Hardtack Illustrated - Winter 2023

G E O RG E A L F R E D T OW N S E N D ( " GAT H " ) W I T N E S S E S T H E F I N A L D AY S O F T H E P E N I N S U L A C A M PA I G N

H ARDTACK

Abraham Lincoln's visit to the Army of the Potomac, April 1863

ILLUSTRATED

LEE'S OLD WAR HORSE STRIKES BACK!

GENERAL LONGSTREET OPENS UP ON THE WAR, ROBERT E. LEE, JEFFERSON DAVIS AND CONFEDERATE FAILURES Hardtack Illustrated www.hardtackbooks.com

Vol. 1, No. 1 Winter 2023

A PRESIDEN

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30 the hospital transport An excerpt from Hardtack Books reissue of George Alfred Townsend's Campaigns

of a Non-Combatant.

In a brief resp war, General Ho troops welcome the Command

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NTIAL VIST

pite from the ooker and his e a visit from der-in-Chief.

feature article James Longstreet counterattacks his opponents and acknowledges Confederate failings in a free flowing interview with the Washington Post, 1893.

6 civil war ancestors The humble service of Private Alexander Springsteen, Company A, 14th New Jersey, and great-great grandfather to New Jersey's Favorite Son.

10 quotes and incidents General Samuel Sturgis left Civil War enthusiasts an "owlish" insult for the ages when reminded of the maligned General John Pope.

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from the editor

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book review

Cover background: Franklin D. Briscoe: Pickett's Charge - Battle of Gettysburg (1887)

editorial

Welcome to Hardtack Illustrated "The past is never dead. It's not even past." - William Faulkner WILLIAM FAULKNER'S FAMOUS QUOTE about history is well-known to many of us, and it's a cliché in the sense that - as a species - we embrace patterns and find comfort in the familiar things gone by. But as with everything in history, particularly the American Civil War, "it's complicated," as historian Henry Gates has often said. William Faulkner was on record as a liberal opponent of the white supremacy he experienced in his native South, but once, in a drunken interview - during the throes of the 1956 integration debate - he said his allegiance remained with the South, vowing "to make the same choice Robert E. Lee made then, I'll make it." We are all walking contradictions, but Faulkner's words reinforce the notion that the Civil War says as much about ourselves as it does those who experienced first-hand those passionate days of the first half of the sixth decade of the late nineteenth century. Whether it's how we memorialize the conflict or how post-modern views conflict with our old, preconceived prejudices, the search for answers and the ability to acknowledge that perhaps there is no answer is where the satisfaction lies. For those of us who have that unsatiable appetite for Civil War history, these contradictions and the participants who played a role in it feed that gnawing desire to consume more and more of it.

While the secondary works of my favorite Civil War historians - the Catton's, the Foote's, and McPherson's - will always be on the top shelf of my library and have a role in interpreting events and identifying trends, I find the primary sources the most enlightening. A history nerd at heart, I rarely sit down with a Civil War book without thumbing back to the sources for those little gems of previously hidden knowledge; more information leads down the rabbit hole of questioning everything. Very few events and personalities of the war can be easily pigeonholed in a nice, tidy box. Was Gettysburg the turning point of the war? Did George McClellan, with his own personality and political viewpoint, unnecessarily extend the war longer than it had to be? These are the kinds of paths we will take on our journeys.

With the availability of first-hand accounts and primary 4

Hardtack Illustrated Winter 2023

sources now at the touch of a keyboard, the opportunities are endless to access the sources that historians of decades ago waited for at a post office box or a research assistant's connection to some distant archive. While an author of the 1950s, someone like Bruce Catton had to peruse through 128 volumes of the Official Records in the depths of the Library of Congress or on loan from the War Department; a simple Google search will suffice today. In the spirit of twenty-first-century advancements, I started this tiny, very independent publishing venture we call Hardtack Books and its sister quarterly magazine publication, Hardtack Illustrated.

Our mission statement is plain and simple: we specialize in republishing timeless Civil War narratives and bringing those sources, including memoirs, correspondence, and newspaper articles, together in contemporary publications using modern styles in typography, graphics, and design.

We issue publications in two forms: our quarterly magazine, Hardtack Illustrated, will be a seasonal issue, with readers offered two ways to consume new content, either in a digital magazine format issue or as an online blog via our website at www.hardtackbooks.com. All the content in the magazine will be free, with no irritating ads or clickbait. Additionally, we reissue Civil War works at a modest price restyled in paperback form using modern typography, images, and graphics for a sophisticated, twenty-first-century reader. At the end of 2023, we reissued Stephen Crane’s enormously well-received novel on the Civil War, The Red Badge of Courage. A quick search on Amazon will reveal hundreds of scanned versions of this novel; we like our version, which uses modern type and dozens of rare images found in the Library of Congress. For the coming year, we plan to issue two print books. George Alfred Townsend’s Campaigns of a Non-Combatant was published in 1866, one of the first memoirs of a Civil War correspondent, and is a dramatic tale of the conflict, as seen through the eyes of a young, energetic, and ambitious man who witnesses the events of a lifetime. In this issue of Hardtack Illustrated, a sample chapter is included. In a more ambitious project, we are releasing a

reissue of the classic memoir by John Billings, Hardtack and Coffee. Many Civil War enthusiasts are familiar with and likely have a copy of the University of Nebraska 1993 scanned version of the 1887 original. While our version retains the exact text and 200+ illustrations of Charles Reed, look for an updated sidebar style and additional images from Reed’s sketchbook. As with all our printed books, an index will be included in our issue. Look for more information on our 2024 releases later this year.

In this first edition of Hardtack Illustrated, readers will find three featured articles typical of the type readers will discover in future editions. I have always had a strange affinity for James Longstreet, perhaps because of his post-war knack for flaunting the political tides of the Reconstructionist South, so we are incredibly excited to provide a rare 1893 interview of the Old War Horse taken, according to the interviewer, during a battlefield walk at Antietam, something which I am sure most of us often do. Imagine walking that field with James Longstreet, aged and slowed by his war injuries but still aggressive and engaged. In a feature about Abraham Lincoln, Noah Brooks, a personal acquaintance of the President, joined him during his visit to General Joe Hooker and the Army of the Potomac in April 1863. Brooks recorded the president's excellent spirit and good humor in his 1896 memoir, Washington in Lincoln's Time. Finally, in our third featured article, George Alfred Townsend, a war correspondent, had ample opportunity to observe the goings-on during McClellan's Peninsula Campaign. This edition includes an excerpt from the upcoming book Campaigns of a Non-Combatant, describing the campaign's final days, his escape on a hospital transport, and his arrival at the safety of Fort Monroe.

Not bad for a twenty-one-year-old war correspondent.

Our issues will always have featured materials, but look for our central pieces too. In a running feature, we will explore the Civil War ancestry of famous persons. In this issue, we take a look at a rather undescript private of the 14th New Jersey with a famous last name in New Jersey: Private Alexander Springsteen. In our "Quotes and Incidents" section we explore the origins of famous quotes and incidents from the American Civil War. In this issue, we take a look at one of the more familiar insults hurled at a general: "I don't care for John Pope one pinch of owl dung." It's a unique use of owl imagry and well known to many Civil War enthusiasts, but how many of us know where the insult originated and which authors promulgated the phrase into Civil War literature. Finally, I had the wonderful opportunity to read D. Scott Hartwig's excellent volume of the Battle of Antietam, see the review of I Dread the Thought

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of the Place: The Battle of Antietam and the End of the Maryland Campaign on page 46.

I would like to extend to readers the opportunity to contact me in case you come across Civil War era material which you think would be great to include in future editions, or if you can think of ways to improve. I can be reached at jbiggs@hardtackbooks.com.

Hardtack Books all things civil war.

Hardtack Illustrated Winter 2023

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CIVIL WAR ANCESTORS

Private Alexander Springsteen, Company A, 14th New Jersey (left), and great-great grandfather to New Jersey’s Favorite Son, Bruce Springsteen

STAYING ROOTED IN NEW JERSEY IS A SPRINGSTEEN FAMILY PASTIME.

As far back as before the Civil War we find Monmouth County, New Jersey, peppered with the Springsteen surname. The Monmouth County Historical Association uncovered a document dating to 1801 signed by a John Springsteen, a patriot of the Revolution and direct ancestor to Bruce Springsteen. Of particular note to Bruce Springsteen’s Civil War heritage is that the grandson of John Springsteen was Alexander Springsteen (1822 - 1888), the great-great grandfather to Bruce Springsteen (1949 - ). The muster rolls of the 14th New Jersey shows Alexander Springsteen enrolled for service on August 14, 1862 and was discharged on June 18, 1865. The regiment was organized under the July 1862 call issued by President Lincoln for 300,000 troops to serve for three years or the remainder of the war after the disastrous retreat of McClellan’s army on the Virginia peninsula. The regiment received notoriety by delaying Jubal Early’s advance on Washington at the Battle of Monocacy, July 9, 1864, where it received its nickname of “The Monocacy Regiment”. In 1907, the 14th New Jersey was given the honor of placing the first monument on the Monocacy Battlefield where 180 surviving members attended the ceremony. James McPherson called the regiment “one of the best regiments in one 6

Hardtack Illustrated Winter 2023

AS THE FREEHOLD, NEW JERSEY, NATIVE BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN HAS QUIPPED, DESPITE WRITING PERHAPS ONE OF THE ALL TIME GREAT ESCAPIST ROCK ANTHEMS IN “BORN TO RUN,” HE CURRENTLY LIVES TEN MILES FROM HIS HOMETOWN OF FREEHOLD, NEW JERSEY.

of the best fighting corps in the Union army - the 6th Corps of the Army of the Potomac”.

A middle-aged man in 1862, Alexander Springsteen was an atypical candidate for going off to war. He enlisted at the age of forty with a wife at home in Ocean Township, New Jersey, and four young children (3 sons and 1 daughter) between the ages of three and ten.

The 1860 census of Monmouth County lists Alexander Springsteen, a carpenter by trade, as a day laborer with a personal estate of only $100.00. At the time of his enlistment, thWe pay of a private in the Union army was competitive to that of a self-employed carpenter. In August 1862, each recruit was entitled to receive - after enlistment and swearing in - one month’s pay of $13.00 in advance and a bounty of $25.00 when the regiment was mustered into service. For a private with a wife or widowed dependent mother, the State of New Jersey paid an additional amount of $6 per month. Upon completion of his service, the federal government paid $75.00 for each volunteer honorably discharged.

