93, he was accused of embezzling thousands from a Civil War monuments fund. As usual, he avoided justice.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Sickles
http://www.civilwarbummer.com/sickles-gettysburg-hero-or-medal-of-honor-fraud/
THE ECCENTRICITIES OF STONEWALL JACKSON
- He believed his left arm was heavier than his right. By holding it in the air, the blood would flow lighten it. He was holding his arm in the air during a night reconnaissance at the Battle of Chancellorsville when he became the most famous friendly fire victim of the Civil War. He was hit in the arm by some of his own soldiers. The arm had to be amputated.
- Besides his heavy left arm, Jackson believed his internal organs were out of place. He never allowed his shoulder blades to make contact with any chair he sat in. He did not like to bend over because of this organ problem.
- He was a hypochondriac who worried about his stomach. He brought his own food to parties, usually stale bread. Don’t pass him the pepper because even one grain would cause weakness in his left leg.
- He legendarily loved to suck on lemons, but historians point out he was more partial to peaches.
- He bathed in ice-cold water.
- He was one of the worst teachers ever at Virginia Military Institute. He would memorize his lectures and if any student interrupted him to ask a question, he would restart from the beginning. He wore his heavy woolen uniform in the summer because he had received no order to change it. Once he was called to a meeting with the superintendent. He stayed in the waiting room overnight when the superintendent forgot about the meeting.
- He was very religious. He tried to avoid fighting battles on Sunday. If he thought a letter would be in transit on a Sunday, he would not mail it. He liked to pack himself in wet sheets before going to Sunday services.
- He refused to drink, smoke, curse, dance, play cards, or attend the theater.
– Essential Militaria pp. 4-5
HENRY WIRZ – WAR CRIMINAL
Henry Wirz was born in Switzerland and emigrated to the U.S. In 1861, he enlisted in the Confederate Army as a 37 year old private. He was promoted to captain for bravery and joined the staff of Gen. John Winder. Winder was in charge of prisoners and eventually Wirz was made commandant of a camp in Alabama and then Richmond. On Feb. 27, 1864 Camp Sumter was opened in Georgia and Wirz was put in command. The camp was near Anderson and became known as “Andersonville”. Intended as a temporary holding place for prisoners until they were exchanged, no permanent barracks were constructed. When the Union stopped exchanging prisoners because it benefited the South more than the North, the camp quickly became overcrowded. It was designed to hold 10,000, but ended up with a peak of 32,000 (making it the fifth largest city in the South). The overcrowding led to poor sanitation and the spread of diseases like dysentery. There was a lack of food and supplies and little fresh water. The stream that ran through the camp became foul. Wirz petitioned for more food and supplies, but was denied. However, some of the supplies sent to Wirz did not find its way to the prisoners. Of the total of 45,000 prisoners who spent time there, 13,000 died (28%). Wirz was arrested in May, 1865 and went on trial before a military tribunal from August-October. He was charged with 13 counts of mistreatment, cruelty, and murder. 160 witnesses were called and some gave false testimony, but it was clear that Wirz had ruled by fear and the threat of punishment (ex. stockades and dogs). He was convicted on 11 counts and sentenced to be hanged. A letter asking for clemency was unanswered by Lincoln. An offer of commutation if he implicated Jefferson Davis was refused by Wirz. He was hanged on Nov. 10, 1865. He and guerrilla leader Champ Ferguson were the only ones executed for war crimes after the war. Since then he has become a polarizing figure. Some Southerners made him into a martyr to the Lost Cause. There is a statue at Andersonville.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Wirz
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/henry-wirz-hanged
https://www.nps.gov/ande/learn/historyculture/captain_henry_wirz.htm
HE SAID HE WAS HIT IN THE LEG
Two soldiers were sitting at a campfire the night before what was clearly going to be a battle. The two were buddies who had enlisted together and had fought alongside each other for months. As they gazed into the embers, one broke the contemplation by saying: “You know that rule that we can’t stop to help the wounded?” “Yep.” ” I say to Hell with that rule. I don’t want to lie all day in a field bleeding to death.” “What do you propose?” “I say that if either of us is wounded tomorrow, the other will stop what he is doing and help his buddy out.” “Agreed.” The next day the two were in the thick of the fighting and while charging across a field, one was wounded. He called out to his mate and reminded him of the promise they had made. “Where are you hit?” “In the leg. Carry me back to the hospital.” His friend lifted him over his shoulder. He trudged about a mile with shells exploding all around and finally reached the hospital. Seeing a doctor, he yelled at him to come help his friend. The doctor took one look at the wounded soldier and said: “I hope you didn’t go to a lot of trouble getting him here. He’s stone-cold dead.” The soldier was upset by this quick diagnosis and insisted the doctor take another look. Doctor: “You need to take a look.” The soldier gently lowered his buddy to the ground and saw that he no longer had a head. Apparently, a cannon ball had taken just the right angle when it bounced and took the head clean off. The soldier had not even noticed it. He turned to the doctor shaking his head and said “Damn, he said he was hit in the leg!”
