American Civil War: Biographies Edition 1. 2 Volume Set (American Civil War Reference Library)

American Civil War Biographies Volume 1: A–K American Civil War Biographies Kevin Hillstrom and Laurie Collier Hil...

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American Civil War

Biographies

Volume 1: A–K

American Civil War

Biographies Kevin Hillstrom and Laurie Collier Hillstrom Lawrence W. Baker, Editor

American Civil War: Biographies

Kevin Hillstrom and Laurie Collier Hillstrom

Staff Lawrence W. Baker, U•X•L Senior Editor

Carol DeKane Nagel, U•X•L Managing Editor Tom Romig, U•X•L Publisher Rita Wimberley, Senior Buyer Evi Seoud, Assistant Production Manager Dorothy Maki, Manufacturing Manager Mary Beth Trimper, Production Director Michelle DiMercurio, Art Director Cynthia Baldwin, Product Design Manager Shalice Shah-Caldwell, Permissions Specialist Pamela Reed, Imaging Coordinator Leitha Etheridge-Sims, Cataloger Robert Duncan, Senior Imaging Specialist Michael Logusz, Imaging Specialist Randy A. Bassett, Image Database Supervisor Barbara J. Yarrow, Imaging and Multimedia Content Manager Marco Di Vita, Graphix Group, Typesetting Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Hillstrom, Kevin, 1963– American Civil War. Biographies / Kevin Hillstrom and Laurie Collier Hillstrom ; Lawrence W. Baker, editor. p. cm. ISBN 0-7876-3820-X — ISBN 0-7876-3821-8 (v. 1) — ISBN 0-7876-3822-6 (v. 2) 1. United States—History—Civil War, 1861–1865—Biography. 2. United States—History—Civil War, 1861–1865—Biography—Miscellanea. I. Hillstrom, Laurie Collier, 1965– II. Baker, Lawrence W. III. Title. E467.H656 1999 973.7’092’2—dc21 [B] 99-046920

This publication is a creative work copyrighted by U•X•L and fully protected by all applicable copyright laws, as well as by misappropriation, trade secret, unfair competition, and other applicable laws. The author and editors of this work have added value to the underlying factual material herein through one or more of the following: unique and original selection, coordination, expression, arrangement, and classification of the information. All rights to this publication will be vigorously defended. Cover photographs of John Wilkes Booth and Jefferson Davis are reproduced courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration; Sojourner Truth, courtesy of the Library of Congress; and Martin R. Delany, reproduced by permission of Archive Photos, Inc. Copyright © 2000 U•X•L, an imprint of The Gale Group 27500 Drake Road Farmington Hills, MI 48331-3535 All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. Printed in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Contents

Advisory Board . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viii Reader’s Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix American Civil War Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii

Volume 1 Clara Barton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Pierre G. T. Beauregard . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Ambrose Bierce . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 John Wilkes Booth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Belle Boyd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Mathew Brady . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Braxton Bragg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 John Brown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Ambrose Burnside . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Joshua L. Chamberlain . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Mary Boykin Chesnut . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 Pauline Cushman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 Jefferson Davis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 Martin R. Delany . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 v

Frederick Douglass . . . . . Emma Edmonds . . . . . . David G. Farragut . . . . . . Nathan Bedford Forrest . . . John C. Frémont . . . . . . Josiah Gorgas . . . . . . . . Ulysses S. Grant . . . . . . . Horace Greeley . . . . . . . Rose O’Neal Greenhow . . . Winfield Scott Hancock . . . Winslow Homer . . . . . . John Bell Hood . . . . . . . Julia Ward Howe . . . . . . Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson. Andrew Johnson . . . . . . Joseph E. Johnston . . . . .

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113 121 127 135 143 151 159 171 181 187 195 201 211 219 229 241

Where to Learn More . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxxiii Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxxix

Volume 2 Robert E. Lee . . . . . Abraham Lincoln . . . Mary Todd Lincoln . . James Longstreet . . . Thaddeus Lowe . . . . George B. McClellan . George G. Meade . . . John Singleton Mosby . Thomas Nast . . . . . Edward A. Pollard . . . Dred Scott . . . . . . Winfield Scott . . . . William Henry Seward. Robert Gould Shaw . . Philip H. Sheridan . . William T. Sherman . . Robert Smalls . . . . . Alexander H. Stephens Thaddeus Stevens . . . Harriet Beecher Stowe . vi


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251 265 279 285 295 305 317 325 333 339 347 355 363 371 381 391 399 407 417 427

Jeb Stuart . . . . . . . . Charles Sumner . . . . . George Henry Thomas. . Sally L. Tompkins . . . . Sojourner Truth . . . . . Harriet Tubman . . . . . Clement L. Vallandigham Elizabeth Van Lew . . . Theodore Dwight Weld . Henry Wirz . . . . . . .

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435 445 453 461 467 473 481 487 493 499

Where to Learn More . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxxiii Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxxix

Contents

vii

Advisory Board

S

pecial thanks are due to U•X•L’s Civil War Reference Library advisors for their invaluable comments and suggestions: • Deborah Hammer, Former Librarian, Queens Borough Public Library, Jamaica, New York • Ann Marie LaPrise, Librarian, Detroit Public Library, Elmwood Park Branch, Detroit, Michigan • Susan Richards, Media Specialist, Northwest Junior High School, Coralville, Iowa

viii

Reader’s Guide

A

merican Civil War: Biographies presents biographies of sixty men and women who participated in or were affected by the Civil War. These two volumes profile a diverse mix of personalities from both the North and the South, including military leaders, politicians, abolitionists, artists, spies, and escaped slaves. Detailed biographies of major Civil War figures (such as Abraham Lincoln, Jefferson Davis, Ulysses S. Grant, Frederick Douglass, Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson) are included. But American Civil War: Biographies also provides biographical information on lesser-known but nonetheless important and fascinating men and women of that era. Examples include Thaddeus Lowe, the daring commander of the Union’s manned balloon corps; Mathew Brady, the famed Civil War photographer; and Rose O’Neal Greenhow, a Confederate spy who drowned during an attempt to smuggle gold into the South in the hoops of her dress. American Civil War: Biographies also features sidebars containing interesting facts, excerpts from diaries and speeches, and short biographies of people who are in some way connected with the leading figures of the era. Within each fullix

length biography, boldfaced cross-references direct readers to other individuals profiled in the two-volume set. Finally, each volume includes photographs and illustrations, an “American Civil War Timeline” that lists significant dates and events of the Civil War era, and a cumulative subject index.

American Civil War Reference Library American Civil War: Biographies is only one component of a three-part American Civil War Reference Library. The other two titles in this multivolume set are: • American Civil War: Almanac: This work presents a comprehensive overview of the Civil War. The volume’s fourteen chapters cover all aspects of the conflict, from the prewar issues and events that divided the nation to the war itself—an epic struggle from 1861 to 1865 that changed the political and social landscape of America forever. The chapters are arranged chronologically and explore such topics as the events leading up to the war, slavery, Europe’s view of the war, the secession of Southern states, various Civil War battles, and Reconstruction. Also included are two chapters that cover two unique groups during the Civil War: women and blacks. The Almanac also contains over ninety photographs and maps, “Words to Know” and “People to Know” sections, a timeline, and an index. • American Civil War: Primary Sources: This title presents fourteen full or excerpted speeches and written works from the Civil War. The volume includes an excerpt from Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin, President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation and Gettysburg Address, and the letters between Union general William T. Sherman and Atlanta, Georgia, city leaders. Each entry includes an introduction, things to remember while reading the excerpt, information on what happened after the work was published or event took place, and other interesting facts. Photographs, source information, and an index supplement the work. • A cumulative index of all three titles in the American Civil War Reference Library is also available. x


Acknowledgments The authors extend thanks to Larry Baker and Tom Romig at U•X•L for their assistance throughout the production of this series. Thanks, too, to Christine Alexanian for her quick and thorough copyediting and Amy Marcaccio Keyzer for lending her considerable editorial talents in the form of proofreading. The editor wishes to thank Marco Di Vita at Graphix Group for always working with common sense, flexibility, speed, and, above all, quality. Admiration, love, and a warm hug go to Beth Baker for her year of bravery. And, finally, a very special hello goes to Charlie and Dane, whose decision to move up their pub date made the Summer of ’99 so very interesting.

Comments and suggestions We welcome your comments on American Civil War: Biographies and suggestions for other topics in history to consider. Please write: Editors, American Civil War: Biographies, U•X•L, 27500 Drake Rd., Farmington Hills, Michigan 483313535; call toll-free: 800-877-4253; fax to 248-414-5043; or send e-mail via http://www.galegroup.com.

Reader’s Guide

xi

American Civil War Timeline

1775

Philadelphia Quakers organize America’s first antislavery society.

1776–83 English colonies’ War for Independence against Great Britain ends with the formation of the United States. 1788

The U.S. Constitution is ratified, providing legal protection to slaveowners.

1793

Eli Whitney invents the cotton gin, which will dramatically increase Southern cotton production.

1803

President Thomas Jefferson purchases the Louisiana Territory from France.

1775 “Yankee Doodle” is written.

1775

1789 George Washington takes office as the first U.S. president.

1789

1800 The Library of Congress is established.

1800

xiii

1816

The American Colonization Society is formed with the idea of settling free blacks back in Africa.

1820

Congress passes the Missouri Compromise, which maintains the balance between slave and free states in the Union.

1828

Congress passes the so-called “Tariff of Abominations” over the objections of Southern states.

1831

Slave Nat Turner leads a violent slave rebellion in Virginia.

1832–33 The “Nullification Crisis” in South Carolina ends after tariffs on foreign goods are lowered. 1833

The Female Anti-Slavery Society and the American Anti-Slavery Society are founded.

1837

Abolitionist Elijah P. Lovejoy is murdered by a proslavery mob in Illinois.

1838

Frederick Douglass escapes from slavery and joins the abolitionist movement.

1839

New York governor William Henry Seward refuses to return three escaped slaves to Virginia.

1839

Abolitionist Theodore Dwight Weld publishes American Slavery as It Is.

1841

Horace Greeley launches the New York Tribune, which becomes a leading abolitionist newspaper.

1845

Texas is annexed by the United States over the objections of Mexico, which regards it as part of its country.

1846

Dred Scott files his famous lawsuit in an effort to win his freedom.

1825 The New York Stock Exchange opens.

1818 Congress adopts a U.S. flag.

1818

1825

xiv


1844 Samuel F. B. Morse transmits the first telegraph message.

1844

1848

The Mexican War ends with the United States acquiring five hundred thousand square miles of additional land in western North America.

1849

Harriet Tubman escapes from slavery.

1850

The Narrative of Sojourner Truth is published.

1850

Harriet Tubman makes the first of her nineteen trips to the South to lead slaves to freedom via the Underground Railroad.

1850

The Compromise of 1850, including the controversial Fugitive Slave Act, becomes law.

1852

Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin is published, increasing support for the abolitionist movement in the North.

1854

The Kansas-Nebraska Act is passed, returning decisions about allowing slavery back to individual states.

1856

South Carolina congressman Preston Brooks attacks Massachusetts senator Charles Sumner in the Senate chambers over an abolitionist speech.

1856

John Brown and his followers attack and kill five proslavery men in Kansas.

1857

The U.S. Supreme Court issues its famous Dred Scott decision, which increases Northern fears about the spread of slavery.

1858

New York senator William Henry Seward warns of an approaching “irrepressible conflict” between the South and the North.

1858

Illinois senate candidates Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas meet in their famous debates over slavery and its future place in America.

1848 The first U.S. women’s rights convention is held.

1848

1854 Republican Party is formed.

1853 Potato chips are invented.

1853


1854

xv

1859

Abolitionist John Brown leads a raid on Harpers Ferry, Virginia, in an unsuccessful effort to start a slave revolt across the South.

5/18/1860 The Republican Party nominates Abraham Lincoln as its candidate for president. 11/6/1860 Abraham Lincoln is elected president of the United States. 12/20/1860 South Carolina secedes from the Union. 1/9/1861 Mississippi secedes from the Union. 1/10/1861 Florida secedes from the Union. 1/11/1861 Alabama secedes from the Union. 1/19/1861 Georgia secedes from the Union. 1/26/1861 Louisiana secedes from the Union. 1/28/61 Pierre G. T. Beauregard is fired as superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point for supporting secession. 1/29/1861 Kansas is admitted into the Union as the thirtyfourth state. 2/1/1861 Texas secedes from the Union. 2/8/1861 The Confederate Constitution is adopted in Montgomery, Alabama. 2/9/1861 Jefferson Davis is elected provisional president of the Confederacy. 2/18/1861 Jefferson Davis is inaugurated as the president of the Confederacy. 3/4/1861 Abraham Lincoln is inaugurated as the sixteenth president of the United States. 1860 An internal combustion engine is patented.

1859 The world’s first flying trapeze circus act performs in France.

1859

1860

xvi


1860 The first world heavyweight boxing championship bout takes place in England.

1860

3/6/1861 The Confederacy calls for one hundred thousand volunteers to join its military. 4/1861 Edward Pollard publishes Letters of a Southern Spy, harshly criticizing Abraham Lincoln and all Northerners. 4/12/1861 South Carolina troops open fire on Fort Sumter, marking the beginning of the American Civil War. 4/13/1861 Major Robert Anderson surrenders Fort Sumter to the Confederates. 4/15/1861 President Abraham Lincoln calls for seventy-five thousand volunteers to join the Union army. 4/19/1861 President Abraham Lincoln orders a blockade of Southern ports. 4/20/1861 Thaddeus Lowe makes a successful balloon flight from Cincinnati, Ohio, to Unionville, South Carolina. 5/1861 Winfield Scott develops his “Anaconda Plan.” 5/6/1861 Arkansas secedes from the Union. 5/7/1861 Tennessee forms an alliance with the Confederacy that makes it a Confederate state for all practical purposes. 5/13/1861 Queen Victoria proclaims British neutrality in the conflict between America’s Northern and Southern sections. 5/14/1861 Emma Edmonds disguises herself as a man and joins the Union army. 5/20/1861 North Carolina secedes from the Union. 5/23/1861 Virginia secedes from the Union.

1861 American inventor Elisha G. Otis patents a steampowered elevator.

1861

1861 American Civil War begins.

1861


xvii

6/3/1861 Stephen A. Douglas dies in Chicago, Illinois. 6/10/1861 Napoleon III declares French neutrality in the American Civil War. 6/11/1861 Counties in western Virginia resist Virginia’s vote to secede and set up their own government, which is loyal to the Union. 7/20/1861 Confederate Congress convenes at the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia. 7/21/1861 Confederate forces win the First Battle of Bull Run, the war’s first major battle. 7/22/1861 Julia Ward Howe writes the words to “Battle Hymn of the Republic” in her hotel room. 7/25/1861 U.S. Congress passes the Crittenden Resolution, which states that the North’s war aim is to preserve the Union, not end slavery. 7/27/1861 General George B. McClellan assumes command of Federal forces in Washington. 8/30/1861 Union general John C. Frémont proclaims martial law in Missouri, which is torn by violence between pro-Union and pro-Confederate forces. 11/1861 John Bell Hood’s Texas Brigade is organized. 11/6/1861 Jefferson Davis is elected to a six-year term as president of the Confederacy. 11/8/1861 Union Captain Charles Wilkes seizes two Confederate officials traveling on the Trent, a British vessel. The incident triggers deep outrage in England. 1861 English novelist Charles Dickens’s Great Expectations is published.

1861

xviii


1861 The United States introduces the passport system.

1861

11/20/1861 The Union organizes the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War in order to review the actions and qualifications of the North’s military leadership. 11/27/1861 Confederate officials seized from the Trent are released from custody with apologies. 2/6/1862 Union general Ulysses S. Grant captures Fort Henry on the Tennessee River. 2/16/1862 Ulysses S. Grant captures Fort Donelson on the Cumberland River. 2/22/1862 Jefferson Davis is inaugurated as president of the Confederacy. 2/25/1862 Confederates abandon Nashville, Tennessee, to oncoming Union forces. 3/1862 Emma Edmonds makes her first trip behind Confederate lines as a Union spy. 3/9/1862 The Union ship Monitor battles the Confederate ship Virginia to a draw at Hampton Roads, Virginia. 4/6–7/1862 Union and Confederate forces fight in the inconclusive Battle of Shiloh in Tennessee. 4/16/1862 The Confederate Congress passes a conscription act requiring most able-bodied men between the ages of eighteen and thirty-five to sign up for military service. 4/25/1862 The Union fleet under the command of Admiral David R. Farragut captures New Orleans. 5/13/1862 Slave Robert Smalls leads a group of slaves who steal the Confederate ship Planter and turn it over to the Union Navy.

1861 Congress levies the first income tax to fund Union forces.

1861

1861 King Victor Emmanuel II creates kingdom of Italy.

1862 Frenchman Victor Hugo writes Les Misérables.

1861

1862


xix

6/1/1862 General Robert E. Lee assumes command of Confederate forces defending Richmond, Virginia. 6/6/1862 Union forces take control of Memphis, Tennessee. 6/17/1862 Confederate forces led by Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson leave the Shenandoah Valley after a successful military campaign. 6/25/1862 The Seven Days’ Battles begin between George B. McClellan’s Army of the Potomac and Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia. 7/2/1862 President Abraham Lincoln calls for three hundred thousand enlistments for three-year periods in order to further strengthen the Union army. 7/17/1862 U.S. Congress passes laws allowing blacks to serve as soldiers in Union army. 7/29/1862 Confederate commerce raider Alabama leaves England and starts attacking Northern trading vessels. 8/29–30/1862 The Second Battle of Bull Run ends in a disastrous defeat for the Union. 9/5/1862 General Robert E. Lee leads the Army of Northern Virginia into Northern territory for the first time, as his force enters Maryland. 9/15/1862 Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson’s army captures twelve thousand Union troops at Harpers Ferry, Virginia. 9/17/1862 George B. McClellan’s Army of the Potomac and Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia fight at Antietam in the bloodiest single day of the war. Neither side registers a conclusive victory, but the draw convinces Lee to return to Virginia. 1862 The Homestead Act encourages settlement of Western land.

1862 “Taps” is composed.

1862

1862

xx


1862 British crops fail and hunger is widespread.

1862

9/22/1862 President Abraham Lincoln issues his preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, which will free slaves in Confederate territory. 10/8/1862 Confederate invasion of Kentucky ends after the Battle of Perryville. 10/12/1862 Jeb Stuart’s Confederate cavalry completes ride around George B. McClellan’s Union army after raid on Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. 11/7/1862 President Abraham Lincoln removes General George B. McClellan from command of the Army of the Potomac, replacing him with General Ambrose Burnside. 12/13/1862 General Robert E. Lee’s Confederate forces hand the Union a decisive defeat at the Battle of Fredericksburg. 1/1/1863 President Abraham Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation, which frees all slaves in Confederate territory. 1/1/1863 John Singleton Mosby is named captain of the Confederate guerrilla rangers. 1/2/1863 Union victory at the Battle of Stones River stops Confederate plans to invade middle Tennessee. 1/23/1863 General Ambrose Burnside’s new offensive against Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia sputters to a halt in bad weather. Burnside’s “Mud March” convinces President Abraham Lincoln to replace him with General Joseph Hooker. 3/3/1863 U.S. Congress passes a conscription act requiring most able-bodied Northern men to sign up for military service.

1862 French composer Claude Debussy is born.

1862

1862 The speed of light is successfully measured.

1863 The world’s first subway system opens in London, England.

1862


1863

xxi

4/2/1863 Bread riots erupt in Richmond, Virginia, as hungry civilians resort to violence to feed their families. 5/1863 Union spy Pauline Cushman is captured and sentenced to death by Confederate general Braxton Bragg, but she is rescued near Shelbyville, Tennessee. 5/2/1863 General Robert E. Lee and the Confederates claim a big victory at Chancellorsville, but Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson is killed during the battle. 5/22/1863 General Ulysses S. Grant begins the siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi, after attempts to take the Confederate stronghold by force are turned back. 5/26/1863 Ohio congressman Clement L. Vallandigham is exiled to Confederate territory for criticizing President Abraham Lincoln and encouraging Union soldiers to desert. 6/9/1863 The largest cavalry battle of the Civil War ends in a draw at Brandy Station, Virginia. 6/20/1863 West Virginia is admitted into the Union as the thirty-fifth state. 7/1–3/1863 The famous Battle of Gettysburg takes place in Pennsylvania. Union general George G. Meade and the Army of the Potomac successfully turn back General Robert E. Lee’s attempted invasion of the North, doing terrible damage to Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia in the process. 7/4/1863 Vicksburg surrenders to General Ulysses S. Grant and his Union force after a six-week siege of the city. 7/9/1863 Union troops take control of Port Hudson, Louisiana. The victory gives the North control of the Mississippi River.

1863 Civil war breaks out in Afghanistan.

1863

xxii


1863 American carmaker Henry Ford is born.

1863

1863 Roller skating is introduced in the United States.

1863

7/13/1863 Antidraft mobs begin four days of rioting in New York City. 7/18/1863 Black troops of the Fifty-Fourth Massachusetts regiment make a valiant but unsuccessful attempt to seize Fort Wagner in South Carolina from the Confederates. 8/21/1863 Confederate raiders led by William C. Quantrill murder 150 antislavery settlers and burn large sections of Lawrence, Kansas. 9/2/1863 Union troops take control of Knoxville, Tennessee. 9/9/1863 Union forces take control of Chattanooga, Tennessee, after the city is abandoned by General Braxton Bragg’s army. 9/20/1863 The two-day Battle of Chickamauga ends in a major defeat for the Union. 9/23/1863 General Braxton Bragg begins the Confederate siege of Chattanooga. 10/17/1863 General Ulysses S. Grant is named supreme commander of Union forces in the west. 11/19/1863 President Abraham Lincoln delivers his famous Gettysburg Address at a ceremony dedicating a cemetery for soldiers who died at the Battle of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania. 11/25/1863 The three-day Battle of Chattanooga results in a major victory for the North, as Union troops led by General George Henry Thomas scatter General Braxton Bragg’s Confederate army. 12/8/1863 President Abraham Lincoln proposes his Ten Percent Plan, which says that seceded states can return to the Union provided that one-tenth of the

1863 The Capitol dome in Washington, D.C., is capped.

1863 President Abraham Lincoln proclaims the first national Thanksgiving Day.

1863

1863


xxiii

1860 voters agree to form a state government that is loyal to the Union. 12/27/1863 General Joseph E. Johnston takes command of the Confederate Army of Tennessee. 3/12/1864 General Ulysses S. Grant is promoted to leadership of all of the Union armies. 3/18/1864 General William T. Sherman is named to lead Union armies in the west. 4/12/1864 Confederate troops led by Nathan Bedford Forrest capture Fort Pillow, Tennessee, and are accused of murdering black Union soldiers stationed there. 4/17/1864 General Ulysses S. Grant calls a halt to prisoner exchanges between North and South, further increasing the Confederacy’s manpower problems. 5/5/1864 General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia and General Ulysses S. Grant’s Army of the Potomac battle in the Wilderness campaign. 5/9–12/1864 General Robert E. Lee stops the Union advance on Richmond at the brutal Battle of Spotsylvania. 5/11/1864 Jeb Stuart is mortally wounded in a battle with Philip H. Sheridan’s cavalry at Brandy Station, Virginia. 6/1864 U.S. Congress passes a law providing for equal pay for black and white soldiers. 6/3/1864 The Union’s Army of the Potomac suffers heavy losses in a failed assault on Robert E. Lee’s army at Cold Harbor, Virginia. 6/18/1864 General Ulysses S. Grant begins the Union siege of Petersburg, which is defended by Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia.

1864 President Abraham Lincoln initiates wartime draft.

1864

xxiv


1864 President Abraham Lincoln is nominated for a second term.

1864

6/23/1864 Confederate forces led by Jubal Early begin a campaign in the Shenandoah Valley. 7/11/1864 Confederate troops commanded by Jubal Early reach outskirts of Washington, D.C., before being forced to return to the Shenandoah Valley. 7/17/1864 General John Bell Hood takes command of the Confederate Army of Tennessee. 7/30/1864 Union general Ambrose Burnside makes a disastrous attack in the Battle of the Crater. 8/5/1864 Admiral David G. Farragut leads the Union Navy to a major victory in the Battle of Mobile Bay, which closes off one of the Confederacy’s last remaining ports. 8/29/1864 The Democratic Party nominates General George B. McClellan as its candidate for president of the United States and pushes a campaign promising an end to the war. 9/1/1864 General William T. Sherman captures Atlanta, Georgia, after a long campaign. 9/4/1864 General William T. Sherman orders all civilians to leave Atlanta, Georgia, as a way to hurt Southern morale. 9/19–22/1864 Union troops led by Philip H. Sheridan defeat Jubal Early’s Confederate army in the Shenandoah Valley. 10/1/1864 Rose O’Neal Greenhow drowns in the Atlantic Ocean while trying to smuggle gold into the Confederacy in the hoops of her dress. 10/6/1864 Philip H. Sheridan’s Union troops begin a campaign of destruction in the Shenandoah Valley in

1864 A cyclone destroys most of Calcutta, India.

1864

1864 “In God We Trust” first appears on U.S. coins.

1864


xxv

order to wipe out Confederate sympathizers and sources of supplies. 10/19/1864 Philip H. Sheridan’s army drives Jubal Early’s Confederate force out of the Shenandoah Valley. 10/31/1864 Nevada is admitted into the Union as the thirtysixth state. 11/8/1864 Abraham Lincoln is reelected to the presidency of the United States by a comfortable margin. 11/15/1864 General William T. Sherman begins his famous March to the Sea, in which his Union army destroys a large area of Georgia on its way to the port city of Savannah. 12/16/1864 Union forces under the command of General George Henry Thomas crush John Bell Hood’s Army of Tennessee at the Battle of Nashville. 12/21/1864 William T. Sherman’s Union army completes its March to the Sea by taking control of Savannah, Georgia. 1/31/1865 The U.S. Congress submits the Thirteenth Amendment, which abolishes slavery, to the individual states for passage. 2/17/1865 General William T. Sherman’s army occupies the South Carolina capital of Columbia. 2/18/1865 Union forces seize control of Charleston, South Carolina. 2/22/1865 Confederate president Jefferson Davis returns command of the Army of Tennessee to General Joseph E. Johnston in a desperate attempt to stop William T. Sherman’s advance into North Carolina. 1864 American novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne dies.

1864 Pasteurization is invented.

1864

1864

xxvi


1865 Lewis Carroll writes Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

1865

2/27/1865 Martin Delany is commissioned as a major in the Union army, becoming the first black soldier to hold a field command in U.S. military history. 3/2/1865 Remaining Confederate troops in Shenandoah Valley go down to defeat at the hands of Philip H. Sheridan. 3/4/1865 President Abraham Lincoln is inaugurated for a second term of office. 3/13/1865 The Confederate Congress authorizes the use of slaves as Confederate combat soldiers. 4/1–2/1865 Ulysses S. Grant’s Army of the Potomac successfully breaks through Confederate defenses at Petersburg, forcing Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia to evacuate the city and give up its defense of Richmond, Virginia. 4/3/1865 Union troops take control of Richmond, Virginia, and prepare for a visit from President Abraham Lincoln a day later. 4/9/1865 Trapped by pursuing Federal troops, General Robert E. Lee surrenders to General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox in Virginia. 4/14/1865 President Abraham Lincoln is shot by John Wilkes Booth while attending a play at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C. 4/15/1865 Vice president Andrew Johnson becomes president after Abraham Lincoln dies. 4/18/1865 Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston surrenders his Army of Tennessee to William T. Sherman near Raleigh, North Carolina.

1865 Ku Klux Klan is founded in Tennessee.

1865

1865 Civil War balloonist Thaddeus Lowe invents the ice machine.

1865

1865 Thirteenth Amendment, prohibiting slavery, is ratified.

1865


xxvii

4/26/1865 John Wilkes Booth is killed by Federal soldiers in a barn near Bowling Green, Virginia. 5/10/1865 Confederate president Jefferson Davis is taken prisoner by Federal troops at Irwinsville, Georgia. 5/26/1865 The very last Confederate troops put down their weapons, as a rebel army west of the Mississippi River led by Kirby Smith surrenders to Union officials. 6/6/1865 William Quantrill dies in federal prison. 11/10/1865 Henry Wirz becomes the only Confederate official to be executed for war crimes committed during the Civil War. 1866

Ambrose Burnside is elected governor of Rhode Island.

1866

David R. Farragut becomes the first admiral in U.S. naval history.

1866

The Republican Congress passes a Civil Rights Act over President Andrew Johnson’s veto. The Act gives citizenship and other rights to black people.

1866

Race riots between blacks and whites erupt during the summer in Memphis, Tennessee, and New Orleans, Louisiana.

1866

Tennessee is readmitted into the Union by Congress.

1866

George M. Maddox of Quantrill’s Raiders is acquitted of murder charges from massacre at Lawrence, Kansas.

1867

Congress passes the Military Reconstruction Act over President Andrew Johnson’s veto.

1866 The first U.S. oil pipeline is completed.

1866

xxviii


1866 Alfred Nobel invents dynamite.

1866

1867

The Ku Klux Klan adopts a formal constitution and selects former Confederate general Nathan Bedford Forrest as its first leader.

1867

Former Confederate president Jefferson Davis is released from a Virginia jail after two years of imprisonment.

1867

Former slave and Union war hero Robert Smalls is elected to the South Carolina state legislature.

1868

Political disagreements between Congress and President Andrew Johnson become so great that the president is impeached. He avoids being removed from office by one vote in his Senate impeachment trial.

1868

Congress passes the Fifteenth Amendment, which extends voting rights to blacks, and sends the bill along to individual states for ratification.

1868

Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, North Carolina, and South Carolina are readmitted into the Union by Congress.

1868

Republican Ulysses S. Grant is elected the eighteenth president of the United States.

1868

Georgia expels black representatives, saying they are not eligible to hold political office. U.S. Congress responds by refusing to recognize Georgia representatives.

1868

Federal government sends troops back into Georgia to reestablish military law.

1870

The Fifteenth Amendment, guaranteeing voting rights for blacks, is ratified by the states and becomes law. 1867 The United States purchases Alaska from Russia.

1867

1868 Louisa May Alcott writes Little Women.

1869 The first intercollegiate football game is played.

1868


1869

xxix

1870

Congress passes the Enforcement Act of 1870 in an effort to protect the voting rights of all citizens—especially blacks—in the South.

1870

Georgia, Mississippi, Virginia, and Texas are readmitted into the Union by Congress.

1870

The Fifteenth Amendment guaranteeing voting rights for blacks is ratified by the states and becomes law.

1871

Congress passes the Ku Klux Klan Act, which outlaws conspiracies, use of disguises, and other practices of the white supremacist group.

1872

Ulysses S. Grant is reelected president of the United States.

1874

Robert Smalls is elected to the U.S. Congress.

1875

Congress passes a Civil Rights Act barring discrimination in hotels, theaters, railroads, and other public places.

1876

Republican Rutherford B. Hayes and Democrat Samuel J. Tilden run a very close race for the presidency of the United States. Tilden wins the popular vote, but neither candidate receives enough electoral votes for election. The two political parties eventually agree to a compromise in which Hayes becomes president in exchange for a guarantee that he remove federal troops from South Carolina, Florida, and Louisiana.

1877

President Rutherford B. Hayes removes Federal troops from the South. This withdrawal increases the vulnerability of blacks to Southern racism and marks the end of the Reconstruction period in American history.

1881

Clara Barton founds the American Red Cross. 1873 San Francisco’s cable streetcar begins service.

1870 The first black U.S. legislators take their seats.

1870

1873

xxx


1877 The first Bell telephone is sold

1877

1891

Ambrose Bierce publishes Tales of Soldiers and Civilians, a collection of stories about the Civil War that includes his famous story “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge.”

1895

Thomas Nast completes his famous painting of Robert E. Lee’s surrender to Ulysses S. Grant.

1981

Southern writer Mary Boykin Chesnut’s diary of her Civil War experiences is published in its original form—over one hundred years after it was written—as Mary Chesnut’s Civil War and wins the Pulitzer Prize.

1891 Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is published.

1891

1894 Lord Rayleigh and William Ramsay discover the chemical element argon.

1895 King C. Gillette invents the safety razor.

1894


1895

xxxi

Madison

Chicago

Iowa

New York Michigan

La k

n e O

io t ar

Conn.

New York N.J.

Pennsylvania

Trenton

Harrisburg

Ohio Columbus

M is

sis

Harpers Ferry

Philadelphia Battle of Gettysburg, Gettysburg Address (1863) Dover Md. Del. Annapolis

Washington, D.C. (Union capital)

si p

pi

Battle of Antietam (Sharpsburg) (1862)

Indianapolis

Springfield

Mass.

Providence Hartford R.I.

Lansing

Indiana

Illinois

Boston

Albany

Lake Michigan

Wisconsin

First & Second Battles Battle of of Bull Run (Manassas) Fredericksburg Battle of (1861, 1862) (1862) Spotsylvania (1864) Charleston Battle of Cold Harbor Va. St. Louis Jefferson Lexington (1862, 1864) Battle of Chancellorsville (1863) City Appomattox (1865) Seven Days’ Battles (1862) Battle of Missouri Kentucky Petersburg Richmond (1864–65) (Confederate capital) Lee surrenders Battle of Richmond (1865) Battle of Nashville (1864) Raleigh Battle of Stones River (Murfreesboro) (1862–63) North Carolina Battle of Shiloh Tennessee Arkansas Battle of Chattanooga (1863) (1862) Battle of the Wilderness (1864)

Oh io

R.

Little Rock

Alabama

Battle of Fort Sumter (1861)

.

La.

Charleston

hR

Siege of Vicksburg (1863)

South Carolina Battle of Chickamauga (1863) Siege of Atlanta (1864) Columbia Sa va Battle of Jonesboro (1864) a nn

Mississippi

W. Va. (1863)

R.

Montgomery

Georgia

Jackson

Baton Rouge

Siege of Savannah (1864)

ATLANTIC OCEAN

Tallahassee

Battle of New Orleans (1862)

New Orleans N

Florida

G u l f o f Me x i c o

0 0

100 100

200 mi 200 km

City Battle National capital State capital Confederate states, 1861–65 State boundaries

A map of the United States east of the Mississippi River shows the key battles and events of the Civil War. (Illustration by XNR Productions. Reproduced by permission of The Gale Group.) xxxii


Where to Learn More

T

he following list of resources focuses on material appropriate for middle school or high school students. Please note that the web site addresses were verified prior to publication, but are subject to change.

Books Anders, Curt. Hearts in Conflict: A One-Volume History of the Civil War. Secaucus, NJ: Carol Pub. Group, 1994. Anderson, Nancy Scott, and Dwight Anderson. The Generals—Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee. New York: Knopf, 1988. Aptheker, Herbert. Abolitionism: A Revolutionary Movement. Boston: Twayne, 1989. Basler, Roy P., ed. The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1953. Berlin, Ira, Joseph P. Reidy, and Leslie S. Rowland, eds. Freedom’s Soldiers: The Black Military Experience in the Civil War. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1998. Blight, David W. Frederick Douglass’s Civil War: Keeping Faith in Jubilee. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1989. Bradford, Ned, ed. Battles and Leaders of the Civil War. New York: New American Library, 1984. xxxiii

Buell, Thomas B. The Warrior Generals: Combat Leadership in the Civil War. New York: Crown, 1997. Carter, Alden R. The Civil War: American Tragedy. New York: Franklin Watts, 1992. Carter, Samuel. The Last Cavaliers: Confederate and Union Cavalry in the Civil War. St. Martin’s Press, 1980. Catton, Bruce. The Centennial History of the Civil War. 3 vols. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1961–65. Catton, Bruce. The Civil War. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1960. Chadwick, Bruce. The Two American Presidents: A Dual Biography of Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis. Secaucus, NJ: Carol, 1999. Chang, Ina. A Separate Battle: Women and the Civil War. New York: Scholastic, 1994. Civil War Generals: An Illustrated Encyclopedia. New York: Gramercy, 1999. Commager, Henry Steele. The Blue and the Gray. Indianapolis: BobbsMerrill, 1950. Davis, William C. The Commanders of the Civil War. San Diego: Thunder Bay Press, 1999. Davis, William C. Jefferson Davis: The Man and His Hour. New York: HarperCollins, 1991. Donald, David Herbert. Lincoln. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1995. Dowdey, Clifford. Lee’s Last Campaign: The Story of Lee and His Men against Grant. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1993. Foote, Shelby. The Civil War: A Narrative. 3 vols. New York: Random House, 1958–74. Freeman, Douglas S. Lee’s Lieutenants. 3 vols. New York: Scribner’s, 1942–44. Goen, C. C. Broken Churches, Broken Nation. Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 1985. Grant, Ulysses S. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant. New York: Library of America, 1990. Green, Carl R., and William R. Sanford. Confederate Generals of the Civil War. Springfield, NJ: Enslow, 1998. Green, Carl R., and William R. Sanford. Union Generals of the Civil War. Springfield, NJ: Enslow, 1998. Grimsley, Mark. The Hard Hand of War, Union Military Policy Toward Southern Civilians, 1861–1865. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1995. Gutman, Herbert G. The Black Family in Slavery and Freedom. New York: Pantheon, 1976. Hargrove, Hondon B. Black Union Soldiers in the Civil War. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1988. Harmon, Dan. Civil War Generals. Philadelphia: Chelsea House, 1997. xxxiv


Harrell, Carolyn L. When the Bells Tolled for Lincoln. Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 1997. Haskins, J. The Day Fort Sumter Was Fired On: A Photo History of the Civil War. New York: Scholastic, 1995. Hattaway, Herman. Shades of Blue and Gray: An Introductory Military History of the Civil War. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1997. Hendrickson, Robert. The Road to Appomattox. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1998. Hennessey, John. Return to Bull Run: The Campaign and Battle of Second Manassas. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1992. Holt, Michael F. The Political Crisis of the 1850s. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1978. Kunhardt, Philip B., Jr. A New Birth of Freedom: Lincoln at Gettysburg. Boston: Little, Brown, 1983. Leonard, Elizabeth D. All the Daring of the Soldier: Women of the Civil War Armies. New York: W. W. Norton, 1999. Lincoln, Abraham. Abraham Lincoln: Speeches and Writings. 2 vols. New York: Library of America, 1989. Linderman, Gerald. Embattled Courage: The Experience of Combat in the American Civil War. New York: Free Press, 1987. Litwack, Leon. Been in the Storm So Long: The Aftermath of Slavery. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1979. Macdonald, John. Great Battles of the Civil War. New York: Macmillan, 1988. Macmillan Encylopedia of the Confederacy. New York: Macmillan, 1998. Massey, Mary Elizabeth. Women in the Civil War. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1966. McFeely, William S. Grant: A Biography. New York: Norton, 1981. McPherson, James M. Battle Cry of Freedom. New York: Oxford University Press, 1988. McPherson, James M. For Cause and Comrades: Why Men Fought in the Civil War. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997. McPherson, James M. Ordeal by Fire: The Civil War and Reconstruction. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1982. McPherson, James M., ed. Encyclopedia of Civil War Biographies. Armonk, NY: Sharpe Reference, 2000. Mitchell, Joseph B. Military Leaders in the Civil War. New York: Putnam, 1972. Mitchell, Reid. Civil War Soldiers: Their Expectations and Their Experiences. New York: Viking, 1988. Morris, Roy, Jr. Sheridan: The Life and Wars of General Phil Sheridan. New York: Crown, 1992. Murphy, Jim. The Long Road to Gettysburg. New York: Scholastic, 1995. Where to Learn More

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Nolan, Alan T. Lee Considered: General Robert E. Lee and Civil War History. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1991. Oates, Stephen B. With Malice Toward None: The Life of Abraham Lincoln. New York: Harper & Row, 1977. Paludan, Phillip S. The Presidency of Abraham Lincoln. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1994. Potter, David M. The Impending Crisis, 1848–1861. New York: Harper & Row, 1976. Ritter, Charles F., and Jon L. Wakelyn. Leaders of the American Civil War. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1998. Royster, Charles. The Destructive War: William Tecumseh Sherman, Stonewall Jackson, and the Americans. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1991. Sandburg, Carl. Abraham Lincoln: The War Years. 4 vols. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1939. Sifakis, Stewart. Who Was Who in the Civil War. New York: Facts on File, 1988. Stewart, James Brewer. Holy Warriors: The Abolitionists and American Slavery. New York: Hill & Wang, 1976. Stokesbury, James L. A Short History of the Civil War. New York: William Morrow, 1995. Thomas, Emory. The Confederate Nation, 1861–1865. New York: Harper & Row, 1979. Tracey, Patrick Austin. Military Leaders of the Civil War. New York: Facts on File, 1993. Trelease, Allen W. Reconstruction: The Great Experiment. New York: Harper & Row, 1971. Trudeau, Noah Andre. Like Men of War: Black Troops in the Civil War, 1862–1865. Boston: Little, Brown, 1998. Venet, Wendy Hamand. Neither Ballots Nor Bullets: Women Abolitionists and the Civil War. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1991. Ward, Geoffrey C. The Civil War: An Illustrated History. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1990. Woodworth, Steven E. Jefferson Davis and His Generals. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1990.

World Wide Web American Civil War/Conflict Between the States. http://americanhistory. miningco.com/education/history/americanhistory/msub13.htm (accessed on October 20, 1999). American Civil War Homepage. http://sunsite.utk.edu/civil-war (accessed on October 20, 1999). xxxvi


American Civil War Resources on the Internet. http://www.janke.washcoll. edu/civilwar/civilwar.htm (accessed on October 20, 1999). Civil War Music and Poetry and Music of the War Between the States. http://users.erols.com/kfraser/ (accessed on October 20, 1999). Library of Congress. Gettysburg Address Exhibit. www.lcweb.loc.gov/exhibits/gadd (accessed on October 20, 1999). Library of Congress, American Memory. Selected Civil War Photographs. lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/cwphome.html (accessed on October 20, 1999). Rutgers University Libraries. Civil War Resources on the Internet. http:// www.libraries.rutgers.edu/rulib/socsci/hist/civwar-2.html (accessed on October 20, 1999).

Where to Learn More

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Clara Barton Born December 25, 1821 Oxford, Massachusetts Died April 12, 1912 Glen Echo, New York Union nurse known as the “angel of the battlefield” for treating wounded Union soldiers Founded the American Red Cross

C

lara Barton is one of the most remarkable women in American history. A former schoolteacher, she never received any formal training in nursing. But she became a famous figure on Civil War battlefields, where she tended to thousands of sick and wounded soldiers and delivered huge quantities of medicine, food, and other provisions to Union troops. She also remained in the public spotlight after the war concluded. In 1881 she founded the American Red Cross, and in her later years she emerged as a leader in the fight to gain women’s suffrage (right to vote).

“When there is no longer a soldier’s arm to raise the Stars and Stripes above our Capital, may God give strength to mine.”

An early taste of nursing Clarissa Harlowe Barton was born in Oxford, Massachusetts, on Christmas Day 1821. She grew up on a large farm with her parents, Stephen and Sarah Stone Barton, and four older brothers and sisters. Clara was ten years younger than any of the other children. This situation, she later admitted, sometimes made it seem like she had “six fathers and mothers. . . . All took charge of me, all educated me, each according to personal taste.”

Clara Barton. (Courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration.) 1

In many ways, Clara had a very good childhood. The family farm was quite successful, and she received lots of attention from her parents and her older siblings. But she had few playmates, and Barton’s childhood interests were not always shared by her older brothers and sisters. This sometimes made her feel isolated from others, and she became a shy and sensitive youngster. When Barton was eleven years old, her brother David was injured in a construction accident. “I was distressed beyond measure at his condition,” Barton recalled. “From the first days and nights of illness, I remained near his side.” Eventually, she learned to give David his medications and “to administer them like a genuine nurse.” As Barton cared for her older brother over the next several months, she felt more useful than ever before. When David finally recovered from his injuries, Clara decided to continue caring for the sick and injured. Following her father’s example, she began to take on charity work in the area. After a while, she became a tutor to poor children. She even provided nursing assistance to area families when a deadly smallpox epidemic washed over the region. Barton eventually caught smallpox herself. But even though her recovery was long and difficult, she never regretted the assistance that she had provided.

A talented teacher In 1838, Barton became a schoolteacher in the Oxford area. Teaching was one of the few career paths that were open to women during that period, and Barton was determined to make the most of her talents. The seventeen-year-old excelled as a teacher, and within a few months of starting classes, she received many teaching offers from other area communities. She spent the next decade teaching children throughout the region while also continuing with her charitable work. But as time passed she grew restless and dissatisfied with her life and began to look for other challenges. In 1850 Barton abruptly left teaching behind to continue her own education at the Clinton Liberal Institute in New York. She spent a year at the school, deeply absorbing 2


herself in mathematics, science, and other subjects that women rarely had an opportunity to study. In 1852, Barton returned to teaching, accepting a position in Bordentown, New Jersey. At the time that Barton arrived in Bordentown, the community’s only school was one that charged students a fee to take classes. Since this situation often made it impossible for children from poor families to go to school, Barton approached the town’s leaders with an intriguing offer: if they would provide her with a bigger building and allow all children to attend school for free, then she would give up her salary for three months. On the first day that Barton’s school opened, only six students showed up. But as time passed, more and more parents heard about the free classes and the community’s dynamic new teacher. Within a year or so, the school’s enrollment increased to more than two hundred students, with four hundred more on a waiting list. As Barton hired other teachers to help with the swelling student population, she expressed great satisfaction with the school’s amazing success. Bordentown’s leaders recognized the popularity of Barton’s school, too. They established generous salaries for Barton and the other teachers, and helped pass a local bill that set aside $4,000 for the construction of a brand new school that would provide rooms and school equipment for all six hundred children who wanted to attend. But when the new school opened in the fall of 1853, Barton discovered that prejudice against women holding positions of authority remained strong. The community’s school board selected a man to serve as the school’s principal, even though she was the one who was responsible for its very existence. Frustrated and disappointed, Barton resigned from the school and left Bordentown.

