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Col. John Mosby’s Rangers raised havoc along the Potomac River.

ARMY LIFE IN THE WESTERN THEATER

WAVERED “NO MAN

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RARE ACCOUNTS OF ALLATOONA PASS AND FRANKLIN

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December 2017 HistoryNet.com

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CIVIL WAR TIMES DECEMBER 2017

58 FRESH START The handsome courthouse in Culpeper, Va., was built in the 1870s to replace the previous war-worn structure.

ON THE COVER: This image of Colonel John Mosby was reportedly taken in Richmond in March 1865.

34

Features

26

Chaos Along the River

By James J. Broomall Massive campaigns and small Rebel raids devastated the Potomac River Valley.

34

Fighting ‘Too Fast’

42

Army Life in Brush Strokes

50

By Susannah J. Ural The Texas Brigade dealt, and absorbed, tremendous punishment at the Battle of Sharpsburg.

A Union veteran relived his Western Theater service in vibrant sketches and watercolors.

‘ No Man Wavered’

By Keith Bohannon

Riveting Confederate letters describe the 1864 battles of Allatoona Pass and Franklin.

Departments

50

20

6 10 14 16 20 22 25 58 64 72

Letters Monumental opinions News! An endangered fort, more monument news Details Behind the big house Insight Underused Confederate primary source Materiel Colorful reunion ribbons Interview Lincoln goes to Mississippi Editorial The power of “stuff ” Explore Culpeper, Va.,—war’s staging ground Reviews How battlefields are saved Sold ! Rebel canteen from the Big Easy DECEMBER 2017 CIVIL WAR TIMES

3

MICHAEL A. REINSTEIN CHAIRMAN & PUBLISHER DAVID STEINHAFEL ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER DOUG NEIMAN ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER ALEX NEILL EDITOR IN CHIEF

EDITORIAL DANA B. SHOAF EDITOR CHRIS K. HOWLAND SENIOR EDITOR SARAH RICHARDSON SENIOR EDITOR CLAIRE BARRETT ASSOCIATE EDITOR STEPHEN KAMIFUJI CREATIVE DIRECTOR BRIAN WALKER GROUP ART DIRECTOR JENNIFER M. VANN ART DIRECTOR MELISSA WINN SENIOR PHOTO EDITOR/SOCIAL MEDIA COORDINATOR SHENANDOAH SANCHEZ PHOTOGRAPHER AT LARGE ADVISORY BOARD Edwin C. Bearss, Gabor Boritt, Catherine Clinton, William C. Davis, Gary W. Gallagher, Lesley Gordon, D. Scott Hartwig, John Hennessy, Harold Holzer, Robert K. Krick, Michael McAfee, James M. McPherson, Mark E. Neely Jr., Megan Kate Nelson, Ethan S. Rafuse, Susannah Ural

CORPORATE

TEXAS PRIDE

A firsthand account of the Texas Brigade’s winning charge at Gaines’ Mill.

BUSHWACKER DEFENSE

How citizens of Hickman, Tenn., banded together to fend off Yankee raiders.

CHARLOTTESVILLE AT WAR

Did you know Charlottesville medical facilities treated Confederate soldiers?

Check out these fast facts about Charlottesville during the Civil War.

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MONUMENTAL OPINIONS ★ EXPLORE COLUMBIA, A SOUTH CAROLINA GEM ★

Editor’s note: Since the October issue appeared with its article containing the 15 opinions regarding Confederate monument removal, that situation has rapidly escalated. Riots and death have occurred in Charlottesville, Va., and monuments in a number of cities have been removed, damaged, or vandalized. We received far more responses than we could print here, and the letters below represent the range of opinions we have received.

Debate rages over the future of Confederate statues.

15

HISTORIANS WEIGH IN

WHAT SHOULD HAPPEN TO

CONFEDERATE MONUMENTS

★ GETTYSBURG WIDOWS ORD ’ EAL ★ REBEL PHOTO EYE- OPEN ER ★ CONQUERED BY A BUG

October 2017 HistoryNet.com

I plan on using the October issue of Civil War Times, which examines the role of Confederate War Memorials in both of my middle school Civics classes in the forthcoming school year.

I have great respect for the scholars who contributed to the issue and have personally worked with several of them.

At Loudoun School for the Gifted, where I teach, we strive across curriculums to develop critical thinking skills among our students. In my classroom I work to provide students with evidence, often in the way of primary sources, to help them form their own ideas, based on reading the documents.

In addition to your related magazine issue, students will read a broad spectrum of opinions from other sources, generally newspaper columns and letters to the editor regarding Confederate commemorative sculpture. Additionally I will have them read New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu’s proclamation on removing Confederate statues from his city. Students will respond to their readings with discussions, in a Socratic Seminar fashion, and write reflective journal entries as well.

It is important to educate a responsible and informed citizenry. Many thanks for your gracious assistance.

James A. Percoco Loudoun School for the Gifted Ashburn, Va. I fear that political correctness will be the death of accurate history. The Civil War was real, there were heroes and villains in both blue and gray. If we forget the causes—more than just one—and what transpired in order to satisfy the sensitivities of a few, then we may find ourselves repeating those mistakes when future 6

CIVIL WAR TIMES DECEMBER 2017

generations have forgotten the facts.

Will we tear down Mount Vernon and The Hermitage because their owners were slave holders? Will we raze the Alamo and the San Jacinto monument to appease one ethnic group? Plow under the headstones of the Confederate dead in dozens of cemeteries across the South? Kick over the monument and grave markers at the Little Big Horn site? Tear down the D-Day monuments at Normandy lest our German friends take offense at our WWII victory? We should not forget the wise words, “Those who ignore the lessons of history are doomed to repeat them.”

Jack DuBose Aiken, S.C. Regarding the excellent series of essays regarding the future of Confederate monuments, this summer I was with a Smithsonian tour group led by historians Ed Bearss and Greg Clemmer that retraced J.E.B. Stuart’s 1863 ride to Gettysburg.

At the Montgomery County, Md., courthouse, Clemmer directed our attention to a large rectangular plywood box that served to partially conceal a Confederate monument that was erected in 1913 by the United Daughters of the Confederacy.

Montgomery County executive Isaiah Leggett ordered it removed back in 2015. Apparently during the subsequent two years, the county couldn’t spare $1,000 from its average annual $5 billion-plus budget to physically move it. Admittedly, there was the larger problem of where to move it to.

During the lengthy interregnum between condemnation and removal, which was opposed by the director of the Montgomery County Historical

I have been getting Civil War Times magazine for many years, and my Dad has been getting it since the ’60s....

But I’d like to say that article about removing Confederate monuments in your most recent magazine is the worst ever printed....The fact that anyone thinks that ANY Civil War monument should come down or be destroyed is terrible.

They are part of our American history. Placed mainly by women whose loved ones never came home. These “teachers” and others clearly have little or no understanding about the war.

Why weren’t any true historians interviewed...? I was looking forward to the article and was very disappointed.

Bob Robertson

Clockwise from top left: Workers in Birmingham, Ala., cover up that city’s 1905 Confederate monument; a plaque that described Baltimore’s 1879 Roger B. Taney statue is yanked from the ground; a Confederate monument is hauled away in the same city.

Society, the statue was spray-painted with the slogan, “Black Lives Matter.”

Sometime after that the plywood went up.

I peered through a peephole at the statue’s description: “To Our Heroes of Montgomery County Maryland: That We Through Life May Not Forget to Love the Thin Gray Line.”

The absurdity of the moment reminded me of long-ago summer evenings at county fairs and carnivals when, as a kid, I’d wait in line for a glimpse of freaks of nature.

I don’t live in Montgomery County, and I’m not about to second-guess the decision to remove the statue. Nor do I care to insert my opinion in the raging national debate that Civil War Times addresses.

But that said, the statue was removed in July, and if there has been a more clumsily executed process for removing a reminder of an unpleasant aspect of history, I have certainly not heard about it.

Bob Allen Eldersburg, Md.

Doesn’t matter if you are a Yank or a Reb! Still Americans!

If those veterans from that war became friends, then folks today should follow their example and have respect for those who fought that war. My ancestors fought for both sides, some lost their lives, some lost their homes and farms. But we united are still a better people. Charlie Adametz They only should be displayed on battlefields, cemeteries, or museums...period.

Mark Coleman Interpret them. Don’t hide or destroy them. Jamie Abel Put them in museums.

John Betts I think that we are unique in our ability to recognize both sides in that terrible war...

E Pluribus Unum. Mark Lewis

DECEMBER 2017 CIVIL WAR TIMES

7

THE CIVIL WAR WEST MATTERED In two recent columns for Civil War Times, historian Gary Gallagher dismisses recent scholarship on the Civil War West and is most derisive of scholars working on histories of the Southwestern theater and the Pacific coast, arguing that the military, political, and social histories of these areas between 1861 and 1865 are irrelevant to Civil War history. As a Civil War historian writing about wartime actions in the Southwest, I disagree with Gallagher’s arguments. Let me explain: Events in the West were widely reported across the nation, and those Americans who lived in the West, aspired to live in the West, or had loved ones who lived in the West, cared very much about the war there.

Soldiers who served in the West saw their wartime actions as important and connected to Union and Confederate war efforts farther east.

While the campaigns in the West were short-lived, they did indeed have consequences in the Eastern Theater. Sibley’s failed 1862 campaign, for example, cost the Confederates access to Pacific ports and to supply routes through Mexico, which made them even more vulnerable to Union blockades.

OUT WEST The war was a significant political and social turning point in the West, and Republicans were able to pass the Homestead Act and the Pacific Railway Act. Gallagher thinks Congress would have achieved these without the war.

Republicans in Congress, however, had not been able to pass any of that legislation before the war. They were only able to do so after the South seceded and their representatives had resigned. Republicans then took advantage of their super-majorities to pass these acts to promote the conquest of the West, which they had been advocating since the late 1840s.

The Union Army’s conflicts with Native Americans were fought by regiments mustered for Civil War service. The goals of these campaigns—territorial expansion and security— supported the Union cause and shaped Union nationalism.

The Western Theater mattered to Americans as they fought the Civil War on multiple fronts. And it matters now, as scholars research and write about this understudied place. I hope that Civil War Times readers will agree that our work does best when it illuminates all aspects of the war.

The excellent research and writing that scholars of the Civil War in the West have published thus far—and will publish in the future—enriches our understanding of the past. Isn’t this, after all, the goal of scholarly endeavor?

Megan Kate Nelson Lincoln, Mass.

[To read an unabridged version of this letter, go to http://bit.ly/mknelson]

By Gary W. Gallagher

MANY WESTS General William T. Sherman at Atlanta, a pivotal moment in the Western Theater. But were the “other” Western theaters as important?

THE IMPORTANCE, OR LACK THEREOF, OF THE VARIOUS WESTERN THEATERS OF WAR

THE WEST HAS ACHIEVED new prominence in recent literature on the Civil War and Reconstruction. Some authors believe that the war, post-Appomattox events, and the West must be brought together to expand a traditional narrative dominated by the axis of North versus South, slaveholding versus non-slaveholding, and the United States versus the Confederacy. What is needed, they believe, is a more comprehensive analytical framing that stretches from the Atlantic to the Pacific, includes Native Americans as well as black and white residents, encompasses borderlands with Canada and Mexico, and erases the usual chronological limits.

Some definitions are necessary. “The West” as understood during the mid-19th century could be expansive. Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant were known as “western” men, and during Washington’s Grand Review in May 1865 many observers drew distinctions between the western soldiers in Sherman’s armies, 14

most of whom hailed from what we call the Midwest, and eastern men in the Army of the Potomac. Similarly, the Iron Brigade, with regiments from Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin, proudly embraced its reputation as the only all-Western brigade in the Army of the Potomac. The Western Theater extended from the Appalachian Mountains to the Mississippi River and from the Ohio River to the Gulf of Mexico.

The Trans-Mississippi Theater, a subset of the larger West like the Western Theater, took in everything from the Mississippi River to the Pacific and from Canada to Mexico.

What most modern Americans imagine as “the West” would include the Civil War–era territories beyond the 100th Meridian—everything from eastern Kansas, Nebraska, and the Dakotas to the Pacific Coast. Thanks in significant measure to Hollywood’s influence, this is the West associated in popular memory with gold rushes in California

CIVIL WAR TIMES AUGUST 2017

Gary W. Gallagher’s “Army in the Shadows” October issue column on the Army of Tennessee commendably addresses the second-tier status which Confederate history of the Western Theater has long endured. Yet in asking, “How many Americans know something about Durham Station?,” Gallagher unintentionally perpetuates the ANVA’s “superiority.”

Well, watch out, Virginia-centrists. The Army of Tennessee’s history is catching up. Take the Atlanta Campaign, with two books on the Battle of Ezra Church in just the last two years. That’s not counting recent books on Peachtree Creek or the battle of July 22, 1864.

“Eastern theatricality,” as I call it, seems like a long-running Broadway play. It’s had its limelight, but with more Western Theater history on the way, that’s going to fade.

Stephen Davis Atlanta, Ga. 8

CIVIL WAR TIMES DECEMBER 2017

GABOR BORITT’S MEDAL I am writing regarding your statement in the October News section mentioning Gabor Boritt’s being honored for opposing President Trump’s immigration orders. I personally do not agree with his opposition to the president’s executive order limiting immigrant entry to the U.S., but they can have their opinion. However, I do take great offense to your including it in Civil War Times.

You should stick to writing about history not your personal politics.

Joe Baucom Warsaw, Ind. Editor’s note: The mention of Dr. Boritt’s honor had nothing to do with “personal politics,” and everything to do with the fact that a member of our advisory board had received mention from a reputable organization. If President Trump, for example, gives an award to a member of our advisory board, we will print a notice about it.

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU !

e-mail us at cwtletters@historynet.com or send letters to Civil War Times, 1919 Gallows Rd., Suite 400, Vienna, VA 22182-4038

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Fort Negley was named for Union Maj. Gen. James S. Negley, and was initially restored in the 1930s by the WPA.

FORT NEGLEY IN FOCUS

Historic Fort Negley, built atop St. Cloud Hill in Nashville, Tenn., is at the center of a skirmish over a redevelopment proposal launched by musical producer T-Bone Burnett. Following the Confederate retreat from Forts Henry and Donelson in February 1862, the occupying Union Army impressed a 2,700-person force of laborers—free blacks and escaped slaves, men and women alike—to build an elaborate stone fort overlooking the Cumberland River. An estimated 600-800 workers died during the three months of construction. After the war, the site grew to include ballparks, including the Herschel Greer Stadium. In 2004, the fort itself was restored and $1 million visitors center opened in 2007.

But the dilapidated Greer Stadium has been abandoned since 2014, and the mixed-use development proposed by Burnett’s team on the site is close to being approved. Opponents of the project emphasize that a large encampment of freed slaves sprang up adjacent to the fort, making the neighborhood central to the story of freedom for African Americans in Nashville. Among the objections are the lack of a thorough archaeological study of the site and a preference for converting the site to parkland.

10

CIVIL WAR TIMES DECEMBER 2017

one country QUOTABLE

Recollect that we form

now. Abandon all these

local animosities, and make your sons

Americans —Robert E. Lee

AFTER CHARLOTTESVILLE FOLLOWING THE VIOLENT

conflict and tragic events at the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Va., on August 12, 2017, Confederate monuments took center stage in the national debate.

As this issue goes to press, officials in Maryland had taken a stand on the issue, and many other communities have begun the discussion. The Baltimore City Council voted to remove Confederate monuments immediately, and four were taken down in the wee hours of August 16. That same day Maryland officials ordered the immediate removal of the statue of Roger Taney—the Supreme Court justice who wrote the 1857 Dred Scott decision ruling that blacks were not citizens—from the grounds of the State House in Annapolis, where it has stood since 1872. In response to the recent violence, descendants of Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, and Jefferson Davis have all expressed support for removing monuments commemorating the Confederate States of America.

Baltimore’s removed Civil War monuments face an uncertain future.