The 14th New Jersey was comprised of Monmouth County stock, many from the town of Freehold. The regiment was formed and drilled on the old Revolutionary War battleground of Monmouth just outside of Freehold. Its first year of service was a peaceful one spent guarding the railroad bridges near Monocacy, Maryland, and various points along the Upper Potomac River. Transferred to the Army of the Potomac after the Battle of Gettysburg, the regiment was involved in the pursuit of Lee in Pennsylvania and the later campaigns of that fall. After 15 months of service, the 14th New Jersey saw its first casualties near Culpepper, Virginia, on November 27, 1863. For the next year and a half, the fortunes of the 14th New Jersey were linked to the fighting 6th Corps. The New Jersey regiment saw action in Grant’s Overland Campaign, the Battle of Monocacy, Phil Sheridan’s Shenandoah Valley campaign and finally outside Petersburg culminating at Appomattox Court House. In the end, the 14th New Jersey would sustain casualties of 147 men killed or mortally wounded in action, placing it in the top 10 percent in casualties of Union regiments. The great-great grandfather of one of the most famous sons of New Jersey served his time in the regiment with hon-

THE SPRINGSTEEN FAMILY TREE

Pvt. Alexander Springsteen 1822 - 1888

Anthony Springsteen 1871 - 1959

Frederick H. Springsteen 1900 - 1962

Douglas Frederick Springsteen 1924 - 1998

Bruce Frederick Springsteen 1949 -

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The 14th New Jersey Regiment, known as the “Monocacy Regiment” on account of its association with the defense of the rail juction and its winter encampment there, was considered one of the elite regiments of the 6th Corps, Army of the Potomac. The monument shown above was erected in 1907 to honor the regiment’s role in the Battle of Monocacy, July 9, 1864. or, but little distinction and was granted a discharge from the service at the end of the war.

In 1871, Alexander Springsteen and his wife Harriet would have another son, Anthony Springsteen (1871 - 1959) who would live to see the birth of his great-grandson, Bruce Springsteen, in 1949. Alexander returned home to New Jersey after the war and eventually took up residence in Howell Township where he died at the age of sixty-six in 1888. He was active in the local G.A.R. of Freehold, who took charge of his remains. He is buried in Monmouth County in the Ardena Baptist Cemetery.

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The image of Alexander Springsteen courtesy of the Monmouth County Historical Society; Bruce Springsteen image (Creative Commons); 14th New Jersey Monument by Jeffrey Biggs

→→→

George Alfred Townsend was a wellrespected journalist in late 19th century America. He was one of the youngest reporters to cover the Civil War for the New York Herald in 1862. Towsend accompanied the Army of the Potomac during the Peninsula Campaign and narrowly escaped capture while suffering from camp fever.

Later, he joined John Pope's army and witnessed the Battle of Cedar Mountain. In April 1865, using the pen name "GATH," he became the first correspondent to report on the Union victory at Five Forks for the New York World.

Following the end of the war, Townsend released his memoir titled "Campaigns of a Non-Combatant." This updated version of Townsend's memoir has been annotated and indexed, providing readers with a comprehensive understanding of the people he encountered and the incidents he recounted. Moreover, this edition includes numerous illustrations that were not present in the original 1866 publication.

Through Townsend's narrative, readers are offered a captivating and dramatic tale of the conflict, as seen through the eyes of a young, energetic, and ambitious man who witnesses the events of a lifetime. The memories of the characters never left the journalist, and he later erected the War Correspondents Memorial Arch near the old South Mountain Battlefield in Maryland to honor his fellow correspondents.

Soon to be Released in 1QTR 2024

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Hardtack Books all things civil war.

QUOTES AND INCIDENTS

Where we explore to origins of famous quotes and incidents from the American Civil War.

DEMANDING QUICK TRANSPORT OF HIS DIVISION TO THE FRONT, GENERAL SAMUEL D. STURGIS UNLEASHED A CHOICE PHRASE OF WORDS ON THE NEW ARMY COMMANDER

"I DON'T CARE FOR JOHN POPE ONE PINCH OF OWL DUNG!"

In an profanity filled army, General Samuel Sturgis (left), unleashed one of the strangest sounding combinations of insults to the rail road superintendent Herman Haupt (bottom right) Certain quotes are ideally suited to the era in which they were spoken and couldn't be more effective in conveying their message. These quotes stand out because of their unique phrasing and the use of imagery that transports the listener to the moment they are spoken. In this issue, we will be featuring a renowned quote from General Samuel D. Sturgis: "I don't care for John Pope one pinch of owl dung!" This quote has been a part of Civil War history lore for a century, but the origin of this quote and how it spread throughout Civil War literature is less widely known.

The quote originates in August 1862, after Lee's army successfully moved to isolate all communications with John Pope's Army of Virginia. At this time, Federal authorities knew that parts of the Rebel army were at Manassas Junction's railroad line, leaving Pope's army without enough food and supplies.

Colonel Herman Haupt, the superintendent of military railroads, was in Alexandria, Virginia, and there was concern that Lee's army had positioned itself between Pope's army and the capital.

The tension between Colonel Haupt and General Sturgis started when a conductor informed Haupt that four trains loaded with the wounded were delayed outside of town. General Sturgis had stopped the trains by force and demanded that 10

Hardtack Illustrated Winter 2023

— IN AN ARMY BRIMMING WITH GRIEVANCES SOME REAL AND SOME PERSERVED - GENERAL JOHN POPE WAS ONE OF THE MOST DISLIKED GENERALS IN THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC LEADING TO THE WOWLISH OUTBURST —

his division of men be given transportation to the front. Colonel Haupt refused the order, claiming complete control of railroad matters by general-in-chief Henry Halleck. Despite General Sturgis outranking him, Colonel Haupt had authority over rail transportation. Colonel Haupt needed a gentle approach to deal with the situation. He arrived at the general’s headquarters after midnight to find General Sturgis and his staff armed and ready.

“Well, I am glad you have come, for I have just sent a guard to your office to put you in arrest for disobedience of my orders in failing to transport my command,” General Sturgis said.

Haupt cautioned the general that his position was unstable. The surgeons, who were transporting the wounded in ambulances, were waiting for them. The engines were about to run out of wood and water. Moreover, General Pope was unwilling to tolerate any delays in the deployment of troops.

With the mention of General Pope’s

A self confident army officer from the West, John Pope ruffeled many Eastern army officer's feathers with his boastfulnes of quick victories.

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name, Sturgis exclaimed excitedly. “I don’t care for John Pope a inch of owl dung!”

A dispatch was handed to the general, confirming his lack of standing. From General Halleck’s hand: “No military officer has any authority to interfere with your control of the railroads.

Show this to General Sturgis, and if he attempts to interfere, I will arrest him.”

General Sturgis was in a lather and seemed to misread the orders, still obsessing over John Pope. He repeated the same well-rehearsed refrain several times as if in an endless loop in his mind: “I don’t care for John Pope a pinch.”

The general's staff redirected the now fully discombobulated general, informing him that General Halleck, not General Pope, was threatening him with arrest. "Who do you say, General Halleck? Yes, I respect his authority. What does he say?"

“He says if you interfere with the railroads, he will put you under arrest.”

“He does, does he? Well, then, take your damned railroad!”

And from that short interview, an insult of the ages was born.

Herman Haupt, promoted to brigadier general in September 1862, remembered the incident 35 years later and included it in his 1901 memoir, Reminiscences of General Herman Haupt.

The quote remained relatively unknown for almost forty years until Carl Sandburg included it in his book, The War Years, published in 1939. Although Haupt did not comment on General Sturgis's sobriety, Sandburg suggested that the general was "slightly drunk." Margaret Leech included the reference two years later in her excellent book Reveille in Washington 1862 – 1865. In 1951, Bruce Catton included the anecdote in length in his first book of his Army of the Potomac trilogy, Mr. Lincoln's Army, but changed the location of the conversation to Haupt's office instead of Sturgis’ headquarters. He also claimed that Sturgis was "elevated with liquor." Harry T. Williams, in Lincoln and his Generals, published in 1952, repeats the now well-worn notion that Sturgis was drunk.

So, there we have it. The quote itself originated during the chaos of those late August days in 1862 when an aggressive general, perhaps or not fueled by liquor, attempted to commander rail cars filled with wounded men to get forward to the front as soon as possible. General Sturgis, who, after the war, was luckily on detached service from the 7th cavalry and missed the Battle of Little Big Horn, died in 1889 and is buried at Arlington. Even after his death, his famous quote continues entertaining readers of the Civil War.

All images are from the Library of Congress

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all things civil war.

Campaigns of a Non-Combatant The Memoir of a Civil War Correspondent

by George Alfred Townsend Length: 267 pages ISBN 13: 978-0986361531 List Price: $19.99

The Red Badge of Courage An Episode of the American Civil War

by Stephen Crane Length: 158 pages ISBN 13: 978-0986361524 List Price: $12.95

Fully annoted with index

Illustrated with 24 rare images from the Library of Congress

1st QTR 2024 Release

Available from Amazon

LEE'S LEE'SOLD OLDWA W LEE'S WAR H LEE’S OLD WAR HORSE

JAMES LONGSTEET HELD HIS FIRE LONG ENOUGH AND COUNTERATTACKS AGAINST HIS OPPONENTS WHILE TOURING THE ANTIETAM BATTLEFIELD IN 1893. THE FULL WASHINGTON POST INTERVIEW REVEALED.

ST

The 1893 Washington Post Interview

AR HORSE WAR HORSE HORSE

TRIKES BACK

w

‘I WAS CALLED A FIGHTING GENERAL’ - the james longstreet interview THE OLD WAR HORSE OPENS UP ON THE WAR, ROBERT E. LEE, JEFFERSON DAVIS AND CONFEDERATE FAILURES

R

ecently, a party of ex-soldiers, composed of Gen. Heth and Col. Stearns, the Government Commission for marking the battlelines; General Longstreet and Col. Latrobe, of his staff; Maj. W.H. Mills, Mr. C. F. Cobb, one of McClellan’s scouts in the Antietam Campaign and the subscriber, visited the battlefield of Antietam. Gen. Longstreet and Col. Latrobe went up with the Commissioners to definitely settle the positions of some of the General’s troops during the battle of September 17, 1862.

