LEE’S LAST WORDS: BRINGING THE CONTROVERSY TO A CLOSE
GUNS OF GETTYSBURG THE UNION ARTILLERY’S UNSUNG HERO
LONGSTREET’S LONG ROAD HOME AFTER APPOMATTOX August 2015
FROM NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR
RALPH PETERS THE FIRST THREE NOVELS OF WHAT PROMISES TO BE
THE GREATEST CIVIL WAR SERIES OF OUR TIME
Winners of the William Young Boy d Literary Award for “Excellence in Military Fiction”
NEW
5/5/15
Hardcover, Trade paperback, Paperback, and eBook
Hardco ver,
Trade p ap
erback,
ook r and eB
ve Hardco
Paperbac
k, and eB
ook
“Peters’s narrative unfolds with gripping you-are-there urgency...
RALPH PETERS brings to bear the lessons of his own military career, his lifelong study of this war and the men who fought it, and his skills as a bestselling, prizewinning novelist to portray horrific battles and sublime heroism as no other author has done.
GET FREE EXCERPTS when you sign up for the free Tor/Forge monthly newsletter
FOLLOW FORGE BOOKS! tor-forge.com
GET UPDATES about your favorite Tor and Forge authors when you sign up for Author Updates
starred review on Cain at Gettysburg
—Kirkus Reviews, starred review on Valley of Shadow
—Gordon C. Rhea, author of The Battle of the Wilderness and Cold Harbor
“Surpasses Michael Shaara’s classic The Killer Angels… BRILLIANT is an adjective one is tempted to wear out describing this book ” —Booklist,
A SUPERLATIVE NOVEL.”
ENTHRALLING HISTORICAL FICTION OF THE HIGHEST ORDER.”
“[A] must-read for Civil War history fans.
On-sale
Friction of the frontier between Europeans and the Native peoples increased as more and more settlers moved westward clearing fields and building permanent communities. Disputes on issues ranged from personal insults, unfair trade or regional policy and often became violent. Few communities were close to the small military outposts that dotted the wilderness, and travel on the crude roads and trails could take days for any organized force to react to a threat.
Nothing could have been more terrifying to an isolated family or small community on the frontier than the sudden appearance of a war party. Harvest time was often the season that Europeans and Native peoples alike made war, knowing that destroying the enemy’s food crop before winter would be devastating. These exciting figures and accessories are the newest additions to W.Britain’s growing collection of historical miniatures in 1/30th scale. Each hand painted metal figure measures approximately 60mm in height.
The figures above are just a small sampling of the Clash of Empires collection that W. Britain produces. The figures shown and the entire W. Britain range can be purchased from the retailers listed below: 7R\6ROGLHU6KRSSH Tel: 414-302-1850 Fax: 414-302-1851 www.toysoldiershoppe.net 3775 S. 108th St. *UHHQ¿HOG:LVFRQVLQ
7KH+LVWRU\6WRUH Tel: 740-775-7400 www.thehistorystore.net
[email protected] 101 North Paint St. Chillicothe, Ohio 45601
6LHUUD7R\6ROGLHU Tel: 408-395-3000 Fax: 408-358-3966 www.sierratoysoldier.com 29 N. Santa Cruz Ave. Los Gatos, California 95030
*UHHQ·V&ROOHFWDEOHV Tel: 973-627-4961 www.greenscollectables.com 46 Warren Trail Denville, New Jersey 07834
7KH7R\6ROGLHU&RPSDQ\ Tel: (Toll Free)1-888-825-8697 www.toysoldierco.com
Tedtoy Miniatures Tel: 270-929-2876 www.tedtoy.com 1301 Walnut Street Owensboro, Kentucky 42301
Treefrog Treasures Tel: 866-394-2418 Outside U.S.: 1-507-545-2500 www.treefrogtreasures.com 248 Sandstone Drive NW Eyota, Minnesota 55934
Hobby Bunker Tel: 781-321-8855 Fax: 781-321-8866 www.hobbybunker.com 33 Exchange Street Malden, Massachusetts 02148
Call and mention this ad to recieve a FREE catalog!
WBA0615
©2015 FIRST GEAR, INC.
Edward Valentine’s 1883 sculpture Recumbent Lee, housed in the Lee Chapel in Lexington, Va., depicts the general asleep on the battlefield (the image dates from 2014, before the flags were removed). The article on P. 40 addresses the controversy over Lee’s final words in 1870. Cover: Captain John C. Tidball, far left, and officers of Battery A, 2nd U.S. Artillery, photographed in Virginia in 1862, typify the stalwart artillerymen who fought at Gettysburg (story, P. 30).
CONTENTS
30
[AUGUST
2 0 15
]
Gettysburg’s Forgotten Hero BY Rick
Beard
Union Lt. Col. Freeman McGilvery’s masterful artillery maneuvering spared the Army of the Potomac an unthinkable defeat
40
Lee’s Last Words BY Robert
K. Krick
What did the South’s great commander really say on his deathbed?
46
Relics of the ‘Fire of Patriotism’
54
‘Roads Very Rough & Country Poor’
Artifacts carried into battle by Maine soldiers
BY Susannah
J. Ural
Diary entries tell the story of James Longstreet’s dispiriting journey home from the war
8 13 14 18 22 24 26
Letters
Equine casualties, Booth’s home
HistoryNet Reader
More great reads
News
Rare images go online
Insight
Gideon Welles, “Father Neptune”
Details
Strike up the Band!
New! Materiel
7 Deadly Shells
Interview
Jubal Early biographer B. Franklin Cooling
29 Editorial 62 Explore 66 Reviews 73 Etc. 74 Sold!
Memories of Appomattox Final battles in the Tar Heel State “The American Civil War: Through Artists’ Eyes” in Toledo Surrender pyrotechnics Louisiana buckle
EDITOR IN CHIEF Roger L. Vance
Michael A. Reinstein Dionisio Lucchesi William Koneval
VISIT CAMP WILDCAT CIVIL WAR BATTLEFIELD! Located on the old “Wilderness Road” Laurel County, KY
CHAIRMAN & PUBLISHER PRESIDENT ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER
Vol. 54, No.4
AUGUST 2015
Dana B. Shoaf ART DIRECTOR Jennifer M. Vann EDITOR
Nan Siegel
Managing Editor
Chris K. Howland
Senior Editor
Sarah Richardson Senior Editor
A beautiful and well-preserved Civil War Battlefield. It still has many original trenches that are still intact!
Sarah J. Mock
Photo Editor/ Social Media Coordinator Shenandoah Sanchez
PHOTOGRAPHER AT LARGE ADVISORY BOARD
Don’t Miss the Reenactment! October 16-18, 2015
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
DIGITAL
London-Laurel County Tourist Commission
Brian King Gerald Swick Barbara Justice
CORPORATE
1-800-348-0095 www.laurelkytourism.com
Director Editor Senior Graphic Designer
Paul Zimny Greg Ferris David Steinhafel Karen Johnson Rob Wilkins
EVP Digital EVP Strategy Operations & Finance Business Director
Military Ambassador & Partnership Marketing Director
George Clark
Single Copy Sales Director
ADVERTISING Karen M. Bailey Production Manager/Advertising Services
[email protected]
Richard E. Vincent National Sales Manager
[email protected]
Kim Goddard National Sales Manager
[email protected]
Rick Gower Georgia
[email protected]
Terry Jenkins Tenn., Ky., Miss., Ala., Fla., Mass.
[email protected]
Kurt Gardner Creative Services Director DIRECT RESPONSE ADVERTISING Russell Johns Associates 800-649-9800 •
[email protected]
© 2015 World History Group, LLC Subscription Information 800-435-0715 Yearly subscriptions in U.S.: $39.95 Back Issues: 800-358-6327 List Rental Inquiries: Belkys Reyes, Lake Group Media, Inc. 914-925-2406;
[email protected] Civil War Times (ISSN 1546-9980) is published bimonthly by World History Group, LLC 19300 Promenade Drive Leesburg, VA 20176-6500 703-771-9400.
We’re not just any small town. We’re Bardstown, KY—the Bourbon Capital of the World® and the most beautiful small town in America, according to Rand McNally and USA Today. Great for history, bourbon, shopping, sightseeing and relaxing— whatever you enjoy, you’re sure to find it in beautiful Bardstown.
Periodical postage paid at Leesburg, VA and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER, send address changes to Civil War Times P.O. Box 422224 Palm Coast, FL 32142-2224
www.visitbardstown.com 800.638.4877
Canada Publications Mail Agreement No. 41342519 Canadian GST No. 821371408RT0001 The contents of this magazine may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the written consent of World History Group, LLC.
PROUDLY MADE IN THE USA
6
CIVIL WAR TIMES | AUGUST 2015
In tro Sh du oc ct kin or g yP ric e! ea ch
ADVERTISEMENT
$1
7 95
Actual size is 40.6 mm
GovMint.com releases new American Silver Eagles at our LOWEST PRICE in years!
M
illions of people collect the American Eagle Silver Dollar. In fact it’s been the country’s most popular Silver Dollar for over two decades. Try as they might, that makes it a very hard “secret” to keep quiet. And right now, many of those same people are lining up to secure the brand new 2015 U.S. Eagle Silver Dollars — placing their orders now to ensure that they get America’s newest Silver Dollar— in stunning Brilliant Uncirculated condition — before millions of others beat them to it.
America’s Brand New Silver Dollar This is a strictly limited release of one of the most beautiful silver coins in the world. Today you have the opportunity to secure these massive, hefty one full Troy ounce U.S. Silver Dollars in Brilliant Uncirculated condition. The nearly 100-year-old design features walking Lady Liberty draped in a U.S. flag, while the other side depicts a majestic U.S. Eagle, thirteen stars, and an American shield.
The Most Affordable Precious Metal Silver is by far the most affordable of all precious metals — and each full Troy ounce American Eagle Silver Dollar is government guaranteed for its 99.9% purity, authenticity, and legal tender status.
Our Lowest Price in Years Why are we releasing the most popular Silver Dollar in America at our lowest introductory price in years? To introduce you to what hundreds of thousands of smart collectors and satisfied customers have known since 1984 — GovMint.com is the best source for coins worldwide.
Timing is Everything Our advice? Keep this to yourself. The more people who know about this offer, the worse for you. Demand for Silver Eagles in recent years has shattered records. Experts predict that 2015 Silver Eagles may break them once again. Our supplies are limited and there is a strict limit of 50 per household.
30-Day Satisfaction Guarantee You must be 100% satisfied with your 2015 American Eagle Silver Dollars or return them within 30 days of receipt for a prompt refund (less s/h). Don’t miss out on this exciting new release. Call immediately to secure these American Eagle Silver Dollars NOW! 2015 American Eagle Silver Dollar BU........ Introductory Price $17.95 ea. (plus s/h) (LIMIT 10)
Additional 2015 Silver Eagle BU Dollars may be purchased for $19.95 each (plus s/h). Limited to 50 total coins per household. For fastest service, call today toll-free
1-800-956-7267 Offer Code PEG324-06
Please mention this code when you call.
But the clock is ticking... GovMint.com • 14101 Southcross Dr. W. Dept. PEG324-06 • Burnsville, Minnesota 55337 Prices and availability subject to change without notice. Past performance is not a predictor of future performance. NOTE: GovMint.com® is a private distributor of worldwide government coin and currency issues and privately issued licensed collectibles and is not affiliated with the United States government. Facts and figures deemed accurate as of March 2015. ©2015 GovMint.com.
THE BEST SOURCE FOR COINS WORLDWIDE™
LETTERS
The House that
Interview
Booth Buffs
Booth Built
John Wilkes Booth: Celebrity Assassin
Maryland’s Tudor Hall, home of the theatrical Booth family, helped to shape a future assassin
new Fortune’s Fool, Terry Alford’s Booth, is the biography of John Wilkes tion of Abraham first full-length examina a century. Lincoln’s assassin in nearly Virginia Community A professor at Northern Alford depicts a College in Annandale, Va., somehow both youthful, mercurial Booth— e animal lover a high-spirited, handsom his gradual and yet also a cat-killer—and , determined transformation into a murderer the South. to revenge the defeat of er? His Was Booth a Southern and urban family was a mix of rural a classic Maryland, and it was not fact it was an slave-owning family; in some ways immigrant family, so in have you would think they wouldn’t instituany connection to Southern rights. tions like slavery or states’ with the But early on Booth identified he was well South, particularly when while living received as a young actor just before in Richmond in the years the war began. John Brown’s Why did Booth attend execution? He was in Richmond took place when the John Brown Raid of a in 1859. He was not a member he socialized but city militia company, ed to go with them, so he volunteer execution]. I along with them [to the he was not was surprised to find that had a just a hanger-on—he actually corporal in military rank. He was a nt, wore a the commissary departme
BY KIM A. O’CONNELL
➧
With a longtime fascination for, and study of, the Lincoln assassination, we read with great interest Kim O’Connell’s June 2015 article “The House That Booth Built.” We were previously unaware that the Booth family home in Bel Air, Md., was still extant. We have visited and studied nearly every historical site associated with the assassination and subsequent escape attempt by John Wilkes Booth but have yet to see the Booth home. Thanks to our friend Kim’s article, the home is now on our list to see very soon. Thanks again for the article and for all that Civil War Times does to promote interest in our nation’s treasure-trove of historical sites and their preservation.
the Comuniform and got paid by James O. Hall monwealth of Virginia. document in and I discovered his pay it had lain for the state archive, where 125 years.
dressed to the The handsome Booth was circa 1862 portrait. height of fashion for this
his beliefs, would vindicate his life, future as and establish him in the be proud somebody Americans would of, like a Brutus or Cassius. While What did he think of Brown? t he despised Brown’s abolitionis Booth join the Confeddidn’t Why anyone as when he saw philosophy, he admired eracy? He got almost ill as le mentioned courageous and as indomitab blood. But his family never made They Brown. A personality who that as a cause for not enlisting. axis, and cause as his things spin around on his always came back to the on his and they focus the country’s attention mother. She was a widow, in the heroic issue. Booth loved heroes close. She had always extremely were stage on die premamold, like the ones he played had a feeling he would They are begged him and occasionally like Brown. turely. She prayed, she are similar bookends in a way. They not to enlist, and she won. trouble at in that Booth was having ts, and his the end with his investmen out of his mind when he Booth Was problems. The voice was giving him Yes and no. He was shot Lincoln? 34 for CIVIL WAR TIMES | JUNE 2015 South, the during the war was going badly sitting on the sidelines of dollars began going and he had spent thousands war, and when the war lot of things when he on the abduction plot. A bad for the South, that’s and he was the end, workwere going against him, became dangerous. At A bold act bending under a lot of that.
J. David Petruzzi Cindy Lynn Mullins Brockway, Pa.
JUNE 2015 | CIVIL WAR
TIMES
8
JUNE 2015 | CIVIL WAR TIMES
35
Pfanz Tributes
➧ “Such a wonderful
➧ “Oh how the Country
remembrance! So thankful it was live streamed and broadcast so that I could watch and be a part of [it] since I was unable to physically attend! Thank you guys for all the updates!”
would have been different!”
Barry Rice
John Wilkes Booth spent many of his formative years at this charming Gothic Revival cottage, set in the tranquil Maryland countryside: an improbable home for a killer.
Jeff Stike Street, Md.
for the South when he was killed. Had he lived the South would have gotten much better treatment.”
showed the South compassion.”
uring the war, a small band of Unionists had camped not far from the Booth family home in Bel Air—a small town in Harford County, east of Baltimore—which the family had named Tudor Hall. As a border state, Maryland was torn between Union and Confederate partisans, often within a single family, and the Booths were no exception. This was a family of renowned actors, a household where giving free vent to the emotions was encouraged. On at least two occasions, the Tribune reported, the impetuous John, a longtime Southern sympathizer, had rushed into Tudor Hall, grabbed his rifle, and run off to join the local Confederates skirmishing against the bluecoats in the nearby woods. Whether or not John actually killed anyone there is an open question. But history has recorded that, after Lincoln was assassinated, the neighbors had nothing good to say about him. “[N]one of the neighbors ever liked the family, who were the devil’s own play-acting people, and would do anything bad,” the Tribune quoted one man saying. Rumor had it that the young Booth of Bel Air liked to get his kicks by shooting local dogs or farm animals. Once a killer, always a killer, according to the locals. And yet the story of Tudor Hall paints a more complicated picture of John Wilkes Booth and his tempestuous family. It was, in some ways, a happy home, given to flights of fancy, grand gestures and elaborate “play-acting.” It was a place where John pretended to be Romeo (or perhaps Juliet) from the balcony off his bedroom, where he is assumed to have carved the initials J.W.B. found on a nearby beech tree, and where he “was known to be loved,” according to subsequent owner Ella Mahoney, who wrote memoirs of Tudor Hall and the Booth family. But Tudor Hall was also a house of dark corners, where the mercurial John had deliberately chosen an eastern-facing bedroom because he didn’t like to watch the sun set. There, the family mourned the loss
I loved the June issue. The article about Appomattox was great. Senior editor Sarah Richardson did an awesome job with the interview about John Wilkes Booth, and I enjoyed the article about his boyhood home. They have sparked some new hope for me to substantiate the oral history in my own family, as Booth stayed at the house eventually owned by my great-great-grandparents just north of Maryland’s Rocks State Park. There is a scenic overlook in Harford County where the rocks are covered with names and initials, some hundreds of years old. After reading about Booth’s love of carving his initials into trees, I will be on the lookout for his initials—and if I find them, you will be the first to know! Thanks again for all you do to keep American history alive. We do appreciate you.
➧ “It was a sad day
➧ “He would have
D
31
Correspondent Kim O’Connell’s tweeted images of the 150th commemoration of Lincoln’s assassination at Ford’s Theatre inspired many Facebook comments.
Robert Hermann
After the tragic events of April 1865, the New York Tribune printed a rumor that the local residents around Bel Air, Md., could easily believe: Abraham Lincoln was probably not the first man John Wilkes Booth ever killed.
Candy Massey Faircloth
CIVIL WAR TIMES | AUGUST 2015
Tim Dunkle
➧ “Yet the legacy of this man goes on! What all he had on his plate at the time before the shot that took his life, I would not wish on anybody.” Ray Oeler
Very nice tributes to Harry Pfanz in the June issue from Gary Gallagher and Editor Dana Shoaf. Loved the photo of Shoaf ’s beat-up copy of The Second Day. Phil Spaugy Vandalia, Ohio
LETTERS
A Dead Horse As one of many admirers of the equine kingdom, I was both fascinated and saddened by the photo of the dead horse in the June issue. Despite my many years as a student of the Civil War (I’ve been a subscriber to Civil War Times for more than 30 years), my knowledge of the fate of the horses and mules in the war was sketchy at best. I’ve read some facts, like Nathan B. Forrest had 29 horses shot out from under him, or that cavalry mounts were always in danger, or that the horses in the artillery units were also exposed to considerable danger. But James L. Robertson Jr.’s article told the complete truth about the burdens these animals faced. Things like constantly being overworked, and that many were poorly fed on a regular basis. Even the teamsters, who you would think would be their friends, were often harsh and unkind to them. Not to mention the dangers of combat they were exposed to. In all, it led to the deaths of 1½ million of these fine animals. This war gave new meaning to the old saying “Beast of Burden”!