- Bodkin p. 100
THE FREDERICKSBURG BABY
Buck Denman was a bear hunter from Mississippi who joined the Confederate army and was in Barksdale’s Brigade. On Dec. 13, 1862, the Mississippians were fighting in the streets of Fredericksburg. Denman was behind the wall of a house, taking aim with his rifle, when he saw something that made him rub his eyes. A three-year-old girl with a dog were chasing a rolling cannon ball. The girl was clapping and the dog was barking. Once Denman got over the shock of the sight, he rushed out, grabbed the child and returned to shelter. Soon, his unit retreated to Marye’s Heights overlooking the city. He and his comrades were stationed behind the stone wall and withstood numerous Union assaults. All the while taking care of the baby. That night they scoured the countryside for milk and took turns sleeping with the toddler. When the battle was over, Barksdale’s Brigade was ordered to reoccupy the city now that the Yankees had retreated. As they marched down the hill to the city, Denman suddenly lifted the girl in the air and yelled “Forward, here are your colors!” and ran toward the city. With the rebel yell echoing through the war-ravaged city, the rebels charged in with the little girl leading. Suddenly, there was the shriek of a woman as she ran to Denman. She fainted on Denman, who lowered her gently to the ground. She was reunited with her child, who no doubt became the central figure in a family tale told for many years.
– Bodkin p. 102
THE HUNGRY SOLDIER
One night in 1862, a ragged Rebel went to a farmhouse seeking food. He knocked on the back door and a Southern belle told him she was preparing a meal for some officers and if he waited in the kitchen, he could have a plate. He waited for a while and then when the lady was busy, he went into the dining room and took a seat. Soon, General Macgruder and his staff came in and the general took a seat next to the dirty, smelly soldier. The meal was served and the private dug in with a vengeance. Macgruder was amazed at the gusto of the Johnny and said to him: “Son, do you have any idea who you are dining with?” Soldier: “No. I used to be very particular who I ate with, but since I became a soldier, I don’t care who I eat with, just so long as the food is clean.” Magruder laughed and the meal continued.
- Bodkin p. 108-109
GRANT’S WHISKEY
After Grant’s spectacular Vicksburg Campaign, the knifes were out and rumors reached Lincoln about Grant being fond of alcohol. When Judge Lyle Dickey came to the Oval Office, he assured Lincoln that the rumors were not true. Lincoln smiled and said: “We get all sorts of reports here, but I’ll say this to you: that is those accusing General Grant of getting drunk will tell me where he gets his whiskey, I will get a lot of it and send it around to some of the other generals.”
– Bodkin pp. 243-244
THE ALABAMA VERSUS THE KEARSARGE
The Battle of Cherbourg was the second most famous naval battle of the Civil War. Second only to the Monitor versus the Merrimack. It marked the end of the most feared commerce raider, the CSS Alabama. The Alabama had been built in British shipyard and was sold to the Confederacy. Command was given to Capt. Raphael Semmes and he recruited a motley crew of mostly British tars. Semmes was not a privateer. Instead, his goal was to destroy Northern merchant shipping to turn public opinion against the war. For two years, the Alabama cruised the seas sinking 65 ships. Most were burned. Significantly, only one of those ships was a warship. The Alabama sank the sidewheeler USS Hatteras off Galveston. The cruises took the ship across the Atlantic, into the Gulf of Mexico, along the coast of Brazil, into the Indian Ocean, and as far as the South China Sea. In 1864, it pulled into Cherbourg, France for a much-needed refit. It had traveled 75,000 miles.