THE WAR ON THE NET

c iv i lwa r d c . o r g

earned their freedom. The “NewsCivil War Washington ranks papers” section, also under “Texts,” among the best resources available holds a digitized collection of some online for U.S. Civil War scholars, of the rarer papers published at writers, and teachers. Despite its hospitals in the Washington area, narrow geographic focus, the site’s reminding us that, as the Armory collaborative nature results in a digSquare Hospital Gazette declared ital collection that touches on literin its first issue in 1864, “The hospiature, journalism, medicine, labor, tal is an episode in a soldier’s life— The U.S. Capitol in 1863 military affairs, politics, geography, sometimes a painful termination of digital humanities, genealogy, sciit, which has many an event worthy of a chronicle.” Under ence, and of course history.

Civil War Washington is published by the Center for “Visual Works,” site visitors can view and download drawDigital Research in the Humanities at the University of ings, photographs, lithographs, and other images that help us Nebraska–Lincoln (UN-L) thanks in large part to support see what life looked like in Washington during the war. The from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the “Maps” section will appeal especially to digital historians, UN-L. It focuses on the period of 1860 through 1865 and while others will enjoy digitized excerpts from The Medical restricts itself to the U.S. capital, but within that tight lens and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion that pertain is a wealth of information. The site creators remind us that to wartime cases in the capital.

I encourage readers to familiarize themselves with this Washington tripled in size during the Civil War, and its poprich site from which I have offered but a few examples. The ulation included not just soldiers and politicians, but also fugitive slaves, thousands of laborers, doctors and nurses, original material is skillfully contextualized with essays that immigrants, journalists, novelists, prostitutes, and more. ensure that the sources are accessible for the highly trained The site designers recognized that a digital format might as well as newcomers to our field. Readers and teachers best capture the vast array of forces that revolutionized this might also think about using this site in conjunction with city, and the result is a website that is easy to access, visually two others that I have reviewed in this column, Civil War Richmond and the Richmond Daily Dispatch. While all appealing, and useful for broad audiences.

Readers interested in the history of slavery and the pro- three websites are quite different in the material they offer cess of emancipation, for example, will want to peruse the and in their design and their complexity, the resources they “Petitions” section under “Texts” that reviews the process by include provide an opportunity to make useful comparisons which more than 3,000 enslaved men, women and children between the two capitals at war.—Susannah J. Ural

RARE BORDER STATE DIARY

A war-era silhouette of Hester Davis.

12

Hester Ann Wilkins Davis—member of the Maryland upper class and Union supporter—was a lifelong diarist, and the Maryland Historical Society’s recent acquisition of her Civil War diaries fills a gap in their extensive collection of her writings. Davis, then in her 50s, unloads on President Lincoln, penning on May 4, 1861, “I am no admirer of Lincoln or his cabinet. They are all trying to ape Jackson. To prove themselves men of nerve. We want firm men, but they must be statesmen also here the present Cabinet are lamentably deficient.” The Davis family supported the Union, but they also owned 60 slaves, who labored on the family’s lucrative tobacco farm. Over the course of the war, Davis observed a change in her slaves’ demeanor, writing in July of 1863, “in lieu of pleasant cheerful countenance, a heavy scowl, of most obsequious and studied politeness, a coarse familiarity of manner….” Davis’ Civil War diaries end on December 28, 1864: “The darkest hours are often the harbingers of a bright dawn.” After the war, the farm’s enslaved female workers left, but a handful of male former slaves stayed on. Davis apparently did not resume her diary habit until 1876.

CIVIL WAR TIMES DECEMBER 2017

RARE USCT FLAG

T O B E RE S T O R E D

An extremely rare and frayed regimental battle flag from the 127th USCT, painted by prominent African American artist David Bustill Bowser, is undergoing restoration, thanks to The Grand Army of the Republic Museum and Fragile silk flags Library in Philadelphia. can “shatter” or The original banner, beardisintegrate. ing the motto “We Will Prove Ourselves,” showed a soldier waving farewell to the Goddess of Liberty. The cost of repairing the shredded silk ranges up to $60,000. After restoration, the flag will go on display at the GAR Museum, which is Philadelphia’s only Civil War museum. The museum is open on Tuesdays from 12-4 p.m. and Sundays from 12-5 p.m. For more information, visit garmuslib.org.

QUI Z WHO IS BURIED HERE? Send your answer via e-mail to dshoaf@ historynet.com or via regular mail (1919 Gallows Road, Suite 400, Vienna, VA, 22182-4038) marked “Stone Bastion.” The first correct answer will win a book. Congratulations to October issue winners Susan Jarden, of Grove City, Ohio (e-mail), and Neil Buttermore of Toledo, Ohio (regular mail), who correctly identified the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument in Cleveland, Ohio.

4 1

2 3

5

BEHIND THE

BIG HOUSE in America before the Civil War began, and the majority of them lived in slave quarters that were constructed behind the main plantation home. Conditions of such quarters varied widely. At Robert E. Lee’s Arlington House, slaves lived in elaborate buildings designed to look like miniature Greek temples. Another slave, however, remembered that on her owner's small farm, she and her family “done all our cookin’, eatin’, sleepin, and ever’thin” in a “little one-room log house.” Photographer Timothy O’Sullivan took this image of slave quarters that fall somewhere in the middle of those two extremes. These quarters were located at Port Royal, S.C., about midway between Charleston and Savannah, Ga., one of the first areas of the Confederacy the Union Army occupied after a successful November 1861 operation. Roughly 10,000 slaves were suddenly freed and became part of the “Port Royal Experiment” and were paid for their labor. The project was so successful that eventually teachers, doctors, and ministers traveled to the Port Royal region to help the former slaves adjust to freedom. President Andrew Johnson derailed the project during Reconstruction when he returned the land to prewar white owners. The African Americans in this image, however, had no knowledge of that impending setback when O’Sullivan exposed his plate in April 1862. They were happy to be on their journey from slave row to freedom. –D.B.S.

THERE WERE ABOUT 4 MILLION SLAVES

14

CIVIL WAR TIMES DECEMBER 2017

6

1. The steep pitch of the roof of this English-style outbuilding and its wide eaves indicate its possible origins in the 18th century. The French and Spanish had also settled and explored the Port Royal area as early as the 1500s.

3. There are several debris piles near the slave homes, but their contents can't be discerned. Just to the right of the number, a dog prances about.

It moved while the plate was being exposed and appears as a blur.

2. The quarters all appear to be the

4. External chimneys were common

same size. Multiple families might inhabit one structure, with the ground floor serving as the center for all activities, and sleeping done in the space under the eaves. Charley Williams, a slave on a Louisiana plantation, recounted that his quarters “had a shed at de side whar we sleep in de summer to keep cool.”

in the South as they helped, to some extent, to disperse heat when the fireplace was used during the warmer months. Lieutenant Charles Hayden of the 2nd Michigan commented on the “monstrous chimneys at one or both ends” of the homes he saw in Virginia.

5. Brick pilings lift the cabins off the ground to allow cooling breezes to circulate under the floorboards, another common practice in the South. A former slave named Edward Jones recalled mischievously crawling under his owner’s house to “hear what the white folks was talking about.”

6. The people pictured in this image were some of the first former slaves to be paid a wage for their work: They made $1 for every 400 pounds of cotton harvested. They must have felt empowered and excited to take on their new responsibility. Several males wear cast-off Union Army forage caps.

DECEMBER 2017 CIVIL WAR TIMES

15

By Gary W. Gallagher

ONE LAST ROLL CALL Cavalry veterans of the Army of Tennessee pose at a 1917 reunion in Nashville, Tenn.

CONFEDERATE

WINDOW THE SOUTHERN BIVOUAC GAVE WESTERN THEATER CONFEDERATES THEIR DUE

FORMER CONFEDERATES WROTE ACCOUNTS

of their wartime experiences for various magazines and newspapers. Most students of the Civil War are familiar with four of these publications. The most widely known of the quartet is the “Century War Series” published in The Century magazine between 1884 and 1887 and later issued in four thick volumes as Battles and Leaders of the Civil War. During the 1870s a few ex-Confederates also contributed to a Civil War series in The Philadelphia Weekly Times, and several dozen of these articles appeared in book form in 1879 as The Annals of the War. The two most important outlets for Confederate testimony were Southern Historical Society Papers (SHSP), which commenced publication in January 1876 and provided a forum for the bitter “Gettysburg Controversy” of the 1870s and 1880s, and Confederate Veteran, 16

CIVIL WAR TIMES DECEMBER 2017

the inaugural issue of which appeared in January 1893. The first three of these publications featured writings by notable military officers, and SHSP, shaped by the guiding hand of Jubal A. Early, focused on events in the Eastern Theater. All four have been reprinted at least once—Battles and Leaders multiple times—and are readily available.

The Southern Bivouac, though unfamiliar to most modern readers, also offers a wealth of primary material on the Confederate war effort. Its relative obscurity stems from several factors.

The publishers never issued a hardbound compilation of war-related articles from its pages comparable to The Annals of the War or the overwhelmingly successful Battles and Leaders of the Civil War. The Bivouac also enjoyed just a five-year publishing life—a very brief run compared to those of SHSP (1876-1959) and Confederate Veteran (1893-1932). It also trained its lens on events in the Western Theater rather

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than on the more famous battles and campaigns waged by Robert E. Lee and his army. Perhaps most important, its roster of authors included few leading military figures of the type who regularly wrote for the “Century War Series” and SHSP. Launched in August 1882 as The Bivouac (it adopted its final name with that year’s November issue), the new magazine counted four members of Kentucky’s celebrated Orphan Brigade among its five-person editorial committee and promised to publish “all kinds of articles of interest to the ex-Confederate soldier, his family, and to all friends of the South and its history.” Early issues set patterns that would continue despite later changes of editors and ownership: articles on the Western Theater markedly outnumbered those on the East; the common soldier rather than generals frequently held the spotlight; and miscellaneous short pieces, queries, and correspondence rounded out the war-related content.

GOOD READING The Southern Bivouac gave Confederate veterans a chance to reminisce and fight their battles over again.

18

CIVIL WAR TIMES DECEMBER 2017

Like Early and others who shaped the SHSP, the editors of the Bivouac consciously sought to influence future generations of readers by getting the Confederacy’s version of the war down on paper. J. William Jones, editor of the SHSP, praised the Bivouac in late 1882 and welcomed its founders “as our co-laborers in the great work of vindicating the truth of Confederate history.” The Bivouac’s editor conceded that North and the South would contribute to literature on the conflict, but, he added pointedly, “the survivors of the lost cause can least afford to be silent” because the “fairest history a victor may write never does justice to the cause he conquered.”

The Bivouac departed from SHSP in important ways. Whereas the latter featured debates among prominent Confederate officers about Gettysburg and other campaigns, the Bivouac, as already noted, emphasized the importance of the common soldier (Confederate Veteran would follow its lead a decade later). “When we consider the power of ambition,” stated one editorial, “the valor of high dignitaries is easily accounted for in behalf of any cause; but the motive which impels the privates and subordinate officers to suffer and bleed so long, demands the fullest explanation.” The magazine actively solicited accounts from “the old soldiers or the members of their families.” The SHSP printed many official reports; the Bivouac announced its intention to preserve “for history the stories and incidents of the war that never appear in army reports.” In language that surely rankled Early and others associated with the SHSP, the Bivouac claimed to be “the only Confederate soldiers’ magazine published in the United States.”

The Bivouac also called for critical examination of all Confederate leaders—including Robert E. Lee. In a clear reference to efforts by Early and his followers to absolve Lee of blame for reverses at Gettysburg and elsewhere, the Bivouac denounced hero worship that masqueraded as history: “Really great men do not hesitate to avow their responsibilities, even of errors which prove disastrous.” The time had come

THE BIVOUAC

ALSO CALLED FOR

CRITICAL EXAMINATION

OF ALL CONFEDERATE LEADERS—INCLUDING

ROBERT E. LEE to put aside personal feelings and seek historical objectivity. “That in some cases this is unpleasant to the personal friends of the heroes of history is true,” remarked the editors: “But this is of no consequence.” In a letter to Basil W. Duke, a former cavalry general who fought mostly in the Western Theater and served a stint as co-editor of the Bivouac, Jubal Early complained that the magazine published too many articles by low-ranking officers and enlisted men, printed negative comments about Lee by untrustworthy individuals, and indulged in sensationalism. Duke responded with a touch of humor, defending the Bivouac’s editorial policies and inviting Early to submit an article to the magazine.

The May 1887 issue announced that the Bivouac had been purchased by the Century Company and would cease publication (a few articles already in hand would become part of Battles and Leaders of the Civil War). In just half a decade, the editors had bequeathed to future students of the Civil War a rich store of material. Scores of articles cover major battles and campaigns and lesser known operations. Nearly every issue contains personal anecdotes relating to combat, camp life, and other facets of the soldier’s experience. The magazine also sheds a good deal of light on the Lost Cause interpretation of the Confederate war and the reconciliation movement that developed in the 1880s.

A six-volume, indexed reprint (Broadfoot Publishing, 1992-93) provides a superb literary lens through which to view how the postwar South chose to remember its failed attempt to found a slaveholding republic. ✯

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RIBBONS OF

DISTINCTION

WHEN THE MASSIVE VOLUNTEER ARMIES of the North and South disbanded in 1865, the veterans’ first order of business was to get their civilian lives back together. But as the 1870s transitioned into the 1880s, aging former soldiers began to reconnect with their wartime service and comrades through numerous veteran organizations. Some of those, like the Grand Army of the Republic and the United Confederate Veterans, were large omnibus organizations with peak memberships of 490,000 and 160,000 respectively, while other smaller, more exclusive associations allowed only officers or veterans of a particular army or regiment to join. At veteran reunions or events, attendance ribbons like those pictured here were the order of the day. The colorful embellishments were proudly worn by graying men who, as Union officer and Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes so profoundly put it in an 1895 Memorial Day speech, had “shared the incommunicable experience of war.” –D.B.S.

“The scars we carried,” wrote Alanson Haines, the historian of the 15th New Jersey, “were from noble wounds received in behalf of a noble cause.” Some of those scars were earned when the unit served in the 1st Division of the 6th Corps in the trenches besieging Richmond and Petersburg in 1864, events featured on the 15th New Jersey’s 1908 reunion ribbon.

Gettysburg served as a destination for veterans, whether or not they fought in that battle.

Thomas J. Cave received this medal for attending the commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the engagement, even though his regiment, the 18th Indiana Infantry, served in fights from Arkansas to Virginia, but not Pennsylvania. Cave was 95 during the 1938 reunion, the last survivor of his regiment.

20

CIVIL WAR TIMES DECEMBER 2017

The United Confederate Veterans, which existed until the mid-1940s, consisted of administrative divisions. This ribbon was given to attendees of a 1918 reunion in Wilmington, N.C. The button features the image of Julian Carr, who served as a private in the 3rd North Carolina Cavalry, but who was given the honorary rank of major general when he took command of the UCV’s North Carolina Division.

The 27th Maine was a 9-month unit raised in 1862 that served in the defenses of Washington, D.C. The regiment’s designation is stamped on a replica badge of the 22nd Corps, the portion of the Union Army assigned to the forts that protected the capital.

When the Army of Northern Virginia moved north during the Gettysburg Campaign, hundreds of men in the 27th voluntarily stayed at their posts after their enlistments expired to help bolster the capital city’s defenses.

Robert L. Harris, a 6th Alabama Infantry veteran, wore this ribbon that denoted his membership in “Stonewall Camp No. 4” of the United Confederate Veterans. Harris’ regiment served in Stonewall Jackson’s Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia until the general’s mortal wounding at Chancellorsville.

Harris was undoubtedly proud to have his general’s image on his ribbon.

Fittingly, the beloved commander of the Army of Northern Virginia was honored when the R.E. Lee Camp of the United Confederate Veterans was created in 1883, the first permanent Confederate veterans’ organization.

