Prince Camille De Polignac and the American Civil War
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lafayette of the south Lafayette of the South Prince Camille de Polignac and the American Civil War Jeff Kinard Texas A&M University Press College Station Copyright © 2001 by Jeff Kinard Manufactured in the United States of America All rights reserved First edition The paper used in this book meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, z39.48-1984. Binding materials have been chosen for durability. ᭺ϱ Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Kinard, Jeff, 1954 – Lafayette of the South : Prince Camille de Polignac and the American Civil War / Jeff Kinard.—1st ed. p. cm. — (Texas A&M University military history series ; 70) Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index. isbn 1-58544-103-1 (alk. paper) 1. Polignac, Camille de, b. 1832. 2. Generals— Confederate States of America—Biography. 3. Confederate States of America. Army—Biography. 4. French— Confederate States of America—Biography. 5. Princes—France— Biography. 6. Southwest, Old—History— Civil War, 1861–1865— Campaigns. 7. Texas —History— Civil War, 1861–1865— Campaigns. 8. Red River Expedition, 1864. 9. United States—History— Civil War, 1861–1865— Campaigns. I. Title. II. Series. e467.1.p66 k56 2001 973.7Ј13Ј092—dc21 00-010346 For Frances and Kelly Contents List of Illustrations ix Acknowledgments xi Introduction xiii Chapter 1. “Lieutenant Colonel, C.S.A., ‘Thru Courtesy’” 3 Chapter 2. “Time Will Tell”: January 1, 1862–May 12, 1862 24 Chapter 3. “Was Not Caesar, Caesar at Twenty?”: May 13, 1862–August 10, 1862 38 Chapter 4. “I Stood with You—I Marched with You—I Charged with You”: August 10, 1862–August 31, 1862 53 Chapter 5. “One Will, One End, One All Pervading Thought”: September 1, 1862–April 2, 1863 72 Chapter 6. “A Damn Frog-Eating Frenchman”: April 3, 1863–December 31, 1863 88 Chapter 7. “I Will Show You Whether I Am ‘Polecat’ or ‘Polignac!’”: January 1, 1864 –April 6, 1864 119 Chapter 8. “Follow Your Polignac!”: April 6, 1864 –April 10, 1864 135 Chapter 9. “Twelve Hundred Muskets”: April 10, 1864 –June 8, 1864 155 Contents Chapter 10. “Lafayette of the South” 172 Appendix 1. Union Casualties in the Battle of Richmond, Kentucky 188 Appendix 2. Confederate Casualties in the Battle of Richmond, Kentucky 189 Appendix 3. Confederate and Union Losses in the Red River Campaign 190 Appendix 4. Confederate Order of Battle: Mansfield, April 8, 1864 191 Notes 195 Bibliography 213 Index 225 — viii — Illustrations Camille de Polignac page 5 Judah Benjamin 10 Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard 12 Varina Davis 27 Railway Station and Tishomingo Hotel 29 Braxton Bragg 30 John Pegram 48 Edmund Kirby Smith 49 Almerine M. Alexander 100 Richard Taylor 102 John G. Walker 104 Joseph W. Speight 112 James E. Harrison 115 Confederates ambush Federal gunboats 127 Polignac’s Brigade charges the Federal lines 141 Maps Battle of Mansfield, April 8, 1864, 4 p.m. 140 Battle of Mansfield, April 8, 1864, 5 p.m. 144 Battle of Pleasant Grove, April 8, 1864, 6 p.m. 146 Battle of Pleasant Hill, April 9, 1864 150 Battle of Norwood Plantation, May 18, 1864 166 Acknowledgments I will be forever grateful to my wife, Kelly L. B. Kinard, who played a key role in the completion of this book. She spent countless hours typing the manuscript, helping in its organization, and serving as its initial proof- reader and editor. I am also indeed fortunate that Dr. Donald Worcester consented to proofread my chapters. His subtle corrections profoundly improved my final drafts. Dr. Grady McWhiney provided the spark to my investigations by suggesting the fascinating Camille de Polignac as my subject. Dr. McWhiney’s infinite patience and insights were invalu- able during each step of this project. The staffs of many research facilities also contributed to my research. I am especially grateful to the cordial and helpful archivists of North- western Louisiana State University, Louisiana State University, Tulane University, the Southern Historical Collection at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and the National Archives in Washing- ton, D.C. Ms. Peggy Fox of the Hill College Harold B. Simpson History Complex was particularly tireless in her help, as were Steve Bounds of the Mansfield State Historic Site, Ken Tilley of the Alabama State Ar- chives, and Judy Bolton of the Hill Memorial Library at Louisiana State University. I am also indebted to Mr. Daniel Frankignoul, a devoted student of Polignac’s career, for his generous insights into the prince’s life, Scott Burnett for his photographic expertise, Quentin Cline for his cartographic assistance, and W. P. B. Kinard for her organizational contributions. —xi— Introduction Near the small village of Mansfield in remote northwestern Louisiana stands an obelisk of Georgia granite. Since 1925 it has proudly pro- claimed to those few visitors who pass