A Dead Horse at Antietam BY JAMES I. ROBERTSON JR.
The June article “A Dead Horse at Antietam” stirred deep emotions for me. Thanks for bringing to light how these animals suffered and were treated. Thanks for a super article. Allen Oster Greeley, Colo.
Earl Gilliam Apex, N.C.
* BUY ONE…GET ONE FREE! box of checks box of checks f bank check prices! Save up to 70% of
Union Generals - 00689 Leather Cover and Labels - 00689
Civil War - 00399 Leather Cover and Labels - 00399
Confederate Generals - 00688 Leather Cover and Labels - 00688
Over 600 exclusive designs! www.BradfordExchangeChecks.com or 1-800-323-8104 3 EASY WAYS TO ORDER
*LIMITED-TIME OFFER FOR NEW CUSTOMERS
1. PHONE 1-800-323-8104
2. INTERNET — SAFE SECURE SITE
www.BradfordExchangeChecks.com Over 600 Designs Online Enter offer code to receive this special offer.
3.
MAIL — Send completed Order Form Also include: 1. Payment Check or money order (no cash please) 2. Voided Check with changes noted OR Reorder Form 3. Deposit Slip from same account Mail to address at top of coupon
*Offer valid on Top Tear checks only. Prices and offers subject to change. ©2014 Bradford Exchange Checks 18-00035-001-ZP14CW
7/31/10
E-MAIL
☎(
PHONE
❏ Day ❏ Evening
)
*If no check start number is specified, 1001 will be used. Only one check design per order. Check Design #
*
Start Checks at #
1 Box 2 Boxes 4 Boxes Singles ❏ $17.95 ❏ $17.95 ❏ $35.90 $ $20.95 ❏ $41.90 Duplicates ❏ $20.95 ❏ Distinctive Lettering FREE ❏ CORDIAL ❏ GRAND ❏ Script ❏ Olde English Matching Cover Code No. ______________add $19.99 $ ❏Zippered Black (00031-002) ❏Zippered Cognac (00031-004) ❏Zippered Pink (00031-005) ❏Non-Zip Black (00030-002) ❏Non-Zip Burgundy (00030-004) add $14.99
Matching Labels Code No. ______________add $7.99
(If name and address other than checks, please enclose separate paper)
STEP 5 - TOTAL STEP 4 - SHIPPING & HANDLING
Mention offer code to receive this special offer. 2-box minimum and processing fee apply. Se habla Español. Call for Signature Required Delivery option.
Offer expires
NAME
Required
REQUIRED SERVICE/HANDLING $2.95 x # of Boxes/Items= $ EZSHIELD CHECK FRAUD PROTECTION PROGRAM® $2.50 x # of Boxes = (4-9 bus. days) Check boxes shipped together.
Includes FREE In-Plant Rush (045)
separately. Delivery to Alaska and Hawaii may take longer.
Add sales tax for shipment to Illinois (9.25%)
Payment
$ Check Only
$ Add $8.95 Total =
❏ IN-PLANT RUSH (checks only) Saves 1-3 Days (070) $5.99 ❏ Untrackable delivery: Allow 2-3 weeks for delivery. All items shipped
NO CHARGE
SUBTOTAL $ $ GRAND TOTAL $
Make Your Checks Even More Secure with EZShield®! SM
$
21470XUV
Please respond promptly!
9305 N . Mi l w a uke e Av e . N i l e s , IL 60714 STEP 2 - CHECKS STEP 1 - START
Phone Hours: Mon-Fri 7:00 am to 10:00 pm (CT) Sat/Sun 7:00 am to 6:00 pm (CT)
STEP 3 - OPTIONS
Call Toll-Free
Expires 7/31/10
OFFER CODE
EZShield Check Fraud Protection Program® (Patent Pending): Help guard your checks from fraudulent uses of up to $25,000 for only $2.45 per box. See order form. To learn more, visit www.bradford.ezshield.com.
ADVERTISEMENT
LETTERS
VISIT
Mississippi is steeped in history and heritage. Stately antebellum homes celebrate the romance of a bygone era, while Civil War battleÀHOGV UHPLQG XV RI WKH PRUH WKDQ 80,000 Mississippians who served as Confederate soldiers.
COLUMBUS LINING IT UP: Wilson LeCount of Honeoye Falls, N.Y., and his parents traveled to Appomattox Court House this spring, where Wil imaginatively made use of “Details” from the June issue, which featured a summer 1865 photo of the courthouse.
One More Flagger Response Unlike the negative views seen in the letters in the June issue regarding Gary Gallagher’s “Flaggers on the Fringe” April article [“Insight”], the Confederate flag should be seen fundamentally as emblematic of a nation connected to the “Peculiar Institution” and not as a romantic symbol. Serious observers of Civil War history should pay little heed to those who would display Confederate flags for what might otherwise be dubious purposes. It is good to keep in mind, though, that the Stars and Stripes was associated with the protection of slavery after the ratification of the 1787 Constitution. But from 1861 to 1865 the flag underwent a certain metamorphosis in what it stood for, as it oversaw the destruction of two slaveholding republics, the one that it represented from 1789 through the beginning of the Civil War, and the Confederacy.
www.visitcolumbusms.org Over 650 grand historic homes in three National Register Historic Districts. Birthplace of America’s greatest playwright, Tennessee Williams. The ultimate Southern destination — Columbus.
NATCHEZ TRACE www.scenictrace.com Explore the Natchez Trace and discover America. Journey along this 444-mile National Scenic Byway stretching from Mississippi through Alabama and Tennessee.
TISHOMINGO www.tishomingofunhere.org
Michael Smiddy Plattsburgh, N.Y. Editor’s note: We have published letters for and against Gary Gallagher’s opinion of Flaggers, and we now plan to move on. Thanks to everyone who wrote us about this controversial issue.
With a variety of historic attractions and outdoor adventures, Tishomingo County is a perfect destination for lovers of history and nature alike.
VICKSBURG We love to hear from our readers, so drop us a line:
Civil War Times 19300 Promenade Dr. Leesburg, VA 20176
10
cwtletters@ historynet.com
CIVIL WAR TIMES | AUGUST 2015
Civil War Times Magazine
@civilwartimes
www.visitvicksburg.com Vicksburg, Mississippi is a great place to bring your family to learn American history, enjoy educational museums and check out the mighty Mississippi River.
ADVERTISEMENT
VISIT VICKSBURG Your Key to History “See what a lot of land these fellows hold, of which Vicksburg is the key! The war can never be brought to a close until that key is in our pocket… We can take all the northern ports of the Confederacy and they can defy us from Vicksburg!” President Abraham Lincoln
Vicksburg’s key position on the mighty Mississippi River sets the stage for one of the most defining episodes in American history: The Siege of Vicksburg in the Civil War. You can relive that history in our museums and tour homes and the Vicksburg National Military Park which has been named the Mississippi Tourism Attraction of the Year.
E X P LO R E T H E
NATCHEZ TRACE M I S S I S S I P P I
J
A L A B A M A
J
T E N N E S S E E
A Unique Journey from Natchez to Nashville. 1-855-56T-RACE www.scenictrace.com (1-855-568-7223)
Scan this QR to visit our mobile site and get your keys to Vicksburg.
/VisitVicksburg
WWW.VISITVICKSBURG.COM
´2QHRIWKH%HVW.HSW6HFUHWVRIWKH6RXWKμ
The Battle of Farmington The Battle of Iuka Joining Forces in 2015 to Create a Truly Spectacular Event! Join us on the Farmington field
October 8-11, 2015
TISHOMINGO COUNTY, MS www.tishomingofunhere.org
[email protected]
/visittishomingo
1-800-FUN-HERE Tishomingo County Tourism Council 1001 Battleground Drive Iuka, MS 38852
Scan for website
ADVERTISEMENT
The City that Has It All. Columbus, Missippi, is home to three National Register Historic Districts that boast an impressive 676 properties. While other cities were ravaged during the Civil War, Columbus was a “hospital town,” leaving the antebellum and Victorian homes — along with their contents — spared. Tours of these architectural gems abound. Whether taking a guided walking tour or winding through the scenic area by car, visitors to “The Friendly City” are able to experience 19th century OLYLQJÀUVWKDQG Attractions include Waverley Plantation Mansion, a National Historic Landmark and one of the most photographed homes of the South; Friendship Cemetery, the VLWH RI WKH ÀUVW 0HPRULDO 'D\ FHOHEUDWLRQ LQ DQG the Mississippi University for Women, the oldest public college for women in the United States and home to 23 National Register properties. )RXQGHG LQ RQ WKH EDQNV RI WKH 7RPELJEHH 5LYHU the town thrives on its rich heritage and Southern Charm. &ROXPEXV R HUV DQ H[WUDRUGLQDU\ PL[ RI KLVWRU\ QDWXUDO beauty and culture. Situated on the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway (nickQDPHG WKH 7HQQ7RP &ROXPEXV R HUV QXPHURXV RSSRUWXQLWLHVIRURXWGRRUUHFUHDWLRQ2QHRIWKHWRSVSRUWVÀVKLQJ spots in the nation, the Tenn-Tom is a 234-mile stretch that connects middle-America with the Gulf Coast. It is ideal for
scenic boat tours, water skiing or leisurely strolls down the newly-opened River Walk.
“Since being named one of the ‘Dozen Distinctive Destinations,’ we have seen our visitation increase tremendously,” said Nancy Carpenter, CEO and Executive Director of the Columbus-Lowndes Convention and Visitors Bureau. “We hope to welcome thousands more to experience our authentic charm and Southern hospitality. Columbus really is the city that has it all!”
Festivals and fun. Grand historic homes. Birthplace of America’s greatest playwright, Tennessee Williams. Run or bike along the scenic Riverwalk, winding around and over the Tombigbee River. Shop, dine, and savor in the ultimate Southern destination. Columbus, Mississippi.
The city that has it all...
Go to www.visitcolumbusms.org for complete listing of events and attractions. 7HQQHVVHH:LOOLDPV+RPH :HOFRPH&HQWHU800-920-3533
HISTORYNET READER A sampling of remarkable adventures, decisive moments and great ideas from our sister publications, selected by the editors of Civil War Times
Experience the Civil War in Jacksonville
AMERICA’S CIVIL WAR
MILITARY HISTORY
Home-Grown Terrorists
‘Biggest Story of my Life’
From the July 2015 issue
From the July 2015 issue
For Southern secret societies, the war’s end was just the beginning
Shadowing the war wherever it led, World War II Associated Press correspondent Joseph Morton ventured behind enemy lines to report the full story—and to face his own tragic end.
In the new postwar South, the political, economic and social landscape had changed forever. Some have argued that the war continued in what was simply a different theater. It was one of oaths, secret signs, passwords, rituals, threats and violence, operating outside the authority of an established government that was discounted in the South as an invader, anyway. Secret societies in the South sought to reverse the tide of change by any means necessary. It was the altered status of freedmen that rubbed many in the South the most raw. From the Southerner’s perspective, freedmen had joined with carpetbaggers and scalawags in an unholy trinity. When coercion or intimidation against African Americans did not work to restore conservative Democratic power and relegate blacks to their previous place in Southern society, violence and terror became the tools Southern secret societies used to effect political control.
During WWII, the U.S. War Department accredited some 500 correspondents to cover American military forces in the field. Among the reporters were such names as Scripps-Howard’s Ernie Pyle; UPI’s Walter Cronkite; Hal Boyle, Larry Allen and Lynn Heinzerling of the Associated Press; the New York Herald Tribune’s Marguerite Higgins; and Time magazine’s John Hersey. Sadly, 54 correspondents— including Pyle—were killed in action, falling to enemy fire on land and sea and in the air. Each of these deaths was tragic, but one stands out for its unique circumstances: Joe Morton of the Associated Press holds the dubious double distinction of being the first American war correspondent executed by a foreign enemy in wartime and the only Allied correspondent executed by the Axis during WWII.
To order these or any other HistoryNet magazines, visit www.HistoryNet.com or call 1 (800) 435-0715 or go to HistoryNet.com
Visit the Museum of Military History and discover weapons and artifacts used during the Civil War. Then relive one of Arkansas’ first stands before the Union Army captured Little Rock with this year's reenactment at the Reed’s Bridge Battle site on October 17th.
www.jacksonvillesoars.com
SUBSCRIBE TO
Start your subscription today! www.civilwartimes.com/subscribe or call: 1-800-435-0715
AUGUST 2015 | CIVIL WAR TIMES
13
NEWS
Rich Photo Trove Now Online at LOC
R
OBIN STANFORD, the long-time Texas collector from whom the Library of Congress recently acquired more than 500 rare war-era images, had intended to leave them all to her son, John. But after John’s untimely death last year, Stanford decided to sell part of the collection—which she had amassed over more than 40 years—to help her daughter-in-law and grandchildren. According to an interview in the Washington Post, Stanford indicated that the photos now going to the LOC are “just part” of her collection, adding, “I would not have sold any of it” if it hadn’t been for her son’s death. The images, most of them stereo photos, touch on a wide range of topics, both before and during the war years. As Bob Zeller, president of the Center for Civil War Photography, explained in the Post report, “They’re just tremendously significant,” Robin Stanford looks on as Garry particularly the rarely seen Adelman, V.P. of the Center for Civil War photos depicting slaves before Photography, examines her photos. the conflict. Many of the images have already been digitized and are available to the public online (loc.gov/pictures/collection/ cwp); eventually the whole collection will be online.
14
CIVIL WAR TIMES | AUGUST 2015
A stereoview of slaves near their quarters on St. Helena Island, S.C., dates from the mid-war years.
LINCOLN PORTRAITS GO TO YALE This past April, the day before the 150th anniversary of Lincoln’s assassination, the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library and Yale University Art Gallery announced that they have received a large group of photos related to the Civil War. Quoted in the Yale Alumni Magazine, a university representative characterized the acquisition as “the definitive assemblage of portraits of Abraham Lincoln,” but the collection also includes thousands of images from influential Americans of his day. The new acquisitions, originally part of a family history project begun by Frederick Hill Meserve in 1897, are expected to be divided between Yale and the Beinecke Library, though exactly how they will be shared is still being negotiated. To find out more about images available through Yale, see beinecke.library.yale.edu.
New Exhibits
Traveling this summer? See these great displays.
➧ In Stanford, Calif. “American
➧ In Gettysburg, Pa. The Seminary
Battleground: Photographs of the Civil War 1861-65” is on display at the Robert Mondavi Family Gallery at California’s Stanford University until August 17. Portraits and landscapes from the Cantor Arts Center’s collection explore the conflict’s influence on America’s visual culture. To find out more, see museum.stanford.org.
Ridge Museum opens “The Right Man for the Right Place: The Medical Corps in the American Civil War” on June 27. Displays explore how surgeons and nurses were solicited and what kind of training they needed, as well as standard medical practice and hygiene in wartime hospitals and the field. Interactive stations will let visitors apply for positions as surgeons or nurses, take sample qualifying exams—as well as see what pay they should expect. Surgeon Mary Edwards Walker Seminary Ridge is also welcoming a new was awarded the Medal of executive director this summer, Daryl Black, Honor for her service during who came to Seminary Ridge on June 1. the Civil War. Black previously served as the director at the Chattanooga History Center Museum. See seminaryridgemuseum.org.
Atlanta ruins, 1864
➧ In Washington, D.C. If you’re visiting the District of Columbia, drop by the Gothic-Revival Lincoln Cottage at the Soldiers’ Home—where the president spent more than one-fourth of his time in office—to see a thought-provoking exhibit on how Lincoln’s assassination forever changed presidential security. Incorporating photos and artifacts from the museum’s collection, “Not an American Practice: Lincoln’s Life at Risk” explores how things have changed since the wartime president regularly traveled the three miles between the White House and the Soldiers’ Home, alone and unguarded. For more information on the exhibit (on display through September), see lincolncottage.org.
Holzer Wins the Lincoln Prize
T
HIS YEAR’S $50,000 Lincoln Prize winner is Harold Holzer, for his critically acclaimed book Lincoln and the Power of the Press: The War for Public Opinion. Chosen from 114 nominations, Holzer’s book focuses on the 16th president’s lengthy relationship with the media. The prize is awarded yearly by Gettysburg College and the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. At the April 23 award ceremony in New York City, Holzer commented on Lincoln’s lifelong interest in the media, referring to “his extraordinary sensitivity to public opinion, and his astounding mastery of the means to shape it—in media that may seem antique today, but seemed just as breathtakingly fast and uncontrollable as some of us today find Twitter and Instagram.” Finalists included William Blair, for With Malice Toward Some: Treason and Loyalty in the Civil War Era; Richard Brookhiser, who wrote Founders’ Son: A Life of Abraham Lincoln; James B. Conroy, author of Our One Common Country: Abraham Lincoln and the Hampton Roads Peace Conference of 1865; Jonathan W. White, for Emancipation, the Union Army, and the Reelection of Abraham Lincoln; and Joshua Zeitz, who wrote Lincoln’s Boys: John Hay, John Nicolay, and the War for Lincoln’s Image.
Harold Holzer with his award-winning book—and a bust of the president who inspired it.