Notwithstanding his seventy-two years, Gen. Longstreet is clear and vigorous in mind, with a wonderful memory. Physically he is not so well off; one arm is almost totally paralyzed from the gunshot wound inflicted by his own men in the Wilderness, and, among other infirmities of old age, he is very deaf, making necessary the use of a speaking tube. His eye is clear, and his step measurably firm. He still enjoys a good dinner and is a genial raconteur in conversation.

He talked to our party unreservedly on every conceivable phase of the war. He has long been engaged upon his autobiography, the manuscript of which is now ready for the printer. His visit North was mainly to arrange for its publicaINTERVIEWING tion and for some map work. The THE GENERAL book will be largely devoted to Before releasing his 1896 events in which he was an actor, memoir From Masassas including Mexican War experito Appomattox, James ences.

Longstreet agreed to this His opinions and criticisms in-depth interview by the were so important and interestWashington Post. ing that I felt warranted in taking them down. I subsequently asked him if he had any objections to their being printed. Deprecating my high estimate of their value, he said the world was welcome to his opinions for whatever they were worth and 16

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only stipulated for the right to revise my report.

The matter used is substantially in Gen. Longstreet’s own words, and all, with the exception of the introductory, has been revised by his own hand. He made few changes. When I suggested that his somewhat harsh criticism of Gen. Early be omitted the old warrior grimly replied, “it will be in my book.”

In riding to and fro over the Antietam field.

Gen. Longstreet s memory was refreshed by the scene of the great battle. When the spot where the Union general, Israel B Richardson, was mortally wounded was pointed out to him, the Confederate veteran casually remarked, “there were for our side, 3 lucky shots fired on this field. I mean the ones that eliminated Hooker, Mansfield, and Richardson. They were the aggressive, fighting generals on the federal side who menaced us. After the last of the three fell there was practically an end of the serious offensive operations for the day on that side.”

I was aware that General Longstreet had originally disagreed with General Lee in the fall of 1862 as to the advisability of making the Harper’s Ferry campaign, the preliminary movements of which he proceeded to explain and criticize somewhat.

This led naturally to a discussion of the merits of the two commanders in the operations culminating in the battles of South Mountain and Antietam. One of our party put this question:

“Do you think, General, as has been

A RECONSTRUCTED REBEL

A post-war Brady image of James Longstreet. On the negative sleeve is the inscription: “Longstreet, Gen. James CSA, not in uniform, seated in Lincoln chair.”

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alleged, that Gen. Lee’s low estimate of the Federal commander was the reason for his extraordinary dispositions in the Harper’s Ferry Campaign?”

“Perhaps so, Lee’s experience with McClellan on the Peninsula certainly must have tended to give him confidence in any collision with that officer. Gen. Lee, as a rule, did not underestimate his opponents or the fighting qualities of the Federal troops. But after Chancellorsville he came to have unlimited confidence in his own army, and undoubtedly exaggerated its capacity to overcome obstacles, to march, to fight, to bear up under deprivations and exhaustion. It was a dangerous confidence. I think every officer who served under him will unhesitatingly agree with me on this point.”

To some further suggestions, Gen. Longstreet replied, “Gen Lee had a certain respect for Gen. McClellan, who had been his subordinate in the old engineers. But I judge that this feeling assumed somewhat the shape of patronage, like that of a father toward a son. He never feared any unexpected displays of strategy or aggressiveness on the part of McClellan, and in dealing with him always seemed confident that on the Federal’s part there would be no departure from the rules of was as laid down in the books.”

“What estimate do you place upon Gen. McClellan, Gen. Longstreet? Was he considered on your side as a man of real capacity?” I asked.

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“At first, we were anxious about him, and the great and well-disciplined army he was gathering. But with his first operations toward Manassas and on the Peninsula his true character became manifest. We learned that McClellan was only dangerous by reason of his superior numbers.

Like Gen. Lee he was greatly learned in the theory and science of war; he knew how to fight a defensive battle fairly well. But in the offensive tactics he was timid and vacillating and totally lacking in vigor. In these particulars he was diametrically the opposite of Lee. McClellan indistinctively overestimated his enemy and underestimated his own resources to meet that enemy. He was always planning, it seems to me, of the necessities in case of defeat, not with a view to victory.

“Properly Gen. McCellan should have merely

ARTILLERY HELL

A rendering by James Hope of the Battle of Antietam where James Longstreet offered his own post-war commentary thirty years later.

A PATRONAGE RELATIONSHIP

Union Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan would lead the eastern war effort in two campaigns against Robert E. Lee in 1862. General Longstreet held a low opinion of the general. threatened D. H. Hill and Turner’s Pass and poured his troops through Crampton’s Gap upon McClaws’ and Anderson’s rear, with the Potomac River and the Harper’s Ferry garrison in their front. There was no escape for them, any by this movement Harper’s Ferry would have been wrested from our clutch. Instead, McClellan elected to turn northward upon us and fight at Turner’s Pass, where he lost eighteen hours, and then, after another delay of over thirty-six hours, to attack me in a chosen position behind the greatest losses on both sides.

Strange to relate, President Davis held a high opinion of Gen. McClellan’s military capacity and trembled for safety of Richmond in the spring of 1862. Personally, I had not much regard for him in the field. At the very outset I predicted he would be fully a month getting ready to beat McClellan’s 7,000 men on the Peninsula and proposed that meanwhile we make a flank movement against Washington by crossing the Upper Potomac. The suggestion seemed to be offended at my cavalier opinion of McClellan.”

A discussion of Antietam and Gen. McClellan without including Gen. Lee would be like the play of Hamlet with Hamlet left out. In fact, during all this talk Gen. Lee was naturally a central object of interest. In finally propounded this question to the General:

and then the Rappahanock. In the secondary affair with Banks at Cedar Mountain we had gained quite a success, yet Pope promptly concentrated and forced Jackson back again over the river.”

I said to the General that I thought the world generally would agree with him as to that campaign, and then asked him, “which of the battles he thought Lee displayed his poorest generalship?”

He promptly answered, “Although it is perhaps mere supererogation to express my views, yet I will give them to your for what they are worth. I have always thought the preliminary dispositions to capture Harper’s Ferry, involving as a corollary the battles of South Mountain and Antietam, were not only the worst ever made by Gen. Lee, but in-

“Gen. Longstreet, which do you consider Gen. Lee’s best battle?”

“Well,” responded the General, reflectively, “Perhaps the second battle of Manassas was, all things considered, the best tactical battle Gen. Lee ever fought. The grand strategy of the campaign also was fine and seems to have completely deceived Gen. Pope. Indeed, Pope failed to comprehend Gen. Lee’s purpose from start to finish, and, on August 30, when I was preparing to push him off the Warrenton Pike, he still imagined us to be in retreat, and his most unfortunate movements were based on that false assumption. Had Pope comprehended the true situation as early as the afternoon of August 28, as I think be ought, it might have gone hard with Jackson before I arrived. Pope was outgeneraled and outclassed by Lee, and through improper dispositions his fine army was outfought.

Still, it will not do to underate Pope; he was an enterprising soldier and a fighter. His movements in all the earlier stages of that campaign were excellent for his purpose to temporarily hold the lines, first of the Rapidan

FROM MANASSAS TO APPOMATTOX

James Longstreet’s memoir, released in 1896, received mixed reviews. Despite its self-serving viewpoint, it represented the fullest defense of Longstreet’s muchmaligned war record.

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LEE AT GETTYSBURG

Left: A close-up of Union and Confederate soldiers in combat at Gettysburg, July 1- 3, 1863.

Above: A war-time image of Robert E. Lee vited the destruction of the Confederate army. I was opposed to the movement because his plan and the topography of that vicinity made necessary the division of our army into four parts in the immediate presence of a superior enemy. But, chiefly owing to the timidity if not incapacity of the Federal commander, and somewhat to the prestige we had gained on the Chickahominy and along Bull Run, we captured Harper’s Ferry and escaped with a drawn battle. Tactically, as usual, Lee fought a good defensive battle at Sharpsburg with greatly inferior numbers and withdrew at his leisure across the Potomac without molestation.

Gen. Lee displayed his greatest weakness as a tactical commander at Gettysburg, although, for the reasons named, Antietam might have been to us far more disastrous had the Federal army there been commanded by such a man as Grant. The tactics at Gettysburg were weak and fatal to success. Gen. Lee’s attack was made in detail and not in on coordinate, overwhelming rush, as it should have been. The first collision was an unforeseen accident. We did not invade Pennsylvania to merely fight a battle. We could have gotten a battle anywhere in Virginia, and a very much better one than that offered us at Gettysburg. We invaded 20

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Pennsylvania not only as a diversion to demoralize and dishearten the North, but, if possible, to draw the Federal into battle on our own terms.

We were so to maneuver as to outgeneral, the Union commander, as we had done in the second Manassas campaign; in other words, to make opportunities for ourselves, and take prompt advantage of the most favorable one that presented itself. I had confidence that this was the purpose of Gen. Lee, and that he could accomplish it. We were not hunting for any fight that was offered.

When in the immediate presence of the enemy Gen. Lee reversed this offensive-defensive policy - the true and natural one for us – by precipitating his army against a stronghold from which I doubt if the Federals could have been driven by less than 100,000 fresh infantry. That is all there is of Gettysburg; we did the best we could; we failed simply because we had undertaken too great a contract and went about it in the wrong way. Like Pope at Manassas, Lee at Gettysburg outgeneraled himself.”

“Do you think, General, that Gen. Meade lost any opportunities at Gettysburg after the repulse of Pickett’s advance – that is to say, could more have been accomplished for the Federal cause than merely beating back

A GATHERING OF GENERALS

Right: Image of James Longstreet at the 1888 reunion at Gettysburg.

Longstreet stands in the center beside commanders Henry Slocum and Dan Sickles.

your charges, and then, after the Army of Northern Virginia was exhausted, permitting it to withdraw at is leisure?”