That camp went beyond reunion gatherings to establish and administer a Confederate veterans’ home in Richmond that consisted of 10 residential cottages, a hospital, chapel, and numerous other buildings.

DECEMBER 2017 CIVIL WAR TIMES

21

with Frank J. Williams

CWT: How did you get your start as a collector?

FW: In 1952, when I was 12, in the sixth grade, we were seated by last name, last row, last seat and I always kind of resented that, but I sat under this portrait, a full-length portrait or engraving of Lincoln, and I loved the face. I was already into U.S. history.

My mother read a lot to me and I had a good teacher who saw this interest and encouraged me. Not long after, I was using my lunch money, 25 cents a day, to buy used books on Lincoln, like the Carl Sandburg biography. When I was 13, I wanted to be a lawyer because Lincoln was such a good lawyer. I never deviated from that even when I majored in history and government. I spent almost five years in the military, mostly abroad, and then back to law school, which only increased my interest in collecting and reading and eventually writing about Abraham Lincoln.

PRAIRIE LAWYER Sculptor James Nance created this bust, now part of the Frank and Virginia Williams Collection of Lincolniana at MSU.

LINCOLN LODESTAR

FRANK WILLIAMS grew

up in Cranston, R.I., and rose to serve as chief justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court. He de-stresses by baking, cooking, and writing, but his most longstanding hobby is collecting items related to Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War. He and his wife Virginia recently donated one of the world’s largest private Lincoln collections to Mississippi State University in Starkville, where it joins the U.S. Grant Presidential Library. The items, ranging from books and pamphlets to sculptures and ephemera, will be housed in a new 22,000-square foot facility.

Rotating exhibits will feature collection items.

22

CIVIL WAR TIMES DECEMBER 2017

CWT: When did you expand from books to other items?

FW: You’re not making much money at 13 years old. My father’s business was in landscape construction, and I did manage to get money together to buy Leonard Volk’s sculpture of Lincoln’s face. Volk took Lincoln’s life mask and his hands and made plaster of Paris, and then he would create the mold, then add ears and hairs. This little bust came from that, and it is still on my desk in my chambers at the Rhode Island Supreme Court.

CWT: Were these items all in your home?

FW: We had two libraries in the house, one in the upper level, which was for all Lincoln and related items, and one in the sub level, which was Civil War and collateral with other artifacts and ephemera. Other items in a guest house next door, some more in my chambers in the city in Providence, and some books in storage. When the fine art movers came last month, they had to go to four locations and the

bank vault, which held the handwritten manuscripts from Lincoln. They spent 2½ weeks here packing. They did it by room, then they packed all the statuary in boxes with foam rubber cavities. Larger items in wooden crates.

When they went to Mississippi State University (MSU) in Starkville it was two semitrailers holding 22 pallets containing 242 boxes and the wooden crates holding the large statuary.

CWT: Do you know how many items you had?

FW: Most of the collection is cataloged in one form or another. That includes 12,000 books and pamphlets, as well as 17,000 items—prints, paintings, campaign material, coins, stamps, cartesde-visite, on and on and on. We didn’t even know how much material we had until it was being packed.

WE DIDN’T EVEN

KNOW HOW MUCH

MATERIAL WE HAD UNTIL IT WAS

BEING PACKED in getting the U.S. Grant collection and presidential papers transferred from Carbondale, Illinois, to MSU in Starkville.

CWT: Do you miss it?

FW: Yes and no, I have to say in all honesty. It’s the right time and the right place. I’ll be 77 years old next month. I don’t act it or feel it. I still like to read about Lincoln and the Civil War and write about it and also continue to collect. I did go through a postpartum depression, but I’m over that now. Now if you were to ask Virginia, she was ready three years ago.

CWT: What do you hope will happen?

FW: It is our legacy, but more than for me and Virginia it is for the university to hold itself out as a great resource institution for General-President Grant and President Lincoln, antebellum history, as well as Reconstruction, the middle period of our history. The university built a new floor on top of the present existing library to house the Grant and Lincoln collections and to build adjoining galleries. All of this came together to make this an even greater institution than it is right now.

CWT: Whose idea was it to begin the process of donating the collection?

FW: After considering other institutions many, many years ago, we decided some day it would go to a school that did not have a Civil War and Lincoln collection. Then it evolved into preferring the South for many reasons. The Civil War didn’t end at Appomattox in April 1865. And we have a “House Divided” that’s even more divided now than it was decades ago. I thought we had come a long way but I do not think our culture has been consistent with the vision of the Declaration of Independence that Lincoln valued and we value so much. We created a relationship with Mississippi State University because I was instrumental

CWT: What will the access be? Some items on display? Or for research?

FW: The two galleries will showcase items from the Frank and Virginia Williams Collection on Lincolniana and the Civil War and the Ulysses S. Grant Presidential Library. It will be rotating exhibits because of the vast amount of material we had. The library and pamphlets and books and manuscripts will be available for everybody. We have endowed an annual lecture. There’s a provision in our will that whatever we have left in the house or whatever we collect goes to MSU. So it’s a commitment and there is no cost to the user. What really pleases me is that they’ve already started a website for the collection and much of

the collection will be digitized. So you don’t have to travel to Starkville. It’s somewhat of a difficult place to get to.

I know that from personal experience.

CWT: Is there something you long to find that you never have?

FW: Yes. There are two Lincoln prints, small satirical sketches by David Gilmour Blythe. One is called “Crushing the Dragon of Rebellion” and it has to do with Lincoln’s suspension of the precious writ of habeus corpus, the right to have your detention checked by a magistrate. The other shows Lincoln at work on the Emancipation Proclamation, sitting in his cabinet room, surrounded by books and papers with the Bible and the U.S. Constitution on his lap. Founding documents are at his feet, as if he is trampling on them. The prints are as rare as hens’ teeth. There’s also a maquette of Lincoln sitting that is about 24 inches tall, by a sculptor by the name of Charles Keck. That’s about it.

CWT: Do you collect anything other than Lincoln items?

FW: World War II is a favorite of mine and includes Winston Churchill. I am also a big fan of Charles Dickens. I’m very much into the Cold War generally because I am a Cold War warrior and a Vietnam veteran. That conflict, as controversial as it was and remains, still interests me.

CWT: Do you have any advice for a new collector?

FW: What I say to young people who are interested in Lincoln: you will probably never see a collection like this again because it is so comprehensive and massive. It encompasses all art forms and print forms. What I say to budding collectors is to pick a specific area to collect. This could be new books on the writ of habeus corpus, books relating to Lincoln’s career as a lawyer, or books on his assassination. ✯ Interview conducted by Senior Editor Sarah Richardson DECEMBER 2017 CIVIL WAR TIMES

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TANGIBLE LINK Items associated with the Civil War, whether a reunion ribbon or a statue, can be used as teaching tools.

THE POWER OF

STUFF

MATERIAL CULTURE CAN CHANGE MINDS

I’VE ALWAYS APPRECIATED HOW MATERIAL CULTURE

can link us to history. A reunion ribbon from my great-grandfather’s unit, above, is a favorite possession.

Material culture adds a dimension to learning that archival documents alone can’t accomplish. Look at that ribbon and note how the word “reunion” was hyphenated to emphasize “Union.” A surviving wartime church can help visualize destructive conflict (P. 26), and in the same vein, monuments related to the Civil War can help us continue to learn. Several years ago I was discussing with a colleague the 1908 Confederate soldier statue in downtown Leesburg, Va., which stands on the grounds of the old courthouse. I noted the artwork’s accurate details, and after a moment of reflection, my friend said, “But imagine how a minority during the Jim Crow era must have felt when they had to pass under a statue of an armed white man on their way to court?” I still admire that statue when I see it, and actually appreciate it even more since it provided me with a “teachable moment” that helped me grow as a person and a scholar. We must be careful before we remove material culture from the landscape. Teaching moments are precious; let’s not toss them away.–D.B.S.

DECEMBER 2017 CIVIL WAR TIMES

25

SPOILS OF WAR Confederate troopers drive lowing cattle and clattering wagons across the Potomac River in this engraving from Harperâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Weekly.

Ambitious Rebel raiders made such a scene fairly common during the war.

26

CIVIL WAR TIMES DECEMBER 2017

CHAOS\ ALONG THE

RIVER

Confederate raiders raised continuous havoc in the Potomac River Valley

BY JA ME S J. BROOM ALL DECEMBER 2017 CIVIL WAR TIMES

27

ATTRACTED RAIDERS BENT ON DESTRUCTION

THE POTOMAC VALLEY’S RESOURCES

S

ergeant Harrison Wells of the 13th Georgia passed through the Potomac River Valley region with General Robert E. Lee’s army in 1862 and 1863. Writing to his fiancée Mary “Mollie” Long during the 1862 Maryland Campaign, Wells described the “dark and deep” Potomac River, the pastoral countryside, and the area’s quaint villages. For Wells, the sublime supplanted any signs of war. Less than a year later, however, on June 20, 1863, he found himself in familiar country, and now signs of war were everywhere. Camped near Shepherdstown, W.V.—the site of sharp fighting on September 20, 1862, at the conclusion of the Maryland Campaign—the surrounding trees were “considerably lacerated by the shot & shell.” Wells grimly continued: “Here’s where the river was almost damed with their dead, and we can see some of their bones now, where they were dashed over the precipice this side of the river.”

A borderland between two warring nations, the Potomac Valley’s vast natural and manmade resources—including the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal, fertile fields, bountiful crops, innumerable livestock, and grain mills—attracted ragged and starved soldiers, commanders desperate for supplies, and raiders bent on destruction. Large parts of the war’s Eastern Theater witnessed fierce but quick collisions between the two great armies, but soldiers and raiders were a constant presence in the Potomac Valley because of the area’s strategic importance and natural vulnerability.

Areas such as Loudoun County, Va., were “debatable ground,” as one resident proclaimed, through which Union and Confederate troops constantly traveled. Catherine Broun, who lived in Middleburg, Va., wrote in her diary: “We expected to be surrounded by yanks this morning but instead of them a number of White’s Batallion came up and enquired for breakfast[.]

I have been feeding them all day.” The contested nature of this region dissolved boundaries between states and Union and the Confederate territory, 1 as soldiers, slaves, partisans, and civilians indiscriminately crossed through the region.

Beginning in the spring and summer of 1861, Union troops spread across Maryland’s southern border 2 guarding river crossings, protecting the C&O Canal and the B&O Railroad, 3 and securing lines of communication.

Units such as the 13th Massachusetts, which hailed from Boston and included 5 4 many affluent and educated soldiers, began their military service along the Potomac River. Over time, the Massachusetts troops fell into a familiar routine that included stints on picket duty, the predictable schedule of military life, INTERSECTIONS Numerous transportation avenues intersected in the Potomac River and occasional trips along the C&O to Valley, providing Confederate raiders with many enticing targets. Aqueducts carried move their base of operation.

Chesapeake & Ohio Canal water at Williamsport (1), Antietam Creek (2), Catoctin Creek (3), Yet Confederate forces maintained a careful watch over Maryland’s southand the Monocacy River (4). The town of Point of Rocks (5) was a frequent crossing point.

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CIVIL WAR TIMES DECEMBER 2017

drain ditch

the

In this 1864 Harper’s Weekly engraving, Confederates have just cut the earthen berm of the C&O Canal to drain the ditch of its water. In a September 15, 1862, issue of his paper, a New York Tribune reporter described damage done to the canal during the Army of Northern Virginia’s first advance north of the Potomac River: “Commencing five miles below Monocacy, continuing up a mile beyond the Point of Rocks, in crossing, they tapped the canal at five different places. Several flood-gates were hewn to pieces, and from the heights above, large boulders of rocks were dislodged and thrown into the basin….For the present from 20 to 25 miles of the canal are rendered useless, and in the meantime boats can proceed only between Georgetown and Seneca. The latter place is about 45 miles from Harper’s Ferry. The canal basin is perfectly dry in many places, between those points, and where the water remains it is not more than a foot deep.”

ern border and frequently harassed Federal pickets, destroyed canal boats and rail lines, and cut communication. In September 1861, Confederate Ass. Adj. General R. H. Chilton informed Colonel Turner Ashby that it had been the Confederate government’s objective “to destroy the canal at any point where it could not be repaired.” Chilton asked that Ashby channel his energies toward the mouth of the Monocacy River, site of the largest aqueduct on the C&O, where the damage “would be irreparable for an indefinite period.”

Ashby had been carefully monitoring the canal, noting the presence of Union pickets from the 28th Pennsylvania and the 13th Massachusetts and the transportation of coal and other

supplies. Instead of focusing on the Monocacy region, the cavalier [Ashby] launched an attack at Dam No. 4, below Williamsport, Md., which heavy rains ultimately hampered. While Ashby’s concentrated assault was unsuccessful, his troops did prove themselves a considerable nuisance.

Discussing the fall of 1861, one of Ashby’s horsemen, Marylander Harry Gilmor, recounted: “While encamped near Morgan’s Spring, parties, of which I was generally one, would be sent frequently to the Potomac for the purpose of blockading the canal on the Maryland side, by which immense supplies of coal and provisions were brought to the capital.” The troops made good use of terrain and environmental features to conceal their position. “We would go down before daylight,” Gilmor wrote, “conceal ourselves behind rocks or trees, or in some small building, and when the sun was up, not a soldier or boat could pass without our taking a crack at them, and generally with effect, for we were all good shots.” The men became a “perfect pest” and a formidable presence.

Throughout 1861 and 1862, Southern soldiers targeted supply and DECEMBER 2017 CIVIL WAR TIMES

29

GRAY GHOSTS Colonel John Mosby, commander of the 43rd Battalion, Virginia Cavalry, poses in the midst of some of his raiders. The horsemen crossed the Potomac on several occasions, and one of their notable incursions occurred at Seneca, Md., on June 10, 1863, when they attacked and burned a Union camp. communication lines as well as Federal garrisons in the Potomac Valley.

By 1863, the region had become war-torn. Not only did the landscape bear the marks of battle but local farmers had plenty to protest as Union and Confederate troops consumed livestock, destroyed fencing, and felled trees. West Virginian Anna Stipes, for instance, compiled a litany of complaints in her petition to the Southern Claims Commission charging that soldiers took all the family’s meat one year and 11 hogs in another. To cook this food, of course, soldiers needed fires, and all along the Potomac River troops hauled off fence rails and toppled wooden structures. Samuel Young, a farmer near Edwards Ferry, wrote in disgust that troops had destroyed the fencing that kept his hogs and cattle from crossing the C&O. Small-scale operations conducted by Confederate partisans and raiders continued in 1863, as well as a second invasion by Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia. The Rebel advance into Maryland and Pennsylvania is often considered only within the confines of his main army’s push from Shepherdstown to Williamsport but the Confederate front extended across large swaths of the Potomac Valley. Even before Lee’s army had entered Maryland, John S. Mosby and his 43rd Battalion, Virginia 30

CIVIL WAR TIMES DECEMBER 2017

Partisan Rangers (raised in Virginia’s Loudoun and Fauquier Counties) crossed the Potomac River at Seneca Ford and attacked a Union command post along the C&O to destroy vital war material. Mosby’s short, fierce raid of June 10, 1863, presaged a series of actions directed at Federal posts along the Potomac Valley during the 1863 campaign season.

The partisan raids and cavalry attacks of early-to-mid June distracted Federals from the movements of Lee’s main army. Elijah V. White’s 35th Battalion of Virginia Cavalry, drawn primarily from Loudoun County, played a vital role in disrupting lines of communication and transportation. White targeted Point of Rocks, Md., for a raid that, “much like that carried out by Mosby to Seneca, would also sow further confusion among the Yankees and divert attention from the main Southern advance,” writes Taylor M. Chamberlin and John M. Souders in Between Reb and Yank: A Civil War History of Northern Loudoun County, Virginia.

His party traveled down the C&O’s towpath, moving toward Point of Rocks before nightfall;

CONFEDERATE ATTACKS THROUGHOUT THE SUMMER AND FALL OF 1863 PROVED

FINANCIALLY DETRIMENTAL

once there, the Confederates attacked a small Federal command of Cole’s Maryland Cavalry (1st Md. Potomac Home Brigade Cavalry) and the Loudoun Rangers. Outnumbered and overpowered, the Union troops succumbed quickly.