Rumblings of war Over the next several years, Barton divided her time between the national capital of Washington, where she worked as a government clerk, and her old hometown of Oxford, Massachusetts. Then, as the 1850s drew to a close, BarClara Barton

3

ton found herself increasingly drawn into the political turmoil (confusion) that was sweeping across the nation. For years, America’s Northern and Southern states had been arguing over several issues. One of these issues was slavery. Many Northerners believed that slavery was wrong and wanted to abolish it. But the economy of the South had been built on slavery, and Southerners resented Northern efforts to halt or contain the practice. By early 1861, hostilities between the North and South had become so fierce that a number of Southern states voted to secede from (leave) the United States and form a new country that allowed slavery, called the Confederate States of America (a total of eleven states seceded by the end of the year). The U.S. government declared that those states had no right to secede and that it was willing to use force to make them return to the Union. In the spring of 1861, the two sides finally went to war over their differences.

Treating the wounded When the Civil War began, Barton was a strong supporter of the North’s position. She thought that slavery was a terrible practice, and she expressed patriotic outrage at the South’s decision to secede. “When there is no longer a soldier’s arm to raise the Stars and Stripes above our Capital, may God give strength to mine,” she said in one letter to a friend. Barton proved her willingness to support the Union cause from the very start. In April 1861, the Union Army’s Sixth Massachusetts Regiment was traveling to Washington when it was attacked by a pro-South mob in Baltimore, Maryland. When the soldiers who had been wounded in the assault finally reached Washington, Barton sprang into action. She immediately went to help care for the wounded, and she organized a drive to provide the troops with supplies that they had lost in Baltimore. A few months later, Washington received far greater numbers of Union wounded in the aftermath of the First Battle of Bull Run (also known as the First Battle of Manassas). More than three thousand Federal troops were killed, wounded, or missing from this battle, which was the first major 4


Florence Nightingale Clara Barton struggled throughout the Civil War to convince people that women could make major contributions in the effort to help save wounded young soldiers. She often encountered resistance, but her efforts were made a little easier by the example of Florence Nightingale. Florence Nightingale (1820–1910) is regarded as the founder of modern nursing. An English woman from an upper-class background, she became involved in caring for sick and wounded people in the mid-1850s, when the Crimean War (1853–56) engulfed several nations. The Crimean War pitted Russia against Turkey, which wanted to rule itself without interference from Russia. England and France took part in the war on Turkey’s side. When Nightingale heard about the horrible hospital conditions in which wounded soldiers were treated, she decided to do something about it. Ignoring critics who argued that women had no business being in the midst of rough soldiers and dirty conditions, she organized a group of thirty-eight women nurses and traveled to army hospitals throughout the war zone. Led by Nightingale, these women nurses treated thousands of wounded soldiers and made great improvements in hospital conditions and organization. “The very first requirement in a hospital,” Nightingale declared, “must be that it should do the sick no harm.” Within a matter of months, Nightingale and her nurses had helped

lower the death rate in military hospitals from more than 40 percent to about 2 percent. By the time the Crimean War ended in 1856, Nightingale had become a legendary figure around the world. In 1860 her fame increased when she opened the world’s first nursing school in St. Thomas’s Hospital in London, England. The establishment of this school further increased the reputation of nursing as a legitimate career for women. A year later, when the American Civil War broke out, Nightingale’s activities inspired an entire generation of Northern and Southern women. Using Nightingale’s bravery and dedication as an example, hundreds of American women volunteered as nurses during the Civil War.

Clara Barton

5

clash of the war. When the injured Union soldiers reached Washington, the city was completely unprepared to care for them. Once again, Barton devoted her energies to helping the wounded. Working night and day, she gathered clothing, food, and other supplies for the soldiers. Over the next several months, Barton became a constant presence in Washington-area hospitals. She continued to gather supplies for the soldiers, and she spent long hours sitting by their bedsides, reading or talking to them. Some of her conversations with the soldiers distressed her deeply. They told her that medical supplies often lagged far behind the army. They also admitted that many seriously wounded soldiers out in the field had to wait for long periods of time before they received any medical attention because the Union Army had so few doctors. Some soldiers had to endure long wagon rides to Washington or other Northern cities before they received any attention at all. Some of these soldiers died before they reached their destination, bleeding to death or dying from infections. As Barton listened to these alarming stories, she recognized that the Union troops needed to receive medical attention much more quickly. She then requested permission from the Union authorities to provide aid to wounded soldiers out in the field rather than wait until they were transported all the way to Washington. At first, the officials turned her down because they did not believe that a woman could handle the sight of battlefield gore and misery. But Barton refused to give up on the idea. Instead, she spent months lobbying (attempting to influence) various politicians and army officials. In the spring of 1862, she finally received permission to treat soldiers out on the battlefield.

Angel of the battlefield As soon as Barton received official permission to work in the field, she made arrangements to carry needed medical supplies and food with her. “People talk like children about ‘transporting supplies’ as if it were the easiest thing imaginable to transport supplies by wagon thirty miles across a country scouted by guerrilla bands [groups of Confederate raiders],” she wrote. 6


Barton’s first opportunity to provide aid to wounded soldiers out in the field came in August 1862, after a big battle at Cedar Mountain, near Culpepper, Virginia. When Barton heard about the battle, she rushed to the scene and immediately began tending wounded Union soldiers. “At the time when we were entirely out of dressings of every kind, she supplied us with everything,” said one Union surgeon at Cedar Mountain. “And while the shells were bursting in every direction . . . she [stayed] dealing out shirts . . . and preparing soup and seeing it prepared in all the [field] hospitals. . . . I thought that night if heaven ever sent out a homely angel, she must be one [since] her assistance was so timely.” One month later, Barton traveled to a region near Antietam Creek in northern Maryland, where a clash between Union and Confederate forces produced the single highest casualty toll of any single day of the Civil War. All day long Barton worked tirelessly to bandage and feed the wounded, even as the sights and sounds of the terrible battle swirled all around her. At one point, she recalled, she bent down to give a wounded soldier a drink of water. “Just at this moment a bullet sped its free and easy way between us, tearing a hole between us, tearing a hole in my sleeve and [finding] its way into his body,” she remembered. “He fell back dead. There was no more to be done for him and I left him to rest. I have never mended that hole in my sleeve.” By the time the Battle of Antietam was over, Barton’s tireless efforts on behalf of wounded soldiers had made her a beloved figure throughout the Union Army. “Here [at Antietam] her work was truly heroic,” wrote Cathy East Dubowski in Clara Barton: Healing the Wounds, “and here she won the admiration of the common soldiers and of many surgeons. She had proved her courage and ability beyond a doubt—to the army and to herself. She had marched with the soldiers, gone without food and rest, slept under the stars, and stood her ground under fire, even when others ran.” Barton continued to work as a field nurse for most of the rest of the war, traveling from battlefield to battlefield. In recognition of her efforts on behalf of wounded Union soldiers, people started calling her the “angel of the battlefield.” But although Barton appreciated the recognition she received, the war was an emotionally draining experience for Clara Barton

7

her. She sometimes quarreled with other people and organizations who were trying to provide medical supplies to Union troops. In addition, the endless exposure to torn and bleeding bodies sometimes made it hard for her to go on. After one battle, she admitted, “I looked at myself, shoeless, gloveless, ragged, and bloodstained, [and] a new sense of desolation and pity and sympathy and weariness, all blended, swept over me with irresistible force. . . . I sank down . . . and wept.” At one point of the war, these pressures combined to push her into a brief emotional breakdown. After several months of rest, however, she was able to return to her nursing work.

International Red Cross In April 1865, the North finally defeated the South to bring the Civil War to a close. Over the next several months, Barton continued to work on behalf of Union soldiers and families. She helped people find out what happened to missing family members who had fought in the war, and she gave a series of lectures on her wartime experiences. In 1869, Barton traveled to Europe, where she hoped that a long period of rest might help her deal with growing depression and nagging health problems. Soon after her arrival, she learned about an organization known as the International Convention of Geneva, or International Red Cross. This organization, founded in 1864, was dedicated to providing medical aid and other assistance to people wounded in wartime. In 1870 a war broke out between Germany and France. This war, known as the Franco-Prussian War (1870–71), gave Barton an opportunity to see how the International Red Cross operated. The organization refused to take sides in the war; instead, it devoted all of its energies to treating soldiers and civilians (people not involved in the war, including women and children) who were injured or made homeless in the conflict. As the Red Cross went into action, Barton marveled at the organization’s operation. “The Red Cross societies in the field [accomplished] in four months under this systematic organization what we failed to accomplish in four years without it—no mistakes, no needless suffering, no starving, no lack of care, no waste, no confusion, but order, plenty, cleanliness, and comfort whenever that little [Red Cross] flag made its way.” 8


Founding the American Red Cross Barton spent the next few years helping the International Red Cross provide food and shelter to European refugees. In 1873, she returned to the United States, where she began working to create an American branch of the international aid organization. Over the next several years Barton worked tirelessly to see her dream of an American Red Cross become a reality. She published pamphlets that discussed the organization’s philosophy and goals and talked with influential congressmen and administration officials in order to gain their support. Finally, in 1881, Barton’s crusade paid off, when the American Association of the Red Cross was formally founded. One year later, the U.S. Senate ratified (officially approved) a treaty that made the nation an official member of the International Red Cross. Over the next two decades, Barton devoted her life to building the American Red Cross into a great relief organization. She served as the organization’s president from 1882 to 1904, guiding it as it provided food, shelter, and medical supplies to victims of wars and natural disasters alike. But as the years passed, criticism of Barton’s leadership became quite strong. People said that she never listened to anyone else, and that she did a terrible job of recordkeeping and managing the organization’s funds. These criticisms seemed to be supported by dwindling public support for the group. By 1902, dissatisfaction with Barton’s domineering style and sloppy bookkeeping became so great that a group of Red Cross members made an unsuccessful attempt to remove her from office. In 1904, continued questions about Barton’s handling of the organization’s finances led to a Senate investigation. The Senate cleared her of any intentional wrongdoing, but public confidence in the organization continued to decline. Weary and bitter about the whole controversy, Barton finally resigned as president of the American Red Cross on May 14, 1904. The Red Cross reorganized itself after her departure and eventually established itself as one of America’s most respected relief organizations. Barton, meanwhile, adopted a quiet lifestyle. Settling in Glen Echo, New York, she spent her days reading or working in her garden. She died on April 12, 1912. Clara Barton

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Where to Learn More Burton, David H. Clara Barton: In the Service of Humanity. Westwood, CT: Greenwood Press, 1995. Dubowski, Cathy East. Clara Barton: Healing the Wounds. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Silver Burdett Press, 1991. Hamilton, Leni. Clara Barton. New York: Chelsea House, 1987. National Park Service. Clara Barton National Historic Site. [Online] http://www.nps.gov/clba/ (accessed on October 8, 1999). Oates, Stephen B. A Woman of Valor: Clara Barton and the Civil War. New York: Free Press, 1994. Rose, Mary Catherine. Clara Barton: Soldier of Mercy. Champaign, IL: Garrard Press, 1960. Reprint, New York: Chelsea Juniors, 1991. Stevenson, Augusta. Clara Barton, Founder of the American Red Cross. New York: Macmillan, 1982.

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Pierre G. T. Beauregard Born May 28, 1818 St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana Died February 20, 1893 New Orleans, Louisiana Confederate general Southern hero of Fort Sumter and First Bull Run

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ierre G. T. Beauregard was a key figure in many of the South’s early Civil War victories. He led the conquest of Fort Sumter that actually started the war, and he helped guide the Confederacy to victory in the first major battle of the conflict in July 1861, the First Battle of Bull Run (also known as the First Battle of Manassas). But his war record ended up being a controversial one. For example, some critics believe that his decisions at the Battle of Shiloh (April 1862) prevented the South from gaining a major victory. In addition, Beauregard’s arrogance and political scheming made him very unpopular with Confederate president Jefferson Davis (1808–1889; see entry) and some other Southern military and political leaders.

Pierre G. T. Beauregard was “full of talent and of much military experience.” Confederate president Jefferson Davis

Raised in a Creole household Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard was born on May 28, 1818, on his family’s plantation just south of New Orleans, Louisiana. His family, the Toutant-Beauregards, were Creoles—persons descended from or culturally related to original French settlers of Louisiana. Beauregard was thus raised

Pierre G. T. Beauregard. 11

in a household that continued to honor the customs and language of France, even though the country was an ocean away. Beauregard even grew up speaking French. In fact, it is believed that he did not learn to speak English until he was at least twelve years old. This environment led Beauregard to develop a deep fascination with Napoléon Bonaparte (1769–1821), a famous French general and emperor. As Beauregard grew older, he decided that he wanted to follow in Napoléon’s footsteps and make his mark as a professional soldier. When Beauregard was sixteen years old, he convinced his father to arrange his enrollment in the prestigious U.S. Military Academy at West Point in New York state. Once he arrived at the school, though, the young Creole cadet became very self-conscious about his French name and background. He quietly dropped the hyphen from his last name, though he kept Toutant as an extra middle name. He also abandoned his French-sounding first name and began signing his name as G. T. Beauregard.

A top engineering officer Beauregard was a very good student, especially in the field of engineering (a discipline that uses mathematical and scientific principles in the design, construction, and operation of equipment, systems, and structures). When he graduated from West Point in 1838, he ranked second in a class of fortyfive students. One of his classmates was Irvin McDowell (1818–1885), who Beauregard would later defeat at the First Battle of Bull Run. He received a lieutenant’s commission in the army’s Corps of Engineers, and spent the next several years helping build harbors and defensive fortifications along the eastern coast of Florida and the Gulf of Mexico. Beauregard also started a family around this time. In 1841, he married Marie Laure Villere, the daughter of a wealthy Louisiana planter. In the late 1840s, Beauregard served in the Mexican War (1846–48), a conflict between Mexico and the United States over possession of territories in the West. By the time the war ended in 1848, American military victories had forced Mexico to cede (give up) its claims on Texas, California, New Mexico, and other lands in the West. Beauregard performed very well in the war with Mexico. Wounded twice, he earned 12


two awards for gallantry (heroic courage) and impressed U.S. general Winfield Scott (1786–1866; see entry) with his scouting abilities and strategic suggestions. But Beauregard became bitter about his Mexican War experiences when his superior officers did not single him out for special praise. After the war ended, Beauregard returned to Louisiana and resumed his work engineering fortifications and drainage systems along America’s Southern coastline. In 1850, his wife died in childbirth. A few years later he married Caroline Deslonde, another woman from a wealthy Louisiana family. By the late 1850s, Beauregard had built himself a reputation as an excellent army engineer. But his anger at the army over the Mexican War never really went away. He began to think of career possibilities outside the military. In 1858, he even launched a campaign to become the mayor of New Orleans, but he was defeated. Beauregard continued his engineering work until 1860, when he used his political connections to get himself appointed as the new superintendent of West Point.

A short stay at West Point Beauregard officially became superintendent of West Point on January 23, 1861. The position of superintendent was a prestigious one. After all, West Point had provided almost all of the nation’s leading military figures with their educations, and the cadets who welcomed Beauregard to the academy were regarded as America’s military leaders of the future. As it turned out, however, Beauregard held the position for only five days before being fired. By the time that Beauregard took over at West Point, long-standing disagreements between America’s Northern and Southern regions threatened to spill over into violence at any time. The two sides had become angry with one another over a wide range of issues, from the balance of Federal and state authority to the economy. But the issue that most divided the two sides was slavery. Many Northerners believed slavery was wrong and wanted to abolish (put an end to) it. But the economy and culture of the South were closely linked to slavery, and Southerners resented Northern efforts to end the practice. Pierre G. T. Beauregard

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When Beauregard arrived at West Point, several Southern states had already announced their intention to secede from (leave) the United States and form their own country that allowed slavery, called the Confederate States of America. Beauregard announced his support for the secessionist cause. He also let it be known that if Louisiana seceded from the Union, he would immediately return to his native state and defend it against Federal troops. Beauregard’s remarks infuriated his superiors, and on January 28 he was dismissed from his post at West Point.

Assault on Fort Sumter On January 26, 1861, Louisiana legislators voted to leave the United States and join the Confederacy. Beauregard resigned from the Federal Army a few weeks later and returned to Louisiana, where he hoped to command that state’s forces. When that appointment went to General Braxton Bragg (1817–1876; see entry), Beauregard viewed the choice as a great “injustice.” He remained angry until February 27, when Confederate president Jefferson Davis named him a brigadier general and gave him command of South Carolina rebel (Confederate) forces at Charleston Harbor. By March 1861, Charleston Harbor had become one of the best known places in America. A Federal military outpost called Fort Sumter was located in the middle of the harbor. This fort continued to be controlled by U.S. troops, even though the Confederacy had taken control of most other Federal military outposts and offices in the South. By the time that Beauregard arrived in Charleston, the continued occupation of Fort Sumter by Federal troops had become a source of great anger to the people of South Carolina and the rest of the Confederacy. They viewed the garrison (troops) at Fort Sumter as a foreign military presence that should not be permitted to operate in their territory, especially since it was located right in the middle of one of the Confederacy’s most important harbors. Beauregard made several attempts to convince Major Robert Anderson (1805–1871), the commander of Fort Sumter, to give up control of the outpost. At the same time, Confederate officials warned President Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865; see entry) to relinquish (give up) the fort. But Lincoln believed 14


that if the Federal government surrendered Fort Sumter, Northern morale would suffer, and Southern confidence in the Confederacy’s ability to break away from the Union permanently would increase. Lincoln thus ordered Anderson to stay put. When it became clear that Anderson did not intend to withdraw his troops from the fort, Beauregard opened fire on the fortress with artillery guns that lined the harbor’s shores. This attack, which was launched on the morning of April 12, is regarded as the beginning of the American Civil War. Anderson and his men resisted Beauregard’s assault for thirty-four hours, but they finally surrendered on April 13. The capture of Fort Sumter transformed Beauregard into the first war hero of the Confederacy.

First Battle of Bull Run In June 1861, Beauregard assumed command of Confederate forces around Manassas Junction, Virginia. This rebel encampment along the shores of the Bull Run River was an important one because it blocked the rebel capital of Richmond from Union attacks. In July, though, a Union army led by General Irvin McDowell marched into the region. The Union hoped that McDowell could smash Beauregard’s force and seize control of Richmond, thus putting an end to the Confederate rebellion before it really got rolling.

Beauregard’s Opinion of Lincoln When Pierre G. T. Beauregard took command of the Confederate army guarding Manassas, Virginia, in mid1861, he immediately took steps to rally local citizens to his side. One way in which he did this was to make false and insulting statements about the Union and its army. Such statements, while unfair and misleading, were often issued by both sides in the war in efforts to increase public support for their actions. In the following proclamation, released on June 1, 1861, Beauregard characterizes U.S. president Abraham Lincoln as a terrible dictator and Northern soldiers as a pack of murderers, thieves, and rapists: A reckless and unprincipled tyrant has invaded your soil. Abraham Lincoln, regardless of all moral, legal, and constitutional restraints [controls], has thrown his Abolitionist hosts among you, who are murdering and imprisoning your citizens, confiscating [seizing] and destroying your property, and committing other acts of violence and outrage, too shocking and revolting to humanity to be enumerated [described]. All rules of civilized warfare are abandoned, and they proclaim by their acts, if not on their banners, that their war-cry is “BEAUTY AND BOUNTY.” All that is dear to man—your honor and that of your wives and daughters—your fortunes and your lives, are involved in this momentous contest.

McDowell attacked Beauregard’s army on July 21, and at first it appeared that his offensive might succeed. But BeaurePierre G. T. Beauregard

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gard received vital reinforcements from Confederate general Joseph E. Johnston (1807–1891; see entry) in the middle of the clash, known as the First Battle of Bull Run (First Battle of Manassas). Boosted by these additional troops, Beauregard defeated McDowell’s army in one of the most sloppy and disorganized battles of the entire war. Beauregard’s victory at Manassas made him even more popular in cities and farmhouses all across the Confederacy. It also convinced Jefferson Davis to give him even more authority. Davis promoted him to full generalship, describing the Creole officer as “full of talent and of much military experience.” But Beauregard’s relationship with Davis turned sour when the general started complaining about the Confederate president’s leadership to Southern legislators and newspaper editors. Union major general Irvin McDowell (above) met Confederate general Pierre G. T. Beauregard at the First Battle of Bull Run. They were former West Point classmates. (Courtesy of the Library of Congress.)

Battle of Shiloh In early 1862, Beauregard’s lack of respect for his leaders and constant political scheming led Davis to ship the troublesome general out to the war’s western theater (the region of the South west of the Appalachian Mountains). He became second in command to General Albert Sidney Johnston (1803–1862), commander of the South’s Army of Mississippi. Soon after his arrival, Beauregard helped plan a major assault on a large Union army led by General Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885; see entry). Grant’s troops were camped at Pittsburg Landing in Tennessee, near a small church called Shiloh. Over the previous few weeks, they had achieved major victories in the region, battering Johnston’s army in the process. But Johnston and Beauregard believed that if they attacked Grant before he received additional reinforcements, they might be able to

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hand the Union a major defeat. They decided to launch a surprise attack on the camp and push the Federal soldiers back into the nearby Tennessee River. On the morning of April 6, Confederate troops charged out of the woods surrounding Shiloh. Just as Johnston and Beauregard had hoped, the Yankee (Northern) soldiers were completely unprepared for the assault. But Grant rallied his troops, and the clash became a bitter struggle for survival. As the battle progressed, Johnston was killed, and Beauregard assumed command of the Confederate troops. Beauregard nearly succeeded in driving Grant’s army into the river. But as nighttime approached, he decided to break off the attack and resume the battle the next day. This decision remains a very controversial one. Many of his officers felt that if they had continued the fight on April 6, the South might have been able to finish off Grant’s forces. But the rebel troops were desperately weary. Beauregard decided that if he gave them a break from the brutal fighting, they might be able to claim victory the next day. During the night, however, Grant received thirty-five thousand fresh reinforcements and organized his army for a dawn assault on Beauregard’s position. In the early morning hours of April 7, Grant led a ferocious strike against the rebel army. This assault took a fearsome toll on the Confederates. Beauregard was finally forced to order a retreat all the way back to Corinth, Mississippi. A few days later, the threat of an approaching Union army forced Beauregard to flee from Corinth as well.

Stripped of command Beauregard’s defeat at the Battle of Shiloh tarnished his reputation, but the general’s self-confidence never wavered. A few months later, he traveled to Mobile, Alabama, in hopes of receiving treatment for a nagging throat ailment. He left General Braxton Bragg in temporary command of the army, believing that he would soon return. But Beauregard had made these decisions without receiving authorization from Jefferson Davis or anyone else. When Davis learned about the general’s actions, he permanently stripped BeaurePierre G. T. Beauregard

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gard of his command and ordered him to take over the defense of the Atlantic coastlines of Georgia and South Carolina. Defending the Confederate coastline was an important responsibility, but everyone knew that Beauregard’s new assignment was a demotion (moving down to a lower rank). Beauregard’s dislike for Davis thus became even greater. In fact, the two men remained hostile toward one another for the remainder of the war. Beauregard reluctantly reported to his new command on September 15, 1862. Over the next eighteen months he successfully fended off repeated Union assaults against the South Carolina and Georgia coasts. But despite his skillful direction of the South’s coastal defenses, Davis refused to give him another opportunity to command a Confederate army in the field. Beauregard’s vanity and egotism, meanwhile, prevented him from accepting offers to serve under the command of other Confederate field generals.

Serves under Lee In April 1864, Beauregard finally left his coastal command. He was reassigned to Virginia, where he took command of a rebel force that was responsible for defending Richmond against attacks from the North. Beauregard performed well in his new responsibilities, defending both Richmond and neighboring Petersburg from Union attacks in May and June. He then settled in to help Confederate general Robert E. Lee (1807–1870; see entry) in his defense of Petersburg, even as he traded insults with Davis and other political enemies. In October 1864, Beauregard was assigned to command a new department called the Military Division of the West. But his new job turned out to be an advisory position with very little direct authority over Confederate armies. Around this same period, Union general William T. Sherman (1820–1891; see entry) and his army smashed its way through the Southern heartland with little resistance from Beauregard or anyone else. This “March to the Sea,” as it became known, demoralized Confederate citizens and soldiers alike because it proved that the South could no longer defend itself. 18


In April 1865, the Confederacy finally admitted defeat, as the remnants of the various Southern armies surrendered to pursuing Union armies. Beauregard spent the final days of the war as second in command to Joseph E. Johnston in North Carolina. When Johnston surrendered his army to Sherman on April 26, Beauregard’s involvement in the war came to an end.

Postwar career After the Civil War concluded, Beauregard returned home to Louisiana. Several foreign governments tried to persuade him to accept leadership positions in their militaries, but he ended up turning down all of these offers. He worked as a railroad company executive until the mid-1870s, when he became involved in state government as supervisor of the Louisiana State Lottery and adjutant general (officer in charge) of the state’s National Guard. In 1888, he was elected commissioner of public works for New Orleans. Beauregard died in New Orleans on February 20, 1893, after a brief illness.

Where to Learn More Davis, William C. The Commanders of the Civil War. San Diego: Thunder Bay Press, 1999. Williams, T. Harry. P. G. T. Beauregard: Napoleon in Gray. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1954, 1995. Woodworth, Steven E. The Failure of Confederate Command in the West. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1990.

Pierre G. T. Beauregard

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Ambrose Bierce Born June 24, 1842 Meigs City, Ohio Died 1913 or 1914 Place of death unknown Civil War veteran who authored several short stories about the Civil War

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mbrose Bierce was one of America’s best-known writers of the nineteenth century. As a Union soldier during the Civil War, Bierce witnessed the violence and horror of war firsthand. After the war ended, he drew upon those wartime experiences to write a number of popular short stories and essays. In addition, he ranked as one of the country’s most famous newspaper columnists during the 1880s and 1890s.

“To this day I cannot look over a landscape without noting the advantages of the ground for attack or defense.”

Growing up in poverty Ambrose Bierce was born in southeastern Ohio in 1842, but he spent most of his childhood in Indiana. He was the tenth of thirteen children born to Marcus Aurelius and Laura Bierce, poor farmers who struggled to provide food and clothing for their children. Ambrose spent a good deal of his childhood tackling farm chores under the watchful supervision of his disciplinarian mother. As a result, he received very little formal schooling. But his father loved to read books, and young Ambrose borrowed volumes from his father’s modest library whenever he could. Literature thus became his

Ambrose Bierce. (Reproduced by permission of CorbisBettmann.) 21

only source of relief from a childhood that he later recalled with great bitterness. When Bierce was fifteen years old, he left the family farm to take a job as a printer’s assistant on an abolitionist (antislavery) newspaper called the Northern Indianan. Two years later, his parents scraped together enough money to enroll him in the Kentucky Military Institute. A year later he moved to Elkhart, Indiana, where he worked as a saloon bartender.

Bierce’s wartime experiences In early 1861, America was torn in two by the Civil War. The nation’s Northern and Southern states had long been angry with one another over a wide range of issues. The issue that most divided the two sides was slavery. Many Northerners felt slavery was wrong and wanted to abolish it. But the culture and economy of the South were closely linked to slavery, and Southerners resented Northern efforts to end the practice. The two sides finally went to war when the Southern states tried to secede from (leave) the Union and form their own country. When the Civil War started, Bierce immediately volunteered to join the Union Army. His enlistment was due in part to the antislavery beliefs that his family had instilled in him. But Bierce also joined the army because he wanted to escape from the rural environment in which he had always lived. He became a private in Company C of the Ninth Indiana Volunteers in April 1861 and remained in the Union Army until January 1865, when he resigned as a lieutenant. He spent much of this period under the command of General W. B. Hazen (1830–1887), a tough officer for whom Bierce developed a great admiration. During his service in the Civil War, Bierce experienced combat many times. In fact, he took part in a number of the war’s worst battles, including Shiloh in Tennessee (April 1862) and Chickamauga in northwestern Georgia (September 1863). He fought well in these and other clashes, but fellow soldiers later said that his bravery sometimes bordered on recklessness. In June 1864, Bierce received a serious bullet wound to the head during a fierce battle at Kennesaw Moun22


tain, Georgia. He recovered from the injury and returned to active military duty, only to be captured by Confederate soldiers. Bierce managed to escape from his captors, though. He slipped into the woods and slogged back to the Union Army, keeping one step ahead of his pursuers.

Exploring and writing In January 1865, Bierce’s application for a discharge from the Union military was approved. A few months later, Northern forces secured total victory over the South, formally ending the war. In the months immediately after the war ended, Bierce worked for the U.S. Treasury Department in Alabama. He helped the U.S. government confiscate (take possession of) property that previously had been owned by Confederate leaders. Bierce’s duties in Alabama made him very unpopular with local communities, and he began looking for another job. In the summer of 1866, he accepted an offer from W. B. Hazen, his old army commander, to accompany him on a small army expedition into the western territories. The fourman expedition traveled through remote wilderness all the way to San Francisco, California. Upon reaching the city, however, Bierce resigned from the military when he learned that his request to be commissioned as a captain had been denied (several years later, he received the brevet [honorary] rank of major in recognition of his Civil War service). Within months of arriving in San Francisco, Bierce began writing for area newspapers. He soon became the editor for the city’s News-Letter. But he became even better known for his essays and editorials on the issues and individuals shaping California at that time. His sarcastic writing style and willingness to criticize powerful politicians and businessmen soon made him the state’s most controversial writer. In fact, people often referred to him as “the best-hated and bestloved man in California.”

Bierce’s Civil War stories Bierce spent almost thirty years as a columnist for various San Francisco newspapers, including the Argonaut, the Ambrose Bierce

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Wasp, and the San Francisco Examiner. In 1871, he married Mollie Day, with whom he had two sons. A year later he moved to London, England, where his savagely witty newspaper columns made him a celebrity. After four years in Europe, though, he returned to San Francisco, where he resumed his journalism career. In the 1890s, Bierce expanded his literary output by publishing a number of novels and short stories. The best known of these works was Tales of Soldiers and Civilians, published in 1891. This collection of short stories about the Civil War made Bierce even more famous. It included several powerful tales about the horrors of war. The best known of these stories is probably “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,” which tells about a soldier who is about to be executed by enemy troops. But other selections like “Chickamauga,” “One of the Missing,” and “A Son of the Gods” also received significant critical and popular praise. Today, “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” and other Bierce stories continue to be included in many American short story anthologies [collections of stories, poems, or other writings]. Bierce freely admitted that his Civil War experiences had a big impact on his views of the world around him. The war’s bloody violence and shocking casualties made him naturally suspicious of political and military leaders, and the sights and sounds of combat haunted his thoughts for the rest of his life. Years after the war had concluded, Bierce stated that “To this day I cannot look over a landscape without noting the advantages of the ground for attack or defense. I never hear a rifle-shot without [experiencing] a thrill in my veins. I never catch the peculiar odor of gunpowder without having visions of the dead and dying.”

Leaves California In the late 1890s, Bierce’s reputation as one of the West’s leading journalists and writers began to fade. He watched with anger and envy as other writers became more famous, even though many of them had less talent. He became particularly envious of Stephen Crane, whose 1895 Civil War novel The Red Badge of Courage received a level of 24


Stephen Crane’s The Red Badge of Courage The most famous Civil War book of all time is The Red Badge of Courage, by Stephen Crane (1871–1900). Crane, however, never experienced the Civil War firsthand. In fact, he was born six years after the conflict ended. Nonetheless, his realistic novel about a young soldier who overcomes his fears to fight bravely continues to be regarded as the best work of American literature about the Civil War. It also influenced the style of American writing for years to follow. A native of Newark, New Jersey, Crane knew that he wanted to be a writer from a young age. His first novel, Maggie: A Girl of the Streets (1893) was not popular. But The Red Badge of Courage made Crane famous all across America, as readers rushed to buy his amazingly realistic Civil War tale. Eager to make use of Crane’s notoriety (fame) and writing ability, several newspaper publishers subsequently hired him as a war correspondent. Crane spent the next few years reporting on wars in

Stephen Crane. (Courtesy of the Library of Congress.)

Cuba and Greece, even as he continued to write short stories and other fiction. In 1900, however, his life was cut short by tuberculosis, a disease that attacks the lungs and bones of its victims. A complete collection of Crane’s prose and verse writings was published in 1925.

popular and critical acclaim that overshadowed Bierce’s own war stories. In 1900, Bierce left his longtime home outside San Francisco and became a political reporter in Washington, D.C. In 1906, he published a collection of sarcastic and satirical (using bitter humor to comment on human failings) definitions called The Devil’s Dictionary. A multivolume collection of his essays, poetry, and other writings appeared over the following few years, too. Despite his best efforts, however, he Ambrose Bierce

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never managed to regain the fame and influence he enjoyed in the 1880s and early 1890s. By 1912, Bierce had grown weary of newspaper writing and life in Washington, D.C. He decided to leave his columnist position behind and travel to Mexico, where government and rebel forces were engaged in a bitter struggle for control of the country. “This fighting in Mexico interests me,” Bierce told one friend. “If you should hear of my being stood up against a Mexican stone wall and shot to rags please know that I think it is a pretty good way to depart this life. It beats old age, disease or falling down the cellar stairs.” Bierce left for Mexico in 1913. In late December of that year he sent a letter to his secretary indicating that he was traveling with an army led by Pancho Villa (1878–1923), a Mexican rebel leader fighting to topple the country’s authoritarian government (a government that demands absolute obedience from its citizens). He was never heard from again. Most historians believe that he died within months of writing that last letter, but no one really knows where or when Bierce died.

Where to Learn More Ambrose Bierce (1814–1914?). [Online] http://www.creative.net~alang/lit/ horror/abierce.sht (accessed on October 8, 1999). The Ambrose Bierce Appreciation Society. [Online] http://idt.net/~damone/ gbierce.html (accessed on October 8, 1999). Bierce, Ambrose. Ambrose Bierce’s Civil War. Edited by William McCann. Chicago: Regnery, 1956. Reprint, New York: Wings Books, 1996. Morris, Roy. Ambrose Bierce: Alone in Bad Company. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998. Wiggins, Robert A. Ambrose Bierce. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1964.

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John Wilkes Booth Born May 10, 1838 Bel Air, Maryland Died April 26, 1865 Port Royal, Virginia Stage actor and Southern sympathizer who assassinated President Abraham Lincoln

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ohn Wilkes Booth was a fanatical supporter of the Confederate cause during the Civil War. On April 14, 1865—as people throughout the North celebrated the end of the conflict—Booth made a deranged (insane) attempt to strike one final blow for the South. He shot Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865; see entry) as the president sat watching a play at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C. Lincoln died the following day. Although Booth and his accomplices (partners in crime) were soon captured, the assassination sent shock waves through the country. Lincoln’s violent death made it much more difficult for the North and South to resolve their differences after the war.

“Sic semper tyrannis! [Thus always to tyrants!]”

Supports the South in the Civil War John Wilkes Booth was born in Maryland in 1838. His father, Junius Brutus Booth (1796–1852), was the leading Shakespearean actor in the country at that time. His brother, Edwin Booth (1833–1893), became a well-known actor as

John Wilkes Booth. (Courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration.) 27

well. John made a good living as an actor, but he never received the attention he felt he deserved. By the time Booth reached his twenties, growing political tension in the United States had erupted into war. The Northern and Southern halves of the country had been arguing about a number of issues for many years. The most important of these issues was slavery. Many Northerners believed that slavery was wrong. They wanted the Federal government to take steps to outlaw slavery or at least keep it from spreading beyond the Southern states where it was already allowed. But slavery played an important role in the Southern economy and culture. Many Southerners resented Northern attempts to contain slavery. They felt that each state should decide for itself whether to allow the practice. They did not want the Federal government to pass laws that would interfere with their traditional way of life. When the Civil War broke out in 1861, Booth’s home state of Maryland remained part of the United States. It was one of four “border states” that allowed slavery, yet decided not to secede from (leave) the Union with the slaveholding states of the South. As a result, the people of Maryland had divided loyalties during the war. Booth’s family tended to support the Union cause. But Booth himself believed in slavery because he thought that black people were inferior to white people. For this reason, he became a supporter of the Confederate cause.

Devises schemes to help the Confederacy Despite his devotion to the South, Booth never volunteered to fight in the Confederate Army. It appeared that he was afraid to become a soldier, and that this fear embarrassed him. “I have begun to deem [believe] myself a coward, and to despise my own existence,” he wrote in his diary. As a result, Booth started to dream of new ways to help the Confederacy. He wanted to do something important so that his name would live in history. At the same time, he developed an intense hatred of President Abraham Lincoln. In his unbalanced mind, Booth viewed Lincoln as a tyrant who was responsible for all of the country’s troubles. He came up with a variety of schemes to harm the president. As Bruce Catton explained in The American Heritage New History of the Civil War, 28


Booth was “driven by an insane compulsion [impulse] of hatred and perverted loyalty to a cause which he had never felt obliged [required] to fight for as a soldier.” In 1861, shortly before Lincoln was inaugurated (sworn in) as president, Booth devised a plan to kidnap him. The plan failed when the president’s travel plans changed unexpectedly. As the Civil War raged over the next few years, Booth formed a small band of anti-Union conspirators. They came up with several schemes to kidnap Lincoln, take him to the Confederate capital in Richmond, Virginia, and use him to negotiate an end to the war that favored the South. But all of these plans eventually fell apart. When Confederate general Robert E. Lee (1807–1870; see entry) surrendered in April 1865 to end the Civil War, Booth realized that kidnaping the president would serve no purpose. Instead, he decided to kill Lincoln and several other important members of the government, including Vice President Andrew Johnson (1808–1875; see entry), Secretary of State William Henry Seward (1801–1872; see entry), and General Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885; see entry). Booth thought that the Confederacy might survive if he killed the Union leaders. He also thought that he would be hailed as a hero throughout the South.

Booth assassinates President Lincoln Booth and his helpers decided to put their plan into effect on April 14. That night, the president and his wife attended a play at Ford’s Theatre in Washington called Our American Cousin. The Lincolns were joined in their fine balcony seats by Major Henry R. Rathbone and his fiancée, Clara Harris. Midway through the play, Booth slipped into the rear of the president’s box in the theater. He then withdrew a oneshot pistol called a derringer from his jacket and shot Lincoln in the back of the head. Major Rathbone leaped to his feet to stop the assassin, but Booth slashed the officer with a knife. He then jumped out of the balcony and landed on the stage below. Although he broke his leg in the fall, he still managed to get to his feet. Booth shouted “Sic semper tyrannis” (a Latin phrase meaning “Thus John Wilkes Booth

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A poster offers a reward for the capture of John Wilkes Booth. (Courtesy of the Library of Congress.) 30


always to tyrants”) to the stunned audience, limped off the stage to the rear of the theater, and escaped on a waiting horse. In the meantime, doctors in the audience rushed to Lincoln’s aid. They carried him to a boarding house across the street from the theater, but found that they could do nothing to help him. The president died early the next morning. Most of the rest of Booth’s plan collapsed, and the attacks on Johnson and Grant never took place. But one of his accomplices attacked Secretary Seward in his bedroom at the same time that Booth was attacking Lincoln. Seward suffered numerous knife wounds, but managed to hold off his attacker until the man fled into the night. He eventually recovered from his injuries.

A wood engraving shows the capture and death of John Wilkes Booth in a burning Virginia barn. (Courtesy of Corbis Corporation.)

The assassin is captured and killed Booth rode through the night until he reached the farmhouse of Dr. Samuel Mudd. Mudd set Booth’s broken leg John Wilkes Booth

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for him, but later claimed that he had not known the identity of the assassin. With the help of fellow conspirator David E. Herold, Booth escaped south to Virginia. But Federal soldiers eventually tracked the two men to a tobacco barn near Port Royal. On April 26, the soldiers surrounded the barn and demanded that the men surrender. Herold gave himself up, but Booth refused. The soldiers then set fire to the barn in order to force the assassin out. Booth died of a gunshot wound while still inside the barn, but it remains uncertain whether he shot himself or whether one of the soldiers shot him. The United States entered into a period of mourning after Lincoln’s death. People in the North who had been celebrating the end of the Civil War suddenly plunged into a mood of deep anger and sadness. Some people questioned whether the assassination had been a conspiracy waged by Southern leaders, including Confederate president Jefferson Davis (1808–1889; see entry). A government commission investigated the matter, but the evidence suggested that Booth and his gang had acted on their own, without the knowledge of Confederate leaders. Within a few weeks of Booth’s death, eight other alleged (accused) participants in the assassination plot were captured and put on trial. All eight were convicted of being involved in the plan to kill Lincoln, and four of them were hanged—Mary E. Surratt, Lewis Paine, David E. Herold, and George A. Atzerodt. Three others were sentenced to life in prison, but they were pardoned (granted official forgiveness and released from further punishment) in 1869. (One of those was Samuel A. Mudd [1833–1883], the physician who treated Booth’s injured leg but claimed to have no knowledge of either Lincoln’s death or of Booth’s involvement in the president’s assassination.) The eighth person was sentenced to six years for helping Booth escape from Ford’s Theatre.

Assassination ends up harming the South Booth died thinking that he had helped the South by killing Lincoln. But historians point out that this was not really the case. “Confused motives had thronged [crowded into] Booth’s cloudy mind, but one stood out with something resembling clarity. He thought that by removing Lincoln he 32


was in some way helping his defeated South. He had not, of course, helped the South at all; he had in fact hurt it,” T. Harry Williams wrote in The Union Restored. “By his act Booth had damaged the hopes of the entire nation for an easy ‘reconstruction’ [the period immediately after the Civil War, when the United States struggled to resolve its differences and readmit the Southern states to the Union]. . . . Booth had shot the one man who might have provided the leadership needed so urgently at this unique moment in history.” Lincoln believed that the country could never be whole again unless the South was welcomed back with open arms. He wanted to give the Southern states significant control over their own affairs and help them rebuild their ruined cities and farmlands. At his second inauguration a few weeks before his death, the president had expressed his desire to act with “malice toward none; with charity for all . . . to bind up the nation’s wounds” and “to achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves.” After Lincoln’s death, power in the U.S. government shifted to lawmakers who were determined to punish the South for the war and for the loss of their leader. Vice President Johnson assumed the presidency following Lincoln’s assassination, and both he and leaders in Congress indicated that their Reconstruction policies toward the South would be very stern. The nation struggled to resolve its differences for many years.

Where to Learn More Abraham Lincoln’s Assassination. [Online] http://members.aol.com/RVS Norton/Lincoln.html (accessed on October 8, 1999). Assassination of President Lincoln and the Trial of the Assassins. [Online] http://www.tiac.net/users/ime/famtree/burnett/lincoln.htm (accessed on October 8, 1999). Clarke, Asia Booth. John Wilkes Booth: A Sister’s Memoir. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1996. Dr. Samuel A. Mudd Society, Inc. Dr. Samuel A. Mudd House Museum Home Page. [Online] http://www.somd.lib.md.us/MUSEUMS/Mudd.htm (accessed on October 8, 1999). Furtwangler, Albert. Assassin on Stage. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1991. John Wilkes Booth

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Jakoubek, Robert. The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Brookfield, CT: Millbrook Press, 1993. January, Brendan. The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln. New York: Children’s Press, 1998. National Park Service. Ford’s Theatre National Historic Site. [Online] http://www.nps.gov/foth/index2.htm (accessed on October 8, 1999). Nottingham, Theodore J. The Curse of Cain: The Untold Story of John Wilkes Booth. Nicholasville, KY: Appaloosa Press, 1997. Surratt Society. Surratt House Museum. [Online] http://www.surratt.org/ (accessed on October 8, 1999).

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Belle Boyd Born 1843 or 1844 Martinsburg, Virginia (now West Virginia) Died 1900 Kilborn, Wisconsin Confederate spy known as “Cleopatra of the Secession”

B

elle Boyd was one of the most famous Confederate spies of the Civil War, but not necessarily one of the most successful. She carried information to Confederate general Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson (1824–1863; see entry) that helped him win battles in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley in 1862. But Boyd loved the thrills of spying and basked in the attention she received as a spy. As a result, she became less effective over time and eventually lost much of her value to the Confederate cause.

Belle Boyd was a daring and flamboyant young woman who enjoyed the thrill of spying for the Confederacy.

Home state changes loyalties Belle Boyd was born in Martinsburg, Virginia, in 1843. This was a time of great political tension in the United States. For years, the North and the South had been arguing over several issues, including slavery. By 1861, this ongoing dispute had convinced several Southern states to secede from (leave) the United States and attempt to form a new country that allowed slavery, called the Confederate States of America. Boyd’s home state of Virginia was one of the Southern

Belle Boyd. (Reproduced by permission of CorbisBettmann.) 35

states that decided to join the Confederacy. But Northern political leaders were determined to keep the Southern states in the Union. The two sides soon went to war. Some of the earliest fighting of the Civil War took place in the western part of Virginia. Many people in this mountainous region remained loyal to the Union despite Virginia’s decision to secede. They felt they had more in common with the neighboring free states of Pennsylvania and Ohio than with the slave economy of the eastern part of Virginia. By June 1861, Union loyalists in western Virginia were trying to form a new state that would separate from Virginia and rejoin the Union. Boyd’s hometown of Martinsburg eventually became part of this new state of West Virginia. Of course, not all residents of western Virginia were loyal to the Union. Boyd and her family continued to support the Confederacy, even after Union forces moved into the area where they lived. Boyd expressed her pro-Confederate feelings in a dramatic and violent way. On July 4, 1861, a Union soldier came to her family’s house to replace their Confederate flag with a U.S. flag. Boyd shot the soldier, and he later died of his wounds. She was put on trial for the crime, but received only minor punishment.

Boyd becomes a spy for the Confederacy Before long, Boyd decided to help the Confederate cause by acting as a spy. As an attractive young woman, she figured she could get close to Union soldiers in the area, obtain information about their troop strength and military strategies, and take that information to the Confederate forces. She ran her spying operations out of her parents’ hotel in Martinsburg, in the Shenandoah Valley. In March 1862, General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson entered the Shenandoah Valley with eight thousand Confederate troops. Over the next three months, he roamed across the region in a dazzling display that thoroughly baffled his Union Army counterparts. On several occasions, Jackson’s army defeated much larger Union forces in battle. At other times, he and his troops seemed to melt into the valleys and woodlands of the Shenandoah region, frustrating pursuing Union armies. 36


Part of what allowed Jackson to avoid capture was information he received from local Confederate supporters. Boyd was one of the most valuable sources of information. At one point, she found out that the Union forces planned to surround Jackson’s army and take the general prisoner. She rode fifteen miles to Jackson’s camp and delivered this information to his staff personally. Another time, Boyd learned that three Union generals were combining forces against Jackson. During the heat of battle, she ran across from the Union lines to the Confederate lines to carry this information to the Southern leader. According to legend, she had bullet holes in the hoops of her skirt but was not hurt. After Confederate forces won the battle, Jackson thanked Boyd personally and made her an honorary member of his staff.