“Yes, doubtless Gen. Meade failed in enterprise at Gettysburg. Our position was made extremely perilous, projected, as we were, deep into enemy’s country, by that series of bloody repulses. After the battle our army was not only inferior in numbers, but also in morale, to the Federals. We could expect no reinforcements. Our artillery ammunition was nearly exhausted. We were in bad shape to withstand an attack. We might have repulsed a direct attack.

But I think Gen. Meade should have moved by our right flank upon Gen. Lee’s communications, toward his how reinforcements, rapidly coming up, meantime still covering Washington, which, indeed, after Gettysburg was in no danger from Gen. Lee’s army. This would have forced us to again deliver a second battle on Meade’s own terms, and the result at Gettysburg is some indication of what might have happened.”

In answer to a question as to what Gen. Lee’s chief attributes as a commander were, Gen. Longstreet, weighing well each word, replied as follows: “Gen. Lee was a large-minded man, of great and profound learning in the science of war. In all strategically movements he handled a great army with comprehensive ability and signal success. His campaigns against McClellan and Pope fully illustrate his capacity. On the defensive Gen. Lee was absolutely perfect. Reconciled to the single purpose of defense, he was invincible. This is demonstrated by his Fredericksburg battle, and again in the Wilderness around Spotsylvania, at Cold Harbor and before Petersburg.

But of the art of war, more particularly that of giving offensive battle, I do not think Gen. Lee was a master. In science and military learning,

he was greatly the superior of Gen. Grant, or any other commander on either side. But in the art of war, I have no doubt that Grant and several other officers were his equals. In this field his characteristic fault was headlong combativeness; when a blow was struck, he wished to return it on the spot. He chafed at inaction; always desired to beat up the enemy at once and have it out. He was too pugnacious. His impatience to strike, once in the presence of the enemy, whatever the disparity of forces or relative conditions, I consider the one weakness of Gen. Lee’s military character.

“This trait of aggressiveness,” continued Gen. Longstreet, after a pause, “led him to take too many chances – into dangerous situations. At Chancellorsville, against every military principle, he divided his army in the presence of any enemy numerically double his own. His operations around Harper’s Ferry and Antietam were even worse. It was among the possibilities for a bold, penetrating, fighting commander like Grant to close the war in the East after Antietam. Our previous losses had been very heavy; the morale of the army was low, and it was reduced by that battle and straggling to less than 30,000 effectives, whereas McClellan had fully 80,000, quickly reinforced to over 100,000. About this time Gen. Lee officially informed the Richmond authorities of his great fear that the army was in danger of actual dissolution from straggling and desertion.”

“It was at Gettysburg,” resumed Gen. Longstreet,

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A FATAL COMPARISON

Comparing Lee’s battlefield command with Grant’s was heresy in the Lost Cause circles of the South, and James Longstreet’s temerity was not taken lightly.

South concerning Gettysburg and said with some feeling that a deliberate attempt had been made by ignorant demagogues to mislead the people as to his relations with Lee at the battle and afterward.

He states positively that Lee personally had never criticized or found fault with his operations in the field.

I therefore asked: “I have heard it intimated, General, by some prejudiced people, that Lee, on account of coldness growing out of Gettysburg, to be rid of you, brought about your transfer to the West.”

Gen. Longstreet only smiled at this suggestion, and answered promptly: “On the contrary, he was at first strongly opposed to my going, and suggest-

“where Gen. Lee’s pugnacity got the better of his strategy and judgement and came near being fatal to his army and cause. On the third day, when I said to him that no 15,000 soldiers the world had ever produced could make the march of a mile under that tremendous artillery and musketry fire and break the Federal line along Cemetery Ridge, he determinedly replied that the enemy was there and that he must be attacked. His blood was up. All the vast interests at stake and the improbability of success would not deter him. In the immediate presence of the calm and clear, became excited. The same may be said of McClellan, Gustavus Smith and most other highly educated, theoretical soldiers. Now, while I was popularly called a fighting general, it was entirely different with me. When the enemy was in sight, I was content to wait for the most favorable moment to strike – to estimate the chances, and even decline battle if I thought them against me. There was no element in the situation that compelled Gen. Lee to fight the odds at Gettysburg.”

The General then proceeded to discuss some of the controversies at the 22

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“It was at GettysBurg where Gen. Lee’s pugnacity got the better of his strategy and judgement...”

ed another advance into Maryland that fall instead. I first proposed going West in the spring of 1863, after Chancellorsville. I firmly believed up to Gettysburg and Vicksburg that we could win by concentrating an overwhelming force suddenly against Rosecrans. After whipping him and establishing ourselves on the Ohio, I held that the Mis-

LEE’S OLD WAR HORSE

This war-time likeness of General Longstreet was drawn by the Civil War artist Alfred Waud.

the whipping boy of the south

F

ollowing the conclusion of the Civil War, James Longstreet, who was one of Robert E. Lee's most dependable allies on the battlefield, became one of the most hated ex-Confederates in the South. Despite his outstanding military record, several influential Southerners held animosity towards him because of his political views after the war. Longstreet joined the Republican Party and supported General Grant's presidential campaign in 1868. Later, he accepted a customs position in New Orleans, which further fueled their resentment towards him. More unfairly, he was blamed for the defeat at the Battle of Gettysburg, a defeat in the eyes of many that was the sole contributing factor to the Confederacy’s defeat.

By the time of the 1893 Washington Post interview, James Longstreet had become unjustly targeted by ex-Confederate officers, such as Jubal Early, who made baseless and misleading comments on Longstreet’s war record after the death of Robert E. Lee in 1870. By shifting all of Lee's faults onto the shoulders of Longstreet, Lee was elevated to the status of a saint. This allowed Lee's legacy to remain untarnished, despite any mistakes he may have made.

Jubal Early, with support from friends in the Richmond press, and Reverend William Pendleton, Lee's former artillery chief, launched a character assassination campaign against Longstreet that lasted for decades. Longstreet was not prepared for the unfair tactics used against him. The attack

began in January 1872 at the second annual commemoration of Lee’s birthday.

The spurious claim, widely regarded as an outright lie, was made that Lee desired a dawn attack on July 2 at Gettysburg, but the effort was spurned by a recalcitrant Longstreet who deliberately delayed the attack.

Had Longstreet attacked as planned, or so the narrative went, Lee would have gained the day and the South's independence.

Longstreet initially dismissed Early's slander, assuming his mediocre war record would discredit him, but Early’s target was already tarnished, and an attack on Longstreet, who was not identified with Virginia or with any particular state, was an easy target.

The third commemoration of Lee’s birthday in 1873 led to more accusations.

This time, William Pendleton reinforced the notion of a dawn attack and mentioned that a reconnaissance was made in the morning in anticipation of it. Copies of these speeches were distributed throughout the South, reinforcing the belief that Longstreet was responsible for Lee's defeat at Gettysburg.

Several of Lee’s own staff officers rushed to his aid but to no avail.

The volleys back and forth between camps continued for decades. The final word on the part of James Longstreet was his much anticipated opus, From Manassas to Appomattox, which was published in 1895. In 1893, when the Washington Post interview was taken on the Antietam battlefield, the manuscript was complete and had been delivered to the New York publisher. When the old warrior was reminded that the criticism of the other generals, especially any fire at the influential Jubal Early, may prove to be harsh, the general just shrugged and replied, “it will be in my book.”

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FIGHTING THE ODDS

An early 20th century print showing General Pickett, on horseback, receiving orders from a resigned General Longstreet, at the battle of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, July 3, 1863.

“Every bit,” the General answered quickly and unhesitatingly. “They continued to be of the closest and most affectionate character. I was unaware of the slightest diminution of confidence in my military judgement. The friendly relations continued until long after the end of the war. My disagreement with him about some details of the Gettysburg Campaign had no more effect to estrange us than my dissent from the Sharpsburg tactics of the previous year. Instead of being discredited with Lee, he suggested to President Davis that I command the consolidated forces against Rosecrans in place of Bragg. But Bragg, probably suspected something of the kind, precipitated the battle of Chickamauga before my corps was all up.

Some of Gen Lee’s original correspondence with me proves these facts beyond all controversy.”

“Were the Western Confederate generals jealous of your coming, General?” I asked.

sissippi Valley would instantly have cleared itself up to the Ohio’s mouth, as Grant would have withdrawn to defend Ohio and Indiana. This would have saved to the Confederacy some 60,000 men lost at Vicksburg, Port Hudson and Gettysburg.

The proposal was coldly received by the Richmond authorities. They preferred to meet the enemy in the West with detachments, always with the weaker force at the point of contact. After Vicksburg and Gettysburg, when the darker clouds began to gather, I suggested it again to Gen. Lee, and wrote urging it upon Secretary Seddon. Gen. Lee eventually went down to Richmond up this business, and the Western concentration was finally agreed upon. Something had to be done. In fact, it was then too late; we were too weak everywhere to affect the concentration of the force I considered necessary to accomplish Rosecrans’s destruction.”

“What were your relations with Gen. Lee subsequent to Gettysburg, General? Were they as cordial and confidential as before?” I asked.

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“I do not think the subordinates were,” he answered, “for they to a man lacked confidence in Bragg’s skill and capacity. They filed a written request for his removal. There were evidences, however, that Gen. Bragg himself did not like my coming.”

“Do you think, General, the troops you took from Virginia behaved any better at Chickamauga than the Western Confederate troops? And were the Western Federal troops you me at Chickamauga any braver than the Federals you had habitually met in Virginia?”

Gen. Longstreet thoughtfully answered: “My troops were better disciplined than most of Bragg’s, but I can no say they were better fighters. I am positive that the Western Federals were no better fighters than their Eastern brethren, and

they were not nearly so well disciplined.”

“General, what about Stonewall Jackson?

Was he as great a man as the people of the South thought?”

“Jackson was undoubtedly a man of military ability. He was one of the most effective Generals on our side. Possibly he had not the requirements necessary in a commander-in-chief, but no man it either army could accomplish more than the 30,000 or 40,000 men in an independent command. But in joint movements he was not so reliable. He was very self-reliant and needed to be alone to bring out his greatest qualities. He was very lucky in success of his critical movements both in the second Manassas campaign and at Chancellorsville.