by, “The LaFayette of the South,” and just below, within a carved wreath, are the name and achievements of this singular yet largely forgotten Southern hero: “Prince Camille de Polignac, Lieutenant Colonel, July, 1861; Colonel, 5th Tennessee In- fantry, August, 1862; Brigadier General, February, 1863; Major General, April, 1864. Twice promoted for gallantry on the field of Richmond, Ky., and Mansfield, La., U.S.A.” During his lifetime, many had drawn the obvious comparison between the French nobleman in Confederate gray and his more famous predecessor, the Marquise de Lafayette, hero of the American Revolution. Yet only Lafayette gained the level of last- ing fame to which both men aspired. Few took note when this last sur- viving Confederate major general died November 15, 1913. In the years since, his name— Camille Armand Jules Marie, Prince de Polignac—has appeared only incidentally in the literature of the Civil War. Yet Camille de Polignac’s current obscurity belies this aristocratic French adventurer’s remarkable career. He had already won distinction in the Crimean War and had explored Central America before volun- teering for Confederate service in 1861. A primary reason for Polignac’s relegation to the realm of the footnote has been that the majority of his service was in the Confederate Trans-Mississippi Department. Only re- cently has the Trans-Mississippi been viewed as more than a backwater of the conflict. It is true that its history boasts no epic battles on the scale of Gettysburg or such charismatic leaders as Robert E. Lee or J. E. B. Stuart. Yet the war west of the Mississippi River was no less brutal than that of the East and no less critical to the war’s outcome. Although almost always outnumbered and poorly equipped, the soldiers of the Trans- Mississippi consistently held their own and inflicted significant damage — xiii — Introduction to their enemy. More importantly, they tied up huge numbers of Federal troops who otherwise would have been available in the East. Fortunately, Polignac kept a detailed diary during his Confederate service. In it he dutifully recorded combat narratives as well as his daily experiences and impressions of everyday Southern life. These reveal- ing entries incidentally provide a lively Gallic counterpart to Sir James Arthur Lyon Fremantle’s famous observations. Also, from his unique vantage as a foreigner struggling to rise within its ranks, Polignac pro- vides a little-seen and revealing aspect of the inner workings of the Con- federate Army. Even during his lifetime, many of Polignac’s contem- poraries faulted the Southerners’ distrust of foreigners for his lack of recognition. Despite his proven abilities, Polignac found that winning advancement required the careful cultivation of influential friends in the Confederate hierarchy. His resultant campaign thus led to his contact with a veritable who’s who of the Confederacy, including Judah Ben- jamin, Jefferson and Varina Davis, Mary Chesnut, Edmund Kirby Smith, Braxton Bragg, P. G. T. Beauregard, and Richard Taylor. Polignac subsequently came to command a surly brigade of Texas misfits who, unable to pronounce his name, promptly dubbed him “Gen- eral Polecat.” To the surprise of all concerned, the French prince even- tually transformed his wild Texans into one of the most dependable bri- gades in the Trans-Mississippi. Having won promotion to major general for his pivotal roles at Mansfield and Pleasant Hill, Louisiana—key battles in the defeat of Union general Nathaniel Banks’s Red River Cam- paign—Polignac next rose to divisional command. Later, confronted by Union admiral David Porter’s gunboat fleet, Polignac countered with hit-and-run tactics that effectively neutralized the most technologically advanced naval force of his time. During the waning days of the Con- federacy, Polignac made a final attempt to save his adopted country by running the blockade on a secret mission to his homeland. Charged with gaining Napoleon III’s aid, he arrived shortly after Lee’s surrender and, seeing no reason to return to America, remained in Europe for the re- mainder of his long life. Although he again served France as a general during the Franco-Prussian War and won honors as a mathematician, till the end of his days Polignac looked back to his Confederate service as the apex of his career. — xiv— lafayette of the south chapter 1 “Lieutenant Colonel, C.S.A., ‘Thru Courtesy’” hen Camille de Polignac died peacefully in Paris on No- vember 15, 1913, Le Figaro reported he was “working on a [ mathematical] problem that had occupied his leisure hours Wfor ten years.” It was a fitting end for a renowned mathe- matician. During his eighty-one years, though, Camille de Polignac had done much more than puzzle over difficult equations. He had also gained recognition as a talented musician, engineer, journalist, political econo- mist, and scientist. But above all, Camille de Polignac was a soldier.