The infamous vessel had been hunted by a dozen Union warships over the years and it was finally caught by the USS Kearsarge, commanded by Capt. John Winslow. It was a fair match-up with the Kearsarge having a slight advantage in gunnery. More importantly, the Kearsarge had fresh powder and shells. And Winslow had fitted his ship with heavy chains covering his sides. Planking covered the “chain mail” so Semmes had no idea his foe was a tough nut to crack. On the morning of June 19, 1864, the Alabama exited the harbor for the showdown. The Battle of Cherbourg had the two ships circling each other seven times. It was quantity versus quality as the Rebel ship fired 370 shots and the Yankee a lot less, but better aimed. The decayed quality of the Alabama’s powder frustrated the Alabama’s efforts. At one point a shell that would have destroyed the ship lodged in the Kearsarge, but it failed to explode. Meanwhile, the Alabama took numerous hits below the waterline and began to sink. Before jumping overboard, Semmes defiantly threw his sword into the drink. He then swam to a British yacht that had come to watch and escaped to England. 19 of his men were killed in action or drowned. 21 were wounded and 70 were captured. Winslow lost one man dead and two wounded.
https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/kearsarge-and-alabama
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/uss-kearsarge-sinks-css-alabama
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cherbourg_(1864)
THE LINCOLN ASSASSINATION TRIAL
After the assassination of Lincoln, a large net was thrown and many people were accused of being involved in the conspiracy to kill Lincoln, Vice President Andrew Johnson, and Secretary of State William Seward. Some of the fish that were thrown back included Booth’s brother Junius (who was in Cincinnati at the time) and John Ford, who owned the theater. Eight conspirators were charged with involvement in the assassination. It was decided that a military tribunal would hear the case. This made it easier to convict because it would be quick, the rules for evidence were more lenient, and an appeal could only go to President Johnson. Also, it took only a majority vote to convict and 2/3 vote of the nine judges to execute. The trial lasted 7 weeks and 366 witnesses were heard. It ended on June 30. The hangings occurred on July 7, 1865. Here were the accused:
– Samuel Arnold – he had been in the Southern army and was discharged for medical reasons; he was recruited by Booth for the kidnapping of Lincoln; after the second attempt failed, he dropped out; he was sentenced to life in Fort Jefferson; pardoned by Johnson in 1869
– George Atzerodt – was involved in the kidnapping plots; was supposed to kill Johnson but got drunk and chickened out; sentenced to death
– David Harold – he was part of the kidnapping attempts; he went with Powell to kill Seward and waited outside holding his horse; cries from the house caused him to panic and flee; he linked up with Booth and accompanied him to Mudd’s house and was with him at the end; he surrendered to the troops that surrounded Booth in the barn; he was sentenced to death and did not die immediately when he was dropped, he struggled for five minutes at the end of the rope
– Samuel Mudd – doctor who probably knew about the kidnapping plots; after Booth broke his leg from the jump from the box, he ended up at Mudd’s house; Mudd splinted his leg and Booth and Harold left the next day; Mudd delayed in reporting Booth’s stay, even after he learned he was the prime suspect and lied about a previous meetings with Booth; sentenced to life in Fort Jefferson; when a yellow fever epidemic broke out in the prison, he helped doctor the ill; was pardoned by Johnson in 1869
– Michael O’Laughlen, Jr. – an early recruit to the kidnapping; he was not involved in the assassination; sentenced to life; he died of yellow fever in Fort Jefferson
– Lewis Powell – Confederate deserter; second to Booth in importance; he was assigned the murder of Seward; managed to slash the bed-ridden Secretary of State in his bed, along with several others in the house; fled and was on the loose for three days when he went to Surratt’s boarding house and was arrested; he was hanged
– Edmund Spangler – he was a stagehand at the theater; Booth asked him to hold his horse; Spangler passed the job on to Joseph Burroughs; he was convicted of aiding and abetting and sentenced to 6 years in Fort Jefferson; he was part of the Johnson pardon
– Mary Surratt – she was accused of being part of the planning; she supposedly hid weapons for the conspirators and allowed the conspirators to plan at her boarding house – it was alleged she knew what they were talking about; after her conviction, 5 of the 9 judges sent a letter to Johnson urging clemency, it is believed that he did not read the letter; she was given the “seat of honor” (on the right) at the execution; her last words were “Please don’t let me fall” (she was ill and needed to be held up); her execution was the first of a woman by the federal government; her son John was later found innocent due to lack of evidence
Historians have questioned the guilt of Surratt, Mudd, and Spangler. It appears that Surratt and Mudd were guilty and likely Spangler was not.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Abraham_Lincoln#Conspirators’_trial_and_execution
https://famous-trials.com/lincoln/2163-home
THE ST. ALBANS RAID