Subsequently in conversation Gen. Longstreet said: “I suggested to Gen. Lee that Stonewall Jackson be sent to the Trans-Mississippi instead of Kirby Smith, as the best fitted among the Confederate generals to make headway against the Federals in that region. The suggestion met with Gen. Lee’s approbation, but Lee wanted Jackson himself.”

This was new, and with considerable surprise I asked: “Why did you assume that Jackson was better equipped for command in the Western country, General, than any of your other officers?”

“He was the very man to organize a great war over there. He would have marched all over Missouri, invaded Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa. In fact, the very vastness of the theater was well calculated to sharpen his faculties and give scope to Jackson’s peculiar military talents. His rapid style of campaigning, suddenly appearing at remote and unexpected points, would have demoralized the Federals.”

“Did Gens. Early, Ewell, or A.P. Hill size up anywhere near Jackson as leaders in independent command?”

“Not by any means,” replied Gen. Longstreet.

“Hill was a gallant, good soldier. There was a good deal of “curled darling” and dress parade about Hill; he was uncertain at times, falling below expectations while at others he performed prodigies.

LUCKY IN SUCCESS

James Longstreet praised Stonewall Jackson for his military ability, but doubted his reliability in joint movements. [National Portrait Gallery] A division was about Hill’s capacity.

Ewell was greatly Hill’s superior in every respect; a safe, reliable corps commander, always zealously seeking to do his duty. In execution he was the equal of Jackson, perhaps, but in independent command he was far inferior; neither was he as confident and self-reliant. Ewell lost much of his efficiency with his leg at second Manassas, and was always more or less handicapped by Early, who, as a division General, was a marplot and a disturber in Ewell’s corps.

Early’s mental horizon was a limited one, and he was utterly lost beyond the regiment out of sight of his corps general. How Gen. Lee could have been misled into sending him down the valley with an army in 1864 I never clearly understood. I was away from the army that summer Hardtack Illustrated Winter 2023

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SIZING UP THE BRASS

A.P. Hill (left), Jubal Early (center), and Richard Ewell (right) were corps leaders of the Army of Northern Virginia. James Longstreet had reservations about all of them. He was particularly critical of Jubal Early, who had previously blamed Longstreet for the defeat at Gettysburg. wounded. Early had no capacity for directing. He never could fight a battle; he could not have whipped Sheridan with Lee’s entire army.

And now it occurs to me,” resumed Gen. Longstreet suddenly, “that general Sheridan was pretty lucky in his two principal opponents – Early in the valley and Pickett at Five Forks. He won his spurs without effort.

Pickett was a brave division commander but was lacking in resources for a separate responsible command. Before Five Forks he expressed doubts of his own capacity to hold the extreme right and urged me to come over and take charge. I was north of the James and could not join him. I doubt if general Lee at first perceived grants object and force in the direction of Five Forks. Sheridan should and could have been met at once with half

“President Davis was not great. At one time and another he had exasperated and alienated most of the Generals in the service.” our army and overwhelmed. Pickett, with his small, isolated command, was an easy prey. Our chief fault at Five Forks was in lack of numbers.

But the game was already lost. Every man lost after January 1st, 1865, was uselessly sacrificed. The surrender should have taken place certainly four months earlier than it did.”

“I have a great curiosity, General to hear your military judgment 26

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of Gens. Joe Johnston, Beauregard and Hood.”

“I had a high regard for them all. General Johnston was one of the ablest generals the war produced. He could handle a large army with ease.

But his usefulness to the South was greatly impaired by the personal opposition of the president.

He dared take no risks on account of this “fire in the rear,” fearing that he would not be sustained, perhaps discredited before the world. A menace like that will paralyze the best efforts of any commander in the field. General Johnston never had a fair trial.

The same may be said of Beauregard, a brave mettlesome soldier in action, and a strategist of the first order. He was like Johnston, equal to any command. He labored under the same disadvantages with Johnston – he had aroused the personal displeasure and jealousy of the President, and never had his full confidence. He was very resourceful, made excellent plans, and was intensely patriotic. His military suggestions received little heed at Richmond. He undoubtedly saved the capital from Butler.

Gen. Hood was an officer of moderate talents and lacked experience for high command. He was a splendid fighting soldier without guile. What

could have been accomplished early in 1863, as I had proposed, with a grand combined army in the West, say 100,000 men, under an able leader like Gen. Johnston or Beauregard, was demonstrated by Gen. Hood’s bold invasion with an emasculated force in the fall of 1864, when our cause was practically lost. He commanded the heart of Tennessee for weeks with less than 40,000 men.”

“Do you think, Gen. Longstreet, that the Southern cause would have been successful if the Administration had been in other hands than the hands of Mr. Davis?” I inquired.

“I haven’t the shadow of a doubt that the South would have achieved it independence under Howell Cobb, of Georgia, who was a statesman pure and simple. There were others, perhaps, equally as good.

The trouble with Mr. Davis was his meddling with military affairs; his vanity made him believe that he was a greater military genius; that his proper place was at the head of any army, and not in the Executive Department. He was also jealous of the success of others, especially military leaders. It is not generally known, but it is nevertheless a fact, that he was secretly jealous of Lee; that their relations were strained, and that Lee was always on his guard in dealing with the President. The world knows where the President’s attitude toward Johnston and Beauregard was –

that of suspicion, opposition and obstruction. He did not venture to antagonize Lee – that officer’s prestige was too great; besides, there was no other arm on which to lean. He did not like Stonewall Jackson and called him cranky.

He stuck to his mediocre favorites with surprising tenacity. At the very outset he took it for granted that such men as Albert Sidney Johnston, Pemberton, Bragg, and others, without large experience were Napoleons. He could not brook criticism of his views nor of his favorites. I fell under his displeasure for saying that Bragg had failed to achieve adequate results after Chickamauga. He ought to have forced Rosecrans out of Chattanooga. This was an all-day conference between us on Mission Ridge, where the President had come after the battle.

President Davis was not great. At one time and another he had exasperated and alienated most of the Generals in the service. It was lack of statesmanship that beat us, not lack of military resources; not lack of military success. We had them in

THE MARTYR OF A CAUSE

Two guards stand in Jefferson Davis’ cell, while the prisoner sits on his bed. Inexplicably, Longstreet attributed the Confederacy’s defeat to a “lack of statesmanship” rather than the battlefield.

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equal ratio with the North, remaining carefully on the defensive. I do not admit that we were outclassed by the North. With Howell Cobb or some other good man at the head, our chances would certainly have been largely increased.

The President was very unpopular throughout the South in the last days. It was clearly perceived that his administration of affairs was the chief cause of our disasters. But afterwards, the South proudly made him the martyr of the cause; before the victor they would not discredit even the man who had caused their defeat.

All hearts went back to him when they saw him a prisoner and in bonds. Nevertheless, the Southern people know now as they knew then full well the truth of what I say about the President.”

The James Longstreet interview at Antietam was conducted by the Washington Post in 1893 and appeared in many national newspapers in June of that same year. The article included here was transcribed from the St. Louis Daily Globe-Democrat, June 15, 1893. credits: all images are from the Library of Congress unless otherwise indicated. The colorized image of James Longstreet is courtesy of flickr/minus.com (Zuzahgaming.minus.com)

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Hardtack Books

all things civil war.

During the summer and fall of 1864, Lieutenant Edmund Townsend, the regimental quartermaster of the 3rd Delaware, penned a series of letters to his brothers, Samuel and John Townsend, during the siege of Petersburg. His letters serve as a fascinating insight into the mind of an independent and somewhat cynical minded staff officer who had his share of scrapes with the army command. Lt. Townsend, considered middle-aged at the age of forty-five, rails in his letters about army politics and martinet generals. When not pining for his discharge, Townsend describes his experiences as a witness to the trenchlike fighting along the Petersburg line, the City Point explosion and the 1864 presidential election. The following selections of letters date from Cold Harbor on June 8, 1864 until Townsend's discharge in January 1865.

Go to our website www.hardtackbooks.com for this additional content Hardtack Illustrated Winter 2023

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THE HOSPIT

TRANSPOR

GEORGE ALFRED WITNESSES THE FIN TRANSPORT

AN EXCERPT FROM T

CIVIL WAR MEMO

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TAL

RT

D TOWNSEND, A WAR CORRESPONDENT FROM THE NEW YORK HERALD, NAL DAYS OF THE PENINSULA CAMPAIGN, HAZARDS A TRIP ON A HOSPITAL T, AND ARRIVES AT FORTRESS MONROE WITH A TALE OF THE AGES.

THE SOON TO BE RELEASED BOOK CAMPAIGNS OF A NON-COMBATANT: THE OIR OF GEORGE ALFRED TOWNSEND PUBLISHED BY HARDTACK BOOKS.

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An earnest desire

depositing the wounded.

I have made these chapters sufficiently hideous, without venturing to transcribe these new horrors. Suffice it to say that now took possession of me, to be the first of the correspondents the men whom I now beheld had been freshly brought from to reach New York. The scenes just transpired had been unparthe fight of New Market and were suffering the first agonies of alleled in the war, and if, through me, the —— should be the first to make them public, it would greatly redound to my cred- their wounds. One hour before, they had felt all the lustiness it. Perhaps no profession imparts an enthusiasm in any mea- of life and adventure. Now, they were whining like babes, and sure kindred to that of the American News gatherer. I was care- some had expired in the ambulances. The act of lifting them less of the lost lives and imperiled interests, the suffering, the to the ground so irritated their wounds that they howled disdefeat: no emotions either of the patriot or the man influenced mally, and yet were so exhausted that after lying on the ground me. I only thought of the eclat of giving the story to the world awhile, they quietly passed into sleep. Such are the hardening and nurtured an insane desire to make it to Fortress Monroe, results of war, that some soldiers, who were unhurt, actually by some other than the common expedient. That this was a refused to give a trifle of river water from their canteens to their paltry ambition I know; but I write what happened, and to the expiring comrades. At one time a brutal wrangle occurred at completion of my sketch of a correspondent, this is necessary the well, and the guard was compelled to seek reinforcement, to be said. I found Glumley at the old mansion referred to, and or the thirsty people would have massacred them.

