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Major General John Reynolds, who I will be killing in a post 29 days from now, most likely could have avoided his death at Gettysburg had he made a different decision 150 years ago today.
Since the loss at Chancellorsville, General Hooker had managed to keep the Army of the Potomac imposed between General Lee and Washington, the minimum which was being asked of him at the moment. As had happened to General Burnside after the Fredericksburg fiasco, the Corps commanders and staff officers indulged in backbiting, just as President Lincoln had predicted would happen to Hooker in his letter to him regarding his appointment to command. The anti-Hookers were led by General John Reynolds, a West Pointer who had served under General Taylor in Mexico. Reynolds rose to brigade command and was embarrassingly captured at the Battle of Gaines Mill when he fell asleep and was left behind by his retreating troops.
He was exchanged in time to fight in the other major battles in the eastern theater, and when Hooker was given command of the army, Reynolds replaced him as head of the 1st Corps. That unit had been badly underused by Hooker during the Chancellorsville fight, moved from the Federal left too late to salvage the collapse of their right, and then left on the left when the rest of the action took place in the center and right. Reynolds was a fighter by nature and was furious with Hooker for "parking" him throughout the battle. Thus the back biting. General Darius Couch requested and received a transfer to the western theater, leaving his Corps command because he could not abide serving under Hooker any longer.
Faced with the same officers rebellion which had materialized after Fredericksburg, this time Lincoln did not wait for the commanding officer to demand that the disloyal be punished. Lincoln summoned Reynolds to Washington 150 years ago today. Neither the president nor Secretary Stanton had any confidence in Hooker, and General in Chief Halleck hated him. They agreed that a change needed to be made and the result was Lincoln offering command to Reynolds.
Reynolds then proceeded to talk himself out of the job. He would accept, he said, but with conditions. What followed was a demand for such complete independence and freedom from all interference by politicians, that it was impossible for Lincoln to grant this without surrendering his post as Commander in Chief. Informed that his conditions would not be met, Reynolds announced that he preferred to remain a Corps commander.
Twenty nine days from now the head of the army of the Potomac would be at Taneytown, Maryland, and the head of the 1st Corps would be riding into Herbst's Woods west of Gettysburg, urging his men forward.
With the authorization from President Davis and War Secretary Seddon, 150 years ago today the Army of Northern Virginia began the movement north which would ultimately result in the battle at Gettysburg. General Lee was heading an army of invasion 72,000 strong. He would enjoy a nine day head start before General Hooker would start the Army of the Potomac in pursuit.
Also on this day a very frustrated General in Chief Henry Halleck gave up on what had been his master plan for the operations on the Mississippi River. By Halleck's design, General Grant was to go after Vicksburg with his Army of the Tennessee while General Banks went after Port Hudson with his Army of the Gulf. Halleck's conception, conveyed to both men before the campaigns were started, was that whichever of those two armies invested their goal first, the other was to then abandon the other theater and unite with the besieging army to produce a rapid result.
Grant had gotten around this requirement by simply ignoring any concern for Banks and setting his army in motion so that he could present Halleck with a fait accompli. This worked. Halleck then telegraphed Banks and directed him to move north to cooperate with Grant, but the political general was not too interested in being placed in a subordinate position to the man who would be getting the glory. So, Banks replied that he had taken so much of his army north with him to invest Port Hudson, that he had left behind only 2500 men to guard New Orleans. If a threat from Mobile or western Louisiana materialized, he was still close enough at port Hudson to dispatch troops to meet it. If he moved to Vicksburg, he would not be able to do so. Therefore he was staying put.
With one of his generals ignoring him, and the other providing excuses for not obeying, Halleck, rather than getting huffy about just who was in charge of this thing, made the pragmatic decision to make the best of matters. He began making arrangements to reinforce Grant's army, drawing on units from other theaters. Grant's force would eventually rise to 72,000, enough to keep General Pemberton sealed inside Vicksburg, and enough to prevent General Johnston from being able to break the siege from the rear. Grant got the attention rather than Banks because Halleck, despite not being very fond of Grant, detested political generals, finding these amateurs offensive to his West Point breeding and love of the regular army.
That General Lee had some portion of his army on the move became apparent to General Hooker 150 years ago today. What was not at all apparent was where he was going and why.
Still filling the trenches around Fredericksburg was General A.P. Hill's Corps, left behind to keep Hooker in place and give the Army of Northern Virginia a head start. Hooker decided that a small probing attack might reveal the rebel dispositions and to that end he ordered General Sedgwick's Sixth Corps to conduct a reconnaissance in force. They began crossing the Rappahannock at Deep Ford and immediately encountered resistance. Confederates were occupying the far bank in rifle pits and their fire kept the men in blue on the eastern side.