The St. Albans Raid was the most Northern action of the Civil War. Lt. Bennett Young of the Confederate army had escaped from a Union prison camp and made it to Canada. He came up with the idea of robbing some Northern banks to get back at his captors. Historians have posited several possible motives. Some believe Young wanted to use the money to support the Confederate war effort. Others believe the raid was an act of revenge for Sheridan’s Shenandoah Valley Campaign. And some theorize that the raiders hoped their action would force the North to redeploy forces to Vermont. Young recruited other escaped prisoners for his scheme. He chose the city of St. Albans, Vermont because it had four big banks and no military units in the area. The 18 raiders arrived in twos and threes. All but one were ages 20-26. On Oct. 19, 1864, the raiders took over the city by herding the citizens onto the village green. They then proceeded to rob the banks. Resistance was token and a few shots were fired. The inept bank robbers (who were possibly drunk) left more money in the banks than they stole. Still, they managed to steal about $208,000. A soldier on leave, Capt. George Conger, organized resistance and the raiders were forced to flee with a posse in hot pursuit. Before they left, they tried to set several buildings on fire but their bottles of “Greek fire” failed to work. They did manage to make it back to Canada, but 14 were arrested by Canadian authorities. $88,000 was recovered, but since Canada was neutral, they were not extradited. They went free. Only one citizen was killed and two wounded that day.
http://www.stalbansraid.com/history/the-raid/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Albans_Raid
THE MAN WHO SAVED THE UNION
Joshua Chamberlain taught himself Greek before he went to college. After graduating, he became a professor of rhetoric and oratory at Bowdoin College in Maine. When the Civil War broke out, he enlisted without telling his family, including his wife. He believed that even intellectuals like himself should sacrifice to save the Union. He was offered command of the 20th Maine Regiment, but modestly declined to become second in command. At the Battle of Fredericksburg, he and his men spent a miserable night on the battlefield using corpses for protection from Rebel bullets. The Northern Lights added to the eeriness of the situation. His unit did not participate in the Battle of Chancellorsville due to a smallpox breakout because of a faulty vaccine. It was at Gettysburg that Chamberlain became one of the greatest heroes of the war. The 20th Maine was at the left end of the Union line. Positioned on a hill called Little Round Top, if it had been flanked the whole Union position would have been untenable. Robert E. Lee would win the battle and possibly Southern independence. Chamberlain’s leadership got his men to withstand several attacks. With ammunition running low, he ordered the most famous bayonet charge of the war. It worked and the Union flank was held. Chamberlain became known as the “Lion of Round Top”. He was awarded the Medal of Honor in 1893 for his actions on July 2, 1863. He ended up serving in 20 battles, having six horses shot from under him, and being wounded six times. One of the wounds was thought to be mortal and another almost resulted in the amputation of an arm. He ended the war as a major general. After the war, he was elected Governor of Maine and then was President of Bowdoin College from 1871-1883.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joshua_Chamberlain
https://www.battlefields.org/learn/biographies/joshua-lawrence-chamberlain
HENRY WIRZ
Henry Wirz was one of the villains of the Civil War and one of only two men who were executed for war crimes after the war. Wirz was a Swiss immigrant at age 26. He settled in the South and when the war broke out he enlisted in the Confederate army. He claimed to have been wounded early in the war and lost feeling in his right arm. He was assigned to guard prisoners in Richmond and he caught the attention of Inspector General John Winder who promoted him to commandant of a prison in Alabama. He also did odd jobs like escorting prisoners and arranging exchanges. In early 1864, he was given command of Camp Sumter, Georgia. It is better known as Andersonville. It was a difficult task. The camp was built for 10,000, but held 32,000 at its peak. It was the fifth largest city in the South. A polluted stream was the only source of water. Diseases ran rampant. No barracks were built. Food was lacking and poor. Medicine was not nearly enough to deal with health problems. Wirz begged for more supplies, but they never came. The Union decision to end prisoner exchanges in 1864 meant that the overcrowding continued to grow. Wirz released five prisoners to petition the North for a return to exchanges, but the North saw no military benefit to returning to the policy. In the end, 28% of his prisoners died. Soon after the war, Wirz was arrested and put on trial by a military tribunal. He was charged with conspiracy to impair the lives of the prisoners. The counts included shooting prisoners, beating them, putting them in stocks, and sicking dogs on them. In a two- month trial, 160 witnesses testified. Some were sympathetic to the insurmountable problems Wirz had to deal with, but most had horrific tales to tell. He was convicted on all the counts except one. The assassination of Lincoln and negative newspaper coverage of the Wirz trial probably had some influence on the jury. In his cell, he was offered a deal where he would implicate Jefferson Davis in exchange for a commutation. He refused. On November 10, 1865 he was hanged. Unfortunately, his neck did not break and he died from strangling. His last words were: “I know what orders are, Major. I am being hanged for obeying them.” The Daughters of the Confederacy put up a statue of him.