I was now mostealthily suggested mentarily adding to him the seizing to my notes of the of an open boat, battles, and the whereby we might wounded men very row down to the readily gave me Fortress. He rejecttheir names; for ed it as impracticathey were anxious ble but was willing that the account to hazard a horseof their misforback ride down the tunes should reach Peninsula. I knew their families, and that this would I think also, that not do, and after a some martial vanshort time I conity lingered, even tinued my journey among those who down the riverside, were shortly to hopeful of finding crumble away. A some transport or longboat came in Dispatch boat. I from the Galena, was now in Charles after a time, and This unflattering and exaggerated cartoon depicts General City County, and General McClellan, George B. McClellan as a spectator to the final days of the Seven the river below me who had ridden Days Battle: “Fight on my brave soldiers and push the enemy was dotted with down to the pier, woodland islands. to the wall, from this spanker boom your beloved General looks was taken aboard.

I soon got upon down upon you..”

He looked to be the main road to very hot and anxHarrison’s Point or ious, and while he remained aboard the vessel, his staff disBar and followed the stream of ambulances and supply teams persed themselves around the banks and talked over the isfor more than an hour. At last, we reached a diverging lane, through which we passed to a landing, close to a fine dwell- sues of the contest. As the General receded from the strand, ing, whose style of architecture I may denominate, the “Goth- every sweep of the long oars was responded to from the hoarse ic run mad.” An old cider-press was falling into rottenness on cannon of the battlefield, and when he climbed upon deck, the lawn; four soldiers were guarding the well, that the mob the steamer moved slowly up the narrow channel, and the might not exhaust its precious contents, and between some signalman in the fore top flourished his crossed flag sturdinegro-huts and the brink of the bluff, stood a cluster of broad- ly. Directly, the Galena opened fire from her immense piecarmed trees, beneath whose shade the ambulance-drivers were es of ordnance, and the roar was so great that the explosions 32

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From Harper’s Weekly, a depiction of the Galena as she appeared in 1862 in support of General McClellan's operations along the James River.

of field-guns were fairly drowned. She fired altogether in the direction of the signals, as nothing could be seen of the battlefield from her decks. I ascertained afterward that she played havoc with our own columns as well as the enemies, but she brought hope to the one, and terror to the other. The very name of [the] gunboat affrighted the Confederates, and they were assured, in this case, that the retreating invaders had at length reached a haven. The Galena kept up a steady fire till nightfall, and the Federals, taking courage, drove their adversaries toward Richmond, at eve. Meanwhile the Commanding General’s escort and bodyguard had encamped around us, and during the night the teams and much of the field cannon fell back. I obtained shelter and meals from Quartermaster Le Duke of Iowa, whose canvas was pitched a mile or more below, and as I tossed through the watches I heard the splashing of water in the river beneath, where the tired soldiers were washing away the powder of the battle.

In the morning I retraced to headquarters, and vainly endeavored to learn something as to the means of going down the river. Commanders are always anxious to grant correspondents passes after a victory; but they wish to defer the unwelcome publication of a defeat. I was advised by Quartermaster-General Van Vleet, however, to proceed to Harrison’s Bar, and, as I passed thither, the last day’s encounters—those of “Malvern Hills”—occurred. The scenes along the way

were reiterations of terrors already described, — creaking ambulances, staggering foot soldiers, profane waggoners, skulking officers and privates, officious Provost guards, defiles, pools and steeps packed with teams and cannon, wayside houses beset with begging, gossiping, or malicious soldiers, and wavy fields of wheat and rye thrown open to man and beast. I was amused at one point, to see some soldiers attack a beehive that might seize the honey. But the insects fastened themselves upon some of the marauders, and after indescribable cursing and struggling, the bright nectar and comb were relinquished by the toilers, and the ravishers gorged upon sweetness.

Harrison’s Bar is simply a long wharf, extending into the river, close by the famous mansion, where William Henry Harrison, a President of the United States, was born, and where, for two centuries, the scions of a fine old Virginia family have made their homestead. The house had now become a hospital, and the wounded were being conveyed to the pier, whence they were delivered over to some Sanitary steamers, for passage to Northern cities. I tied my horse to the spokes of a wagon-wheel, and asked a soldier to watch him, while I repaired to the quay.

A half drunken officer was guarding the wharf with a squad of men, and he denied me admittance, at first, but when I had said something in adulation of his regiment—a trick common to correspondents—he passed me readily. The ocean steamer Daniel Webster was about to be cast adrift when I stepped on board, and Colonel Ingalls, Quartermaster in charge, who freely gave me permission to take passage in her, advised me not to risk returning to shore. So, reluctantly, I resigned my pony, endeared to me by a hundred adventures, and directly I was floating down the James, with the white teams and the tattered groups of men, receding from me, and each moment the guns of Malvern Hills growing fainter. Away! Praised be a merciful God! away from the accursed din, and terror, and agony, of my second campaign, — away forever from the Chickahominy.

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Built in 1853 for passenger transport along the Maine coast, the Daniel Webster served as a transport ship during the Civil War. After being recommissioned as a tourist vessel, it sank following a fire in 1884.

For a while I sat meditatively in the bow of the boat, full of strange perplexities and thankfulness. I had escaped the bullet, and fever, and captivity, and a great success in my profession was about to be accorded to me, but there was much work yet to be done. The rough material I had for a grand account of the closing of the campaign; but these fragmentary figures and notes must be wrought into narrative, and to avail myself of their full significance, I must lose no moment of application. I found that I was one of four correspondents on board, and we resolved to distract the boat, each correspondent taking one fourth of the names of the sick and wounded. The spacious saloons, the clean deck, the stairways, the gangways, the hold, the halls, — all were filled with victims. They lay in rows upon straw beds, they limped feverishly here and there; some were crazed from sunstroke, or gashes; and one man that I remember counted the rivets in the boilers over the whole hundred miles of the journey, while another, — a teamster, — whipped and cursed his horses as if he had mistaken the motion of the boat for that of his vehicle.

The Daniel Webster was one of a series of transports supplied for the uses of the wounded by a national committee of private citizens. Her woodwork was shining and glossy, her steel shone like mirrors, and she was cool as Paradise. Out of the smoke, and turmoil, and suffocation of battle these wretched men had emerged, to enjoy the blessedness, unappreciated before, of shelter, and free air and cleanliness. There was ice in abundance on board, and savory lemonade lay glassily around in great buckets. Women flitted from group to group with jellies, bonbons, cigars, and oranges, and the grateful eyes of the prostrate people might have melted one to tears. These women were enthusiasts of all ages and degrees, who proffered themselves, at the beginning of the war, as stewardesses and nurses. From 34

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the fact that some of them were of masculine natures, or, in the vocabulary of the times, “strong-minded,” they were the recipients of many coarse jests, and imputations were made upon both their modesty and their virtue. But I would that any satirist had watched with me the good offices of these Florence Nightingales of the West, as they tripped upon merciful errands, like good angels, and left paths of sunshine behind them.

The soldiers had seen none of their countrywomen for months, and they followed these ambassadors with looks half-idolatrous, half-downcast, as if consciously unworthy of so tender regard.

“If I could jest die, now,” said one of the poor fellows to me, “with one prayer for my country, and one for that dear young lady!”

There was one of these daughters of the good Samaritan whose face was so full of coolness, and her robes so airy, flowing, and graceful, that it would have been no miracle had she transmuted herself to something divine. She was very handsome, and her features bore the imprint of that high enthusiasm which may have animated the maid of Arc. One of the more forward of the correspondents said to her, as she bore soothing delicacies to the invalids, that he missed the satisfaction of being wounded, at which she presented an orange and a cigar to each of us in turn. Among the females on board, I

Colonel Rufus Ingalls allowed passage to Townsend aboard a hospital transport. Later in the war, Grant would place him in charge of operations at City Point, Virginia. remarked one, very large, angular, and sanguine, who sat at a small table, dispensing luxuries with the manners of a despot and the charity of a child. She had a large vessel of boiling coffee, from which she drew spicy quantities at intervals; and when the troops thronged around eagerly, she rebuked the more forward, and called up some emaciated, bashful fellows, giving them the preference. Every soldier who accepted coffee was obliged to take a religious tract, and she gave them away with a grim satisfaction that was infinitely amusing and interesting. I ventured to ask this imperative person for a bottle of ink, and after some difficulty, — arising out of a mistaken notion on her part that I was dangerously wounded, —she vaulted over a chair, and disappeared into a stateroom. When she returned, her arms were filled with a perfect wilderness of stationery, and having supplied each of us in turn, she addressed herself to me in the following sententious manner: — “See here! You reporter! (There’s ink!) I want to be put in the newspapers! Look at me! Now! Right straight! (Pens?) Here I am; thirteen months at work; been everywhere; done good; country; church; never noticed. Never!—Now! I want to be put in newspapers.”

lost the memorandum, and unless some more careful scribe has honored her, I fear that her labors are still unrecognized.

During much of the trip, I wrote material parts of my report, copied portions of my lists, and managed before dusk, to get fairly underway with my narrative. From the deck of the steamer, I beheld at five o’clock, what I had long wished to see, — the famous island of Jamestown, celebrated in the early annals of the New World, as the home of John Smith, and of Nathaniel Bacon, and as the resort of the Indian Princess, Pocahontas. A single fragment of a tower, the remnant of the colonial church, was the only ruin that I could see.

At seven o’clock we dropped anchor in Hampton Roads, and a boat let down from the davits. Some of my wily compeers endeavored to fill all the stern seats, that I might not be pulled to shore; but I swung down by a rope, and made havoc with their shins, so that they gained nothing; the surf beat so vehemently against the pier at Old Point, that we were compelled to beach the boat, and I ran rapidly through the ordnance yard to the “Hygeia House,” where our agent boarded; he had gone into the Fortress to pass the night, and when I attempted to follow him thither, a knot of anxious idlers, who knew that I had just returned from the battle-fields, attempted to detain me by sheer force. I dashed rapidly up the plank walk, reached the portal, and had just vaulted into the area, when the great gates swung to, and the tattoo beat; at the same instant the sergeant of guard challenged me: — “Who comes there? Stand fast! Guard prime!”

