Chapter 16 the Civil War (1861-1865)
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Civil War Generals Buried in Spring Grove Cemetery by James Barnett
Spring Grove Cemetery, once characterized as blending "the elegance of a park with the pensive beauty of a burial-place," is the final resting- place of forty Cincinnatians who were generals during the Civil War. Forty For the Union: Civil War Generals Buried in Spring Grove Cemetery by James Barnett f the forty Civil War generals who are buried in Spring Grove Cemetery, twenty-three had advanced from no military experience whatsoever to attain the highest rank in the Union Army. This remarkable feat underscores the nature of the Northern army that suppressed the rebellion of the Confed- erate states during the years 1861 to 1865. Initially, it was a force of "inspired volunteers" rather than a standing army in the European tradition. Only seven of these forty leaders were graduates of West Point: Jacob Ammen, Joshua H. Bates, Sidney Burbank, Kenner Garrard, Joseph Hooker, Alexander McCook, and Godfrey Weitzel. Four of these seven —Burbank, Garrard, Mc- Cook, and Weitzel —were in the regular army at the outbreak of the war; the other three volunteered when the war started. Only four of the forty generals had ever been in combat before: William H. Lytle, August Moor, and Joseph Hooker served in the Mexican War, and William H. Baldwin fought under Giuseppe Garibaldi in the Italian civil war. This lack of professional soldiers did not come about by chance. When the Constitutional Convention met in Philadelphia in 1787, its delegates, who possessed a vast knowledge of European history, were determined not to create a legal basis for a standing army. The founding fathers believed that the stand- ing armies belonging to royalty were responsible for the endless bloody wars that plagued Europe. -
Collection SC 0084 W. Roger Smith Civil War Research Collection 1862
Collection SC 0084 W. Roger Smith Civil War Research Collection 1862 Table of Contents User Information Historical Sketch Scope and Content Note Container List Processed by Emily Hershman 27 June 2011 Thomas Balch Library 208 W. Market Street Leesburg, VA 20176 USER INFORMATION VOLUME OF COLLECTION: 2 folders COLLECTION DATES: 1862 PROVENANCE: W. Roger Smith, Midland, TX. ACCESS RESTRICTIONS: Collection open for research USE RESTRICTIONS: No physical characteristics affect use of this material. REPRODUCTION RIGHTS: Permission to reproduce or publish material in this collection must be obtained in writing from Thomas Balch Library. CITE AS: W. Roger Smith Civil War Research Collection, 1862 (SC 0084), Thomas Balch Library, Leesburg, VA. ALTERNATE FORMATS: None OTHER FINDING AIDS: None TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS: None RELATED HOLDINGS: None ACCESSION NUMBERS: 1995.0046 NOTES: Formerly filed in Thomas Balch Library Vertical Files 2 HISTORICAL SKETCH From its organization in July 1861, the Army of the Potomac remained the primary Union military force in the East, confronting General Robert E. Lee’s (1807-1870) Army of Northern Virginia in a series of battles and skirmishes. In the early years of the Civil War, however, the Army of the Potomac suffered defeats at the Battle of the First Bull Run in 1861, the Peninsula Campaign and the Battle of Fredericksburg in 1862, as well as the Battle of Chancellorsville in 1863. Historians attribute its initial lack of victories to poor leadership from a succession of indecisive generals: Irvin McDowell (1818-1885), George McClellan (1826-1885), Ambrose Burnside (1824-1881), and Joseph Hooker (1814-1879). When General George Meade (1815-1872) took command of the Army of the Potomac in June 1863, he was successful in pushing the Army of Northern Virginia out of Pennsylvania following the Battle of Gettysburg. -
Union Generals Ambrose Everett Burnside (1824-1881) Poore, Benjamin
Union Generals Ambrose Everett Burnside (1824-1881) Poore, Benjamin. The Life and Public Services of Ambrose E. Burnside. Providence, Rhode Island: J.A. & R.A. Reid, 1882. E B967p Woodbury, Augustus. Major General Ambrose E. Burnside and the Ninth Army Corps. Providence: S.S. Rider & Brother, 1867. F834 P86.9 W884 David Glasgow Farragut (1801-1870) Duffy, James P. Lincoln’s Admiral: The Civil War Campaigns of David Farragut. New York: Wiley, 1997. E F2393d Farragut, Loyall. The Life of David Glasgow Farragut, First Admiral of the United States Navy, Embodying his Journal and Letters. New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1879. E F2393f Hill, Jim Dan. Sea Dogs of the Sixties: Farragut and Seven Contemporaries. Minneapolis, Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press, 1935. F8347 H646s Lewis, Charles Lee. David Glasgow Farragut. Annapolis: United States Naval Institute, 1941- 43. E F2393L Mahan, A.T. Admiral Farragut. New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1897. E F2393m Andrew Hull Foote (1806-1863) Hoppins, J. M. Life of Andrew Hull Foote, Rear-Admiral United States Navy. New York: Harper & Bros., 1874. E F688h Ulysses Simpson Grant (1822-1885) Catton, Bruce. Grant Moves South. Boston: Little, Brown, 1988, c1960. F896.3 G76cat2 1988 Catton, Bruce. Grant Takes Command. Boston: Little, Brown, 1969. F896.3 G76cat3 1990 Grant, Ulysses S. Memoirs and Selected Letters: Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant, Selected Letters 1839-1865. New York: Library of America, 1990. F896.3 G759p 1990 Lewis, Lloyd. Captain Sam Grant. Boston: Little, Brown, 1950. F896.3 G76Le McFeely, William S. Grant: A Biography. New York: Norton, 1981. -