Arrest and exile On July 29, 1862, at the age of nineteen, Boyd was arrested for spying against the United States. She was taken to the Old Capitol Prison in Washington, D.C. Even after she was caught, Boyd continued to express her strong support for the Confederate cause. She waved a Confederate flag out the window of the train that carried her to prison, and while there she was often heard singing the Southern song “Dixie” at the top of her lungs. Within a few months, Boyd was released and allowed to return to the South as part of a prisoner exchange. (In the early war years, the North and the South regularly exchanged the people they had captured for their own people who were held by the other side.)

According to legend, Belle Boyd had bullet holes in the hoops of her skirt. (Courtesy of Corbis Corporation.)

Boyd spent some time in hiding with relatives in the South. When she returned to Martinsburg in June 1863, she was again arrested as a spy. She spent six more months in prison, then was released because she was suffering from the Belle Boyd

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disease typhoid. Knowing that she would return to spying when she regained her health, Union officials deported her (forced her to leave the country). She spent a few months in exile in England, then attempted to return to the United States on a Confederate supply ship. But the ship was captured, and Boyd was taken prisoner on a Union ship. Boyd fell in love with the Union soldier in charge of prisoners on the ship, Lieutenant Samuel Wylde Hardinge. As a result of their relationship, Hardinge was charged with aiding a Confederate spy, forced to leave the Union Navy, and put in prison. Meanwhile, Boyd was sent back to England, where she became a celebrity. She appeared on stage, telling dramatic stories about her life as a spy, and even wrote a book about her experiences, Belle Boyd in Camp and Prison. Hardinge joined Boyd in England after his release from prison. Their wedding in August 1864 was a huge social event. But Boyd soon convinced her husband to return to the United States as a Confederate spy. He was captured and died in prison, leaving her a widow at the age of twenty-one.

Turns spy life into a stage career After the Civil War ended in 1865, Boyd returned to the United States. She continued her stage career for many years. She seemed to enjoy the attention she attracted as a former spy. In fact, she often used the titles “Cleopatra of the Secession” and “Siren of the Shenandoah” in her stage shows. Boyd married two more times over the years. She died in 1900 while making a public appearance in Kilborn, Wisconsin. The Women’s Auxiliary of the Grand Army of the Confederacy paid for her burial there. Although Boyd became famous as a Confederate spy, her fame actually made her much less effective in her work. Most other spies worked behind the scenes and tried not to show their true loyalties or attract unnecessary attention to themselves. But Boyd was a daring and flamboyant (flashy) young woman who enjoyed the thrill of spying. She carried valuable tactical (military) intelligence to Stonewall Jackson during his campaign in the Shenandoah Valley, but lost her value to the Confederacy as her fame grew. 38


Where to Learn More Belle Boyd House. [Online] www.travelwv.com/bellepic.htm (accessed on October 8, 1999). Boyd, Belle. Belle Boyd in Camp and Prison. New York: Blelock, 1865. Reprint, Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1998. Markle, Donald E. Spies and Spymasters of the Civil War. New York: Hippocrene Books, 1994. Scarborough, Ruth. Belle Boyd: Siren of the South. Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 1983.

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Mathew Brady Born 1822 or 1823 Warren County, New York Died January 15, 1896 New York City, New York Civil War photographer His studio produced many of the war’s most famous photographs

M

athew Brady is the most famous of the many American photographers who documented the Civil War in pictures. He did not personally take many of the photographs that made him famous. Instead, failing eyesight forced him to hire teams of photographers to take care of the actual camera work. But it was Brady who led the effort to use photography as a way of recording the events of the Civil War for future generations. “[Mathew Brady] would serve history and country,” wrote Carl Sandburg in The Photographs of Abraham Lincoln. “He would prove what photography could do by telling what neither the tongues nor the letters of soldiers could tell of troops in camp, on the march, or mute and bullet-riddled on the ground.”

“[Mathew Brady proved] what photography could do by telling what neither the tongues nor the letters of soldiers could tell of troops in camp, on the march, or mute and bullet-riddled on the ground.” Carl Sandburg

Child of immigrants Mathew Brady was born around 1823 to Irish immigrants who settled in New York state in the early 1820s. The youngest of five children, Brady spent his early years working on the family farm. It was during his midteens that Brady

Mathew Brady. (Courtesy of the Library of Congress.) 41

first began to suffer from problems with his eyesight. This condition became steadily worse as he grew older. In 1839, Brady moved to New York City, where he worked as a department store clerk. He spent much of his free time, however, learning about the fascinating new world of photography. Over the previous few years, the discoveries of inventors Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre (1789–1851) and Samuel F. B. Morse (1791–1872) had made it possible to take the first photographs. The process of creating these early photographs—called daguerreotypes in honor of Louis Daguerre—was very primitive. For example, cameras were far too heavy to be held by hand, photographic subjects had to remain still for fifteen seconds or more to avoid looking blurry, and processing of pictures required cumbersome (difficult to handle) chemicals and equipment.

Master of photography Despite these factors, however, people viewed photography as an exciting new invention. Determined to build a career out of this new technology, Brady studied how to be a photographer and opened his own studio in New York in 1844. The high quality of his work quickly attracted attention around the city. In 1845, he won two first prizes in a daguerreotype competition held by the American Institute of the City of New York. A year later the magazine Spirit of the Times hailed his photography as “brilliantly clear and beautiful.” By the late 1840s, Brady’s reputation for excellence had made him the preferred portrait photographer of the rich and famous. His subjects ranged from politicians like President Martin Van Buren (1782–1862) and Senator John Calhoun (1782–1850) to such celebrities as writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849) and circus showman Phineas T. Barnum (1810–1891). In 1851, Brady published a book of photographs called Gallery of Illustrious Americans that further cemented his reputation as one of the nation’s master photographers. He also married Julia Handy, the daughter of a prominent Maryland lawyer, around this time. In 1853, Brady opened a new studio in New York, even though his eyesight had become so bad that he rarely 42


took photographs himself. Instead, he relied on talented assistants to take portraits and other pictures. In 1856, Brady hired Alexander Gardner (1821–1882) to work for him. Gardner proved to be a valuable employee. A talented and well-educated photographic artist, he assisted Brady as he made the transition from daguerreotype to the wet-plate process, a new photographic technology that used negatives to produce multiple copies of pictures. This process became the basis for all modern photography. In the late 1850s, Brady decided to open another studio in Washington. But instead of managing the new studio—called the National Photographic Art Gallery—himself, he remained in New York and sent Gardner to manage it. Gardner managed the new studio with great skill. He and other photographers in the Washington studio took all the pictures that were produced there, but Brady still insisted that all of the photos be credited to him. This rule also was applied in Brady’s New York studio. This policy gave people the false impression that Brady was the one who was taking all the great photographs produced in his studios, and it eventually caused bitter splits between the studio owner and some of his most talented camera operators.

Brady and Lincoln In 1860, Brady’s studio took several portraits of Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865; see entry) that were used in his presidential campaign. The two men established a friendly relationship. After Lincoln won the 1860 election, Brady and his assistants received special status as semiofficial photographers to the White House. In addition to taking pictures of Lincoln’s family, friends, and cabinet members, they also took many portraits of the president himself. Alexander Gardner alone took more than thirty photographs of Lincoln during his presidency. When the Civil War between the North and South began in April 1861, Brady’s studios were flooded with Northern soldiers who wanted to leave pictures with their loved ones before heading off to war. Brady was inspired by the sight of these young men in uniform. He believed that photographs could provide a powerful historical record of the Mathew Brady

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conflict. As a result, Brady decided that he wanted to accompany the Union Army as it marched against the soldiers of the Confederacy. “A spirit in my feet said, ‘Go!’ and I went,” Brady later said. First, Brady obtained permission from Lincoln to accompany Union troops into the field. He then worked with his assistants to address the many challenges of taking photographs outside of a studio setting. The photographers eventually modified a wagon so that it could serve as a sort of portable darkroom, complete with shelves and drawers for photographic chemicals, lenses, cameras, and other equipment.

Brady at the First Battle of Bull Run In July 1861, Brady and a team of assistants accompanied a Union army led by General Irvin McDowell (1818– 1885) as it marched out of Washington. Their destination was a small village in Virginia called Manassas, located about thirty miles southwest of the capital, where a Confederate army had gathered. Many Northerners assumed that the Civil War would be over in a matter of a few months. They believed that Union forces were vastly superior to the Confederate Army. As a result, they viewed the upcoming battle at Manassas as a certain victory that would begin the process of restoring the rebellious Confederate states to the Union. Northern confidence in victory was so high that hundreds of Washingtonians packed up picnic baskets and followed the Union troops to Manassas as if they were going to a show. But when the Union and Confederate armies met at Manassas in the first major battle of the Civil War, the Southern army registered a decisive victory. The battle—known in the North as the First Battle of Bull Run in recognition of nearby Bull Run Creek—ended in a disastrous retreat for the North, as soldiers and civilians alike fled back to Washington in a frightened herd. Brady’s cameramen took some pictures of the chaotic scene, but all of their pictures were ruined when the panicked crowd knocked his wagon over. 44


Antietam photographs shock the North Brady’s first journey onto the battlefield had not gone as he had hoped. But his determination to produce a photographic record of the war remained strong. As Northerners adjusted to the reality that the war might last for quite awhile, Brady organized his photographers into twoman teams that accompanied Union armies all around the country. One of these teams, comprised of Alexander Gardner and James Gibson, accompanied the Union army commanded by General George B. McClellan (1826–1885; see entry) when it clashed in September 1862 with a large rebel force led by Confederate general Robert E. Lee (1807–1870; see entry). This one-day struggle along Antietam Creek outside of Sharpsburg, Maryland, produced more than twenty-six thousand casualties, making it the single bloodiest day in American military history. The Battle of Antietam (known in the South as the Battle of Sharpsburg) forced Lee to discard his plans to invade the North. Instead, he retreated back into Virginia to regroup. In the meantime, Gardner and Gibson wandered over the Antietam battlefield. Their photographs of the dead soldiers who lay scattered across the countryside provided vivid evidence of the toll that the war was taking on both sides.

A Mathew Brady photograph shows two dead soldiers lying in a ravine. (Courtesy of the Library of Congress.)

When Brady saw the photographs that Gardner and Gibson had taken, he immediately made plans to exhibit them at his studio in New York. The photographs created excitement throughout the city. Citizens rushed to the gallery to see the horrible but powerful pictures for themselves. “Mr. Mathew Brady has done something to bring us the terrible reality and earnestness of the war,” commented the New York Times. “If he Mathew Brady

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has not brought bodies and laid them in our dooryards and along our streets, he has done something very like it.”

Brady struggles with mounting debts Shortly after taking the photographs at Antietam, Gardner left Brady and started his own studio. Gardner had argued with Brady over business issues for some time. In addition, he was tired of giving credit to Brady for photographs that he himself had taken. Gardner’s departure proved to be a major blow to Brady. His studios suffered financially in Gardner’s absence, and his former assistant quickly emerged as a major competitor. In fact, Gardner was commonly viewed as Washington’s leading photographer by the end of the Civil War. By 1864, Brady’s studios were in serious financial trouble. His photographers continued to follow Union armies as they marched across the South, but the cost of outfitting his teams of photographers was huge. In addition, Brady overestimated the money he could make on his Civil War photographs. Demand for his photographs increased somewhat after the Confederacy surrendered in the spring of 1865, but the increased income was not enough to cover his many debts. In 1868, Brady was forced to declare bankruptcy. Despite his financial problems, Brady managed to reopen a modest studio in Washington. In 1875, Brady received a financial boost when the U.S. government agreed to purchase many of the photographs that his studios had accumulated during the war. His reputation as a portrait photographer also brought him a steady income for several years. Famous figures like women’s rights advocate Susan B. Anthony (1820–1906), inventor Thomas Edison (1847–1931), and Supreme Court Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase (1808–1873) all traveled to Brady’s studio for portraits during the 1870s. But growing health problems and financial difficulties finally forced Brady to close his studio in 1881. During the last fifteen years of his life, Brady scraped together a living from occasional photography work. His wife died in 1887, but he remained in Washington rather than return to his native New York. One woman who knew Brady during this period described him as a “sad little man.” Brady 46


entertained the woman with “tales of his glory days as the prince of New York photographer and his exploits during the Civil War,” wrote George Sullivan in Mathew Brady: His Life and Photographs. “[But] he also complained to her of his financial woes, his poor health, and loneliness, which had deepened since the death of his wife.” In the mid-1890s, Brady returned to New York, where he moved into a small apartment. In 1895, a Civil War veterans’ group asked Brady to prepare a retrospective (review of past work) of his wartime photographs for display at New York’s Carnegie Hall. The honor excited Brady, who had become a largely forgotten figure. But in late 1895, he was hospitalized with kidney problems. Brady died on January 15, 1896, two weeks before his scheduled exhibition at Carnegie Hall. By the time Brady died, most Americans had forgotten how important his activities were in creating a photographic record of the Civil War. Today, however, many of the photographs produced by Brady and his assistants rank among the most famous in American history. Many of them are used in history books about the war, and they form one of the most highly prized collections in the Library of Congress.

Where to Learn More Hoobler, Dorothy, and Thomas Hoobler. Photographing History: The Career of Mathew Brady. New York: Putnam, 1977. Kunhardt, Dorothy Meserve, and Philip B. Kunhardt, Jr. Mathew Brady and His World. Alexandria, VA: Time-Life Books, 1977. National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution. Mathew Brady’s Portraits. [Online] http://www.npg.si.edu/exh/brady/index2.html (accessed on October 8, 1999). Panzer, Mary. Mathew Brady and the Image of History. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1997. Sullivan, George. Mathew Brady: His Life and Photographs. New York: Cobblehill Books, 1994. Van Steenwyk, Elizabeth. Mathew Brady: Civil War Photographer. Danbury, CT: Franklin Watts, 1997.

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Braxton Bragg Born March 22, 1817 Warrenton, North Carolina Died September 27, 1876 Galveston, Texas Confederate general Was victorious at Battle of Chickamauga but failed in two other campaigns in 1862 and 1863

G

eneral Braxton Bragg was one of the most controversial generals in the Confederate Army. In September 1863, Bragg guided the South’s Army of Tennessee to victory in the Battle of Chickamauga. This was the Confederacy’s only major triumph in the western theater (the region of the country between the Mississippi River and the Appalachian Mountains) during the entire Civil War. Despite this victory, however, the general is better known for his failures as commander of the Army of Tennessee. During the eighteen months that he led that army, Bragg’s stormy relationship with subordinate (lower-ranking) officers greatly reduced its effectiveness. In fact, his unpopularity with his own troops is often cited as a factor in the failure of two major offensive campaigns he undertook in 1862 and 1863.

“[Bragg] loved to crush the spirit of his men. The more of a hang-dog look they had about them, the better was General Bragg pleased. Not a single soldier in the whole army ever loved or respected him.” Soldier Sam Watkins

A life in the military Braxton Bragg was born in 1817 in North Carolina to a wealthy planter. When Bragg was a teenager, his father managed to arrange his enrollment in the U.S. Military Acad-

Braxton Bragg. (Courtesy of Corbis Corporation.) 49

emy at West Point, the nation’s premier military school. He entered West Point at the age of sixteen and established himself as a top cadet. He graduated in 1837, ranking fifth in a class of fifty students. After graduating from West Point, Bragg entered the U.S. Army. He became known as an intelligent and efficient officer, but also gained a reputation for being argumentative and stubborn. One of his first military assignments took him to Florida, where he fought in the Seminole Wars (1835–42). This clash between the U.S. government and the Seminole Indians eventually pushed the tribe out of Florida and onto reservations in Oklahoma. In the late 1840s, Bragg served with great distinction in the Mexican War (1846–48), a struggle between Mexico and the United States over possession of the vast territories in the American West. In 1848, U.S. military victories forced Mexico to give up its claims on California, New Mexico, and other lands in the West in exchange for $15 million. In 1849, Bragg returned to the eastern United States and married Eliza Brooks Ellis, the daughter of a wealthy Louisiana plantation owner. He remained in the military until 1856, when he resigned at the rank of lieutenant colonel. He then settled in his wife’s home state of Louisiana and became a wealthy planter himself.

Devoted to the Confederate cause Bragg’s comfortable life in Louisiana came to an end in early 1861, when America’s Northern and Southern sections went to war. These regions had been angry with one another for years over the continued existence of slavery in America. The Northern states felt that slavery was immoral and wanted to abolish (completely get rid of) it. The South, however, wanted to keep slavery because many of its economic and social institutions had been built on the practice. In addition, Southerners argued that individual states had the constitutional right to disregard Federal laws that they did not like. This belief in “states’ rights” further increased the divisions between the two sides. As Northern calls to make slavery illegal grew louder, Southerners became increasingly resentful and defensive. The two sides finally went to war in 50


early 1861 when the Southern states tried to secede from (leave) the Union and form their own country that allowed slavery, called the Confederate States of America. When the Civil War began, Bragg immediately volunteered his services to the Confederacy. He strongly believed in the theory of states’ rights. He also felt a great loyalty to his adopted home state of Louisiana, which voted to join the Confederacy in January 1861. When Confederate leaders learned of Bragg’s decision to fight on the side of the South, they wasted no time in appointing the veteran soldier to a position of responsibility. He was made a brigadier general and ordered to Pensacola, Florida, where he trained volunteer soldiers for the upcoming war. Bragg’s skill at turning inexperienced recruits into disciplined soldiers attracted a good deal of attention. In September 1861, he was promoted to major general by Confederate president Jefferson Davis (1808–1889; see entry), even though the two men had clashed in the 1850s over various military issues. A month later, Bragg was assigned command of Confederate troops in western Florida and all of Alabama.

Takes command of Army of Tennessee In February 1862, Bragg joined the Army of Mississippi, led by General Albert S. Johnston (1803–1862), as chief of staff and corps commander. Two months later, he commanded a major part of the Confederate force at the Battle of Shiloh in Tennessee. Union general Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885; see entry) barely avoided a catastrophic defeat in this clash, which claimed the life of Johnston. In recognition of his performance at Shiloh, Bragg was promoted to full general on April 12, 1862. Several weeks later, the Army of Mississippi’s new commander, Pierre G. T. Beauregard (1818–1893; see entry), took an unauthorized medical leave. President Davis promptly removed Beauregard from command and appointed Bragg—whom he had come to trust—to lead the army. Upon taking command, Bragg devised a plan to invade Kentucky. Kentucky was one of four “border states” that allowed slavery but remained part of the Union. The invasion Braxton Bragg

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was successful in its early stages, as Bragg skillfully moved his troops through Tennessee and into Kentucky. In the fall of 1862, though, Bragg’s campaign faltered. On October 8, Union forces under the direction of General Don Carlos Buell (1818–1898) stopped Bragg’s army at Perryville, Kentucky. The Confederate general retreated back to Tennessee, where he was hit with heavy criticism. Political enemies of President Davis offered particularly harsh words of disapproval about Bragg’s failed invasion. Some even suggested that Bragg had been given command of the army (which was now known as the Army of Tennessee) only because he was friendly with Davis. These critics hoped that attacks on Bragg might also hurt Davis, whom they wanted to replace. “You have the misfortune of being regarded as my personal friend,” Davis wrote to Bragg. “And are pursued therefore with malignant censure [evil insults] by men regardless of truth and whose want [lack] of principle to guide their conduct renders them incapable of conceiving that you are trusted because of your known fitness for command, and not because of friendly regard.”

Chickamauga At the end of 1862, Bragg’s army was tested again when the Union’s Army of the Cumberland moved into central Tennessee in hopes of seizing control of the area. Bragg reacted by setting up a strong defensive position at Stones River, near the town of Murfreesboro. The Union force, commanded by General William Rosecrans (1819–1898), attacked Bragg’s position on New Year’s Eve, 1862. The battle raged for three days, as both armies desperately fought for possession of the battlefield. The clash finally ended on January 2, 1863, after Bragg learned that Union reinforcements were on the way to help Rosecrans. He reluctantly retreated from the region, giving up on his hopes of establishing Confederate control over the area. The Battle of Stones River (also known as the Battle of Murfreesboro) badly damaged both armies. Rosecrans lost more than thirteen thousand of his forty-seven thousand troops, while Bragg’s thirty-eight thousand–man force suffered more than ten thousand casualties. These heavy losses forced both commanders to remain inactive for the next several 52


months. By June 1863, however, Rosecrans’s army had recovered. Armed with reinforcements that swelled the size of his Army of the Cumberland to about sixty thousand troops, Rosecrans launched a skillful military campaign that pushed Bragg’s army all the way across Tennessee. By early September, Bragg had abandoned the city of Chattanooga, even though it was a major Confederate railroad center and supply depot. Encouraged by Bragg’s evacuation of Chattanooga, Rosecrans tried to acquire even more rebel territory. But when Bragg received reinforcements in northern Georgia, he turned to confront his pursuer. In mid-September he counterattacked near a small stream known as Chickamauga Creek. Over the course of two days (September 19 and 20) the brutal Battle of Chickamauga raged, until Bragg’s Army of Tennessee finally gained the advantage and chased Rosecrans’ troops from the field. Rosecrans retreated all the way back to Chattanooga. Bragg gave chase, but his progress was slowed by continued bickering with his junior (lower-ranked) officers over military strategy and other issues.

Chattanooga By this time, many of Bragg’s officers had developed a great dislike for their stern, quick-tempered commander. They disagreed with many of his strategic decisions and did not feel any loyalty to him. As time passed, this dissatisfaction with Bragg could be detected throughout his army. “None of General Bragg’s soldiers ever loved him,” wrote Sam Watkins, a soldier in the Army of Tennessee. “They had no faith in his ability as a general. He was looked upon as a merciless tyrant. . . . He loved to crush the spirit of his men. The more of a hang-dog look they had about them, the better was General Bragg pleased. Not a single soldier in the whole army ever loved or respected him.” By mid-1863, hostility toward Bragg had become so great that some of his officers had begun urging Davis to relieve the general of his command. Davis ignored these calls, though. Instead, he watched with great interest as Bragg marched on Chattanooga in an effort to finish off Rosecrans’s battered Army of the Cumberland. In October, Bragg surrounded the city and began a siege (a blockade designed to prevent the city from receiving food and Braxton Bragg

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other supplies) in hopes of starving the Union troops into surrendering.

Union major general William S. Rosecrans (above) fought against Confederate general Braxton Bragg in several battles. (Courtesy of the Library of Congress.)

As the weeks passed, however, the situation at Chattanooga began to turn against Bragg. Union general Ulysses S. Grant replaced Rosecrans with General George H. Thomas (1816–1870), who managed to open a supply route into the city. At the same time, Bragg’s relationships with his officers and troops continued to worsen with each passing day. On November 24, Grant ordered an attack on Bragg’s army in hopes of breaking the siege. This offensive easily broke through the Confederate Army, which fought in half-hearted fashion. The following day, Grant’s forces pushed the entire Army of Tennessee out of the area and back into Georgia. The poor performance of Bragg’s army at the Battle of Chattanooga shocked Davis and convinced him that Bragg could no longer manage his men effectively. Davis quickly replaced him with General Joseph E. Johnston (1807–1891; see entry). Bragg spent most of the rest of the war serving as a military advisor to Davis in Richmond. In March 1865, he returned to the Army of Tennessee to take command of one of its divisions. But by this time Union control of the South was nearly complete, and all of the Confederate armies surrendered over the next few weeks. After the war was over, Bragg moved to Texas and settled in Galveston. He died on September 27, 1876.

Where to Learn More Connelly, Thomas L. Autumn of Glory: The Army of Tennessee, 1862–1865. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1971. Hallock, Judith Lee. Braxton Bragg and Confederate Defeat. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 1991. Woodworth, Steven E. Jefferson Davis and His Generals: The Failure of Confederate Command in the West. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1990. 54


John Brown Born 1800 Torrington, Connecticut Died December 2, 1859 Charlestown, Virginia Radical abolitionist Led an unsuccessful attempt to ignite a slave uprising in the South in 1859

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ohn Brown was a highly controversial member of the movement to abolish (put an end to) slavery in the years leading up to the Civil War. He believed that slavery was morally wrong and committed himself to doing anything in his power to destroy it. “Slavery throughout its entire existence in the United States is none other than a mad, barbarous [cruel], unprovoked, and unjustifiable war of one portion of its citizens upon another portion, in utter disregard and violation of those eternal and self-evident truths set forth in our Declaration of Independence,” he stated. As Brown grew more and more furious about slavery, he came to believe that violence was both necessary and justified in the fight to abolish it. In 1856, he participated in the cold-blooded murder of five slavery supporters in Kansas. Three years later, he led a raid on a federal armory (a storage facility for weapons and ammunition) in Harpers Ferry, Virginia. Known as “John Brown’s Raid,” this was the first step in a plan to arm slaves and lead them in a violent uprising throughout the South. Brown’s plan failed, and he was captured and executed. But his actions added to the bit-

“Slavery . . . is none other than a mad, barbarous, unprovoked, and unjustifiable war of one portion of its citizens upon another portion. . . .”

John Brown. (Courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration.) 55

ter feelings between the North and the South that led to the Civil War.

Taught to hate slavery John Brown was born in Torrington, Connecticut, in 1800. His father, Owen Brown, was a tanner (a person who turns animal hides into leather) and shoemaker. A deeply religious man, Owen Brown raised his children to live by the teachings of the Bible. He also taught them to hate slavery because he believed that it violated God’s commandments. Black people were taken from Africa and brought to North America to serve as slaves for white people beginning in the 1600s. The basic belief behind slavery was that black people were inferior to whites. Under slavery, white slaveholders treated black people as property, forced them to perform hard labor, and controlled every aspect of their lives. States in the Northern half of the United States began outlawing slavery in the late 1700s. But slavery continued to exist in the Southern half of the country. Over time, it became an essential part of the South’s economy and culture. In 1812, the Brown family moved to Ohio. Around this time, John Brown saw a Southern slaveowner whip a slave about his own age. “This brought me to reflect on the wretched [miserable or unfortunate], hopeless condition of fatherless and motherless slave children,” he recalled. “I sometimes would raise the question, ‘Is God their father?’” Brown did not have much interest in school, so instead he learned his father’s business as a teenager and helped raise livestock. In 1820, he married Deanntha Lusk. They had seven children together over the next fifteen years. Sadly, his wife died during the birth of the last baby. Realizing that he could not raise this large family on his own, Brown married Mary Ann Day in 1836. They added thirteen more children over the years. Brown worked at a number of different jobs to support his family, including farming, tanning, and herding sheep.

Becomes active in the abolition movement In 1837, slavery supporters murdered the editor of an abolitionist newspaper in Illinois. This event sparked protest 56


meetings across the North. Brown attended one of the meetings and dedicated himself to the abolition of slavery. “Here, before God, in the presence of these witnesses, I consecrate [declare sacred] my life to the destruction of slavery,” he stated. By the mid-1840s, Brown lived in Springfield, Massachusetts, and worked in the wool business. During this time he met Frederick Douglass (1818?–1895; see entry), an escaped slave who became a well-known abolitionist speaker and writer. He also organized a group of men called the League of Gileadites to protect fugitive slaves from being returned to their masters in the South. In 1849, Brown moved his family to North Elba, New York, to join an experimental mixed-race farming community. A wealthy abolitionist had set up the community in order to prove that blacks and whites could live together peacefully. The following year, the U.S. Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Act. This measure granted slaveowners sweeping new powers to capture and reclaim escaped slaves. It also required people in the North to assist the slaveowners in retrieving their property. Many Northerners resented the Fugitive Slave Act. They were able to ignore slavery when it was confined to the South, but not when they saw black people being tracked down like animals and carried off in chains within their own cities. The Fugitive Slave Act ended up increasing the antislavery and anti-Southern feelings of many people in the North. Brown felt that the Fugitive Slave Act justified the use of violence in the fight against slavery. He began criticizing abolitionist groups for being too passive. He grew determined to take action.

Contributes to “Bleeding Kansas” The 1850s were a time of great political tension in the United States. Thanks to the efforts of Brown and other abolitionists, growing numbers of Northerners believed that slavery was wrong. Some people wanted to outlaw it, while others just wanted to prevent it from spreading beyond the Southern states where it was already allowed. But many Southerners felt threatened by Northern efforts to contain slavery. They believed that each state should decide for itself John Brown

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whether to allow the practice. They did not want the national government to pass laws that would interfere with their traditional way of life. This dispute grew more heated as the United States expanded westward. Both sides wanted to spread their political ideas into the new territories and states. For many years, the representatives of the Northern and Southern states in the U.S. government had reached a series of political compromises on the issue of slavery. To resolve the question of westward expansion, for example, they established a pattern of allowing one slave state and one free state to enter the Union at the same time. In this way, the number of slave and free states remained in balance. In 1854, however, the Kansas-Nebraska Act disrupted this pattern. It allowed the people living in a territory to decide whether to join the Union as a slave state or a free state. The act was named after the next two territories scheduled to enter the Union. It soon became clear that Nebraska voters would elect to enter the United States as a slave state. But the decision of Kansas voters was uncertain. People on both sides of the slavery issue tried to affect the outcome of the vote in Kansas. Slavery supporters from neighboring Missouri came to Kansas in large numbers. These “border ruffians,” as they were called, voted illegally and used violence to intimidate their opponents. In the meantime, antislavery people flocked into Kansas as well. In 1856, Brown traveled to Kansas with his family and a wagon load of weapons. They settled along Pottawatomie Creek, near the abolitionist settlement of Lawrence. Brown had chosen Kansas as the place where he would make a stand against slavery. In May 1856, a proslavery mob attacked Lawrence. They fired artillery shells into a hotel and burned down several homes. Brown vowed to take revenge for the attack on Lawrence. On May 24, he and a small band of followers attacked several proslavery settlements along Pottawatomie Creek. They captured five men who supported slavery and brutally hacked them to death in front of their wives and children. Afterward, each side followed with more violent acts of retaliation. Over the summer of 1856, more than two hundred people died in what became known as “Bleeding Kansas.” Brown became the focus of a great deal of fear and hatred among Southerners. 58


“John Brown’s Raid” Brown disappeared for awhile following the killings in Kansas. He grew a long, white beard in order to disguise his appearance. He quietly traveled throughout the North, raising money and collecting weapons to support a new, ambitious plan to overthrow slavery by force. Brown planned to invade the South with a band of guerilla fighters. He convinced himself that once the fighting started, slaves across the South would join the rebellion. He wanted to help the slaves gain their freedom by igniting a large-scale slave uprising. Once the slaves were free, he planned to create a revolutionary state for black Americans in the mountains of Virginia and Maryland.

A Civil War–era view of Harpers Ferry, Virginia (now part of West Virginia). (Photograph by James Gardner. Courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration.)

As the first step in his plan, Brown chose to raid the small town of Harpers Ferry, Virginia. He planned to capture the federal armory there, take all the weapons, and supply them to the large numbers of slaves he expected to join the John Brown

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uprising. On October 16, 1859, Brown and twenty-one followers—including several members of his family—set out to capture the armory in Harpers Ferry. The first part of his scheme unfolded according to plan. The radical abolitionists seized the armory and took several prominent Virginia plantation owners prisoner. But it soon became clear that Brown’s plan had serious flaws. For one thing, local slaves were unsure what was happening and did not join Brown’s raiders. For another thing, he had not expected any resistance from the white citizens of Harpers Ferry. But they reacted angrily and managed to surround Brown’s position. Brown and his followers remained trapped inside a nearby building the whole next day, yet they refused to surrender. On October 18, federal troops under Lieutenant Colonel Robert E. Lee (1807–1870; see entry) arrived to resolve the situation. They captured Brown and seven of his raiders after a brief but bloody battle. The rest of Brown’s gang, including two of his sons, were killed.

Executed for his crimes Just one week later, Brown was put on trial before a Virginia court. Brown laid on a cot during the proceedings because he was too badly wounded to sit up. But he still found the strength to defend his actions. “I believe that to interfere, as I have done, in the behalf of God’s despised poor is not wrong but right,” he stated. “Now, if it is deemed [considered] necessary that I should mingle my blood further with the blood of my children and the blood of millions in this slave country whose rights are disregarded by wicked, cruel, and unjust enactments [laws], I say let it be done.” Brown also presented his feelings about slavery and encouraged others who felt the same way to continue his mission. The Virginia jury found Brown and his men guilty of murder, treason (betraying the country), and inciting a slave rebellion after just forty-five minutes of deliberation. The judge then sentenced Brown to death by hanging. As he sat in prison awaiting execution, Brown remained calm and never wavered in his commitment to the abolitionist cause. 60


He died on December 2, 1859. His last words predicted that the fight over slavery would eventually result in an all-out war: “The crimes of this guilty land will never be purged [washed] away but with blood. I had, as I now think vainly, flattered myself that without very much bloodshed it might be done.”

Actions increase tension between North and South Brown’s actions at Harpers Ferry—and his death a few weeks later—had a major impact on communities all across America. In the North, reaction was mixed. Some people criticized his violent methods and agreed that he deserved to be executed. But other Northerners saw Brown as a hero who was willing to die for his beliefs. They recognized that he had used bad judgment and made some mistakes, but claimed that the reasons behind his actions were noble. This view gained support as Brown maintained his dignity and composure in the period before his death. Many prominent people praised him for his bravery and dedication to abolishing slavery. At the time of Brown’s execution, church bells tolled in salute throughout the North, and many people observed a moment of silence. In the South, on the other hand, Brown’s raid created a wave of hysteria in many white communities. Even though Brown had been unable to convince any slaves to join his rebellion, the idea of a slave uprising played into the South’s greatest fears. Many Southerners worried that Northern abolitionists would do anything to end slavery—even sacrifice the lives of thousands of Southern whites. The reaction to Brown’s execution in some parts of the North further increased Southern anger and fear. Southerners considered Brown a murderer and were outraged that some Northerners seemed to approve of his actions. In this way, Brown’s raid increased the bitter feelings between the two sections of the country. As a result, more and more Southerners began to support the idea of seceding from (leaving) the United States. Just as Brown had predicted, the Civil War began a little more than a year after his death. “[Brown’s] raid and subsequent execution did not directly John Brown

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cause the Civil War,” according to William C. Davis, Brian C. Pohanka, and Don Troiani in Civil War Journal: The Leaders, “but his ideals and beliefs became the standard under which thousands upon thousands of men and boys marched off to do battle in their own land.”

Where to Learn More Cox, Clinton. Fiery Vision: The Life and Death of John Brown. New York: Scholastic, 1997. Davis, William C., Brian C. Pohanka, and Don Troiani. Civil War Journal: The Leaders. Nashville, TN: Rutledge Hill Press, 1997. Dubois, W. E. B. John Brown: A Biography. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, 1997. Finkelman, Paul, ed. His Soul Goes Marching On: Responses to John Brown and the Harpers Ferry Raid. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1995. Harpers Ferry National Historical Park. [Online] http://www.nps.gov/hafe/ home.htm (accessed on October 9, 1999). John Brown and the Valley of the Shadow. [Online] http://jefferson.village.virginia.edu/jbrown/master.html (accessed on October 9, 1999). John Brown Farm State Historic Site. [Online] http://lakeplacid.com/lphs/ jbf1.htm (accessed on October 9, 1999). John Brown Historical Association of Illinois. [Online] http://www. cyberword.com/johnbrown/ (accessed on October 9, 1999). Kansas State Historical Society. Adair Cabin / John Brown Museum. [Online] http://www.kshs.org/places.adair.htm (accessed on October 9, 1999). Oates, Stephen B. To Purge This Land with Blood: A Biography of John Brown. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1984. Renehan, Edward J. The Secret Six: The True Tale of the Men Who Conspired with John Brown. New York: Crown Publishers, 1995. Stein, R. Conrad. John Brown’s Raid on Harpers Ferry in American History. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow, 1999. Tackach, James. The Trial of John Brown: Radical Abolitionist. San Diego: Lucent Books, 1998. Villard, Oswald G. John Brown, 1800–1859: A Biography Fifty Years After. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1910. Reprint, Gloucester, MA: P. Smith, 1965. Warren, Robert Penn. John Brown: The Making of a Martyr. New York: Payson & Clarke, 1929. Reprint, Nashville: J. S. Sanders and Co., 1993.

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Ambrose Burnside Born May 23, 1824 Liberty, Indiana Died September 13, 1881 Bristol, Rhode Island Union general Best known for his decisive defeat at the Battle of Fredericksburg and his unsuccessful “Crater” attack during the siege of Petersburg

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mbrose Burnside is best known for his disastrous command of the Union’s Army of the Potomac from November 1862 to January 1863. During the course of this threemonth period, Burnside’s army suffered a major defeat at Fredericksburg, Virginia, at the hands of Confederate general Robert E. Lee (1807–1870; see entry). Burnside then tried to rally his army by launching an offensive across Virginia’s Rappahannock River, but the Union march fell apart when bad weather reduced the army’s route to a muddy quagmire. After his removal from command of the Army of the Potomac, Burnside served the North well by helping to hold Knoxville, Tennessee, against Southern forces. But in late 1864, his scheme to break Confederate defenses at Petersburg failed miserably. This attack, known as the Battle of the Crater, ended Burnside’s military career.

“It can hardly be in human nature for men to show more valor or generals to manifest less judgement.” Newspaper account of Burnside’s involvement in the Battle of Fredericksburg

Soldier and inventor Ambrose Everett Burnside was born on May 23, 1824, to a former South Carolina slaveowner who settled in Indiana

Ambrose Burnside. (Courtesy of the Library of Congress.) 63

after freeing his slaves. He received a good education as a youngster, and in 1843 he enrolled in the prestigious U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York. He served in the Mexican War (1846–48) after his 1847 graduation from West Point, helping guard forts and military supply centers. In 1848, the Mexican War came to an end, as the United States acquired vast new territories in the West from the weaker Mexican government. Continuing his service with the army, Burnside served at various federal forts in these newly acquired territories. In 1849, he was wounded in a clash with Apache Indians, but he made a quick recovery. By the early 1850s, Burnside had built a reputation among his fellow soldiers as a likable, intelligent officer who seemed to be on track for a successful career in the military. In 1853, though, he surprised his colleagues by resigning from the army in order to open a rifle-making factory. Burnside had developed a new breech-loading rifle (a rifle that could be loaded from the side) that he felt was greatly superior to the rifles currently being used by U.S. soldiers. He thought that his new design would make him very wealthy. Unfortunately, he was forced to declare bankruptcy after a few years because he could not convince the federal government to buy his rifles. He had to turn his factory and his rifle design over to creditors (other businessmen to whom Burnside owed money). A few years later, these businessmen became rich using Burnside’s rifle design. They sold more than fifty-five thousand of his rifles—called “Burnside Carbines”—and millions of rounds of matching ammunition to the Union Army during the Civil War. But since Burnside had been forced to give up possession of the rifle design in order to pay off his debts, he never received any money from these sales.

Early Civil War successes In the late 1850s, Burnside worked as an engineer on the Illinois Central Railroad and served as major general of the Rhode Island militia (a group of citizens who volunteer to provide military services). He returned to the regular army in the spring of 1861, when longstanding tensions between America’s Northern and Southern states finally exploded into war. 64


America’s Northern and Southern regions had been angry with one another for years over a variety of issues. The major issue dividing the two sections, however, was slavery. The Northern states felt that slavery was immoral and wanted the federal government to pass laws that would end the practice. The South, however, wanted to keep slavery because many of its economic and social institutions relied on it. They also argued that each state should be able to decide for itself whether to allow slavery. As Northern calls to end slavery grew stronger over the years, Southerners became increasingly resentful and defensive. The two sides finally went to war when the Southern states tried to secede from (leave) the Union and form their own country that accepted slavery in early 1861. Burnside enjoyed many military successes during the first eighteen months of the war. Serving as a colonel in the First Rhode Island Volunteers, Burnside helped organize the establishment of new defenses around Washington, D.C. Weeks later, his performance at the First Battle of Bull Run at Manassas, Virginia, convinced the Lincoln administration to promote him to brigadier general. In early 1862, Burnside’s reputation continued to grow. He organized an expedition down the North Carolina coast that destroyed a small Confederate fleet and captured Roanoke Island. After seizing the island (and capturing twenty-six hundred Confederate soldiers stationed there), Burnside continued to move down the coast. Over the course of several weeks he captured Southern positions in North Carolina at New Berne, Beaufort, and Fort Macon. In recognition of his successful expedition, Burnside was promoted to major general on March 18, 1862. In July, he was named commander of the Army of the Potomac’s Ninth Corps.

Burnside and the Army of the Potomac During the summer of 1862, President Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865; see entry) twice offered Burnside command of the Army of the Potomac. Lincoln had lost faith in the army’s current commander, General George B. McClellan (1826–1885; see entry), and he wanted to make a change. Burnside, though, turned down the offers because of deep Ambrose Burnside

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self-doubts about his ability to direct such a large military force. Disappointed by Burnside’s decision, Lincoln reluctantly kept McClellan in command. In September 1862, Burnside fought by McClellan’s side in Maryland in the Battle of Antietam, a vicious day-long battle against General Lee’s Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. This clash between the war’s two largest armies killed or wounded more than twenty-three thousand Union and Confederate soldiers, making it the single bloodiest day in Civil War history. The Union viewed Antietam as a victory for their side, since the battle put an end to a brief Confederate invasion of the North. But many historians believe that if McClellan and Burnside had acted more decisively, they might have been able to crush Lee’s army altogether. Instead, Lee’s army retreated into Virginia, where it operated for the next three years. Ambrose Burnside (reading a newspaper) sits with three others, including famed photographer Mathew Brady (in front of tree) at the Army of Potomac headquarters. (Courtesy of the Library of Congress.)

Burnside reluctantly takes command In the weeks following Antietam, Lincoln ordered McClellan to pursue Lee’s army and resume the battle. But McClellan moved his army so slowly that the president finally decided to change commanders. He removed McClellan from command of the Army of the Potomac and once again asked Burnside to lead the army. Burnside was not sure that he could handle such a big responsibility, but he reluctantly accepted the assignment on November 7, 1862. Burnside’s first command decisions pleased Lincoln. The general moved his army forward at an increased speed, and he showed a much greater willingness to engage the enemy than had McClellan. Burnside’s plan was to march on the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia, in hopes of drawing Lee’s army out for another battle. Once Lee commit-

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ted to defending the capital, Burnside hoped to use his superior firepower and troop size to demolish the Confederate Army. At first, Burnside’s strategy succeeded. Lee’s hungry and tired Army of Northern Virginia was forced to set up defenses at Fredericksburg, Virginia, in an effort to stop the Union march on Richmond. But when the two armies resumed their bloody fight on December 13, Burnside’s plan fell apart.

Battle of Fredericksburg Once Burnside reached Lee’s position at Fredericksburg, a small town located along the Rappahannock River, he ordered a full frontal assault on the Confederate defenses. Lee and his lieutenants had established strong positions, however, and they easily pushed back every Union offensive. Union casualties mounted with shocking speed throughout the day, but Burnside refused to admit that his plan was flawed. As a result, thousands of courageous Northern troops sacrificed their lives in doomed attempts to break through the rebel (Confederate) lines. “It can hardly be in human nature for men to show more valor [courage] or generals to manifest [show] less judgement,” wrote one newspaper reporter who witnessed the battle. By the end of the day, the Army of the Potomac had suffered nearly thirteen thousand casualties. Lee’s army, on the other hand, suffered fewer than five thousand casualties. When Burnside realized how badly he had been defeated, he at first vowed to lead an attack personally the next day. During the night, though, his lieutenants convinced him to break off the offensive and withdraw to Washington.

Burnside’s “Mud March” Lee’s decisive victory at Fredericksburg stunned Lincoln. As the president listened to reports about the battle, he wondered if Burnside was the right man to lead the Army of the Potomac. Despite growing doubts, however, he decided to give Burnside one last chance to prove himself. In January 1863, Burnside launched another campaign against Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia, which had set Ambrose Burnside

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up camp around Fredericksburg for the winter. But within hours of setting out from Washington, the Union advance was slowed by a heavy rainstorm. Burnside ordered his troops on, but the storm continued for days. The roadways upon which they were traveling disintegrated into muddy pits. The conditions made it impossible for the army to make any progress. Supply wagons became hopelessly stuck and soldiers became cold and exhausted as they slogged through the muddy mess. Finally, after days of struggling through the mud, Burnside admitted defeat. Angry and humiliated, he ordered the Army of the Potomac to return to camp. Burnside’s “Mud March,” as it came to be known, further damaged the general’s reputation. It also convinced Lincoln that he needed to change generals once again. On January 25, 1863, Major General Joseph Hooker (1814–1879) replaced Burnside as commander of the Army of the Potomac. In March 1863, Burnside was reassigned to lead the Department of the Ohio. Over the next few months he made significant contributions to the Union cause. He captured Confederate cavalry leader John Hunt Morgan (1825–1864) and supervised the arrest and conviction of Congressman Clement L. Vallandigham (1820–1871; see entry) on charges of treason. Burnside also served the Union well in the fall of 1863, when he helped fend off a Confederate attempt to seize the city of Knoxville, Tennessee, from Federal control.