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/henry-wirz-hanged
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Wirz
THE ORIGIN OF “HOOKER”
When I was a teenager and reading on the Civil War, I learned that the word “hooker” came from Union General Joseph Hooker. (Then I looked up what a hooker was.) Tee hee! Well, it turns out that etymology was false. Historian Norman Eliason found it in print as early as 1845. In 1856, John Bartlett included the word in “Dictionary of Americanisms”. It was defined as “a strumpet, a sailor’s trull”. One theory is the word came from Corlear’s Hook, N.Y. The area was full of criminals and sex workers. But the word could be traced back to 16th Century England where it was originally a reference to petty thieves who used polls with hooks on them to steal goods. It may then have been transferred to prostitutes who hooked, or lured, their clients. Then along came Joseph Hooker, who became famous as “Fighting Joe” Hooker and was the commander of the Army of the Potomac until badly defeated at Chancellorsville. Someone decided that because Hooker’s men made great use of the red-light district when he was a division commander, prostitutes became known as “hookers”. Famed Civil War historian Bruce Catton perpetuated the myth by writing about the red -light district in Washington being known as “Hooker’s Division”. He knew a great anecdote when he saw it, but sometimes great anecdotes turn out to be apocryphal. Just ask me. I spent years telling my students that hookers got their name from Joseph Hooker. And then Google came along. And out went the anecdote.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1994-08-20-9408200176-story.html
SNOWBALLING IN THE CIVIL WAR
We tend to teach the Civil War as a series of battles, when in fact a typical Civil War soldier would have seen combat for at most a total of two weeks a year. That’s a lot of time to kill. Some of it was spent marching in anticipation of the next battle. but most of it was spent in camp. While in camp, there were duties and drills to fill part of the time, but you still had hours to fill. This was especially true of winter time. Armies seldom fought in the winter. Usually, they went into winter camp. Although spared the dangers of battle, they still had to deal with diseases, poor sanitation, lack of food, and lack of women. What they had a lot of was boredom. To fight this, they wrote letters, played cards, told stories, played music, and even put on plays. Team sports, like an early form of baseball, were popular. When snow covered the ground, an occasional snow ball would flit through the air, possibly finding the back of an officer’s head. There were times when the teamwork of warfare linked up with what was called “snowballing”. Some of these organized affairs became legendary. Sometimes entire regiments of thousands challenged each other. Pyramids of snowballs would be gathered. Lines were formed. Officers took charge. Drums and bugles sounded. The “Rebel yell” rang out. And volleys of snowballs flew. Here is how one soldier described it.
When the Georgians were within one hundred feet the order was given to “fire.” Then shower after shower of the fleecy balls filled the air. Cheer after cheer went up from the assaulters and the assaultant—now pressed back by the flying balls, then to the assault again. Officers shouted to the men, and they answered with a “yell.”
This usually ended in a melee with more than snowballs being thrown. Broken bones, blackened eyes, sprained ankles, and other injuries ensued. And one side made a run for it, ending the fun.