A dozen bright musket-barrels were levelled upon me, and I heard the click of the cocks as the fingers were laid upon the triggers. When I had explained, I was shown the Commandant’s room, and hastening in that direction, encountered Major Larrabee, my old patron of the 5th Wisconsin regiment. He took me to the barracks, where a German officer, commanding a battery, lodged, and the latter accommodated me with a camp bedstead. Here I related the incidents of the engagements, and before I concluded, the room was crowded with people. I think that I gave a somber narration, and the hearts of those who heard me were cast down. Still, they lingered; for the bloody story possessed a hideous fascination, and I was cross-examined so pertinaciously that my host finally arose, protesting that I needed rest, and turned the party out of the place. The old fever-dreams returned to me that night, and my brain spun round for hours before I could close my eyes. credit: Campaigns of a Non-Combatant by George A. Townsend

At this point, the Imperatress was called off by some soldiers, who presumed to draw coffee without her consent. She slapped All images are from the Library of Congress unless otherwise one of them soundly, and at once overpowered him with kind- noted nesses, and tracts; then she returned and gave me a photograph, representing herself with a basket of fruit, and a quantity of good books. I took note of her name, but unfortunately Hardtack Illustrated Winter 2023

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IN THE SPRING OF 1863, THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC WAS RECOVERING FROM ITS RECENT DEFEAT AT THE BATTLE OF FREDERICKSBURG. THEY WERE HEALTHY AND EAGER TO LEAVE THEIR MUDWALLED HUTS, AND THEY WELCOMED THE COMMANDERIN-CHIEF FOR A SPRING REVIEW. ACCOMPANIED BY AN ENTOURAGE, INCLUDING HIS FRIEND AND CORRESPONDENT NOAH BROOKS, LINCOLN WAS IN GOOD SPIRITS AND HAD A GREAT SENSE OF HUMOR. LATER, IN HIS BOOK WASHINGTON IN LINCOLN'S TIME, BROOKS RECOUNTED THE WEEK-LONG BREAK LINCOLN TOOK WITH JOE HOOKER'S ARMY.

REVI

HOO

ARMY Ab Army

IEWING

OKER'S

Y

raham Lincoln's visit to the of the Potomac, April 1863

E

arly in April, 1863, I accompanied the President, Mrs. Lincoln, and their youngest son, “Tad,” on a visit to the Army of the Potomac - Hooker then being in command, with headquarters on Falmouth Heights, opposite Fredericksburg. Attorney General Bates and an old friend of Mr. Lincoln, Dr. A. G. Henry of Washington Territory were also of the party. The trip had been postponed for several days on account of unfavorable weather, and it began to snow furiously soon after the President’s little steamer, the Carrie Martin, left the Washington Navy Yard. So thick was the weather and so difficult the navigation that we were forced to anchor for the night in a little cove in the Potomac opposite Indian Head, where we remained until the following morning. I could not help thinking that if the rebels had made a raid on the Potomac at that time, the capture of the chief magistrate of the United States would have been a very simple matter. So far as I could see, there were no guards on board the boat, and no precautions were taken against a surprise. After the rest of the party had retired for the night, the President, Dr. Henry, and I sat up until long after midnight, telling stories and discussing matters, political or military, in the most free and easy way. During the conversation after Dr. Henry had left us, Mr. Lincoln, dropping his voice almost to a confidential whisper, said, “How many of our iron clads do you suppose are at the bottom of Charleston harbor?” This was the first intimation I had had that the long-talked of naval attack on Fort Sumter was to be made that day, and the President, who had been jocular and cheerful during the evening, began despondently to discuss the probabilities of defeat. It was evident that his mind was entirely prepared for the repulse, the news of which soon after reached us. During our subsequent stay at Hooker’s headquarters, which lasted nearly a week, Mr. Lincoln eagerly inquired every day for the rebel newspapers that were brought in through the picket lines, and when these were received, he anxiously 38

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Harper’s Weekly published two illustrations of President Lincoln's review of Hooker's army in april 1863. the illustration here depicts General Buford's Division of Cavalry.

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hunted through them for information from Charles- that of the entire cavalry corps of the Army of the ton. It was not until we returned to Washington, Potomac, on April 6, being the most impressive of however, that a trustworthy and conclusive account the whole series. The cavalry was now, for the first of the failure of the attack was received. time, massed as one corps instead of being scattered around among the various army corps, as it had been heretofore; it was commanded by GenerOur landing place, when en route for Falmouth, was al Stoneman. The entire cavalry force was rated at at Aquia Creek, which we reached the next morning, 17,000 men, and Hooker proudly said that it was the untimely snow still falling. “The Creek,” as it was the biggest army of men and horses ever seen in the called, was a village of hastily constructed warehous- world, bigger even than the famous body of cavalry es, and its waterfront was lined with transports and commanded by Marshal Murat. government steamers; enormous freight trains were The cavalcade on the way from headquarters to continually running from it to the army encamped the reviewing field was a brilliant one. The Presiamong the hills of Virginia lying between the Rap- dent, wearing a high hat and riding like a veteran, pahannock and the Potomac. As there were sixty with General Hooker by his side, headed the flying thousand horses and column; next came several mules to be fed in the major generals, a host of army, the single item of brigadiers, staff officers, daily forage was a conand colonels, and lesser siderable factor in the functionaries innumeraproblem of transportable. The flank of this long tion. The President and train was decorated by the his party were provided showy uniforms and acwith an ordinary freight couterments of the “Philacar fitted up with rough delphia Lancers,” who actplank benches and proed as a guard of honor to fusely decorated with the President during that flags and bunting. A visit to the Army of the Pogreat crowd of army tomac. The uneven ground people saluted the was soft with melting snow, President with cheers and the mud flew in every when he landed from direction under the hurthe steamer and with rying feet of the cavalcade. “three times three” On the skirts of this cloud when his unpretentious of cavalry rode the Presrailway carriage rolled ident’s little son “Tad,” in away. At Falmouth stacharge of a mounted orA personal friend and confidant tion, which was about derly, his gray cloak flying of President Lincoln, few people five miles east of the old in the gusty wind like the were closer to the president than town, two ambulances plume of Henry of Nanoah brooks. His dispatches to the and an escort of cavalvarre. The President and Sacramento Daily Union and his ry received the party, the reviewing party rode 1895 book Washington in Lincoln's the honors being done past the long lines of cavTime is essential reading for

by General Daniel Butalry standing at rest, and understanding Lincoln. terfield, who was then then the march past began.

General Hooker’s chief It was a grand sight to look of staff. upon, this immense body of cavalry, with banners At Hooker’s headquarters, we were provided with waving, music crashing, and horses prancing, as the three large hospital tents, floored and furnished vast column came winding like a huge serpent over with camp bedsteads and such rude appliances for the hills past the reviewing party and then stretching nightly occupation as were in reach. During our stay far away out of sight. with the army, there were several grand reviews, The President went through the hospital tents of 40

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The headquarters tent of General Joseph Hooker as sketched by Alfred Waud. the corps that lay nearest to headquarters and insisted upon stopping and speaking to nearly every man, shaking hands with many of them, asking a question or two here and there, and leaving a kind word as he moved from cot to cot. More than once, as I followed the President through the long lines of weary sufferers, I noticed tears of gladness stealing down their pale faces; for they were made happy by looking into Lincoln’s sympathetic countenance, touching his hand, and hearing his gentle voice; and when we rode away from the camp to Hooker’s headquarters, tremendous cheers rent the air from the soldiers, who stood in groups, eager to see the good President.

The infantry reviews were held on several different days. On April 8 was the review of the Fifth Corps, under Meade; the Second, under Couch; the Third, under Sickles; and the Sixth, under Sedgwick. It was reckoned that these four corps numbered some 60,000 men, and it was a splendid sight to witness their grand martial array as they wound over hills

and rolling ground, coming from miles around, their arms shining in the distance, and their bayonets bristling like a forest on the horizon as they marched away. The President expressed himself as delighted with the appearance of the soldiery, and he was much impressed by the parade of the great reserve artillery force, some eighty guns, commanded

by Colonel De Russy. One picturesque feature of the review on that day was the appearance of the Zouave regiments, whose dress formed a sharp contrast to the regulation uniform of the other troops. General Hooker, being asked by the President if fancy uniforms were not undesirable on account of the conspicuousness which they gave as targets to the enemy’s fire, said that these uniforms had the effect of inciting a spirit of pride and neatness among the men. It was noticeable that the President merely touched his hat in return salute to the officers but uncovered to the men in the ranks. As they sat in the chilly wind, in the presence of the shot-riddled colors of the army and the gallant men who bore them, he and the group of distinguished officers around him formed a notable historic spectacle. After a few days, the weather grew warm and bright, and although the scanty driblets of news from Charleston that were filtered to us through the rebel lines did Hardtack Illustrated Winter 2023

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not throw much sunshine into the military situation, the President became more cheerful and even jocular. I remarked this one evening as we sat in Hooker’s headquarters after a long and laborious day of reviewing. Lincoln replied: “It is a great relief to get away from Washington and the politicians. But nothing touches the tired spot.”

On the 9th, the First Corps, commanded by General Reynolds, was reviewed by the President on a beautiful plain at the north of Potomac Creek, about eight miles from Hooker’s headquarters. We rode thither in an ambulance over a rough corduroy road, and as we passed over some of the more difficult portions of the jolting way, the ambulance driver, who sat well in front, occasionally let fly a volley of suppressed oaths at his wild team of six mules. Finally, Mr. Lincoln, leaning forward, touched the man on the shoulder and said: “Excuse me, my friend, are you an Episcopalian? “ The man, greatly startled, looked around and replied: “ No, Mr. President, I am a Methodist.”

“Well,” said Lincoln, “I thought you must be an Episcopalian because you swear just like Governor Seward, who is a churchwarden.” The driver swore no more.

As we plunged and dashed through the woods, Lincoln called attention to the stumps left by the men who had cut down the trees and, with great discrimination, pointed out where an experienced axman made what he called “good butt,” or where a tyro had left conclusive evidence of being a poor chopper. Lincoln was delighted with the superb and inspiring spectacle of the review that day. A noticeable feature of the doings was the martial music of the corps, and on the following day, the President, who loved military music, was warm in his praise of the performances of the bands of the Eleventh Corps, under General Howard and the Twelfth, under General Slocum. In these two corps, the greater portion of the music was furnished by drums, trumpets, and fifes, and with the most stirring and thrilling effect.

In the division commanded by General Schurz was a magnificent array of drums and trumpets, and his men impressed us as the best drilled and most soldierly of all who passed before us during our stay.