White captured a large number of men, a train of cars, and a number of wagons; both baggage and camp equipage were burned. Farther west at Cumberland, Md., Brig. Gen. John D. Imboden initiated an assault on the Federals after Lee had instructed him to inflict “all the injury in your power by striking them a damaging blow at any point where opportunity offers.”

On June 17 (concurrent with White’s assault at Point of Rocks) Imboden’s party arrived south of Cumberland, drove away Federal patrols, and then shelled the town. The Confederates asked for and were granted the town’s surrender. The Southern soldiers occupied Cumberland for several hours, but did little damage according to a Union officer.

Well after Lee’s army had safely recrossed the Potomac at Williamsport in the middle of July 1863, the Potomac Valley remained an active front. Significantly, Confederate guerrilla and partisan troops continued to present a threat to the B&O, the C&O, and nearby Union garrisons. Canal boats once again began moving slowly along the eastern end of the C&O in July, as crews mended the physical damage from the Confederate’s summer invasion. By August 13 the Civilian & Telegraph of Cumberland happily reported that navigation “upon the Canal has been resumed, and boats are now running.

A heavy business will be done upon the canal during the remainder of the season should there be no interruption to boating.”

But Confederate raiding parties quickly brought on interruptions. The canal’s renewed commerce immediately attracted the attention of bands of Southern guerrillas. The Civilian & Telegraph opined in late August: “Since the completion of repairs and resumption of navigation on the canal, several boatmen have been plundered of their stock by predatory bands.”

These attacks “seriously interfered with the shipments of coal, by giving rise to so great a sense of insecurity among the boatmen as to induce many of them to decline loading.”

The raids interrupted commerce and incensed employees of the C&O Canal Company, who complained of the federal government’s failure to protect the region. In the early fall of 1863, Albert C. Greene, a canal company director, grumbled to canal secretary Walter S. Ringgold, that boating activities around the area of Cumberland had largely ceased. The government, he maintained, had failed “to afford the Boatmen protection against robbery of their teams by the Virginia guerrillas.” Clearly frustrated, Greene continued: “I think it would meet the unanimous approbation of this whole community if Mosby or White or whoever leads these incursions should ride into Washington some fine night and carry off with them to parts unknown Gen Halleck, Sec Stanton and everybody else whose duty it was to prevent these shameful raids.”

The company had cause for complaint, for the impact of the Confederate attacks throughout the summer and fall of 1863 proved financially detrimental. The 1864 annual report of the President and Directors of

St. Paul’s Episcopal Church is located in the Village of Point of Rocks, Md., where it still offers Sunday services. The church, 1 ½ miles from the Potomac River, served as a staging area and sometimes a hospital for numerous Union cavalry commands from 1862–64. The Federal troopers, in addition to other destruction, burned the 1842 church’s pews and fencing for firewood, tore up the carpet, and turned their horses loose in the graveyard, where they trampled and destroyed gravestones. After the war, the church filed with the U.S. government for $1,691 in damages, and was eventually awarded $1,000 in compensation. A read through the church’s Civil War damage claims, available online at pointorocks.ang-md.org, offers a startling look at the wear and tear of the constant warfare in the Potomac River Valley.

DECEMBER 2017 CIVIL WAR TIMES

31

AN ILLUSION OF CONSTANT PERIL

THE SUDDENNESS OF THE REBEL ATTACKS CREATED

SURFEIT OF RAIDERS In addition to Mosby’s band, seen here tearing up a Union wagon train near Berryville, Va., in 1864, partisans like Colonel Elijah Viers White, below, prowled the banks of the Potomac.

the C&O Canal Company concluded, referencing Lee’s Pennsylvania Campaign, “damages sustained by this invasion required an expenditure of about $15,000 to restore the navigation and the loss of revenue for two months, which would probably have been not less than $50,000.”

Mosby’s and White’s men were particularly important to Confederate strategy because of their mobility and affect on morale. One Union cavalryman complained, referring to White’s troopers, “on the appearance of any force they disappear.” These tactics were deliberate, for raiders distracted Federals from their “primary objectives, caused them to alter strategies, injured the morale of Union troops, and forced the reassignment of men and resources to counter threats to railroads, river traffic, and foraging parties,” notes historian Daniel E. Sutherland. Two letters issued by Brig.

Gen. Henry H. Lockwood regarding the activities of Mosby and White are illustrative of how disruptive raids could be.

Lockwood reported to Maj. Gen. Henry W. Halleck on August 1, 1863, that Mosby and White “with 600 cavalry” were at Leesburg, threatening to cross the Potomac in the area of Point of Rocks. The enemy presence required the reallocation of troops; therefore, Lockwood dispatched 1,000 men “to the Point, to return this morning.” That same day he wrote another Federal officer, Maj. Gen. Darius Couch, commander of the Department of the Susquehanna, and suggested that a lack of coordination among 32

CIVIL WAR TIMES DECEMBER 2017

Monocacy Aqueduct

a peaceful

potomac

valley

Mules pulling barges no longer clomp down the C&O Canal towpath along the Maryland side of the Potomac River, but you can use it as a gentle, flat passageway to tour the valley by foot or bike and soak up its history and natural beauty. The C&O Canal National Historical Park (nps.gov/ choh/index.htm) maintains the remnant of the 184.5-mile-long canal that ran from Cumberland, Md., to Georgetown, D.C., between 1831-1924, and the section from Shepherdstown, W.V., to Edwards Ferry is particularly rich in Civil War history. You’ll see abutments from bridges destroyed during the conflict, cross over a number of stone aqueducts, including at the mouth of Conococheague Creek and the Monocacy River, that Confederates damaged, and pass by numerous fords used by the armies.

Towns that suffered damage during the war like Shepherdstown, Harpers Ferry, Brunswick, and Point of Rocks are all close by, and you can even make reservations to stay overnight in a lockkeeper’s house if you like (canaltrust.org). The Civil War echoes are strong along the river that served as the thin, easily pierced border between North and South. Even though it is close to the heart of the densely populated D.C. corridor, there are isolated stretches along the canal where it is easy to imagine Rebel troopers splashing across to the Maryland shore.-D.B.S.

their commands enabled “this contemptible body of irregulars to exist.”

As Lockwood’s correspondence demonstrates, countering real or potential guerrilla incursions on or along the canal required significant coordination among commanders, the mobilization of troops, and the use of resources.

Despite Federal protection, the continued raids created panic and inflamed Marylanders’ imaginations demonstrating the psychological repercussions of guerrilla warfare. One example stands illustrative. On the night of August 27, 1863, White and “100 men” of the 35th Battalion Virginia Cavalry crossed the Potomac at White’s Ford. The 11th New York Cavalry, known as Scott’s 900, faced White’s men on the north side of the Potomac. They attacked a strong fortification on William Poole’s farm, opposite Edwards Ferry. “Though being prepared, owing to an attack made by some party upon the canal-boats, I drove them from their fortifications,” White wrote, “the greater part retreating down the river.” The tactics of White’s command and the fear they instilled in Federal garrisons produced a host of similar small-scale victories.

Maryland newspapers quickly issued reports of the partisan incursion.

The Civilian & Telegraph, for example, ran an article that stated: “The line of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal is still infested with guerrillas. A large party crossed into Maryland at White’s Ford, on the 28th instant and captured a number of stock” as well as canal teams. Although the number of attackers remained unclear, according to the article “private reports” claimed that the party was 500 strong. The Examiner of Frederick, Md., also printed a piece about the raid: “White’s guerrillas in heavy force, made an attack upon a detachment of ‘Scott’s 900,’ stationed near Edwards’ Ferry.”

Rumors of the raid’s size and the extent of damage trickled out slowly by word of mouth or through newspapers, creating much consternation.

As a reporter for the Frederick Examiner noted, “These events created a good deal of solicitude along the river, and through the inflated rumors that rapidly multiplied, caused some nervousness here.” The suddenness of these attacks and the subsequent damage shocked and alarmed nearby residents, thereby creating an illusion of constant peril. Major General J.E.B. Stuart never lost sight of these powerful effects. Writing about White’s actions, he commended the “daring enterprise, which struck such terror to the enemy.”

The Potomac Valley devolved into an environment of war in which the Confederate high command targeted the region’s transportation networks, while Confederate partisans fomented disorder and forced the reallocation of troops and supplies. The Maryland–Virginia border region became an epicenter of contest as early as 1861 as Union and Confederate forces vied for control of the landscape, its manmade improvements, and the region’s rich supplies. Civil war in this area looked different when compared to the great battlefields of Virginia because it was often continuous, lasting months not days. Further, loyalties were often divided along the Potomac River, as communities such as Loudoun County, Va., and Washington County, Md., were rent by war. Although the American Civil War ended for the Potomac Valley in April 1865, residents suffered for years after because of the conflict’s transformative impact upon the land, its resources, and its people.

James J. Broomall is the director of the George Tyler Moore Center for the Study of the Civil War and an assistant professor of history at Shepherd University, and frequently hikes and bikes throughout the Potomac River Valley. He is currently completing a study of white Southern men and their families during Civil War and Reconstruction tentatively titled Personal Reconstructions: War and Peace in the American South, 1840-1880.

DECEMBER 2017 CIVIL WAR TIMES

33

FIGHTING

‘TOO FAST’

HARD CHARGERS The 1st Texas surges into the Cornfield at the Battle of Antietam in Don Troiani’s painting “Lone Star.” The regiment made it to the northern edge of the Cornfield before a blistering Union crossfire devastated its ranks and forced the men to fall back.

34

CIVIL WAR TIMES DECEMBER 2017

The Texas Brigade paid a high price at Sharpsburg for its fighting prowess

BY SUSAN NAH J. U RAL

DECEMBER 2017 CIVIL WAR TIMES

35

Military historian and Civil War Times advisory board member Susannah J. Ural’s new book, Hood’s Texas Brigade: The Soldiers and Families of the Confederacy’s Most Celebrated Unit (LSU Press) elaborates on her long-standing argument that to truly understand Civil War soldiers and the effectiveness of combat units, scholars must look at both traditional military questions of leadership, training, and combat effectiveness as well as the men themselves and the families and communities that sustained (or failed to sustain) their service. The excerpt that follows relates to one of the Texas Brigade’s most famous engagements at the Battle of Antietam, where they suffered tremendous casualties as a divided force and by fighting “too fast.” They were, however, saved by the leadership, unit cohesion, and sense of sacrifice that made this one of the Confederacy’s best fighting brigades.

B

rigadier General John B. Hood’s 2,000man division formed up and marched by the right flank, crossing Hagerstown Pike in front of the Dunker Church as Brig.

Gen. A.R. Lawton’s Division fell back around them along with their wounded commander, carried on a litter. Years later, replaying the scene in his mind and knowing what awaited them, Hood marveled at all his men had been through that year, yet they remained “indomitable amid every trial,” he observed. Jim Polk remembered the moment as well, noting that “our ranks were so reduced that regiments looked like companies and brigades like regiments.” Still, the men were so anxious to engage in battle that accounts have them firing on Federals immediately after clearing the West Woods, before they had formally formed into line and advanced. It reinforced the image, W.T. Hill later admitted, that Hood’s Texans sometimes “fought too fast,” but it also reinforced the determination Hood sensed.

Hood’s Division moved toward farmer David Miller’s fields from the Smoketown Road. Before the Texas Brigade, commanded by Colonel William T. Wofford, a ridge of ground immediately south of the Cornfield hid them from the two 12-pounder Napoleons of Battery B, 4th U.S. artillery near Miller’s barn. As Hood’s men advanced, however, four more Federal guns would come up, bringing the total to six.

Wofford’s and Evander M. Law’s brigades faced north and extended about one-quarter mile to the east just north of Smoketown Road. On the far left of the Texas Brigade,

36

CIVIL WAR TIMES DECEMBER 2017

anchored on the Hagerstown Pike, were the 77 men of Wade Hampton’s Legion under the command of Lt. Col. Martin Gary. To his right was the 18th Georgia, Wofford’s old regiment, led by Lt. Col. Solon Ruff. To their right were the 1st Texas under Lt. Col. P.A. Work, Lt. Col. B.F. Carter’s 4th Texas, and finally the 5th Texas, their ranks so depleted a few weeks earlier at Second Manassas that they were led by a captain, Georgia-born Ike Turner. Though one of the youngest officers on the field, Turner was respected in the ranks for his daring leadership. Indeed, amid all the upheaval of officer selections, rejections, and elections between 1861 and 1862, Company K remained loyal to their youthful captain who had helped organize the company.

On the left, Hampton’s Legion and the 18th Georgia fired a withering volley into John Gibbon’s brigade, specifically the 2nd and 6th Wisconsin and the 2nd U.S. Sharpshooters coming down the pike. It cut “like a scythe running through the line,” recalled Rufus Dawes, commander of the 6th Wisconsin. “Two out of every three of the men who went to the front of the line were shot.” The Federals who could still move “raced for life” back to the Cornfield, where the stalks, surprisingly intact despite all of the fighting, offered some cover. Hood assessed the situation on the right of his line and ordered the 5th Texas to the far right of the division in the East Woods to assist Law with that Federal threat.

Hood also ordered the 4th Texas to lay down momentarily, though two of Carter’s companies failed to hear the order and continued forward. The left of the brigade continued to pour withering fire into the Wisconsin volunteers and U.S. Sharpshooters. James Lemon of the 18th Georgia watched as the Federals opposite him “shuddered & broke.” The Georgians and South Carolinians drove Gibbon and Phelps’s men back through the corn until Federal reinforcements began arriving. It was the 7th Wisconsin and the 19th Indiana, followed by two regiments from 3rd Brigade commander Marsena Patrick, attacking from a ledge just north of the West Woods. These men slowed the Confederate advance, while fire from Battery B of the 4th U.S. artillery brought it to a halt.

The Federal artillerymen’s double loads of canister tore through the Texas Brigade’s left flank. Hood ordered Lt. Colonel Carter, who had not quite reached the Cornfield, to shift the 4th Texas to the far left to offer some support.

They rushed past Hampton’s Legion and fell in with Carter’s front running parallel along the pike. The air was so “full

The 4th U.S. Artillery’s Napoleon cannons blasted the Texans with canister.

of shot and shell,” Polk noted in Company I, that “it seemed almost impossible for a rat to live in such a place.” Men sought any kind of cover, even outcroppings of rocks, but there was little they could do but return fire as rapidly as possible. “I didn’t take time to load my gun,” Polk explained, “for there were plenty of loaded guns lying on the ground by the side of the dead and wounded men, and they were not all Confederates: the Blue and the Gray were all mixed up.” Fourth Texan Haywood Brahan also found some cover behind fence rails along the east side of the Hagerstown Pike, and noted wryly that here they enjoyed “the full benefit of Federal minnie bullets from our front, as well as grape and canister from the Federal batteries that swept the Turnpike.”

M

eanwhile, Hampton’s Legion and the 18th Georgia, moving to Carter’s right, also shifted part of their line to the left to return fire into the West Woods but also to continue their assault on Battery B. The 18th Georgia surged forward, and James Lemon staggered as the Napoleons “blew large gaps in our lines.” The Georgians concentrated their fire on the gunners, hoping to silence the crews at a distance of less than 70 yards. They advanced again, but another blast from the battery tore

NEW TO WAR 1st Texas soldiers pose outside of their rustic quarters near Dumfries, Va., during the winter of 1861-62. How many of these men fell at Gaines’ Mill, Sharpsburg, or in any of the regiment’s other battles? through the ranks and Lemon saw his wife’s brothers, William and Marcus Davenport, cut down together, “united in death as in life.”