Sedgwick ordered up his artillery to blow the defenders away but an hour's bombardment failed to dislodge them. Sedgwick finally had to send men further upstream to cross, come down behind the rifle pits and roust the rebel sharpshooters. This they did and the rest of the Sixth Corps was able to cross. They then advanced a short distance looking for the Confederate army and came upon Hill's men in strength, backed by artillery.
Sedgwick sent an attack forward which was repulsed. He now had an idea that he was dealing with a large portion of Lee's force and the battle settled into a long range artillery duel which ended when the Federals were forced to retreat and recross the river. Sedgwick had 57 casualties, the rebels lost 41, 36 of whom were the sharpshooters who were captured after being flanked.
Sedgwick returned and reported to Hooker that as far as he could determine, Lee's entire army was still there. Hooker, unsure of the situation, decided to keep the Army of the Potomac in place for the time being.
In Washington, President Lincoln was once more feeling frustrated. Upon learning that a portion of Lee's army was on the move, he telegraphed Hooker and advised him to ignore the men left in his front and go after the rebels who were in motion. He reasoned that an attack against a strung out column would have a better chance for success than another assault against the heights behind Fredericksburg.
Hooker, satisfied by Sedgwick's report, decided to ignore the president.
General John "They Couldn't Hit An Elephant At This Distance" Sedgwick
Last edited by Grandstander; 06-04-2013 at 05:52 PM..
".....in all his glory." is how General Lee described General Jeb Stuart in a letter to Mrs. Lee 150 years ago today. Lee was writing after witnessing a repeat performance of The Grand Review, staged for his benefit at Brandy Station, Virginia. Stuart had been there for the last three weeks, refitting his cavalry corps, fattening his horses and preparing for the next campaign. Its strength now was about 9000 mounted troopers and 1000 artillerymen.
On the 5th of June Stuart decided to put on a show. He had grandstands erected overlooking a broad open field and invited everyone in the region to attend a review of the corps that afternoon. It attracted a huge crowd, especially the ladies who wanted a close hand look at these dashing cavaliers and their flamboyantly
romantic leader. The only disappointment was that Lee was unable to attend.
The crowd was treated to a display of horsemen riding in close order drill, feats of trick riding by favorites, and a big climax when Stuart led a brigade in a full gallop charge across the field at a line of cannon loaded with blanks. The guns were fired as fast as they could be loaded as Stuart and his men swept down upon them with flashing sabers.
The ladies were fanned back to consciousness by their maids and the crowd went home thrilled as could be.
Two days later Lee arrived on the scene as his army was marching north toward Maryland and Pennsylvania. Lee congratulated Stuart on his review and mentioned having heard it was quite a spectacle. At this Stuart insisted that Lee remain and watch as the entire thing was re staged. Lee did not really want to, but he had paternal feelings for Stuart, holding him in the sort of esteem with which he held his own sons. Lee decided to indulge Stuart with one exception...no more wasting of gunpowder. No cannons.
And so it went. Lee showered more congratulations on Stuart and then left to rejoin his army on the march. Stuart was sky high. His reputation stood at its peak, he had the love and confidence of the man he most admired in the world, and the southern public simply adored him.
And this day was indeed the peak of Stuart's career. The glow would last for exactly one day and tomorrow the new reality would have its beginning.
Sorry, but a google search for Stuart's Grand Review yields but this one little sparrow fart of a picture.....doesn't really convey the idea of "Grand" does it?
Last edited by Grandstander; 06-05-2013 at 06:24 PM..
Before reviewing the events of 150 years ago today, I need to let you know that I goofed with yesterday's post. All that you see is factual save the date. I have the second Grand Review taking place on the 6th and I was a man ahead of his time because it did not take place until the 8th. I left you readers with a hint that the next day will be bringing the start of a change in General Stuart's fortunes, and indeed it will, but that next day will be the 9th of June.
Anyway, sorry, my face is a mask of shame.
On to today....
General Grant's army, in the process of being reinforced to 72,000, had already swollen to about 60,000 on this date 150 years ago. The bulk of the additional troops had been snatched away from General Burnside's command in eastern Kentucky. Burnside wasn't doing anything with them save arresting former Congressmen and closing down newspapers he viewed as treasonous, so his men could be spared. Also adding bulk to Grant's army was the arrival of the first black troops which he would command. Grant's force dug siege and approach trenches, constructed artillery platforms and began lobbing shells into the rebel positions and the town as each gun came into position. Needing to conserve powder to repel assaults, General Pemberton's guns did not answer.