Battle of the Crater Burnside returned to the war’s eastern theater in the spring of 1864, when he received orders to take his old spot as commander of the Army of the Potomac’s Ninth Corps. In May he took part in the Wilderness Campaign of Union general Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885; see entry). This bloody campaign against Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia eventually drove the Confederate Army back to Petersburg, Virginia. Once Lee reached Petersburg, however, he established defenses that repulsed Grant’s aggressive assaults. Grant responded by initiating a siege (a blockade intended to prevent the city’s inhabitants from receiving food and other supplies) of Petersburg in June 1864. 68


Shortly after the siege began, Colonel Henry Pleasants (who had been a mining engineer before the war) approached Burnside with an idea to tunnel under a key section of the rebel defenses and blow it up. Waiting Union forces could then rush through the gap and destroy Lee’s army once and for all. Pleasants’s scheme intrigued Burnside, who received reluctant approval from Grant to undertake the plan. Burnside’s regiment began work on the tunnel on June 25. By the end of July, the Union troops had tunneled to a point directly under the Confederate line and placed four tons of gunpowder at the end of the tunnel. Early in the morning of July 30, Burnside’s troops lit the fuse. A few moments later, the Confederate fortifications erupted in a terrific explosion of fire, dirt, and timber. The blast buried an entire Confederate regiment and opened a huge hole in Lee’s defenses. But Burnside proved unable to take advantage of the situation. Rather than appoint a competent commander to lead the assault, he had arranged to have his division commanders draw straws. Division commander James H. Ledlie received the assignment, but he turned out to be unreliable: he drank too much and did not adequately prepare his men for the offensive. In fact, Ledlie did not even join in the attack. Instead, he hid in the Union trenches drinking rum. Ledlie’s men, meanwhile, charged down into the crater that had been created by the explosion rather than around it. This move gave the rebel soldiers time to recover from the explosion and close the hole. Leaderless and disorganized, the Union troops became trapped inside the thirtyfoot-deep pit as Confederate troops rushed to the edge and opened fire. James M. McPherson noted in Battle Cry of Freedom that more than four thousand Northern soldiers were killed or wounded in the subsequent slaughter, as “rebel artillery and mortars found the range and began shooting at the packed bluecoats [Union soldiers] in the crater as at fish in a barrel.” Calling the so-called Battle of the Crater “the saddest affair I have witnessed in the war,” Grant placed the blame for the disaster squarely on Burnside’s shoulders (though he also stripped Ledlie of his command). Grant relieved Burnside of his command and sent him on military leave. Burnside resigned from the army a few months later. Ambrose Burnside

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Governor of Rhode Island Burnside’s Beard For much of his career, General Ambrose Burnside maintained a very unusual-looking beard. Unlike other soldiers who kept mustaches or full beards, Burnside shaved his chin area but let his mustache and cheek whiskers grow out until they joined together across his face. People originally called this peculiar style “burnsides,” but over time the two syllables became reversed, and the name came to be associated primarily with the part of a man’s face directly in front of his ears. Today, people refer to the area of beard down the side of a man’s face as “sideburns.”

After the Civil War ended in 1865, Burnside became involved in politics in Rhode Island. Despite his controversial military record, he was elected governor of the state for three consecutive one-year terms from 1866–68. In 1874, he was elected to the U.S. Senate. He served there until he died in 1881.

Where to Learn More Davis, William C. The Commanders of the Civil War. San Diego: Thunder Bay Press, 1999. Marvel, William. Burnside. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1991. Warner, Ezra J. Generals in Blue. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1964. Williams, T. Harry. Lincoln and His Generals. New York: Knopf, 1952. Reprint, Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1981.

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Joshua L. Chamberlain Born September 8, 1828 Brewer, Maine Died February 24, 1914 Brunswick, Maine Union general Hero at the Battle of Gettysburg

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oshua L. Chamberlain was one of the Union Army’s great heroes at the Battle of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania in July 1863. His brave defense of the Union’s vulnerable left flank saved the North from certain defeat in the clash. Chamberlain received the Congressional Medal of Honor for his valor at Gettysburg, and he went on to serve the Union with distinction for the remainder of the war.

Attends Bowdoin College Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain was born in 1828 in Brewer, Maine. He was the oldest of three boys. His parents originally named him Lawrence Joshua, but their son decided to reverse the order of the names when he became an adult. Chamberlain’s father, Joshua Chamberlain Jr., was a successful farmer who also held several political offices in the community. He wanted Joshua to be a soldier, but his eldest son thought that he might want to be a missionary instead (a missionary is a person who does religious or charitable work in a distant or foreign territory).

“Out of [the] silence [of night] rose new sounds [of wounded soldiers] . . . a smothered moan . . . some begging for a drop of water, some calling on God for pity; and some on friendly hands to finish what the enemy had so horribly begun; some with delirious, dreamy voices murmuring loved names, as if the dearest were bending over them. . . .” Joshua L. Chamberlain. (Courtesy of the Library of Congress.) 71

Chamberlain enrolled at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, where he initially struggled to keep up with his schoolwork. “The first two years in college were on the whole a pretty severe experience,” he admitted. “Well remembered are those weary nights when some problem would be given out for the next morning’s demonstration over which [I] sat staring at the words until the stars were lost in the flush of dawn.” As time passed, however, Chamberlain became a good student. As Chamberlain continued his studies in theology (the study of religion) and foreign languages, he met two women who had a significant impact on his life. In 1851, he met Fannie Adams, the daughter of a minister, when Chamberlain became the choir director for a local church. They were married on December 7, 1855, and eventually had three children (although their only son died a few hours after he was born). The second notable woman that Chamberlain met during his studies at Bowdoin College was Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811–1896; see entry), a devout abolitionist (person who worked to end slavery in America). In 1851, Chamberlain attended several gatherings at which Stowe read excerpts from a novel that she was in the process of writing. This work, called Uncle Tom’s Cabin, was fiercely antislavery in its outlook. Chamberlain was profoundly moved by the passages that Stowe read at the gatherings. The author’s words helped him decide that slavery was an awful practice that should not be permitted to continue in the United States. “Slavery and freedom cannot live together,” he later said. Uncle Tom’s Cabin, meanwhile, became the most famous antislavery book of all time when it was published a year later.

Chooses a life of teaching After concluding his studies at Bowdoin, Chamberlain accepted the school’s offer of a professorship. He became one of the college’s brightest young professors, teaching courses in foreign languages and rhetoric (writing and speaking effectively). He also bought a house in Brunswick, where his family thrived. 72


In 1861, however, long-simmering disputes between America’s Northern and Southern states boiled over into war. For years, the two regions had been arguing over slavery. Many Northerners believed that slavery was wrong and wanted to abolish it. But the economy of the South had been built on slavery, and Southerners resented Northern efforts to halt or contain the practice. In early 1861, these differences over slavery and other issues convinced several Southern states to secede from (leave) the United States. They announced their intention to form a new country, the Confederate States of America, that would continue to protect slavery. But Northern political leaders were determined to keep the Southern states in the Union. In April 1861, the two sides finally went to war over their differences.

Takes a sabbatical to go to war When the Civil War began, Chamberlain decided that he wanted to do his part to help keep the Union together. He wrote to Maine governor Israel Washburn (1813–1883), who was in charge of organizing troops from Maine to serve in the Union Army. “I have always been interested in military matters and what I do not know in that line I know how to learn,” Chamberlain stated in his letter. The administrators at Bowdoin College, however, did not want to see one of their most talented young instructors leave to go fight in a war. They refused Chamberlain’s request for a leave of absence. Instead, they offered him a big promotion and a two-year sabbatical (an extended leave of absence given to university professors to travel, rest, or study) in Europe. But Chamberlain was determined to serve in the Union Army. He accepted the college’s offer of a European study sabbatical, but instead of departing for Europe, he reported for military service. When Chamberlain joined the army, Washburn offered him command of a new volunteer regiment called the Twentieth Maine, part of the Union’s Army of the Potomac. This offer was not completely unexpected. The Union Army often filled officers’ positions with educated men, even if they did not have any military experience. But Chamberlain sensed that he might not be able to handle all the responsiJoshua L. Chamberlain

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bilities of command immediately. Noting that he would prefer to “start a little lower and learn the business first,” Chamberlain instead asked to be named lieutenant colonel, the second-highest ranking position in the regiment.

A quick learner On August 8, 1862, he reported to Colonel Adelbert Ames (1835–1933), commander of the Twentieth Maine. Over the next several weeks, Chamberlain quickly distinguished himself as a sharp young officer. Ames learned to trust his second-in-command, impressed by the former professor’s intelligence and desire to learn. In fact, Chamberlain seemed to spend nearly all of his waking moments talking with veteran officers in order to improve his knowledge of military strategy and other subjects. “I study . . . every military work I can find and it is no small labor to master the evolutions of a battalion and brigade,” he said in a letter to his wife. “I am bound [determined] to understand everything.” Joshua was joined in the regiment around this time by his younger brothers Tom and John, who would fight by his side for the remainder of the war. In September 1862, Chamberlain and the other soldiers of the Twentieth Maine were stationed near Sharpsburg, Maryland, site of the bloody Battle of Antietam. The Twentieth Maine was never ordered into the battle, but the troops saw plenty of evidence of war’s terrible toll. Chamberlain recalled that the sight of one dead Confederate soldier holding a Bible in his lifeless hands haunted him for the rest of his life. “I saw him sitting there gently reclined against the tree . . . this boy of scarcely sixteen summers,” he stated. “His cap had fallen to the ground on one side, his hand resting on his knee. It clasped a little testament opened at some familiar place. He wore the gray. He was my enemy, this boy. He was dead—the boy, my enemy—but I shall see him forever.”

Chamberlain takes command In the last months of 1862, the Twentieth Maine regiment took part in some of the Civil War’s fiercest engagements, including two conflicts in Virginia—the Battle of Fred74


Chamberlain Recalls Fredericksburg Joshua Chamberlain witnessed many terrible scenes of warfare during his period of service in the Union Army. One of the worst of these battles took place at Fredericksburg, Virginia, where a large federal army under the command of General Ambrose Burnside (1824–1881; see entry) failed in its attempt to dislodge troops led by General Robert E. Lee from their defensive positions. After the war, Chamberlain recalled what it was like to listen to wounded soldiers after night fell on the Fredericksburg battlefield: “Out of that silence . . . rose new sounds more appalling still . . . a strange ventriloquism, of which you could not locate the source, a smothered moan . . . as if a thousand discords were flowing together into a key-note weird, unearthly, terrible to hear and bear, yet startling with its nearness; the writhing concord [similar-sounding moans] broken by cries for help . . . some begging for a drop of water, some calling on God for pity; and some on friendly hands to finish what the enemy had so horribly begun; some with delirious, dreamy voices

murmuring loved names, as if the dearest were bending over them; and underneath, all the time, the deep bass note from closed lips too hopeless, or too heroic to articulate [speak about] their agony.” When the sun rose the following day, Chamberlain and his regiment were forced to spend the entire day hiding behind the stacked bodies of fallen comrades as Confederate troops tried to pick them off. “The living and the dead were alike to me,” Chamberlain remembered. “I slept [but] my ears were filled with the cries and groans of the wounded and the ghastly faces of the dead almost made a wall around me. We lay there hearing the dismal [gloomy] thud of bullets into the dead flesh of our lifesaving bulwarks [defensive barriers].” On the night of December 14, Chamberlain and his regiment finally received orders to withdraw from their gruesome positions. They and the rest of Burnside’s army then left the area, leaving Fredericksburg to the rebel victors.

ericksburg in December 1862 and the Battle of Chancellorsville in May 1863. These clashes featured long stretches of terrible violence that claimed the lives of thousands of Union and Confederate soldiers. But the Twentieth Maine performed well, and Chamberlain became known both for bravery and concern for his troops. In the spring of 1863, Union Army leaders transferred Ames to command of another brigade and promoted ChamJoshua L. Chamberlain

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berlain to colonel of the Twentieth Maine. Chamberlain’s leadership qualities continued to blossom in his new position, and the soldiers under his command developed a solid respect for him. His horror of war continued to stay strong during this time. But Chamberlain felt that his military service had given him a rare opportunity to improve himself, and he sometimes confessed that he loved the excitement and challenges of his new existence. “No danger and no hardship ever makes me wish to get back to that college life again,” he wrote. “I would spend my whole life campaigning rather than endure that again.”

Battle of Gettysburg In the summer of 1863, the Twentieth Maine and the rest of the Army of the Potomac marched into Pennsylvania to stop an invading Confederate force led by General Robert E. Lee (1807–1870; see entry). Lee hoped that by bringing the war into the Northern states, he could capture Union supplies and create a surge of antiwar sentiment in the North. The Confederate commander knew that President Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865; see entry) would not be able to continue the war against the South if he did not have the support of the Northern people. But Lee’s progress was stopped outside of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, by the Army of the Potomac, a ninety thousand–man force led by General George Meade (1815–1872; see entry). The first major clash between Meade’s forces and Lee’s seventy-five thousand–man Army of Northern Virginia erupted on July 1, 1863. The Union Army barely held its ground during the first day of fighting. As the morning of July 2 approached, both armies knew that the next several hours might determine the winner of the whole battle. Meade and his Union officers prepared their defenses for the upcoming Confederate attack, but mix-ups created a big hole in the Union defenses. A wooded hill on the far left flank of the Union defenses was accidentally left unprotected. If the Confederates gained possession of this hill, known as Little Round Top, they would be able to sweep in behind the Union defenses and crush Meade’s army. 76


Defending Little Round Top The Battle of Gettysburg resumed on July 2, as Lee continued with his efforts to push Meade out of the area. But the Confederates were slow to reach the Union’s left flanks. A Federal (Union) officer eventually realized that Little Round Top had been left unprotected, and the North scrambled to send troops to defend it before the rebel (Confederate) soldiers reached the area. The last of four regiments sent to defend the hill from the Confederates was the Twentieth Maine. Chamberlain and his men set up defensive positions on the top of Little Round Top, at the very end of the Union line of defenses. “It was a critical moment,” remembered one soldier in Chamberlain’s regiment. He noted that if the advancing Confederate line “was permitted to turn the Federal flank, Little Round Top was untenable [not capable of being defended], and with this little mountain in the Confederates’ possession, the whole [Union] position would be untenable. It was a most fortunate fact for the Union cause that in command of the Twentieth Maine was Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain.”

The center of the Federal position viewed from Little Round Top in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. (Courtesy of the Library of Congress.)

Once the Twentieth Maine arrived at Little Round Top, Chamberlain rushed to arrange the 350 men under his command behind trees and boulders. Ten minutes later, Confederate troops came charging up the hill in a furious attack. Chamberlain’s troops pushed back the first assault, only to be hit with another one a few minutes later. The fight for possession of the hill became vicious and desperate, as Chamberlain’s men pushed back wave after wave of attack, despite being badly outnumbered. “The edge of the conflict swayed to and fro, with wild whirlpools and eddies,” Chamberlain recalled. “At times I saw around me more of the enemy than of my own men; gaps opening, swallowing, closing again. . . . All around, a strange, mingled roar.” Joshua L. Chamberlain

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By mid-afternoon, Chamberlain’s regiment had lost nearly half of its men and was nearly out of ammunition. Chamberlain himself had been wounded. But the former professor refused to give up control of the hill. Instead, he ordered his troops to prepare for a bayonet charge into the midst of their Confederate attackers (bayonets were long blades that could be attached to the ends of rifles). Chamberlain’s daring strategy worked. As his battered soldiers charged down the hill, hundreds of stunned rebel soldiers surrendered. The rest of the Confederate troops fled, but many of them fell under a final deadly burst of gunfire from one of Chamberlain’s companies. “We ran like a herd of wild cattle,” admitted the Confederate commander at Little Round Top. “The blood stood in puddles in some places on the rocks; the ground was soaked with blood.” Chamberlain’s brave and daring stand at Little Round Top enabled the Union Army to withstand the Confederate offensive. A day later, Lee mounted one final attempt to break the Union Army. When it failed, however, he was forced to retreat to Virginia. The South never invaded the North again. Chamberlain, meanwhile, received the Congressional Medal of Honor for his exploits. He and the other members of the Twentieth Maine were praised throughout the North for their bravery and fighting spirit.

Wounded at Petersburg In November 1863, Chamberlain was forced to give up his command when he came down with malaria, an infectious disease. Transferred to Washington, he performed light duties during his recovery. In May 1864, his doctors said he was ready to resume his command of the Twentieth Maine. He promptly rejoined the Army of the Potomac, which was engaged at the time in a bloody stalemate with Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia. But Chamberlain’s return to active duty lasted only a few weeks. In June 1864, he took part in a Union assault on Petersburg, Virginia, where Lee’s army had erected strong defenses. The Union offensive failed, and Chamberlain was seriously wounded in the attack. A single Confederate bullet smashed through both of his hips and his pelvis. As the bul78


let continued through his body, it also tore into important arteries and nicked his bladder. Yet Chamberlain stayed on his feet despite his wound. He leaned on his sword with one hand and waved his men forward with the other until they had passed him by. He then collapsed in a bloody heap. When Chamberlain was dragged from the field of battle, nobody thought that he would live. His doctors believed that his wounds were mortal, and Chamberlain himself dictated a farewell letter to his wife. Union commander Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885; see entry) immediately promoted him to brigadier general as a way of honoring him before he died. Obituaries mourning Chamberlain’s death even appeared in several Northern newspapers. But the former language professor stubbornly refused to die. As the days passed by, he delighted his doctors and superior officers by beginning a slow but remarkable recovery.

Confederate surrender at Appomattox In November 1864, Chamberlain returned to active duty at Petersburg, where Lee’s troops had been trapped by Grant’s Army of the Potomac. Over the next few months, Chamberlain participated in several important Union victories, even though his earlier wounds caused him great suffering. Walking was extremely painful for Chamberlain, and he sometimes had to be helped onto his horse. But still he pressed on, performing so well in battles at Quaker Road and Five Forks that he was promoted to the rank of major general. On April 9, 1865, Lee surrendered to Grant, and the Civil War finally came to an end. The two generals made arrangements to hold a formal surrender ceremony on April 12. Of all the soldiers in the Union Army, Grant selected Chamberlain to preside over the ceremony.

Governor and college president When the war ended, Chamberlain returned to his native Maine. His war injuries continued to bother him—he had been wounded six different times during the course of the war—but he became a leading figure in state politics. He Joshua L. Chamberlain

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served as governor of the state for four years, and in 1871 he began a twelve-year tenure as president of Bowdoin College in Brunswick. On February 24, 1914, Chamberlain finally died from health problems associated with the war wounds he had suffered fifty years earlier.

Where to Learn More Bowdoin College Library. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain Collection. [Online] http://www.bowdoin.edu/dept/library/arch/manscrpt/jlcg.htm (accessed on October 9, 1999). Chamberlain, Joshua L. The Passing of the Armies. New York: G. P. Putnam, 1915. Reprint, Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1998. Chamberlain, Joshua Lawrence. Bayonet! Forward!: My Civil War Reminiscences. Gettysburg, PA: S. Clark Military Books, 1994. The Joshua Chamberlain Home Page. [Online] http://maineiac.freeservers. com/jlc/ (accessed on October 9, 1999). Longacre, Edward. Joshua Chamberlain: The Soldier and the Man. Conshohocken, PA: Combined Publishing, 1999. Official Home Page of Joshua L. Chamberlain. [Online] http://www. joshuachamberlain.com/ (accessed on October 9, 1999). Pejepscot Historical Society. Joshua L. Chamberlain Area. [Online] http://www.curtislibrary.com/chamberlain/htm (accessed on October 9, 1999). Perry, Mark. Conceived in Liberty: Joshua Chamberlain, William Oates, and the American Civil War. New York: Viking Press, 1997. Pullen, John J. Joshua Chamberlain: A Hero’s Life and Legacy. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 1999. Soul of the Lion: Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain. [Online] http:// world.std.com/~khebert/ (accessed on October 9, 1999). Trulock, Alice Rains. In the Hands of Providence: Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain and the American Civil War. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1992. Wallace, Willard M. Soul of the Lion: A Biography of General Joshua L. Chamberlain. New York: T. Nelson, 1960.

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Mary Boykin Chesnut Born March 31, 1823 Statesburg, South Carolina Died November 22, 1886 Camden, South Carolina Civil War diarist

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housands of Americans recorded their thoughts and experiences during the Civil War period in diaries and journals. Since that time, many of these diaries have been studied by historians, and some of them have been published in book form. The most famous diary of the Civil War was written by Mary Boykin Chesnut. Chesnut was a well-educated woman from a wealthy and influential Southern family. She married James Chesnut Jr., who became a U.S. senator from South Carolina shortly before the start of the Civil War. Thanks to her political connections and her skills as an observer and writer, Chesnut was able to provide an inside view of the Confederacy for future generations to read and study.

“I have nothing to chronicle but disasters. . . . The reality is hideous.”

Raised in a prominent Southern family Mary Boykin Miller Chesnut was born on March 31, 1823, in Statesburg, South Carolina. She was the first of four children born to Stephen Decatur Miller, a prominent politician, and his wife Mary Boykin Miller. Chesnut’s father served as a state senator, a U.S. congressman, and governor of South Carolina during her childhood.

Mary Boykin Chesnut. (Reproduced by permission of The Granger Collection, New York.) 81

Chesnut was educated in some of the best private girls’ schools in the southeastern United States, including a boarding school in Charleston where the students were taught in French. In 1840, she married James Chesnut Jr., the son of one of the largest landowners in South Carolina. She then went to live at Mulberry Plantation, where her husband’s family owned numerous slaves. The Chesnuts never had any children, so Mary had a great deal of time to read books and entertain.

Swept up in the secession movement In 1858, James Chesnut Jr. was elected to represent South Carolina in the U.S. Senate. The Chesnuts moved to Washington, D.C., where Mary became friends with many prominent politicians and their wives. But this was a time of great political tension in the United States. The Northern and Southern sections of the country had been arguing over several issues—including slavery and the power of the national government to regulate it—for many years. Growing numbers of Northerners believed that slavery was wrong. Some people wanted to outlaw it, while others wanted to prevent it from spreading beyond the Southern states where it was already allowed. But slavery played a big role in the Southern economy and culture. As a result, many Southerners felt threatened by Northern efforts to contain slavery. They believed that each state should decide for itself whether to allow slavery. They did not want the national government to pass laws that would interfere with their traditional way of life. This ongoing dispute came to a crisis in November 1860, when Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865; see entry) was elected president of the United States. Lincoln was a Northerner who opposed slavery, although he wanted to eliminate it gradually rather than outlaw it immediately. Following Lincoln’s election, many people in the South felt that the national government could no longer represent their interests. Several Southern states decided to secede (withdraw) from the United States and form a new country that allowed slavery, called the Confederate States of America. But it soon became clear that Northern leaders were willing to fight to keep the 82


Southern states in the Union. The two sides went to war a few months later.

Inspired to record historic events in her diary Chesnut’s husband was the first Southern senator to resign from his position in the U.S. Congress following Lincoln’s election. Before long, he became a delegate (representative) in the provisional (temporary) Confederate Congress. The Chesnuts moved to Montgomery, Alabama, where a number of influential Southerners were meeting to establish a government for their new nation. Chesnut’s home was one of the most popular gathering places for Confederate officials. On many occasions, her living room was full of important people socializing, exchanging information, and holding political debates. In February 1861, Chesnut began recording what she saw and heard during these meetings in a diary. “From the beginning of secession, she recognized the depth of the political and social upheaval in which her region was engaged, and she felt herself qualified by education, social position, and native intelligence to report what she observed,” Elisabeth Muhlenfeld explained in Mary Boykin Chesnut: A Biography. One of Chesnut’s best friends during this time was Varina Davis, wife of Confederate president Jefferson Davis (1808–1889; see entry). This friendship gave her access to the top officials in the new government, which put her in a unique position to record what was going on in the Confederacy. In fact, the observations she made in her journal covMary Boykin Chesnut

South Carolina senator James Chesnut Jr., husband of diarist Mary Boykin Chesnut. (Reproduced by permission of The Granger Collection, New York.)

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Excerpts from Mary Boykin Chesnut’s Diary One of the reasons that Chesnut’s diary became the most famous remembrance of the Civil War was that she covered such a wide range of topics. During the four years that she kept a journal, she recorded her thoughts on all of the most important people and events of the war. The following excerpts provide a sample of some of the issues she covered.

dors. All seemed hurrying one way, I put on my double gown and went too. It was to the housetop. The shells were bursting. . . . The regular roar of the cannon— there it was. . . . The women were wild there on the housetop. Prayers came from the women and imprecations [curses] from the men. And then a shell would light up the scene. . . . We watched up there, and everybody wondered that Fort Sumter did not fire a shot.

In April 1861, Confederate forces fired upon Fort Sumter to begin the Civil War. This fort, located in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina, was held by Federal troops. Southern leaders viewed these troops as a symbol of Northern authority and were determined to remove them. The Confederacy gained control of the fort after two days of intense bombing. Chesnut watched the battle from the roof of a house in Charleston:

In April 1862, Union admiral David Farragut (1801–1870; see entry) led a daring navy mission up the Mississippi River that ended with the capture of the Southern port city of New Orleans, Louisiana. The fall of New Orleans was one in a series of significant Confederate defeats in the Civil War’s western theater. Like many other Southerners, Chesnut grew depressed upon hearing the news:

There was a sound of stir all over the house, pattering of feet in the corri-

Battle after battle—disaster after disaster. . . . How could I sleep? The power they [Union forces] are bringing

ered everything from parties and romances, to rumors and disagreements, to battles and funerals. Chesnut witnessed some of the major events of the Civil War. Her husband participated in the April 1861 bombing of Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, which marked the official start of the war, as she watched from a rooftop in town. Following the Confederate victory in the first major battle of the war, the First Battle of Manassas (also known as the First Battle of Bull Run) in July 1861, she visited wounded Confederate soldiers in Richmond, Virginia. Chesnut moved to Richmond in 1862, when her husband became the person84


to bear against our country is tremendous. . . . Every morning’s paper enough to kill a well woman [or] age a strong and hearty one. . . . New Orleans gone— and with it the Confederacy. Are we not cut in two? The Mississippi ruins us if it is lost. . . . I have nothing to chronicle but disasters. . . . The reality is hideous.

youths and loyal men—who have gone to their death almost before my very eyes—my heart might break too. Is any thing worth it? This fearful sacrifice—this awful penalty we pay for war?

Chesnut received more bad news in 1864. She learned that a close friend’s son had been killed in battle. This event prompted her to write the following passage about the horrors of war:

After the war ended in 1865, Chesnut returned to her South Carolina plantation to find that it had been badly damaged by Union troops. Many of her former slaves were still there, but she realized that the South had changed forever:

When I remember all—the true hearted—the light hearted—the gay and gallant [courageous] boys—who have come laughing singing—dancing in my way—in the three years past—I have looked into their brave young eyes—And helped them—as I could every way—And then seen them no more forever—they lie stark—and cold—dead upon the battle field or mouldering away in hospitals or prisons—which is worse—I think if I consider the long array of those bright

My negroes—now free citizens of the U.S.A.—are more humble & affectionate & anxious to be allowed to remain as they are than the outside world—the readers of Mrs. [Harriet Beecher] Stowe [author of the antislavery novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin]—could ever conceive—not one expressed the slightest pleasure at the sudden freedom—but they will all go after a while—if they can better their condition.

al aide to President Davis. They lived near the Confederate White House and entertained generals and other important people. She moved to Columbia, South Carolina, in 1864, where she helped out in an army hospital. She recorded all of these experiences in her diary. During the early years of the war, Chesnut kept her journal in an elegant red leather-bound book with a little brass lock. As the war went on, and the South suffered from severe supply shortages, however, she ended up writing on scraps of paper and in the back of old cookbooks. Calling herself “a close observer . . . of men and manners,” she tried to Mary Boykin Chesnut

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record things as they happened without coloring the facts with her own opinions.

Diary is finally published forty years after the war ends Chesnut stopped writing in her diary in June 1865, shortly after the Civil War ended in a Union victory. She and her husband returned to Mulberry Plantation to find it badly damaged, and all of her family’s possessions and crops destroyed. Their fortune gone, she began running a small dairy business to help make ends meet. In the 1870s, she translated several French novels and tried her hand at writing fiction. In 1881, Chesnut began revising her Civil War diary for publication. During the war, she was too busy to provide a complete record of events as they occurred. Instead, she made detailed notes that she could look back on later to help her remember. She always intended to flesh out her description of the war. Chesnut worked on the project for several years, but never finished the revision to her satisfaction. She struggled through legal and financial troubles, and had to deal with the death of her husband and her mother during this time. She also suffered from heart problems herself. Chesnut died on November 22, 1886, in Camden, South Carolina. Shortly before her death, Chesnut asked a trusted younger friend, Isabella Martin, to take care of her diaries and finish preparing them for publication. But after looking at the journals, Martin felt that they were too personal to be published. She recognized the historical value of the documents, but she worried about embarrassing the people who were mentioned. So she set the diaries aside for many years. In 1904, Martin met a writer from New York named Myrta Lockett Avary. Avary read Chesnut’s journals and insisted on publishing them. Excerpts first appeared in the popular magazine Saturday Evening Post under the title “A Diary from Dixie.” In 1905, the excerpts were compiled into a book of the same name. But the book was much different from the original journal entries Chesnut had written during the Civil War. Martin, who served as editor of the book, cut nearly half of the material in order to avoid offending people. It still re86


ceived good reviews, however, and was frequently quoted by Civil War historians over the years. A novelist named Ben Ames Williams published another edition of Chesnut’s diaries in 1949. This edition was more complete than the first, but Williams still cut or changed Chesnut’s original words. The complete, unchanged journal did not appear until 1981. Mary Chesnut’s Civil War, edited by historian C. Vann Woodward, won the Pulitzer Prize upon its publication. It has since become the most famous diary of the Civil War period. Muhlenfeld called it “a stunning eyewitness account of the society that was the Confederacy.”

Where to Learn More Chesnut, Mary Boykin Miller. A Diary from Dixie. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1949. Reprint, New York: Random House, 1997. Chesnut, Mary Boykin Miller. The Private Mary Chesnut: The Unpublished Civil War Diaries. New York: Oxford University Press, 1984. DeCredico, Mary A. Mary Boykin Chesnut: A Confederate Woman’s Life. Madison, WI: Madison House, 1996. Muhlenfeld, Elisabeth. Mary Boykin Chesnut: A Biography. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1981. Woodward, C. Vann, ed. Mary Chesnut’s Civil War. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1981.

Mary Boykin Chesnut

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Pauline Cushman Born June 10, 1833 New Orleans, Louisiana Died December 2, 1893 San Francisco, California Stage actress who served as a Union spy

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auline Cushman used her skills as an actress to pretend that she supported the Confederate cause during the Civil War. In reality, she collected information about Confederate spies and strategies and passed it along to Union authorities. In 1863, Cushman was captured and sentenced to death by Confederate general Braxton Bragg (1817–1876; see entry). If the sentence had been carried out, she would have been the only female spy executed by either side during the war. But Union troops arrived in Shelbyville, Tennessee, in time to save her.

Cushman was one of the more glamorous yet effective Union spies of the Civil War. She was brave and daring, yet always conducted her activities in a quiet, professional manner.

Decides to serve her country Pauline Cushman was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1833. Her name was originally Harriet Wood, but she changed it when she decided to become an actress. Cushman lived in Michigan for awhile, then moved to New York to look for jobs in the theater. When she had trouble launching her acting career in New York, she returned to New Orleans, got married, and started a family. Sadly, her children died as babies, and her husband died shortly after the start of the Civil War.

Pauline Cushman. (Reproduced by permission of AP/Wide World Photos.) 89

The war grew out of a steady increase in tension between the Northern and Southern regions of the United States. The two sides had disagreed on a number of issues for many years, including whether to allow slavery. By 1861, this ongoing dispute had convinced several Southern states to secede from (leave) the United States and attempt to form a new country that allowed slavery, called the Confederate States of America. But Northern political leaders were determined to fight to keep the Southern states in the Union. Even though Cushman had been born in the South, she remained loyal to the Union. Figuring that she had no family ties anymore, she decided to serve her country as a spy. Her first assignment was in St. Louis, Missouri. While she appeared on stage as an actress, she also used her charm and good looks to uncover Confederate spies and their means of communication with Confederate leaders.

Acts like a Confederate sympathizer Cushman’s next assignment was in Nashville, Tennessee. Union forces controlled this area, but it was still full of people who supported the Confederate cause. At one point, a Confederate sympathizer offered the actress $300 to propose a toast to Confederate president Jefferson Davis (1808–1889; see entry) on stage. Cushman consulted with Union officials about it, then accepted the offer. After she made the toast, she was fired from her job with the theater company and thrown out of the Union as a Confederate sympathizer. But since she had publicly proclaimed her support for the Confederacy, many people were willing to believe that she was a loyal Southerner. Cushman created a cover story—that she was looking for her brother, a Confederate officer—and used it to go behind Confederate lines. She attracted the interest of several Confederate officers, who invited her to accompany them to their army camps. In this way, Cushman gathered a great deal of valuable information for the Union Army. In May 1863, Cushman passed information about the strength and location of Confederate troops in Tennessee to Union general William Rosecrans (1819–1898). But Confeder90


ate general Braxton Bragg became suspicious of her activities and held her for questioning. Cushman panicked and tried unsuccessfully to escape. When Bragg’s forces recaptured Cushman, they discovered her secret notes that proved she was a Union spy. Tired of dealing with spies, Bragg sentenced her to death by hanging.

Escapes a death sentence For some reason, Bragg’s order to execute Cushman was not carried out immediately. Some sources say that she was ill, and the hanging was delayed until she recovered her health. Other sources say that a Union raid caused chaos in the Confederate camp and caused the soldiers to forget about the order. At any rate, Confederate forces evacuated the area a short time later and left Cushman behind. Union troops rescued her near Shelbyville, Tennessee. News of Cushman’s death sentence and dramatic rescue soon spread across the country. After all, she almost became the first female spy to be executed by either side in the Civil War. But all the attention meant that Cushman could not serve as a Union spy anymore. She was too well known. The Union Army made her an honorary major in recognition of her service. For the remainder of the war, she helped the Union cause by advising the army on the geographic terrain of Tennessee, which she had come to know well (good maps were difficult to find at that time).

Pauline Cushman in uniform. (Reproduced by permission of CorbisBettmann.)

Meets a tragic end After the Civil War ended in 1865, Cushman returned to her acting career. She was proud of her successful wartime service—she liked to be introduced in the theater as “Major Pauline Cushman

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Female Spies in the Civil War Women acted as spies for both the North and the South during the Civil War. Like the men who fought as soldiers, they risked their lives in order to serve their country. Female spies from both sides had a strong belief in the Union or Confederate cause. This belief made them want to contribute to the war effort. But roles for women were extremely limited in those days. Women were not allowed to serve as soldiers, so nursing and spying were their main choices for wartime activities. Traditional attitudes had limited women to roles as mothers and homemakers before the Civil War. Many American men tended to think of women as delicate, refined ladies. Such attitudes actually helped some female spies. They were sometimes able to avoid detection because men could not believe women were smart enough or devious enough to serve as spies. Some men thought women were not capable of understanding anything of a technical or strategic nature. As a result, these men spoke freely about military matters in the presence of women. Female spies used this situation to their advantage and relayed the information to their side.

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Cushman”—but did not talk about her spy activities on the stage. Her days as an actress gradually came to an end, and she was largely forgotten by the American people. The U.S. government even refused to give her a military pension for her service to the country. Toward the end of her life, Cushman worked as a dressmaker’s assistant and a cleaning woman in order to make ends meet. She also became addicted to drugs. Cushman committed suicide in San Francisco, California, in 1893 (some sources say 1894). Reversing its earlier policy, the government gave her a full military funeral and buried her in a veterans’ cemetery. Cushman is remembered as one of the more glamorous yet effective Union spies of the Civil War. She was brave and daring, yet always conducted her activities in a quiet, professional manner.

Where to Learn More Axelrod, Alan. The War Between the Spies: A History of Espionage During the American Civil War. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 1992. Markle, Donald E. Spies and Spymasters of the Civil War. New York: Hippocrene Books, 1994. Sarmiento, F. L. Life of Pauline Cushman. Philadelphia: J. E. Potter, 1865.


Jefferson Davis Born June 3, 1808 Southwestern Kentucky Died December 6, 1889 New Orleans, Louisiana President of the Confederate States of America

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efferson Davis served as the president of the Confederate States of America during its four years of existence. He was the South’s political leader during the Civil War and the counterpart of U.S. president Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865; see entry). “On each side there was one man who stood at storm center, trying to lead a people who would follow no leader for long unless they felt in him some final embodiment [expression] of the deep passions and misty insights that moved them,” Bruce Catton wrote in The Civil War. “This man was the President, given power and responsibility beyond all other men . . . Abraham Lincoln, in Washington, and Jefferson Davis, in Richmond.” Davis faced an extremely difficult job as president of the Confederacy, but he was well qualified to do it. He had proven himself as a military leader during the Mexican War (1846–48), and he was a respected U.S. senator who had also served as secretary of war. Davis also had some shortcomings that made his job more difficult. For example, he was stubborn, he found it difficult to admit when he was wrong, and he had trouble dealing with other strong personalities. Although he could not lead

“The Union is a creature of the states. It has no inherent power. All it possesses was delegated by the states.”

Jefferson Davis. (Photography by Mathew Brady. Courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration.) 93

the South to victory in the Civil War, Davis remained deeply committed to the Confederate cause until the end.

Supports slavery as a youth Jefferson Davis was born on June 3, 1808, in southwestern Kentucky. He was the youngest child in a large family. His father, Samuel Davis, was a tobacco farmer and horse breeder who moved the family to Louisiana when Jefferson was two years old. A short time later, the Davises bought a plantation (a large farming estate) near Woodville, Mississippi. They also purchased a number of slaves to work in their cotton fields. Black people were taken from Africa and brought to North America to serve as slaves for white people beginning in the 1600s. The basic belief behind slavery was that black people were inferior to whites. Under slavery, white slaveholders treated black people as property, forced them to perform hard labor, and controlled every aspect of their lives. States in the Northern half of the United States began outlawing slavery in the late 1700s. But slavery continued to exist in the Southern half of the country because it played an important role in the South’s economy and culture. Growing up in Mississippi, Davis came to believe that slavery offered the best possible life for black people. He felt that blacks were incapable of living on their own, so they needed white people to give them food, clothing, shelter, and religion. He thought that black people in Africa lived as savages, while black slaves in the South were relatively civilized. Compared to many other slaveowners, the Davis family treated their slaves well. For example, they taught their slaves to read and write and allowed them to handle discipline among themselves, rather than resorting to whipping and other harsh punishments. Since his only experience was with his family’s slaves, however, young Davis did not realize that many other people were cruel to their slaves.

Receives military training After Davis’s father died in 1824, his older brother, Joseph, took over care of the family and the plantation. 94


Joseph was a successful and respected man, and he managed to obtain an appointment to the prestigious U.S. Military Academy at West Point for his youngest brother. But Davis proved to be a troublemaker at the school. He often skipped class, kept his room messy, and hung out at a local tavern that was strictly off-limits to students. Davis managed to graduate from West Point in 1828, but he finished near the bottom of his class. Like most West Point graduates, Davis took a position with the U.S. Army. His first assignment was as a frontier soldier in the Pacific Northwest, where his job was to keep the peace between white settlers and Indians. He served in the infantry (the military division in which soldiers fight on foot) until 1833, then transferred to the cavalry (the military division in which soldiers fight on horseback). During this time, he developed a reputation for arguing with his superior officers. In 1835, Davis resigned from the army in order to marry Sarah Knox Taylor. She was the daughter of his commanding officer, future U.S. president Zachary Taylor (1784–1850). Zachary Taylor was not impressed with Davis and discouraged the union, so the young couple eloped (ran away secretly to get married). Davis convinced his new bride to move to his family’s plantation in Mississippi. Shortly after they arrived, however, they both contracted malaria (a serious disease carried by infected mosquitoes). Davis recovered, but his wife died just a few months after their wedding. Since he had asked her to move to the South, he felt responsible for her death. He spent the next several years in seclusion on his family’s plantation. In 1845, he married Varina Howell, the nineteen-year-old daughter of a Mississippi landowner. They eventually had six children together—four boys and two girls.

Argues for states’ rights in the U.S. Congress Also in 1845, Davis was elected to represent Mississippi in the U.S. Congress. At this time, he became known as a defender of slavery and of states’ rights. The role of the national, or federal, government was still being defined in the mid-1800s. People who supported states’ rights wanted to limit the power of the federal government. They wanted individual states to have the right to decide important issues for Jefferson Davis

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themselves without interference from the national government. “The Union is a creature of the states,” Davis once said. “It has no inherent power. All it possesses was delegated [granted] by the states.” In the eyes of Davis and other Southern politicians, one of the most important issues that should be decided by the states was slavery. Growing numbers of Northerners believed that slavery was wrong, and they urged the federal government to take steps to limit it. Some people wanted to outlaw slavery altogether, while others just wanted to prevent it from spreading beyond the Southern states where it was already allowed. But slavery played a big role in the Southern economy and culture. As a result, Davis and many other Southerners felt threatened by Northern efforts to contain slavery. They believed that each state should decide for itself whether to allow slavery. They did not want the national government to pass laws that would interfere with their traditional way of life. After serving two years in the U.S. House of Representatives, Davis resigned to join the army fighting the Mexican War. The United States fought Mexico to gain territory that eventually formed parts of Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and California. As colonel of the First Mississippi Rifles, Davis proved himself to be a good military leader who maintained his cool under fire. His performance earned the respect of his former father-in-law, Zachary Taylor, and several other important military men. By the time a foot wound forced him to leave his command, he had become a well-known war hero.

Backs the decision of Southern states to secede from the Union Upon leaving the army in 1848, Davis was elected to the U.S. Senate. In 1853, President Franklin Pierce (1804– 1869) asked Davis to join his cabinet (a group of trusted advisors who head various departments of the government) as secretary of war. Davis performed well in this position. He increased the size of the U.S. Army in a short period of time, and also introduced new, state-of-the-art weapons. When Pierce’s term ended in 1857, Davis reclaimed his seat in the U.S. Senate. 96


Davis continued to argue in favor of slavery and states’ rights in the U.S. Congress. Along with other Southern lawmakers, he warned that the Southern states would secede from (leave) the United States if an antislavery candidate was elected president in 1860. “We would declare the government at an end, even though blood should flow in torrents throughout the land,” Davis stated. Davis knew that the North would not allow the South to leave without a fight. For this reason, he hoped that the federal government would agree not to interfere with slavery in the South or in new states and territories. But his hopes for compromise were dashed when Abraham Lincoln, who opposed slavery, was elected president. The Southern states reacted by seceding from the United States and forming a new country that allowed slavery, called the Confederate States of America. With their enemies in control of the U.S. government, they felt that the only way they could protect their rights as independent states was to leave the Union.

Becomes president of the Confederate States of America

Jefferson Davis served as secretary of war during the administration of President Franklin Pierce (above). (Courtesy of the Library of Congress.)

Davis and the other Southern lawmakers resigned their seats in the U.S. Congress in January 1861. Then Davis went home to his plantation in Mississippi. He told his family and friends that he did not want to play a role in the political leadership of the Confederacy, but that he would accept a military command if the North and South went to war. In February 1861, however, a messenger arrived at Davis’s home and informed him that he had been selected as president of the new nation. He was stunned by the news, but felt it was his duty to accept the position. Davis became provisional (temporary) president of the Confederacy on February 9, Jefferson Davis

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The Two Civil War Presidents: Davis and Lincoln Jefferson Davis and Abraham Lincoln never met. But the two men are forever linked in history as the presidents of the opposing sides in the American Civil War. They share a number of striking similarities, but also some notable differences. Both men were born in Kentucky, separated by only one hundred miles in distance and eight months in age. But Davis moved south to Mississippi as a boy, while Lincoln moved north to Illinois. Davis’s family grew prosperous by using slaves to work on their cotton plantation. As a result, Davis became a strong supporter of slavery. In the meantime, Lincoln raised himself from poverty through education and hard work. He strongly opposed slavery. When the Civil War began in 1861, Davis seemed to be more qualified to lead his country’s war effort. After all, he had graduated from West Point, proven himself as a military leader during the Mexican War, and served the U.S. government as secretary of war. In contrast, Lincoln had very limited military experience. Although he had joined the Illinois militia during the Black Hawk War (a war between the Sauk

tribe and the U.S. government in 1832), he later joked that he had “fought mosquitoes and led a charge on an onion patch.” Although Davis had more military training, Lincoln possessed many other traits that made him a great commander in chief. For example, he was able to analyze situations quickly and make good decisions. He was also better at dealing with difficult people than Davis and more able to handle the extreme pressure of the job. Both men faced well-organized and vocal opposition to their policies during their time in office. In fact, both are more highly regarded and popular now than they were during the Civil War. Since the two men played opposite roles during a crucial period in American history, historians have often drawn comparisons between them. In most cases, these comparisons reflect negatively on Davis. But as William C. Davis, Brian C. Pohanka, and Don Troiani noted in Civil War Journal: The Leaders, “It is unfair in many ways to criticize Davis because he was not Abraham Lincoln; nobody else has been Abraham Lincoln either.”

1861, and then was elected to a six-year term as president on November 6, 1861. Despite Davis’s protests, many people in the South believed that he was the most qualified man for the job. “Few men in the United States in 1861 seemed better prepared by 98


training and experience to undertake the leadership of a nation at war than Jefferson Davis,” Steven E. Woodworth wrote in Jefferson Davis and His Generals. “Davis had graduated from West Point, managed a large plantation, commanded an entire regiment in battle . . ., and been an unusually active secretary of war and an effective senator. He was honest, courageous, determined, and completely devoted to his duty as he understood it.” For six weeks, Davis tried to negotiate a peaceful settlement with the North. He still wanted to avoid a war if possible. One of the issues he hoped to resolve was the presence of federal troops at Fort Sumter, located in the middle of the harbor at Charleston, South Carolina. He viewed these troops as a symbol of Northern authority and asked Lincoln to remove them. When negotiations failed, Davis ordered Confederate forces to open fire on Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861. The Confederacy gained control of the fort, but the Civil War had begun.