The 18th Georgia made three separate assaults on Battery B, but the Federal artillery fire “produced great destruction,” tearing through the 18th Georgia and the infantrymen of Hampton’s Legion. The forces were so close together that the guns, firing double loads of canister, destroyed “whole ranks” and left corpses “piled on top of each other.” Opposite Gibbon’s right and trying to maintain some sense of order in Hampton’s Legion, Colonel Martin Gary looked for their flag, knowing that when the men could no longer hear commands they could at least stay somewhat formed around their regimental colors. Gary marveled at the astonishing rate at which it dropped and rose again. “Herod Wilson, of Company F, the bearer of the colors…[was] shot down,” Gary observed. “They were raised by James Estes, of Company E, and he was shot down. They were then taken up by D.P. Poppenheim, of Company A, and he, too, was shot down. Maj. J.H. Dingle Jr., then caught them and began to advance with them, exclaiming, ‘Legion, follow your colors!’” until Dingle fell along the turnpike, not 50 yards from the Federal line. Gary then picked up the colors himself until another man volunteered to carry them forward as Gary worked to direct his men’s fire.

While the three left regiments were engaged along the turnpike, Work’s 1st Texans continued to advance. Their right was left exposed by several factors: when the 5th Texas shifted toward Law’s right, when Hood ordered the 4th Texas to the Hagerstown Pike, and by Law’s axis of DECEMBER 2017 CIVIL WAR TIMES

37

LEADERSHIP John B. Hood (far left), established the Texas Brigade’s reputation for vigorous assaults during the Peninusla Campaign. Captain Isaac “Ike” Turner (left) took command of a company of the 5th Texas when he was only 22 years old. He led the regiment at Sharpsburg and was mortally wounded by a Union sharpshooter along the James River in 1863.

advance. That vulnerability was amplified when the 1st Texas noticed portions of Abner Doubleday’s division retreating.

Sensing weakness, the Texans rushed forward despite Work’s shouts to hold the line. Discipline was never the the 1st Texas’ strong suite, and the regiment raced on until they came to a fence along the northern edge of the Cornfield. There they stumbled into about 600 men of Lt. Col. Robert Anderson’s brigade of Pennsylvania Reserves, supported by Dunbar Ransom’s battery.

Anderson’s men were lying on the ground, with some concealed by fence rails they had stacked before them. Armed with smoothbores and firing buck and ball, they could just make out the Texans’ legs beneath the smoke and their flag.

At first Anderson thought it was a U.S. flag. When he realized they were Confederates, the Texans were just 30 yards away.

The Pennsylvanians fired a volley, and a collective groan came up from Work’s men as they stumbled backward. It may have been here that Company I’s Captain W.A. Bedell fell when a ball tore through his face. It broke his cheek bone, continued under his right eye, and exited behind his right ear. Moments later, a second ball cut through his shoulder, but the pain was so much less than the first that Bedell declared this a flesh wound. A third round nearly killed him but flew high and left a hole in his hat.

T

exans were on the ground all around Bedell, but the officers and men still able to fight rallied and organized. What the 1st Texas lacked in discipline, they made up for in determination and courage. Having formed, they lunged forward once more, and then again, but they could not break the Pennsylvanians. Compounding the problem was that in their ill-advised dash after Doubleday’s men, the 1st Texas advanced at least 150 yards ahead of the rest of its division. They were fighting almost within Federal lines, and their lines of sight were nearly nonexistent. The corn stalks all around them stood about seven feet high, 38

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making it impossible to see (or be seen) beyond a few feet. All of this contributed to the astonishingly high casualties the 1st Texas suffered, and Work’s difficulty maintaining command and control.

Work called desperately for reinforcements. Captain John Woodward of Company G and Acting Adjutant J. Winkfield Shropshire were both sent to request support, as was Private Amos G. Hanks of Company F, and finally Private Hicks, but reinforcements never came. Work later discovered that Shropshire and Hanks were killed, while Hicks was hit so badly that his leg would require amputation. Work was struggling to bring his men together for a disciplined withdrawal when Major Matt Dale approached and reported that nearly half the regiment was down and they needed to withdraw before they lost the rest. He had to cup his hand around his mouth and shout into Work’s ear to be heard, and just after completing his warning, Dale fell, killed instantly at Work’s side.

Concluding that his men could no longer advance or defend an attack, and worried that their line of retreat could be cut off, Work ordered them to fall back. Somewhere along their withdrawal, they realized that they had left their regimental colors (P. 40), a gift from the brigade’s first commander’s wife. Work had seen it when they started falling back, but the color-bearer, like others before him, was wounded or possibly killed. The corn made it impossible to know for sure, though the men later learned that John Hanson, James Day, Charles H. Kingsley, and James K. Malone were all wounded while carrying the colors; all would survive. Significantly, they were all 1861 volunteers, and all but Hanson suffered discipline problems within the regiment. Both Kingsley and Day were returned to the ranks after promotions in 1863, and that same year James Malone was arrested by local authorities in Richmond. Their blend of ill-discipline and uncommon courage while trying to raise the regimental colors at Antietam captured the character of the 1st Texas.

BLOODY MORNING The Texas Brigade broke into separate pieces during their morning attack. The bulk of the brigade advanced north along the Hagerstown Pike and hooked west to fight across that road. The 1st Texas drifted away from its fellow regiments toward the northwest corner of the bloody Cornfield, absorbing tremendous gunfire while fighing with little support. Captain Ike Turnerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 5th Texas marched to the east and battled Union troops in the East Woods. Overall, the Texas Brigade suffered a 64 percent loss at Sharpsburg.

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TO TEXANS, WITH LOVE Lulu Wigfall, daughter of Louis T. Wigfall, the first colonel of the 1st Texas, made this banner and presented it to the Lone Star State soldiers in 1861. Nine men fell carrying it at Sharpsburg.

M

eanwhile, Ike Turner’s 5th Texas and Law’s Brigade continued their fight in the East Woods.

Captain Turner called for reinforcements when increased Federal fire indicated that Maj. Gen. Joseph K.F. Mansfield’s 12th Corps had advanced to strengthen the Union lines. Some of D.H. Hill’s men, from Samuel Garland’s old brigade, arrived, though these men of D.K. McRae’s brigade were actually sent to help strengthen A.H. Colquitt’s right flank on the western side of the East Woods.

McRae would later report that “confusion ensued” because of “conflicting orders” and a cry to cease firing because they were shooting their own men. In the midst of this, a Federal force appeared on their right, and shouts went down the line that they were flanked. Suddenly, the men broke and ran.

From the 5th Texas’s perspective, however, these men were here to support them, and instead McRae’s Brigade had barely fired a volley before they broke. Mark Smither was stunned, and Ike Turner was furious. He “called out to our men to fire at them as they ran out and then as the men prepared to do so, laughingly countermanded the order,” Smither recalled. Turner realized with disgust that his men were out of ammunition, support was not coming, and Federals were less than 100 feet away. Having noted that the rest of his division had already pulled back, he “deemed it prudent to fall back also.”

It was about 8:30 a.m. when Turner’s men moved back toward the West Woods. The rest of Hood’s Division had pulled back an hour earlier. Federals and Confederates would engage in similarly brutal fights for the rest of the day, but Hood’s men, what was left of them, would not reengage.

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As the men formed for muster and surgeons filed reports, Hood discovered that B.F. Carter and Ike Turner had lost nearly half their regiments—killed, wounded, or missing—while Solon Ruff ’s Georgians suffered nearly 60 percent casualties, and Martin Gary’s South Carolinians lost almost 80 percent. But it was the 1st Texas losses that stunned everyone.

Of the 211 men P.A. Work had led across the Hagerstown Pike and through Miller’s fields, 182 of them were killed, wounded, or missing.

No one remained from Company F, and Company A had just one survivor.

Company C could offer the macabre boast of two soldiers, and Company E had three. Company M had the best survival rate, if one could call it that: 11 of its members survived the fight. With over 86 percent casualties, the 1st Texas had suffered the highest percentage of losses of any regiment in a single battle in the entire war. While the rest of the regiments of the Texas Brigade lost fewer men, the brigade still reported 64 percent overall losses.

I

n the days and weeks after Antietam, the brigade’s families in Texas, Georgia, and South Carolina heard about the battle in newspapers before they got specifics about their loved ones. Cecelia Morse confessed that “every battle has so much terror attached to it that I dread to hear,” but then admitted that by mid-October, she had learned from “Mr. Edey”—likely Arthur Edey, the Houston TriWeekly Telegraph editor who served as an agent for the 5th Texas at the Texas Depot in Richmond—that her husband, Henry, and his brother William were well when he had last heard from the 5th Texas. But Cecelia had not heard from Henry directly since he was in Frederick, Md., marching toward Sharpsburg.

In Oso, Texas, Lizzie Penn Menefee was still mourning her cousin Robert Sullivan, killed at Gaines’ Mill, when word arrived that her husband, Quin, had been badly wounded.

Patrick Penn struggled to give his sister all the details he had, but he had been too sick to fight at Antietam, and everything he knew was secondhand. He assured her that Quin was alive, but he had been captured, and Patrick was sure that surgeons had amputated Quin’s right leg. It was too badly broken to save. He promised Lizzie, though, that Quin was in good hands and with fellow Texans.

For other families, though, Antietam proved far more destructive. Josh Kindred, the soldier who stayed behind with the wounded at Antietam whom Patrick Penn mentioned in his letter, was one of six brothers in Company F of the 4th Texas. Only Elisha joined the 4th Texas in the summer of 1861, but by March 1862, brothers Joshua (32), John (28), Joseph (20), and James (16) had joined Elisha, who was promoted to second lieutenant on September 11.

Six days later, in their desperate fight along the Hagerstown Pike, Joseph and James were wounded, John was killed, and Joshua remained behind to help care for them and other Texans like Quin Menefee. Joseph never recovered, dying of his wounds, though there was so much suffering that the army was not sure exactly when he died. The youngest, James, was given a furlough to return home to Texas to recover.

He never rejoined Company F. But Joshua returned to the Texas Brigade after he was exchanged, and he and Elisha, later promoted to captain, would continue on in Company F. Accounts from countless units recognized the bravery of the Texans at Antietam, and they were accurate, but the other truth was that the brigade was nearly destroyed that year. In the three major battles of 1862, the Texas Brigade suffered 1,786 casualties. This reflected one of the unusual facts about this unit. Whereas most Civil War soldiers died of disease rather than in combat, the opposite was true about the Texas Brigade. The majority of their deaths occurred on the battlefield or as a result of battle-related wounds. Shocked by the brutality of the fighting in 1862, some of the survivors who were officers and could secure transfers to other units returned home. But the vast majority of the officers and enlisted men remained steadfast in the beliefs that led them to Virginia in 1861 and 1862.

When they were exchanged from Federal prisons, they made their way back to the Texas Brigade, not to their homes. Similarly, the majority of wounded men recovering at home in 1862 would return next spring for the 1863 campaign season. They were getting a bit tired of their reputation for “belicosity,” as W.P. Townsend described it. The men, he confided to his wife, often raised a brow and complained that their next assignment would be “to charge a fleet of Yankee gunboats.”

Despite all of the casualties, and even defeats like Antietam, Hood’s Texans still very much believed that their best hopes for the future lay in protecting the lives and the laws that the Confederacy promised to preserve.

William Townsend captured that sentiment in mid-October 1862 while recovering from his Antietam wound. Looking at his amputated leg,

FAMILY AND COMRADES Cousins Rufus K. Fielder (left) and Miers Fielder of Company E, 5th Texas Infantry, pose in fresh uniforms and with Enfield rifle muskets. Rufus made it through the war to Appomattox, but a 2nd Manassas wound forced Miers from the army.

he confessed to his wife Elmira: “I will (I am afraid) have to leave the service. This is a bitter pill to me.” Townsend reflected those strong beliefs that ran through the Texas Brigade, and he never wavered in his devotion to Confederate independence. “I shall try to get some place in which I can serve the Country—no one labored harder to bring on this war than I did—and no one regrets more to leave the service,” he mourned.

Determined but exhausted, Hood’s Texas Brigade marched back to Virginia with the rest of Lee’s army in late September 1862.

Susannah J. Ural, Ph.D., is Professor of History and co-director of the Dale Center for the Study of War & Society at the University of Southern Mississippi.

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FREDERICK E, RANSOM

came from a distinguished military family. His father, Truman, served as the head of Vermont’s Norwich University, a respected military academy, and died at Chapultepec leading the 9th U.S. Infantry during the Mexican War. In 1856, Frederick moved to Illinois with his older brother, Thomas, where they worked as civil engineers. When the Civil War began, Thomas raised Company E of the 11th Illinois, and Frederick enlisted in that unit. Thomas became a highly respected brig-

SAVED FOR THE FUTURE In October 2016, Ransom’s sketchbook was given to UCLA’s Library Special Collections, which conserved the fragile volume, removing tape and properly mending torn pages. Next to a short autobiography, Ransom’s opening artwork depicts Vandalia, Ill., townsfolk cheering as the new soldiers of the 11th Illinois head off to Springfield on April 26, 1861, to muster into the Union Army.

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adier general in the 15th Corps, and died of disease in 1864. Another older brother, Dunbar, served as a Regular Army colonel. Frederick did not rise as high as his brothers, but he did become a lieutenant in 1863.

And happily, Frederick avoided the fate of his father and Thomas and survived his wartime experience.

In 1892 the aging veteran went to live at the Illinois Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Home in Quincy. While there, he sketched and painted scenes—some grim, some glad—from the momentous years of his youth –D.B.S.

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RECYCLED Ransom used discarded Soldier’s Home morning report forms and nursery order forms for his artwork. In the image at top, a wounded Union trooper lies pinned under his dead horse. With dark humor, Ransom captioned the watercolor, “A Subject for a Pension,” alluding to the horseman’s injury.

WATER WARRIOR During his Western Theater service, Ransom likely came in contact with Union sailors who crewed the boats that prowled inland rivers, bombarding Confederate forts and transporting infantrymen. The artist may have drawn this sailor from memory, or perhaps he depicted a fellow home resident.

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GOODBYE MOTHER In the sketch at left, Ransom gives his mother, Margaretta, a hug goodbye before falling in with the 11th. She was hardened to having the men in her life leave for war, and told her 20-year-old son, “Remember your Mother, and face the foe bravely, my boy.” He did, on both accounts, and was wounded at Fort Donelson and Vicksburg.

SWAP MEET Union and Confederate soldiers trade items from their haversacks, probably the common Union coffee-for– Confederate tobacco swap.

Such exchanges were often forbidden by orders, but in this case, a Confederate officer crosses his arms and simply watches the proceedings take place. Ransom set the illustration on top of an American flag. There was no doubt of his allegiance.

FURRY YANK Ransom obviously had a fondness for“Old Heenan,” depicted at top, the regiment’s dog mascot. Note the regimental numeral “11” on the hound’s collar, for the 11th Illinois.

WORDS TO LIVE BY “Fraternity, Charity, and Loyalty,” was the motto of the Grand Army of the Republic, the largest Federal veterans’ organization. It used its 400,000 members to lobby the American goverment for veterans’ pensions and benefits.

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MILITARY SURPLUS In some of his sketches, Ransom attempted more artistic layouts.

Below, his depiction of well-worn accoutrements is placed over other images that suggest battlefield and camp. The effect gives depth to the composition.

HOUSE OF PAIN No commentary is provided for Richmond’s Libby Prison. Ransom was captured at Fort Donelson in February 1862 and sent to Libby.

He was paroled in October of that same year.

PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST On the sketchbook’s last page, Ransom depicted himself as a youthful soldier and included his service record. He lived in the Soldiers’ Home for 26 years, dying on May 10, 1918.

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The war in their words

THE CONFEDERATE 1ST MISSOURI BRIGADE PAID A HIGH PRICE AT ALLATOONA PASS

AND

FRANKLIN

BY KEITH BOHANNON In the foreword to In Deadly Earnest, Phil Gottschalk’s 1991 history of the 1st Missouri Brigade, C.S.A., Ed Bearss, retired Chief Historian of the National Park Service, leader of countless battlefield tours, and member of the Civil War Times advisory board, claims that the Missouri brigade “compiled a combat record that was unsurpassed” in the Civil War. The following two wartime newspaper accounts, reprinted here for the first time, describe two of the Missourians’ costliest engagements, the October 5, 1864, Battle of Allatoona Pass, Ga. and the November 30, 1864, Battle of Franklin, Tenn.