In the trenches surrounding the town, Pemberton's 32,000 had shown that they could resist direct assaults, but everyone was already on reduced rations, those town residents who had not fled the fighting had taken to living in caves dug by their slaves, some fairly elaborate with a great deal of the household furnishings transferred, and some which were just caves, bombproof shelters. They also needed to eat and nothing was coming in.
In contrast Grant's army enjoyed a huge bounty of food and supplies brought down river to the forward supply base at Milliken's Bend, 15 miles north of Vicksburg. Assigned to guard it were the 10th Cavalry Brigade and the new African Brigade which was composed of....well, guess. Overall command rested with Colonel Hermann Lieb, a Swiss immigrant to the US and pre war lawyer.
It had become evident to President Davis that no relief for Vicksburg would be coming from General Johnston, the supposed theater commander whose authority was constantly being undermined by Davis. Desperate to save the citadel, he prevailed upon General Kirby Smith in western Louisiana to strike some sort of blow against Grant. Smith argued long and hard with the rebel president, insisting that he barely had enough of a force to maintain control of western Louisiana and those parts of Arkansas not already in Union hands. Davis insisted even more and Smith reluctantly detached a division under General John George Walker to head north and see what could be done.
What could be done was a raid against the depot at Miliken's Bend and 150 years ago today Walker's men surged forward in two wings of an attack which began at 3 in the morning. Taken by surprise, Lieb's men suffered many casualties as they fell back and tried to organize a defense. Walker's men pressed hard, slowly forcing the Federals back into the river where they would be trapped.
Except....on that river were the Union gunboats Choctaw and Lexington and when the rebels came within range, they were met with a shower of the monstrous shells which always rapidly demoralized those at whom they were directed. The attack ground to a halt and the Federals gained enough time to construct a defensive line. Throughout the morning the Confederate probed left and right, searching for a weak spot, but finding none. At noon, his men exhausted from a long march and early morning attack, Walker decided that he had to retreat. They had inflicted 652 casualties on Lieb's command while losing just 185, but they had inflicted no damage at all to the supply depot and thus the raid was a failure.
Grant's report of the action cited the brave conduct of the African Brigade "..despite its inexperience" and despite being surprised at 3 am he might have added.
The African Brigade in action at Miliken's Bend...artist depiction
Last edited by Grandstander; 06-06-2013 at 07:15 PM..
150 years ago today while General Jeb Stuart was re staging his Grand Review for General Lee, he was unaware of a threat closing in on him.
The Federal cavalry had been Stuart's continuous and easy foil since the start of the war. Apart from the one incident where Stuart was surprised at his headquarters during the Second Mananas campaign and had to flee, losing his plumed hat to the enemy, it had been Stuart who had done all of the surprising.
General Hooker had recognized the ongoing inferiority of the Federal horse and had acted to correct the problems, forming one large cavalry Corps under General Pleasonton, but then wasting that improvement by sending Pleasonton away from the Cancellorsville battlefield on an ill conceived raid against Richmond which neither reached Richmond not had the desired effect of luring Stuart away with him.
Pleasonton would not distinguish himself with any particular brilliance as a strategist, but what he did do right was identifying the correct men to lead his divisions. He cleaned house of the old, cautious officers and replaced them with younger, aggressive men. Brigadiers John Buford, and David Gregg were given command of the two wings into which Pleasonton had divided his force. Both were notable for their eagerness in closing and mixing with the enemy.
Pleasonton's first real opportunity to demonstrate the improvements rose from Hooker's need to know what General Lee was up to with the troop movements being observed from across the Rappahannock. Stuart's men had been screening those maneuvers from Federal view and Hooker wanted to give them something else to do. Pleasonton's mission was two fold....discover the location and direction of the rebel troops in motion, and if Stuart was encountered, pitch into him and do whatever he could to weaken Stuart's effectiveness.
Learning that Stuart was headquartered near Brandy Station in Culpepper County, Pleasonton moved out with 9000 horsemen and 2000 infantry 150 years ago today. One wing crossed the Rappahannock at Kelly's Ford, the other six miles north at Beverly's Ford. By early morning the next day they were across and poised to pounce on Stuart from two directions, Buford positioned to drive down from the NE, Gregg moving up from the south.
It was something of a fortunate break for Stuart that Lee had agreed to a second performance of the Grand Review. That meant that at the end of the day, most of his force was still near at hand. Had Lee not accepted, they would have been scattered to their various postings and missions by now.
The movements of the Federal horse went undetected that night and now for the first time in the war, it would be the rebel cavalry having to cope with the shock of surprise.