Faces difficult task as president during the Civil War Davis faced a number of challenges once the war started. He had to appoint military leaders and raise an army to defend the Confederacy. Since the United States Army was controlled by the North, he had to convince individual Southern states to send men, weapons, ammunition, and supplies for the war effort. One of Davis’s first mistakes involved choosing his close friends to be generals in charge of the Confederate Army, regardless of their qualifications. For example, he appointed his West Point classmate Leonidas Polk (1806–1864) as commander of all Confederate troops in the West (the area west of the Appalachian Mountains). But Polk had never served in the military. After leaving West Point, he had immersed himself in the study of religion and become an Episcopal bishop. After a few early victories in minor skirmishes, Polk turned out to be a disaster as a general. On the other hand, Davis failed to take advantage of the talents of other military men. For example, the flamboyant Pierre G. T. Beauregard (1818–1893; see entry) had led the capture of Fort Sumter and had been a hero at the First Jefferson Davis

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Battle of Bull Run (also known as the First Battle of Manassas) in Virginia. But Davis and Beauregard did not get along. As a result, Davis went out of his way to avoid giving Beauregard any significant responsibility after mid-1862. Of course, Davis also had some notable successes in his choice of generals. For example, he placed another fellow West Pointer, Robert E. Lee (1807–1870; see entry), in charge of the Confederacy’s most vital army. Lee won a number of important battles over much larger Union forces and became the South’s greatest general. Part of the problem Davis experienced in selecting Confederate military leaders was due to his own personality. He trusted his own abilities far beyond those of others, and he found it difficult to admit that he was wrong. “Davis was all iron will and determination, a rigid man who might conceivably be broken but who could never be bent, proud almost to arrogance and yet humbly devoted to a cause greater than himself,” Catton explained. The president was highly involved in military matters throughout the war. He made frequent visits to troops in the field and often consulted with his generals about strategy. As a result, the Southern people and media tended to place the blame on him when things went badly. Another problem Davis encountered in leading the Confederacy during the war years involved the culture of the South. The Southern states had seceded from the Union in order to assert their right to make important decisions for themselves, without interference from the national government. Yet Davis needed to create a strong national government for the Confederacy in order to manage the war effectively. The South would have no chance of winning against larger, better organized Union forces if each state insisted on fighting on its own. “The kind of government Southerners wanted was not the kind that could fight and win an extended war,” Catton noted. “The administration had to have broad wartime powers, but when Davis tried to get and use them he was bitterly criticized; fighting against strong centralized government, he had to create such a government in order to win.” This issue created problems between Davis and the Confederate Congress. Davis also suffered personal tragedies during the Civil War. In 1863, Union forces conquered Mississippi and destroyed his plantation, forcing members of his family to be100


come refugees. In 1864, his six-year-old son, Joseph, fell from the balcony of the Confederate White House in Richmond, Virginia, and was killed. But the pressures of his job as president did not allow Davis to grieve for his son. At that time, Union general Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885; see entry) had pushed the Confederate Army back almost to Richmond. The responsibility of sending thousands of young men to their deaths in battle also wore on the president. He developed physical problems, such as severe headaches and stomach ulcers, that were related to the stress of his job.

Refuses to admit defeat In April 1865, it became clear that Union forces were about to capture the Confederate capital of Richmond. Davis and other leaders of the Confederate government fled south to Greensboro, North Carolina. Once they arrived, they learned that the South’s main army had given up the fight— Lee had surrendered to Grant at Appomattox, Virginia. But Davis refused to admit defeat and vowed to continue fighting. Some of his advisors worried that the president had lost touch with reality, because everyone else seemed to recognize that the Southern cause was lost. As Union forces approached Greensboro, Davis took his family even further south. He was finally captured near Irwinville, Georgia, on May 10, 1865. As Union troops surrounded their camp, Davis’s wife, Varina, threw her shawl over him to hide his face. The Northern press changed the story in order to humiliate Davis and make him seem like a coward. They claimed that he had tried to avoid capture by wearing women’s clothing. Davis was charged with treason (betraying his country) and put in prison. At first, his captors treated him very harshly. They chained his legs, limited his food and exercise, and prevented him from seeing his family. But this treatment only made Davis a hero in the eyes of the Southern people. The U.S. government eventually offered to pardon (officially forgive) him for his crimes, but Davis refused to accept the offer. He insisted that he had committed no crime because the South’s secession was legal. He wanted to make his case before a Virginia jury. But Northern leaders did not want Jefferson Davis

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Davis’s case to go to trial, because they were afraid a jury would decide he was right. Instead, the government dropped the charges and released Davis in 1867, after he had spent two years in captivity.

Shows no regret for his actions Davis recovered in Canada for a while after his release from prison, then returned to Mississippi. Since his home had been destroyed and he had very little money, he relied on the help of Southern supporters to care for his family. In 1881, Davis published a book about the Civil War from his point of view, called The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government. He justified his own actions and refused to apologize, which made some people angry. “Were the thing to be done over again, I would do as I then did,” he stated. “Disappointments have not changed my conviction.” Davis lived out his remaining years near Biloxi, Mississippi, and never tried to have his American citizenship reinstated (it was eventually restored by President Jimmy Carter [1924– ] over one hundred years later). He died on December 6, 1889, at the age of eighty-two. His was the largest funeral ever held in the South, with an estimated two hundred thousand mourners attending. Immediately after the Civil War, many people blamed Davis for the South’s defeat. But historians now believe that there was nothing Davis could have done to bring victory to the South. “Davis certainly made mistakes, but no one can point to one thing or another that he could have done that would have changed the outcome of the war,” William C. Davis, Brian C. Pohanka, and Don Troiani wrote in Civil War Journal: The Leaders. Davis’s popularity grew over time, as Southerners came to regard him as a representative of everything that was good about the Old South. He did the best he could in a difficult situation, and he remained devoted to the Confederate cause until the end of his life.

Where to Learn More Beauvoir, Jefferson Davis Home and Presidential Library. [Online] http://www.beauvoir.org (accessed on October 9, 1999). 102


Burch, Joann Johansen. Jefferson Davis: President of the Confederacy. Springfield, NJ: Enslow, 1998. Davis, Jefferson. The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government. New York: D. Appleton, 1881. Reprint, New York: Da Capo Press, 1990. Davis, William C., Brian C. Pohanka, and Don Troiani. Civil War Journal: The Leaders. Nashville, TN: Rutledge Hill Press, 1997. Eaton, Clement. Jefferson Davis. New York: Free Press, 1977. Jefferson Davis Memorial Home Page. [Online] http://www.pointsouth. com/csanet/greatmen/davis/davis.htm (accessed on October 9, 1999). King, Perry Scott. Jefferson Davis. Philadelphia: Chelsea House, 1990. The Papers of Jefferson Davis Home Page. [Online] http://www.ruf.rice. edu/~pjdavis/jdp.htm (accessed on October 9, 1999). Strode, Hudson. Jefferson Davis, American Patriot. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1955. Woodworth, Steven E. Jefferson Davis and His Generals: The Failure of Confederate Command in the West. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1990.

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Martin R. Delany Born May 6, 1812 Charleston, Virginia (now West Virginia) Died January 24, 1885 Wilberforce, Ohio Black abolitionist and political activist First black field officer in the Union Army

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artin R. Delany was one of America’s leading black political activists of the nineteenth century. In the 1840s, he became a leading abolitionist (person who works to end slavery). From the 1850s through the 1870s, his political beliefs changed, and he became one of the country’s bestknown supporters of black emigration (leaving one country to settle in another country) to Africa and pan-Africanism (a belief that all black peoples should unite to improve their lives). Delany is also well known for his Civil War activities. He was a leading recruiter of black soldiers for the Union Army, and in 1865 he became the first black soldier ever to be named a field officer in the U.S. military.

“[Black] elevation must be the result of selfefforts, and the work of [their] own hands. No other human power can accomplish it.”

Exposed to prejudice at early age Martin Robinson Delany was born in 1812 in Charleston, Virginia (now West Virginia). His father was a slave. But since his mother was free, Martin and his four brothers and sisters were also considered to be free blacks. Their mother’s legal status thus saved them from child-

Martin R. Delany. (Reproduced by permission of Archive Photos, Inc.) 105

hoods of enslavement. But even though he did not experience slavery firsthand, Delany grew up around slavery. In addition, he was exposed to terrible racial prejudice against blacks from a very early age. When he was a youngster, for instance, his father was sent to prison for a significant period of time because he resisted a white man’s attempts to beat him. Such incidents showed young Delany that blacks occupied an inferior position in Virginia society. Nonetheless, he grew up with a healthy sense of his own worth, in part because his grandmother made him aware of his proud African heritage. In 1819, the state of Virginia passed a law that made it illegal for any black children—whether free or enslaved— to attend school or receive any kind of educational instruction. A white salesman traveling through Virginia, though, gave the Delany family some educational materials so that the children could learn to read and write. Three years later, local authorities arrested Delany’s mother and charged her with violating the 1819 law. Concerned that the courts might punish her by separating her from her children, she promptly gathered her family together and fled to Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. Delany’s father joined them in Chambersburg one year later, after buying his freedom from his master.

Joins abolitionist movement In 1831, Delany left his family to study religion and medicine in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. During his stay in Pittsburgh, he became increasingly involved in efforts to help fugitive slaves from the American South gain their freedom in the Northern states or Canada. He also made a visit to the South in 1839 in order to study slavery practices. As he journeyed through Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas, he was shocked at the poor living conditions and vicious treatment that many slaves endured. When he returned to the North, he felt an even greater dedication to end slavery in the United States. During the 1840s, Delany became an increasingly visible figure in the Northern antislavery movement. In 1843, he started a magazine called Mystery, which he used 106


to speak out against slavery and to call for equal rights for blacks in America’s Northern states. That same year he married Cathrine A. Richards, with whom he had a total of thirteen children over the years. In 1847, he stopped publication of Mystery and became a coeditor of the famous antislavery newspaper The North Star with abolitionist leader Frederick Douglass (c. 1818–1895; see entry) for the next two years.

Calls for emigration from United States The 1850s were busy for Delany. In 1850, he enrolled in Harvard Medical School, where he hoped to continue his medical education. But the faculty forced Delany and two other black men to leave the school’s medical program after one term because of protests by some white students. Cyril E. Griffith wrote in The African Dream that the Harvard incident provided Delany with yet “another concrete example to his expanding catalogue of injustices northern whites committed against black men. [Delany saw it as] further evidence that black self-determination [the right of a people to decide their own political status] would be difficult to achieve in America.” As the 1850s progressed, Delany’s views increasingly placed him in disagreement with Douglass and other black abolitionist leaders. He charged that many white abolitionists did not really believe in racial equality, and complained that free blacks continued to rely too much on whites for direction. “We find ourselves occupying . . . a secondary, underling [inferior] position, in all our relations to” white abolitionists, he stated. “[Black] elevation must be the result of self-efforts, and the work of [their] own hands. No other human power can accomplish it.” Delany also came to believe that the best way for black Americans to improve their lives was to leave the United States and relocate in areas with a large nonwhite population, like Central America, South America, the West Indies, and Africa. Once they emigrated, they could unite with other blacks and work together for the benefit of all black peoples without relying on anyone else. In an 1852 book titled The Condition, Elevation, Emigration and Destiny of the Colored PeoMartin R. Delany

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ple of the United States, Politically Considered, Delany wrote that black people hunger for “the day when they may return to their former national position of self-government and independence, let that be in whatever part of the habitable world it may. . . . Our race is to be redeemed [restored]; it is a great and glorious work, and we are the instrumentalities [tools or agents] by which it is to be done. But we must go from among our oppressors; it never can be done by staying among them.” Delany spent the rest of the decade advancing his dream of mass black emigration from the United States to a new homeland. He helped organize a National Emigration Convention that met throughout the 1850s, and in 1859 he led a delegation (group of representatives) called the Niger Valley Exploring Party to Africa. This group explored sections of Liberia and Nigeria, scouting for places that black Americans might join with Africans to build a healthy new society.

Delany and the American Civil War When Delany returned to North America in 1860, he was confident that he could convince large numbers of blacks to resettle in Africa with him. He was joined by other organizations that urged free black Americans and Canadians to build new lives for themselves in Africa, the West Indies, and other areas of the world with large black populations. But as Cyril Griffith noted in The African Dream, “this pressure . . . to leave the continent came at the very moment when the Civil War presented them with the opportunity to participate in the struggle to free millions of their brethren [brothers] enslaved in the South.” The American Civil War began in April 1861, when differences between the nation’s Southern and Northern states finally erupted into armed conflict. The two sides had been arguing over several issues—including slavery and the power of the national government to regulate it—for many years. Many Northerners believed that slavery was immoral. Some people wanted to outlaw it, while others wanted to prevent it from spreading beyond the Southern states where it was already allowed. But slavery played a big role in the 108


Southern economy and culture. As a result, many Southerners felt threatened by Northern efforts to contain slavery. They believed that each state should decide for itself whether to allow slavery. They did not want the national government to pass laws that would interfere with their traditional way of life. The two sides finally went to war when the Southern states tried to secede from (leave) the United States and form their own country that allowed slavery, called the Confederate States of America. In 1861 and 1862, Delany continued trying to arrange a mass exodus (departure) of free blacks to a region of western Nigeria called Yorubaland. But interest in his emigration plans faded, especially after President Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865; see entry) issued his Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863. This proclamation declared that all slaves within the Confederacy were free and called for the inclusion of blacks into the United States armed services. When black Americans learned of Lincoln’s announcement, they reacted with joy and expressed optimism for their future. As prospects for a brighter future in America increased, they became less interested in Delany’s calls for relocating thousands of miles away. Delany, meanwhile, contributed his efforts to the Union cause. In 1863, he began recruiting free blacks for several all-black Union army units. One of these units was the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts regiment, which eventually became one of the most famous fighting units of the entire war. Delany soon became known as one of the North’s best recruiters. He tirelessly urged black volunteers to come forward, proclaiming that “millions of your brethren still in bondage implore [urgently request] you to strike for their freedom.” Despite his recruiting work, however, Delany recognized that black soldiers often encountered discrimination even within the Union Army. He worked hard to change unfair rules and treatment wherever he found them. In addition to his recruiting activities, Delany worked on behalf of blacks in other ways. He lobbied (attempted to influence) the Federal government to form an entirely independent army composed exclusively of black troops. He also urged the Union to promote deserving blacks to positions of authority (black men were not allowed to become officers at Martin R. Delany

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this time). In February 1865, he was granted a meeting with President Lincoln in which he explained his proposals. Lincoln was very impressed with Delany, and he agreed that blacks should not be disqualified for officer positions just because of the color of their skin. Lincoln quickly arranged to make Delany an officer in the U.S. Army. On February 27, 1865, Delany was commissioned (given official rank) as a major, becoming the first black man to hold a field command in American history.

Postwar career Delany spent the last few months of the Civil War continuing his recruiting activities. After the North defeated the South to end the Civil War in the spring of 1865, he became a military aide to the Freedmen’s Bureau. This organization was charged with helping former slaves secure education, employment, and other assistance. Leaving his family in Wilberforce, Ohio, he traveled to South Carolina to begin his new duties. Delany devoted a great deal of time and effort to his new job. But his calls for black self-reliance sometimes clashed with government policies, so he became a controversial figure within the Bureau. He and many other officers assigned to the Freedmen’s Bureau were discharged from the army in the summer of 1868. Around this same time, Congress adopted the Fourteenth Amendment, which gave blacks the legal status of citizens for the first time in the nation’s history. Delany remained in South Carolina during the 1870s, where controversy continued to follow him. He continued to urge black Americans to take pride in their ancestry, and remained a leading defender of Africa’s proud history and future potential. But he also allied himself with the Southern Democrats, who had been fiercely proslavery before and during the Civil War. Delany joined with the Democrats because he thought that Republicans were no longer making much of an effort to secure civil rights for blacks. He believed that Southern blacks had a better chance of improving their lives if they 110


Secretary of War Stanton Issues a Historic Order In February 1865, Martin Delany was commissioned (given official rank) as the first black field officer in U.S. history. The following letter, written by U.S. secretary of war Edwin M. Stanton (1814–1869), formally announced this historic appointment: The Secretary of War of the United States of America To all who shall see these presents, Greetings; Know ye, that, reposing [having] special trust and confidence in the patriotism, valor [courage or bravery], fidelity [faithfulness to duty], and abilities of MARTIN R. DELANY, the President does hereby appoint him Major, in the One Hundred and Fourth Regiment of the United States Colored Troops, in the service of the United States, to rank as such from the day of his muster [enlistment or entrance] into service, by the duly appointed commissary [officer] of musters, for the command to which said regiment belongs. He is therefore carefully and diligently [with dedication] to discharge the duty of Major by doing and performing all manner of things thereunto belonging. And I do strictly charge, and require, all officers and soldiers under his command to be obedient to his orders as Major. And he is to observe and follow such orders

Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton.

and directions, from time to time, as he shall receive from me or the future Secretary of War, or other superior officers set over him, according to the rules and discipline of war. This appointment to continue in force during the pleasure of the President for the time being. Given under my hand at the War Department, in the City of Washington, D.C., this twenty-sixth day of February, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty five.

cooperated with the Democratic Party, which was dominant throughout the South. His alliance with the Democrats, however, drew heavy criticism from other members of South Carolina’s black community. Delany ran for political office on several occasions during this decade, but each effort ended in defeat. In the early 1880s, he resumed his medical practice, rejoining his family in Wilberforce, Ohio, in 1884. He died one year later. Martin R. Delany

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Where to Learn More Griffith, Cyril E. The African Dream: Martin R. Delany and the Emergence of Pan-African Thought. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1975. Levine, Robert S. Martin Delany, Frederick Douglass, and the Politics of Representative Identity. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1997. Martin Delany Home Page. [Online] http://www.libraries.wvu.edu/ delany/home/htm (accessed on October 9, 1999). Sterling, Dorothy. The Making of an Afro-American: Martin R. Delany, 1812–1885. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1971. Reprint, New York: Da Capo Press, 1996.

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Frederick Douglass Born February 1818? Tolbert County, Maryland Died February 20, 1895 Washington, D.C. Abolitionist, writer, and speaker Escaped from slavery to become one of the most prominent activists in the antislavery movement

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rederick Douglass began his life as a slave. After escaping to the North in 1838, Douglass became a leading figure in the fight to abolish (put an end to) slavery in the United States and gain equal rights for black Americans. He was an accomplished writer and speaker who used the power of words to convince people that slavery was wrong. He was one of the country’s first great black leaders.

“This war with the slaveholders can never be brought to a desirable termination until slavery, the guilty cause of all our national troubles, has been totally and forever abolished.”

Born a slave Frederick Douglass was born in Tolbert County, in eastern Maryland, around 1818. He never knew the exact date of his birth because he was born a slave. Black people were taken from Africa and brought to North America to serve as slaves for white people beginning in the 1600s. The basic belief behind slavery was that black people were inferior to whites. Under slavery, white slaveholders treated black people as property, forced them to perform hard labor, and controlled every aspect of their lives. States in the Northern half of the United States began outlawing slavery in the late

Frederick Douglass. (Courtesy of the Library of Congress.) 113

1700s. But slavery continued to exist in the Southern half of the country because it played an important role in the South’s economy and culture. Most slave owners tried to prevent their slaves from learning much about themselves or the world around them. They believed that educated slaves would be more likely to become dissatisfied with their lives. For this reason, Douglass received no information about his birth. “By far the larger part of slaves know as little of their ages as horses know of theirs,” he explained, “and it is the wish of most masters within my knowledge to keep their slaves thus ignorant.” Douglass knew who his mother was, but she lived on a different plantation (a large farming estate). He did not know the identity of his father, but he suspected that it was Aaron Anthony, the white master of the plantation where he lived. His last name was originally Bailey, but he changed it to Douglass after he escaped from slavery. Douglass spent his early years under the care of his grandmother. He had a relatively pleasant childhood—often playing with other children along the banks of nearby Tuckahoe Creek—until he was six years old. At that time, he was assigned to be the personal slave of the plantation owner’s child. He was required to perform certain duties each day. Whenever he misbehaved or failed to perform his duties, he was punished severely. He also saw other slaves treated cruelly, including his Aunt Hester, who was tied up and beaten for disobedience. “Her arms were stretched up at their full length so that she stood upon the ends of her toes,” he recalled. “[The master] then said to her, ‘Now you damned bitch, I’ll learn you how to disobey my orders.’ And soon the warm, red blood came dripping to the floor.”

Learns to read A few years later, Douglass was sold to a new owner, Hugh Auld, and went to live on a different plantation. Auld’s wife taught him to read the Bible, even though educating slaves was frowned upon in the South. Douglass soon realized that education would provide him with a means to escape slavery. He continued learning by tricking the white children of the plantation into sharing their books and homework as114


signments with him. At the age of fifteen, Douglass was sent to the city of Baltimore to become a laborer. He learned a trade in the shipbuilding industry—how to use a gooey substance called caulk to seal the parts of a boat together and make them watertight. His owner rented him out to shipbuilding companies and received payment for the work he did. During his time working on the docks in Baltimore, Douglass saw boatloads of slaves being transported around the country. “I’ve seen men and women chained and put on a ship to go to New Orleans and I still hear their cries,” he noted.

Escapes to freedom Douglass managed to save some money over the next few years and bought his first book, a collection of famous speeches. He memorized all of the speeches in the book and practiced reciting them. He also came into contact with a network of free black people during this time. Not all black people in the United States were slaves in the early 1800s. Some former slaves were set free when their white owners died or no longer needed their services. Other former slaves saved money and purchased their freedom from their owners. When free blacks had children, the children were also free. In contrast, slaves who escaped from their owners were not legally free. Although some fugitive slaves lived on their own in places where slavery was not allowed, they risked being captured and returned to slavery at any time. One of the free blacks Douglass met in Baltimore was Anna Murray. They fell in love, and she encouraged him to try to escape from slavery. In 1838, Murray sold a poster bed and gave Douglass the money so that he could travel to a Northern state where slavery was not allowed. The journey would be dangerous, since Southern states placed restrictions on black people’s travel in order to prevent slaves from escaping. Douglass obtained papers that enabled him to pass as a sailor. Many slaves were hired out as sailors in those days, and they frequently traveled from port to port. Posing as a sailor, Douglass took a train north to Delaware, then caught a ship to Pennsylvania (a free state). Once he had reached the North, he continued on to New York, where he met and marFrederick Douglass

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ried Murray. The couple then moved to New Bedford, Massachusetts, where Douglass worked several jobs as a laborer.

Joins the abolitionist movement Shortly after he escaped to the North, Douglass learned about the abolitionist movement. Abolitionists were people who dedicated themselves to fighting against slavery. One of the most vocal abolitionists was William Lloyd Garrison (1805–1879), who published a newspaper called The Liberator. “The Liberator became my meat and my drink,” Douglass recalled. “My soul was set all on fire. Its sympathy for my brethren [brothers] in bonds, its faithful exposures of slavery, and its powerful attacks on the institution sent a thrill of joy through my soul such as I had never felt before.” In 1841, Douglass attended a meeting of Garrison’s abolitionist group, the American Anti-Slavery Society, in Nantucket, Massachusetts. Upon hearing that there was an escaped slave in the audience, Garrison asked him to say a few words. Douglass kept the audience on the edge of their seats for two hours with stories about what it was like to be a slave. “I stand before you this night as a thief and a robber,” he told them. “I stole this head, these limbs, this body from my master and ran off with them.” Before long, Douglass began touring the country speaking at abolitionist meetings. In 1845, Douglass wrote a book about his experiences as a slave, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. It was popular among people who opposed slavery and sold thirty thousand copies over the next five years. Since the book was so well written, some people doubted that a former slave could have written it. But these people became convinced as soon as they heard Douglass speak. Douglass’s success as an antislavery writer and speaker helped him bring his message to large numbers of people. But as he grew more famous, his life also became more dangerous. After all, Douglass was still a fugitive slave. His master knew where he was and could send a slave catcher to capture him and return him to the South at any time. To protect himself from returning to slavery, Douglass went to England (where slavery was not allowed) in 1845. While he was there, his abolitionist friends collected money 116


to buy his freedom from his owner. Douglass returned to the United States in 1847 as a free man. He then settled in Rochester, New York, and began publishing a newspaper called The North Star. He chose the title because fugitive slaves often used The North Star to guide them as they escaped to the North.

Black spokesman during the Civil War Douglass and his family— which grew to include five children— lived a comfortable life during the 1850s. But this was a time of great political tension in the United States. For years, the North and the South had been arguing over several issues, including slavery. Thanks to the efforts of Douglass and other abolitionists, growing numbers of Northerners believed that slavery was wrong. Some people wanted to outlaw it, while others wanted to prevent it from spreading beyond the Southern states where it was already allowed. But slavery played a big role in the Southern economy and culture. As a result, many Southerners felt threatened by Northern efforts to contain slavery. They believed that each state should decide for itself whether to allow slavery. They did not want the national government to pass laws that would interfere with their traditional way of life.

The front page of Frederick Douglass’s newspaper, The North Star. (Courtesy of the Library of Congress.)

By 1861, this ongoing dispute had convinced several Southern states to secede from (leave) the United States and attempt to form a new country that allowed slavery, called the Confederate States of America. But Northern political leaders were determined to keep the Southern states in the Union. The two sides soon went to war. Douglass was glad to see the Civil War begin because he believed it would result in the abolition of slavery. From the start of the war, he pressured President Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865; see entry) to Frederick Douglass

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make emancipation (granting freedom from slavery or oppression) the North’s main priority. “This war with the slaveholders can never be brought to a desirable termination [end] until slavery, the guilty cause of all our national troubles, has been totally and forever abolished,” he stated. Douglass also argued that black men should be allowed to serve as soldiers in the Union Army. When the government finally accepted this idea in late 1862, Douglass became an active and effective recruiter of black soldiers. He spoke to crowds of free black men across the North to convince them to join the fight for freedom of their race. “I urge you to fly to arms and smite [strike] with death the power that would bury the government and your liberty in the same hopeless grave,” he said. “He who would be free, themselves must strike the blow.” Two of his first recruits were his own sons, Charles and Lewis, who joined the Fifty-Fourth Massachusetts regiment. By the end of the Civil War, two hundred thousand black men had served the Union. They made up about 10 percent of the Union forces, fought in every major battle in the last two years of the conflict, and helped ensure victory for the North.

Holds government posts after the war Douglass was recognized as one of the most important black leaders in the United States by the time the Civil War ended in 1865. His speaking and publishing ventures had made him quite wealthy. He bought a nice home outside of Washington, D.C., overlooking the Anacostia River. He accepted several high-profile government jobs during the postwar years, including marshal of the District of Columbia and U.S. minister to the Caribbean nation of Haiti. In 1882, Douglass published the third and final volume of his life story, The Life and Times of Frederick Douglass. In 1883, his wife of forty-four years passed away. Douglass took his wife’s death very hard and seemed to have a nervous breakdown. But he managed to overcome his grief and dedicated himself once again to gaining equal rights for Americans. He wrote and spoke about the importance of helping freed slaves and the value of granting women the right to vote. 118


In 1884, Douglass created a stir by remarrying. His new wife, Helen Pitts, was a white woman, twenty years younger than him, who had worked as a secretary in his office. The controversy surrounding his marriage troubled Douglass. He felt that by marrying a white woman, he helped prove that whites and blacks could live together as equals. But some people, including his children, resented it. The episode showed that America still held racial prejudices, and that Douglass still refused to be bound by them. Douglass suffered a stroke on February 20, 1895, and died at the age of seventy-eight. He rose from slavery to become one of the greatest speakers and activists of his time. He committed his life to attaining freedom and equality for all people. He never stopped trying to make the United States live up to the values of liberty and justice outlined in the Constitution. “He had an enormous ability to capture in words the meaning of what America is about—freedom,” William C. Davis, Brian C. Pohanka, and Don Troiani concluded in Civil War Journal: The Leaders.

Where to Learn More Blight, David W. Frederick Douglass’ Civil War: Keeping Faith in Jubilee. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1989. Davis, William C., Brian C. Pohanka, and Don Troiani. Civil War Journal: The Leaders. Nashville, TN: Rutledge Hill Press, 1997. Douglass, Frederick. The Life and Times of Frederick Douglass. Hartford, CT, Park Publishing, 1881. Reprint, Grand Rapids, MI: Candace Press, 1996. Douglass, Frederick. My Bondage and My Freedom. New York: Miller, Orton and Mulligan, 1855. Reprint, Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1987. Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. Boston: Anti-slavery Office, 1845. Reprint, New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers, 1997. Frederick Douglass Museum & Cultural Center. [Online] http://www.ggw. org/freenet/f/fdm/index.html (accessed on October 9, 1999). Frederick Douglass National Historic Site. [Online] http://www.nps.gov/ frdo/freddoug.html (accessed on October 9, 1999). Frederick Douglass Papers. [Online] http://www.iupui.edu/~douglass/ (accessed on October 9, 1999). Huggins, Nathan. Slave and Citizen: The Life of Frederick Douglass. Boston: Little, Brown, 1980. Frederick Douglass

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McFeeley, William S. Frederick Douglass. New York: Norton, 1991. Russell, Sharman. Frederick Douglass. New York: Chelsea House, 1992.

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Emma Edmonds Born December 1841 New Brunswick, Canada Died September 5, 1889 La Porte, Texas Union soldier, nurse, and spy Disguised herself as a man to serve in the Union Army

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istorians estimate that more than four hundred women disguised themselves as men in order to serve as either Union or Confederate soldiers during the Civil War. Of all these women, Emma Edmonds was the most remarkable. Adopting the name “Franklin Thompson,” she joined the Union Army early in the war and served for two years without revealing her true identity. She started out as a battlefield nurse, then made eleven successful missions behind Confederate lines as a spy. Edmonds used a variety of disguises during her spy missions. For example, she posed as a black man, a middle-aged Irish woman, a black woman, and a white Southern businessman. Many years after the war ended, the U.S. government recognized her contributions and awarded her a veteran’s pension.

“I am naturally fond of adventure, a little ambitious, and a good deal romantic—but patriotism was the true secret of my success.”

An adventurous tomboy Emma Edmonds was born on a farm in New Brunswick, Canada, in December 1841. Her full name was Sarah Emma Edmonds, but she used her middle name for

Emma Edmonds. (Courtesy of Corbis Corporation.) 121

most of her life. Edmonds had a difficult life as a young girl. Her father had always wanted a son and took out his disappointment on his daughter. To please him, she dressed as a boy from the age of six and worked hard in the fields. She also learned to enjoy rough-and-tumble, outdoor activities like swimming, horseback riding, and climbing trees. After her mother died, though, her father became more and more abusive towards her. When she was sixteen, Edmonds ran away from home. She left Canada and went to the United States in search of freedom. After spending some time on the East Coast, Edmonds settled in Flint, Michigan. She had trouble finding a good job as a young woman, so she pretended to be a man named Franklin Thompson. She then found a job selling Bibles for a publishing company. But this was a time of great political tension in the United States. For years, the North and the South had been arguing over several issues, including slavery. By 1861, this ongoing dispute had convinced several Southern states to secede from (leave) the United States and attempt to form a new country that allowed slavery, called the Confederate States of America. But Northern political leaders were determined to keep the Southern states in the Union. Before long, the two sides went to war.

Civil War soldier and nurse By the time the Civil War started, Edmonds had developed strong feelings about the United States and considered it her home country. She wanted to help defend the Union against the Southern rebellion. But roles for women were limited in those days. They were not allowed to be soldiers, and they were discouraged from taking on other jobs that were not considered ladylike. But Edmonds did not want to sew clothing and blankets for the soldiers, or work in an office or factory, or be a nurse in a city hospital far from the lines of battle. She wanted to be in the middle of the action. So she decided to enlist in the Union Army as Franklin Thompson. Disguised as a man, Edmonds went to an army recruiting office to volunteer. Luckily, the officials there did not require a complete physical examination. Instead, they just asked her some questions. On May 14, 1861, Franklin 122


Thompson was accepted as a private in the Second Michigan Volunteer Infantry unit of the Union Army. Edmonds (Thompson) received special training to serve as a field nurse. She would work in a tent hospital near the front lines of battle, providing medical treatment to wounded soldiers. She served in this capacity in the first major battle of the Civil War—the First Battle of Bull Run in Virginia in July 1861. Edmonds continued working as a soldier and nurse until March 1862, and no one discovered her true identity. But then two things happened that made her want to contribute even more to the Union war effort. First, she learned that a fellow soldier who had been a close friend since she had moved to the United States had been killed by the Confederates. His death made her want to do anything in her power to make the war end sooner. Next, she heard that an important Union spy had been caught and executed in the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia. Without information from this spy, the Union generals in charge of her unit could not move ahead with their plans. After thinking about these two things, Edmonds volunteered to become a spy.

Secret agent for the Union By this time, Edmonds was a master of disguise. After all, she had fooled everyone for almost a year by pretending to be a man. To increase her value as a spy, she also studied weapons, military strategies, local geography, and biographies of the South’s military leaders. For her first mission, she used a chemical called silver nitrate to darken her skin and posed as a black man named Cuff. She knew that the Confederate Army used black slaves as laborers in their camps, so she hoped Cuff would not attract much attention. The disguise worked. She crossed into Confederate territory and began working in the kitchen of an army camp. She overheard valuable information there, then slipped back to the Union side to report her findings. For her next assignment, Edmonds tied pillows around her waist, put on a dress, and posed as a heavy Irish peddlar woman named Bridget O’Shea. Once again, she crossed into Confederate territory without attracting attention. She wandered into the Confederate Army camp and Emma Edmonds

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sold thread, paper, matches, soap, and tea to the soldiers. She also took note of the Confederate defenses and collected other valuable information. When she was finished, she stole a horse to ride back to the Union line. She was shot at and wounded in the arm by Confederate forces, but she escaped. Another time, Edmonds went behind enemy lines disguised as a middle-aged black woman. While doing laundry for the Confederate soldiers, she found official papers in an officer’s coat. She slipped out of the camp in the middle of the night and took the papers to Union leaders.

Emma Edmonds disguised as a black man in the Confederate lines. (Reproduced by permission of Corbis Corporation [Bellevue].)

In late 1862, Edmonds’s unit was transferred from Virginia to Kentucky. Kentucky was one of four “border” states that allowed slavery but remained loyal to the Union. Many people in Kentucky and the other border states, however, secretly supported the Confederate cause. As a result, a great deal of information about Union forces and strategy in the state was passed to the Confederates. Edmonds was assigned to go to the city of Louisville to learn the identity of Confederate sympathizers and spies there. This time she posed as a young Southern gentleman named Charles Mayberry. She got a job, attended society parties, and generally blended into the population of Louisville. Over time, she successfully uncovered the Confederate spy network that had been operating in the city.

Forced to leave the army In 1863, Edmonds contracted malaria, a serious disease carried by mosquitoes. She could not check into the military hospital, because everyone there knew her as Private Franklin Thompson. She decided that the only way to prevent her unit from discovering that she was a woman was to leave the army. Without telling anyone, she went to a private hospital in Cairo, Illinois, on April 22. She checked into the 124


hospital under her real name and spent several weeks recovering. Afterward, she hoped to rejoin her old unit. But then she saw an official notice listing Private Franklin Thompson as a deserter, meaning that he had left the army without permission before his term of service ended. Edmonds knew that she would be punished if she went back as Thompson. Instead of creating a new male identity, Edmonds joined a relief organization as herself. She worked as a female nurse in Washington, D.C., until the end of the war in 1865. The following year, she published a book about her wartime adventures called Nurse and Spy in the Union Army. In it, she finally revealed the secret she had kept for so many years. The book sold many copies, and she donated all the profits to the U.S. war relief fund.

Wife and mother honored for wartime service In 1867, Edmonds met and married Linus Seeyle. They had three sons together. The family lived in Cleveland, Ohio, for awhile, and then moved to Kansas and Texas. Over the years, Edmonds kept in touch with some members of her old Union Army regiment. She was very proud of her wartime service, but she was always disappointed that the government still considered Franklin Thompson a deserter. In 1884, some of her fellow Civil War veterans urged her to file for a veteran’s pension (a monthly payment the government provides to retired service people). She asked the government to review her case, mostly because she hoped to have the desertion charge removed from her record. Government investigators found numerous witnesses willing to state that Emma Edmonds Seeyle and Franklin Thompson were the same person, and that Thompson had provided valuable service to the Union cause as a soldier, nurse, and spy. On March 28, 1884, the U.S. Congress granted Thompson an honorable discharge from the army and awarded Edmonds a veteran’s pension of $12 per month. Edmonds died in La Porte, Texas, on September 5, 1889. She was buried in the military section of the Washington Cemetery in Houston, Texas. At the time of her death, she was the only female ever admitted to the Grand Army of Emma Edmonds

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the Republic—an organization of Union Civil War veterans that had over four hundred thousand members. Her incredible story has continued to capture people’s imagination for generations. As Edmonds once wrote about her exciting Civil War experiences, “I am naturally fond of adventure, a little ambitious, and a good deal romantic—but patriotism was the true secret of my success.”

Where to Learn More Edmonds, Sarah Emma. Nurse and Spy in the Union Army: Comprising the Adventures and Experiences of a Woman in Hospitals, Camps, and Battlefields. Hartford, CT: W. S. Williams, 1865. Markle, Donald E. Spies and Spymasters of the Civil War. New York: Hippocrene Books, 1994. Reit, Seymour. Behind Rebel Lines: The Incredible Story of Emma Edmonds, Civil War Spy. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1988. Seguin, Marilyn. Where Duty Calls: The Story of Sarah Emma Edmonds, Soldier and Spy in the Union Army. Boston: Branden, 1999.

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David G. Farragut Born July 5, 1801 Campbell’s Station, Tennessee Died August 14, 1870 Portsmouth, New Hampshire Navy admiral who commanded successful Union offensives at New Orleans and Mobile Bay

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avid G. Farragut is the most famous figure to emerge from the fierce Civil War struggle for control of the seas. A life-long sailor, he was nearing his sixtieth birthday when the war began. But despite his age and his Southern background, Farragut became the best commander in the Union Navy. In fact, his successful naval assaults on the Southern ports of New Orleans and Mobile Bay are recognized as major Civil War victories for the North.

“Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!”

A childhood at sea Born in Tennessee, David Glasgow Farragut was introduced to sailing at an early age by his father, George Farragut. Young Farragut learned the basics of sailing in all kinds of weather, for his father took him out on the sea in both peaceful and stormy conditions. When Farragut was eight years old, his father died, leaving him an orphan. But he was adopted by Commodore David Porter (1780–1843), a family friend who was also an officer in the U.S. Navy.

David G. Farragut. (Courtesy of the Library of Congress.) 127

On December 17, 1810, Farragut received an appointment as a midshipman. A midshipman is a student enrolled in training to be a commissioned naval officer. The following summer he served on the Essex, a ship commanded by Commodore Porter that sailed as far as the West Indies. One year later, the twelve-year-old Farragut found himself in the thick of the War of 1812. The War of 1812 was a conflict between the United States and Great Britain that lasted until 1815. This war came about for two reasons. First, the United States became angry with England after it captured some American ships and sailors who were attempting to trade with France (France and England were already at war). Second, the two nations grew upset with one another over American claims on British-held territory in North America’s western regions. As the War of 1812 unfolded and the Essex sailed against British warships, young Farragut proved himself to be a remarkably steady and courageous boy. In addition to serving as an aide to Porter, he also helped the older sailors operate the ship’s heavy cannons and massive sails. By the time that America and England reached a truce in early 1815, Farragut knew that he wanted to spend the rest of his life in the navy. Farragut spent the next forty-five years roaming across the oceans of the world. His naval assignments took him as far as the Caribbean and Mediterranean seas, though he also spent considerable amounts of time captaining ships along the coastlines of the United States. Farragut’s duties during this time ranged from commanding warships during the Mexican War (1846–48) to supervising the establishment of a naval shipyard in San Francisco Bay in the mid-1850s.

Farragut moves his family north During the late 1850s, Farragut became concerned about the hostile atmosphere that was building between America’s Northern and Southern regions. The two sides had become bitterly frustrated with each other over several emotional issues, including slavery and the concept of states’ rights. Many Northerners believed that slavery was wrong 128


and wanted to abolish it. They also defended the idea that the federal government had the authority to pass laws that applied to all citizens of the United States. But the economy of the South had been built on slavery, and Southerners resented Northern efforts to halt or contain the practice. In addition, they argued that the federal government did not have the constitutional power to institute national laws on slavery or anything else. Fearful that the national government might pass laws that would interfere with their traditional way of life, white Southerners argued that each state should decide for itself whether to allow slavery. Finally, America’s westward expansion worsened these disputes because both sides wanted to spread their way of life—and their political ideas—into the new territories and states. In late 1860 and early 1861, a number of Southern states became so angry that they finally followed through on their long-time threat to secede from (leave) the United States and form a new country that allowed slavery, called the Confederate States of America. The U.S. government, though, declared that those states had no right to secede and that it was willing to use force to make them return to the Union. In the spring of 1861, the two sides finally went to war over their differences. The Southern-born Farragut watched all of these events unfold with great sadness and anger. He and his wife, Virginia Loyall Farragut, had by this time settled in Norfolk, Virginia, a Southern town that they liked very much. But Farragut fiercely opposed secession. Determined to do his part to restore the Union, he quickly packed up his family and moved them north to a cottage in New York. He then reported for duty as a member of the U.S. Navy.

An important mission During the first few months of the war, Farragut served on naval committees and boards far from any military action. In late 1861, however, the leadership of the U.S. Navy interviewed him for an important mission. They wanted someone to lead a daring assault on the strategically vital Confederate port of New Orleans. According to Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles (1802–1878), Farragut assured him that he would restore New Orleans to Federal control, or David G. Farragut

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never return. “I might not come back . . . but the city will be ours.” When Welles heard Farragut’s determination, he decided that he was the right man for the job. Located in southern Louisiana near where the Mississippi River flows into the Gulf of Mexico, New Orleans was used by many Confederate ships looking to obtain supplies from Europe. Farragut’s superiors recognized that if he could capture the city, their larger plan to clamp a naval blockade (a line of ships designed to prevent other vessels from entering or exiting an area) over the entire Southern coastline would have a much greater chance of success. Farragut knew that New Orleans had strong defenses, including a small fleet of ships and two big military outposts (Fort Jackson and Fort St. Philip) that guarded New Orleans against attacks from the south. But the veteran naval commander received plenty of support for the upcoming attack. When he set sail for the Gulf of Mexico in the spring of 1862, he led a fleet of 46 warships armed with a total of 286 cannons.

The Battle of New Orleans Farragut’s fleet reached the forts in mid-April. Standing on the deck of the flagship Hartford, Farragut promptly ordered an attack on Fort Jackson and Fort St. Philip. The two rebel (Confederate) fortresses immediately returned fire. For the next few days, the two sides tried to hammer each other into giving up. By April 22, Farragut realized that he could not get past the two forts and up the river to New Orleans by force. His ships were beginning to run low on ammunition, and the rebel outposts showed no signs of wilting despite suffering severe damage. Farragut then came up with a bold plan to sail past the forts under cover of darkness and proceed on to New Orleans. Many of his officers tried to convince him not to attempt this strategy, but their commander held firm. He spent April 23 visiting each ship in his fleet in order to encourage his sailors and make sure that everyone understood their orders. By that evening, Farragut wrote, “everyone looked forward to the conflict with firmness, but with anxiety.” 130


Farragut’s fleet began their move up the river at 2 A.M. on the morning of April 24, when the night was darkest. As the Union ships sailed up the river, they were met with a hail of cannon fire from the forts and the Confederate warships that had been assigned to guard the city. Some of the rebel ships even pushed flaming rafts down the river to smash into Farragut’s ships. But the Union fleet fought back furiously as they pushed their way upstream. As the nighttime battle lit up the sky, one reporter said that “the river and its banks were one sheet of flame, and the messengers of death were moving . . . in all directions.” The battle on the river was horribly violent. But as the Federal fleet pressed on, it became clear to everyone that Farragut’s bold strategy was working. His fleet successfully glided past the guns of Fort Jackson and Fort St. Philip, then manhandled the smaller Confederate flotilla (small fleet of ships). By dawn, Farragut’s path to New Orleans was clear. He captured the city on April 25, and the soldiers at Fort St. Philip and Fort Jackson surrendered three days later.

Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles. (Courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration.)

News of Farragut’s great triumph delighted President Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865; see entry), Secretary Welles, and other Union leaders. Down in the Southern capital of Richmond, meanwhile, the loss of New Orleans stunned Confederate military leaders. “The capture of New Orleans ranks as one of the strategic milestones of the war,” wrote Ivan Musicant in Divided Waters: The Naval History of the Civil War. “At a blow, the South’s largest city, premier [main] port of entry, and the mouth of the Mississippi, fell to the Union.”

Sailing on Vicksburg Farragut’s bravery and skill at New Orleans made him a celebrity in the North. But his next assignment did David G. Farragut

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not end in victory. In the weeks following his capture of New Orleans, he tried to convince his superiors to approve an attack on Mobile Bay, Alabama. He wanted to move against Mobile Bay because it was one of the last Confederate harbors that remained open to rebel ships. But he was instead told to take his fleet further up the Mississippi River to the city of Vicksburg. Vicksburg, Mississippi, was another strategically important Southern city that remained under the control of the Confederacy. But Farragut’s voyage up the river proved to be a dangerous one. His lack of familiarity with the river’s currents and layout made passage very difficult, and shortages of supplies hurt the fleet’s effectiveness as well. Farragut later admitted that “the elements of destruction in this river are beyond anything I ever encountered.” In May 1862, Farragut reached Vicksburg. But a lack of adequate Union ground troops in the area made it impossible to take the city, and Farragut soon retreated back to New Orleans. A few weeks later, Farragut received orders directing him to make a second attempt on Vicksburg. But this midsummer effort also ended in failure for Farragut. He finally ordered his fleet to return to the Gulf of Mexico for the winter. Vicksburg remained under Confederate control until July 1863. The troops defending the city finally surrendered when an extended Union siege (surrounding a city in order to prevent supplies from entering) organized by Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885; see entry) threatened them with starvation.

The Battle of Mobile Bay In 1863, Farragut supervised the Union ships operating along the Gulf coast. He also moved against a number of targets along the Texas coastline, capturing Galveston and Corpus Christi. In addition, he helped the Union take Port Hudson, a rebel fortress that stood near Vicksburg. Farragut occasionally requested permission to attack Mobile Bay, which had become the only port on the coast still open to Confederate blockade-runners (ships that attempted to slip past the Union naval blockade to deliver supplies to the South). But other military plans always seemed to have a 132


higher priority. Farragut did not receive orders to move on Mobile Bay until mid-1864. On August 5 of that year, Farragut led a fleet of fourteen ships and four special warships known as monitors into Mobile Bay. He knew that the mission was a dangerous one. After all, Confederate defenses in the bay included Fort Morgan, three gunboats, an armored vessel called the C.S.S. Tennessee, and an underwater minefield. As Farragut’s fleet cruised into the bay, the gunfire between the Union and Confederate forces became so heavy that smoke drifted across the water in thick clouds. Farragut finally lashed himself to a mast high above the deck of the Hartford so that he could see what was going on.