https://www.historynet.com/deep-freeze-fight.htm
https://www.battlefields.org/learn/primary-sources/desperate-snow-battle
HIS NAME WAS MUDD
Samuel Mudd was born on Dec. 20, 1833. His father was a wealthy plantation owner who gave his son a plantation of his own with slaves when he reached adulthood. He grew tobacco, but his main job was doctoring. He married and had four kids when the war broke out. In 1864, Maryland abolished slavery and Mudd’s financial situation deteriorated. Mudd was a firm believer in slavery and supported secession. In 1864, he met John Wilkes Booth. Booth was supposedly shopping for real estate. He spent the night at Mudd’s farm. We do not know what they discussed. Later, in December, the two met again in Washington. According to Mudd, by accident. They spent several hours together, along with other conspirators against Lincoln. On April 15, 1865 they met again when presidential assassin Booth showed up on Mudd’s doorstep with a broken fibula. Mudd cut off his boot and splinted the leg. Booth spent 12-15 hours before moving on to his death. Mudd did not contact authorities when word spread that Booth was the assassin. He was arrested for conspiracy to kill the president. He lied about previously knowing Booth. This was a huge mistake. At his trial, Thomas Ewing argued that Mudd was a good master to his slaves. The prosecution claimed he had shot one of them in the leg and threatened to send them to work on Richmond’s defenses. The most damning evidence was that he had lied about his contacts with Booth. He had also hid the boot in his house. He escaped the death penalty by just one vote. He got life imprisonment. He and several other conspirators were sent to Fort Jefferson in Florida. He was 31 years old at the time. For a while they were housed in “the dungeon”, but a letter from his wife caused Pres. Johnson to improve his conditions. In 1867, a yellow fever outbreak hit the prison and killed the doctor. Mudd took over and was responsible for minimizing the epidemic. Only 14% of those infected died. (In 1873, a similar outbreak took 37%.) One of the dead was fellow conspirator Michael O’Laughlin. 299 soldiers stationed at the fort petitioned Johnson for clemency. Ewing, who had influence in the administration, put in a good word. On March 8, 1869 Mudd was pardoned. He returned to his farm and basically lived happily ever after, fathering several more kids. Was he guilty? His grandson Richard Mudd certainly didn’t think so. He wrote a book that convinced Presidents Carter and Reagan to doubt it. However, evidence points to his guilt. He lied about his relationship with Booth, aided his escape, hid evidence. Most likely, he thought he was part of a plot to kidnap Lincoln, not kill him. He knew Booth had his farm in mind as a stop after the kidnapping. He tried to cover up his involvement when he was arrested. He deserved the pardon for his actions in the epidemic, not because he was innocent.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Mudd
https://www.historynet.com/dr-samuel-a-mudd.htm
GRACE BEDELL’S LETTER
In October, 1860, an eleven-year-old girl in Westfield, NY, was shown a campaign picture of the Republican ticket for President. Abraham Lincoln and Hannibal Hamlin were depicted. Grace had an immediate reaction to Lincoln’s visage. She told her mother he would look better with whiskers. Her mother suggested she write him a letter. So, she did. The letter was posted Oct. 15, 1860.
Here is how she described why she wrote the letter:
“You are familiar with Mr. Lincoln’s physiognomy, and remember the high forehead over those sadly pathetic eyes, the angular lower face with the deep cut lines about the mouth. As I regarded the picture, I said to my mother, “He would look better if he wore whiskers, and I mean to write and tell him so.”
Here is the letter:
Hon A B Lincoln
Dear Sir My father has just home from the fair and brought home your picture and Mr.Hamlin. I am a little girl only 11 years old, but want you should be President of the United States very much so I hope you wont think me very bold to write to such a great man as you are. Have you any little girls about as large as I am if so give them my love and tell her to write to me if you cannot answer this letter. I have yet got four brothers and part of them will vote for you any way and if you let your whiskers grow I will try and get the rest of them to vote for you you would look a great deal better for your face is so thin. All the ladies like whiskers and they would tease their husbands to vote for you and then you would be President. My father is going to vote for you and if I was a man I would vote for you to but I will try to get every one to vote for you that I can I think that rail fence around your picture makes it look very pretty I have got a little baby sister she is nine weeks old and is just as cunning as can be. When you direct your letter direct to Grace Bedell Westfield Chautauqua County New York. I must not write any more answer this letter right off Good bye
Grace Bedell
Lincoln made no promise in his reply to Bedell’s letter:
Springfield, Ill Oct 19, 1860
Miss Grace Bedell My dear little Miss Your very agreeable letter of the 15th is received. I regret the necessity of saying I have no daughters. I have three sons. They, with their mother, constitute my whole family. As to the whiskers, having never worn any, do you not think people would call it a silly affectation if I were to begin it now? Your very sincere well wisher
- Lincoln
He made no promise, but within a few weeks, he had started a beard. On his inaugural trip, he made a side trip to Westfield to meet Grace. According to Grace: “‘Gracie,’ he said, ‘look at my whiskers. I have been growing them for you.’ Then he kissed me.”
When she was 17, she married a Civil War veteran and they moved to Kansas to farm. She died in 1936 at age 87.