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he article on Allatoona Pass appeared in the Wilmington (N.C.) Daily Journal on November 2, 1864, but it had been published previously in an unidentified Mississippi newspaper. Although the writer’s identity is unknown, he indicates that he had served with his regiment since it was part of the Missouri State Guard during the September 1861 siege of Lexington, Mo. The battle at Allatoona had its origin in a plan adopted

by Confederate General John B. Hood following the fall of Atlanta to Union forces. Hood decided to march his Army of Tennessee north to launch attacks against the Federals’ main communication and supply line, the Western & Atlantic Railroad. The Confederate general hoped that this would force Union Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman to withdraw his army from Atlanta to Chattanooga or pursue the Army of Tennessee, in which case the Confederates would withdraw into Northern Alabama. If Sherman chose not to chase Hood and decided instead to march south of Atlanta and head for the Atlantic or Gulf coast, then Hood could pursue and attack the Federals on ground of his choosing.

As related by “Missouri,” Confederate corps commander Lt. Gen. A.P. Stewart detached Maj. Gen. Samuel G.

TOUGH A shell fragment mangled a finger on Brig. Gen. Francis M. Cockrell's right hand at Kennesaw Mountain, and the commander had a surgeon set the digit in a curved shape so he could hold a pen.

French’s Division on October 4, 1864, to strike Allatoona Pass, a Federal supply depot located where the Western & Atlantic Railroad ran through a 180-foot-deep cut in the Allatoona Mountains. The Federal garrison at Allatoona numbered roughly 2,025 men and occupied a fortified position anchored by two large earthen forts on opposite sides of the railroad cut. During French’s initial assault, the Missourians attacked and overwhelmed an advanced Federal position that became known after the battle as Rowett’s

Redoubt. This is where the hand-to-hand fighting took place as noted by “Missouri.” The Federals then retreated into the Star Fort, described in the article as the “strong fort on our right,” which the Yankees held until the Confederates withdrew. Although the battle involved relatively small numbers of men, the casualties sustained on both sides reflect the intensity of the fighting. The Union garrison suffered 707 casualties. French’s Division, which numbered 3,553 men, sustained 898 casualties.

The Fight at Altoona Wilmington [N.C.] Daily Journal, November 2, 1864 Jacksonville, Ala., Oct. 17, 1864.

Editor Mississippian: Will you please allow me, through the columns of your paper, to give a short sketch of the battle of Altoona.

On the 3d of October, we, [General Alexander P.] Stewart’s corps, struck the [Western and Atlantic] railroad near Big Shanty. Gen. [Samuel G.] French’s division then went to the right and tore up the track to within three miles of Kennesaw mountain, while

Gen. [William W.] Loring’s turned to the left, moving in the direction of Acworth, capturing that place and tearing up the track some distance beyond. On the evening of the 4th, Gen. French was ordered, with his division, to move and attack Altoona at daylight the next morning. The garrison was then supposed to number five thousand. In accordance to orders Gen. French moved that night so as

to be near the town by light, and, if possible, surprise the garrison. His division was composed of Generals [Claudius W.] Sears, [William H.] Young and [Francis M.] Cockrell’s brigades, with twelve pieces of artillery.

Before light on the morning of the 5th, we had gained a position on the railroad within three quarters of a mile of the place, and began skirmishing with the enemy. As soon as light began to dawn our column could be dimly seen moving to a position around the enemy’s stronghold. The artillery, supported by a portion of a regiment from the Texas, Young’s brigade, was posted on an eminence south of

DEEP CUT The Western & Atlantic Railroad's tracks go through the Allatoona Pass. Most of the fighting took place on the plateau to the left.

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ALMOST Major General Samuel G. French ordered furious attacks against the Union forts at Allatoona Pass that nearly won the day for the Confederacy. the town, and the 4th Mississippi regiment, of Sears’ brigade, was detached to attack a block house on one branch of the Hightower river.

With the remainder we moved to the north and rear of the enemy’s position, which was now discovered to be very formidable, consisting of strong forts and heavy redoubts running in all directions.

After having secured our position in the rear, in the following order, Gen. Sears to attack and carry a strong fort on our left, and Gen. Cockrell, supported by Gen. Young, to attack and carry the heavy redoubts in front of a most formidable fort on our right.

Gen. French dispatched a flag of truce demanding an unconditional surrender within twenty-five minutes. At the expiration of the time allotted them, a boom from their cannon brought the reply. Gen. French was here informed that the enemy had evidently been reinforced. The movement was one day too late, for just before our arrival, five regiments from Rome reached the garrison, already composed of three regiments, amounting in all to a little over three thousand, while our force did not exceed twenty-five hundred men. When Gen. French heard the reply he immediately began to prepare

for action—determined to take them by storm. Never in all the contest for freedom have I seen men as anxious for the fray to begin. Every man was confident of victory. The scene now became general and imposing. The golden sun had arisen from behind Altoona’s towering hills, shedding a bright yet solemn lustre upon the surrounding mountain fields, and the silvery dew-drops glistened with clear sunlight, reminded one of the sweet tears shed o’er freedom’s sons.

The word “Attention!” and the little, yet noble band arose to their feet. For a moment then, and all is silent as the grave. The wind ceased to moan through the lofty pines, and all nature seemed to pause in solemn, yet awful grandeur. The “Goddess of Liberty,” dressed in her robe of love, hovers around each heart and whispers courage, braves! And oh! Missourians, Mississippians, and Texans, methinks I see in this awful stillness one last, one lingering look to home and friends; breathe one prayer to Heaven that love ones shall meet again. Yet in our gloom the bright, the lovely hills around the old homestead comes in view. But hear, the silence breaks, and rings along the line, “Forward!” With that yell, characteristic of Missourians, they sprang forward, and the work of death began.

I have followed the army from Lexington to Altoona, but never witnessed such a scene as is now transpiring on Altoona’s bloody hills.

The enemy fought like men, and when within twenty yards of their

severely wounded in the thigh. But another deeper, louder yell from behind, and the cry rang along our lines forward, the “Chubs” are coming, and like the tiger upon his prey, our men leaped upon their works. And now let nature pause and for one moment gaze upon the scene. The cannon’s thunder was no longer heard, the rumble of the musket had ceased, “but shrill and terrible from rank to rank, resounded the clash of bayonets.”

The Texans, determined not to be outdone by the Missourians, rushed impetuously forward, and having no bayonets, turned the butts of their guns, or gathering rocks, hurled them upon the falling foe.

Here fell the noble Stephen Barton, ensign of the 3d and 5th Missouri triumphant over the enemy’s works.

Here General Young was severely wounded, while leading his men to the charge. Never was the work of death more terrible, while here friend and foe fell to fill one common grave.

The gallant Mississippians came promptly up from the left, and the enemy staggered, reeled and fled, and left us in possession of all the forts and redoubts except the strong fort on our right, to which the enemy now all retired. This fort was the most formidable of all, being surrounded by a deep, wide ditch with no approach but at the draws. Our men were now compelled to rest and get a new supply of ammunition. While this was being done, and preparations were being made to storm and carry the last remaining fort, General French

‘ EVERY MAN WAS

CONFIDENT OF

VICTORY '

works, so deadly was their fire, that our lines halted, and for a time the contest seemed dreadful. It was here that Major [Owen A.] Waddell, commanding the 3d and 5th Missouri, fell mortally wounded, whilst nobly and exultantly leading his men. Major [Robert J.] Williams, of the 3d, fell

received a dispatch from General [Frank C.] Armstrong, stating that the enemy were advancing 10,000 strong by way of Big Shanty.

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in our rear. Gen. Cockrell was ordered three times before he would withdraw, and when necessity compelled him, he wept. He met Gen. French with tears in his eyes and the two heroes wept together. Yonder lies some of Missouri’s noblest sons, there flowed some of her purest blood, and shall it all be in vain? But it is our luck. On the eve of one of the brightest victories of the war, we are defeated by a false dispatch, for scarcely had we been withdrawn when Gen. French received a second dispatch stating that no enemy were advancing. But it was now too late, though there was not a man but begged to go back. Considering the odds against us, the enemy outnumbering us, with strong earthworks, and the terrible desperation with which they fought, it was one of the most hard fought battles of the war.

I had thought we had done hard

fighting before, but there is not a man but will not say it was the hardest fought battle in which he was ever engaged. We never before on any field used the bayonet.

I had forgotten to mention that Major [William F.] Carter, of the 2d Missouri, was killed. Though individual deeds of daring could not be recorded, I must however mention a few. Sergeant [William W.] Rice, of the 3d regiment, after laying three men low at his feet, plunged a bayonet through another’s breast, just in time to save the life of Captain Adkinson of Co. G, of the same regiment, who was leading his men gallantly on; J. J. Payne, belonging to a company of sharpshooters, walked up to a rifle pit containing six Yankees and demanded of them to surrender; all threw down their guns but one. He remarked that six were too many to surrender to one.

Well, said hero, leveling his gun, you can do as you please, sir, when he too surrendered, and the six were marched to the rear, our hero carrying with him two heavy rifles. Another, Robert Theaderick, a letter bearer, seeing our men halt in the thickness of the fight, letter in hand, and was severely, if not mortally, wounded. When asked why he rushed into danger, he replied, “I wished to encourage the boys.” I wish I had room for more. The Missouri Brigade lost near two hundred and eighty killed and wounded. I do not know the number lost in the other brigades, but suppose it to be about the same. The loss of the enemy was equally heavy. In killed they lost the most. We captured two flags and about 220 prisoners.

Hoping I have done injustice to no one, I beg leave subscribe myself yours, Missouri.

TENNESSEE BLOODBATH At the November 30, 1864, Battle of Franklin, the Federal Army of the Ohio barricaded itself behind earthworks, and a captain in the 50th Ohio recalled, "It was impossible to exaggerate the fierce energy with which the Confederate soldiers that November afternoon threw themsleves against the works." Cockrell's men slammed into the Union line just east of the Columbia Pike.

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ess than eight weeks after Allatoona, the Missourians under Brig. Gen. Francis M. Cockrell once again faced entrenched Federals at the Battle of Franklin. This bloody engagement is briefly described in the second article from the April 5, 1865, Atlanta Intelligencer that consists of an extract from a private letter written by a defiant Cockrell. During his brigade’s advance against the Federal line in the vicinity of the cotton gin, Cockrell had two horses shot from under him and received wounds in the right arm, the left leg, and the right ankle.

“When I got these wounds,” he recalled years after the

war, “I was at the front line right in the midst of the fight.

I tried my right leg, and when I found I couldn’t walk on it, I hobbled off the field. It was not until the surgeon was working on my right ankle that I found I had been wounded in my left leg.” Cockrell’s statement that his brigade lost two-thirds of its strength at Franklin roughly coincides with figures that appear in Gottshalk’s In Deadly Earnest, which claims that out of 696 men who participated in the charge, the Missourians suffered 419 total casualties. The Missouri general’s war ended on April 9, 1865, when he was captured along with most of the garrison of Fort Blakely on the Appalachee River near Mobile, Ala.

FOCAL POINT This postwar image shows the cotton gin building, at right, that was just behind the Union lines at the Battle of Franklin.

How a True Soldier and Patriot Feels Atlanta Intelligencer, April 5, 1865 From the Telegraph & Confederate

The Columbus [Ga.] Times has been permitted to make the following extract from a private letter written

by General Cockrell to a friend in that city. This officer is a Missourian, and commanded a brigade in French’s division. He has not been at home in four years, but has been constantly in the field except when wounds (of which he has many) compelled his absence. His brigade of Missourians with himself at their head, has won a

name that can never die. The letter was written in the freedom of private correspondence, and, of course, was never intended to be published; but the sentiments it utters are so honorable to the author, and are, moreover, so well calculated to inspire faith and hope in the cause, that we trust he will excuse the liberty taken.

“Since I saw you last, I have gone thro’ a regular flint mill. My noble brigade has been almost obliterated.

At Allatoona, Ga., I lost one-third of the number taken into the fight, and at Franklin, Tenn., I lost two-thirdshaving had every fourth man killed dead, or mortally wounded, and since died. This was by far the fiercest and bloodiest and hottest battle I have ever been in. My Brigade acted more handsomely, defiantly and recklessly than on any field of the war; and you know what it required to eclipse all former conduct on so many bloody fields. They march quietly, and boldly, and steadily through the broken and fleeing ranks of at least twice their own number, and no man wavered—all to the stop, with colors six paces in front, just like a drill, and never brought their guns from a ‘right shoulder shift’ until within thirty or forty yards of DECEMBER 2017 CIVIL WAR TIMES

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‘ MY NOBLE BRIGADE HAS BEEN ALMOST OBLITERATED ' soldier I ever saw. [Gates was wounded in both arms at Franklin, having one of them amputated. Federals captured him in a field hospital, but he subsequently escaped from the train taking him north.]

I had a rough time getting out of Tennessee, but would have ventured almost anything before falling into Yankee hands. I rejoined my brigade at West Point, Miss., January 20, 1865, just sixty days from the day I was wounded. I have been on crutches up to March 4, 1865. Laid them aside on that day to take an even start with Old Abe for the coming four years. I am in for that time, and four more if necessaryforever if required. We arrived in Mobile February 4th and since then I have commanded French’s division.

I am not well yet. My right leg is still not well. I have six pieces of bone which have worked out, and I think more pieces will yet work out.

I got disgusted with the rear— could scarcely keep from breaking my crutches over the rear men, who talked so loudly of demoralization, peace, etc.

I never want any man to gas to me of

LAST ACT Colonel Hugh Garland was shot dead shortly after he grabbed the colors of his regiment, the 1st and 4th Missouri, at the Battle of Franklin. the enemy’s works, and then fired by order, and hurled themselves against the works. It was grand and terrible in the extreme. Almost all were killed and wounded very near the works, or in the ditches of the works. I have no language to paint the scene.

We hear that Colonel [Elijah P.] Gates has escaped the enemy, and is now somewhere in our lines. I hope it is true. He is the noblest and best

The 1st and 4th were consolidated in November 1862. The other regiments consolidated between August and September 1863 in Demopolis, Ala., while awaiting exchange following their capture at Vicksburg. The regiments had all suffered heavily in the 1862 fights at Iuka, Miss., and the Second Battle of Corinth, Miss., and during the Vicksburg Campaign.

As of November 20, 1863, there were only 112 officers and 1,329 men present in the eight regiments. At Franklin, the brigade lost 419 total casualties out of 696 officer and enlisted men present.

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peace. I don’t think of any such good thing. I think of war—bitter, cruel, devastating war—fully prepared for the worst. I expect Richmond to fall and even when all our large armies are disbanded by force of the enemy—our cities, railroads, and rivers in their possession—then I will just commence fighting in earnest. Will take to the mountains and swamps, and fight on, fight ever. Let us all resolve to do this, and we will be free. Be not overjoyed with victory, and draw new, fresh inspiration from disasters and reverses.

Trust in God and our own arms, and all will be right. I firmly believe in our entire ability to maintain our separate nationality and achieve our independence.

Keith Bohannon teaches at the University of West Georgia. His latest essay appears in Gary W. Gallagher and Caroline E. Janney’s Cold Harbor to the Crater (University of North Carolina Press, 2015).

10

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MAYHEM NEAR THE MOUNTAIN Stonewall Jacksonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Left Wing of the Army of Northern Virginia marched west from Richmond to slam into a portion of Maj. Gen. John Popeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Army of Virginia at the Battle of Cedar Mountain on August 9, 1862, just 7 miles southwest of Culpeper. Pope lost his momentum, and the stage was set for the Southern victory of Second Manassas later that month. The Friends of Cedar Mountain (friendsofcedarmountain.org) help interpret and mark the battlefield.

WARâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S STAGING GROUND

â&#x20AC;&#x153;CAMP NEAR CULPEPERâ&#x20AC;? served as the heading for thousands of letters written from

Culpeper, Va., and its environs by Confederate and Union soldiers alike. Before the war, the pastoral town, home to 1,056 residents, enjoyed being at the center of a prosperous wheat-growing region. Located midway between Washington, D.C., and Richmond, it was also an important railway hub, serviced by the Orange & Alexandria and the Virginia Central railroads. Once hostilities began, its central location, lush wheatfields, C U LP EP ER and well-developed infrastructure drew armies like a magnet. Robert E. Leeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Confederate army camped in Culpeper County after Antietam and before and after Gettysburg. The Union Army of the Potomac established its massive 100,000-man encampment there during the winter of 1863-64 before splashing across the Rapidan River on its way to the Overland Campaign fighting. Battles, most notably Cedar Mountain in 1862 and the huge 1863 cavalry fight at Brandy Station, also flared near Culpeper, and dozens of structures became hospitals. By warâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s end, the wheatfields were flattened and the local economy was in ruins. Modern Culpeper, however, is pleasant and thriving, with numerous Civil War sites to see, supplemented by breweries and barbeque. So consider staging for a day or two in this charming town where a Confederate general spent his childhood and a Rebel icon died from his wounds.â&#x20AC;&#x201C;D.B.S. & S.R. 58

CIVIL WAR TIMES DECEMBER 2017

THE GALLANT

PELHAM

DINOSAURS AND MINUTE MEN

The Museum of Culpeper History (culpepermuseum.com), housed in a historic train depot, is a great place to get oriented. Exhibits discuss the spectrum of the area’s history— the county contains more dinosaur tracks than any other spot in America— and dig deep into the Civil War era. The Culpeper Minute Men formed to fight the British in 1775, and the unit re-formed in 1861 to fight the Union.

Visitors can light up a large topographical map showing the Battles of Cedar Mountain, Kelly’s Ford, and Brandy Station.

Major John Pelham was J.E.B. Stuart’s charismatic chief of artillery, and suffered a mortal wound fighting near Kelly’s Ford in Culpeper County on March 17, 1863. The United Daughters of the Confederacy erected this monument not far from where he fell at the ford, and it was moved to the Graffiti House in 2013. A plaque at the northeast corner of Main and Cameron streets in Culpeper marks the location of the home in which he died.

WORSHIP AND MISERY Built in 1821, St. Stephens Episcopal Church (ststephensculpeper.net) served as a hospital after a number of battles, and Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart worshipped here during the Army of Northern Virginia’s winter encampment of 1862-63.

LITTLE A.P.

SPY SPOT Union troops maintained a signal post and watch station on Mount Pony, and glared through their telescopes at Confederate camps and troop movements across the Rapidan River to the south. The Library of Congress National Audio Visual Conservation Center is now headquartered on the mountain.

Check loc.gov/avconservation for hours and access.

Ambrose Powell Hill lived in Culpeper from age 7 to 17 in a house that still stands at 102 North Main, although it was remodeled after he left to attend the U.S. Military Academy. Hill went on to obtain fame as the red-battleshirted war dog of the Army of Northern Virginia, and was killed in 1865.

FOREVER CAMPED IN CULPEPER Culpeper National Cemetery (cem.va.gov/cems/nchp/culpeper.asp), established in 1867, holds the remains of hundreds of Union soldiers reinterred from battles waged DECEMBER 2017 CIVIL WAR TIMES

59

“...The ground was open, level and firm; conditions which led to the settlement of the affair with the saber alone.”

Confederate Lt. Col. L.L. Blackford describes the June 9, 1863, Battle of Brandy Station

in the county and nearby engagements such as Chancellorsville. Union regiments from Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania also placed regimental monuments here honoring their service at Cedar Mountain when that battlefield was still private property.

SCRIBBLERS

Culpeper National Cemetery

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The 1858 Graffiti House serves as the headquarters for the Brandy Station Foundation (brandystationfoundation.com) and is the best starting point for your tour of the Brandy Station Battlefield. Union and Confederate troops left graffiti that covers the 2nd floor walls of the house, including the signature of J.E.B. Stuart and a sketch of a man suspected to be Walt Whitman, who spent time as a nurse in Culpeper. It is hard to convey the power of the signatures and sketches until you see them.

The June 9, 1863, Battle of Brandy Station was the largest cavalry fight of the war, pitting 17,000 troopers against each other. It also inspired Civil War battlefield preservation efforts when the Brandy Station Foundation and the Civil War Trust joined forces to beat back an attempt to turn the battlefield, alongside Route 29, 10 miles northeast of Culpeper, into a racetrack.

LOCAL COLOR Graffiti House

Uncle Elderâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Family Restaurant This cozy, inexpensive establishment specializes in barbecue and Southern sides, including fried okra and delicious simmered apples. uncleeldersbbq.com

Beer Hound Brewery Grab a table outside and enjoy a sample or pint of their brews, including root beer. beerhoundbrewery.com

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HERITAGE TRAVEL & LIFESTYLE SHOWCASE Explore Maryland with once-in-alifetime commemorations—all at one destination. Create your family history by exploring ours. Go to visitmaryland. org to plan your trip today.

There’s no other place that embodies the heart and soul of the True South in all its rich and varied expressions— Mississippi. Find Your True South.

To discover more about Tennessee and to order your free official Tennessee Vacation Guide, visit: TNVACATION.COM or call 1-800-GO2-TENN

Known for sublime natural beauty, captivating history and heritage and warm hospitality, West Virginia really is the great escape. Start planning your getaway today.

Walk where Civil War soldiers fought and died. A short trip from Nashville and a long journey into America’s history!

Call (800) 716-7560.

ReadySetRutherford.com

Join us for our Civil War Anniversary Commemoration including attractions and tours, exhibitions, memorials and a selection of artifacts from Fort Fisher.

Lebanon, KY is home to the Lebanon National Cemetery, its own Civil War Park, and it’s part of the John Hunt Morgan Trail.

VisitLebanonKY.com today.

History lives in Tupelo, Mississippi.

Visit Brice’s Crossroads National Battlefield, Natchez Trace Parkway, Tupelo National Battlefield, Mississippi Hills Exhibit Center and more.

“Part of the One and Only Bluegrass!”

Visit National Historic Landmark, National Civil War Trust tour, historic ferry, and the third largest planetarium of its kind in the world!

North Little Rock, Arkansas, is one of only two places to have two vessels that bookend World War II: tugboat USS Hoga and submarine USS Razorback. www.AIMMuseum.org

A vacation in Georgia means great family experiences that can only be described as pretty sweet.

Explore Georgia’s Magnolia Midlands.

Experience the Civil War in Jacksonville at the Museum of Military History.

Relive one of Arkansas’ first stands at the Reed’s Bridge Battlefield. jacksonvillesoars.com/museum.php

Explore the past in Baltimore during two commemorative events: the War of 1812 Bicentennial and Civil War 150.

Plan your trip at Baltimore.org.

Are you a history and culture buff?

There are many museums and attractions, Civil War, and Civil Rights sites just for you in Jackson, Mississippi.

Experience living history for The Battles of Marietta Georgia, featuring reenactments, tours and a recreation of 1864 Marietta. www.mariettacivilwar.com

Experience the Old West in action with a trip through Southwest Montana.

For more information on our 15 ghost towns, visit southwestmt.com or call 800-879-1159, ext 1501.

The Mississippi Hills National Heritage Area highlights the historic, cultural, natural, scenic and recreational treasures of this distinctive region. www.mississippihills.org

Once Georgia’s last frontier outpost, now its third largest city, Columbus is a true destination of choice. History, theater, arts and sports—Columbus has it all.

Over 650 grand historic homes in three National Register Historic Districts.

Birthplace of America’s greatest playwright, Tennessee Williams. The ultimate Southern destination—Columbus, MS.

Six major battles took place in Winchester and Frederick County, and the town changed hands approximately 72 times— more than any other town in the country! www.visitwinchesterva.com

Home to more than 400 sites, the Civil War’s impact on Georgia was greater than any other event in the state’s history. Visit www.gacivilwar.org to learn more.

Greeneville, TN Founded in 1783, Greeneville has a rich historical background as the home for such important figures as Davy Crockett and President Andrew Johnson.

Plan your visit now!

Richmond, Kentucky

H I S T O R I C

Roswell, Georgia

Tishomingo County, MS Fayetteville/Cumberland County, North Carolina is steeped in history and patriotic traditions. Take a tour highlighting our military ties, status as a transportation hub, and our Civil War story.

Whether you love history, culture, the peacefulness of the great outdoors, or the excitement of entertainment, Roswell offers a wide selection of attractions and tours. www.visitroswellga.com

With a variety of historic attractions and outdoor adventures, Tishomingo County is a perfect destination for lovers of history and nature alike.

History surrounds Cartersville, GA, including Allatoona Pass, where a fierce battle took place, and Cooper’s Furnace, the only remnant of the bustling industrial town of Etowah.

Relive history in Hopkinsville, Kentucky and explore Jefferson Davis’ birthplace, the Trail of Tears Commemorative Park and the vigilante rebellion of the Black Patch Tobacco War.

Seven museums, an 1890 railroad, a British fort and an ancient trade path can be found on the Furs to Factories Trail in the Tennessee Overhill, located in the corner of Southeast Tennessee.

Through personal stories, interactive exhibits and a 360° movie, the Civil War Museum focuses on the war from the perspective of the Upper Middle West. www.thecivilwarmuseum.org

There’s a place where a leisurely stroll might lead to an extraordinary historic home, a beautiful monastery or a lush peach orchard. That place is Georgia.

ExploreGeorgia.org/HistoricHeartland

Harrodsburg, KY—The Coolest Place in History! Explore 3000 acres of discovery at Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill and 1774 at Old Fort Harrod State Park. www.HarrodsburgKy.com

Williamson County, Tennessee, is rich in Civil War history. Here, you can visit the Lotz House, Carnton Plantation, Carter House, Fort Granger and Winstead Hill Park, among other historic locations.

Explore the Natchez Trace. Discover America. Journey along this 444-mile National Scenic Byway stretching from the Mississippi River in Natchez through Alabama and then Tennessee.

Come to Helena, Arkansas and see the Civil War like you’ve never seen it before. Plan your trip today! www.CivilWarHelena.com www.VisitHelenaAR.com

Join us as we commemorate the 150th anniversary of Knoxville’s Civil War forts. Plan your trip today! www.knoxcivilwar.org

Charismatic Union General Hugh Judson Kilpatrick had legions of admirers during the war. He just wasn’t much of a general, as his men often learned with their lives.

Sandy Springs, Georgia, is the perfect hub for exploring Metro Atlanta’s Civil War sites. Conveniently located near major highways, you’ll see everything from Sandy Springs!

Treat yourself to Southern Kentucky hospitality in London and Laurel County! Attractions include the Levi Jackson Wilderness Road State Park and Camp Wildcat Civil War Battlefield.

Hip and historic Frederick County, Maryland is home to the National Museum of Civil War Medicine, unique shopping, dining covered bridges and outdoor recreation. www.visitfrederick.org

Just 15 miles south of downtown Atlanta lies the heart of the true South: Clayton County, Georgia, where heritage comes alive!

St. Mary’s County, Maryland. Visit Point Lookout, site of the war’s largest prison camp, plus Confederate and USCT monuments. A short drive from the nation’s capital.

Cleveland, TN

Near Chattanooga, find glorious mountain scenery and heart-pounding white-water rafting. Walk in the footsteps of the Cherokee and discover a charming historic downtown.

Alabama’s Gulf Coast

If you’re looking for an easy stroll through a century of fine architecture or a trek down dusty roads along the Blues Trail, you’ve come to the right place. www. visitgreenwood.com

Southern hospitality at its finest, the Classic South, Georgia, offers visitors a combination of history and charm mixed with excursion options for everyone from outdoorsmen to museum-goers.

Relive the rich history of the Alabama Gulf Coast at Fort Morgan, Fort Gaines, the USS Alabama Battleship, and the area’s many museums.

Fort-Morgan.org • 888-666-9252

CIVIL WAR MUSEUM of the Western Theater

Vicksburg, Mississippi is a great place to bring your family to learn American history, enjoy educational museums and check out the mighty Mississippi River.

Follow the Civil War Trail in Meridian, Mississippi, where you’ll experience history first-hand, including Merrehope Mansion, Marion Confederate Cemetery and more. www.visitmeridian.com.

Fitzgerald, Georgia...100 years of bringing people together. Learn more about our story and the commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War’s conclusion at www.fitzgeraldga.org.

Hundreds of authentic artifacts.

Voted fourth finest in U.S. by North & South Magazine. Located in historic Bardstown, Kentucky. www.civil-war-museum.org

Come to Cleveland, Mississippi—the birthplace of the blues. Here, you’ll find such legendary destinations as Dockery Farms and Po’ Monkey’s Juke Joint. www.visitclevelandms.com

Historic Bardstown, Kentucky

Destination

Jessamine, KY Prestonsburg, KY - Civil War & history attractions, and reenactment dates at PrestonsburgKY.org. Home to Jenny Wiley State Park, country music entertainment & Dewey Lake.

Search over 10,000 images and primary documents relating to the Civil War Battle of Hampton Roads, now available in The Mariners’ Museum Library Online Catalog! www.marinersmuseum.org/catalogs

History, bourbon, shopping, sightseeing and relaxing—whatever you enjoy, you’re sure to find it in beautiful Bardstown, KY. Plan your visit today. www.visitbardstown.com

London, KY–The reenactment of the Battle of Camp Wildcat, Camp Wildcat Historic Site, Wilderness Road Trail & Boones Trace Trail, & antique and flea market shopping. www.LaurelKyTourism.com

STEP BACK IN TIME at Camp Nelson Civil War Heritage Park, a Union Army supply depot and African American refugee camp. Museum, Civil War Library, Interpretive Trails and more.

AN INCENDIARY

YEAR REVIEWED BY FRANK J. WILLIAMS

T

HIS IS A RELEVANT BOOK OF OUR TIMES. The year 1856 was full of turmoil, with “Bloody Kansas,” the federal government and courts acting as slave catchers pursuant to the Compromise of 1850, political rhetoric was vitriolic and incendiary, and the United States was on its way to civil war. The violence of 1856 left “voters craving stability,” author John Bicknell writes. There was a “widespread feeling that things were falling apart,” and the country was seeking someone who would not elevate the crisis. Thus, the “Old Public Functionary,” James Buchanan, was “the safer choice.”

The terrible events that dated back to the Compromise of 1850, and long before, as Bicknell capably argues, were elevated to the status of political symbols. Illinois Senator Stephen A. Douglas and President Franklin Pierce’s efforts to legislate the end of the 1820 Missouri Compromise with the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 did raise serious controversy.

The new law permitted “popular sovereignty” and allowed territorial populations to vote slavery up or down. But the law also removed the unworkable part of the Missouri Compromise of 1820, made possible the building of the Transcontinental Railroad, and offered hope in the West for expansion.

However, the violence, even in Washington, D.C., included a congressman shooting an Irish waiter in the Willard Hotel and the terrible beating of U.S. Senator Charles Sumner by a hostile South Carolinian congressman, also gave a sense of hope to the new Republican Party—now headed by famed explorer John C. Frémont. The new party was a first in American politics by dedicating itself to limiting the spread of slavery and caused excitement among women and African Americans who became engaged in the presidential contest.

The candidate’s beautiful, talented, and outspoken wife Jessie Benton Frémont was really her husband’s campaign manager in planning the public face of the campaign. Even some enslaved African Americans in the South who learned of the campaign had their hopes raised too. On the other 64

CIVIL WAR TIMES DECEMBER 2017

Lincoln’s Pathfinder: John C. Frémont and the Violent Election of 1856

By John Bicknell Chicago University Press, 2017, $18.35

hand, frustration also grew from the most infamous Supreme Court decision in U.S. history—Dred Scott. This clearly was the pivotal moment for the Civil War in 1861.