“Full speed ahead!” As the Union fleet sailed into the bay, one of its four monitors—the Tecumseh—struck an underwater mine. The mine (then known as a torpedo) blew a huge hole in the ship, and it quickly sank to the bottom of the bay with its captain and ninety-two sailors still trapped on board. The other Union vessels hesitated when the Tecumseh went down, but Farragut ordered them forward, shouting “Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!” Farragut’s flagship charged into the heart of the bay, even though it drew heavy fire. One of Farragut’s lieutenants remembered that sailors on the Hartford “[were] being cut down by scores. . . . The sight was sickening beyond the power of words to portray. Shot after shot came through the side, mowing down the men, deluging [flooding] the decks with blood, and scattering mangled fragments of humanity.” But Farragut pressed forward, and he successfully guided the Hartford and the rest of the Union ships through the minefield and out of the range of Fort Morgan’s guns. Farragut quickly turned his cannons on the bay’s small Confederate fleet, and the rebel vessels surrendered a short time later. Farragut’s mission to seize control of Mobile Bay had succeeded, though he later admitted that the battle was “one of the hardest-earned victories of my life.” Over the next three David G. Farragut

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weeks, Union forces took control of Fort Morgan and two other rebel strongholds on Mobile Bay. The city of Mobile remained in Confederate hands, but Farragut’s capture of the bay effectively ended its usefulness as a blockade-running port.

America’s first admiral In November 1864, Farragut returned home to New York because of health problems and his desire to take a break. He was given a big public reception and presented with a gift of $50,000 so he and his wife could buy a home of their liking. Farragut also received recognition from the U.S. Navy for his wartime exploits. In 1866, one year after the Confederacy finally surrendered and the Union was restored, he became the first man in American history to hold the rank of admiral in the U.S. Navy. He died of a heart attack in 1870, midway through an inspection tour in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

Where to Learn More Duffy, James P. Lincoln’s Admiral: The Civil War Campaigns of David Farragut. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1997. Hearn, Chester G. Admiral David Glasgow Farragut: The Civil War Years. Annapolis, MD: U.S. Naval Institute Press, 1998. Latham, Jean Lee. David Glasgow Farragut: Our First Admiral. Champaign, IL: Garrard, 1967. Reprint, New York: Chelsea House, 1991. Lewis, Charles Lee. David Glasgow Farragut: Admiral in the Making. Annapolis, MD: U.S. Naval Institute, 1941. Reprint, New York: Arno Press, 1980. Musicant, Ivan. Divided Waters: The Naval History of the Civil War. New York: HarperCollins, 1995. Reynolds, Clark G. Famous American Admirals. New York: Van Nostrand, 1978.

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Nathan Bedford Forrest Born July 13, 1821 Chapel Hill, Tennessee Died October 29, 1877 Memphis, Tennessee Highly feared Confederate cavalry commander

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onfederate cavalryman Nathan Bedford Forrest ranks as one of the most controversial figures in Civil War history. Forrest was a ferocious fighter who proved time and again that he was one of the war’s most brilliant combat strategists. Mixing an aggressive style with superb battlefield instincts, his attacks on Northern military positions and supply centers became so disruptive that Union general William T. Sherman (1820–1891; see entry) warned that “there will never be peace in Tennessee till Forrest is dead.” Forrest’s tough reputation and military exploits made him a hero in the South. In the North, however, he emerged as one of the most hated men of the Civil War era. Northerners feared and hated Forrest partly because of his success as a raider and his fearsome reputation. But they also despised him because of his prewar career as a slave trader, his involvement in a wartime massacre of Union soldiers, and his early leadership role in the violent white supremacist group known as the Ku Klux Klan during Reconstruction.

“Forrest simply used his horsemen as a modern general would use motorized infantry. He liked horses because he liked fast movement, and his mounted men could get from here to there much faster than any infantry could. . . .” Historian Bruce Catton

Nathan Bedford Forrest. (Reproduced by permission of Archive Photos, Inc.) 135

Growing up in poverty Nathan Bedford Forrest was born in a frontier cabin in a remote area of Tennessee on July 13, 1821. The oldest son of nine children, Forrest lost five of his brothers and sisters to typhoid fever. The rest of the family barely survived on the money his father made as a blacksmith. This struggle to put food on the table made education seem like a luxury, so Forrest received only six months of schooling during his childhood. When Forrest was thirteen years old, he moved with his family to northern Mississippi. Three years later, his father died and the teenager became the head of the household. In 1841, Forrest moved to Hernando, Mississippi, to start a new life. He formed a brief business partnership with one of his uncles, who had been feuding with another family for a long time. Their business relationship ended when they were attacked by members of that family. Forrest’s uncle was killed in the assault, but Forrest killed or wounded all four attackers. In 1842, Forrest married Mary Ann Montgomery, the daughter of a Presbyterian minister. The couple had two children, a boy and a girl. Their son, William, grew up to ride with his father in the Civil War. But their daughter, Frances, died from disease at the age of six.

Becomes a wealthy slave trader During the 1840s, Forrest worked hard to build a comfortable life for his family. His lack of education sometimes made these efforts more difficult. After all, he had only a very limited capacity to read and write, and he never received any formal training in subjects like business or mathematics. Nonetheless, his intelligence and determination helped him through the tough times. After working for a time as a real estate agent, Forrest moved his family to Memphis, Tennessee, in 1851. Once in Memphis, he quickly established himself as one of the city’s leading traders of black slaves. Under slavery, white slaveholders treated black people as property, forced them to perform hard labor, and controlled every aspect of their lives. Forrest knew that even in the South, some people looked down on slave traders as members of a disgraceful pro136


fession. But Forrest did not feel that there was anything wrong with buying and selling black people, and he recognized that the slave trade was a booming business. During the 1850s, Forrest’s skill as a slave trader and real estate investor made him one of the richest men in Tennessee. By 1860, he owned more than three thousand acres of land, including several big cotton plantations in Arkansas and Mississippi. He also personally owned more than forty slaves.

Beginning of the Civil War As a slaveowner who depended on the continued existence of the slave trade to add to his fortune, Forrest opposed all Northern efforts to restrict or abolish (completely do away with) slavery in the United States. His support of slavery and his background as a Southerner made it easy for him to side with the Confederacy when the American Civil War erupted in the spring of 1861. The Civil War came about as a result of long-time disagreements between the Northern United States and the Southern United States over a variety of issues. The most important issue dividing these regions was slavery. Many Northerners believed that slavery was wrong and wanted to take steps to end it. But slavery played a vital role in the Southern economy and culture, and Southerners resented Northern efforts to halt or contain the practice. Fearful that the national government might pass laws that would interfere with their traditional way of life, white Southerners argued that each state should decide for itself whether to allow slavery. Finally, America’s westward expansion worsened these disputes because both sides wanted to spread their way of life—and their political ideas—into the new territories and states. By the spring of 1861, several Southern states had seceded from (left) the United States to form a new country that allowed slavery, called the Confederate States of America. But the Federal government declared that it would use force if necessary to make the Confederate states return to the Union. When it became clear that neither side was going to back down, America’s North and South began the process of building their armies for war. Nathan Bedford Forrest

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Forrest becomes a rebel cavalry leader Forrest enlisted in the Southern army as a private in June 1861, a week after his native Tennessee voted to secede from the Union and join the Confederacy. But he was discharged (released from service) a short time later so that he could recruit his own battalion of cavalry (a military division that rides on horseback to conduct raids and scout enemy movements). Using his own money to provide his troops with needed supplies, Forrest quickly assembled a cavalry force of about six hundred men. The Confederate Army then promoted him to lieutenant colonel so that he could formally command them. Forrest first attracted national attention in February 1862 for his actions at Fort Donelson in Tennessee. The fort had been targeted for capture by Union forces led by Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885; see entry). As Grant’s troops advanced on the stronghold, Confederate brigadier general Gideon J. Pillow decided to surrender. But Forrest refused to admit defeat. Even as thirteen thousand rebel soldiers surrendered to Grant’s troops, Forrest’s cavalry escaped from the area by taking an unguarded road that had flooded. Two months later, Forrest again proved his worth to the Confederate cause at the Battle of Shiloh in April 1862. The clash ended with Confederate forces in full retreat, hounded by pursuing Union troops. But Forrest’s cavalry stepped in and slowed the Union pursuit with a series of quick strikes against Federal forces. This brilliant performance brought Forrest even more attention, especially since he had led his cavalry even after suffering a serious bullet wound. After recovering from his wound, Forrest returned to the field. Forrest’s superiors were eager to make use of his aggressive style and strategic abilities, so they decided to grant him a great deal of independence from other Confederate military operations. This decision proved to be a good one, as Forrest used his cavalry to torment Union patrols and supply centers. In mid-July 1862, for example, Forrest completed an extended raid of Union positions in middle Tennessee by bluffing (purposely mislead) the Union commander at Murfreesboro into surrendering. Forrest thus seized more than one thousand Union soldiers and hundreds of thousands of dollars in Union supplies. 138


Forrest continued to strike against Union forces with great effectiveness for the next eighteen months. Ranging from western Tennessee to the Ohio River, his cavalry moved at a speed that frustrated all Northern pursuers. His most dramatic triumph during this period came in Alabama in the spring of 1863, when he fooled a Union commander into surrendering to him, even though the Union leader had three times as many soldiers. But Forrest also led dozens of other effective raids that did not receive as much publicity. “[Forrest] was probably the best cavalry leader in the entire war,” wrote Bruce Catton in The Civil War. “Forrest simply used his horsemen as a modern general would use motorized infantry. He liked horses because he liked fast movement, and his mounted men could get from here to there much faster than any infantry could; but when they reached the field they usually tied their horses to trees and fought on foot, and they were as good as the very best infantry.”

The Fort Pillow Massacre

Forrest’s Unlucky Horses During the course of the Civil War, Nathan Bedford Forrest reportedly had twenty-nine horses shot out from under him in battle. In addition, the cavalry leader suffered several serious wounds during the war. The most unusual of Forrest’s war injuries came in June 1863, when he was shot by an angry Confederate aide named Andrew W. Gould. Forrest survived the attack by killing Gould with a penknife. None of Forrest’s injuries kept him out of the saddle for very long, however. Fearless and grimly determined to fight for the Southern cause, Forrest hated being away from the action. This attitude made him a deadly foe on the field of battle. By the end of the war, he claimed that he had taken revenge for every horse he lost by personally killing thirty Union soldiers. Some people viewed this boast as yet another sign of his callous (unfeeling) attitude toward human life. But Forrest usually responded to such accusations by saying that “war means fighting and fighting means killing.”

Forrest’s cavalrymen admired their leader’s bravery and leadership. But his reputation as a violent man with a terrible temper made them fear him, too. The most famous example of Forrest’s ruthlessness was a controversial clash that took place at Fort Pillow, Tennessee, in April 1864. In this incident, known as the Fort Pillow Massacre, hundreds of Union troops were killed. Many of these Union soldiers, which included both black soldiers and white soldiers from Tennessee, were apparently killed while trying to surrender. The correspondence of some members of Forrest’s command indicates that their leader approved of the Nathan Bedford Forrest

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massacre. “The slaughter was awful,” wrote Confederate cavalryman Achilles V. Clark. “Words cannot describe the scene. . . . I with several others tried to stop the butchery and at one point had partially succeeded—but Gen. Forrest ordered them shot down like dogs and the carnage continued.” Today, the Fort Pillow Massacre remains the biggest blemish on Forrest’s war record. “Whether Forrest ordered [the massacre] or not, and that is still debated, he certainly watched as the slaughter went on,” wrote historian Brian Pohanka.

Raids in the western theater In the fall of 1863, Forrest was transferred to the war’s western theater (the area west of the Appalachian Mountains). He wasted no time in making his presence felt. In the months following his arrival, his cavalry conducted damaging raids on Union positions throughout northern Mississippi and western Tennessee. Beginning in June 1864, Forrest launched a series of raids against the supply lines of Union general William T. Sherman, who had begun a major invasion of the Confederacy’s western region earlier in the year. Sherman responded by ordering a force of eighty-five hundred Northern troops to find Forrest and stop him. Instead, Forrest launched a surprise attack on his pursuers. This clash, which took place at Brices Cross Roads, Mississippi, on June 10, resulted in one of the greatest Confederate cavalry victories of the war. Despite being outnumbered by almost a two-to-one margin, Forrest pushed his foes into a wild retreat. By the end of the day, his cavalry had captured two thousand soldiers, sixteen cannons, and hundreds of supply wagons. Forrest’s cavalry continued to strike against Union troops and supply lines through the rest of 1864 and into early 1865. But the Union Army’s growing dominance over its Confederate foes elsewhere in the South made these raids seem less and less important. In addition, Forrest’s cavalry operated during this period under the same shortages of food and supplies that were weakening other Confederate armies. On April 2, 1865, Forrest’s fading cavalry was disabled once and for all when it absorbed a terrific beating outside Selma, 140


Alabama, at the hands of Union cavalry forces led by Major General James H. Wilson (1837–1925).

A member of the Ku Klux Klan is shown attacking a black family. (From Harper’s Weekly, February 24, 1872.)

Forrest and the Ku Klux Klan Forrest and the remnants of his cavalry surrendered to Union troops in May 1865, a few weeks after General Robert E. Lee (1807–1870; see entry) and the main Confederate Army surrendered at Appomattox, Virginia. After the war, Forrest expressed a deep desire to put the conflict behind him and return to his business interests. “I did all in my power to break up the government but I found it a useless undertaking and I now resolve to stand by the government as earnestly and honestly as I fought it. I’m also aware that I am at this moment regarded in large communities of the North with abhorrence [hatred] as a detestable monster, ruthless and swift to take life.” Nathan Bedford Forrest

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After obtaining a pardon (official forgiveness) from President Andrew Johnson (1808–1875; see entry) for his wartime activities, Forrest resumed his life as a businessman. As time passed, though, he became very angry about federal Reconstruction policies that gave blacks increased economic and political rights in the South. (Reconstruction refers to the period in American history immediately after the Civil War, when the Southern states were readmitted into the Union.) Forrest and some other white Southerners who were angry about Reconstruction policies subsequently formed the Ku Klux Klan. This organization of ex-Confederates quickly became known for its white supremacist philosophy and its willingness to use violence against blacks and people who helped them. Forrest was reportedly one of the Klan’s early leaders, but some historians contend that he eventually withdrew from the organization because of its heavy use of violence and intimidation. In the 1870s, Forrest’s business ventures in farming, insurance, and railroads failed. By the time of his death from illness on October 29, 1877, the former cavalry leader was deeply in debt.

Where to Learn More Davis, William C., Brian C. Pohanka, and Don Troiani. Civil War Journal: The Leaders. Nashville, TN: Rutledge Hill, 1997. The Forrest Preserve. [Online] http://nbforrest.com/ (accessed on October 9, 1999). General Nathan Bedford Forrest Historical Society. [Online] http://www.tennessee-scv.org/ForrestHistSociety/ (accessed on October 9, 1999). Hurst, Jack. Nathan Bedford Forrest: A Biography. New York: Knopf, 1993. Jordan, Thomas, and J. P. Pryor. The Campaigns of Lieut.-Gen. N. B. Forrest and of Forrest’s Cavalry. New Orleans: Blelock, 1868. Reprint, New York: Da Capo Press, 1996. Lytle, Andrew Nelson. Bedford Forrest and His Critter Company. New York: Minton, Balch and Co., 1931. Reprint, Nashville: J. S. Sanders and Co., 1992. Wills, Brian S. A Battle from the Start: The Life of Nathan Bedford Forrest. New York: HarperCollins, 1992. Reprint, Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1998. Wills, Brian S. The Confederacy’s Greatest Cavalryman: Nathan Bedford Forrest. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1998. Wyeth, John A. Life of General Nathan Bedford Forrest. New York: Harper, 1899. Reprint, Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1989. 142


John C. Frémont Born January 21, 1813 Savannah, Georgia Died July 13, 1890 New York, New York American West explorer known as the “Pathfinder” Removed from his command as a Union general for issuing his own “emancipation proclamation” in Missouri

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ohn C. Frémont was one of the best-known explorers of the American West in the first half of the nineteenth century. “His scientific and surveying work was crucial in opening America beyond the Mississippi, and his heroic image and legend helped imbue [fill] the West with the romance with which it is still colored,” according to Edward D. Harris in John Charles Frémont and the Great Western Reconnaissance. “He remains a symbol of a younger, untamed, and adventurous America.” In 1856, Frémont became the antislavery Republican political party’s first presidential candidate. When the Civil War began a few years later, he took command of Union forces in Missouri—one of the four “border states” that allowed slavery but remained part of the United States. Instead of using diplomacy to gain the support of those residents who had wanted to join the Confederacy, Frémont used harsh, controversial measures to maintain order. In fact, Frémont declared that he would take away property and free slaves belonging to anyone who supported the Southern cause. He took this step a full year before President Abraham

John Frémont “remains a symbol of a younger, untamed, and adventurous America.” Writer Edward D. Harris

John C. Frémont. (Courtesy of the Library of Congress.) 143

Lincoln (1809–1865; see entry) issued his Emancipation Proclamation freeing the slaves in the South. Because Frémont had exceeded his authority, the president removed him from command a short time later.

Born out of wedlock John Charles Frémont was born on January 21, 1813, in Savannah, Georgia. His last name was originally Frémon, but he added the t in 1836 to make it sound more American. His father, a dashing Frenchman named Jean Charles Frémon, made a living teaching French. His mother, Anne Whiting Pryor, was actually married to a man other than his father at the time of his birth. She had married a wealthy Virginia landowner, much older than herself, at the age of seventeen in order to help her family out of financial problems. But she fell in love with Frémon and ran off to Georgia with him when their affair became public. They were married after her first husband died. Sadly, Jean Frémon died a short time later, when John was five years old. After the death of her husband, Anne Frémon took her four children to Charleston, South Carolina. She supported the family by taking boarders into their home. John managed to overcome his family’s poverty and the circumstances of his birth with his intelligence, charm, and good looks. Several local businessmen took an interest in him as a boy. They helped him attend a local private school and then enter Charleston College. Although Frémont had the potential to be a good student, he did not pay much attention to his schoolwork and left college after a few months. He took a teaching position at a private school and continued his education on his own. He particularly enjoyed studying navigation, and learned how to calculate a geographical position in latitude and longitude using scientific instruments.

Becomes an explorer In 1834, Frémont got a chance to put his navigational knowledge to work. A prominent Charleston resident, Joel Roberts Poinsett (1779–1851), invited him to serve as a mathematics teacher aboard the American warship Natchez during a 144


two-year tour of South America. The trip convinced Frémont that he was destined to lead a life of adventure. Shortly after he returned, he helped survey a railroad route from Charleston to Cincinnati, Ohio. In 1836, he joined a government survey team that mapped the Cherokee Indian territory in North Carolina, Tennessee, and Georgia. The U.S. government wanted a detailed map of the region because they were preparing to force the Cherokee off of their ancestral lands. Frémont did not question the government’s policies. In general, he liked and respected the Indians he met on his travels. But he was not overly concerned that his mission—charting areas for future white settlement—would destroy the native cultures. In 1837, Frémont joined the U.S. Army Bureau of Topographical Engineers. This section of the army produced detailed maps of the natural and man-made features of various regions for the government. For his first assignment, he accompanied the famous explorer and scientist Joseph Nicolas Nicollet (1790–1843) on an expedition to survey the area of the West that had been acquired from France in 1803. Known as the Louisiana Purchase, this territory had not been fully explored until that time. In 1839, Frémont traveled with Nicollet to Washington, D.C., to present their findings to the U.S. Congress.

Missouri senator Thomas Hart Benton. Benton’s daughter married John Frémont. (Courtesy of the Library of Congress.)

During his time in Washington, Frémont met Thomas Hart Benton (1782–1858), a powerful U.S. senator from Missouri. Benton was known for his stand against slavery and for his strong support of westward expansion. The senator liked Frémont and encouraged Congress to let him lead his own survey expeditions. But Benton was not pleased when Frémont fell in love with his daughter Jessie. He wanted her to marry someone more stable, wealthy, and politically connected. But the young couple ignored his objections and were married in 1841. John C. Frémont

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Gains reputation across the country as the “Pathfinder” The following year, Frémont got an opportunity to lead his own expedition. He took a survey team to the Rocky Mountains. When he returned in 1843, he produced a colorful report for Congress with the help of his wife, who was an accomplished writer. The report included detailed maps, a catalog of plants and rocks, latitude and longitude readings of key spots, and advice for settlers, along with exciting stories about Frémont’s adventures. It was soon published as a book and became very popular. People across the eastern part of the country hailed Frémont as a hero. Newspapers even gave him a nickname, the “Pathfinder.” In 1844, Frémont led an even bigger expedition to Oregon Country, along the Pacific coast. His team surveyed along the Columbia River and returned by way of the Great Basin region of the Southwest. His 1845 report to Congress about this trip was the most extensive survey of the West yet completed. Once again, copies of his report were snapped up by adventure-loving readers. They did not seem to care whether all of his stories were strictly true. They simply enjoyed his vivid accounts of his travels in the wilderness. “In later years critics and even some of Frémont’s companions of the trail would charge that he artfully embellished [improved by adding imaginary details] his accounts to create himself a hero,” Harris noted, “but there is no doubt that Frémont’s vision of the West captured the imagination of countless Americans.”

Trouble in California In 1845, Frémont led a group of explorers on an expedition to California. At that time, California was a territory that belonged to Mexico. But many Americans had settled in the region, and some of them wanted the United States to claim it. Mexican officials knew that the U.S. government was interested in taking California away from them. So when Frémont and his heavily armed men arrived, the Mexicans viewed them as a threat and ordered them to leave. Instead, Frémont added to the Mexican fears by building a log fort and raising the American flag over it. Frémont finally backed down after a tense standoff with the Mexican army. 146


By this time, however, many of his men were looking for a fight. As they moved north into the Sacramento Valley, they met American settlers who told them that the Klamath Indians who lived in the region were hostile (unfriendly). Frémont and his men soon confronted the Klamath. Nearly two hundred Indians died in the fight that followed. A short time later, a Klamath leader took revenge for the massacre by killing one of Frémont’s men as he slept. Frémont’s group responded with more violence, slaughtering many members of peaceful Indian tribes who lived nearby. In 1846, with the approval of Frémont, a group of American settlers organized a rebellion against the Mexican authorities in California. In what became known as the Bear Flag Rebellion, the Americans ended up gaining control of the region without much difficulty. Then Frémont and several other military leaders in California became engaged in a heated dispute about who was in charge. Without the proper authority to do so, Navy commodore Robert Stockton (1795– 1866) named Frémont governor of California. Then word arrived from Washington, D.C., that Army general Winfield Scott (1786–1866; see entry) had named another soldier, Stephen Kearney, as governor. Finally, Frémont received orders to return to Washington in June 1847. When Frémont reached the Missouri River, however, he was arrested for mutiny (refusing to follow the orders of a higher-ranking military officer). As he was transported to Washington to face a court-martial (military trial), thousands of people turned out to show their support for the flamboyant explorer who had helped California gain its independence. His trial became front-page news across the country. Although the court found him guilty, he did not receive any punishment. Nevertheless, Frémont felt insulted by the verdict and resigned from the army.

Winter expedition fails In 1848, Frémont decided to move his family to California, where he had purchased a forty thousand–acre ranch near Yosemite Valley. His wife and children traveled by boat around the southern coast of the United States. But he decided to make a privately financed winter expedition to the John C. Frémont

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West. He convinced a group of twenty-two men to accompany him across the San Juan Mountains, along the present-day border of Colorado and New Mexico. By crossing the mountain range in winter, he hoped to prove that it was possible to create a transcontinental railroad linking East and West. But the trip ended up being a disaster. Frémont and his men encountered blizzard conditions, with ten feet of snow and temperatures reaching twenty degrees below zero. They suffered from altitude sickness, snow blindness, and frostbite. To make matters worse, they ran out of food and ended up eating their pack mules. Finally, the party separated and Frémont’s group went for help. But upon reaching safety, Frémont remained behind while one of his men led a rescue party to collect the survivors. In the end, ten of his men had lost their lives. But Frémont still considered the trip a success, and even attempted another winter crossing of the mountains several years later.

Enters politics Frémont eventually made it to California and settled down with his family. Within a short time, prospectors discovered gold on his property, and he became a wealthy man. In 1849, Frémont was elected to represent California in the U.S. Senate when it became a state. Due to the timing of California’s statehood, he ended up serving only three weeks in office. But he introduced eighteen separate pieces of legislation during this brief time. He also emerged as an outspoken opponent of the expansion of slavery. After leaving office, Frémont spent some time traveling in Europe with his family. He also provided financial backing for the transcontinental railroad. In 1856, he ran for president of the United States as the candidate of the newly formed Republican political party. This party was founded by people who opposed slavery. “For the first time, a purely northern major political party had positioned itself squarely against the supporters of slavery,” Kenneth C. Davis explained in Don’t Know Much about the Civil War. “The distinctly regional division that the country had been moving toward was now firmly established.” 148


At forty-three, Frémont became the youngest presidential candidate in American history. He used the campaign slogan “Free Soil, Free Speech, Free Men, and Frémont.” His Democratic opponents launched fierce attacks on his background and his career. People who supported slavery desperately wanted him to be defeated. In fact, some Southern states threatened to secede (withdraw) from the United States if he were elected. Frémont ended up gaining a great deal of support in the North, but losing the overall election to James Buchanan (1791–1868).

Issues premature “Emancipation Proclamation” during the Civil War In the next election, however, an antislavery candidate did become president. Shortly after Abraham Lincoln was elected, the Southern states made good on their threat to secede from the Union and form their own country that allowed slavery, called the Confederate States of America. But Northern leaders would not allow the Southern states to leave without a fight. In early 1861, the two sides went to war. President Lincoln asked Frémont to rejoin the Union Army when the Civil War began. Frémont received the rank of major general and took command of the Department of the West. He was stationed in Missouri, a so-called “border state” that allowed slavery but decided to remain in the Union. Many people in Missouri still supported the South. Lincoln wanted Frémont to use diplomacy to gain the support of the state’s residents. Instead, Frémont immediately began instituting harsh measures to control Missourians who favored secession. In August 1861, he declared martial law (law enforced by military rather than civilian authorities) in Missouri and suspended many of the people’s rights. He also announced his intention to confiscate (take away) the property of secessionists and free their slaves. At this point, however, the North’s stated purpose in fighting the Civil War was to restore the Union. Lincoln worried that any talk about freeing slaves would drive Missouri and the other three border states into the Confederacy. In addition, Frémont did not have the authority to issue and enJohn C. Frémont

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force this order. As a result, Lincoln removed Frémont from his command in September. Frémont received another chance to contribute to the Union war effort in 1862. He took command of the Department of West Virginia, but lost several battles against Confederate general Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson (1824–1863; see entry) in the Shenandoah Valley. After being replaced once again, Frémont sat out the rest of the war in New York City.

Loses his fortune and fades from view After the war ended in a Union victory in 1865, Frémont began to fade from public view. He lost his fortune when one of the railroad companies he had financed went bankrupt. He ended up losing his California property and going into debt. In the 1880s, he spent a great deal of time writing his life story. He hoped that it would be as popular as his earlier books and help him to regain his wealth. But his autobiography, Memoirs of My Life, generated little interest when it was published in 1887. In 1890, the U.S. government recognized Frémont’s early contributions as an army officer and granted him a military pension. But he became ill and died a short time later, on July 13, 1890. Frémont was pleased to see that many of the areas he had explored became states before his death, including Minnesota, North and South Dakota, Nebraska, Colorado, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Wyoming. He brought the West to the attention of the American people and led the way for future settlers. As his wife once proclaimed, “Cities have arisen on the ashes of his lonely campfires.”

Where to Learn More Egan, Ferol. Frémont: Explorer for a Restless Nation. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1977. Reprint, Reno: University of Nevada Press, 1985. Frémont, John C. Memoirs of My Life. Chicago: Belford, Clarke, 1887. Harris, Edward D. John Charles Frémont and the Great Western Reconnaissance. New York: Chelsea House, 1990. Viola, Herman J. Exploring the West. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Books, 1987.

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Josiah Gorgas Born July 1, 1818 Daupin County, Pennsylvania Died May 18, 1883 Tuscaloosa, Alabama Chief of Confederate Ordnance Bureau Supervised production of weapons and ammunition for the Confederate Army

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eneral Josiah Gorgas was one of the Confederacy’s most valuable officers during the American Civil War. Born in the North, he sided with the South at the war’s outset. For the next four years, he supervised the Southern effort to provide its soldiers with the weapons and ammunition that they needed in the conflict. He faced many obstacles during this period, from shortages of raw materials to the huge Union naval blockade of Confederate ports. Despite these difficulties, however, Gorgas did a remarkable job of producing and delivering weaponry to rebel (Confederate) troops during the Civil War. In numerous cases, rebel armies continued to receive needed rifles and ammunition long after their supplies of food and other materials had evaporated.

“Gorgas proved to be a genius at organization and improvisation. He almost literally turned plowshares into swords.” Historian James M. McPherson

Born and raised in the North Josiah Gorgas was born on July 1, 1818, in Pennsylvania. His parents, Joseph and Sophia Atkinson Gorgas, sometimes struggled to provide for their family on his earnings as a clock maker, mechanic, and innkeeper. They often moved from

Josiah Gorgas. (Courtesy of the Library of Congress.) 151

town to town in an effort to improve their economic situation. These relocations made it difficult for young Josiah to make friends, and he later described his childhood as a lonely one. At age seventeen, Gorgas left his parents’ home and joined an older sister in Lyons, New York. He took a job as an apprentice at a local printing shop and quickly gained a reputation as a hard-working young man. Gorgas also became acquainted with a U.S. congressman named Graham Chapin (1799–1843) around this time. Impressed with Gorgas’s intelligence and ambition, Chapin helped the young Pennsylvanian to gain admittance into the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in New York. When Gorgas entered West Point in 1837, he did not have big dreams of building a military career for himself. He just wanted to gain a good education so that he could be successful in engineering or a related field. Motivated by his strong desire to avoid the economic problems that had dogged his father, Gorgas studied hard and became known as one of the most industrious and disciplined cadets (students in a military academy) in his class. In 1841, he graduated sixth in his class of fifty-two students.

Career advancement and disappointment After leaving West Point, Gorgas entered the U.S. Army’s Ordnance Corps (ordnance is another term for weaponry). The Ordnance Corps was responsible for designing, acquiring, maintaining, and distributing weapons and ammunition to the military. Since Gorgas was knowledgeable about rifle design, gunpowder manufacturing, and other aspects of ordnance, he thought that he would receive promotions fairly quickly. As time passed, however, he became impatient with the progress of his career. In 1845, he even sent a letter to Secretary of State James Buchanan (1791–1868) in which he demanded a promotion. Gorgas’s letter angered his superiors and nearly resulted in his dismissal from the service. In 1846, Gorgas received orders to report to Mexico, where American and Mexican forces were engaged in the Mexican War (1846–48). This conflict was a struggle for ownership of vast expanses of land in the West. It ended in 1848, 152


when the stronger American army forced the Mexican government to give up two-fifths of its total territory—including California and New Mexico—in return for $15 million. When Gorgas first reached Mexico, he tackled his duties with energy in hopes that his performance would help him gain the promotions that he wanted. Soon after his arrival, however, he became involved in quarrels with other officers. His reputation as a troublemaker continued to grow, and as a result he did not receive any promotions while in Mexico. After the war ended, Gorgas was stationed in Virginia, where he became acquainted with a wealthy munitions (weapons and ammunition) factory owner named Joseph Anderson (1813–1892). He also continued to study ordnance. As the years passed, he established a reputation as an expert on ammunition, artillery, and firearms while stationed at outposts around the South. Nonetheless, Gorgas continued to express dissatisfaction with the progress of his military career. In the mid-1850s, Gorgas married Amelia Gayle. She was the daughter of a former Alabama governor named John Gayle, who had become a wealthy plantation owner. Impressed with John Gayle’s operation and mindful of his wife’s love for her home state of Alabama, Gorgas began to view himself as a Southerner.

Joins the Ordnance Board In 1858, Gorgas was appointed to help build military facilities in Charleston Harbor. Two years later, Secretary of War John B. Floyd (1806–1863) assigned Gorgas to serve on the prestigious Ordnance Board—a committee charged with monitoring the quality and quantity of the army’s rifles, cannons, and other weaponry—as a favor for his longtime friend, John Gayle. Gorgas and his wife promptly relocated to Washington, D.C., where the offices of the Ordnance Board were located. Gorgas may have received his position on the Ordnance Board because of his father-in-law’s influence, but he quickly showed that he was a good selection. Using his expertise in the field of ordnance, he became a leading reviewer of Federal military inventories and a recognized authority on Josiah Gorgas

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weapons and ammunition. In the spring of 1861, however, the onset of the American Civil War abruptly ended Gorgas’s involvement on the Board. The Civil War came about because of bitter divisions between America’s Northern and Southern regions. The main issue dividing the two regions was slavery. Many Northerners believed that slavery was wrong. They wanted to outlaw it throughout America, or at least prevent it from spreading beyond the Southern states where it was already allowed. But slavery played an important role in the South’s economy and culture, and white Southerners felt threatened by Northern efforts to contain slavery. They believed that each state should decide for itself whether to allow the practice. In early 1861, relations between the two sections had deteriorated to the point that America’s Southern states announced their decision to secede from (leave) the United States and form a country that allowed slavery, called the Confederate States of America. The North responded by declaring its intention to keep the Union together by force if necessary. As both regions began forming armies for the coming war, thousands of soldiers had to decide whether to fight on the side of the Union or the Confederacy.

Chief of ordnance for the Confederacy Influenced by his wife’s Southern background and his own affection for Southern culture, Gorgas resigned from the Federal Army in March 1861 in order to join the Confederate Army. Once he arrived in the South, rebel leaders immediately made use of his knowledge of weaponry. They promoted him to major and made him the army’s chief of ordnance. This meant that Gorgas was in charge of acquiring, storing, and distributing all the rifles, artillery, and ammunition that the Confederate Army would need during the war. As Gorgas investigated the South’s existing ordnance supplies during the spring of 1861, he quickly realized that the job of supplying weapons and bullets to Confederate soldiers was going to be extremely difficult. After all, most of America’s ordnance-making factories were located in the North. In addition, most existing supplies of weapons could not be used, either because they lay deep in Northern territo154


Stacks of ammunition at Fort Sumter. Josiah Gorgas was in charge of supplying Confederate soldiers with the weapons and ammunition they needed for the war. (Courtesy of the Library of Congress.)

ry or because they had been confiscated (seized) by Confederate state governments that refused to share them. Finally, he knew that he had only a limited amount of money that he could spend on arms and ammunition. But rather than despair about the obstacles that he faced, Gorgas used his experience and energy to address each problem. By the fall of 1861, when he was promoted to lieutenant general, Gorgas had taken several steps to ensure that the Confederate Army would have all the arms and ammunition that it needed. For example, he purchased large amounts of ordnance from foreign nations before the Union Navy could complete its blockade of the Southern coastline. He also began the process of converting mills and factories to the production of gunpowder, rifles, and other weaponry. Finally, Gorgas persuaded the Confederate Congress to provide greater financial and legislative assistance to his arms-building efforts. “When Josiah Gorgas accepted appointment as chief of ordnance in April 1861 he faced an apparently . . . Josiah Gorgas

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hopeless task,” wrote James M. McPherson in Battle Cry of Freedom. “But Gorgas proved to be a genius at organization and improvisation [coming up with new ways of doing things]. He almost literally turned plowshares into swords.” As the war progressed, Confederate armies suffered from shortages of blankets, food, and other provisions (supplies) with increasing frequency. But the Confederate Ordnance Bureau maintained regular shipments of arms and ammunition to rebel armies across the South, thanks to the tireless efforts of Gorgas and trusted lieutenants like George W. Rains. Gorgas used all sorts of schemes to meet the military’s ammunition and weaponry needs. For example, he launched an extensive blockade-running operation that provided the Confederate Army with nearly two-thirds of its small arms (blockade runners were small ships that evaded the Union naval blockade of Confederate harbors in order to bring needed supplies to the South). He also expanded production of gunpowder, rifle barrels, and other weaponry by using private homes as small factories. When the South began to experience shortages of raw materials used in the production of ordnance, Gorgas even became an expert at finding substitute materials that could be used. By 1864, however, shortages of manpower and raw materials were affecting the Ordnance Bureau’s abilities to produce and distribute arms and ammunition. Gorgas worked hard to meet the rebel army’s needs, but shortages of labor and materials became even worse as Union forces captured large areas of Confederate territory. By the time the Civil War ended in the spring of 1865, Gorgas had sacrificed his health and much of his fortune in his doomed efforts to meet the Confederate Army’s ordnance needs.

Postwar career as teacher After the war, Gorgas struggled as a businessman for several years. In 1869, he abandoned his hopes of regaining the money that he had lost in the last years of the war. Instead, he accepted a teaching position at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. In 1872, he was named vicechancellor of the college, but he also continued to work as an instructor. Poor health forced him to resign from the school 156


in 1878. Later that same year, however, friends arranged to have Gorgas named president of the University of Alabama. Gorgas appreciated the gesture and expressed hope that he might eventually be able to fulfill his presidential responsibilities. His health continued to decline, however, and in 1879, the presidency was given to someone else. Gorgas was appointed university librarian, but his poor health forced his wife to take care of many of his duties. Gorgas died four years later, on May 18, 1883.

Where to Learn More Goff, Richard D. Confederate Supply. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1969. The Gorgas House. [Online] http://www.ua.edu/gorgasmain.html (accessed on October 10, 1999). Vandiver, Frank E. Ploughshares into Swords: Josiah Gorgas and Confederate Ordnance. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1952. Reprint, College Station: Texas A & M University Press, 1994. Wakelyn, Jon L. “Josiah Gorgas” in Leaders of the American Civil War. Edited by Jon L. Wakelyn and Charles F. Ritter. Westwood, CT: Greenwood Press, 1998. Wiggins, Sarah Woolfolk, ed. The Journals of Josiah Gorgas, 1857–1878. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 1995.

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Ulysses S. Grant Born April 27, 1822 Point Pleasant, Ohio Died July 23, 1885 Mount McGregor, New York Union general who captured Vicksburg and defeated Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia, ending the Civil War Eighteenth president of the United States

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lysses S. Grant was one of the greatest—and most unlikely—military commanders in American history. Prior to the Civil War, he struggled to provide for his family, first as a soldier and then as a businessman. But when the war began, he quickly showed that he was one of the North’s top military leaders. During the first two years of the conflict, his victories at Fort Donelson, Vicksburg, and Chattanooga helped the Union seize control of the Confederacy’s western states. Grant then moved to the war’s eastern theater (a large geographic area in which military operations take place), where he was given command of all the Union armies. Beginning in the spring of 1864, he brought the full power of the Union forces against the South. Grant’s merciless use of sustained pressure against the weary armies and citizens of the Confederacy eventually forced the South to surrender in 1865. Four years later, Grant became president of the United States. But the North’s greatest military hero never really learned how to be a good political leader, and his two terms in the White House were marked by scandal.

“I have but one sentiment now. We have a government and laws and a flag and they must be sustained. There are but two parties now: traitors and patriots.”

Ulysses S. Grant. (Courtesy of Colonial Press.) 159

Humble beginnings Ulysses S. Grant was born on April 27, 1822, in Point Pleasant, Ohio. His parents were Hannah Simpson Grant and Jesse Root Grant, who supported his family as a tanner (a converter of animal hides into leather) and farmer. Named Hiram Ulysses by his parents, Grant was a quiet and sensitive child. As a youngster he labored in his father’s tannery for a time, but he disliked the tedious work of tanning hides and his father’s constant criticism. He later received permission to work on the family’s small farm, where he developed a deep love for horses. When Grant was seventeen, his father pushed him to apply for admittance into the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, America’s leading military academy. Grant dutifully took the school’s entrance exam and was surprised when he learned that he had passed. He entered the academy a few months later, only to discover that the school had erroneously listed his name as Ulysses Simpson Grant rather than Hiram Ulysses Grant. He tried to have his name corrected, but when his initial efforts failed, he simply accepted his new name and used it for the rest of his life.

Early life in the military Grant’s years at West Point passed quietly. Nicknamed “Sam” by his friends, Grant posted grades that were acceptable but unremarkable. In fact, the only subjects for which he showed any enthusiasm at all were watercolor painting and horsemanship. “A military life held no charms for me,” he later admitted. Despite his lack of enthusiasm for the military, Grant became a soldier after graduating from West Point in 1843. He requested assignment to a federal cavalry unit so that he could work with horses, but was instead placed in the infantry. Grant’s first exposure to war came in 1846, when the United States and neighboring Mexico went to war. The Mexican War (1846–48) came about when the United States became interested in acquiring significant sections of Mexican territory in order to expand its own land holdings. In 1845, America annexed (added) Texas to the Union and tried to buy California and New Mexico from Mexico. But Mexico regard160


ed Texas as part of its own territory, and it refused to give up California and New Mexico. America’s determination to take possession of these lands did not diminish, however, and the two countries ended up going to war over the territories. Grant worked as a regimental quartermaster (a military officer responsible for providing food, clothing, ammunition, and other equipment to troops) during the war, serving under both General Zachary Taylor (1784–1850) and General Winfield Scott (1786–1866; see entry). As the war unfolded, Grant became an admirer of the decisive military style favored by these two military leaders. In fact, their example has often been credited as an influence in Grant’s own generalship during the Civil War. But while Grant learned some valuable lessons about leading men into combat during the Mexican War, he regarded the war itself as a “wicked” one. Grant took part in the war because “I considered my supreme duty was to my flag.” But he and many others believed that America had basically picked a fight with Mexico so that when Mexico struck back against its bullying behavior, the United States could go to war and take the land that it wanted without feeling guilty about it. This conflict ended in 1848, when American military victories forced Mexico to cede (give up its claims on) Texas, California, New Mexico, and other lands in the West in exchange for $15 million. Everyone knew that the land was worth far more than $15 million, but the Mexican government had no choice but to accept the deal. Years later, Grant called the Mexican War “one of the most unjust ever waged by a stronger against a weaker nation.”

A long period of struggle In 1848, Grant married Julia Dent, the daughter of a slave-owning Missouri planter. They started a family, and eventually had three sons and a daughter. But military assignments along the Pacific coast placed Grant far away from his wife and children for long periods of time, and he proved unable to raise enough funds so that his family could join him. In the summer of 1854, Grant—a captain at the time—abruptUlysses S. Grant

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ly resigned from the army under somewhat mysterious circumstances. Many historians believe that he left the military because of charges of alcoholism, but unhappiness over his long separation from his family might have been a factor, too. After returning to civilian life in the eastern United States, Grant worked hard to provide for his family. But every career and business scheme that he attempted failed, from bill collecting to real estate. One Christmas, he sold his watch so that he would have a little money to buy presents for his wife and children. As one business venture after another failed, Grant was finally forced to accept a clerk position at an Illinois tannery owned by his father in order to feed his family.

The Civil War begins Grant left his father’s tannery in the spring of 1861, when the American Civil War began. The Civil War came about because of long-standing and bitter disagreements between America’s Northern and Southern states over several issues. One of these issues was slavery. Many Northerners believed that slavery was wrong and wanted to abolish (completely do away with) it. But the economy of the South had been built on slavery, and Southerners resented Northern efforts to halt or contain the practice. The two regions also disagreed about the appropriate balance between state and federal authority. The Northern states favored a strong central government and argued that the Union—the entire country—was more important than any individual state. Southern states, though, supported the concept of states’ rights, which held that people in each state could make their own decisions about slavery and other issues. America’s westward expansion during this time made these disputes even worse, since both sides wanted to spread their way of life—and their political ideas—into the new territories and states. By early 1861, hostilities between the two regions had become so strong that several Southern states voted to secede from (leave) the United States and form a new country that allowed slavery, called the Confederate States of America (eleven Southern states eventually seceded).The U.S. govern162


ment declared that the formation of the Confederacy was treasonous (an illegal betrayal of the country) and warned that it was willing to use force to make the Southern states return to the Union. But the South refused to back down, and in the spring of 1861, the two sides finally went to war.

Return to military service The Civil War gave Grant a second opportunity to prove himself in the Federal army. But although his choice to rejoin the army was based partly on his desire to revive his military career, he also had a genuine desire to see the Confederacy destroyed and the Union restored. “I have but one sentiment now,” Grant stated at the beginning of the war. “We have a government and laws and a flag and they must be sustained. There are but two parties now: traitors and patriots.” When the war started, Union military leaders gave Grant command of a group of Illinois volunteers because of his previous military experience. Promoted to brigadier general, he spent most of 1861 in Kentucky and Missouri. Grant’s troops got into a couple minor scrapes during this time. The biggest of these minor battles was a clash at Belmont, Missouri, that ended without a clear winner. In the spring of 1862, Grant posted his first major triumph of the war when his small army captured a Confederate garrison (military post) of fifteen thousand men at Fort Donelson, Tennessee. This victory came at a time when many other Union generals were suffering terrible defeats, so Northerners naturally embraced Grant as a hero. Their opinion of Grant surged even higher when they heard that he had responded to Confederate requests to negotiate terms of surrender by saying, “The only terms I can offer are immediate and unconditional surrender.” Grant’s uncompromising stand greatly appealed to Northerners, who started saying that his initials, U.S., stood for “Unconditional Surrender.”

The Battle of Shiloh After his performance at Fort Donelson, Grant was given more important responsibilities. In March 1862, he was Ulysses S. Grant

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ordered to take forty-five thousand troops and track down a Confederate army commanded by General Albert S. Johnston (1803–1862). Grant pursued Johnston all the way to the northern Mississippi town of Corinth, where Johnston received reinforcements that increased the size of his army to about forty-four thousand troops. Grant, meanwhile, stopped his advance outside of Corinth, near a small country church called Shiloh. He set up camp and waited for reinforcements of his own to arrive. As Grant waited for his reinforcements, however, he established only basic defenses around the camp because he figured that Johnston’s exhausted army would not dare to attack him. On April 6, though, Johnston launched a deadly surprise attack on the Union camp just as Grant’s soldiers were waking up for breakfast. The Confederate offensive smashed the unprepared Federal troops, and for a time it appeared that the Union Army would be forced to call a full retreat. But Grant furiously rallied his men, and the troops held their ground until nightfall, when he finally received his reinforcements. Armed with these new troops, Grant ordered a fullscale Union attack the following morning. All day long, Grant delivered terrible punishment to the outnumbered rebel army. The Confederate troops finally had to retreat back to Corinth in order to avoid total defeat. Grant did not give chase, though, because he knew that his own army was exhausted. The Battle of Shiloh shocked people all across the country because it produced casualty figures that were far higher than had been seen before. When people in the North and South heard that more than twenty-three thousand Union and Confederate soldiers were classified as killed, wounded, or missing at Shiloh, they realized that they had been fooling themselves with their dreams of easy and bloodless victory.