AUGUST 2015 | CIVIL WAR TIMES
15
NEWS
[
]
THE CIVIL WAR ON THE INTERNET Sherman’s March and America: Mapping Memory shermansmarch.org
R
ICH IN EMOTION, peppered with moments of clarity, memories more often confuse history than they enhance it. In her book Through the Heart of Dixie: Sherman’s March and American Memory, Anne Sarah Rubin allows characters touched by Sherman’s March to the Sea and through the Carolinas to share their own stories. The website that accompanies the book gives visitors the chance to experience these for themselves. “Sherman’s March and America: Mapping Memory” is the brainchild of Rubin and her University of MarylandBaltimore County colleague, Kelley Bell, of UMBC’s Imaging Research Center—an “experiment in digital history” organized around “place and
narrative.” Arranged around five maps, each section features a slider timeline along the bottom of the screen that shows Sherman’s march from Atlanta to the sea on a map, with points of interest identified by red pins. By clicking on these pinpoints, viewers can pull up video clips, audio readings from Rubin’s book or selections from campaign accounts. The Sherman map highlights soldiers’ actions and reactions in the course of the march. The Civilians map captures the reactions of locals, many of them women and enslaved African Americans, to the Union forces that Dolly Lunt Burge saw devouring her property “like famished wolves” near Covington. Thousands of slaves followed Sherman’s men to freedom,
but others remained, like Prince Clark, who Yankee soldiers left hanging by his thumbs at Jarrell Plantation. The Soldiers map includes commentary on the mock legislative session in Milledgeville, where Union soldiers revealed their priorities, repealing secession but making no mention of ending slavery. A video clip explains the decision by Union Brig. Gen. Jefferson C. Davis to abandon thousands of escaped African Americans to the Confederates chasing after the Federals, while a pin on the Sherman map captures other Federals’ condemnation of Davis’ decision. The Tourism map touches on this controversy as well, while the Fictional map highlights “places both real and imagined” that portray the march in fiction, including Clayton County, where Margaret Mitchell’s visits with her grandparents inspired tales that found their way into Gone With the Wind. Despite the fact that this site is still a work in progress to some extent, it serves to introduce visitors to a new turn in the field of historical memory that moves away from consensus and helps us embrace the complexities of the past. —Susannah J. Ural
Ford’s Theatre Vigil On April 14-15, Ford’s Theatre hosted an all-night commemoration of the 150th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s assassination that drew thousands, including Civil War Times contributor Kim A. O’Connell, who kept Twitter followers updated from the scene. Reenactments, speeches and music were featured. At 7:22 a.m. on the 15th, the moment of Lincoln’s death, the crowd watched as a wreath was laid at the Petersen House. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell commented, “President Lincoln belongs not only to the ages, he belongs to us.” O’Connell’s favorite moments: “The crowd spontaneously starting to sing ‘Battle Hymn of the Republic’ together, Judy Collins singing ‘Amazing Grace’—and that moment approaching 3 a.m. when people just sat, quietly, in the nearly empty Ford’s Theatre.”
16
CIVIL WAR TIMES | AUGUST 2015
Performers, reenactors and visitors gather on 10th Street near Ford’s Theatre during an all-night-long commemoration of Lincoln’s death.
ELIZABETH BROWN PRYOR
Fleming File Rare images from the collection of Matthew Fleming Corporal John K. Worts of Company F, 5th Pennsylvania Infantry, stands second from right in this photo, which may have been taken near Alexandria, Va., in 1861. Worts served for only three months with the 5th, from April to July of that year. He once again took up arms in July 1863, as Lee’s approaching army spread fear throughout Pennsylvania, mustering in with Moson’s Pennsylvania Cavalry for another three-month stint in defense of his home state. Note that the gentleman at far left is resting his hand on the barrel of a gun—with the hammer cocked.
Juneteenth 150 On June 19, 1865, Texas’ estimated 250,000 slaves were officially emancipated during a ceremony in Galveston, Texas. The event, coming 2 1/2 years after Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, led to rejoicing in the streets for the former slaves of the Gulf Coast island town and marked the start of annual observances of African-American emancipation not only in the former Confederate states but across the nation. Celebrations marking the 150th anniversary of that event, known as Juneteenth, are planned for June in most states and major cities.
[QUIZ] Where is this unusal structure located? Send your answer via e-mail to
[email protected] or via regular mail (19300 Promenade Drive, Leesburg, VA 20176) marked “Late War.” The first correct answer will win a book. Congratulations to last issue’s winner, Neil Buttermore of Toledo, Ohio (e-mail), and Michael Napomiceno of Waterbury, Conn. (mail), who correctly identified High Bridge near Farmville, Va.
The Civil War community suffered a great loss on April 13, when Richmond, Va., historian and author Elizabeth Brown Pryor was killed in an automobile accident. Pryor, 64, will likely be best remembered for her 2008 book Reading the Man: A Portrait of Robert E. Lee Through His Private Letters, for which she shared a Lincoln Prize, and an earlier book, Clara Barton, published by the National Park Service. Speakers at a memorial service recalled Pryor’s consummate skill as a diplomat and researcher—she served with the State Department for many years—and emphasized her love of storytelling.
CIVIL WAR TRUST NEWS The Trust is targeting preservation of a 44-acre parcel of land in the middle of the Antietam battlefield that was critical to the early morning and midday fighting on September 17, 1862. The land is currently privately owned and borders such significant NPS-protected areas as the Cornfield and Dunker Church. The Trust, which has until June 30 to raise the required $575,000, would remove a modern house on the property and replant a section of the East Woods if it acquired the land. In conjunction with this effort, the Trust recently released an Antietam app, the fifth of its Battle App® collection (Bull Run, Brandy Station, Gettysburg and Petersburg are the others). For more info, visit Civilwar.org.
CELEBRATING IN STYLE The Chester Historical Preservation Committee will commemorate the 150th of the war’s end on June 6 with a Reconciliation Ball in Upper Chichester, Pa. Featured will be Gettysburg’s singular Victorian Dance Ensemble. To find out more, visit chesterpreservation.wordpress.com/reconciliation-ball-2015 and civilwardance.org. AUGUST 2015 | CIVIL WAR TIMES
17
INSIGHT by Gary W. Gallagher
Father Neptune’s War Gideon Welles’ diary offers frank, realtime insights from the center of power. ideon Welles was 59 when he became Abraham Lincoln’s Secretary of the Navy in March 1861. With a long white beard, and wearing a full wig that covered his bald pate, Welles stood out as a memorable figure who soon won Lincoln’s admiration and the affectionate nickname “Father Neptune.” During the war, Welles oversaw the Navy’s growth from fewer than 9,000 sailors and officers and 50 vessels on active duty to more than 50,000 men and 650 ships. He took an active role in strategic planning including naval and combined operations along the 3,500-mile-long Confederate coast, on rivers from the Mississippi to the James, and on the oceans. Lincoln paid tribute to the Navy’s role in fashioning victory when he wrote: “Nor must Uncle Sam’s Web-feet be forgotten. At all the watery margins they have been present. Not only on the deep sea, the broad bay, and the rapid river, but also up the narrow muddy bayou, and wherever the ground was a little damp, they have been, and made their track.” Welles put his imprint on virtually every aspect of the naval operations Lincoln applauded and must be
18
CIVIL WAR TIMES | AUGUST 2015
➧
G
reckoned among the best secretaries of the Navy in U.S. history. He also ranks among the most important American diarists. Welles began making entries in August 1862 and continued through the early summer of 1869. During the war, he observed events from the center of power, where he participated in Cabinet meetings, interacted with influential people and developed a strong relationship with the president. His comments about Cabinet members, military commanders and other topics carry special weight because he usually recorded them almost immediately rather than waiting and trying to recall what had happened. Welles’ diary is essential to a full understanding of Lincoln’s administration and the Union war effort, more revealing than Salmon P. Chase’s journals or Edward Bates’ diary. Two unsatisfactory three-volume editions of Welles’ entire diary appeared in 1911 and 1960. The
Though he lacked a naval background at the war’s outset, Welles became one of the U.S. Navy’s most effective leaders.
first is profoundly flawed because of how sloppily (and silently) the editors assembled the text from wartime entries and later revisions and additions (it is not clear who did the editing); the second, prepared by Howard K. Beale, superimposes editorial symbols and proofreader marks on the text of the 1911 edition and is confusing and hard to use. I have consulted Beale’s version extensively and been frustrated every time. Happily, a new edition of Welles’ wartime diary appeared in 2014. Edited by William E. Gienapp and Erica L. Gienapp under the title The Civil War Diary of Gideon Welles: Lincoln’s Secretary of the Navy, it marks a milestone in the published primary literature. Meticulously faithful to the original document, it renders sections in both earlier
THE LIGHT OF THE SOUTH
N in ot so sto ld res !
Accent Lamp
Almost
1½ Feet Tall
Southern Pride Shines On Revered as a military leader and southern gentleman of the highest caliber, General Robert E. Lee has taken his place in the pantheon of southern greats. Now, his shining example inspires The Light of the South Accent Lamp, available exclusively from The Bradford Exchange. General Lee’s noble character is captured in a three-dimensional sculptural base crafted of fine artists’ resin. Exacting hand-painting results in a rich finish in the style of antique bronze sculptures. A custom lampshade features golden trim, stars and CSA lettering. Impressively sized at 16 inches tall, this home décor treasure is finished with a mahoganyfinish base.
Arrives with a FREE light bulb
Shown smaller than actual height of 16 inches high with a 9 inch diameter shade. UL-approved; includes one standard 13-watt CFL bulb for soft illumination.
Superb value; satisfaction guaranteed The Light of the South Accent Lamp comes with a 365-day money-back guarantee and is issued in a strictly limited edition. Act now to obtain it in four interest-free installments of $33.75, for a total of $135*. Send no money now. Just return the Reservation Application today!
www.bradfordexchange.com/leelamp RESERVATION APPLICATION
©2013 BGE 01-18370-001-BI
SEND NO MONEY NOW Mrs. Mr. Ms. Name (Please Print Clearly)
Address
9345 M ilwaukee Avenue · Nil es, IL 6071 4-13 9 3
YES.
City
Please reserve The Light of the South Accent Lamp for me as described in this announcement.
State
Limit: one per order.
*Plus $16.99 shipping and service. Limited-edition presentation restricted to 295 crafting days. Please allow 4-8 weeks after initial payment for shipment. Sales subject to product availability and order acceptance.
Please Respond Promptly
Zip
01-18370-001-E39092
editions entirely irrelevant (except perhaps to specialists charting changes between the original manuscript and the 1911 and 1960 sets). How good is Welles as a witness? I’ll close with several examples. On September 22, 1862, Lincoln raised the topic of his preliminary proclamation of emancipation with the Cabinet. “It is momentous both in its immediate and remote results,” Welles commented, “and an exercise of extraordinary power which cannot be justified on mere humanitarian principles, and would never have been attempted but to preserve the national existence….For myself the subject has from its magnitude and its consequence oppressed me, aside from the ethical features of the question….There is in the free states a very general impression that this measure will insure a speedy peace. I cannot say that I so view it.” On July 14, 1863, Welles and Lincoln discussed George G. Meade’s
failure to strike the Army of Northern Virginia before it retreated across the Potomac after Gettysburg. Leaving a Cabinet meeting, Welles recalled: “We walked together across the lawn and stopped and conversed a few minutes at the gate. He said with a voice and countenance which I shall never forget, that he had dreaded yet expected this—that there has seemed to him for a full week, a determination that Lee should escape with his force and plunder, and that, my God, is the last of this Army of the Potomac. There is bad faith somewhere…. What does it mean, Mr. Welles— Great God what does it mean?” In the summer of 1864, Welles wrestled with how harshly the war should be prosecuted. “I have often thought that greater severity might well be exercised,” he observed, “and yet it would tend to barbarism. No traitor has been hung—I doubt if there will be, but an example should be made of some of the leaders….
Were a few of the leaders to be stripped of their possessions, and their property confiscated—their families impoverished, the result would be salutary….But I apprehend there will be very gentle measures in closing up the rebellion. The authors of the enormous evils that have been inflicted will go unpunished—or will be but slightly punished.” On April 10, 1865, Welles celebrated the news from Appomattox: “This surrender of the great rebel Captain and the most formidable and reliable army of the Secessionists virtually terminates the rebellion.” He added, “Called on the President, who returned last evening, looking well and feeling well.” On April 14, Lincoln told the Cabinet that reconstructing the Union “was the great question now before us, and we must soon begin to act. Was glad Congress was not in session.” Welles next saw Lincoln slipping toward death at the Petersen House. ■
Confederate Memorial Park is the site of Alabama’s only Old Soldiers Home for Confederate Veterans. In operation from 1902 to 1939, the home cared for elderly veterans, and wives and widows of veterans.
COME FOR A VISIT! For more information, call 205-755-1990 or go online www.preserveala.org/confederatepark.aspx 20
CIVIL WAR TIMES | AUGUST 2015
ADVERTISEMENT
Alabama’s Historic Gulf Coast Standing atop the fort with a view of the once embattled Mobile Bay, you can almost hear the command of Admiral David Farragut as he led his troops into battle, “Damn the torpedoes. Full speed ahead!” Voyage through time and revisit an era of adventure and bravery aboard the USS Alabama, or walk in a soldier’s footsteps and experience day-to-day life at Fort Morgan and Fort Gaines. Further exploration awaits at the area’s many museums that recall the Native American history, medical history and railroads that feature prominently in the Gulf Coast’s historical landscape. Learn more at www.GulfShores.com.
Suddenly, you’re in a whole different state of
remembrance.
History comes alive when you step foot onto the hallowed ground at one of the country’s few remaining Civil War forts. Come experience the story of the Battle of Mobile Bay and learn how Fort Morgan played a pivotal role at one of our nation’s most crucial moments.
888-666-9252
DETAILS
Strike up the Band! BY
THEODORE J. KARLE
3 Members of the 23rd Ohio Infantry’s regimental band pose for a photo, likely at
1
Camp Chase in Columbus, where the 23rd trained for two months after their June
2
1861 mustering in. In addition to serving as a training site for Union volunteers, Camp Chase was the site of a prison, with the first Confederate prisoners arriving that July. Future presidents Rutherford B. Hayes and William S. McKinley also served in the 23rd. McKinley remained with the regiment throughout the war. Though the War Department authorized the formation of regimental bands in May 1861, their existence was brief. In July 1862, U.S. General Orders No. 91 stipulated that all regimental bands must disband, though musicians were permitted to form brigade bands. Many players subsequently rejoined their regiments as combatants, or served as field musicians. But not all commanders were fans of these outfits. “Shooters are more needed than tooters,” Confederate General D.H. Hill once remarked while nixing a soldier’s request to transfer from the infantry to a band. Private John Oswald, a photographer who initially served as one of the 23rd’s saxhorn players, transferred to the Brigade Band of the Department of West Virginia. He later opened a gallery in Toledo with Allen North and sold his photos there as well as paintings. Their firm’s name appears on the back of this stereo view.
22
CIVIL WAR TIMES | AUGUST 2015
1
Far to the rear, note that a sentry platform has been constructed all along the length of the stockade fence to make it easier for guards to keep an eye on Rebel prisoners.
2
The bass drummer, who stands with his massive instrument slung from his shoulders, is also supporting the drum with his belly.
3
A spectator is perched atop the stockade fence, presumably a music lover—or perhaps a future president!
5
4
6
7
4
This drummer boy holds up his drumsticks, his snare drum positioned at his waist. The sharp rattle of snare drums often awakened sleeping soldiers in camps.
5
Private John Oswald, a member of the saxhorn section, was soon to transfer out of the ranks of the 23rd’s regimental band.
6
These bandsmen are all wearing unmarked full-length frock coats and kepis embellished with a gold laurel leaf emblem.
7
At least eight of the musicians are holding “over-the-shoulder” valve saxhorns, used so that troops marching behind the band could better hear the music.
AUGUST 2015 | CIVIL WAR TIMES
23
MATERIEL
7
Deadly Shells
These projectiles represent a few of the death-dealing rounds
➧
➧
➧
Union and Confederate artillerymen fired from both rifled and smoothbore cannons. Ordnance made for rifled cannons used sabots designed to catch the rifling when the gun was fired and improve accuracy. The term “shot” referred to a projectile with thin walls filled with an explosive charge and lead or iron balls for shrapnel, while “shell” referred to a hollow projectile with thicker walls, filled only with an explosive charge. Projectiles that did not explode were called “solid shot” when blasted from smoothbore cannons and “bolts” when launched from rifled guns.
ARCHER BOLT
BURTON BOLT
SCHENKL SHELL
Gun: 3-inch Rifle
Gun: 3-inch Rifle
Gun: Rifled 6-pounder Smoothbore
Length: About 7 inches
Length: 5.67 inches
Length: 8.68 inches
Weight: 8.8 pounds
Weight: 7 pounds
Weight: 10.6 pounds
This Confederate bolt was named for its inventor, Robert Archer. Rebel gunners disliked the Archer because the sabot often sheared off when the bolt left the barrel, endangering comrades and causing the end-heavy round to tumble and become inaccurate in flight.
Developed by James Burton of the Virginia Ordnance Department, this bolt featured a wood sabot, missing here, that sat over the tapered base and minimized wear on the rifling. Each bolt cost the Confederacy $1.75. The round above was fired at the Battle of Shiloh.
A papier-mâché sabot fit over the tapered and vertically grooved section of the projectile’s base. Unlike lead, papier-mâché was less likely to shear off and injure friendly troops. Confederate-made Schenkl copies used wood sabots instead of papier-mâché.
24
CIVIL WAR TIMES | AUGUST 2015
SPHERICAL CASE SHOT
➧
Gun: 12-pounder Smoothbore Weight: 11-12 pounds
➧
➧
➧
Iron or lead balls in this projectile were packed in a matrix of sulfur or pitch that surrounded a powder charge. Minié balls were sometimes used as shrapnel. If a gunner properly cut the fuse before firing the round, the powder charge could be made to detonate amid an enemy formation.
HOTCHKISS SHELL
PARROTT SHELL
WHITWORTH BOLT
Gun: 3-inch Ordnance Rifle
Gun: 10-pounder Parrott Rifle
Gun: 12-pounder Whitworth Rifle
Length: 6 .89 inches
Length: 8.64 inches
Length: 9.4 inches
Weight: 8.4 pounds
Weight: 9.6 pounds
Weight: 12.4 pounds
Hotchkiss shells were made in three pieces: a nose, lead sabot and base cup. When the cannon was fired, the base cup was forced forward, causing the lead to expand and catch the cannon’s rifling grooves. Grooves in the shell allowed discharge flames to ignite the fuse.
This Richmond-made shell is a Confederate copy of the one developed by Union inventor Robert P. Parrott for use in the rifled cannons that bore his name. Instead of a sabot, the Parrott shell and its copies used a wroughtiron ring at the base to catch the rifling.