In 1999, the city of Westfield put up statues commemorating the meeting.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace_Bedell
https://www.womenhistoryblog.com/2013/03/grace-bedell.html
THE BATTLE OF THE CRATER
In 1864, Gen. Grant’s campaign to capture Richmond and destroy Lee’s Army of North Virginia ran into a brick wall at Petersburg. Both sides dug in and if you think trench warfare began in WWI, think again. There was even a no man’s land between the front lines. In June, Lt. Col. Pleasant came up with an idea to break the stalemate. His Pennsylvania regiment had plenty of coal miners who could dig a tunnel under the Confederate line and blow a hole in it. The commander of his corps was Ambrose Burnside. Burnside liked the idea and brought it to the commanding general of the Army of the Potomac Gen. Meade and the Union commander in chief Grant. They didn’t think much of the plan, but what the heck, try it. The effort was given little support, but the miners managed to dig a 500 feet long tunnel and then two side trenches to form a T. 320 kegs of gunpowder (equivalent to 4 tons) were placed in the side tunnels. Burnside’s plan was for two brigades of Colored Troops to attack each side of the crater. They were trained for this. It was believed that behind the trench line was open ground and the Union could make a rush to Petersburg. The day before the assault, Meade suddenly decided to nix the use of the black troops because it would be bad PR if the attack was unsuccessful and many were killed. He also just didn’t think the blacks were good enough. He ordered Burnside to switch to white soldiers. He drew straws and assigned the attack to the division of Gen. James Ledlie, a notorious alcoholic. Ledlie gave little direction to his subordinates and stayed in his tent drunk the day of the attack. Around 4 A.M. on July 30, the fuse was lit and… nothing happened. Lt. Jacob Douty and Sgt. Harry Reese volunteered to go find out what the problem was. They found where the fuse went out, patched it, and relit it. At 4:44 A.M., a tremendous explosion occurred and a crater 170 feet long, 60-80 feet wide, and 30 feet deep was created. 288 of the 18th and 22nd South Carolina were killed. A long 15 minutes later, Ledlie’s men moved into no man’s land. They were flayed by artillery and when they reached the crater they went in, thinking it was safer there. It wasn’t. Confederate Gen. William Mahone quickly organized a counterattack which caught the Yankees in the crater. As Mahone said, it was like “a turkey shoot”. The attack was a bloody failure, but Burnside decided to reinforce the failure by sending in the black units. They also entered the crater and their appearance enflamed the Rebels who began to chant “spare the white man, kill the n—–“. The South had an unofficial policy of no quarter for blacks and it was implemented here. After more killing, Burnside finally called the survivors back. 18% of the white soldiers were casualties and 31% of blacks. Ironically, the whole thing was probably in vain because the Confederates had reserve trenches beyond the crater and artillery covering the ground. There would have been no rush to Petersburg. In the battle, 1,491 Rebels were casualties (361 killed) and 3,798 Yankees were casualties (504 killed and 1,413 captured or missing). Burnside was made the scapegoat, but a congressional investigation a year later exonerated him and put most of the blame on Meade.
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/union-forces-stopped-at-the-battle-of-the-crater
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Crater
https://www.essentialcivilwarcurriculum.com/the-battle-of-the-crater.html
“PUT THE BOYS IN”
Part of Gen. Grant’s strategy to capture Richmond involved conquering the Shenandoah Valley. He assigned the task to Maj. Gen. Sigel. In May, 1864, Sigel moved south up the valley. His targets were the towns of Staunton and Lynchburg. Facing him was the army of Maj. Gen. John Breckinridge. He was a great example of a political general. As a senator, he had run for President in 1860 as the Southern Democrat candidate. He was the rare political general who was competent. He had only 5,000 men to stop Sigel’s 9,000. His army consisted of a few veterans, plus partisan cavalry, militia, and home guardsmen. He knew he had to give battle and he could use any reinforcements he could find. On May 10, he sent a message to the superintendent of Virginia Military Institute. He hoped Maj. Gen. F.H. Smith would send his cadets and their two cannons to act as a reserve for the upcoming battle. Although the cadets were the “seed corn of the Confederacy”, Smith did not hesitate. And he didn’t have to talk the boys into it. Not surprisingly, they were gung-ho. Under the command of Col. Scott Shipp, they marched to join Breckinridge’s army. Shipp was an 1859 graduate. His boys averaged 16 years old. There were 250 plus the two cannons.