Grant captures Vicksburg Grant’s next major mission took him to Vicksburg, Mississippi, a heavily fortified city located high atop bluffs along the Mississippi River’s eastern shoreline. Vicksburg was the last major Confederate stronghold along the Mississippi. 164


Grant knew that if he could capture the city, Northern control of the river would be complete. The eastern Confederate states would have no way of getting grain, cattle, and other desperately needed supplies from Confederate lands west of the river like Texas, Arkansas, and western Louisiana. At first, Vicksburg’s rebel defenders pushed back every one of Grant’s offensives. But in April 1863, the Union general launched a daring and brilliant plan to capture the stronghold. He marched his troops southward down the western banks of the Mississippi, then ferried his army across the river on boats that had earlier dashed past Vicksburg’s mighty cannons under cover of darkness. Grant’s strategy worked flawlessly. By the end of April, he had successfully transported his army across the river to the eastern shoreline. Grant’s army was now on the same side of the river as Vicksburg itself. Over the next few weeks, he steadily advanced on Vicksburg, destroying rebel supplies and small Confederate armies with ease. By mid-May, Grant had captured the town of Jackson, chased off the main Southern army in the region, and completely encircled Vicksburg. Shortly after surrounding Vicksburg, Grant tried to take the city by force. When these attempts failed, however, he settled in for a long siege of the city. By stopping all shipments of food and supplies into Vicksburg, Grant planned to starve the city into surrendering. Once again, Grant’s strategy worked. On July 4, the Confederate garrison surrendered the city to Grant, and Union troops moved in. A few days later, Grant took control of Port Hudson, Louisiana, a smaller rebel outpost on the Mississippi. Thanks to Grant’s brilliant campaign, the entire Mississippi River Valley now belonged to the North.

Victories in the West By the fall of 1863, Grant’s successes and tough style had made him a favorite of President Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865; see entry). Writing in Reflections on the Civil War, historian Bruce Catton noted that Lincoln viewed Grant as “a man who was completely reliable, who got the job done, who could be trusted, and who always seemed to come out on top.” In mid-October 1863, Lincoln’s confidence in Grant led him to Ulysses S. Grant

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give the general command over the newly created Division of the Mississippi, which included all Union forces operating between the Mississippi River and the Appalachian Mountains. Grant immediately proved that the president’s confidence in him was well placed. At the time of his promotion, the Union-held cities of Chattanooga and Knoxville were both under siege from Confederate armies. But by the end of the year, Grant had lifted the siege on both cities and forced the Confederate military out of Tennessee.

Lincoln picks a new general In March 1864, Grant was ordered to Washington to take command of the entire Union Army. Promoted to the rank of lieutenant general—a position last held by George Washington—Grant was given complete freedom to use the military as he saw fit. “After years of searching, Lincoln had found what he wanted,” wrote Catton. “A completely reliable General to whom he could turn over the entire conduct of the military part of the war, without needing to look over the General’s shoulder, be told what he was doing, and help him plan strategy. Lincoln called Grant in, gave him a free hand, and undertook to support him as vigorously as he could.” Grant immediately made plans to launch a coordinated offensive (attack) against Confederate military targets using the full might of the Union Army. He gave General William T. Sherman (1820–1891; see entry) command of the armies in the West and ordered him to march into the South and destroy the main Confederate army there. Meanwhile, Grant took control of the Army of the Potomac—the Union’s primary army in the East—and marched southward in search of Robert E. Lee (1807–1870; see entry) and the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia.

Grant and Lee As Grant moved his army into Virginia, he clashed repeatedly with Lee’s army. The first of these battles took place in early May 1864 in a region of dense, tangled woods known as the Wilderness. In two horribly bloody days of fighting, Grant lost approximately seventeen thousand 166


men. But unlike earlier Union generals who had always retreated when challenged by Lee, Grant expressed grim determination to continue his campaign. “I’m heartily sick and tired of hearing what Lee is going to do,” he snapped at one of his worried officers during the Wilderness battle. “Go back to your command and think about what we’re going to do to Lee instead of worrying about what he’s going to do to us.” Instead of returning to Washington, Grant pushed deeper into Virginia. Again and again, he tried to maneuver his army around the right flank of Lee’s army in order to destroy it and then move on the Confederate capital of Richmond. Grant knew that if he could break Lee’s army and capture Richmond, the South would have to give up. But Lee anticipated Grant’s strategy and successfully fended off every Union attack. The struggle continued for six long weeks, as the two weary armies met in bloody combat at Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor, and countless other places in the Virginia countryside. By mid-June, Grant had pushed Lee’s army back to Petersburg, where the Confederate general erected a final defensive position to keep the Union forces out of nearby Richmond. By this time Grant’s army had lost fifty thousand men, an average of about two thousand casualties a day. These high casualty numbers shocked Union communities, and some Northern critics charged that Grant was a poor general who did not value human life. “Grant is a butcher and not fit to be at the head of an army,” First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln (1818–1882; see entry) declared at one point. President Lincoln remained loyal to his general, though. He recognized that Grant’s campaign had immobilized (brought to a halt) Lee’s forces and put the Army of Northern Virginia into a situation where it would have to try and outlast a Union force that was far larger and better supplied. Ulysses S. Grant

Confederate general Robert E. Lee. (Painting by John Adams Elder. Courtesy of the Library of Congress.)

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Grant laid siege to Petersburg for ten long months. During this time, Lee stood by helplessly as other Union armies further west posted a string of major victories. By the spring of 1865, Lee’s army remained bottled up in Petersburg and Richmond. Outside of Virginia, meanwhile, Union armies led by Sherman and others had torn the Confederacy apart. In April, Lee decided to abandon Petersburg. Leaving Petersburg and Richmond to Grant’s army, the Confederate general fled south with the hungry and battered remnants of his army in a desperate bid to gain supplies and continue the fight. But Grant chased Lee down. On April 9, 1865, the Civil War came to an end when Lee surrendered at Appomattox, Virginia.

Grant’s White House years The Union’s dramatic victory made Grant one of the great heroes of the North. After the war, he joined the Republican political party. In 1868, he was elected president of the United States, defeating Democratic nominee Horatio Seymour (1810–1886) by a slim margin. In 1872, he easily defeated Horace Greeley (1811–1872; see entry). Grant entered the White House hoping to help America heal the many deep wounds left by the Civil War. But he struggled with his presidential duties, and his administration became known for scandal and mismanagement of the national economy. “The qualities that served U.S. Grant so well in war—resolution, independence, aversion to [dislike of] politics—deserted him in peacetime,” commented Geoffrey C. Ward in The Civil War. “He entered the White House pledged to peace, honesty, and civil rights [for blacks]. But corruption tainted [damaged] his two terms—though it did not touch him personally—and the North was already weary of worrying about the status of southern blacks.”

Financial troubles return In 1877, Grant left the White House and became involved in a variety of business ventures. In 1880, he invested heavily in a Wall Street brokerage firm, only to see the company crumble a few years later when another partner stole millions of dollars. The collapse of the brokerage firm nearly 168


bankrupted Grant, who also found out around this time that he was suffering from inoperable cancer of the throat. In 1885, Grant moved to a cottage in the Adirondack Mountains and began writing his memoirs. He hoped that sales of the book would provide his family with financial security after his death. All summer long, he worked on his memoirs on the front porch of the cottage. After awhile, his throat cancer made it impossible for him to eat or speak, but he remained determined to complete the book. He finished his manuscript on July 16 and died one week later. Grant’s memoirs were published later that year by famed American novelist Mark Twain (1835–1910). Grant’s work, which was published in two volumes, proved enormously popular with American book buyers, and his family quickly regained its financial security. Today, Grant’s memoirs continue to be regarded as one of the most thoughtful and interesting works ever written about the Civil War era.

Where to Learn More Archer, Jules. A House Divided: The Lives of Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee. New York: Scholastic, 1995. Catton, Bruce. Grant Moves South. Boston: Little, Brown, 1960. Catton, Bruce. Grant Takes Command. Boston: Little, Brown, 1969. Grant Cottage. [Online] http://saints.css.edu/mkelsey/cottage.html (accessed on October 10, 1999). Grant, Ulysses S. Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant. 2 vols. New York: C. L. Webster, 1885. Reprint, New York: Modern Library, 1999. Kent, Zachary. Ulysses S. Grant: Eighteenth President of the United States. Chicago: Children’s Press, 1989. Marrin, Albert. Unconditional Surrender: U. S. Grant and the Civil War. New York: Atheneum, 1994. McFeely, William S. Grant: A Biography. New York: Norton, 1981. Newtown, CT: American Political Biography Press, 1996. National Park Service. General Grant National Memorial. [Online] http://www.nps.gov/gegr.index.htm (accessed on October 10, 1999). National Park Service. Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site. [Online] http://www.nps.gov/ulsg (accessed on October 10, 1999). O’Brien, Steven. Ulysses S. Grant. New York: Chelsea House, 1991. Rickarby, Laura N. Ulysses S. Grant and the Strategy of Victory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Silver Burdett Press, 1991. Ulysses S. Grant

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Simpson, Brooks D. Let Us Have Peace: Ulysses S. Grant and the Politics of War and Reconstruction, 1861–1868. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1991. Ulysses Grant Home Page: Civil War General and President. [Online] http://www.mscomm.com/~ulysses/ (accessed on October 10, 1999). Ulysses S. Grant Association. [Online] http://www.lib.siu.edu/projects/usgrant/ (accessed on October 10, 1999). Ulysses S. Grant Network. [Online] http://saints.css.edu/mkelsey/gppg.html (accessed on October 10, 1999).

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Horace Greeley Born February 3, 1811 Amherst, New Hampshire Died November 29, 1872 New York City, New York Newspaper publisher and abolitionist

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orace Greeley was America’s leading journalist of the Civil War era. He was the founder and editor of the New York Tribune, America’s most popular newspaper of the midnineteenth century. Using his newspaper editorials as a tool to comment on American society and politics, Greeley became known as a crusader for a wide range of social causes, including women’s rights and land reform. He became most famous, however, for his fierce opposition to slavery and his strong support of the Union war effort.

“With its brilliant staff, exciting editorials, broad coverage of international and national events, [Greeley’s] Tribune set a new standard for American journalism.” Author Lewis Leary

Independent at an early age Horace Greeley was born on February 3, 1811, to a poor farming family in Amherst, New Hampshire. His father, Zaccheus Greeley, uprooted his family on numerous occasions in failed efforts to establish a successful farm. This unsettled existence made it difficult for young Horace to obtain a good education. Nonetheless, he showed considerable abilities as a speller and reader. One classmate even stated that Greeley’s spelling skills were known “for miles around.” As

Horace Greeley. (Courtesy of the Library of Congress.) 171

Greeley entered his teen years, he began to think of ways in which he might use his spelling and reading talents to escape the family farm. At age fourteen, Greeley left his parents’ home to accept a position as a printer’s apprentice in Vermont. This apprenticeship (agreement to work for another person in exchange for instruction in a trade) enabled him to learn a great deal about printing and newspaper production. In 1831, he left Vermont and traveled to New York City in hopes of securing a job with one of the city’s many newspapers. Greeley spent the next three years working for a number of New York newspapers, including the Morning Post and the Spirit of the Times. These jobs enabled him to continue to develop his knowledge of the newspaper business. As the months passed by, he began to dream of operating his own newspaper. He also started a family around this time. In 1836, he married Mary Cheney. The couple eventually had seven children, but only two survived to adulthood.

Launches the New York Tribune From 1834 to 1840, Greeley served as editor and coowner of several New York publications. These periodicals, which were devoted to literature and politics, increased Greeley’s reputation among the city’s publishers and politicians. But he did not become famous until 1841, when he launched the New York Tribune. Guided by Greeley’s steady hand, the Tribune quickly became one of America’s largest and most respected newspapers. “With its brilliant staff, exciting editorials, broad coverage of international and national events, the Tribune set a new standard for American journalism,” wrote Lewis Leary in Horace Greeley. Greeley’s newspaper increased in popularity throughout the 1840s and early 1850s. As the audience for Greeley’s wide-ranging newspaper editorials grew, he became powerfully influential in shaping public opinion in the Northern states. “Greeley’s positions in his editorials represented some of the most important trends of public, social, and political commentary of the day,” wrote Leary. For example, he be172


came a leading advocate of women’s rights and a strong defender of temperance, a movement that called for people to quit drinking alcohol. He also emerged as a leading critic of American laws and land distribution that favored rich people over farmers and laborers. As Greeley wrote in 1851, “if democracy be what we believe, it must have a wider and more perfect application [usage]. It must create a new social as well as a new political system. It must reform the relations of labor, of property and of social life, nor stop till all servitude [slavery], all castes [social classes], all inequality of privilege have disappeared to give place to . . . liberty, justice and fraternal [brotherly] cooperative relations.” By the 1850s, Greeley was known across the country for his support of policies that he thought might eliminate poverty and improve opportunities for poor and uneducated people. This concern for the poor led Greeley to become a leading champion of settlement of western territories, even though he thought that much of that land had been unfairly snatched from Mexico during the Mexican War (1846–48). He proclaimed that “I believe in migration—believe that there are thousands in the Eastern and Middle Western states who would improve their circumstances and prospects by migrating to the cheaper lands and broader opportunities of the West and South.” In fact, Greeley popularized the slogan “Go West, young man,” a famous expression associated with the settlement of the West.

Calls for end to slavery Greeley’s strong interest in eliminating poverty in America was a major factor in his antislavery stands of the 1850s. Slavery had been a part of America since the 1600s, when white people first captured African blacks and brought them to North America. The basic belief behind slavery was that black people were inferior to whites. Under slavery, white slaveholders treated black people as property, forced them to perform hard labor, and controlled every aspect of their lives. States in the Northern section of the United States began outlawing slavery in the late 1700s. But slavery continued to exist in the Southern half of the country, where it became an important part of the region’s economy and culture. Horace Greeley

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Greeley hated the conditions in which many slaves were forced to live, and argued that the continued existence of slavery contradicted the nation’s ideals of freedom and liberty. Many of his criticisms were directed at white people of the American South, who continued to defend slavery. But Greeley also criticized Northerners for their racist treatment of free black men and women. By the mid-1850s, Greeley had become one of the country’s most visible abolitionists (people who worked to end slavery in America). In 1854, he helped establish the antislavery Republican Party, and he repeatedly spoke out against Southern efforts to expand the rights of slaveowners and the territories in which slavery would be permitted. “This is not an age of the world in which new domain [territories] can be opened to slavedrivers without an instinctive shudder convulsing the frame of Humanity,” he wrote. By 1856, Greeley’s editorials against slavery had grown so strong that proslavery Arkansas congressmen Albert Rust (1818?–1870) physically attacked him on the streets of Washington, D.C. Greeley quickly recovered from the assault, however, and resumed his abolitionist activities.

Greeley and the Civil War By the late 1850s, most Northerners had become convinced that slavery was wrong. They wanted the federal government to take steps to outlaw slavery or at least keep it from spreading beyond the Southern states where it was already allowed. But the Southern economy had become so dependent on slavery that white Southerners worried that their way of life would collapse if slavery was abolished (completely done away with). Arguing that each state should decide for itself whether to allow the practice, Southerners refused to go along with attempts to limit or end slavery. By 1861, Southern dissatisfaction with the North had become so great that several states decided to secede from (leave) the Union and form a country that accepted slavery, called the Confederate States of America. The Northern states, however, were unwilling to see the United States split in two. They vowed to force the South back into the Union. 174


As America’s Northern and Southern sections prepared to go to war to settle their differences, Greeley initially counseled the federal government to let the secessionist states leave in peace. Doubtful about the ability of President Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865; see entry) to guide the nation, Greeley desperately wanted to avoid a bloody war. He also argued that the departure of the Confederate states would finally eliminate slavery from the United States. After the war erupted in April, however, Greeley became a key supporter of the Northern war effort. He knew that if the Union forces could stomp out the Confederate rebellion, the federal government would be able to institute laws ending slavery across all of North America. With this in mind, Greeley churned out a series of editorials urging Northerners to rally behind the Union flag.

Greeley’s “Prayer of Twenty Millions” Lincoln recognized that Greeley’s views helped increase Northern support for the war, especially during the first two years of the conflict. Nonetheless, Greeley’s editorials in the Tribune sometimes angered the president. The publisher sometimes criticized Lincoln for his military leadership, and he repeatedly called on Lincoln to free all blacks who were enslaved in the Southern states. Lincoln, though, worried that such a declaration would erode support for the war among Northerners, whose main concern was restoring the Union. On August 19, 1862, Greeley issued his most famous demand for immediate emancipation (freeing) of slaves. Claiming that he spoke for twenty million disappointed Northerners, the abolitionist published an open letter to Lincoln in which he harshly criticized the president’s “timid” policies toward slavery and the South. Lincoln responded three days later with his own note. “My paramount [most important] object is to save the Union and not either to save or destroy slavery,” Lincoln stated. Lincoln’s response to Greeley seemed to indicate that he had no intention of tackling the slavery issue any time soon. In reality, though, the president’s views on the Horace Greeley

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Greeley’s War of Words with President Lincoln In August 1862, Horace Greeley and President Abraham Lincoln exchanged strongly worded letters concerning the continued existence of slavery in the Confederacy. Greeley wanted Lincoln to officially outlaw slavery in the South, even though the Federal government did not have any power to enforce such a law at the time. Lincoln, though, responded by saying that he would not take any action that might hurt his ability to eventually restore the divided Union. Excerpt from Greeley’s “Prayer of Twenty Millions”: To Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States: Dear Sir: I do not intrude to tell you—for you must know already—that a great proportion of those who triumphed in your election, and of all who desire the unqualified suppression [complete crushing] of the rebellion now desolating [destroying] our country, are sorely disappointed and deeply pained by the policy you seem to be pursuing with regard to the slaves of rebels. . . . We complain that you, Mr. President, elected as a Republican, knowing well what an abomination [great evil] Slavery is, and how emphatically [clearly]

it is the core and essence of this atrocious [terrible] rebellion, seem never to interfere with these atrocities, and never give a direction to your military subordinates, which does not appear to have been conceived in the interest of Slavery rather than of Freedom. . . . On the face of this wide earth, Mr. President, there is not one disinterested [impartial], determined, intelligent champion of the Union cause who does not feel that all attempts to put down the rebellion and at the same time uphold its inciting cause [the issue that triggered it] are preposterous [absurd] and futile— that the rebellion, if crushed out to-morrow, would be renewed within a year if Slavery were left in full vigor. . . . I close as I began with the statement that what an immense majority of the loyal millions of your countrymen require of you is a frank, declared, unqualified, ungrudging execution of the laws of the land, more especially of the Confiscation Act [an 1862 law that declared all property—including slaves—owned by rebels to be “contraband of war”; since slaves were considered property in the South, escaped slaves were allowed to remain in the North under this law]. . . . As one of the millions who would gladly have avoided the struggle at any sacrifice but that of principle and honor, but who now feel that the triumph of the Union is indis-

issue changed dramatically during 1862. By the time that Greeley delivered his August 19 letter, Lincoln had come to believe that Northern support for the war might actually increase if he called for an end to slavery. After all, most Northerners felt that slavery was an immoral practice. In addition, many Northerners believed that restoration of the 176


If there be those who would not save the Union unless they could at the same time save slavery, I do not agree with them. If there be those who would not save the Union unless they could at the same time destroy slavery, I do not agree with them. My paramount object [main goal] is to save the Union and not either to save or destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it—If I could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it—and if I could do it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would also do that. Abraham Lincoln. (Courtesy of the Library of Congress.) pensable [absolutely necessary] not only to the existence of our country but to the well-being of mankind, I entreat [beg] you to render a hearty and unequivocal [clear] obedience to the law of the land. Yours, Horace Greeley

Excerpt from President Lincoln’s response:

What I do about slavery and the colored race I do because I believe it helps to save this Union; and what I forbear [decide not to do], I forbear because I do not believe it would help to save the Union. . . . . . . I have stated my purpose according to my views of official duty; and I intend no modification [change] of my oft-expressed personal wish that all men everywhere could be free.

The sooner the national authority can be restored, the nearer the Union will be the Union it was.

Union would never be possible if slavery were allowed to continue. By the fall of 1862, Lincoln had decided that “slavery must die [so] that the nation might live!” On January 1, 1863, Lincoln issued his famous Emancipation Proclamation, which freed all slaves in the Confederate states. This announcement delighted Greeley, who immediHorace Greeley

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ately published an editorial praising both Lincoln and his Proclamation.

War weariness sets in In the months immediately following Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, Greeley’s support for the war effort remained strong. From the summer of 1863 to the summer of 1864, however, the publisher’s feelings about the Civil War changed dramatically. Horrified at the steadily rising casualty lists, he became convinced that the conflict had disintegrated into a bloody stalemate (deadlock). By the summer of 1864, Greeley was imploring Lincoln to make peace with the South, even if it meant giving up Northern dreams of a restored Union. “Our bleeding, bankrupt, almost dying” country cannot withstand “new rivers of human blood,” wrote Greeley. Greeley’s disillusionment with the war became so strong that he made a failed attempt to negotiate an end to the conflict with Confederate officials. He also considered joining other Republicans who wanted to replace Lincoln with someone else for the fall 1864 presidential elections. In the weeks leading up to the election, however, Union forces won a series of dramatic victories in the South. These triumphs enabled Lincoln to win reelection and signaled the impending collapse of the Confederacy.

Postwar activities The period in American history immediately after the war, from 1865 to 1877, was known as Reconstruction. During this time the federal government supervised the rebuilding of the Southern states. Greeley became personally involved in this effort. He devoted his time and energy to building a brighter future for Southern whites and blacks alike. For example, he opposed some Northern leaders who wanted to further punish Confederate soldiers and political leaders for their wartime activities. He felt that white Southerners should instead be encouraged to put the war behind them and rebuild their lives peacefully. Greeley also urged whites across the nation to treat free blacks and former slaves with fairness. “The Blacks are a portion not merely of the Southern but of 178


the American people,” wrote Greeley. He added that the North must protect blacks “no matter what the cost.” In accordance with these beliefs, he strongly supported amendments to the U.S. Constitution that made blacks American citizens (the Fourteenth Amendment, ratified, or officially approved, in 1868) and gave them the right to vote (the Fifteenth Amendment, ratified in 1870). In 1872, Greeley ran for president as the nominee of both the Democratic Party and the Liberal Republicans, a group of Republicans that did not like the policies of Republican president Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885; see entry). The presidential campaign became a nightmarish one for Greeley, however. Grant’s allies ridiculed Greeley’s frantic peacemaking efforts during the Civil War. They convinced many Americans that the publisher was too eccentric (odd or unconventional) to be president. To make this difficult time worse, Greeley’s wife died less than a week before the election. Grant easily defeated Greeley in the election, winning 56 percent of the popular vote. The crushing defeat, combined with his wife’s death, plummeted Greeley into deep despair. Within a matter of weeks, his mental and physical health declined greatly. He died in New York City on November 29, 1872, less than a month after the election.

Where to Learn More Cross, Coy F. Go West Young Man!: Horace Greeley’s Vision for America. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1995. Hale, William Harlan. Horace Greeley: Voice of the People. New York: Harper, 1950. Horace Greeley (1811–1872), Editor of the New York Tribune. [Online] http://www.honors.unr.edu/~fenimore/greeley.html (accessed on October 10, 1999). Lunde, Erik S. Horace Greeley. Boston: Twayne, 1981. Maihafer, Harry J. The General and the Journalists: Ulysses S. Grant, Horace Greeley, and Charles Dana. Washington, D.C.: Brasseys, 1998. Van Deusen, Glyndon G. Horace Greeley: Nineteenth-Century Crusader. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1953. Reprint, New York: Hill and Wang, 1964.

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Rose O’Neal Greenhow Born 1815 or 1817 Port Tobacco, Maryland Died October 1, 1864 Wilmington, North Carolina Washington socialite and Confederate spy Provided information that allowed Confederate forces to win the First Battle of Bull Run

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ose O’Neal Greenhow was one of the most successful female Confederate spies of the Civil War. A prominent hostess in Washington society, she learned about Union military plans from her wide circle of important friends and passed that information along to Confederate leaders. In July 1861, she provided key information that helped Confederate forces win the First Battle of Bull Run in Virginia. “I employed every capacity with which God has endowed [provided] me,” she once said, “and the result was far more successful than my hopes could have flattered me to expect.”

Spying “was far more successful than my hopes could have flattered me to expect.”

Becomes a popular hostess in Washington social circles Rose O’Neal Greenhow was born to a wealthy slaveholding family in southern Maryland in 1817. When she was a young girl, one of the family’s slaves murdered her father. From that point on, Greenhow strongly opposed the movement to abolish (put an end to) slavery and grant equal rights to black Americans.

Rose O’Neal Greenhow. (Reproduced by permission of Duke University, Special Collections Library.) 181

As a young woman, Greenhow married a wealthy Southern gentleman and moved to Washington, D.C. She loved to entertain, so she and her husband threw frequent dinner parties. The guests at these social events often included members of the U.S. Congress and foreign diplomats. Over time, Greenhow developed a wide circle of friends that included many important political figures, such as former President James Buchanan (1791–1868). She remained a popular hostess even after her husband died in the mid-1800s. Washington was the site of heated political debate during this time. The Northern and Southern regions of the country had been arguing about a number of issues, including slavery, for many years. By 1861, this ongoing dispute had convinced several Southern states to secede from (leave) the United States and attempt to form a new country that allowed slavery, called the Confederate States of America. Greenhow considered herself a Southerner and supported the Confederate states’ decision to secede. But Northern political leaders were determined to keep the Southern states in the Union. Before long, the two sides went to war.

Leads a spy network As the Civil War began, Greenhow made no secret of her pro-Southern feelings. One day, Captain Thomas Jordan approached her about serving as a spy for the Confederacy. Jordan was a member of the Union Army and the U.S. War Department, but he secretly recruited spies for the South. Greenhow agreed to act as a spy and also to serve as the center of a Confederate spy ring in Washington. Her spy network included other prominent Washington residents, clerks in several government departments, and a number of female couriers. Greenhow collected information about the Union’s war plans from the network, as well as from her friends and admirers in Washington. She then passed the information along to Confederate leaders in Richmond, Virginia.

Helps Confederates win the First Battle of Bull Run When the war began, people in both the North and the South were confident that it would end quickly in a victo182


ry for their side. Spurred by such confidence, Northerners pressured President Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865; see entry) to make an early offensive advance into Confederate territory. After consulting with his advisors, Lincoln decided to attack a large Confederate encampment at Manassas Junction, Virginia. Since this rebel stronghold was located about thirty miles from Washington, Union leaders viewed it as a threat to the Federal capital. It also blocked the path that Union troops would take to reach Richmond, the capital of the Confederacy. On July 16, 1861, thirty-five thousand Union troops under General Irvin McDowell (1818–1885) marched out of Washington toward Manassas. They intended to fight twenty thousand Confederate troops camped on the banks of nearby Bull Run Creek, under the command of General Pierre G. T. Beauregard (1818–1893; see entry). In the meantime, fifteen thousand Union troops under General Robert Patterson traveled separately. They intended to meet eleven thousand Confederate troops camped at Harpers Ferry, Virginia, under the command of General Joseph E. Johnston (1807–1891; see entry). The idea was for Patterson to keep Johnston busy while McDowell pushed Beauregard out of Manassas. Unfortunately for the Union, Greenhow obtained a copy of McDowell’s orders. She told the Confederate leaders when the Union forces would leave Washington, how many troops would be involved, what route they would take toward Manassas, and what strategy they planned to use in the battle. The First Battle of Bull Run (also known as the First Battle of Manassas) began on July 21. Just as McDowell began to gain ground against Beauregard’s outnumbered forces, thousands of Johnston’s troops arrived to save the day. Johnston had fooled Patterson into thinking that his Confederate forces were preparing an offensive attack, then snuck his men away to help Beauregard. The Union forces made a panicky retreat, joined by thousands of spectators who had come down from Washington to watch the battle. People in the North were shocked that the rebels (Confederates) had won the first major battle of the Civil War. But people in the South were thrilled. Confederate president Jefferson Davis (1808–1889; see entry) thanked Greenhow personally for her part in the victory. “But for you there would have been no Battle of Bull Run,” he told her. Rose O’Neal Greenhow

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Keeps spying after her arrest This early success encouraged Greenhow to become even bolder in her spying activities. Union authorities finally caught on and arrested her in August 1861. But they made the mistake of arresting her outside of her home, in front of witnesses. Greenhow managed to warn one of her agents of the danger by signaling with a handkerchief. Once the Union officials brought her inside, she faked an attack of heat stroke and was allowed to rest in her room alone. While the unsuspecting authorities waited for her to recover, she had enough time to destroy much of the evidence of her activities.

Rose O’Neal Greenhow sometimes involved her daughter when carrying out her spying operations. (Reproduced by permission of Corbis Corporation.)

Union authorities placed Greenhow under house arrest, meaning that she became a prisoner in her own home. But she continued to send messages to Richmond. After awhile, Union detectives broke the code she used for her messages, so at least they knew what information she had leaked to the Confederates. In January 1862, Greenhow was transferred to Old Capitol Prison in Washington, along with her daughter and her maid. During her five months there under tight security, she still managed to send messages South. Sometimes she involved her daughter in her schemes. The guards often brought the young girl rubber balls to play with. Greenhow would wrap a message around a rubber ball and toss it out the window at a certain time. A fellow Confederate spy would catch the ball and carry the information to Confederate officials.

Tries to gain support of France and England Greenhow was finally released from prison in May 1862. Unable to keep her from spying, Union officials forced her to leave the North. She traveled to Richmond, where she 184


was greeted warmly by Confederate leaders. In August 1863, President Jefferson Davis sent Greenhow to Europe. Her mission was to convince the leaders of England and France to support the Confederates in their fight for independence. Greenhow proved to be just as popular in Europe as she had been in Washington. She published a book about her spy activities, My Imprisonment and the First Year of Abolition Rule at Washington, which became a bestseller. She was also entertained by royalty. Although she failed to convince European leaders to provide official support to the Confederacy, she did get some wealthy Europeans to donate money to the cause.

Dies for the Confederate cause In the summer of 1864, Greenhow decided to return to the United States. She made the final leg of her journey aboard a Confederate ship called the Condor. On October 1, the ship ran aground in a raging storm just off the coast of Wilmington, North Carolina. Before long, a Union ship approached. Fearing that she would be arrested, Greenhow asked to be rowed ashore in a small boat. Unfortunately, the boat capsized in the waves. Although the other people on board were saved, Greenhow drowned. It turned out that she had sewn the gold she had received from European supporters into the fabric of her dress. The gold in her clothing was so heavy that it pulled her to the bottom of the ocean. Confederate officials later recovered both Greenhow’s body and the gold she had carried. They recognized her contributions to the cause with a military funeral in Richmond. Every year since then, the Daughters of the Confederacy have honored the anniversary of her death by placing a wreath on her grave.

Where to Learn More Burger, Nash K. Confederate Spy: Rose O’Neal Greenhow. New York: Franklin Watts, 1967. Duke University, Special Collections Library. Rose O’Neal Greenhow Papers. An On-line Archival Collection. http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/greenhow (accessed on October 8, 1999). Rose O’Neal Greenhow

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Faber, Doris. Rose Greenhow, Spy for the Confederacy. New York: Putnam, 1967. Greenhow, Rose O’Neal. My Imprisonment and the First Year of Abolition Rule at Washington. London: Richard Bently, 1863. Markle, Donald E. Spies and Spymasters of the Civil War. New York: Hippocrene Books, 1994. Nolan, Jeannette Covert. Spy for the Confederacy: Rose O’Neal Greenhow. New York: J. Covert, 1960. Ross, Ishbel. Rebel Rose: Life of Rose O’Neal Greenhow, Confederate Spy. New York: Harper, 1954.

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Winfield Scott Hancock Born February 4, 1824 Montgomery Square, Pennsylvania Died February 9, 1886 Governors Island, New York Union general known as “the Superb” Became a hero during the Battle of Gettysburg

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infield Scott Hancock was one of the most efficient and successful corps commanders in the Union Army. His bravery, intelligence, quick decision-making, and professional attitude earned the respect of his troops and helped make him a war hero. Although he fought in many of the most important battles of the Civil War, Hancock is best known for his performance at the Battle of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania in July 1863. He selected the site of this historic battle, set up the Union defenses, and helped turn back the full-scale Confederate attack on the final day of fighting. A career military man, Hancock served as a military district commander during Reconstruction. He ran for president in 1880 and lost by one of the closest margins in history.

“Hancock was superb!” Union general George McClellan

Named after a war hero Winfield Scott Hancock was born on February 4, 1824, in southeastern Pennsylvania. He was named after General Winfield Scott (1786–1866; see entry), a brilliant military man who had been a hero during the War of 1812 (a

Winfield Scott Hancock. (Courtesy of the Brady National Photographic Art Gallery, Library of Congress.) 187

struggle from 1812 to 1815 between the United States and Great Britain for possession of lands in the West). Hancock’s father, Benjamin, was a teacher and later became a lawyer. His mother, Elizabeth, operated a ladies’ hat shop out of the family home. Hancock also had a twin brother, Hilary. The Hancock family moved to Norristown, Pennsylvania, when the boys were two years old. Hancock attended school there and proved himself to be a good student with a quick mind. In 1840, he was admitted to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in New York. This prestigious school served as the training ground for many top army officers. Hancock was a well-respected and popular student, but he ranked in the lower third of his class upon graduation in 1844. Hancock then entered the U.S. Army and served in the Mexican War (1846–48), a conflict between the United States and Mexico over huge sections of land in the West. Led by Hancock’s namesake, General Scott, U.S. forces claimed a series of dramatic victories that forced Mexico to give up its claims on California and other western lands in exchange for $15 million.

Fights for the Union during the Civil War Shortly after the Mexican War ended, Hancock married Almira Russell and had two children. He remained in the army and eventually was posted in California, where he lived when the Civil War began in 1861. The Northern and Southern sections of the country had been arguing over several issues, including slavery, for many years. Growing numbers of Northerners believed that slavery was wrong. Some people wanted to outlaw it, while others wanted to prevent it from spreading beyond the Southern states where it was already allowed. But slavery played a big role in the Southern economy and culture. As a result, many Southerners felt threatened by Northern efforts to contain slavery. They believed that each state should decide for itself whether to allow slavery. They did not want the national government to pass laws that would interfere with their traditional way of life. America’s westward expansion only increased the tension between the North and South. Both sides wanted to spread 188


their political views and way of life into the new states and territories. Finally, the ongoing dispute convinced a group of Southern states to secede (withdraw) from the United States and form a new country that allowed slavery, called the Confederate States of America. Some residents of California wanted to join the Confederacy. But Hancock was determined to fight to preserve the Union. He used his troops to break up meetings of secessionists and help keep California as part of the United States. As fighting began in the East, Hancock longed to join the action. He went to Washington in September 1861 and received the rank of brigadier general in the Union’s main army, the Army of the Potomac. This promotion meant that he commanded a brigade of over three thousand soldiers, including infantry (foot soldiers), artillery (heavy guns), and cavalry (soldiers on horseback) units. His brigade took part in the first major Union offensive, known as the Peninsula Campaign. Union general George McClellan (1826–1885; see entry) transported the Army of the Potomac to the Virginia peninsula by water, hoping to catch Southern forces by surprise and capture the Confederate capital of Richmond. Although Confederate general Robert E. Lee (1807–1870; see entry) managed to hold off the Union assault, Hancock performed well while leading a critical attack. Afterward, McClellan reported back to President Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865; see entry) that “Hancock was superb!” Northern newspapers picked up the report and often referred to Hancock as “The Superb” from that time on. In September 1862, Hancock was promoted to the rank of major general and took over command of the First Division in the Second Corps of the Army of the Potomac. He fought well that month at the Battle of Antietam in Maryland, and then received another promotion to commander of the Second Corps. As a corps commander, Hancock led his troops into battle in December at Fredericksburg and the following May at Chancellorsville in Virginia. The Union Army suffered a defeat at Chancellorsville, but Hancock’s corps protected the rear so that their battered forces could escape.

Becomes a hero during the Battle of Gettysburg Although Hancock saw action in many of the most important battles of the Civil War, he is probably best known Winfield Scott Hancock

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for his performance during the Battle of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania in July 1863. General George Meade (1815–1872; see entry) had taken command of the Army of the Potomac a few days before the battle took place. He had so much faith in Hancock’s judgment that he sent the young officer ahead to decide whether or not the Union forces should fight there. Hancock arrived at Cemetery Ridge, a large hill on the outskirts of Gettysburg, on July 1. He immediately announced, “I select this as the battlefield.” Hancock then calmly began preparing the Union forces for battle. His professional attitude helped restore confidence and order to the troops. He organized them into a long defensive line across the hilltops, ready for a Confederate attack. Meade finally arrived with reinforcements just before the battle began. Hancock took command of his Second Corps, which was charged with holding the center section of the Union position. During heavy fighting on July 2, Hancock noticed that Confederate forces were about to break through the left flank. He led a group of his men in an assault that protected the position, near a strategic hill called Little Round Top. On July 3, Confederate general Robert E. Lee (1807–1870; see entry) launched a full-scale attack on the middle of the Union defenses. Lee began the assault by firing heavy artillery into the Union lines. The first artillery shell blew up the table where Hancock had just finished eating lunch. But rather than taking cover, Hancock rode along the ridge—in range of enemy fire—in order to inspire his troops. When a fellow officer warned that he risked being killed, Hancock replied, “There are times when a corps commander’s life does not matter.” After the artillery attack ended, Lee sent fifteen thousand Confederate troops toward Hancock’s position. The Union commander directed his troops in a spirited counterattack. At one point, as Hancock rode along the lines surveying his troops, an enemy bullet smashed through his saddle and drove bits of wood and a nail into his thigh. He was seriously wounded, but he waited until the Confederate forces turned back before he allowed his troops to remove him from the battlefield. The Union ended up claiming a significant victory at Gettysburg, and the U.S. Congress officially thanked Hancock for his role in it. 190


The view of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, from Cemetery Ridge. (Courtesy of the Library of Congress.)

Enters politics after the war Hancock’s wound from Gettysburg kept him on the sidelines for the next six months. After that, though, he regained his command and fought bravely in the Battle of the Wilderness in Virginia (May 5–7, 1864). In August 1864, he was promoted to the rank of major general after leading his troops through the Confederate lines in the Battle of Spotsylvania (May 8–19, 1864). In November 1864, Hancock’s war wound began acting up again. He returned to Washington, D.C., and recruited veterans to serve as cooks, nurses, and sentries (military guards) for the fighting forces. After the war ended in a Union victory in 1865, Hancock remained in the army. For the next two years, he served in military campaigns against Indian tribes in the West. In 1867, however, he was appointed commander of the Fifth Military District in the South during Reconstruction (1865–77). The United States continued to struggle with important and complicated issues after the Civil War ended. For example, Winfield Scott Hancock

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government officials had to decide whether to punish the Confederate leaders, what process to use to readmit the Southern states to the Union, and how much assistance to provide in securing equal rights for the freed slaves. This difficult period in American history was known as Reconstruction. President Andrew Johnson (1808–1875; see entry), who took office after Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, controlled the earliest Reconstruction efforts. He pardoned (officially forgave) many former Confederates and set lenient (easy) conditions for the Southern states to return to the Union. But many Northerners, and especially Republican leaders in the U.S. Congress, worried that Johnson’s Reconstruction policies would allow Confederate leaders to return to power and continue to discriminate against blacks. As a result, Congress took over the Reconstruction process in 1867 and sent federal troops into the South to enforce its policies. As commander of some of these federal troops, Hancock was expected to follow Congress’s orders. But he felt that Congress’s policies were too harsh toward the South, and he was reluctant to use the military to enforce them. Instead, he attempted to restore civilian (nonmilitary) rule in Texas and Louisiana. His actions angered Congress. President Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885; see entry), who took office after Johnson’s term ended in 1868, transferred Hancock out of the South. Hancock continued to serve in the U.S. Army for his remaining years. In 1880, the Democratic political party selected him as their candidate for president. The Democrats chose Hancock because he was a war hero. But since he had spent his entire career in the military, he had very little political experience. The press criticized his lack of experience and claimed that he did not even understand tariffs (a type of tax on goods that are imported into the country). Nevertheless, Hancock ended up losing a very close race to James Garfield (1831–1881). Hancock received only 7,023 fewer popular votes than his opponent, out of nearly nine million total votes cast. Over the next few years, Hancock developed diabetes (a disease in which the body cannot produce the hormone insulin, which enables it to digest sugars). He died on Governors Island, New York, on February 9, 1886. 192


Where to Learn More Gambone, A. M. Hancock at Gettysburg . . . and Beyond. Baltimore: Butternut & Blue, 1997. Green, Carl R., and William R. Sanford. Union Generals of the Civil War. Springfield, NJ: Enslow, 1998. Hancock, Almira Russell. Reminiscences of Winfield Scott Hancock. New York: C. L. Webster, 1887. Reprint, Scituate, MA: Digital Scanning, 1999. Jordan, David M. Winfield Scott Hancock: A Soldier’s Life. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1988. Tucker, Glenn. Hancock the Superb. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1960. W. S. Hancock Society. [Online] http://www.achiever.com/freehmpg/civilwar/ (accessed on October 10, 1999).

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Winslow Homer Born February 24, 1836 Boston, Massachusetts Died September 29, 1910 Prout’s Neck, Maine American painter who received critical acclaim for his portrayals of Civil War scenes

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inslow Homer was one of the most famous and respected American artists of the nineteenth century. He is best known for the dramatic paintings that he created from the 1880s until his death in 1910. These works emphasized mankind’s relationship with a natural world that could be both beautiful and violent. But the first works composed by Homer to receive critical acclaim were actually created many years earlier, during the American Civil War. His drawings and paintings of that period showed the harsh life of Civil War soldiers in an honest and sympathetic way. Today, Homer’s wartime paintings and drawings continue to provide a powerful representation of the Civil War experience.

“[Homer] came home [from the war front] so changed that his best friends did not know him.” Homer’s mother

A Massachusetts childhood Winslow Homer was born in Boston, Massachusetts, in February 1836 to a middle-class family. Six years later, the family moved to nearby Cambridge, where Winslow and his two brothers attended school. Winslow’s father was a jolly businessman who tried many different schemes to get rich

Winslow Homer. (Reproduced by permission of CorbisBettmann.) 195

over the years. His mother was a gentle woman who introduced Winslow to the world of art at a young age. Before long, he was spending a great deal of his free time drawing pictures of the world around him. As a youngster, Winslow spent long hours roaming through the countryside around his family’s house. He sometimes took pencils and paper with him on his hikes so that he could draw farmhouses, lakes, trees, and other outdoor subjects. When he was nineteen, he reluctantly accepted a job as an assistant at a local lithography or print-making shop called Bufford’s. As he feared, the job proved to be a very boring one with little opportunity for him to be creative. But he continued to work at the shop until he was twenty-one, as he had earlier agreed. After leaving the print shop, Homer resolved to become a freelance artist. A freelancer is a person—usually an artist or writer—who sells his services to various businesses or individuals without making a long-term commitment to any of them. Homer quickly taught himself a new method of illustration known as woodblock engraving and started selling his services to a number of American publishers.

Moves to New York In the fall of 1859, Homer moved from Boston to New York, where many of America’s leading publishers kept their offices. He soon began taking classes at the National Academy of Design, a leading art school in the city. He also continued with his freelance drawing. Within weeks of his arrival in New York, the editors of a leading newspaper called Harper’s Weekly offered him a permanent position on their staff. Homer liked the independent life of freelancing, though, so he turned down their offer. “I declined because I had had a taste of freedom,” he stated. “The slavery at Bufford’s was too fresh in my recollection. . . . From the time that I took my nose off that lithographic stone, I have had no master, and never shall have any [again].” Still, he continued to sell many of his drawings to Harper’s, which was quickly emerging as one of America’s leading publications. “Homer’s modest . . . renditions [inter196


pretations] of [America at mid-century] made him one of the most popular illustrators in the era’s greatest news magazine,” wrote James Thomas Flexner in The World of Winslow Homer. “He depicted those aspects of local life that appealed to him. He showed America at play, sometimes children but more often young men and women of the right age for flirtation and courting [dating]. . . . So Winslow Homer fiddled in historic sunshine, ignoring storm clouds that were mounting on the horizon. The storm was to break as the greatest tragedy in American history: the Civil War.”

Homer and the Civil War The American Civil War, which began in April 1861, pitted the nation’s Northern and Southern states against one another. These two regions had been arguing with one another for years over a range of social, economic, and political issues. The main issue dividing the two sides, however, was slavery. The Northern states wanted to abolish (eliminate) slavery, convinced that it was an immoral practice. The South, however, refused to consider taking such a step. White Southerners argued that their economy and social institutions could not survive without slavery. As Northern calls to end slavery persisted, Southerners became increasingly resentful and defensive. America’s westward expansion during this time made this dispute even worse, since both sides wanted to spread their way of life—and their political ideas— into the new territories and states. The two sides finally went to war when the Southern states tried to secede from (leave) the Union and form a new country that allowed slavery, called the Confederate States of America. At first, the Civil War did not seem to have much of an impact on Homer’s work. He spent the summer of 1861 in New York and Massachusetts, where he continued to draw peaceful scenes of America. He also started painting around this time. But as the months passed and the war produced its first significant casualties, Homer decided to investigate the conflict firsthand. In the fall of 1861, Homer arranged to travel with Union general George B. McClellan (1826–1885; see entry) and his Army of the Potomac. In March 1862, McClellan and Winslow Homer

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his army launched a major offensive into Virginia in an effort to capture the Confederate capital of Richmond. Homer accompanied McClellan’s army on this offensive, which came to be known as the Peninsula Campaign. Over the next several months, Homer witnessed repeated clashes between Union and Confederate troops as McClellan fought rebel (Confederate) general Robert E. Lee (1807–1870; see entry) for control of the Virginia peninsula. He also studied ordinary scenes of camp life, watching lonely and battered soldiers as they ate, slept, underwent training, and took care of camp chores. According to Homer’s mother, her artist son “suffered much” during these months at the front (the area where enemy armies meet and fight). Homer was “without food 3 days at a time & all in camp either died or were carried away with typhoid fever,” wrote his mother in a letter. “He came home so changed that his best friends did not know him.” Homer eventually recovered from his grim experiences during the Peninsula Campaign. As the war continued, he even returned to the front on a few other occasions. He spent most of the rest of the war, however, in his New York studio, where he composed paintings and drawings based on sketches that he had made in the field. Many of Homer’s drawings appeared in Harper’s Weekly while the war was still raging. They helped the newspaper gain a reputation as one of the leading chroniclers (recorders) of the war in America. As time passed, however, the artist became better known for his Civil War paintings. As with his drawings, Homer concentrated on scenes of camp life or individual portraits in these works. Rather than create heroic battlefield scenes, he painted images that showed the impact of war on individual soldiers. In Home, Sweet Home (produced in 1863), for example, Homer showed two men thinking about their families after receiving letters from home. In Trooper Meditating beside a Grave (1865), Homer shows a lone soldier mourning over the gravestone of a comrade. In The Veteran in a New Field (1865), he offers an image of a solitary army veteran who has returned home to tend to his wheat field. And in Prisoners from the Front (1866), Homer shows three weary Confederate soldiers as they surrender to a solemn Union officer. 198


Altogether, Homer produced more than fifty paintings on the American Civil War during the mid-1860s. Today, these works continue to stand as some of the most powerful representations of that chapter in the nation’s history.