Both sides imported a few of the breechloading cannons developed before the war by Britain’s Sir Joseph Whitworth. This type of bolt and gun were used at Gettysburg, where the Rebels had a Whitworth battery. AUGUST 2015 | CIVIL WAR TIMES
25
INTERVIEW
Jubal Early became the face of postwar Southern history, founding the Southern Historical Review in 1873. The first Confederate general to publish, in 1866, a memoir of the last year of Southern independence, he continued for decades to promote his version of the war as the Lost Cause. Early’s involvement in the final crucial campaigns of the war is the subject of B. Franklin Cooling’s recent book Jubal Early: Robert E. Lee’s “Bad Old Man.” Why is Early an interesting figure? How did a reluctant secessionist become an arch-proponent of the Lost Cause? How can such a superb fighting general in the tradition of Stonewall Jackson bungle it so badly at the last moment in decision-making when he is five miles from Lincoln’s capital on July 11? How does he manage to lose the Shenandoah and affect the last six months of the war when he has taken the war to the doorsteps of the capital in that summer of ’64? Even the Lincoln administration admits that if the war is not lost, at least the election is—or pretty close to it. Set the stage: what was happening on July 11, 1864? Early is in competition with Federal reinforcements and whatever troops can be gathered in Washington as defenders. On July 10, the night after the Battle of Monocacy and before whatever is going 26
CIVIL WAR TIMES | AUGUST 2015
to happen, the city and the administration are beginning to get quite panicky. Early’s army is strung out on this 40-mile march to the capital from Frederick, Md. It’s hot, it’s dry, they’re in no condition after a major battle. Early rides ahead and pulls out his binoculars and sees that the city’s defenses are still poorly manned. So he’s about five miles from Washington on the afternoon of July 11. He could have taken the cavalry or simply the forward echelons and made a headlong rush to breach the Union defense perimeter. Do you think if he had, he could have taken the city? The claim was always the troops would have gotten out of control, they would have gone pillaging. I think the mere fact of capturing the enemy capital—the nation’s capital—for whatever period of time it would have been held—would have
➧
The Confederacy’s Hard War General
Robert E. Lee had good reason to call irascible Jubal Early his “bad old man.”
been quite like capturing Richmond. The impact is perhaps less military and more political on the hearts and minds of the Northern population: If we can’t protect the capital for two hours, 10 hours, three days, etc., then the Confederacy must be more formidable than our people are telling us. Lincoln would have one hell of a job rationalizing why he was continuing the war. If the presidential election had been held in the six weeks following the Washington Campaign, I think the Lincoln administration would really have been in trouble. Did Early lose his nerve? Early’s impact and his blown opportunity—I think there is a lot more that can be attributed to his physiological condition. He’s 48 years old in 1864. By our
standards that isn’t old, but he has chronic rheumatism, lousy food, lousy sleeping conditions—all that kind of stuff would have an impact in terms of being tired and how decisions are made. The fascinating side of Early is as Lee’s chosen instrument. Tell us about Early the extortionist. He ransomed Frederick for $200,000. He also got $5,000 from Middletown and tried the same in Hagerstown. Then you realize he’s doing the same thing in the previous campaigns. He wanted to ransom Gettysburg, and then he tries the same thing in York. What’s with this guy? Early was disturbed by what he saw of the conduct of the Federal troops pillaging Fredericksburg. This conditions his mind toward the enemy. It is no longer a faceless mass, but vandals and pillagers. And the question is: Does Lee condone this? Probably not, but he doesn’t stop it, and the buck rests with the commander of an army. But Early is going to carry the war to the enemy, make the Yankees understand what their troops are doing down South. When Chambersburg, Pa., wouldn’t pay the ransom, Early burned the town. ChambersB. Franklin burg is truly Yankee Cooling territory. Why were some Southern governors telling Jeff Davis to get rid of Early? He becomes identified with a losing proposition when Southerners are looking for a more acceptable answer to the problem. He becomes a fall guy. How did he take that? In the postwar period, this guy becomes the epitome of an unreconstructed Rebel. He states in his autobiography that he wasn’t covered by Lee’s surrender
terms. He goes to Canada and lives in exile for a few years, begins his apologia, which ends up in A Memoir of the Last War for Independence, and later in his autobiography. He’s preparing his manifesto for the whole Lost Cause. During this period, he becomes very much Lee’s proponent, taking the position: Well, we didn’t lose the war, we were just overwhelmed. He’s also seeking redemption for his actions by writing so much and becoming part of the Lost Cause through the Southern Historical Review and veterans’ groups. What do people get wrong about Jubal Early? If you look at the perception of the prewar period, yes he’s a West Pointer, but he gets out of the army and becomes a civilian lawyer. He upholds slavery, but to the best of our knowledge he owned no slaves. He opposed secession until he finally voted for it. He’s always a contrarian. Also, Phil Sheridan had a whole lot to do with Early’s failure, and I think we miss that in writing about Early. Then you get to the postwar individual who won’t shut up, trying to redeem something that is long gone—and he contributed to its being long gone— and then becomes more irascible and more solidified in his prejudices and approaches, so that you have the Early that we see today as a proponent of what is basically abhorrent to most of us. In some ways you can write a book called Jubal Early: the South’s Contradictions—and maybe that’s what’s needed now. Is it fair to regard Early as the Confederacy’s Ben Butler? He stands in complete contradistinction to Robert E. Lee, the paterfamilias of the South, the courtly Virginian. Old Ben Butler was one of those who believed in hard war—none of this dancing around and minuetting. Butler is a politican, and Early is a wannabe politician.
What is Early’s significance in the war? His significance as a Civil War general is the Washington Campaign, when he gets his opportunity and misses it. There is also the extortionist side to the story. Early is truly the Confederacy’s hard war general, much more than someone like Nathan Bedford Forrest, because Early is operating outside the occupied South and within Union territory. What about his role in building the Lost Cause movement? I do fear that we—and I don’t know of anybody trying to rationalize Early’s postwar actions—as we move into the study of postwar South and Reconstruction, that we tend to focus too much on Early in that context, rather than trying to build the story of how he gets to that context. What do you mean? We know that his search for postwar redemption has been couched as making it up to his commander for having blown the war, so to speak. So to make it up to Lee, he venerates his commander in a fashion he might not have in the war. If you could ask Early just one question, what would it be? If you were able to pry it out of him: Why didn’t you, on the afternoon July 11, just press on? He may have gone to his grave thinking that was his major mistake. Early’s aide, Major Henry Kyd Douglas, asked the general—as their troops withdrew the next night—what was accomplished. Early says that they had scared old Abe. Douglas replies that when the Yankees counterattacked, somebody else was pretty scared too. Early says that may be true, “but it won’t appear in history.” ■ Interview conducted by Senior Editor Sarah Richardson AUGUST 2015 | CIVIL WAR TIMES
27
➧
EDITORIAL
In the Field
T
The Civil War Times team recently spent five exhilarating days at the 150th commemoration of Robert E. Lee’s surrender. We savored the opportunity to witness memorable programs at Appomattox Court House National Historical Park, enjoy the glory of Redbud trees in the spring and pore over the great exhibits on display at the Museum of the Confederacy at Appomattox. The museum served as our incredibly gracious host, giving us great space to set up our tent. As we necessarily spend most of our time in the office, we don’t have enough opportunities to meet our readers. We appreciate everyone who came up to say hello, and especially those who took the time to give us ideas for future issues. With all the fantastic events going on in the Civil War world, meeting you is our greatest enjoyment. Thank you.
Wet plate photographer John Milleker Jr. of Baltimore made this tintype of the Civil War Times staff at Appomattox. From left to right: Senior Editor Chris Howland, Art Director Jennifer Vann, Photo Editor Sarah Mock and Editor Dana B. Shoaf.
AUGUST 2015 | CIVIL WAR TIMES
29
Freeman McGilvery, a feisty former ship captain, deployed artillery to shatter the Confederate attackers on July 2 BY RICK
BEARD
FIELD OF BATTLE A Parrott rifle from Lt. Col. Freeman McGilvery’s artillery reserve faces the Confederate lines at Gettysburg.
O
On the afternoon and early evening of July 2, 1863, two Union officers from Maine fought barely a mile
apart and played critical roles in preventing a Confederate victory at the Battle of Gettysburg. One of them, Lt. Col. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, is familiar to all but the most casual student of the war. Michael Shaara’s Pulitzer Prize–winning novel The Killer Angels, as well as its Hollywood adaptation, Gettysburg, have immortalized the 20th Maine’s bayonet charge on Little Round Top. By contrast, little adulation has been lavished on Lt. Col. Freeman McGilvery, whose patchwork artillery line prevented Confederate forces from splitting the Union line at almost the same moment. McGilvery’s decisive actions, however, just as surely spared Maj. Gen. George Meade’s Army of the Potomac a disastrous defeat. A “coolness and rapidity of thought and action”
FREEMAN MCGILVERY’S performance at Gettysburg should not have been a surprise. Although he, like Chamberlain, was not a professional soldier, he was accustomed to commanding men and possessed what one superior officer described as “the coolness and rapidity of thought and action… required of an artillery officer.” Like many other young men in early 19th-century New England, McGilvery went to sea, and by 1847 was the 24-year-old captain of the bark Jeremiah Merithew. When the war broke out, McGilvery was in Rio de Janeiro, captaining the schooner Wellfleet, which usually plied the cotton packet trade between Boston and New Orleans. In January 1862, McGilvery relinquished his command and returned home to volunteer, assuming command of the newly organized 6th Battery of the 1st Maine Artillery. It took six months to arm and equip the battery, after which it had one month to prepare for action in northern Virginia. His years at sea had taught him “the value of discipline” and convinced him that “10 men well-disciplined under the control of an energetic bold leader will easily vanquish 20 in the loose & unrestrained character of a mob.” McGilvery led his battery into its first action on August 9,
CANISTER, SHELL AND SHOT The 9th Massachusetts Battery fends off the Confederate attack on July 2, in artist Don Troiani’s painting Retreat by Recoil. Desperate Union artillerymen fired solid shot at the oncoming Confederates after they ran out of explosive shells.
1862, at Cedar Mountain, near Culpeper, Va. From its position on the extreme left of the Union line, he later recalled, the 6th Maine “was ordered to hold the position at all hazards as long as I had ammunition.” As he later wrote, “I had a desperate fight,” and the last gun was “brought off the field in the face of the enemy’s infantry not fifty yards distant.” In his official report, McGilvery’s commander credited him with saving “the division from being destroyed or taken prisoners.” At month’s end the artillerists of the 6th Maine once again found themselves called upon to stave off repeated assaults during the Second Battle of Bull Run. The battery fought, McGilvery reported, until all its “[infantry] support had left,” at which point with “the enemy gaining his rear, [he] gave orders to fall back.” Although he lost two guns, McGilvery rallied the remaining four fieldpieces three-fourths of a mile to the rear and gave “all of our troops” time to escape. The 6th Maine was “the last to leave the field.” Barely three weeks after Second Bull Run, McGilvery’s battery supported the early morning attack of the XII Corps under Maj. Gen. Joseph K. Mansfield at Antietam. McGilvery’s leadership qualities, by now apparent, led to his promotion to major and commander of the 1st Maine Artillery in February 1863. Four months later, on the eve of the fighting at Gettysburg, the newly promoted lieutenant
colonel was given charge of the 1st Volunteer Brigade of the Army of the Potomac’s new Artillery Reserve. The brainchild of Union Chief of Artillery Henry J. Hunt, a West Point graduate considered an authority on artillery, the Reserve provided the flexibility necessary to meet frontline contingencies. At Gettysburg the Union reserve included 21 batteries totaling 106 guns, a third of the Union army’s artillery pieces, under the command of Brig. Gen. Robert Tyler, a Connecticut Yankee who had been appointed to the Reserve command by Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker. Command centralization would enable the Union to mass its guns rapidly, without undue deference to the chain of command or military protocol. As McGilvery’s actions would demonstrate, the Union’s reserve system encouraged individual initiative in response to immediate battlefield conditions.
EARLY ON JULY 2, McGilvery left Taneytown, Md., with 10 batteries of the Union’s reserve artillery and an ammunition train in tow. About 10:30 a.m. he reported to General Tyler half a mile south of Meade’s headquarters in Lydia Leister’s farmhouse on Cemetery Ridge. By the time McGilvery arrived in Gettysburg, Meade had
“ Limber up and get out”
AUGUST 2015 | CIVIL WAR TIMES
33
PROUD PLACEMENT “Gettysburg” is featured as the top battle honor on this colorful guidon issued to the 9th Massachusetts Battery in 1864.
positioned the Army of the Potomac along a series of hills and ridges that stretched for three miles, from Culp’s Hill and Cemetery Hill in the north along Cemetery Ridge to Little Round Top. The Confederate battle line stretched from east of town through the streets of Gettysburg to the Lutheran Theological Seminary west of town and then southward along Seminary Ridge. The only high ground between the opposing lines on Seminary and Cemetery ridges—the centrally located Peach Orchard—would become the site for the day’s fiercest fighting. Meade’s tactical deployment provided excellent fields of fire while protecting his army’s access to routes for supply, communication and possible retreat along Taneytown Road and Baltimore Pike to his rear. Although characterized by one Confederate general as “naturally formidable and everywhere difficult of approach,” Meade’s position was vulnerable to a turning or flanking movement to its left or the south; it also deterred offensive operations. Maj. Gen. Daniel Sickles’ III Corps anchored the left flank of the Federal army. Early in the afternoon, in a move hotly debated to this day, Sickles ordered his troops nearly a mile forward from Cemetery Ridge to seize the high ground in the Peach Orchard. By spreading his troops too thin and creating a salient that could be attacked from three sides, his action threatened the integrity of the entire left end of the Union line. An agitated Meade confronted Sickles shortly after 3 p.m., “explaining to him that he was too far in advance.” But by then it was too late to withdraw, for Maj. Gen. Lafayette McLaws’ Division “opened upon him with several batteries…and immediately…made a most vigorous assault.” Ordered forward with four batteries to reinforce the III 34
CIVIL WAR TIMES | AUGUST 2015
Corps’ artillery brigade, McGilvery reported to Sickles near Abraham Trostle’s farm between 3:30 and 4 p.m. Deploying his 22 guns under fire, McGilvery positioned Captain John Bigelow’s 9th Massachusetts, Captain Charles A. Phillips’ 5th Massachusetts and Captain Patrick Hart’s 15th New York to plug a 400-yard gap along the Wheatfield Road east of the Peach Orchard. Captain James Thompson, commanding Batteries C and F of the Pennsylvania Light, took up positions along the Emmitsburg and Wheatfield roads. McGilvery’s artillery “commanded most of the open country between the woods held by our troops on the left and high ground occupied by the enemy on [the] right,” he later recalled, and was positioned to direct a raking fire at any Confederate infantry advancing toward the Union left. “I immediately trained the entire line of our guns upon them,” he reported, “and opened with various kinds of ammunition.” For nearly two hours the Union infantry and artillery fiercely contested the advance of McLaws’ Mississippi and South Carolina brigades. One Union officer vividly recalled the chaos of batteries “belching shot, shell and grape into the faces of Longstreet’s charging columns” while “couriers and aides dashed right and left with orders; officers brandished swords and pistols, and shouted commands which could not be heard 20 feet away.” McGilvery later reported that by 5:45, “the enemy’s infantry gained possession of the woods immediately to the left of my line of batteries and our infantry fell back….[A]ll of the batteries were exposed to a warm infantry fire.” He ordered his two remaining batteries to fall back 750 yards and take up new positions near the Trostle Farm. “The shattered line was retreating in separated streams, artillerists heroically clinging to their still smoking guns, and brave little infantry squads assisting them with their endangered cannon over soft ground,” recalled a Union captain. “The positions of these batteries showed broken carriages, caissons and wheels, while scores of slain horses and men lay across each other in mangled and ghastly heaps.” As the batteries withdrew, a Rebel soldier yelled, “Halt, you Yankee sons of bitches; we want those guns!” The reply came back: “Go to hell! We want to use them yet awhile.” Bigelow’s 9th Massachusetts was the last battery remaining on the field when McGilvery “told me ‘all of Sickles’ men had withdrawn and I was alone on the field, without support of any kind; limber up and get out.’” The Confederate skirmishers were so close that Bigelow had to retreat “by prolonge and firing,” a difficult maneuver in the best of circumstances. Bigelow’s men harnessed the horses to each limber, aligned it with the rear of the gun, and attached it with a long rope to the gun’s trail. “At each discharge of a gun,” recalled one artilleryman, “the recoil would send it back several yards, and the limber teams would start ahead far enough to take up the slack in the rope.” Bigelow’s men
BUYING TIME WITH BLOOD Dan Sickles’ decision to move his III Corps to a spot near the intersection of the Emmitsburg and Wheatfield roads made the Union defenses along Cemetery Ridge vulnerable to attack from three sides. About 3:30 p.m. McGilvery rushed forward four batteries to help stem Maj. Gen. Lafayette McLaws’ furious attack through the Peach Orchard. Just before 6 p.m. Patrick’s Hart’s 15th New York and John Bigelow’s 9th Massachusetts found themselves isolated and forced to retreat, but Bigelow’s determined stand at the Trostle Farm (see inset) bought the Federals valuable time, ultimately staunching the Confederate onslaught.
moved six guns over 400 yards in this manner. “When I saw their line broken & in retreat, I thought the battle was ours,” recalled Colonel Edward P. Alexander, commander of Longstreet’s First Corps Artillery. “I rode along my guns, urging the men to limber to the front as fast as possible, telling them we would “finish the whole war this afternoon.’”
“Hold your position at all hazards”
ALEXANDER’S HOPES for a sweeping victory, no doubt shared by many other Confederates who witnessed the dissolution of Sickles’ III Corps, would soon dim in the face of the heroism of John Bigelow, a 23-year-old Harvard University graduate whose battery was fighting its first battle, and the resourcefulness of his commander, Freeman McGilvery, whom the young artillery captain had known barely a week. When an alarmed McGilvery discovered that “there is not an infantryman back of you along the whole line from which Sickles moved out,” he ordered Bigelow to “hold your position at all hazards, and sacrifice your battery, if need be, until at least I can find some batteries to put in position and cover you.” Backed into a corner created by stone walls near the Trostle Farm and hampered by a narrow field of fire, Bigelow could only promise McGilvery that he “would try to do so.” He later recalled that “the task seemed superhuman, for… the enemy [could] approach…under cover within 50 yards of my front, while I was very much cramped for room and my ammunition was greatly reduced.” Yet for 30 minutes Bigelow’s cannoneers endured “a fearful musketry fire” during which “men and horses were falling like hail.” George W. Hosmer, a reporter for the New York Herald, described the advance of the 21st Mississippi Infantry of Brig. Gen. William Barksdale’s Brigade, which “came forward in their usual magnificent style. They had difficult ground to come over; but on they came, over rocks and through low wood, until…they made a rush with all possible yells roared out in one.” A second newspaperman, Whitelaw Reid of the Cincinnati Gazette, described the Union response: “Opening with double charges of grape and canister, he [Bigelow] smites and shatters, but cannot break the advancing line….He falls back on spherical case, and pours this in at the shortest range. On, still onward, comes the artillerydefying line, and still he holds his position. They are within six paces of the guns—he fires again. Once more, and he blows devoted soldiers from his very muzzles….They spring upon his carriages and shoot down his forces.” Bigelow’s predicament grew progressively worse, for the “rapid fire recoiled the guns into the corner of the stonewall.” Short of ammunition, the Union gunners resorted to firing case shot with the fuses cut short, “so that they would explode near the muzzle of [the] guns.” Such desperate 36
CIVIL WAR TIMES | AUGUST 2015
measures secured the battery’s front, but the Confederate “lines extended far beyond our right flank and the 21st Mississippi…came in from that direction, pouring in a heavy fire all the while.” As the Rebels began to swarm into the battery, the artillerymen resorted to handspikes and rammers to defend their guns. Bigelow fell to the ground wounded, and recognizing the battery’s perilous position, ordered retreat. As his men scattered to the rear, Bigelow’s bugler, Charles Reed, refused his captain’s order “to leave him and get out as best we could.” Instead, the bugler got Bigelow on a horse and began to lead him toward Union lines. “They…tried to pull us from the horses’ backs,” Reed recalled years later, “and I was able to do some execution with my…saber…when an officer, who saw his men were about to fire, told them not to murder us in cold blood.” Reed led both horses, at a walk, across nearly 400 yards of open ground to a spot just beyond Plum Run, a courageous act that would earn him the Medal of Honor. Bigelow and the 9th Massachusetts had lost three of four officers, six of eight sergeants, 19 enlisted men, 65 of its 88 horses and four of its six guns. But their sacrifice bought McGilvery the time he needed. “When I was taken to the rear,” Bigelow later recalled, “the…guns gotten into position by McGilvery…were all the troops that were holding our lines.”