The Battle of Antietam U.S
National Park Service The Battle of Antietam U.S. Department of the Interior Antietam National Battlefield P. O. Box 158 Sharpsburg, MD 21782 Dawn approached slowly through the fog on September 17, 1862. As soldiers tried to wipe away the dampness, cannons began to roar and sheets of flame burst forth from hundreds of rifles, opening a twelve hour tempest that swept across the rolling farm fields in western Maryland. A clash between North and South that changed the course of the Civil War, helped free over four million Americans, devastated Sharpsburg, and still ranks as the bloodiest one-day battle in American history. “…we are driven to protect our “The present seems to be the own country by transferring the most propitious time since the seat of war to that of an enemy commencement of the war for who pursues us with a relentless the Confederate army to enter and apparently aimless hostility.” Maryland.” Jefferson Davis General R.E. Lee September 7, 1862 3 September1862 The Battle of Antietam was the culmination of the Maryland Campaign of 1862, the first invasion of the North by Confederate General Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia. In Kentucky and Missouri, Southern armies were also advancing as the tide of war flowed north. After Lee’s dramatic victory at the Second Battle of Manassas during the last two days of August, he wrote to Confederate President Jefferson Davis that “we cannot afford to be idle.” Lee wanted to keep the offensive and secure Southern independence through victory in the North; influence the fall mid-term elections; obtain much needed supplies; move the war out of Virginia, possibly into Pennsylvania; and to liberate Maryland, a Union state, but a slave-holding border state divided in its sympathies. -
James Longstreet and His Staff of the First Corps
Papers of the 2017 Gettysburg National Military Park Seminar The Best Staff Officers in the Army- James Longstreet and His Staff of the First Corps Karlton Smith Lt. Gen. James Longstreet had the best staff in the Army of Northern Virginia and, arguably, the best staff on either side during the Civil War. This circumstance would help to make Longstreet the best corps commander on either side. A bold statement indeed, but simple to justify. James Longstreet had a discriminating eye for talent, was quick to recognize the abilities of a soldier and fellow officer in whom he could trust to complete their assigned duties, no matter the risk. It was his skill, and that of the officers he gathered around him, which made his command of the First Corps- HIS corps- significantly successful. The Confederate States Congress approved the organization of army corps in October 1862, the law approving that corps commanders were to hold the rank of lieutenant general. President Jefferson Davis General James Longstreet in 1862. requested that Gen. Robert E. Lee provide (Museum of the Confederacy) recommendations for the Confederate army’s lieutenant generals. Lee confined his remarks to his Army of Northern Virginia: “I can confidently recommend Generals Longstreet and Jackson in this army,” Lee responded, with no elaboration on Longstreet’s abilities. He did, however, add a few lines justifying his recommendation of Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson as a corps commander.1 When the promotion list was published, Longstreet ranked as the senior lieutenant general in the Confederate army with a date of rank of October 9, 1862. -
Gettysburg Campaign
MARYLAND CIVIL WAR TRAILS How to Use this Map-Guide This guide depicts four scenic and historic driving tours that follow the routes taken by Union and Confederate armies during the June-July 1863 Gettysburg Campaign. Information contained here and along the Trail tells stories that have been hidden within the landscape for more than 140 years. Follow the bugle trailblazer signs to waysides that chronicle the day-to-day stories of soldiers who marched toward the Civil War’s most epic battles and civilians who, for a second time in nine months, watched their countryside trampled by the boots of the “Blue and Gray.” The Trail can be driven in one, two or three days depending on traveler preference. Destinations like Rockville, Westminster, Frederick, Hagerstown and Cumberland offer walking tours that can be enjoyed all-year long. Recreational activities such as hiking, biking, paddling and horseback riding add a different, yet powerful dimension to the driving experience. Amenities along the Trail include dining, lodging, shopping, and attractions, which highlight Maryland’s important role in the Civil War. For more detailed travel information, stop by any Maryland Welcome Center, local Visitor Center or contact any of the organizations listed in this guide. For additional Civil War Trails information, visit www.civilwartrails.org. For more travel information, visit www.mdwelcome.org. Tim Tadder, www.tadderphotography.com Tadder, Tim Biking through C&O Canal National Historical Park. Follow these signs to more than 1,000 Civil War sites. Detail of painting “Serious Work Ahead” by Civil War Artist Dale Gallon, www.gallon.com, (717) 334-0430. -