Map Shows Double Envelopment Movement By Union Cavalry Night of the 8th.
Just before sunrise 150 years ago today, General John Buford's cavalry drove in the Confederate pickets guarding Beverly's Ford and began advancing on two roads toward Brandy Station. The surprise was complete and the nearest rebels rallied in assorted states of undress and half saddled. Camped in that area were the brigades from General W.H. F. Lee's division. General Stuart's horse artillery was also parked here and it was in immediate danger of being captured.
The rebels swung some of the guns into action and used them to hold off Buford while the remaining artillery was moved to a safer location. Other Confederate units arrived and a stalemate was created which checked a further advance by Buford. Then suddenly Buford saw the rebels pulling back from the fight despite not being in a disadvantageous position at the time.
They were reacting to the morning's second surprise. To the south General Gregg's 2500 troopers had crossed Kelly's Ford without opposition and from there they headed west, then turned north to strike at Stuart's right flank. The rush Buford had observed was the rebels having to divide to meet the second threat. What saved the Confederates was the timely arrival of General Wade Hampton and his division which were able to check Gregg before the right flank could be turned.
The remainder of the day was spent in a series of charges and counter charges on both fronts with neither side gaining any useful advantage. This went on for ten hours at the end of which, General Pleasonton decided that all that could be accomplished had been accomplished. he ordered a withdrawal back across the fords. It had been, and would remain, the largest scale cavalry battle of the war.
In terms of maintaining the ground and suffering fewer casualties, it was a Confederate victory. (900 casualties for the North, 570 for the South) In terms of morale it was a huge victory for the Federals. They had caught Stuart by surprise and they had fought him to a draw. This was such a contrast to the rough handling that Union cavalry had been receiving before this point, that the men in blue viewed it as a victory. The worst part for Stuart is that the Confederate newspapers, which had done so much to make him a hero, were now criticizing him for the first time, chastising him for allowing himself to be surprised and suggesting that rather than indulging in ego gratifying Grand Reviews, he should have been alert to the enemy. The emphasis in the articles was on how Stuart was the very man that the rebel army relied upon to prevent surprises. For Stuart, it was a matter of going from sky high to deep personal embarrassment.
Some historians have taken this episode and speculated that Stuart's behavior in the upcoming Gettysburg campaign was a product of this humiliation. The linkage suggested is that Stuart was motivated to do something spectacular to rehabilitate his reputation, and that is why he was off trying to ride around the Federal army rather than maintaining close contact with Lee throughout the march north.
Federal Horse Charging At Brandy Station....artist depiction
General Lee had ordered General Ewell's Corps to Brandy Station to assist in the battle there, but by the time they arrived, the Federal horsemen had already retreated back across the Rappahannock.
So instead Ewell was ordered to begin the march north, his force assigned the objective of entering and clearing the Shenandoah Valley of all Union forces there, creating a path which the rest of the army could follow unmolested by the foe. 150 years ago this morning Ewell set out on this mission.
What was there in the Valley in the way of opposition was the Federal Seventh Corps, an unattached unit commanded by Major General John E. Wool. Wool was the oldest serving command level officer in the United States, 79 in 1863. Just before the start of the Gettysburg campaign, Wool was replaced by General Robert C. Schenck, 54 years old and a veteran of a great deal of the action so far in the East. His right arm was unusable, a consequence of wounds received during the Second Manasas battle.
After their creation, the Seventh Corps had been sent to the Valley in July of 1862, a month after Stonewall Jackson had made fools of the Federal forces there and then departed to rejoin Lee's main force. The troops had spent the year guarding the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad which connected Baltimore to Harper's Ferry. They saw no action and remained untested in combat.
Now these 7000 untried men would be suddenly called upon to cope with the 12,500 veterans of Ewell's Corps.
With the failure of the two assaults on the defenses of Vicksburg, General Grant's men had subsequently settled into the routine of a siege. It was a war of shovels and snipers, with the roar of the Federal artillery a constant background. Day by day the approach trenches got closer and by early June they were less than 100 yards apart at some locations.
Both armies went to ground, for to expose yourself at any point along the lines was to draw immediate fire from the hundreds of sharpshooters on both sides who passed their days laying in some concealed position, waiting for anyone foolish enough to raise his head. Both sides amused themselves making dummy hay soldiers with coats and hats, and raising them above the trenches just to see how many bullets they could get the other side to waste.
Grant had two field guns for every defensive piece facing him, and unlike General Pemberton, Grant had an inexhaustible supply of powder and shell. The rebels had only what was left and could not expect more, so it had to be conserved for repulsing another assault. The few times the Confederates did try and use their artillery to disrupt the digging of the approach trenches, their batteries were destroyed by blistering counter fire from the Federal guns. It was now rare when a rebel gun was fired, and rare when the Union guns were not firing.