BEFORE HELL BROKE LOOSE Captain John Bigelow’s 9th Massachusetts Battery follows Colonel McGilvery’s orders, racing to its position along the Wheatfield Road.
“ The crisis of the engagement had now arrived”
AS BIGELOW’S MEN fought their brave rear-guard action, McGilvery galloped toward the rear to reorganize his artillery batteries. Upon reaching the high ground beyond Plum Run, he was stunned to see that the III Corps “had left the field” and Cemetery Ridge was “fearfully unprotected” for a 1,500-yard wide gap stretching from the foot of Little Round Top to the left of the II Corps. “The crisis of the engagement had now arrived,” the colonel recalled later. McGilvery moved quickly to establish what later became known as the Plum Run line, “in an effort to stay the enemy’s advance into the opening in the lines. Bigelow would later note that McGilvery “was the only field officer who realized and tried to remedy the situation. He was fearless… and was untiring in keeping the enemy from discovering the ever widening…gap in our lines.” The exhausted gun crews from the Peach Orchard and the other batteries retreating through the area were the only units immediately available. But as “the only officer” in the area, McGilvery took the initiative, commandeering units not under his command and in short order pulling together a line of 23 guns. McGilvery ordered his gunners to concentrate on the
advancing Confederate infantry, with the 21st Mississippi in the vanguard. “I soon discovered a battle line of the enemy coming through the wood about 600 yards distant,” Lieutenant Edwin Dow of the 6th Maine Battery remembered. “I immediately opened up them with spherical case and canister….While those rebels were charging us we were sending 3,000 bullets a minute into them.” But the 21st Mississippi kept coming, “yelling…and keeping up a terrific fire all the time.” Throughout this onslaught McGilvery rode along his line, directing fire, repositioning batteries and seeking reinforcements. Despite his efforts, he saw his makeshift artillery line gradually shrink to no more than seven guns, and he once more issued a “hold at all hazards” order, this time to Lieutenant Dow . The Union position seemed so dire that Colonel Benjamin Grubb Humphreys, commander of the 21st Mississippi, “felt the jubilation of the victor….[for] no other guns, or a solitary soldier could be seen before us…[and] the Federal Army was cut in twain.” His optimism proved short-lived, for Union infantry reinforcements began arriving, and a charge into the right flank of Barksdale’s Brigade soon drove it back past Plum Run. “Thinned by the storm which swept down with such terrific fury from the ridge,” recalled one Mississippian, “the advance line staggered and began to waver.” Federal troops promptly recaptured the guns that AUGUST 2015 | CIVIL WAR TIMES
37
had fallen earlier to the Confederate assault, and the ongoing arrival of new units soon reestablished the battle line that had been under threat since Dan Sickles’ rash advance earlier in the day. By 8 p.m. the fighting had ended and McGilvery was able to pull back and reorganize his damaged batteries. For more than an hour, in the increasing twilight, McGilvery’s Plum Run line had held the southern end of Cemetery Ridge. The Confederate troops had come close to victory, but they had also suffered staggering losses. Brig. Gen. Joseph Kershaw’s South Carolina units lost more than 35 percent of their men, while Brig. Gen. William Barksdale’s Mississippi brigade suffered nearly 50 percent casualties, including Barksdale, who was mortally wounded. McGilvery was sufficiently aware of what he had accomplished to write to the governor of Maine, Abner Coburn, a few weeks later that “at Gettysburg…I believe I did as much as almost any Officer to save our army from a defeat on the 2d of July.” One hundred and fifty years later, it is hard to argue otherwise.
THE END TO THE FIGHTING on July 2 brought McGilvery little relief. He spent much of the night replacing damaged cannons and equipment, replenishing ammunition stocks and calling up reinforcements and horses from the nearby reserve. At sunup he had gathered only 12 guns, but by 6:30 a.m. he had assembled a well-positioned line of eight batteries totaling 39 guns that stretched for 500 yards along the southern end of Cemetery Ridge. When combined with the other batteries, the Union force presented a defensive line of 20 batteries stretching from Cemetery Hill southward along Cemetery Ridge to Little Round Top. Henry Hunt also held several fresh batteries in reserve. Captains Dow, Hart and Phillips, all veterans of the previous day’s fighting, commanded McGilvery’s batteries. Shielded from the Confederate artillery on Seminary and Warfield ridges by a low ridge to the west, the guns had a clear field of fire to the northwest, from whence the Union anticipated a Confederate assault. McGilvery had also ordered his men to construct a 380-yard-long, 2-foot-high parapet of fence rails with dirt piled on top to provide some protection for the artillerymen. Hunt firmly believed that in the matter of artillery exchanges, “less is more” represented the best strategy. “Firing will be deliberate and the greatest care will be taken to secure accuracy,” he had stipulated the previous year. “Under no circumstances will it be so rapid that the effect of each shot and shell cannot be noted when the air is clear.” Aware that Union supplies of ammunition were running low, he reinforced that order on the morning of July 3, directing his artillery commanders to “husband their ammunition as
“ Why in hell do you not fire?”
38
CIVIL WAR TIMES | AUGUST 2015
much as possible.” Hunt’s aversion to long-range artillery duels did not foreclose all Union responses to the Confederate bombardment. Batteries on the high points of Little Round Top and Cemetery Hill engaged the enemy, as did the guns commanded by Captain James Hazard, Maj. Gen. Winfield Scott Hancock’s artillery chief. Hancock believed that his infantry’s morale demanded support by fire from the Union gunners. Around 1:30 that afternoon, when it became apparent that McGilvery’s batteries were not joining in the long-range exchanges, Hancock sent Hazard to order McGilvery’s units to fire. When McGilvery refused Hazard’s orders, Hancock himself confronted several of the battery commanders and ordered them to open fire. McGilvery quickly countermanded Hancock’s order, setting up a face-to-face confrontation with the Union general. “Why in hell do you not fire with these batteries?” demanded an angry Hancock. McGilvery, who would later characterize the “un-necessarily excited” Hancock as “profane and Blasphemous,” reminded him that he “was not under [Hancock’s]…orders, and I could not see why the II Corps could not stand the fire as well as the other troops, or as well as my gunners.” For good measure, the former ship captain, surely no slouch when it came to profanity, reportedly told Hancock to “go to hell.” Within minutes of that confrontation, however, McGilvery’s batteries did begin “a slow, well-directed fire…concentrated upon single batteries of the enemy.” Soon thereafter, General Hunt decided that if he silenced all the Union guns, the Confederates might believe that their bombardment had been successful and initiate the infantry attack. By 2:45, there was a temporary lull in the artillery fire. At the same time the Confederate forces launched Pickett’s Charge, a last-ditch effort to break the Union’s defensive line.
AT FIRST the Confederate advance appeared promising. The Union artillery at the focal point of the attack, a copse of trees known ever after as the Bloody Angle, was initially silent. Some of the batteries had been disabled by Confederate shelling, while others had exhausted their long-range munitions earlier, during Captain Hazard’s ill-advised bombardment of Confederate positions. Nearly a third of the Union cannons could not join the fight until the Confederate lines were within 400 yards, at which point canister rounds became effective. “When I saw this mass of men, in three long lines approaching our position and knowing that we had but one thin line of infantry to oppose them,” Union Colonel Charles Wainwright would later remember, “I thought our chances for Kingdom Come or Libby Prison were very good.”
“ The execution of the fire must have been terrible”
Thickest of the Fire
‘‘
LIEUTENANT EDWIN B. DOW, 6TH MAINE BATTERY
I deem it due to Major McGilvery to say that he
ever present, riding up and down the line in the thickest of the fire, encouraging the men by his words and dashing example, was
his horse receiving eight wounds, of which he has since died, the
gallant major himself receiving
only a few scratches.
’’
Wainwright soon regained his optimism, realizing that the Confederate advance presented “a splendid target for light artillery.” Firing from 400 to 800 yards away, McGilvery’s batteries poured “the ugliest kind of oblique fire” into the advancing Rebel lines. He later reported that the “execution of the fire must have been terrible….In a few minutes, instead of a well-ordered line of battle, there were broken and confused masses.” Captain Phillips, commander of the 5th Massachusetts, reported: “For half an hour our line was one continuous roar of artillery and the shot ploughed through the rebel ranks most terrifically. We could not help hitting them at every shot.” Despite this withering barrage, the Confederate brigades kept coming. “Men are being mowed down with every step,” remembered one Union soldier. “And men are stepping into their places. There is no dismay, no discouragement, no wavering.” John W. Lewis of Brig. Gen. Lewis Armistead’s brigade of Virginians agreed. “The crash of shell and shot, as they came howling and whistling through our lines,” he wrote, “seemed to make no impression on the men.” Around 4 p.m. Armistead and about 200 of his men breached the stone wall at the Bloody Angle, only to be shot down or catured almost immediately. What William Faulkner would describe as a “desperate gamble” in his novel Intruder in the Dust had failed. The Confederacy’s hope for a “desperate and unbelievable victory” had fallen short. Lee’s Confederate army had reached its high water mark; now the survivors returned across the bloody field they had so recently traversed.
IN THE YEAR following Gettysburg, Freeman McGilvery’s star continued to ascend. He commanded a brigade in the Artillery Reserve until May 1864, when he was placed in charge of the Army of the Potomac’s artillery park and train. On August 9, 1864—the two-year anniversary of his first battle, Cedar Mountain—he was promoted to chief of artillery, X Corps, with command of 15 batteries. A week later he suffered a slight wound to a finger while leading his batteries during an engagement at Deep Bottom, Va. When the wound failed to heal, McGilvery agreed to surgery. On September 3 a seemingly simple operation proved fatal when, after an overdose of chloroform, “artificial respiration was…resorted to in vain, [for] life had fled forever.” McGilvery’s premature death prevented him from publishing a memoir or recounting his role in the Gettysburg fight at veterans’ reunions. That unavoidable silence, as well as the secondary importance often ascribed to the Union artillery’s role in the battle, has relegated his feats to brief references or the occasional footnote in most accounts. McGilvery deserves better: Without his bold, decisive action on the afternoon of July 2, 1863, the Union army might well have suffered a devastating defeat. ■
“His life had fled forever”
Rick Beard is an independent historian, author and museum consultant who splits his time between Harrisburg, Pa., and New York City. AUGUST 2015 | CIVIL WAR TIMES
39
LEE’S LAST WORDS A new look at a long-standing controversy ROBERT K. KRICK ILLUSTRATION BY STEVE BRODNER BY
40
CIVIL WAR TIMES | AUGUST 2015
T
HE SESSION OF THE VESTRY of Lexington’s Grace Episcopal Church on September 28, 1870, convened at 4 p.m., and dragged on relentlessly, as such ventures are wont to do. Vestryman Robert E. Lee dissolved one logjam when he donated $55 from his own pocket to reach a subscription goal for the rector’s salary. After the meeting finally, mercifully, reached a conclusion, the general headed home, where dinner awaited him. Lee walked to his house through a cold rain. Fortunately, the front porch of his home was only a few dozen feet from the church. As he approached the table, his wife Mary chided him, saying, “You have kept us waiting a long time; where have you been?” Lee did not respond to her sally, perhaps out of weary habit—or perhaps he could not, because moments later when he tried to say grace over the meal, he was unable to speak. Two weeks after the stroke that prostrated him on The “President’s House,” on the campus of what is now Washington and Lee University, was built to Robert E. Lee’s specifications in 1867.
42
CIVIL WAR TIMES | AUGUST 2015
September 28, Robert E. Lee died as dawn broke on October 12. No one could have been better positioned to report on the general’s final battle than the two physicians who monitored Lee’s fight against his fatal illness, Howard Thornton Barton and Robert Lewis Madison Jr., who left a thorough record of his condition and all the measures they took in their efforts to help him recover. Both doctors had cared for the general in preceding years, and in fact both had also been present at the September 28 vestry meeting. The letter they jointly wrote detailing Lee’s final illness, dated October 21 (just nine days after his death), surely affords the quintessential primary evidence on the matter. Barton, a native of Fredericksburg, had graduated in the second class at Virginia Military Institute, in 1843. He earned an M.D. degree at the University of Pennsylvania, and served as a Confederate surgeon in hospitals in his native Fredericksburg and in Richmond. Dr. Barton married a Lexington woman and remained in the mountain village after she died in 1866. Madison, who earned medical degrees from both the University of Virginia and Jefferson Medical College, tended sick and wounded Confederates during the war at Orange Court House and Farmville, as well as on assignment to VMI. After the war, he remained in Lexington as a VMI faculty member and surgeon. Using the thorough notes recorded by Barton and Madison, five authors—most of them medical professionals—collaborated in 1987 on a paper about Lee’s death, which was
instinctive to mistrust an account first writpresented to the American Academy of ten four years after a famous incident. But Neurology. An augmented version of that a contemporary report offers dramatic new presentation reached print in 1990 in the perspective. Although the authors of the organ of the Virginia Historical Society, 1990 article did not know it, the gist of Lee’s The Virginia Magazine of History and last words actually appeared in print within Biography. The authors opined, among 24 hours of his death. Under a “Lexington, other things, that Lee could not have October 13” dateline, an account of the genuttered even the few final words that have generally been attributed to him: “Strike eral’s death by an unnamed correspondent the Tent!” and “Tell Hill he must come up!” appeared in a few newspapers, among them The 1990 VMHB article concluded that the Richmond Dispatch and the Savannah Lee suffered a stroke of a specific and (Ga.) Morning News. It reported that Lee’s unusual variety which had rendered him “mind seemed for a little while to wander, unable to speak. As a corollary, they theoand on several occasions he reverted to the army. He once ordered his tent to be struck, rized that he probably died of pneumonia and at another time desired that Hill should after aspirating food into his lungs, fed to be sent for.” him by well-meaning but under-informed William Johnston might also have been caregivers. A stroke victim prostrated in the source for that October 13 account, this fashion could not speak, the writers which could have been relayed verbally to concluded, so the recorded final words the unnamed correspondent. And there were apparently a fabrication. remains the possibility (the certainty, no The September–October 1990 of Civil doubt, to conspiracy theorists) that JohnWar Times Illustrated (the former name ston or some other source made it all up on of Civil War Times) reported on the medithe spot. But no one can accuse Johnston of cal article, validating its conclusions. That developing a tendency toward melodrama article’s headline, “Strike the Phrase over four years. That account of Lee’s final ‘Strike the Tent,’” makes unmistakable Mary Custis Lee (top) and her son George Washington Custis Lee words, warmly admiring in the funerary their wholesale acceptance of the revision(above) both speculated that the mode but devoid of hyperbole or histriist analysis. According to the article, the words the general uttered on his onics, was in print hundreds of miles away standard sources had evidently been undeathbed were spoken in delirium. from Lexington long before Lee’s funeral. trustworthy: Lee’s neighbor, William Preston Johnston, had apparently made up the whole thing a few years later (due to “an over-developed ther new evidence occasions this article, far feeling for melodrama,” Civil War Times opined), and permore than the misunderstood timing of the haps Lee biographer Douglas Southall Freeman had simply eyewitness newspaper account. Two letters, “believed, if it wasn’t true, it should have been.” neither of them known to the medical artiThe authors of the 1990 VMHB article—two of whom are cle authors, repaint the familiar picture, longtime friends of mine—did a thoughtful job. Their thesis including a generally mute patient—but was convincing, and worthy of attention. But there is also they also supply further interesting features. A letter that persuasive evidence that substantially vitiates some of their Mary Custis Lee wrote to a woman friend named Clarke a arguments, including contemporary documents bearing on few weeks after Lee’s death described her stricken husband the topic that they did not see. as quiet and calm on his deathbed, saying little. When the Lt. Col. William P. Johnston of the Washington College general’s daughter Agnes urged him to take some medicine, faculty (and later president of Louisiana State University) Mrs. Lee wrote, “he said very plainly ‘Tis no use.’” Robert supplied the best-known account of Lee’s decline in 1874, “rarely spoke,” Mary reported, though she added, “save in including those sometimes-disputed last words. Johnston, his dreams & they were of those terrible battle fields.” who had been a Confederate field officer, served on JefferPrecisely this type of mutterings in delirium are the presumed primary stage for final words in many instances— son Davis’ personal staff and was the son of a Confederate and unmistakably so in Lee’s case too. general. But should we believe that by 1874, the normally The second letter, not seen by the 1990 medical analysts, reliable Johnston had developed a propensity for melocame from the pen of George Washington Custis Lee the drama, as the Civil War Times article cheerfully concluded? week after his father’s death (see sidebar, P. 45). That conIn fact, timeliness is actually one of the most persuasive arguments in favor of Lee’s having spoken those last words. temporary evidence, in an entirely private forum, makes For modern readers, skeptical by habit, it might seem clear that the dying man made repeated comments, and that
O
AUGUST 2015 | CIVIL WAR TIMES
43
Crowds gather for Robert E. Lee’s funeral in Lexington on October 15, 1870, outside what has been known as Lee Chapel ever since.