FATHER ABRAHAM STUDENT COMMENT: in All of the Letters We Read It Is Abundantly Clear How Much Abraham Lincoln's Contemporaries Viewed Him As an Almost Fatherly Figure
History 211 US Military History Discussion Transcript for February 25, 2021 Main Reading: Lincoln’s Writings This week students reviewed selected letters which Lincoln wrote during the Civil War, particularly a private 1862 note to Reverdy Johnson, a Unionist politician from Maryland, an 1863 letter (which he read aloud) to Gen. Joseph Hooker, and a confidential request sent to Gen. U.S. Grant in early 1865 about his son Robert. The following selections come from student comments: OVERVIEW STUDENT COMMENT: Lincoln’s letters to Reverdy Johnson, General Hooker, and General Grant all show individually important characteristics oF Lincoln throuGhout the war, both as a leader as well as a man with personal emotions and intuition. One constant between all letters is the seeminGly casual nature that Lincoln Goes about addressinG both senator and General. Lincoln reFerred directly to principles oF Friendship in his letters to Johnson and Grant, while complimentinG Hooker, even iF somewhat backhandedly. That beinG said, the contents of each letter vary Greatly. In his letter to Johnson, Lincoln essentially dismisses the treatment oF the people of Louisiana and slave policy implemented by General Phelps. Lincoln rather Flatly proclaims “They also know the remedy---know how to be cured oF General Phelps. Remove the necessity of his presence.” (Lincoln, 1862). In this little remorse is considered by Lincoln, which would have most likely been seen by those within the South and perhaps the larGer Union, as a quasi-dictatorial act. KnowinG this reputation, when one oF Lincolns Generals in the Form of Hooker so claimed “that both the Army and the Government needed a Dictator” Lincoln responded with a deal oF spite (Lincoln, 1863). -
“Stonewall” Jackson: a Biography
The Stonewall Jackson House, Lexington, Virginia Discovering Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson: A Biography Thomas Jonathan Jackson was born on January 21, 1824, in Clarksburg, Virginia (now West Virginia). Thomas’ father died when Thomas was two years old, leaving Thomas’ mother widowed with little money and many debts. To support her three surviving children, Thomas’ mother became a teacher and also sewed. Mounting financial problems forced her to sell all her property, even the family home in Clarksburg. Four years later, Thomas’ mother re-married and moved the family to a neighboring county. When Thomas was seven she became very ill and sent the children to live with relatives. Later that year Thomas returned home to be at his mother’s side when she died. Thomas loved his mother deeply, and he remembered her with appreciation all his life. After their mother’s death, Thomas and his sister Laura lived with their Uncle Cummins on Jackson’s Mill. The young Thomas quickly grew to like to his uncle and enjoyed working on the farm. But Thomas lived a lonely and independent life with his uncle, and received only three years of formal schooling. Worse, Thomas did not begin school until he was thirteen. When he was eighteen, Thomas entered the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. Lacking the financial and educational advantages of his classmates, Jackson ranked at the bottom of his class his first year, though he improved with each year. When he was graduated in 1846, Thomas ranked seventeenth out of the fifty-nine graduates in his class. -
Colonel Edward Cross at the Battle of Chancellorsville
New Hampshire in the Civil War Lesson Plan Colonel Edward Cross at the Battle of Chancellorsville Created by: New Hampshire in the Civil War workshop participants and the New Hampshire Historical Society, 2014 –15 Topic: New Hampshire’s Connection to the Battle of Chancellorsville Level: Middle School and High School ABSTRACT / SUMMARY The Union Army lacked decisive leadership during critical battles in the Civil War, in the opinion of some critics. One such instance was the Battle of Chancellorsville, where Confederate General Robert E. Lee made the risky decision to divide his army while facing the larger military force of the Union Army. Despite the advantage of larger numbers, Union General Joseph Hooker’s lack of military leadership resulted in significant causalities and a Confederate victory. Eventually, Joseph Hooker would be replaced by Major General George Meade. Colonel Edward Cross, a native of New Hampshire, served as Colonel of the 5 th New Hampshire Volunteer Infantry. Cross and the 5 th New Hampshire Volunteers participated in the battles of Fair Oaks (June 1, 1862), Antietam (September 17, 1862), and Fredericksburg (December 11 – 15, 1862). During the Battle of Chancellorsville (April 30–May 6, 1863), Cross led a brigade. He died at the Battle of Gettysburg (July 1 –3, 1863) and is buried in Lancaster, NH. Cross’s letters and journals include descriptions of the battles and reveal what life was like for a soldier during the Civil War. QUESTIONS / TASKS How can historians use primary sources to illuminate larger national questions? Write a field report detailing the events of the Battle of Chancellorsville and include a recommendation to either keep or remove General Joseph Hooker from his military leadership position. -