The only hope for those trapped in the river citadel was General Joseph Johnston. In theory he was close by to the east, raising an army to come to the rescue. Communications were difficult in the sealed off city, and Pemberton had last heard from Johnston on May 29th. He would not hear from him until the 13th of June and then it would be unwelcome news.
While there really was no lull in the fighting, the situation was static for the moment and it was during this time that Grant, according to journalist Sylvanus Cadwallader of the Chicago Sun Times,went on a two day drinking bender. Cadwallder did not publish the story and it did not come to light until found in his papers in 1955. The account describes Grant getting aboard the steamer Diligence, already obviously drunk, and then continuing to drink heavily in the boat's barroom. Cadwallader claims to have personally persuaded Grant to stop and helped him to bed.
The next day Grant awoke sober and in normal spirits, but then began drinking once more. When the steamer tied up at a wharf, Grant is supposed to have mounted his horse, ridden it wildly down the gangplank, and led his staff who were trying desperately to catch up, on a mad ride through several camps of Union soldiers. Cadwallader once more portrays himself as the hero, catching up with Grant, escorting him back to the ship and putting him down for a nap.
Cadwallader's account is contradicted in most particulars by the memoirs of both Charles Dana, who was keeping an eye on Grant for the president and secretary of war, and Colonel John Rawlins, Grant's chief aid and self appointed guardian over Grant and the bottle.
Historians are divided on the credibility of the story, I have no definitive position because it is one of those "Somebody is lying in this deal" sort of dynamics and I've no way to know which one was. There is nothing about Cadwallader's character or relationship with Grant that hints of any reason to manufacture such a story. Cadwallader made his name and fortune with his post war book "Three Years With Grant" and he apparently thought highly enough of the general to omit the binge story. On the other hand Dana was there specifically to keep President Lincoln appraised of Grant's sobriety or lack of the same, and Dana's reputation was for complete candor and honesty.
General Robert C. Schenck, now the commander of what the government was calling "The Middle Department" had left the defense of the Valley in the hands of General Robert H. Milroy and his division. Milroy had some non combat experience as the captain of miltia volunteers in Indiana before the war, his actual occupation was attorney at law. His rise followed the same path as so many of the political officers, he was good at raising troops and those troops he raised would elect him their commanding officer. By that means he became a Colonel, and by being on hand for General McClellan's campaign which drove the rebels out of western Virginia, Milroy was elevated to Brigadier general. He gained further experience under General Pope during the Second Manasas campaign and this got him promoted to Major general and command of the second division of the Eighth Corps, assigned to guard the Valley.
General in Chief Halleck, remembering how easily isolated Federal garrisons had been gobbled up by Stonewall Jackson a year earlier, had issued orders to General Wool the previous January that in the event of another rebel invasion of the Valley, he was to make no attempt to hold the forward defensive positions at Winchester and Leesburg. Schenck having recently replaced Wool, apparently decided that orders to the previous commander did not apply to him. When General Ewell's Corps was detected moving into the Valley, Schenck decided to ignore Halleck and ordered Milroy to hold those positions. Milroy, believing that Winchester represented a strong defensive position, was happy to comply. Relying on a pair of remote outposts to alert him to the approach of danger, Milroy extended his pickets just a short distance from his camps.
Thus 150 years ago today another Union disaster was in the making.
General Ewell's Corps, now 19,000 strong, was composed mostly from troops formerly of Jackson's Corps. Now they found themselves once more in the Valley, the scene of their brilliant campaign under Stonewall, but now being led by the man they called "Old Baldy." There was enormous pressure on Ewell, from the southern population, and especially from his men, to be the reincarnation of Jackson.
The Ewell who now led them was a very different man from the one who had fought under Stonewall a year before. He was changed physically, having lost his left leg to wounds received at Second Bull Run. And he was a changed man spiritually as well. Formerly a profane, hard drinking warrior of modest means, Ewell had met and married a wealthy widow while he was recovering from his wound. He had also experienced a religious rebirth and was now pious, circumspect in his language, and alcohol free.
150 years ago today Ewell led his force through Front Royal and then divided it into two segments, one to go after the Federal outposts, and 12,500 to envelop Milroy's fortifications at Winchester, the same place where a little more than a year ago, these same men under Jackson had routed General Banks. The plan was to arrive and deploy in the morning, and attack in the early afternoon.
A Rather Severe Looking Fellow...General Robert Milroy
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