Burying a Legend The downpour that drenched Lee as he walked home for the last time foreshadowed a wet spell in the upper Valley of Virginia. Three days before the general’s death a powerful freshet roared down the North River and wreaked havoc on the docks that served Lexington. The storm, Mrs. Lee wrote, “raged…[and] seemed to wail for the sorrow which was to befall us.” Lexington resident Charles H. Chittum later described how the destruction of Alexander’s Wharf swept away a shipment of three coffins headed for undertaker C.M. Koones. Chittum recalled salvaging a coffin for Lee, which “had 44
washed over the big dam and lodged two miles down the river on a small island.” The storms that drove streams out of their banks also made it impossible for many Virginians to travel over the mountains to Lexington for Lee’s funeral, which would otherwise have attracted a huge throng. A VMI cadet wrote to his sister describing mourning decorations on his campus: “Between the windows and under them were festoons of black…in all 900 yards of black cloth….and from the top of the barracks all the flags of the states which have cadets here were flown at halfmast.” Five cadets received
CIVIL WAR TIMES | AUGUST 2015
permission to sit all night in the chapel—ever since called Lee Chapel—beside the open coffin as a voluntary guard. One of them who had seen Lee just days earlier remarked that he’d thought him “the picture of health.” But now, lying in his coffin, the general “looked to be reduced to half his original size, and desperately thin.” On the morning of Lee’s death, a Lexington girl wrote, “all business was suspended through the remainder of the week….” The funeral cortège marched through the streets en route to the chapel on October 15, accompanied by a band playing dirges. “The saddest and most touching feature in the scene,” she thought, was “old ‘Traveller’ without his rider draped in crepe slowly
following the hearse.” Lee’s longtime friend the Rev. William Nelson Pendleton, who looked so much like Lee that relative strangers often confused them, read the Episcopal Church burial services, without any elaboration. Then pallbearers conveyed the coffin to a vault in the chapel’s basement. In the aftermath of the October 15 observances, “when the funeral obsequies were concluded,” a group of veterans met and “adopted a plan of organization” for the Lee Memorial Association. Donations would be deposited with C.M. Figgat, cashier of a local bank. Figgat later embezzled the bank’s funds and fled—but that’s another story. –RKK
he mentioned A.P. Hill. Custis wrote that his father “was evidently trying to say something about the army,” including the phrases “Hill must come up” or “ ‘tell Hill he must come up,’ or something to that effect.” Like his mother, Custis speculated that these words had probably been spoken in delirium: “How far he was conscious, we could not tell….” Both those letters—not previously used in documenting Lee’s final days—indicate that Lee’s words were overheard while he was unconscious, either sleeping or delirious. That always seems to have been evident to witnesses, even without new testimony from Mary or Custis. There was of course no tent actually in the room to be struck, no orderly to strike it—and A.P. Hill had been dead for 5½ years by that time. Other bits of evidence also temper the 1990 medical theorists’ conclusions. Those authors devoted half a page to a dramatic description of Lee making his way home through the rainstorm, setting the stage for what followed. In fact, it’s only about 55 yards from the church to the steps of Lee’s home. An unpleasant walk, no doubt, during a heavy downpour, but surely not enough to warrant a major role in his stroke’s etiology. An item from the Barton–Madison record is also noteworthy. On September 30, the physicians described their patient as “quite conscious and observant, but averse to speaking, using preferably monosyllables….This was his peculiarity when sick, at any time.” During their lengthy experience with Lee, his doctors had noticed that the general’s renowned iron will manifested itself with silent acceptance “when sick, at any time.” That suggests, although of course does not prove, that their patient was to some degree behaving as he always had done whenever he was sick. Given their prior knowledge, Barton and Madison presumed that Lee was quiet by sickbed habit, not because he could not speak. A letter that Mrs. Lee wrote to a cousin while the general lay abed suggested the same thing: “I think it is more from disinclination…than from inability to do so.”
W
here does all this take us? Contemporary eyewitness accounts should make it clear to any but the most determined revisionists that Lee’s mind wandered in his last hours to his army, prompting him to call for A.P. Hill. Reports of both his call for Hill and a comment about striking his tent were reported within hours of his death. They were evidently the result of delirium, or were perhaps spoken during a feverish sleep. We know there was widespread interest in the “last words” of famous individuals during the Victorian era. Plenty of published material bears testimony to that, and in fact presses are still grinding out books like Last Words of Notable People: Final Words of More than 3,500 Noteworthy People Throughout History (among them Rasputin, Horatio Alger, Betty Grable, Flo Ziegfeld…and R.E. Lee).
‘It’s No Use’ During an auction at Swann Galleries of New York on March 24, 1988, a large body of papers belonging to Charles Marshall, Robert E. Lee’s wartime aide-de-camp, was offered for purchase. Included in it was a letter written by George Washington Custis Lee, the Confederate general’s oldest son, to Marshall describing his father’s last hours. Reprinted below is a section of this missive that lends credibility to the “Hill must come up” version of Lee’s death. Lexington, Virginia 24. October 1870. ….Throughout his illness he had not the power of expressing himself intelligibly, except in answer to questions when he would say distinctively: “yes, no, l suppose so, l think so; l thank you; and such simple phrases. He asked for me several times when l was not with him, mentioned my brother Robert’s name, and seemed to wish to say something about him….But he only signed his name with something after it which l could not make out….Other times….he was evidently trying to say something about the army….” Hill must come up.” Or “Tell Hill he must come up” or something to that effect….He pointed upwards several times….when remedies were applied although he submitted patiently, he said “It’s no use.” How far he was conscious we could not tell; but thought unconscious (with the exception of a few short intervals of rambling) until within a few hours of his death....
What prompts Americans to care today about Lee’s last words, which beyond question have no importance whatsoever relative to his life, achievements, legacy or image? Surely it is because of his towering profile. The man revealed in Lee’s voluminous correspondence, and also through his actions, continues to fascinate Americans, especially anyone interested in military history. Any last words he may have spoken, real or imagined, of course do not matter to any substantive degree. But the question falls on fertile ground. ■ Robert K. Krick, the chief historian at Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania NMP for more than 30 years, is the author of numerous books and articles, including The Smoothbore Volley That Doomed the Confederacy. To read the 1990 Civil War Times article ➧ referenced here, go to civilwartimes.com AUGUST 2015 | CIVIL WAR TIMES
45
Relics of the
‘FIRE
46
CIVIL WAR TIMES | AUGUST 2015
OF PATR
IOTISM’
N “No State was in advance of Maine in showing its devo-
tion to the national cause….The unquenchable fire of patriotism
gleamed in the eyes of her citizens, and…she rallied to arms with a firm and wavering determination that
the lawless insurgents of the South should be punished….” These stir-
A VI CORPS SURVIVOR Charles P. Dorr, who rose from corporal to first lieutenant of Company E, 6th Maine Infantry, proudly put his initials, regimental distinction and the red cross badge of the 1st Division, VI Corps, on his canteen. Wounded in Colonel Emory Upton’s “battering ram” attack on May 10, 1864, at Spotsylvania Court House, Dorr survived the war to return home to Bucksport.
ring words from the 1865 history
Maine in the War for the Union sum up how strongly the north-
ernmost state supported Abraham Lincoln’s war effort. The state sent 70,000 men to serve the Union, including such notables as Joshua Chamberlain, Oliver O. Howard and Freeman McGilvery (see P. 30). The artifacts pictured here, however, belonged to Maine men who did war’s grim duty but didn’t command the headlines. Several of them ended up among the more than 8,000 Maine soldiers who gave their lives for the Union cause. Artifacts from the collection of Jack Craig. Thanks to the Balch Library of Leesburg, Va., for their assistance.
AUGUST 2015 | CIVIL WAR TIMES
47
FROM FORT TO FRONT LINE Members of the 1st Maine Heavy Artillery spent the early part of the war on enviable duty in the comfortable forts guarding Washington, D.C. But Ulysses Grant pulled them into the war’s meatgrinder in the spring of 1864 and assigned them to the Army of the Potomac. On May 18, Private John Fraser, owner of this circular ID disc, died in an attack at Spotsylvania Court House.
LOUISIANA REFRESHER Most of Maine’s soldiers served in the Eastern Theater, but the 22nd Maine Infantry, a ninemonth regiment out of Bangor, spent the majority of its time in Louisiana and took part in the June and July 1864 siege and attacks on Port Hudson. First Lieutenant Gibbs F. Libby of the 22nd carried this liquor flask throughout his service.
48
CIVIL WAR TIMES | AUGUST 2015
VOLUNTEERS FROM MAINE Maine’s prewar militia system helped to organize some of the state’s first recruits, and some of them marched off to war with “VMM” cartridge box plates—the acronym stood for Volunteer Maine Militia. By war’s end, more than 10 percent of Maine’s overall male population and about 60 percent of eligible men ages 18 to 45 had served.
AUGUST 2015 | CIVIL WAR TIMES
49
EVERYTHING COSTS MONEY During the war years, 60 percent of Maine’s annual budget was spent on military equipment, including this seemingly esoteric artifact, a curry brush used by cavalrymen and embossed with the state seal.
THIS ONE IS MINE Corporal George A. Oakes of the 1st Maine Heavy Artillery put his initials on the underside of his percussion cap box flap. Oakes survived being wounded at Cold Harbor and mustered out as a second lieutenant.
50
CIVIL WAR TIMES | AUGUST 2015
FOREVER SCARRED Sergeant Winthrop Shirland of the 1st Maine Heavy Artillery had his ID disc shaped like a club, the badge of the II Corps, to which he belonged. On June 18, 1864, Shirland was shot in the throat and leg at Petersburg, Va. His left leg had to be amputated, and for the rest of his life he would breathe through a tube that had been inserted into his esophagus.
DAY BY DAY Lt. Col. Henry R. Millet carried these diaries, labeled “1863.” On November 7 of that year he was struck by a shell fragment during the Battle of Rappahannock Station, Va. Millet survived that injury, and also a second wound at Cold Harbor in June 1864.
AUGUST 2015 | CIVIL WAR TIMES
51
FATAL HONOR During the Gettysburg Campaign, on June 19, 1863, the 1st Maine Cavalry battled Rebel troopers near Middleburg, Va. Charles C. Putnam, owner of this pistol cartridge box, had been promoted to sergeant and given the honor of carrying his company’s guidon earlier that day. During the fight, the newly minted sergeant was shot down while carrying the banner as his unit charged a stone wall. Putnam became one of 3,184 Maine men killed in battle.
PARDS Daniel H. Elliot, who poses on the left with an unidentified comrade, joined the 1st Maine Cavalry when he was 18. The regiment cut its fighting teeth chasing guerrillas in Western Virginia and then battling Turner Ashby in the Shenandoah Valley in 1862. The troopers served in the major campaigns of the Eastern Theater until the war’s end.
52
CIVIL WAR TIMES | AUGUST 2015
VETERAN’S KEEPSAKE Elliot decorated his canteen, right, with his intials, regimental distinction and crossed sabers. He brought the embellished accoutrement home with him when he was discarged for disability in February 1864.
AUGUST 2015 | CIVIL WAR TIMES
53
[ THE WAR IN THEIR WORDS ]
Lieutenant General James Longstreet’s right arm was still partially paralyzed at war’s end from his wound at the Wilderness.
‘Roads Very Rough General James Longstreet’s trusted aide Thomas Goree kept a 54
CIVIL WAR TIMES | AUGUST 2015
Major Thomas Goree survived the war unscathed, although his accoutrements and saddle had often been struck in battle.
& Country Poor’ journal of their trek home after Lee’s surrender
BY SUSANNAH J. URAL
AUGUST 2015 | CIVIL WAR TIMES
55
t
THE SURRENDER AT APPOMATTOX COURT HOUSE on April 9, 1865, marked the end of the fighting for the Army of Northern Virginia, but also the beginning of a new set of trials as the army’s survivors began uncertain journeys home. Thomas Jewett “T.J.” Goree, born in 1835 and raised in Alabama, kept one of the few diaries of those passages. Goree moved west in his teens with his parents, and by the late 1850s, he was a practicing attorney in Houston. Goree initially was a strong national Unionist, but by January 1861, he had concluded that Texas must “promptly secede from a Union which is no longer worth preserving.” ¶ After Fort Sumter, Goree sailed for Virginia, determined to be “in the first battle for Southern independence.” On that journey he traveled with James Longstreet, who had recently resigned his commission in the U.S. Army. When the first fight came at Manassas, Va., Goree became a volunteer aide on Longstreet’s staff, and within weeks he began serving as Longstreet’s aide-de-camp, a position he kept throughout the war. ¶ The diary excerpts that follow detail their difficult trip home. Goree’s diary offers insights into the challenges of peacetime and reveals the bond between Longstreet and Goree. ¶ Two African Americans, Jim and Maurice, traveled with them. Technically, both were emancipated, yet Goree refers to Jim as a servant/slave in his diary. Goree also documents the spotty destructiveness of Union General William T. Sherman’s troops in the Carolinas and Georgia, where some towns had been destroyed while others maintained their prewar charm.
CAMPBELL CH VIRGINIA, JUNE 26, 1865 At the time of Genl Lees surrender I was quite unwell and so could not start for Texas with [my brother] Pleasant and others who were going home. I thought that by the time I was well enough to travel it would be difficult to find company going south and to travel alone in the unsettled state of the Country would be too dangerous. So decided to send my horse on to Texas and go to Lynchburg and remain a while and then try and get home via N. York N. Orleans Galveston &c. I was encouraged to do this too by Genl Longstreet who had decided to go to Texas and proposed this visit for himself…. Genl Longstreet and myself came here from Appomattox CH where he expected to hear of Maurice & two of his horses, sent off night before surrender, under charge of Lt [William] Alexander. Heard they had passed through Lynchburg the day after the surrender. I’ve remained here at Campbell CH one night then went to Lynchburg. Genl L to see his family and I to see my brother Edwin, who was in hospital there, and other friends. I became the guest of my good friend Mr. F. Slaughter Esq. Spent my time in visiting Ed and friends in the City. After being there a few days the Genl concluded we had better not go through the north, but by private conveyance thro the country. We had an ambulance & two good mules, beside two horses of the Genl’s. We had arrived at Lynchburg on the 14th of April and remained until the 29th, when we made a start for Texas. Came as far as this place, when Lt. Alexander, who had just returned home, informed the Genl that he had not seen or heard of his horses since he left Lynchburg on the 10th of April. The Genl after hearing this thot [sic] it best to delay our departure until he received some tidings of them. I remained here about a week and then returned to Lynchburg. In about a month Genl L heard that his horses were at his brothers in Georgia. About this time the Genl found that it would probably be necessary for him to visit Washington previous to going to Texas on some private business. He made application, but there was a delay of several days before the permission was granted. In the mean time he read a letter from his brother-in-law Mr. Garland advising him not to come north...but the Genl depended on me to go with him, and my obligations to
him are such that I felt it my duty to do so. Ed[win] started from Lynchburg southward on the 3d of June. He had no money and I then had none to give him, but Yankees give transportation and furnish rations, and he can get along without it until he gets to some of our friends. I should have liked to have gone with him, but felt under obligations to go with the Genl. If there is Rail road connection Ed proposed to go on to Alabama. [I]f not he probably stopped with our relations in SC. I remained in Lynchburg until the 12th when my friends Mr & Mrs Slaughter started for New Jersey to see her relatives….A day or two before I left Mr S unsolicited handed me $30.00 in specie, telling me not to return it until perfectly convenient to do so. This was certainly very considerate and a great favor when money is almost unobtainable. Mrs Slaughter altho a northern woman, has a good warm heart…. God bless them all…. I have chafed very much at the long delay to which I have been subjected. My anxiety to see once more the loved ones at home is very great, besides I feel that I ought to be there, but three long months must pass before I can have the pleasure of sitting at the family board. Mother no doubt thinks that I show very little anxiety to reach home after an absence of more than four years….
JUNE 28, OFF AT LAST Genl L came down day before yesterday. Yesterday we had the ambulance fixed…. Left Campbell CH this morning at 9 O clock. Our party consists of Genl Longstreet, his son (Garland Longstreet), Jim (a servant) and myself. The Genl & Jim go in the ambulance, & Garland and myself on horseback. I constitute the advance guard. Jim is a negro belonging to Mr. Frierson near Shreveport La. who takes this opportunity to get home. Travelled to day 30 miles, and have stopped for the night at Mr Wm Pannels at Chalk Level, a very clever and hospital [sic] gentleman. Roads quite rough. Mules jaded. Ambulance too heavily loaded. Crossed to day Staunton River.
‘OUR PARTY CONSISTS OF GENL LONGSTREET, HIS SON, JIM, AND MYSELF. THE GENL & JIM GO IN THE AMBULANCE, & GARLAND AND MYSELF ON HORSEBACK’
AUGUST 2015 | CIVIL WAR TIMES
57
MONDAY, JULY 3
‘THE OLD MAN BROT OUT HIS PORTER WHICH THE GENL & I ENJOYED. HAD ROASTING EARS FOR DINNER’
THURSDAY, JUNE 29 We were very hospitably entertained at Mr. Pannels. [V]ery kind nice people several very pretty and agreeable daughters. Left there at 8 O clock, passing through Pittsylvania CH.... Roads to day better. Country poor.
FRIDAY, JUNE 30 Started this morning at 7 O clock. came on 15 miles to Mr. Saml Hairstons, a very wealthy old gentleman with whom we dined. The old man brot out his porter which the Genl & I enjoyed[.] Had a splendid dinner. [R]oasting ears for dinner. The old gentleman, very anxious for us to stay all night. Mr. H is now very wealthy owning 8000 acres of land and several hundred negroes. He has four children each one wealthier than he is. At one time he owned more than 2000 slaves. After leaving Mr Hs this evening, passed thro a beautiful country, the valley of the Dan river….Caught in a very heavy rain. Travelled to day 29 miles. Crossed into North Carolina.
SATURDAY, JULY 1 Accommodations last night very indifferent[.] No corn for horses. Stopped at noon near Madison. Fed horses with corn & fodder. Roads to day very hilly and rough. Crossed Mayo River near Madison and Dan river at Hairston’s ford or Sawra Town. Stopped for the night at Mr. Lash’s 6 miles east of Germantown.
SUNDAY, JULY 2 Very hospitably entertained at Mr. Lash’s. Asked the Amt of our bill. reply was “no charge against men who have fought the battles of my country.” Passed thro Germanton & small dilapidated looking place. Stopped at midday near Hoovertown….Yankee flag displayed at this place. Strong Union…. 58
CIVIL WAR TIMES | AUGUST 2015
We were very hospitably entertained at Mr. Conrads last night. Left there after breakfast this morning. Have gave us corn to feed our horses on at noon. Travelled this morning 15 miles. Expect to go 8 or 9 miles further to Mr Daltons. Advised to go there by Mr Conrad…. Country poor & thinly populated. General handed me to day $30.00 in greenbacks. He had given me previously $9.45 US Cur. Reached Mr. Daltons early in the evening, having travelled to day 23 miles. Mr Ds is one of the nicest looking places I have seen in NC.