The Battle of New Market was fought on May 15, 1864. Breckinridge took advantage of Sigel’s army being spaced out along the road. His vanguard of 6,000 was ahead of the rest of the army. Breckinridge tried to lure the Yankees into attacking his position on a hill. When they held back, Breckinridge took the initiative. He attacked the Union position on Bushong’s Hill. (The Bushong family was cowering in their basement.) In the exchange of artillery fire, three cadets were killed. In the battle, Breckinridge’s center collapsed and he needed to plug the gap. He sent an order to Col. Shipp. “Put the boys in, and may God forgive me for the order.” In marching across the muddy field, some of the boys got their shoes sucked off their feet. For this reason, the field became known as “the Field of Lost Shoes.” The boys naively rushed forward to get their first taste of combat. Their elan helped push the Yankees back. The boys captured a cannon. The assault was halted by Union artillery, but the battle had been won and Sigel retreated north. The VMI cadets had suffered ten dead and 50 wounded, but they had covered themselves and their school with glory. Breckinridge registered his gratitude by telling them: “Well done, Virginians. Well done, men.” In June, the Union army passed through Lexington, Va. and burned VMI in retaliation for the Battle of New Market. Every May 15 since 1866, VMI commemorates the battle with a ceremony that includes a roll call of the ten dead cadets.
https://www.shenandoahatwar.org/put-the-boys-in-article
https://www.historynet.com/battle-of-new-market-vmi-cadets-the-forgotten-ones/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_New_Market
LINCOLN LOSES A FAVORITE
Ephraim Elmer Ellsworth was a favorite of Pres. Lincoln. When the Civil War began, Ellsworth became Col. Ellsworth in command of a regiment. He was sent to establish Union control over Alexandria, Virginia, a town near Washington. His men easily took possession of the town. Ellsworth noticed a Confederate flag flying over a hotel. “We must have that flag.” Ellsworth and several soldiers charged up the stairs and pulled down the flag. Probably thinking the flag would make a great gift for the President, he headed down the stairs. He was confronted by the hotel owner, who put a shotgun in his face. Ellsworth was killed instantly. The soldiers shot the hotel owner in the face. The news of Ellsworth’s death was just the first of many sad moments for Lincoln.
– Side Lights in American History, Vol. 2, pp. 85-86
LINCOLN CONSOLES A WIDOW
In 1864, a newspaper story ran about a Mrs. Bixby. The sixty-year-old widow had lost five of her six sons in the war. She was poor, but the story elicited compassionate donations and the interest of the President. Lincoln wrote her a letter that became a famous example of what kind of man he was.
Dear Madam: I have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement of the Adjutant General of Massachusetts that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle. I feel how weak and fruitless must be any words of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the republic they died to save. I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and the lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom.
Yours, very sincerely and respectfully
Lincoln
– Side Lights in American History, Vol. 2, pp. 88-89
THE LAST BATTLE OF THE CIVIL WAR
Lee surrendered to Grant on April 9, 1865, but fighting continued after that. The last battle of the Civil War was the Battle of Palmito Ranch in Texas. The Union and the Confederacy had small forces on the southern tip of Texas along the Rio Grande River. A gentleman’s agreement kept things peaceful until May 11, a full month after Lee’s surrender. In spite of knowledge of the surrender, Union Col. Theodore Barrett decided to march inland towards Brownsville. Barrett commanded the 62nd Colored Infantry Regiment and he and his men had not tasted combat yet. It is likely that Barrett decided to “see the elephant” before hostilities ceased. There was also the lure of a large amount of cotton at Brownsville. After marching seven miles, Barrett’s column, commanded by Lt. Col. David Branson, encountered Confederate cavalry. A skirmish resulted and both sides withdrew, the Confederates to Palmito Ranch and the Yankees to a hill. On May 13, Barrett brought reinforcements, which brought his force to 500. Barrett attacked and captured the ranch. He pursued for a mile, but Confederate Col. John “Rip” Ford brought up more Rebels and six cannons. Ford’s counterattack routed the Yankees and Barrett was barely able to escape being surrounded. Only a determined stand by the 62nd saved his force. With possession of the battle site, the Confederates ironically was credited with victory in the last battle of the war. Bloodshed was low as the Union suffered up to 30 killed and 100 wounded while the Confederacy only had 6 men wounded. Union Private John J. Williams goes down in history as the last man killed in the Civil War.
https://www.battlefields.org/learn/civil-war/battles/palmito-ranch
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Palmito_Ranch
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