The Armies at Gettysburg
Papers of the 2017 Gettysburg National Military Park Seminar Epilogue: The Armies at Gettysburg John Heiser, Gettysburg NMP The summer of 1863 witnessed one of the most intense and risky campaigns of the American Civil War when General Robert E. Lee removed the primary force in northern Virginia that kept the Union Army from the defenses of the capital of the Confederacy and marched his Army of Northern Virginia north and across the Potomac River. Described as a raid by some historians or a well calculated strategy by others, it was a bold move to take the war out of Virginia, relieve pressure in other theaters of the war, and place additional political pressure for the Lincoln Administration to bow to calls to end the bloodletting, the Union was not worth the price. In pursuit of and shadowing Lee’s forces was the Army of the Potomac, one of the largest armies of the Union and the most politically driven. Two years of war, changes in commanders and administration had likewise re-arranged the structure of the Army and how it functioned. It was not until 1863 when it, like it’s counterpart in gray, had fully adjusted the army’s support system and military organization, which neither sparked its ability to move and fight nor diminished that ability. Leadership under General Joseph Hooker was wanton of action; mere words did not win a battle and without personal confidence in himself, the prospect for success in any military campaign was pre-ordained to fail. Likewise, the political implications of poor army management weighed heavily on the Lincoln administration and its war aims. -
How Lincoln Won and Lost at Gettysburg
How Lincoln Won and Lost at Gettysburg Glenn W. LaFantasie By the spring of 1863, as the Civil War cast a dark shadow across the land, it became more and more evident to soldiers and civilians alike that the terrible conflict between North and South had grown into a behemoth that no one could successfully control or constrain — a leviathan, like Melville's great white whale, that set its own course and moved at its own speed and evaded every attempt to arrest its awesome power. Nothing in this awful war — what Abraham Lincoln called this "great national trouble" — had gone according to plan.1 The war had grown in intensity, in brutality, in the vastness of misery and loss that went far beyond what any American could have imagined in the passionate years that led up to the fall of Fort Sumter. Gone now were the haughty poses and flamboyant rhetoric, the silly dreams of a picture-book war. In their place came utter sadness and the chanting of low laments heard in the creeping darkness. When mankind turns to war, as the North and South did in 1861, it sets in motion events that cannot be predicted or harnessed. "War," wrote Thomas Paine in the eighteenth century, "involves in its progress such a train of unforeseen and unsupposed circumstances …. that no human wisdom can calculate the end."2 Unanticipated consequences flow out of actions that in retrospect seem tiny and insignificant. Everything is changed; nothing is familiar, for war touches everyone with no mercy and with the power of pervasive destruction. -
General Joseph Hooker
HOOKER, Joseph, soldier, b. in Hadley,'Mass., 13 Nov., 1814; d. in Garden City. N. Y., 31 Oct., 1879. After a good elementary education he was appointed a cadet in the U. S. military academy, where he was graduated in 1837 with Braxton Bragg, Jubal Early, John Sedgwick, and Edward D. Town send. He was ap pointed a 2d lieuten ant in the 1st artil lery, and after serv ing in the Florida war was sent with his regiment to the Maiue frontier, on account of the dis ~ / .L__~ . puted boundary con J./c:7~~ troversy.OnlNov., 1838, he was pro moted to a 1st lieutenancy. After continued ser vice with his regiment, he was appointed adjutant of the military academy, 1 July, 1842, but soon after ward, having been offered the adjutancy of his own regiment, accepted it, and retained it until 11 May, 1846. He served with distinction in the Mexican war from 1846 till 1848, and in the former year was appointed a captain in the adjutant-general's department. He was a.ttached successively to the staffs of Gens. Persifer F. Smith. Thomas .L. Hamer, William O. Butler. and Gideon 1. Pillow. He was particularly di~tinguished in the siege and assault of Monterey, under Gen. Zachary Taylor, and received the brevet of captain. He took part in the movements from Vera Cruz to the city of Mexico, and for his gallantry in a spirited affair at the National bridge on 11 Aug., 1847, was brevet ted major. He was favorably mentioned in the despatches announcing the series of actions and victories in the valley of Mexico-Contreras, Chu rubusco, Molino del Rey, Chapultepec, and the capture of the city.