TUESDAY, JULY 4 We were very hospitably entertained at Mr Daltons last night. His wife was sick but his daughter (an only child) did the honors with much grace. If the Yankees had not freed all the negroes this would be the place for a young man in search of a wealthy wife. The young lady is not pretty, but very well educated and has been raised to business. No bill to pay at Mr D’s. Left there between 7 & 8 o’clock this morning. Travelled 16 miles, when we stopped to get some forage at a Maj Allison’s….These kind people insisted very strongly upon our spending the night, but the Genl wd not consent…. Left here a little after 3 PM to go to Lewis Ferry on the Catawba River. Passed thro Statesville. Took the wrong road and went two miles out of the way. Reached Mr Lewis in the night having travelled 32 miles to day and that too to find that the boat was sunk and no chance to cross here. Put up for the night with Mr Lewis[.]
WEDNESDAY, JULY 5 Treated very kindly last night by Mr Lewis. No charge. Quite a nice young lady there, Miss Calloway [a] refugee from Wilkesboro, NC. By coming to Lewis Ferry we had to come 5 or 6 miles out of the way. Started early this morning. Crossed the river (Catawba) at Island Ford. Had some difficulty in finding the Ford. Stopped at noon & bought some oats from a regular Union man. Genl gave me 50 cts in greenbacks to pay for them. He did not like to take that kind of money. We left at 3 O clock. Travelled about 10 miles but not finding a place to stop, bought some oats and camped out. Travelled to day 26 miles. Roads very rough & country poor. We are 3½ miles
‘HORSES FARED WELL PLENTY OF CORN, OATS AND NICE PASTURE TO RUN IN’
from Lincolnton. The Genl’s roll of bedding dropped out of the ambulance to day. Sent back when we missed it but could not find it.
1½ miles of Spartanburg & stopped for noon….stopped for the night with Mr. Bivings….
THURSDAY, JULY 6
SUNDAY, JULY 9
Took a cup of strong coffee which I’ve made. After which I laid down on the grass and slept very comfortably all night. Horses fared well plenty of corn, oats and nice pasture to run in. We started about 7 O clock this morning and came to Lincolnton. We stopped here to see Genl Hoke and he insisted so strongly that Genl consented to remain with him until after dinner. In mean-time had some repairs done to ambulance also mules’ shoes fixed. Had a very nice dinner at Genl Hokes. Several gentlemen dined there with Genl Longstreet and others called on him during the day. Started from there 4½ O clock PM. Genl Hoke rode a mile or two with us. Came ten miles could get no place to stay and so have to lie out again. Disliked it because we have no forage for the horses. Have turned them out in an old wheat field where they will get a little picking. Garland Longstreet took wrong road this evening and did not get up until late.
Found the Bivings’ very nice clean people. Eldest Son was in Jenkins Brigade. Anxious for us to spend the day. No charge of course. put us up a snack. Found my horse’s back quite sore. Nearly 8 O clock when we started. Came 18 miles before we stopped to noon. Roads good. Started again at 4 PM. passed thro Greenville the prettiest place I have seen since we left Va. Got directions then and came 7 miles this side to house of Mr King where we spend the night. Crossed to day branches of Tiger river, the Enoree river, & Saluda River. Travelled to day 30 miles.
FRIDAY, JULY 7 Started at daylight. had no supper last night nor breakfast this morning. Horses seemed fresh & travelled well. We expected to go to Dr. Millers five miles west of Shelby for dinner. Genl Hoke recommended this place. Much to our disappointment though, found out in Shelby that Dr. M did not live on our road. Yankee regiment stationed in Shelby. After leaving Shelby travelled 8½ miles, before we could get dinner for ourselves & forage for our horses. All hands hungry and so did full justice to frugal repast. Horses feasted on oats. Rested here four hours. Started at 3 PM. Crossed Broad river came ten miles. stopped to night at Mr. Kemps. The old woman a curiosity. Very much delighted to have the honor of entertaining Genl Longstreet. Hope we will have no bill to pay. Nice pears. [A] good supper. Our horses have nothing but oats. Travelled to day 31 miles. Crossed State line this morning. One week to the hour in NC.
SATURDAY, JULY 8 To my surprise Mr. Kemp had a bill. Charged us six dollars. Very kindly invited us to call whenever we passed. Came to day to within
MONDAY, JULY 10 Bill last night $4.00. Started this morning to take the route to Pickens CH, but missed the road and came to Pickensville. Then concluded to come on by Pendleton CH. After having come 14 Miles stopped to noon at the house of Mr Walker 8 miles from Old Pendleton. Got a very good dinner. Bot [sic] oats for horses. paid 37 cts Came on to Pendleton where we stopped to have our mules shoes fixed. Then about an hour several of the citizens came and paid their respects to Genl L. Mr. Sitton invited us to remain all night. Young Mr Sitton of the PSS [Palmetto Sharp Shooters] gave the Genl a bottle of old Peach…. Travelled to day 26 miles. Roads generally very good. General handed me to day $20.00.
‘MRS. CALHOUN FILLED OUR PROVISIONS BOX WITH NICE BREAD, HAM, PICKLES, BUTTER, PEACHES, CANTELOPES’
TUESDAY, JULY 11 The Genl would not consent to spend the day with the good people at Fort Hill. I was very much pleased with all whom I met here. Mrs C. Miss C & two grown sons[.] Capt. C [and] I went out to the library of the great ancestor Jno C Calhoun, which is arranged just as it was at his death. I could but think while here how fortunate this great man was not to live to see the disgrace and ruin of his country which he strove so hard to prevent. We left here at 10½ AM. Mrs. Calhoun filled our provisions box with nice bread, ham, pickles, butter, peaches, cantelopes [sic] besides putting in the ambulance two fine water melons. Stopped to noon after travelling 10 or 12 miles. Enjoyed Mrs Cs nice lunch and one of the water melAUGUST 2015 | CIVIL WAR TIMES
59
‘THE MOSQUITOES TOO WERE TROUBLESOME SO THAT I SPENT RATHER A BAD NIGHT’
ons. Bot oats for which I paid 60 cts. Started at 4 O clock. Travelled till some time after dark. Could get no house to stay at, so have camped out. It makes no difference as we have provisions for ourselves and forage for horses. We have travelled to day 25 miles. Crossed at Ft. Hill Bridge the Seneca river, and later in the day several other streams whose names I did not learn. When I went to start from Mrs C’s this morning, much to my surprise and regret found Beauregard (the horse I ride) very lame. [F]ind that he is foundered. [H]ad to ride in ambulance & let Garland lead him….
WEDNESDAY, JULY 12 I was up before day this morning & stirred up Jim and had horses fed. I made a fire and boiled pot of coffee & fried some ham. Breakfast consisted of Cold rolls, ham & coffee, and 2nd course of peaches & cantelopes. We got off quite early. Beauregard still very lame. After coming three miles crossed the Tugalo[o] river at Jarratts Bridge. After crossing the river stopped for some time at Jarratts shop to have a bolt made for ambulance. Charged $1.00. Left the shop 8½ O clock. Travelled 10 miles over the worst road I ever saw. it was almost impassable. Stopped about 1 PM bot oats for which the Genl gave me 50 cts in change. We had for lunch to day crackers sardines ham, watermelons & cantelopes. Started again about 3 PM. The roads much better. [R]eached Clarksville before sundown. Came to the house of a relative of Genl Ls. No one at home. Took possession. Genl invited to stay at Mr Ketchums[?]. Garland and myself at Mr.
After the former Confederates settled into their postwar lives—Goree in Huntsville, Texas, and Longstreet in New Orleans—they remained in contact, with Goree continuing to assist his commander as he drafted his memoir. Their postwar correspondence can be found in Thomas W. Cutrer’s full publication of T.J. Goree’s wartime letters, this postwar diary and his postwar letters to and from Longstreet and other Confederate officers (Longstreet’s Aide: The Civil War Letters of Major Thomas J. Goree, University of Virginia, 1995). These sources capture the men’s peacetime lives, including the ugly fights that occupied much of Longstreet’s later years and helped create the Lost Cause. 60
CIVIL WAR TIMES | AUGUST 2015
Beans. Had a splendid supper at Mr Bs. After supper some very nice music. Came back to stay all night with our baggage. Promised to return in the morning to Mr B’s to breakfast. Travelled to day 23 miles. We start in the morning for Mr Wm Longstreet’s, brother to the Genl, 16 miles distant, where it is proposed to rest several days. Passed thro mountainous country to day. We were very anxious to come by Tuccoa Falls to day but heard that the road that way was impassable.
THURSDAY, JULY 13 Garland & myself slept in Mr Campbells house where our baggage was deposited. Took breakfast at Mr Beans. [V]ery nice people. A Miss Walton there. [N]ice young lady. Started from Clarksville about 10 AM. Travelled over an exceedingly rough road, but not quite so bad as part of the road yesterday. Reached Mr Wm Longstreets, who lives 1½ miles from Cleveland about 4 PM. Mr Longstreet not at home. [G]one to Athens. [E]xpected back Sunday. I am very much pleased with Mrs Longstreet and her sister Miss Davis. They are acquaintances of my Cousin Miss Nelson. We found Maurice here with the horses. He was delighted to see us. Has been perfectly faithful to his trust. His horses looking well.
JULY 30 We have been here at Mr Wm Longstreets since the 13th inst. Have had a very quiet, pleasant time….We leave here on our journey Southward tomorrow. Have remained a week longer than we anticipated on account of Genl Longstreet having recd a message from his
friends Genl [Robert] To[o]mbs and that they wished to see him. The excursion to Tellula [sic] was made to meet these gentlemen, but they became afraid to venture out, and we did not see them. Our party will be increased by Maurice with the Genl’s two horses, and Mr Wm Longstreet who is going to Miss[issippi]. We carry 4 days rations for ourselves & horses & purpose camping out.
‘THE MAJ HAD ALONG A VERY NICE WATERMELON WHICH WE ENJOYED VERY MUCH’
AUG 1 It rained during the night. The mosquitoes too were troublesome so that I spent rather a bad night. Got off at six O clock. Crossed to West side of Chatahooche [sic] at Browns ford. When we stopped for dinner to day, found two bolts in ambulance broken. Maurice went to shop and had two new ones made price 50 cts….
AUG 2
‘HE THEN PUT HIS PISTOL INSIDE AS IF ENDEAVORING TO SHOOT THE GENL. WHEN THE GENL. SEIZED THE PISTOL & WRENCHED IT FROM HIM’
Had a very comfortable night’s rest last night. Our horses had a very good pasture to run in. When we had come two miles found that Garland had left his Father’s oil cloth coat at camp. [R]efused to go back for it. I went back, but some one had passed and picked it up. [F]ollowed on. [F]ound the man & recovered the coat. Caught up with the party when we stopped to noon. Genl L presented me with the overcoat. I gave my old cape to Maurice. We came on this evening to Marietta where we stopped an hour or two to replenish our stock of provisions. This place has a garrison of Yankees and I purchased from Yankee Commissary 2 hams, a box of hardbread and some sugar & coffee. Saw two colored ladies (?) [sic] riding out in a fine carriage. We camp for the night three miles west of Marietta. Travelled to day 31 miles. Roads tolerably good.
AUGUST 3 …The country for several miles east of Marietta to Dallas has been made almost a complete waste. The fencing all destroyed and all the best houses burned. It will take many many years for the country to recover its former prosperity….Fell in during the evening with Major Byrd, formerly Quarter Master of Woffords Brigade. At his invitation I rode in his ambulance and had my horse led. We camped a little more than three miles from
Van Wirt [sic]. The Maj had along a very large nice watermelon which we enjoyed very much. We were joined to night by Mr Thompson of California, an acquaintance of Mr Wm Longstreets who proposes travelling with the party to Mississippi.
AUG 5 Got a very early start this morning[.] Travelled 16 miles before stopping to noon….2 or 3 miles before reaching camp Genl Longstreet who was behind in the ambulance was accosted by a drunken man who wished him to drink with him and wanted also to trade his horse for a mule. On Genl L’s refusal he rode off but before a great while he overtook the ambulance again and with a cocked pistol in his hand ordered the driver of the ambulance to stop. He then put his pistol inside as if endeavoring to shoot the Genl. when the Genl. seized the pistol & wrenched it from him. Whereupon the man put spurs to his horse and made away as fast as possible. The Genl will report the circumstances to the Yankees and try & have them arrest him.
AUG 6 The Genl & his brother slept in the house near which we camped….Road to day splendid. [P]urchased corn this morning. Stopped to noon near the place of Dr Snow near Oxford…. The Dr. is a very nice gentleman. Lived at the commencement of the war in Tyler, Texas. Came out with 1st Tex Reg. Was wounded & discharged. Passed this evening in Oxford. The Genl stopped and reported the man who assaulted him yesterday. The Yankee officers promised to send and have him arrested. ■ Susannah Ural is the Blount Professor in Military History at the University of Southern Mississippi. AUGUST 2015 | CIVIL WAR TIMES
61
EXPLORE
AMES AND NANCY BENNETT were in the middle of lunch on April 17, 1865, when they were interrupted by a knock on the door of their farmstead near what is today Durham, N.C. Standing among two groups of soldiers outside were Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston and his Union counterpart, William T. Sherman. After Johnston asked if they could use the home’s sitting room for a private conversation, the Bennetts retired to their cookhouse, and 10 days of cordial but complicated negotiations began, ending on April 26 with the surrender of Johnston’s Army of Tennessee and all Confederate forces along the Atlantic Coast. At nearly 90,000 men, it was the war’s largest troop surrender, effectively ending Eastern Theater combat 17 days after Robert E. Lee’s surrender Bennett Farm to Ulysses Grant at Appomattox Court House. Souvenir hunters quickly carted off most of the furniture in the Bennetts’ sitting room. James, who farmed the land until 1875, died three years later. The buildings fell into disrepair, then burned in 1921, leaving only a stone chimney. But in the 1960s, replicas were built, based on drawings by journalist Theodore Davis, a member of Sherman’s staff, as well as photos. Today Bennett Place is well worth visiting, as are Raleigh, Bentonville and Averasboro, the scenes of crucial battles during the Carolinas Campaign. — Gordon Berg
J
62
CIVIL WAR TIMES | AUGUST 2015
➧
North Carolina’s Final Battles
★
A cannon roars during a March 2015 reenactment at Bentonville.
Can’t Miss BENNETT PLACE The newly enlarged and redesigned visitor center at Bennett Both Joe Place Historic Site Johnston and holds an extensive William Sherman collection of flags, were served uniforms, arms and buttermilk from this pitcher. personal effects representing the units that fought in the area and civilians living there. The center plans to rotate exhibits to keep new artifacts on
Local Color view. Bennett Place is open Tuesday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free. [4409 Bennett Memorial Rd., Durham, NC 27705; 919-383-4345; bennettplacehistoricsite.com]
BULLOCK’S BAR-B-CUE Family-owned and operated, Bullock’s has been serving up its unique style of East Carolina barbecue since 1952—the longest-running restaurant in Durham’s history. Located just minutes from the Bennett Place State Historic Site, Bullock’s is also famous for its Brunswick stew, fried chicken and hush puppies. Save room for the hot fudge lava cake! [3330 Quebec Drive, Durham, NC]
BENTONVILLE About an hour’s drive south of Raleigh, Bentonville is the site of the largest battle fought in North Carolina. The Confederates suffered more than 3,000 casualties and the Federals lost roughly 1,650 during the March 19-21 engagement, in what proved to be the final fight of the Carolinas Campaign. Not far from the park visitor center and the Harper House (a Union hospital during the battle) is the Goldsboro Rifles’ “Confederate Mass Grave” monument—the first memorial erected at Bentonville, on the battle’s 30th anniversary. Several well-preserved earthworks remain. A memorial to the North Carolina Junior Reserves, a regiment consisting mostly of 17-yearolds, sits at the intersection of Old Goldsboro and Bass roads. [5466 Harper House Rd., Four Oaks, NC 27524; 910-594-0789; nchistoricsites.org/benton ville; open Tuesday-Saturday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.]
OAKWOOD CEMETERY More than 1,500 Confederate soldiers, most from North Carolina, are buried in the Confederate Cemetery in historic Oakwood Cemetery. Established by the Wake County Ladies Memorial Association in 1867, the burial ground is also the final resting place of four Confederate generals, including Bentonville notable
Bentonville St. Mary’s School
Maj. Gen. Robert F. Hoke. Experts recently discovered that two Union soldiers are also buried here—a sharpshooter from Minnesota and a German-born soldier from New York City. The local chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy unveiled the cemetery’s Memorial Gateway on May 10, 1910. [701 Oakwood Avenue, Raleigh, NC 27601; 919-832-6077; historicoakwoodcemetery.org]
ST. MARY’S SCHOOL Founded in 1842 by the Rev. Aldert Smedes, an Episcopal priest, St. Mary’s School has operated continuously as a girls’ boarding school ever since. It remained open during the war, at points housing Robert E. Lee’s daughters and Jefferson Davis’ family. When Sherman
Oakwood Cemetery
AUGUST 2015 | CIVIL WAR TIMES
63
EXPLORE
occupied Raleigh in April 1865, his men camped on the Grove in front of the school’s main building, one of three original structures still used today. During a troop review, some students reportedly leaned out of their windows, heckling the soldiers.
to the surrender of CSS Shenandoah in Liverpool, England, in November 1865. Featured is a collection of never-before-exhibited battle flags, including a banner carried by Tar Heel Private John Reams at the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House. [5 E. Edenton St, Raleigh NC 27601; 919-807-7900— Open Monday–Saturday 9 a.m.–5 p.m.; Sunday Noon– 5 p.m. Free]
State Capitol
CHICORA CEMETERY Memorials to Confederates killed at the Battle of Averasboro can be found in the cemetery next to the battlefield. Though the March 15-16, 1865, fight ended in Union victory, the inexperienced Southerners fought well, prompting one member of the 150th New York to recall, “It was the longest, and in some
respects, the hardest engagement our regiment was ever in.” Be sure to visit the Averasboro Civil War Museum during your trip. [3300 Highway 82, Dunn, NC 28334; 910-891-5019; averasboro.com/History/ ChicoraCemetery.aspx]
NORTH CAROLINA MUSEUM OF HISTORY The North Carolina Museum of History currently features a special exhibit highlighting the contributions of North Carolinians in the war’s final years, from the May 1864 Overland Campaign
NORTH CAROLINA STATE CAPITOL On the day Johnston surrendered to Sherman, a Union signal corps fired Coston flares spelling “Peace on earth, good will to men” from the dome of the state capitol. Thanks to recent restoration efforts, the building now looks much as it did between 1840 and 1865. Guided and self-guided tours of sections of the capitol are available. [1 E. Edenton St., Raleigh, NC 27601-2807; 919-733-4994]
Bentonville by phone A CELL PHONE AUDIO TOUR, available at 910-535-2008, helps visitors explore the battlefield. Mark Bradley, author of Last Stand in the Carolinas, provides commentary at seven stops along the tour route, from the Harper House to the Mower’s Charge stop. [See nchistoricsites.org.] North Carolina Museum of History
64
CIVIL WAR TIMES | AUGUST 2015
➧
TIMELINE/1865 January 15 The Confederates’ coastal stronghold Fort Fisher falls, and with it Wilmington, N.C.