I recall with sadness the easy confidence and nonchalance which Hooker showed in all his conversations with the President and his little party while we were at his headquarters. The general seemed to 42

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regard the whole business of command as if it were a larger sort of picnic. He was then, by all odds, the handsomest soldier I ever laid my eyes upon. I think I see him now: tall, shapely, well dressed, though not natty in appearance; his fair red and white complexion glowing with health, his bright blue eyes sparkling with intelligence and animation, and his auburn hair tossed back upon his well-shaped head. His nose was aquiline, and the expression of his somewhat small mouth was one of much sweetness, though rather irresolute, it seemed to me. He was a gay cavalier, alert and confident, overflowing with animal spirits and as cheery as a boy. One of his most frequent expressions when talking with the President was, “When I get to Richmond,” or “After we have taken Richmond,” etc. The President, noting this, said to me confidentially and with a sigh: “That is the most depressing thing about Hooker. It seems to me that he is over-confident.”

One night when Hooker and I were alone in his hut, which was partly canvas and partly logs, with a spacious fireplace and chimney, he stood in his favorite attitude with his back to the fire and, looking quizzically at me, said, “The President tells me that you know all about the letter he wrote to me when he put me in command of this army.” I replied that Mr. Lincoln had read it to me, whereupon Hooker drew the letter from his pocket and said, “Wouldn’t you like to hear it again?” I told him that I should, although I had been so much impressed by its first reading that I believed I could repeat the greater part of it from memory. That letter has now become historic; then, it had not been made public. As Hooker read on, he came to this sentence: “You are ambitious, which, within reasonable bounds, does good rather than harm, but I think during Burnside’s command of the army, you took counsel of your ambition and thwarted him as much as you could, in which you did a great wrong to the country and to a most meritorious and honorable brother officer.”

Here Hooker stopped and vehemently said: “The President is mistaken. I never thwarted Burnside in any way, shape, or manner. Burnside was preeminently a man of deportment: he fought the battle of Fredericksburg on his deportment; he was defeated on his deportment, and he took his deportment with him out of the Army of the Potomac, thank God!” Resuming the reading of Lincoln’s letter, Hooker’s tone immediately softened, and he finished it almost

with tears in his eyes; and as he folded it and put it back in the breast of his coat, he said, “That is just such a letter as a father might write to his son. It is a beautiful letter, and although I think he was harder on me than I deserved, I will say that I love the man who wrote it.” Then he added, “After I have got to Richmond, I shall give that letter to you to have published.” Poor Hooker, he never got to Richmond; but the letter did eventually find its way into print, and, as an epistle from the commander-in-chief of the army and navy of one of the greatest nations of the world, addressed to the newly appointed general of the magnificent army intended and expected to capture the capital of the Confederacy and to crush the rebellion, it has since become one of the famous documents of the time.

the army was highly enNoah Brooks describing Joe tertaining. “Tad,” having Hooker three decades later: "The handsomest soldier i ever expressed a consuming laid my eyes on." Hooker's overdesire to see how the confidence would prove to be his achille's heel just weeks after “graybacks” looked, we Lincoln's visit. were allowed, under the escort of one of General Hooker’s aides and an orderly, to go down to the picket lines opposite Fredericksburg and to take a look at them. On our side of the river, the country had been pretty well swept by shot and by the axmen, and the general appearance of things was desolate in the extreme. The Phillips House, which was Burnside’s headquarters during the battle of Fredericksburg, had been burned down, and the ruins of that elegant mansion, built in the olden times, added to the sorrowful appearance of the region desolated by war. Here and there stood the bare A peep into the Confederate lines while we were with chimneys of houses destroyed, and across the river, Hardtack Illustrated Winter 2023

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President Lincoln's

confidential communication to General Joe Hooker upon his appointment as commander of the Army of the Potomac was akin to a fatherly advice, as described

by Hooker himself. The letter in its entirety is included here.

the smoke from the camps of the enemy rose from behind a ridge, and a flag of stars and bars floated over a handsome residence on the heights just above the stone wall where our men were slain by thousands during the dreadful fight of December 1862.

The town of Fredericksburg could be thoroughly examined through a field glass, and almost no building in sight from where we stood was without battle scars. The walls of the houses were rent with shot and shell, and loose sheets of tin were fluttering from the steeple of a church that had been in the line of fire. A tall chimney stood solitary by the river’s brink, and on its bare and exposed hearthstone, two rebel pickets were warming themselves, for the air was frosty.

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One of them wore, with a jaunty swagger, a United States light-blue army overcoat. Noting our appearance, these cheerful sentinels bawled to us that our forces had been “licked” in the recent attack on Fort Sumter, and a rebel officer, hearing the shouting, came down to the riverbank and closely examined our party through a field glass. On the night before our arrival, when Hooker had vainly looked for us, a rebel sentry on the south side of the Rappahannock had asked if “Abe and his wife” had come yet, showing that they knew pretty well what was going on inside the Union lines. The officer inspecting our party, apparently having failed to detect the tall form of President Lincoln, took off his hat, made a sweep-

ing bow, and retired. Friendly exchanges of tobacco, newspapers, and other trifles went on between the lines, and it was difficult to imagine, so peaceful was the scene, that only a few weeks had passed since this was the outer edge of one of the bloodiest battlefields of the war.

One of the budgets that came through the lines while we were at Hooker’s headquarters enclosed a photograph of a rebel officer addressed to General Averill, who had been a classmate of the sender. On the back of the picture was the autograph of the officer, with the addendum, “A rebellious rebel.” Mrs. Lincoln, with a strict construction of words and phrases in her mind, said that the inscription ought to be taken as indicating that the officer was a rebel against the rebel government. Mr. Lincoln smiled at this feminine way of putting the case and said that the determined gentleman who had sent his picture to Averill wanted everybody to know that he was not only a rebel but a rebel of rebels, “a double-dyed-inthe-wool sort of rebel,” he added.

One day, while we were driving around some of the encampments, we suddenly came upon a disorderly and queer-looking settlement of shanties and little tents scattered over a hillside. As the ambulance drove by the base of the hill as if by magic, the entire population of blacks and yellows swarmed out. It was a camp of colored refugees and a motley throng were the various sizes and shades of color that set up a shrill “Hurrah for Massa Linkum!” as we swept by.

Mrs. Lincoln, with a friendly glance at the children, who were almost innumerable, asked the President how many of “those piccaninnies” he supposed were named Abraham Lincoln. Mr. Lincoln said, “Let’s see; this is April 1863. I should say that of all those babies under two years of age, perhaps two-thirds have been named for me.”

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BOOK REVIEW

I Dread the Thought of the Place: The Battle of Antietam and the End of the Maryland Campaign by D. Scott Hartwig (2023) John Hopkins University Press 976 pages

This is the second volume on the 1862 Antietam Campaign, which begins in the early dawn hours of September 17 at the onset of the battle and ends with Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia “pushed to the limit of its endurance” and Army of the Potomac assuming a defensive posture on the Union side of the Potomac, D. Scott Hartwig finishes his excellent two-volume history of the Antietam Campaign.

Hartwig has provided an invaluable service to the Civil War community and American history by creating the most comprehensive and exhaustive work on the campaign, which marked a turning point - but not the turning point as the author states - of the conflict from one of limited war to a battle for the future of slavery in the United States.

For those who haven’t read the first volume of Hartwig’s histo46

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ry, entitled “To Antietam Creek,” the second volume provides a well-written prologue summarizing critical points for readers to follow the narrative. The battle narrative itself is predictable enough, with Hartwig tackling each of the separate phases of the conflict in chronological order. The book contains dozens of beautifully rendered maps showing incremental changes in troop positions, typically over fifteen to thirty-minute intervals. Hartwig describes the events of Hooker’s morning attack, followed by Hood’s counterattack and the subsequent 12th Corps sweep of the Cornfield. The book covers the late morning attacks in the West Woods, the 2nd Corps assault on the Sunken Road, Burnside’s attack on the Rohrbach Bridge (later referred to as “Burnside’s Bridge”), and A.P. Hill’s famous march and late-day counterattack in detail.

Hartwig’s account of the battle includes post-battle chapters on the aftermath of the field, the civilians of Sharpsburg, McClellan’s lack of pursuit of the damaged Confederate army, and how Lincoln turned a tactical draw into a strategic victory with the Emancipation Proclamation.

Hartwig tends to rely more heavily on eyewitness correspondence, such as those collected by the early battlefield historians Ezra Carman and John M Gould, and newspaper accounts than the traditional narratives found in the Official Records. There seems to be a deliberate effort here to let the individuals who fought the battle tell the story and not so much the commanders who directed them.

In a departure from other accounts of this campaign, Hartwig offers a thorough analysis that avoids any overtly partisan stance towards individual commanders. George McClellan, in the view of the author, “had a right to be sensitive and proud of the Federal army’s achievements, as well as his own accomplishments” (p 755). General McClellan brought order back to an army that had been defeated and left feeling disheartened. He then led them on a triumphant march, culminating in victories over General Lee’s forces at South Mountain and Antietam. These triumphs were pivotal in forcing the Confederates to retreat to Virginia. McClellan’s main shortcoming was his reluctance to access the abundance of military intelligence he had.

The general’s staff seemed more interested in reinforcing the narrative that McClellan was outnumbered in Maryland than seeking more reliable information, which would prove he was not. Both commanders on the field expectations of their men were not aligned with reality; Robert E. Lee demanded too much from his men, while McClellan expected too little.

Hartwig presents a highly detailed, meticulous account of the Battle of Antietam that has left an indelible mark on history; however, what sets this work apart from many others is its unique ability to delve deeper into the complexities of the aftermath of the battle, such as the emotional turmoil that ensued and the consequential impact on the civilians. Furthermore, the book also sheds light on the critical role that the battle played in ending slavery in the United States.

I trust all readers of American history will find space on their bookshelves for this work.

“Hartwig has provided an invaluable service to the Civil War community and American history by creating the most comprehensive and exhaustive work on the campaign, which marked a turning point - but not the turning point as the author states - of the conflict from one of limited war to a battle for the future of slavery in the United States.”

Book Review by Jeffrey R. Biggs, editor of Hardtack Books

Bodies of Confederate Artilleymen near Dunker Church.

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