Although Frémont lost, his strong showing in the North provided substantial evidence that a sectional party might win a national election, as proved with Abraham Lincoln’s victory four years later. (In fact, to Abraham Lincoln’s surprise, he was considered as a nominee for vice president in 1856.)

Bicknell covers this crucial period in great detail with a fine writing style that is extremely readable. It presents the intricate resetting of American political parties as a result of the divisive and violent views about the expansion of slavery into the Western territories. The author has a gift of being able to place readers in the midst of a fascinating and misunderstood chapter in American history.

A GOOD

FIGHT REVIEWED BY KIM O’CONNELL

ars tend to be extended, messy affairs, won in a series of battles large and small, on the field and in back rooms, by leaders and foot soldiers. This was true of the Civil War—the first one, that is—and it’s true of what author and historian Bob Zeller has dubbed the “second Civil War,” the 30-year effort to save Civil War battlefields from development and desecration.

As this exhaustively researched and often stirringly written book illustrates, the leaders waging this second war have been relentless.

Protecting the Chancellorsville battlefield in Virginia in the early 2000s is just one of many examples in the book. In 1999, the Association for the Preservation of Civil War Sites (APCWS) and the original Civil War Trust had merged to become the Civil War Preservation Trust and found its footing as a preservation organization (more on this later). In Chancellorsville, Dogwood Development Corp. had proposed a mixed-use development in the heart of the first-day battleground. Trust President Jim Lighthizer tried to negotiate with the developer but met a proverbial brick wall. The Trust initiated a coordinated advocacy battle that operated on several levels, until Dogwood dropped the proposal.

Yet the celebration was short-lived, as other developers were more than ready to step into the space Dogwood had vacated. The Trust then brokered

W

a deal that saved historic battlefield land in exchange for greater development density elsewhere.

Throughout the book, the Civil War Trust (a name to which it returned in 2011) is shown to be a dogged defender and deal-maker in places like Manassas, Gettysburg, Antietam, Franklin, and more. Zeller recounts these stories with verve, introducing heroes both sung and unsung, including the Trust’s Chief Policy Officer Jim Campi, Brandy Station advocate Clark B. “Bud” Hall, passionate Manassas preservationist Annie Snyder, historians Ed Bearss, Gary Gallagher, James McPherson, and Lighthizer himself, who soldiers on despite suffering a personal tragedy that Zeller chronicles with sensitivity. The battles they wage will be familiar but are important to retell, from the proposed Disney’s America theme park at Manassas to the repeated casino proposals at Gettysburg. Several battles are painfully lost, but the Trust’s record includes saving more than 45,000 acres at 132 battlefields in 23 states.

Sadly, one of the ugliest battles portrayed in the book is the one that arose between APCWS and the Trust, a true civil war among combatants with more in common than not. The two separate groups shared a core mission but different approaches. By the late 90s, both groups had developed some organizational slack. The obvious choice was for the groups to merge, with Lighthizer at the helm.

Although it was ostensibly a marriage, in actuality it resembled an acrimonious divorce, culminating in the firing of several APCWS staffers.

None of the groups’ leaders come off particularly well during this episode, including Lighthizer, and it’s a credit to the author and the Trust (as the book’s publisher) that their decisions are portrayed warts and all. That said, the narrative bogs down here in more bitter detail and office politics than it probably needed from a dis-

Fighting the Second Civil War: A History of Battlefield Preservation and the Emergence of the Civil War Trust

By Bob Zeller The Civil War Trust, 2017, $17.95 tance of nearly 20 years. (Disclosures: The book includes an interview with this magazine’s editor, Dana Shoaf, a former APCWS education director who was there during the merger.

Also, this reviewer once worked with the Trust as a freelancer in a limited fashion years ago.)

The book’s greatest strength is Zeller’s use of extensive interviews, oral histories, and meeting minutes so that these battles come to life through their participants’ voices.

Not surprisingly, the Civil War often inspires eloquence, and it is particularly moving to hear once again from the late Brian Pohanka. Attending a vigil in Chancellorsville, Pohanka quoted from Joshua Chamberlain, who said, “Willing to die, we will not be forgotten.” Then, with his voice rising, Pohanka declared, “They will not be forgotten!” Given his due in this book, Pohanka—along with his many colleagues in the Civil War preservation community—won’t soon be forgotten either.

DECEMBER 2017 CIVIL WAR TIMES

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REVIEWED BY WILLIAM JOHN SHEPHERD his is an excellent examination of the often-conflicting position of Catholics, including immigrants, in the Civil War. The author relies heavily on Catholic newspapers, stating that Catholic repositories, such as University of Notre Dame, primarily contain sources of Catholic elites, thus conflating the national Catholic experience with the Irish-American experience.

Numbering about 3 million, Catholics made up about 10 percent of the U.S. population in 1860, the vast majority living in Northern states. The Civil War gave Catholics a chance to prove their loyalty, with nearly 200,000 serving as Union soldiers, 53 priests as chaplains, and more than 600 nuns engaged as nurses. Catholics, mostly Democrats, tired of the war by 1863 and irritated Lincolnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Republican administration by resisting emancipation, suspension of civil liberties, and the military draft.

Postwar apologists promoted positive Catholic memories, ignoring slavery and draft riots, highlighting Union stalwarts Maj. Gen. William S. Rosecrans, Archbishop John Hughes of New York, Chaplain William Corby of Gettysburg, and Mother Angela Gillespie, cousin to William T. Sherman, who supplied nuns as nurses. These commemorations were well received by Catholics, but did little to lessen anti-Catholicism in postwar America, thus accelerating the antebellum trend of largely confining Catholics to a separate subculture of urban ethnic neighborhoods.

Kurtz concludes by observing that the story of proâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;Union Catholics, was akin to black soldiers in the Civil War; Japanese Americans in World War II; and Muslim Americans in the 21st century, demonstrating the limits of military service to eradicate enduring biases.

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Excommunicated from the Union: How the Civil War Created a Separate Catholic America

By William B. Kurtz Fordham University Press 2015, $35

REVIEWED BY GORDON BERG econstruction has long been depicted as racist whites, unscrupulous Carpetbaggers and Scalawags taking advantage of confused and mistreated freed people during a time of social, political, and economic upheaval while the righteous bayonets of the Union Army tried to hold the moral no-man’s land between them. More analytical scholarship like Michael Fitzgerald’s Reconstruction in Alabama, however, will demonstrate that this is a gross oversimplification.

In Alabama, a strong Union influence in the northern hill country vied with secessionist, states’ rights sympathies of the plantation-dominated “black belt” cotton aristocracy during the antebellum period. After the war, Fitzgerald maintains, “sharp divisions among whites over development policy, and subsequently over how to avoid state bankruptcy, opened avenues of political influence to African Americans.” Thanks in large measure to the outsized influence and determination of Governor Robert Miller Patton during the first years of Reconstruction, revitalizing Alabama’s economic stature and encouraging Northern investment took precedent over racial passions and social prejudices. Fitzgerald argues that during the early 1870s, “A competitive biracial democracy functioned across much of the state….Only the depression of the mid-1870s changed this trajectory swiftly, and terrifyingly.”

But Fitzgerald’s rigorous investigation of Alabama’s Reconstruction period clearly reveals how it all could have turned out differently. By analyzing the course of Reconstruction in Alabama, Fitzgerald offers historians a template for studying the period in other states, perhaps shedding light that future generations can use to understand one of America’s most misunderstood decades.

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Reconstruction in Alabama: From Civil War to Redemption in the Cotton South

By Michael W. Fitzgerald LSU Press, 2017, $49.95

REVIEWED BY ETHAN S. RAFUSE hen asked to assess the grand campaign that turned over the course of three days of fighting at Gettysburg, Robert E. Lee reportedly insisted, “we did whip them…and it will be seen for the next six months that that army will be as quiet as a sucking dove.” George Gordon Meade’s Army of the Potomac would in fact be anything but quiet during the second half of 1863—though one could be forgiven for thinking this was the case for historians have devoted little attention to the operations that took place in Virginia in the months between July 1863 and May 1864.

Author Jeffrey William Hunt provides a long overdue corrective to the notion that the Gettysburg Campaign ended once Lee recrossed the Potomac. Indeed, soon thereafter Meade and Lee conducted a dramatic, high stakes campaign in which the Federal army pushed south into the Loudoun Valley and endeavored to seize control of the passes in the Blue Ridge. Had Meade been successful in achieving his objectives, it would have had significant strategic consequences. The Army of Northern Virginia, however, was able to thwart Meade’s efforts during the second half of July 1863, during which time elements from both armies clashed in noteworthy engagements at Shepherdstown, Gaines Crossroads, and Wapping Heights.

It is difficult these days to find a significant military campaign or engagement that has yet to receive significant attention. With the appearance of Hunt’s informative, readable, and impressively researched study, it is now possible to remove the operations that carried Meade’s and Lee’s armies from the banks of the Potomac to the Rappahannock in 1863 from the list of the war’s neglected battles and campaigns.

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Meade and Lee After Gettysburg: The Forgotten Final Stage of the Gettysburg Campaign from Falling Waters to Culpeper Court House, July 14–31, 1863

By Jeffrey William Hunt Savas Beatie, 2017, $29.95

REVIEWED BY GORDON BERG he Savas Beatie “Emerging Civil War” series is tailor-made for the modern battlefield tramper. Most of the titles deal with significant battles or campaigns and provide readers with an informed guide and illustrated traveling companion with which to explore the war’s hallowed ground by foot and automobile.

Doug Crenshaw’s contribution fits nicely into this useful niche market, and the value of Crenshaw’s monograph is its conciseness, clarity, numerous illustrations, and, as with all Savas Beatie publications, excellent maps. He rightly sees this campaign as a testing ground for strategic, logistical, and battlefield tactics and the shortcomings of command structures that both sides displayed early in the war. Had the Union’s campaign been successful, the war might have ended before emancipation freed enslaved African Americans and a much different resolution of the conflict might have ensued.

Crenshaw places the campaign in context following the Battle of Seven Pines, the fight that fortuitously elevated Lee to command. Beginning at Mechanicsville, now a Richmond suburb, he shepherds the reader through the battles of Chickahominy Bluffs, Beaver Dam Creek, Gaines’ Mill, Savage’s Station, White Oak Swamp, Frayser’s Farm, and Malvern Hill. Fortunately, much of the land is controlled by the National Park Service and signage supplements Crenshaw’s sturdy descriptions. While Lee was primarily the aggressor in all of the encounters and Crenshaw generally follows the campaign from a Confederate viewpoint, Lee did not win all the engagements mainly because Union field officers like Fitz John Porter, Philip Kearny, and Darius Couch displayed battlefield grit and integrity.

Unfortunately, the books in the “Emerging Civil War” series lack an index so they are best used as a guide rather than an in-depth resource. As with so much of our Civil War heritage, it’s best to put guides like Doug Crenshaw’s into daypacks and follow in the footsteps of long ago armies.

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Richmond Shall Not Be Given Up: The Seven Days’ Battles June 25–July 1, 1862

By Doug Crenshaw Savas Beatie, 2017, $14.95

CREDITS Cover: Library of Congress/ Photo Illustration: Brian Walker; P. 2: Shenandoah Sanchez; P. 3: Clockwise From Top: Troiani, Don (b.1949)/Private Collection/ Bridgeman Images; The State Historical Society of Missouri; Heritage Auctions, Dallas; P. 4: Troiani, Don (b.1949)/Private Collection/Bridgeman Images; P. 6: Joe Songer/AP Images; TASOS KATOPODIS/AFP/Getty Images; Jerry Jackson/Baltimore Sun/AP Images; P. 10: Courtesy Fort Negley Visitors Center and Park; P. 11: Photo by Chad Cowles; P. 12: Library of Congress; Maryland Historical Society; P. 13: Courtesy Restoration Division; Google Earth; P. 14-15: Library of Congress; P. 16: Library of Congress; P. 18: The Southern Bivouac; P. 20: From Left: Private Collection/Photo ©Don Troiani/Bridgeman Images; Heritage Auctions, Dallas (2); P. 21: From Left: Heritage Auctions, Dallas; Private Collection/Photo ©Don Troiani/ Bridgeman Images; P. 22: Photo

by Megan Bean/©Mississippi State University; Courtesy Frank Williams; P. 25: Melissa A. Winn; P. 26-27: Harper’s Weekly; P. 28: The Official Military Atlas of the Civil War; P. 29: Harper’s Weekly; P. 30: The American Civil War Museum; P. 31: Photo by Peter Currer, Courtesy St. Paul’s Protestant Episcopal; P. 32: The American Civil War Museum (2); P. 33: Paul Brady/Alamy Stock Photo; P. 34-35: Troiani, Don (b.1949)/ Private Collection/Bridgeman Images; P. 36: Thomas T. Warshaw III; P. 37: Courtesy Rosenberg Library, Galveston, Texas; P. 38: Historical Research Center, Texas Heritage Museum, Hill College, Hillsboro, Texas (2); P. 40: Courtesy Texas State Library and Archives Commission; P. 41: Historical Research Center, Texas Heritage Museum, Hill College, Hillsboro, Texas; P. 43-49: UCLA Library Special Collections (9); P. 51: The State Historical Society of Missouri; P. 52: National Archives; P. 53: Alabama Department of Archives and History; P. 54: The Official Military Atlas of the Civil War ; P. 55: Courtesy The Battle of Franklin Trust; P. 56: Courtesy Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield; P. 58-60: Shenandoah Sanchez (6); P. 61: Bottom Left: Shenandoah Sanchez; Bottom Right: Beer Hound Brewery; P. 71: Photo by CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images; P. 72: Heritage Auctions, Dallas.

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Union artillerymen on Little Round Top fire at advancing Confederate battle lines on July 2, 1863.

THE FIGHT FOR A PENNSYLVANIA RIDGE REVIEWED BY ETHAN S. RAFUSE ith the crushing of the Union positions at the Peach Orchard and along the Emmitsburg Road during the afternoon of July 2, 1863, it appeared the Army of Northern Virginia had the opportunity to crack the Army of the Potomac’s famous “fishhook” line and win a truly decisive victory at Gettysburg.

Unfortunately for the Confederacy though, Winfield Scott Hancock was on the scene and, under his direction, elements from multiple Union corps were able to arrest the momentum of the Confederate assault and secure Cemetery Ridge.

Like just about every other major aspect of the Gettysburg Campaign, the defense of Cemetery Ridge and how it shaped the course and outcome of the overall battle were chronicled extensively enough in the 150 years after July 1863 to satisfy just about anyone with an interest in the battle.

At the same time, it is safe to say this aspect of the battle is not as wellknown to students of the Civil War

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as the stand of John Buford’s cavalry on July 1, the defense of Little Round Top, or Pickett’s Charge. While unlikely to make t-shirts or Don Troiani prints of George L. Willard or William Colvill as ubiquitous as those of Buford or Joshua Chamberlain, David L. Shultz’s and Scott L. Mingus Sr.’s new study of the fight for Cemetery Ridge will nonetheless be of interest and value to anyone who, after consuming the extensive body of literature that already exists on the second day at Gettysburg, still wants more.

Aided by well-constructed maps, Shultz and Mingus do a very good job tracing the movements of the various units to the battlefield, explaining what they did once they arrived there on July 2, and analyzing the role their efforts played in the North’s ability to hold Cemetery Ridge. In the process, they shine light on the role terrain, regiments, and movements played in the fight that, if not completely unknown, at least merit greater appreciation and detailed description than are feasible to provide in general

The Second Day at Gettysburg: The Attack and Defense of Cemetery Ridge, July 2, 1863

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studies of the battle or tours of the battlefield.

That being said, there are points where the writing would have profited from a bit more thorough editing.

Moreover, one is tempted to quibble with compelling readers to wade through 284 pages to get to the point where James Longstreet’s command actually kicked off its attack, though it is hard, given how effectively Schulz and Mingus construct their accounts of the preliminary movements, to see the people this book is written for having much of a problem with that.

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