February 1 Sherman departs Savannah, Ga., to begin his Carolinas Campaign.
February 17 The Federals capture and set fire to the South Carolina capital of Columbia.
February 22 Joe Johnston replaces P.G.T. Beauregard in charge of the Department of South Carolina, Georgia and Florida and the Department of Tennessee and Georgia.
March 15-16 Battle of Averasboro: Maj. Gen. William Hardee’s Confederates throw a scare into Henry Slocum’s Federals as they march toward Goldsboro, N.C.
March 21 Johnston’s defeat at the three-day Battle of Bentonville ends Confederate hopes in the Carolinas Campaign. Johnston retreats to Smithfield, his army having fought its final battle.
April 18 Sherman and Johnston sign a memorandum to end hostilities.
April 24 Grant arrives in Raleigh and informs Sherman that Secretary of War Edwin Stanton has rejected the peace memorandum just signed with Johnston.
GENERAL SHERMAN BIDS FAREWELL TO HIS CAROLINA ARMY
‘‘
How far the operations of this army contributed
final overthrow of the Confederacy and the peace which now to the
dawns upon us, must be judged by others, not by us; but that you have done all that men could do has been admitted by those in authority, and we have a right to join in the universal joy that stands vindicated before the world by the joint action of the volunteer armies and navy of the United States.
April 26 Sherman and Johnston sign final surrender terms at Bennett Place, near modern-day Durham.
MAJ. GEN. WILLIAM T. SHERMAN Special Field Orders No. 76 May 30, 1865
’’
AUGUST 2015 | CIVIL WAR TIMES
65
➧
REVIEWS
The American Civil War: Through Artists’ Eyes
A correspondent known only as “Fritz” embellished this letter to “Mary,” dated June 1, 1861, with a U.S. flag losing 11 stars to the rebellious Confederacy.
At the Toledo Museum of Art until July 30, 2015 reviewed by CRAIG FISHER oledo Museum of Art’s Civil War exhibit focuses on interpreting the conflict through popular imagery. Curator Ed Hill selected not only artworks from northwest Ohio, but also documents from the University of Michigan’s William L. Clements Library that chronicle and, in some instances, propagandize a war that reverberates to this day. What you will see is the citizen’s vision of the war. Popular images capture in idealized tableaus the fighting at Gettysburg, Antietam and the epic naval engagement at Hampton Roads, Va. Also on display are statues
T
66
CIVIL WAR TIMES | AUGUST 2015
by American sculptor John Rogers, which were mass-produced for a demanding audience on the home front, eager to show their interest in and understanding of the sectional conflict. The works on display range from thumbnail likenesses of Phil Sheridan and George Custer by U.S. Army Private Edgar Klemroth to a sweeping, action-filled oil painting by Gilbert Gaul, Battery H 1st Ohio Volunteers Light Artillery in Action at Cold Harbor. At a time when most veterans were electing to raise granite and marble statuary in tribute to their fallen comrades, the survivors of Battery H, 1st Ohio Artillery, notably commissioned the stunning Gaul painting that greets visitors.
Artifacts from the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center in Fremont, Ohio, include a portrait of Hayes in uniform along with his staff and field officer’s sword from his tenure as major of the 23rd Ohio. Future President Hayes—who was wounded five times, most seriously at the Battle of South Mountain—would later be promoted to major general. General admission to the exhibit, which remains on display until July 30, 2015, is free. For members of the museum, which is located at 2445 Monroe Street, parking is free, while nonmembers will pay $5. To check out a schedule of Civil War–related lectures, tours and movies, visit toledomuseum.org.
ADVERTISEMENT
Perfect Choice HD™ is simple to use, hard to see and easy to afford…
Invention of the Year PERSONAL SOUND AMPLIFICATION PRODUCTS (PSAPs)
THEY’RE NOT HEARING AIDS Personal Sound Amplification Products use advanced digital processing to amplify the frequencies of human speech. Thanks to the efforts of a doctor who leads a renowned hearing institute, this product is manufactured in an efficient production process that enables us to make it available at an affordable price. The unit is small and lightweight enough to hide behind your ear... only you’ll know you have it on. It’s comfortable and won’t make you feel like you have something stuck in your ear. It provides high quality audio so soft sounds and distant conversations will be easier to understand. Need an extra volume boost? Try Perfect Choice HD™ for yourself with our exclusive home trial.
SOUND QUALITY
Please mention promotional code 100062. 1998 Ruffin Mill Road, Colonial Heights, VA 23834
Less than 1 ounce Excellent: Optimized for speech
FITTING REQUIRED?
No
ONE-ON-ONE SETUP
Free
RETURN POLICY
1-877-763-3305
60 Days
81016
WEIGHT
Call now toll free for the lowest price ever.
REVIEWS reviewed by D. SCOTT HARTWIG n Paul Dickson’s and Thomas B. Allen’s book The Bonus Army: An American Epic, about the tragic story of America’s World War I veterans and their effort to be paid a bonus for their wartime service, a veteran recalls that as he left for war in 1917 a Civil War veteran told him: “Son, you are all heroes now. But someday they will treat you like dogs.” No story better captures the theme of Brian Matthew Jordan’s Marching Home: Union Veterans and Their Unending Civil War. Jordan challenges the notion that Union veterans were seen as heroes when they returned home. Buttressed by a veritable avalanche of primary source material, Jordan argues that Union veterans experienced many of the same wrenching readjustments to civilian life that veterans from all our other wars have. The war was over, and the country wanted to move on. Civilians often considered veterans a
I Marching Home: Union Veterans and Their Unending Civil War Brian Matthew Jordan Liveright Publishing, $28.95
68
CIVIL WAR TIMES | AUGUST 2015
nuisance. The sputtering postwar economy visited poverty on many former soldiers, particularly those who were disabled. Congress provided pensions for disabilities, but these were too small to make ends meet. In response, veterans created organizations like the Grand Army of the Republic, wrote regimental histories and erected monuments to help keep alive the memory of what they had done. Jordan paints a generally unhappy picture of the Union veterans’ postwar experience. What he might have also explored was why some veterans adjusted well to civilian life, while others did not. Many, after all, occupied key leadership positions in politics and business for decades after the war. But Jordan doesn’t intend this volume to be the final word on the Union veterans’ experience; he sees it as a departure point for future exploration. In Marching Home, Jordan has begun important work, and written a book well worth reading.
REVIEWS
The soldiers’ experience in the petersburg campaign
The Father of Virginia Military Institute: A Biography of Colonel J.T.L. Preston, CSA Randolph P. Shaffner McFarland & Company, $45
reviewed by ROBERT K. KRICK ohn Thomas Lewis Preston’s life was replete with significant accomplishments and fascinating associations. As a schoolboy, he was friends with Edgar Allan Poe; he played a key role—perhaps the key role—in founding VMI; he married “Stonewall” Jackson’s sister-inlaw; and he served on Jackson’s staff during the war. Randolph Shaffner’s biography is distinguished by superb, exhaustive use of sources that document Preston’s years in Lexington, Va. In September 1835, Preston envisioned a rubric for VMI as a spawning ground for citizen soldiery: “the healthful and pleasant abode of a crowd of honorable youths….” The Institute carved his “honorable youths” quote on a parapet in 1927, and youngsters entering the VMI “rat line” must memorize his words and stand ready to repeat them on cue. Even if today’s visitors don’t notice the “words on the wall,” most will see a fitting memorial to Preston in the institute’s library, which bears his name. Anyone who ever has undertaken serious research on 19th-century
J
“... highly recommended for all Civil War students and historians.” - Earl J. Hess, author of Into the Crater: The Mine Attack at Petersburg and ,QWKH7UHQFKHVDW3HWHUVEXUJ )LHOG)RUWLÀFDWLRQV &RQIHGHUDWH'HIHDW
“A unique regimental history.” - Mark H. Dunkelman, author of Brothers One and All: Esprit de Corps in a Civil War Regiment “If I have got t, to go and figh I am wiing.”
e-book $14.95!
Forged A Union Regiment paign in the Petersburg Cam
Explore the battles including the Crater, Poplar Spring Church, and April 2, 1865 - AND MUCH MORE PHGLFDOFDUH SULVRQHUVRI ZDU GHVHUWLRQ HOHFWLRQ
FLWL]HQVROGLHUV UHFUXLWPHQW UHOLJLRQ DQGPXFKPRUH
“
... highly recommended for all Civil War students and historians. - Earl J. Hess
The 179th r Infantry New York Voluntee 1864-1865
Download today and let the journey begin with 30 enlargeable maps and over 180 images.
,
edwin p. rutan
Available online at
www.179thnyvolunteers.org Virginia military matters has found the colonel’s library a magnificent facility; when VMI turns up in the vita of someone under historical investigation, the prognosis is sanguine. The research that makes Shaffner’s biography so strong does not extend beyond Lexington to include Preston’s military experience. Shaffner apparently didn’t employ any of the official documents that illuminate Confederate service, such as service records and
correspondence to and from the Richmond military bureaucracy. Fortunately—since Preston was born in Lexington, lived there most of his life and died there—on Lexington matters Shaffner has been thorough indeed. The biography’s unusual arrangement, and the fact that it includes redundancies and mistakes, makes it difficult to use. Still, Shaffner has done a fine job of polishing Preston’s niche in Virginia’s military pantheon. AUGUST 2015 | CIVIL WAR TIMES
69
Daughter of the Regiment Two women drawn into the war from opposite sides. Can Ƥ protect the soldiers who depend on them?
Available in paperback and ebook wherever books are sold
“Whitson celebrates the strong but unknown heroines in this Civil War-era inspirational.” ȃPublishers Weekly A division of Hachette Book Group
THIS BLOODIED LAND A story of North Alabama Unionists By Dareion Morgan
Available as an E-Book on Amazon & Kindle
Re-enactment of 2 Civil War Sermons Bishop Verot & Bishop Purcel Sunday, June 14, 2015 • 1:30pm St James at Sag Bridge, Lemont, IL. Info: www.historicstjames.org
BUYING! CONFEDERATE & SOUTHERN OBSOLETE CURRENCY P.O. Box 9 • Franklin, TN 37065 (901) 487-5944 email:
[email protected]
www.GregTonCurrency.com Q
SPECIAL EVENTS
7/13TH ARTILLERY (VIETNAM) REUNION ALL RED DRAGON BATTERIES Gettysburg, PA, 9/27/15 - 10/2/15 at Gettysburg Wyndham Hotel. Call Robert Adams 859-806-5199 or Jon Taylor 603-677-6570.
Q
TRAVEL/TOURS/ VACATIONS
www.CivilWarTraveler.com
REVIEWS
Kentucky Confederates: Secession, Civil War, and the Jackson Purchase
M
Berry Craig
ASTING IMPRE A L SS E IO N AK
University Press of Kentucky, $45
reviewed by STUART W. SANDERS uring the war, the eight-county westernmost part of Kentucky known as the Jackson Purchase was a pro-Confederate bulwark. Berry Craig has written a solid regional history that places the Jackson Purchase within the greater context of wartime Kentucky. The book mostly focuses on the secession crisis and the region’s struggle with Kentucky’s brief neutrality. Differences with the rest of the state resulted, Craig argues, because of “Geography, early settlement patterns, trade ties, proslavery Democratic politics, and evangelical Christian religion….But the most crucial factor was…an economy rooted in slavery.” Particularly strong sections of Craig’s book explore residents’ reactions to Lincoln’s election, their dismay with the state’s official neutrality, and the failed Mayfield Convention, in which some residents tried to have the Purchase secede from Unionist Kentucky. Readers will gain an understanding of why some residents were “thoroughly imbued with true southern sentiments and ready, at any moment, to take up arms in defense of the position they have no hesitancy in declaring.”
D
The original source for all of your GRAVESTONE RUBBING SUPPLIES and T-SHIRTS: where rubbings become wearable art.
With Pride We Honor The Brave Men Of the Union Who Fought The Civil War. With Patience We Preserve Their Memory, Their Monuments, and Their Legacy. With Persistence We Educate The Children of
GravestoneRubbingSupplies.com 800-564-4310 GravestoneArtwear.com email:
[email protected] Made in Maine
Both Regular and Associate Membership Applications as well as information are available at: http://www.suvcw.org/member.htm
AUGUST 2015 | CIVIL WAR TIMES
71
ETC.
The Lady Had Flare A Coston flare (left) was not fired into the air, but held aloft as it burned at the end of a specially designed signal pistol. Flares of specific colors were used like Morse code, to convey messages to ships at night.
A
colorful pyrotechnic display appeared in the night sky above the capitol in Raleigh, N.C., on April 26, 1865, after Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston surrendered to Union General William T. Sherman (see “Explore,” P. 62). The spectacle wasn’t the result of fireworks,
but rather Coston flares— ingenious signaling devices adopted by the U.S. Navy at the war’s beginning. The flares were developed by Martha Hunt Coston, a widow whose husband, Benjamin, had been working on a signaling system before his death in 1848 that ships could use “at sea, at
WOOF!
This issue’s canine, who is keeping an eye on a heavilyladen “Bull Train,” was drawn by Charles W. Reed, who earned the Medal of Honor for his actions at Gettysburg (see “Gettysburg’s Forgotten Hero,” P. 30). Perhaps best known today as the illustrator of John D. Billings’ book Hardtack and Coffee: The Unwritten Story of Army Life, Reed also served as a mapmaker during the conflict.
night, for the same purpose of communication that flags were used by day.” Over the next 10 years, Martha worked tirelessly to perfect her late husband’s invention. She first offered it to the Navy in 1859, and in August 1861 Congress appropriated funds to supply Coston flares to the Union naval forces.
Coston’s company sold more than a million flares in the course of the war. Union Flag Officer David G. Farragut used them when he captured New Orleans in April 1862, and they were also important in coordinating land-sea operations during the January 1865 capture of Fort Fisher.
CREDITS Cover: Library of Congress; P. 4-5: Library of Congress; P. 10: Courtesy of the LeCount Family; P. 14: Top: Library of Congress; Left: Photo by Nikki Kahn/The Washington Post/Getty Images; Right: Meserve-Kunhardt Collection, Beinecke Library; P. 15: Left: Cantor Arts Center collection, Museum Purchase Fund, 1984.222; Top: Library of Congress; Bottom: Don Pollard; P. 16: Top: Courtesy of shermansmarch.org; Bottom: Photo by James Brantley for Ford’s Theatre; P. 17: Top: Matthew Fleming; Right: Reading the Man; Bottom: Google Earth; P. 18: National Archives; P. 22-23: Theodore J. Karle; P. 24-25: Burton Bolt: Private Collection/Photography by Jack Melton, Research by Michael O’Donnell; Parrott Shell: Private Collection/Photography by Jack Melton; All Others: Courtesy of The Atlanta History Museum/ Photography by Jack Melton; P. 26: Library of Congress; P. 27: Courtesy of B. Franklin Cooling; P. 29: John Milleker Photography; P. 30-31: Shenandoah Sanchez; P. 32: USAMHI; P. 33: Don Troiani/ Corbis; P. 34: Commonwealth of Massachusetts Art Commission; P. 37: Library of Congress; P. 41: Courtesy of Washington and Lee University; P. 43: Top: Courtesy of Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial; Bottom: Museum of the Confederacy, Richmond, VA; P. 44: VMI Archives; P. 46-53: Photography by Sarah J. Mock; P. 54: Library of Congress; P. 55: Goree Family Papers, Thomason Special Collections, Newton Gresham Library, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, TX; P. 56: iStockPhoto; P. 57: The Official Military Atlas of the Civil War; P. 58: Left: Thinkstock; Right: Courtesy the private collection of Roy Winkelman/Clipart courtesy FCIT; P. 59: Thinkstock; P. 60: From Left: Courtesy of the private collection of Roy Winkelman/Clipart courtesy of FCIT; Library of Congress; Goree Family Papers, Thomason Special Collections, Newton Gresham Library, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, TX; P. 61: Thinkstock (2); P. 62: Clockwise from Map: Thinkstock; The Durham Convention & Visitors Bureau; Courtesy of Bennett Place State Historic Site; Buddy Secor/NinjaPix; P. 63: From Top: Buddy Secor/NinjaPix; Chris Adamczyk; Thinkstock; Gordon Berg; P. 64: From Top: Gordon Berg; Chris Adamczyk; P. 65: Library of Congress; P. 66: The American Civil War: Through Artists’ Eyes; P. 73: Top: National Civil War Museum, Harrisburg, PA; Bottom: Hardtack and Coffee; P. 74: Courtesy of Skinner, Inc. www.skinnerinc.com.
AUGUST 2015 | CIVIL WAR TIMES
73
SOLD!
Louisiana State Seal Buckle
$ 4,613 Some Louisiana troops proudly wore buckles sporting the Louisiana state seal as they marched off to war, like this one recently sold by Skinner Auctions. The seal features a Brown Pelican feeding its young. The design’s origins are somewhat obscure, but it’s believed to have been adopted shortly after Louisiana became a state in 1812.
You Work Hard. We’ll Work Hard to Save You Money. GEICO has been proudly saving Military customers money on their car insurance since 1936, and we want to do the same for you. We understand the special needs DQGVDFULĆFHVPDGHE\0LOLWDU\PHPEHUVDQGWKHLUIDPLOLHVZKLFKLVZK\ZHRIIHU QXPHURXVGLVFRXQWVćH[LEOHSD\PHQWRSWLRQVRYHUVHDVFRYHUDJHDQGPRUH We stand ready to serve you. Get a free quote today.
JHLFRFRP_0,/,7$5<_ORFDORIĆFH Some discounts, coverages, payment plans and features are not available in all states or all GEICO companies. GEICO is a registered service mark of Government Employees Insurance Company, Washington, D.C. 20076; a Berkshire Hathaway Inc. subsidiary. GEICO Gecko image © 1999-2015. © 2015 GEICO