A life of travel After the war ended, Homer’s reputation as one of the country’s most promising painters continued to grow. Many of his early postwar paintings depicted American rural scenes, but as time passed he turned to other subjects. In the late 1870s, he traveled to the American South, where he produced a series of colorful paintings on black life. His dignified portraits of black families and workers made some white Southerners angry, but he ignored their complaints. When one white Southern woman asked him, “Why don’t you paint our lovely girls instead of these dreadful creatures?” he replied that he preferred painting black females because they were prettier.

Winslow Homer in 1867. (Reproduced by permission of Corbis-Corporation [Bellevue].)

During the 1880s and 1890s, Homer spent long periods of time in England, the West Indies, and Canada. All of these locations became subjects for his paintings, which by this time were well-known around the world. His base of operations, however, became a cottage at Prout’s Neck, Maine, along the Atlantic Ocean. The rugged seascapes of this region became an inspiration for a series of bold paintings showing the power of the sea and man’s relationship to the natural world. These dramatic works—Fog Warning (produced in 1885), Eight Bells (1886), The Wreck (1897), Right and Left (1909), and many others—became the most famous paintings of Homer’s entire career. Homer died at Prout’s Neck in 1910, leaving behind a long and distinguished body of work that continues to earn praise today. Winslow Homer

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Where to Learn More Cikovsky, Nicolai Jr., and Franklin Kelly. Winslow Homer. Washington, D.C.: National Gallery of Art, 1995. Cooper, Helen A. Winslow Homer Watercolors. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1987. Flexner, James Thomas. The World of Winslow Homer, 1836–1910. New York: Time Inc., 1966. Gardner, Albert Ten Eyck. Winslow Homer, American Artist: His World and His Work. New York: C. N. Potter, 1961. Grossman, Julian. Echo of a Distant Drum: Winslow Homer and the Civil War. New York: Abrams, 1974. Little, Carl. Winslow Homer: His Art, His Light, His Landscapes. First Glance Books, 1997. National Gallery of Art: The Collection. Winslow Homer Watercolors. [Online] http://www.nga/gov/collection/gallery/homerwc/homerwcmain3.html (accessed on October 10, 1999). Simpson, Marc, ed. Winslow Homer: Paintings of the Civil War. San Francisco: Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, 1988. Winslow Homer 1836–1910. [Online] http://web.syr.edu/~ribond/homer. html (accessed on October 10, 1999). Winslow Homer: The Obtuse Bard. [Online] http://pages.prodigy.net/ bueschen/homer/ (accessed on October 10, 1999).

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John Bell Hood Born June 1, 1831 Owingsville, Kentucky Died August 30, 1879 New Orleans, Louisiana Confederate general Led failed Southern effort to keep Union forces from capturing Atlanta in 1864

ohn Bell Hood was a Confederate general of unquestioned bravery and dedication. As a division commander he displayed great courage at many of the Civil War’s most violent battles. These skirmishes included Second Bull Run (August 1862) and Fredericksburg (December 1862) in Virginia; Antietam (September 1862) in Maryland; Gettysburg (July 1863) in Pennsylvania; and Chickamauga (September 1863) in Georgia. Hood’s devotion to the Southern cause was so great that he remained on active military duty even after suffering wounds that crippled one arm and required the amputation of one of his legs. But Hood’s performance as commander of the Confederate Army of Tennessee from July 1864 to January 1865 has tarnished his reputation. During that period he not only failed to stop Union forces from capturing Atlanta, Georgia, but also made a series of disastrous battlefield decisions that virtually destroyed his army.

“An aggressive, ferocious fighter, Hood came to be considered one of Lee’s better brigade commanders. . . .

Adopts Texas as home state

John B. Hood. (Reproduced by permission of the National Portrait Gallery.)

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John Bell Hood was born in Bath County, Kentucky, in 1831. His father was a prosperous planter (plantation

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owner) who also ran a rural medical practice. Hood’s childhood environment became even more comfortable in the mid-1830s, when his maternal grandfather died and left the family more than 225,000 acres of land. As a youngster, Hood was a troublemaker who got in fistfights with other boys on a regular basis. He managed to gain admission into the prestigious U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1849, however, thanks to his father’s wealth and the assistance of an uncle who was a U.S. congressman. During his time at West Point, his poor grades and taste for mischief nearly resulted in his expulsion. As a senior, however, he developed a deep admiration for Robert E. Lee (1807–1870; see entry), who took over as the academy’s superintendent during that year. This admiration may have helped Hood reduce some of his bad behavior. In any event, he managed to perform just well enough to graduate from the school in 1853 (he ranked forty-fourth out of fifty-two graduates). After leaving West Point, Hood was made a second lieutenant in an infantry company. He served in the U.S. Army in both New York and California until 1855, when he became a second lieutenant in the Second U.S. Cavalry in Texas. Hood developed a deep love for Texas’s rugged frontier country over the next several years. He liked the rough beauty of the land and identified with the independent pioneer spirit of its settlers. Hood’s career in the U.S. Army came to an end in early 1861, after years of growing hostility between America’s Northern and Southern states finally boiled over into war. The main issue dividing the two regions was slavery. Northern states wanted to abolish slavery because many of their citizens became convinced that it was a cruel and evil institution. Southern states resisted efforts to end slavery, though. The Southern economy had become dependent on slavery over the years, and white Southerners worried that their way of life would collapse if slavery was abolished (eliminated). America’s westward expansion during this time made this dispute even worse, since both sides wanted to spread their way of life—and their political ideas—into the new territories and states. The two sides finally went to war in early 1861 when the Southern states tried to secede from (leave) the Union and form a new country that allowed slavery, called the Confederate States of America. 202


Hood’s Texas Brigade Early in John Bell Hood’s Civil War career, he commanded a famous brigade (military unit consisting of two or more regiments) of Confederate troops that came to be known as Hood’s Texas Brigade. This brigade was first organized in November 1861 from thirty-two volunteer infantry companies recruited in Texas. Its three regiments of Texas soldiers—the First, Fourth, and Fifth Texas Infantry—were the only units from that state who served in General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia (the brigade also included the Eighteenth Georgia Infantry and the Third Arkansas Infantry at various points during the war). This brigade was originally commanded by Louis T. Wigfall. But when he left in early 1862 to take a seat in the Confederate Senate, Hood took his place. He quickly established the brigade as one of the fiercest fighting units in the entire war. By mid-1862, when Hood left for a new command assignment, his Texas Brigade

was known across the country as a fearless and ferocious unit. Even after Hood departed, the members of the unit continued to refer to themselves by their old leader’s name in order to honor him. In fact, their regard for Hood was so great that when he lost his leg after the Battle of Chickamauga, the members of the brigade collected $3,100 in contributions in a single day in order to buy him a good artificial leg. The fighting spirit shown by Hood’s Texas Brigade made it one of the war’s most respected units. The brigade’s fearless style, however, did take a heavy toll on its members. In fact, the brigade suffered record casualty rates during the war. It is estimated that approximately forty-five hundred men served in its ranks at one time or another, either as original members, later recruits, or replacements. Of those soldiers, fewer than 480 remained to see the Confederacy surrender in the spring of 1865.

Hood resigned from the U.S. Army on April 17, 1861, after the Texas legislature voted to secede from the Union and join the Confederacy. Disgusted by Kentucky’s decision to stay with the Union, he subsequently adopted Texas as his new home state and enlisted in the Confederate Army from there.

A fighting general Once the Civil War started, Hood quickly gained a reputation as a tough and brave officer. He joined the ConJohn Bell Hood

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federate military as a captain, but he rose rapidly through the ranks as word of his bravery and no-nonsense leadership spread. In March 1862, he was promoted to brigadier general and given command of the tough Texas Brigade, which was part of General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia. Lee’s force was the Confederacy’s largest army, and as the war progressed it engaged in many of the conflict’s biggest battles. Hood participated in most of these clashes, impressing friend and foe alike with his fearless approach to war. “Hood turned out to be an excellent combat commander,” wrote Steven E. Woodworth in Jefferson Davis and His Generals. “An aggressive, ferocious fighter, Hood came to be considered one of Lee’s better brigade commanders and was soon promoted to major general.” Hood’s bold approach to combat made him one of the Confederacy’s best-known officers and helped Lee secure several big battlefield victories. As the war progressed, however, Hood’s hard-charging style earned him a number of serious war injuries. The most serious of these injuries took place at the battles of Gettysburg and Chickamauga. At Gettysburg (fought July 1–3, 1863, in Pennsylvania), Hood received a wound that permanently crippled his left arm. A few months later at Chickamauga (fought September 19–20, 1863, in Georgia), Hood was shot in the right leg while leading a charge. Soldiers quickly transported him to Richmond, where doctors were forced to amputate his leg at mid-thigh in order to save his life. Hood spent the next several months in Richmond. As he worked to regain his strength, he struck up a pleasurable friendship with Confederate president Jefferson Davis (1808–1889; see entry) and his family. Hood’s stay in the Confederacy’s capital city also brought him sorrow, though. As a man who had always been physically active and strong, he found it very difficult to adjust to his new physical limitations. In addition, he waged a desperate campaign to win the heart of an attractive Southern woman named Sally Buchanan Preston during this time. When she rejected him over the Christmas holidays, Hood was emotionally crushed. 204


Battling against Sherman In February 1864, Hood returned to active military service despite his injuries. Assigned to command a corps of troops in the Army of Tennessee, Hood reached its camp in Georgia at the end of the month. Once Hood arrived, he tackled his new responsibilities with great eagerness. He routinely rode twenty miles a day, even though he had to be strapped on to his horse because of his war injuries. He also encouraged Army of Tennessee commander Joseph E. Johnston (1807–1891; see entry) to adopt a plan advanced by Davis to launch an invasion into Union-held Tennessee. Davis believed that one or two more big Southern victories might convince the Northern states to end their efforts to break the Confederacy and restore the Union. Johnston, however, resisted calls for a major offensive. More cautious than Hood, he hesitated to attack unless he was sure that he could win. In addition, he believed that the Confederacy’s best chance of gaining independence was to avoid major losses and hope that Northern voters replaced President Abraham Lincoln in the fall 1864 elections with someone who would agree to Confederate independence in exchange for peace. Davis and Johnston argued over strategy throughout the first few months of 1864. Then, in May 1864, Union general William T. Sherman (1820–1891; see entry) launched a full-scale invasion of Georgia in hopes of destroying the Army of Tennessee. Johnston used a variety of skillful maneuvers to avoid a full-scale battle with Sherman’s much-larger army. But while Johnston’s evasive tactics frustrated Sherman, the Union general kept moving his army deeper into Georgia. By early summer, the Army of Tennessee had been pushed all the way from northern Georgia to the outskirts of Atlanta, one of the most important cities still controlled by the Confederacy.

Hood takes command in the West As Davis received reports detailing Sherman’s advance on Atlanta, he became convinced that Johnston’s reluctance to attack the invading Northern army would eventually result in the loss of the city. Hood contributed to Davis’s mounting John Bell Hood

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anxiety by sending a series of letters that were highly critical of Johnston’s defensive strategy. The Confederate president thus decided to replace Johnston with Hood, even though General Lee thought that appointing Hood was a bad idea. “Hood is a bold fighter,” stated Lee. “I am doubtful as to [whether he possesses] other qualities necessary [to lead the army effectively].” Hood assumed his new position as commander of the Confederate Army of Tennessee on July 17, 1864. One day later he was made a full general with temporary rank. Hood understood that he had been promoted because of his aggressiveness and willingness to fight. With this in mind, he immediately made plans to attack Sherman’s forces. He ignored the advice of many other officers, engaging Sherman’s larger force in a series of battles around the outskirts of Atlanta. Delighted with the dramatic change in the South’s strategy, Sherman battered Hood in each of these engagements. By August, Hood’s tired army was trapped in the city of Atlanta, and Sherman had seized control of most of the surrounding countryside. Rather than order a bloody assault on the city’s defenses, though, Sherman placed the city under siege (a military blockade designed to prevent the city from receiving food and other supplies from outside). Hood’s defense of Atlanta ended on September 1, when his forces lost control of the last railway lines providing supplies to Atlanta at the Battle of Jonesboro. Aware that he could no longer keep Atlanta out of Union hands, Hood hurriedly withdrew his army out of the city. Sherman’s Army of the Mississippi moved in to take possession of the town one day later, on September 2.

Hood’s desperate gamble In the weeks following Sherman’s capture of Atlanta, the Union Army engaged in a series of skirmishes (minor fights) with Hood’s force, which continued to lurk in the region. In November 1864, Sherman’s army set fire to Atlanta and marched eastward out of the city. Sherman planned to march through the heart of the Confederacy, seizing supplies and destroying croplands along the way. “If we can march a well-appointed [prepared] army right through [Jefferson 206


Davis’s] territory, it is a demonstration to the world . . . that we have a power which Davis cannot resist,” said Sherman. “I can make the march, and make Georgia howl!” Hood knew that his battered army did not have the muscle to stop Sherman’s superior force as it began its fearsome “March to the Sea.” Instead, the Confederate commander moved his army into Tennessee in a desperate attempt to catch Sherman’s attention. He hoped to lure Sherman out of Georgia by threatening both his supply lines and the Union-held city of Nashville. Hood’s strategy, wrote historian James M. McPherson in Battle Cry of Freedom, created “the odd spectacle of two contending armies turning their backs on each other and marching off in opposite directions. As it turned out, there was more method in Sherman’s madness than in Hood’s.” Sherman ignored Hood’s offensive. The Union general knew that his army could supply itself by taking what it needed from Southern towns and farms as it made its way across the Confederate heartland. In addition, he knew that sixty thousand federal troops under the command of General George H. Thomas (1816–1870; see entry) would be awaiting Hood in Tennessee. Sherman thus continued his methodical march across the South, destroying Confederate property and morale with each passing mile. Hood, meanwhile, continued to move deeper into Tennessee with his weary forty thousand–man army. Worried that the Confederacy was on the verge of total collapse, he came up with another desperate plan to reverse the war’s momentum. He decided to use his army in a bid to regain control of Tennessee and Kentucky and eventually move against Union forces gathered in Virginia. This plan was doomed to fail, but as historian Bruce Catton wrote in The Civil War, “the plain fact of the matter was that Hood had no good choice to make.” On November 30, 1864, Hood’s dreams of somehow reversing the South’s fortunes were crushed once and for all. On that day he launched a full-scale assault on Union forces at Franklin, Tennessee, about twenty-five miles south of Nashville. The well-entrenched Union Army, commanded by Major General John M. Schofield (1831–1906), easily turned back every rebel charge. By the time Hood called off the disastrous attack, he had lost more than sixty-two hundred men and the respect of many of his troops. “I have never seen an John Bell Hood

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Covered guns can be seen on the steps of the state capitol in Nashville, Tennessee, on a rainy day prior to the Battle of Nashville. (Photograph by George N. Barnard. Courtesy of the Library of Congress.)

army so confused and demoralized,” confessed one member of the Army of Tennessee who took part in the battle. “The whole thing seemed to be tottering and trembling.” Two weeks later, Thomas finished off Hood’s exhausted and demoralized army at the Battle of Nashville. This battle, fought on December 15 and 16, virtually destroyed the Army of Tennessee, as wave after wave of Union troops battered Hood’s defenses. Remnants of the courageous rebel army managed to escape, but Confederate authorities never managed to put the pieces back together again. The Army of Tennessee remained sidelined for the remainder of the war. Hood survived the Battle of Nashville, but the destruction of his army depressed him terribly. Wracked with guilt and grief at his failures, he resigned his command on January 13, 1865. Four months later he surrendered to Union troops in Natchez, Mississippi, as the war drew to a close. 208


Settles in New Orleans After the Civil War ended, Hood started a cotton business in New Orleans. He married Anna Marie Henen, with whom he had eleven children. He also wrote a book about his wartime experiences called Advance and Retreat. Before he could find a publisher for his memoirs, however, a yellow fever epidemic swept through New Orleans. The epidemic disrupted businesses throughout the city and bankrupted several prominent businessmen, including Hood. In August 1879, the epidemic claimed the lives of Hood, his wife, and one of his daughters. At first, it appeared that Hood’s ten orphaned children might be cast into poverty by the deaths of their parents. But family friends found a publisher for Hood’s memoirs and arranged to have the profits distributed to his children.

Where to Learn More Coffey, David A. John Bell Hood and the Struggle for Atlanta. Abilene, TX: McWhiney Foundation Press, McMurray University, 1998. Hood, John Bell. Advance and Retreat: Personal Experiences in the United States & Confederate States Armies. New Orleans: Hood Orphan Memorial Fund, 1880. Reprint, Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1996. McMurry, Richard M. John Bell Hood and the War for Southern Independence. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1982. Reprint, Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1992. Warner, Ezra J. Generals in Gray: Lives of the Confederate Commanders. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1959. Woodworth, Steven E. Jefferson Davis and His Generals. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1990.

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Julia Ward Howe Born May 27, 1819 New York, New York Died October 1910 Portsmouth, New Hampshire Author and social reformer Wrote the words to “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” which became the Union anthem during the Civil War

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ulia Ward Howe accomplished many things as a writer, lecturer, abolitionist, and promoter of women’s rights. But she is best remembered as the author of the words to “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” the stirring song that became the Union anthem during the Civil War. The song’s popularity, combined with her active support of various social causes, made her one of the most famous and respected women of her time.

“Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord . . .”

Sheltered girlhood in New York City Julia Ward Howe was born on May 27, 1819, in New York City. She was the third of six children born to Samuel Ward, a wealthy banker, and his wife Julia Cutler Ward. Howe was a bright and strong-willed child with a lively wit. She loved both music and drama from an early age. But young girls were relatively sheltered in those days. They did not receive the same level of education or personal freedom given to boys. Instead, they were trained to be well-mannered ladies who could run a household and care for children.

Julia Ward Howe. (Photograph by Alice Boughton. Courtesy of the Library of Congress.) 211

When Howe’s mother died in 1824, her father became even more restrictive with his daughters. He did not allow them to attend parties, see plays, or read popular books because he wanted to protect them from harmful outside influences. But Howe loved to read and dreamed of becoming a writer. She often rebelled against her father’s rules, especially when she spent time with less-strict relatives on the Atlantic coast each summer. Her oldest brother and several other family members encouraged her to pursue her writing. Samuel Ward died in 1839, leaving a fortune estimated at six million dollars. Within a short time, Howe’s beloved brother Henry Ward died as well. She became deeply depressed and spent the next two years recovering her spirits. After her period of mourning ended, however, she began to enjoy her newfound freedom. She socialized with all kinds of important people in New York. Along with her sisters, she became known as an excellent hostess in the city’s literary and cultural circles.

Joins the fight against slavery Julia Ward married a prominent older man, Samuel Gridley Howe, in 1843. He was a medical doctor who ran a hospital for the deaf and blind in Boston, Massachusetts. He was also a social reformer who worked to improve conditions and treatment methods for his patients. Although Samuel Howe respected his wife’s intelligence, he still believed that women’s primary role should be as homemakers and mothers. For this reason, he was not particularly supportive of Howe’s efforts as a writer. Partly as a way to please her husband, Howe had six children over the next fifteen years. Shortly after their marriage, the Howes traveled to the South. They visited a plantation there and saw the effects of slavery. Black people were taken from Africa and brought to North America to serve as slaves for white people beginning in the 1600s. The basic belief behind slavery was that black people were inferior to whites. Under slavery, white slaveholders treated black people as property, forced them to perform hard labor, and controlled every aspect of their lives. States in the Northern half of the United States began outlawing slavery in the late 1700s. But slavery continued to exist in 212


the Southern half of the country because it played an important role in the South’s economy and culture. Following their trip to the South, the Howes joined a growing number of Northerners who believed that slavery was wrong. They became active in the movement to abolish (put an end to) slavery in the United States. Their anger over slavery increased in 1850, when Southerners in the U.S. Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Act. This measure granted slaveowners sweeping new powers to capture and reclaim escaped slaves. It also required people in the North to assist the slaveowners in retrieving their property. Many Northerners resented the Fugitive Slave Act. They were able to ignore slavery when it was confined to the South, but not when they saw black people being captured and carried off in chains within their own cities. The Fugitive Slave Act ended up increasing the antislavery and anti-Southern feelings of many people in the North. In 1852, the Howes took over management of an abolitionist magazine, the Commonwealth, for a year. In 1859, Samuel Howe was one of six prominent Northern abolitionists who provided financial backing for John Brown’s Raid. John Brown (1800–1859; see entry) was a radical abolitionist who believed that violence was a necessary part of the fight against slavery. He came up with an ambitious plan to raid a federal armory (a storage facility for weapons and ammunition) in Harpers Ferry, Virginia, and use the captured weapons to arm slaves and start a violent uprising throughout the South. Brown’s plan failed, however, and he was captured and executed. But his actions added to the bitter feelings between the North and the South that led to the Civil War. Despite the lack of support from her husband, Howe wrote several poems and plays during the 1850s. Her first book of poetry, Passion Flowers, was published in 1853. Her husband refused to speak to her for several weeks after the book came out. He was angry about one poem that seemed to discuss their relationship and her struggles to express her independent spirit. In 1857, Howe published a travel journal called A Trip to Cuba. At that time, Cuba was the source of many new slaves that were brought into the United States illegally (although slavery was still legal, importing new slaves had been outlawed in 1808). She discussed the issue of slavJulia Ward Howe

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ery in the book and pointed out its negative effects on society. But she still made it clear that—like many Northerners— she believed that black people were inferior to whites.

“Battle Hymn of the Republic” In 1861, the long-standing dispute between the North and South over slavery and other issues finally erupted into war. The Southern states seceded (withdrew) from the Union and formed a new country that allowed slavery, called the Confederate States of America. But Northern politicians would not allow the South to leave the Union without a fight. In the fall of that year, Howe made a trip to Washington, D.C. Along the way, her train passed a number of military camps where soldiers were stationed to protect the capital. Once there, she joined a large group of Union supporters who went to watch General George B. McClellan (1826–1885; see entry) review his troops at nearby Munson’s Hill, Virginia. As the spectators watched the troops parade by, however, Confederate forces launched a surprise attack. As both the Union soldiers and the spectators tried to flee to the safety of Washington, the roads became jammed. Howe and her friends were stuck in their carriage for several hours. They passed the time by singing popular army songs, including one called “John Brown’s Body” that featured the chorus “Glory, Glory, Hallelujah!” Some of the soldiers who heard this song stopped to compliment Howe. Then one of her friends suggested that she could write better words to the tune. Howe returned to her Washington hotel room and went to sleep. In the middle of the night, she awoke with new words to the song filling her head. “As I lay waiting for the dawn, the long lines of the desired poem began to twine themselves in my mind,” she recalled. “Having thought out all the stanzas, I said to myself, ‘I must get up and write these verses down, lest I fall asleep again and forget them.’ So, with a sudden effort, I sprang out of bed, and . . . scrawled the verses almost without looking at the paper.” The new lyrics said that God was on the side of the North, and that He would help them destroy their enemies. Howe’s version began: “Mine eyes have seen the glory of the 214


An engraving shows Julia Ward Howe waving the American flag as she rides her horse. Her “Battle Hymn of the Republic” became a rallying song for the Union troops. (Reproduced by permission of EPD Photos.)

coming of the Lord / He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored / He has loosed the fateful lightning of his terrible swift sword / His truth is marching on.” Howe’s poem was published in the literary magazine Atlantic Monthly in early 1862, and she received five dollars for it. Before long, people all across the North were singing her words to the tune of “John Brown’s Body.” In 1863, shortly after the Union’s July victory in the bloody Battle of GettysJulia Ward Howe

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Daniel Decatur Emmett, Author of the Confederate Anthem “Dixie” Musician Daniel Decatur Emmett was born in 1815 in Ohio. He remained in the North throughout his life and supported the Union during the Civil War. For this reason, it seems strange that a song he composed about the South, “Dixie,” became the most popular patriotic song among Confederate troops. Emmett had no formal music education but was blessed with great natural talent. As a teenager, he wrote a manual that was used by drum students for many years, Emmett’s Standard Drummer. He later used his skills as a songwriter and performer to form one of the first minstrel shows. In this form of entertainment—which was popular in the mid-1800s—white performers painted their faces and did impersonations of black music and dance. Around 1860, Emmett wrote a song called “I Wish I Was in Dixie’s Land.” Dixie was a nickname for the South that probably came from the term Mason-Dixon line. This line originally marked the border between Maryland and Pennsylvania, but came to mean the line dividing North from South during the debate over slavery. The song began, “I wish I was in the land of cotton /

Old times there are not forgotten / Look away! Look away! Look away! Dixie Land!” The rousing song “Dixie” soon became very popular around the country. In 1861, the Southern states seceded (withdrew) from the Union and formed a new country that allowed slavery, called the Confederate States of America. A band played “Dixie” when Jefferson Davis (1808–1889; see entry) was inaugurated (sworn in) as the president of the Confederacy. Before long, Emmett’s tune had become the most popular marching song for Southern troops as they went to fight in the Civil War. Since Emmett supported the North, the popularity of “Dixie” among Southerners embarrassed him. He spent the next few years struggling to prove his loyalty to the Union. When the war ended in a Northern victory in 1865, however, U.S. president Abraham Lincoln admitted that “Dixie” was one of his favorite songs. Lincoln declared that the North had captured the song along with the South, and that it now belonged to the whole nation. Emmett continued to work as songwriter, conductor, and theater manager during and after the war. He retired in 1888 and died in 1904.

burg, Army Chaplain Charles Caldwell McCabe (1836–1906) sang it at an official function with President Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865; see entry) in the audience. With tears in his eyes, Lincoln stood up and asked McCabe to sing it again. It soon became the unofficial anthem of the Union war effort. 216


Joins the women’s rights movement With the success of “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” Howe became one of the most famous women of her time. After the war ended in a Union victory in 1865, she continued to write and began lecturing on a variety of social issues, including women’s rights. In 1868, Howe helped organize the New England Woman’s Club. She acted as its president for the next forty years. This group focused on educating women so that they could speak in public, make formal reports, and influence people’s opinions about social issues. Howe also became a strong supporter of efforts to grant women the right to vote. “All that I had felt regarding the sacredness and importance of the woman’s part in private life now appeared to me equally applicable to the part which she should bear in public life,” she stated. She came to believe that women were equal to men. She saw the right to vote as key to women’s advancement, as well as the advancement of American society. She did not want to change the traditional role of women as wives and mothers, but believed that political activity would make women better companions for their husbands and better instructors for their children. Howe continued to write and lecture on literary and cultural topics for the rest of her long life. In recognition of her achievements, she was the first woman elected to the prestigious American Academy of Arts and Letters. In 1873, she held the first Mother’s Peace Day celebration in Boston. This holiday was intended to show women’s support for world peace. Some historians claim that it provided the original source for today’s Mother’s Day holiday. Howe died in October 1910, at the age of ninety-one.

Where to Learn More Clifford, Deborah Pickman. Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory: A Biography of Julia Ward Howe. Boston: Little, Brown, 1979. Currie, Stephen. Music in the Civil War. Cincinnati: Betterway Books, 1992. Grant, Mary H. Private Woman, Public Person: An Account of the Life of Julia Ward Howe from 1819 to 1868. Brooklyn, NY: Carlson Publishers, 1994. Richards, Laura E., and Maud Howe Elliott. Julia Ward Howe, 1819–1910. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1915. Reprint, Atlanta: Cherokee, 1990. Julia Ward Howe

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Williams, Gary. Hungry Heart: The Literary Emergence of Julia Ward Howe. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1999.

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Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson Born January 21, 1824 Clarksburg, Virginia (now West Virginia) Died May 10, 1863 Guiney Station, Virginia Confederate general whose successful 1862 Shenandoah campaign and other military exploits made him beloved throughout the South

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homas “Stonewall” Jackson is one of the legendary military heroes of the American Civil War. The Virginia native first attracted national attention in 1862, when his brilliant Shenandoah Valley campaign demoralized much larger Union forces. As the most trusted lieutenant of General Robert E. Lee (1807–1870; see entry), Jackson then helped guide the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia to its greatest battlefield victories. In May 1863, however, Stonewall Jackson’s spectacular military career was cut short when he was accidentally shot and fatally wounded by his own troops. His death was a serious blow to the Confederacy. In fact, many Southerners insisted after the war that the conflict might have ended differently if Jackson had not been killed.

“Look, men! There stands Jackson like a stone wall! Rally behind the Virginians!” Confederate general Barnard E. Bee

A solitary childhood Thomas Jonathan Jackson was born in a small town called Clarksburg in what is now West Virginia (it was part of Virginia at the time of his birth). The son of poor farmers, he was orphaned at the age of seven. Jackson subsequently went

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to live on an estate called Jackson’s Mill, owned by a wealthy uncle named Cummings Jackson. Young Thomas Jackson spent his next eleven years at Jackson’s Mill, where he learned a great deal about its agricultural, sawmill, and racetrack operations. But although he was accepted by his relatives, Jackson apparently felt very lonely as a child. “In his [later] years,” his second wife wrote, “he was not disposed [inclined] to talk much of his childhood and youth, for the reason that it was the saddest period of his life.” In 1842, Jackson enrolled in the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in New York. Jackson was eager to make his mark at the academy, which was the leading military and engineering school in the nation. During his first year, he struggled with homework and had difficulty making friends. As time passed, however, the cadet’s determination to succeed helped him rise through the school’s academic ranks. Using the saying “You may be whatever you resolve to be” for inspiration, he devoted nearly all of his energies to study. His years at West Point remained solitary ones, but by the time he graduated in 1846, this discipline and desire had lifted him into the upper ranks of his class.

Serves in Mexican War Jackson graduated from West Point just as the Mexican War (1846–48) was beginning. This clash between America and its southern neighbor came about when the United States became interested in acquiring significant sections of Mexican territory in order to expand its own land holdings. When Mexico refused to give up these lands, the two countries ended up going to war in 1846. The conflict finally ended in 1848, when American military victories forced Mexico to cede (give up) its claims on Texas, California, New Mexico, and other lands in the West in exchange for $15 million. Everyone knew that the land was worth far more than $15 million, but the Mexican government had no choice but to accept the deal. Eager to test himself in combat, Jackson joined the U.S. Army immediately after graduation. He was named a second lieutenant of artillery and sent to Mexico, where he distinguished himself as a brave and tough officer. By the time 220


the war ended in 1848, Jackson had participated in several of the war’s biggest battles, earned three awards for gallantry (heroic courage) in combat, and risen to the brevet (honorary) rank of major. Jackson returned to the United States after the war concluded. He remained with the army for a few years, serving at posts in New York and Florida. In 1851, however, he resigned from the military to become an instructor in artillery and natural philosophy at the prestigious Virginia Military Institute (VMI) in Lexington, Virginia.

Professor Jackson’s struggles Jackson spent the next ten years of his life at VMI, where he developed a reputation as one of the institute’s least effective instructors. He was skilled at teaching artillery, but his natural philosophy classes called for him to teach physics, astronomy, and other subjects that he had never studied. Relying on memorized lectures and strict discipline to disguise his unfamiliarity with the subjects he taught, Jackson was strongly disliked by many cadets. In fact, he was challenged to duels (formal fights with deadly weapons between two people) by cadets on at least two occasions. “[Jackson] had not the qualifications needed for so important a chair,” admitted the superintendent of VMI after his departure from the school. “He was no teacher, and he lacked the tact [sensitivity] required in getting along with his classes. Every officer and every cadet respected him for his many sterling [excellent] qualities. He was a brave man, a conscientious man, and a good man, but he was no professor.” Jackson’s unusual habits, known as eccentricities, also led some cadets to make fun of their instructor behind his back. For example, Jackson usually ate food that he did not like because he thought that it was probably better for him. He also was a terrible hypochondriac (someone who falsely imagines disease or illness). For instance, he often kept one arm raised up in the air because he thought that the limbs on one side of his body were larger than the other. He believed that by raising his arm, he could drain extra blood out of it and into his other limbs. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson

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Jackson’s strange ways and stern teaching style sometimes made it difficult for him to fulfill his duties at VMI. Despite his classroom struggles, however, he enjoyed his years in Lexington. In 1853, he married Elinor Junkin, the daughter of a local minister. Their marriage lasted only fourteen months before she died while trying to give birth to their first child. The death of his wife and child deeply depressed Jackson. In 1857, however, he married another minister’s daughter, Mary Anna Morrison. Their marriage was by all accounts a deeply loving one. Jackson also enjoyed a respected position in the Lexington community. Known for his honesty and devotion to duty, he particularly impressed fellow townspeople with his deep religious faith. “Jackson’s faith permeated every action of his adult life,” confirmed James I. Robertson Jr. in Stonewall Jackson. “He began each task by offering a blessing, and he completed every duty by returning thanks to God. To say merely that he kept the Sabbath holy would be an understatement. In the prewar years, he would not read a newspaper or discuss secular [non-religious] subjects on Sunday.” Jackson’s strong religious beliefs eventually led him to organize and teach a Sunday School class for slaves and free blacks, openly defying a state law that prohibited blacks from gathering together in public.

Jackson joins the Confederacy Jackson’s years at VMI ended in 1861, when long-simmering disputes between America’s Northern and Southern states finally boiled over into war. For years, the two regions had been arguing over slavery. Many Northerners believed that slavery was wrong and wanted to abolish it. But the economy of the South had been built on slavery, and Southerners resented Northern efforts to halt or contain the practice. In early 1861, these differences over slavery and other issues convinced several Southern states to secede from (leave) the United States. They announced their intention to form a new country that allowed slavery, called the Confederate States of America. But Northern political leaders were determined to keep the Southern states in the Union. In April 1861, the two sides finally went to war over their differences. 222


Jackson had hoped that his home state of Virginia would choose not to secede. “I am strong for the Union at present, and if things become no worse, I hope to continue so,” he stated during the first wave of secession. In April 1861, however, Virginia’s state legislature voted to join the Confederacy. When Jackson heard the news, he decided that his loyalty to his home state was greater than his loyalty to the United States. Upon joining the Confederate Army in April, Jackson was made a colonel of infantry. Within a matter of weeks, however, he was promoted to brigadier general as part of the army of General Joseph E. Johnston (1807–1891; see entry). In July 1861, Johnston’s army joined with a Confederate force led by General Pierre G. T. Beauregard (1818–1893; see entry) to defeat Union forces at Manassas Junction, Virginia, in the first major battle of the Civil War. It was during this clash—known as the First Battle of Bull Run or the First Battle of Manassas—that Jackson acquired the most famous nickname in American military history. On July 21, Union troops nearly broke through Confederate defenses at a place called Henry House Hill. But Jackson and his brigade (military unit consisting of two or more regiments) rushed to stop the advance. As they held their position against several waves of Union attacks, Confederate general Barnard E. Bee (1824–1861) encouraged his men by pointing to Jackson’s brave example. “Look, men! There stands Jackson like a stone wall! Rally behind the Virginians!” Jackson’s courageous stand at Henry House Hill thus earned him the nickname “Stonewall” and his brigade the title of the “Stonewall Brigade.” For the remainder of the war, Jackson’s brigade was the only Confederate brigade to have its nickname become its official designation.

Jackson’s Shenandoah Valley campaign In October 1861, the Confederate War Department promoted Stonewall Jackson to major general and gave him command of the entire Shenandoah Valley. This forested region of western Virginia was regarded as strategically important to both sides, because it could be used by either Union or Confederate forces as a natural invasion route. The following Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson

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March, Jackson entered the Shenandoah Valley with an army of about eight thousand men (reinforcements eventually increased the size of his army to about fifteen thousand men). Jackson’s orders were to prevent Union forces from seizing control of the region and keep Union troops operating in the valley so busy that they could not provide assistance to Northern armies that were invading eastern Virginia. Jackson’s mission was an enormously difficult one. After all, he faced Union forces that totaled almost eighty thousand troops. Over the next three months, however, Stonewall conducted a dazzling campaign that thoroughly baffled and frustrated the enemy. On several occasions, Jackson’s Confederate troops won big victories over Union armies of much greater size. At other times, Stonewall and his troops seemed to melt into the woodlands of the Shenandoah region, repeatedly escaping Union traps. By May, Jackson’s maneuvers had thrown the North’s military leaders into such complete confusion that they became worried about a Jackson-led attack on Washington, D.C. This perceived threat to the U.S. capital convinced President Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865; see entry) to keep an additional forty thousand troops around Washington rather than let them join the Union offensive in eastern Virginia. Lincoln also ordered additional Union troops into the Shenandoah Valley to neutralize Jackson. But Jackson continued to strike against his enemies, avoiding all Union efforts to stop him. Eventually, even his Union opponents expressed admiration for his brilliant tactics and fearlessness. “[Jackson’s] chief characteristics as a military leader were his quick perceptions of the weak points of the enemy, his ever readiness, the astounding rapidity of his movements, his sudden and unexpected onslaughts [intense attacks], and the persistency with which he followed them up,” said one Union officer. “His ruling maxim [saying] was that war meant fighting, and fighting meant killing, and right loyally did he live up to it.” Jackson and his army remained in the Shenandoah Valley until mid-June. The legendary general then slipped away to eastern Virginia, where Union armies were trying to reach the Confederate capital of Richmond. Upon arriving in the region, he helped General Robert E. Lee’s Army of North224


ern Virginia stop the Union invasion and force the Yankee (Union) Army to return to the North.

Lee’s greatest lieutenant Stonewall Jackson’s spectacular Shenandoah Valley campaign made him famous across the country. In Southern communities, tales of his bold deeds instantly made him the first great Confederate military hero. Even more importantly, however, Jackson’s performance in the valley made his troops extremely devoted to him. “There was a charm about General Jackson which inspired all private soldiers under his command with a sublime [perfect], unquestioned confidence in his leadership,” said one rebel officer. “An indescribable something amounting almost to fascination on the part of his soldiers that induced [caused] them to do uncomplainingly whatever he would order.” The only troops that Jackson did not get along with were his officers. He often refused to discuss military strategy with them, and punished them severely for even minor violations. After joining Lee in June 1862, Jackson remained with the Army of Northern Virginia. Recognizing Jackson’s bravery and tactical knowledge, Lee decided that he wanted to keep him in Virginia, where much of the war’s heaviest fighting was taking place. Over the next several months, Jackson and his troops emerged as Lee’s deadliest weapon. In battle after battle—including the Second Battle of Bull Run (August 1862), the Battle of Sharpsburg (also known as the Battle of Antietam; September 1862), and the Battle of Fredericksburg (December 1862)—Jackson and his troops delivered devastating blows against their Union enemies. These blows lifted Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia to many of their greatest victories. These triumphs increased Stonewall’s legendary reputation in the South. But he refused to take any credit for these victories, even after his October 1862 promotion to lieutenant general gave him command of half of Lee’s army. Instead, the deeply religious Jackson claimed that his successes were the will of God. Jackson saw the war “as a trial ordained [ordered] by God to test the faith of man,” explained historian James I. Robertson Jr. “[According to Jackson], the Civil Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson

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The Strange Tale of Stonewall’s Arm When Stonewall Jackson was accidentally shot by his own troops at the Battle of Chancellorsville in May 1863, one of the bullets that struck him shattered the bone in his left arm below the shoulder. Doctors amputated the arm in an effort to save him, then rushed Jackson off to a safe spot so that he could recover. Their efforts failed, however, when pneumonia claimed the soldier’s life a few days later. Jackson’s body was then taken to Richmond, where more than twenty thousand mourners paid their respects to him before his burial in a Lexington cemetery. Stonewall’s amputated arm, meanwhile, remained at Chancellorsville. An aide bundled up the arm and carried it to a nearby graveyard, where it was buried on May 3. A short time later, a stone with an inscription that read “Arm of Stonewall Jackson May 3 1863” was placed on the burial spot. The arm lay undisturbed until 1921, when Marine Corps general Smedley D. Butler (1881–1940) expressed disbelief that Jackson’s arm was really buried there. He dug up the spot, only to find the arm nestled in a box. Stunned and regretful of his actions, Butler reburied the arm and erected a bronze plaque honoring the spot. The plaque was eventually stolen, but the original stone marker continues to stand watch over the final resting place of Stonewall’s arm.

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War was a religious crusade [holy mission] to regain the Almighty’s favor. Christian faith and the Confederate cause were, for Jackson, one and the same.”

Battle of Chancellorsville The greatest victory of the LeeJackson partnership came in early May 1863, when their sixty thousand–troop army whipped a Union force of 130,000 men at the Battle of Chancellorsville in Virginia. This dramatic rebel (Confederate) triumph against overwhelming odds was Lee’s finest moment. He used his strong defensive position effectively, and devised clever troop movements that thoroughly confused his Union counterparts. The key to Lee’s victory, however, was his decision to send Jackson on a deadly attack against the enemy’s exposed flanks on May 2. This brutal assault struck a crushing blow against the Union Army, which retreated to the North a few days later. Nonetheless, Stonewall’s successful attack ended in tragedy for the South. As evening fell over the battlefield, a group of Confederate soldiers accidentally shot Jackson, who had been returning to camp after scouting out the enemy’s position. At first, it appeared that he might recover from his three bullet wounds, even though doctors had to amputate his left arm. But Jackson developed pneumonia, which doctors could not treat at that time. His condition quickly worsened and he died on May 10, 1863.


The Stonewall Jackson Monument in Richmond, Virginia. (Courtesy of the Library of Congress.)

A Confederate legend When Stonewall Jackson died, the entire South went into mourning. “The affections of every household in the [Confederate] nation were twined about this great and unselfish warrior,” stated the Richmond Daily Dispatch. “He has fallen, and a nation weeps.” Historian James I. Robertson called Jackson’s death “the greatest personal loss [the ConfedThomas “Stonewall” Jackson

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eracy] would ever know. . . . The effect on the civilian population could only be called paralyzing.” Stonewall’s death stunned his fellow rebel soldiers as well. “A greater sense of loss and deeper grief never followed the death of mortal man,” wrote one veteran of the Stonewall Brigade. “Under him we had never suffered defeat. . . . We were the machine he needed to thresh [process] his grain, and the machine must be in order. We knew he would not needlessly risk our lives, and we knew that when needful to accomplish an object, our lives were as nothing, success was all that counted. We had a confidence in him that knew no bounds, and he knew and appreciated it. He was a soldier, and a great one, to our cause; his loss was irreparable.”

Where to Learn More Alexander, Bevin. Lost Victories: The Military Genius of Stonewall Jackson. New York: Holt, 1992. Bennett, Barbara J. Stonewall Jackson: Lee’s Greatest Lieutenant. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Silver Burdett Press, 1991. Farwell, Bryon. Stonewall: A Biography of General Thomas J. Jackson. New York: Norton, 1992. Pflueger, Lynda. Stonewall Jackson: Confederate General. Springfield, NJ: Enslow, 1997. Robertson, James I., Jr. Stonewall Jackson: The Man, the Soldier, the Legend. New York: Macmillan, 1997. Royster, Charles. The Destructive War: William Tecumseh Sherman, Stonewall Jackson, and the Americans. New York: Knopf, 1991. Southern California Stonewall Jackson Society. Stonewall Jackson Homepage. [Online] http://home.san.rr.com/stonewall/ (accessed on October 10, 1999). Stonewall Jackson House. [Online] http://www.stonewalljackson.org/ (accessed on October 10, 1999).

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Andrew Johnson Born December 29, 1808 Raleigh, North Carolina Died July 31, 1875 Greeneville, Tennessee Seventeenth president of the United States Became the first president to face impeachment when Congress disagreed with his Reconstruction policies

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ndrew Johnson became president of the United States in April 1865, when Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865; see entry) was assassinated. He took charge of the country just as the Civil War ended and presided over the difficult period in American history known as Reconstruction (1865–1877). A Southerner by birth, Johnson soon pardoned (officially forgave) Confederate officials and established lenient (easy) conditions for the Southern states to return to the Union. Many Northerners, and especially Republican leaders in the U.S. Congress, worried that Johnson’s Reconstruction policies would allow Confederate leaders to return to power and continue to discriminate against blacks. Congress ended up putting its own policies into effect, while Johnson fought them every step of the way. In 1868, Congressional leaders impeached the president (brought him up on legal charges in an attempt to remove him from office), but Johnson kept his job by a single vote.

“I am unwilling, of my own volition, to walk outside of the Union which has been the result of a Constitution made by the patriots of the Revolution.”

Andrew Johnson. (Courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration.) 229

A poor Southern boy Andrew Johnson was born on December 29, 1808, in a log cabin in the small town of Raleigh, North Carolina. He was the third child born to Jacob Johnson, who worked at various odd jobs, and Mary McDonough (“Polly”) Johnson, who worked as a seamstress and laundress. His family was very poor, and the situation only got worse after Jacob Johnson died when Andrew was three years old. Johnson resented the fact that the wealthy residents of Raleigh looked down upon him. But that did not prevent him from looking down upon black people. “As a poor white boy in a small Southern town, he could not help but realize his lowly position,” Hans L. Trefousse wrote in Andrew Johnson: A Biography. “Yet, poor though he was, Andrew must also have realized that he was not at the very bottom of the social scale. After all, he was white, a fact that gave him a standing immeasurably higher than that of Raleigh’s numerous blacks. . . . Exposed to these attitudes at an early age, Johnson was never able to shake them off.” Johnson’s mother could not afford to send him to school, so instead she arranged for him to become an apprentice to the town’s tailor. The tailor would provide Johnson with food, clothing, and a place to live, and would teach him the trade of tailoring. In exchange, Johnson would work without pay until he was twenty-one years old. The only thing Johnson liked about this arrangement was that wealthy and educated people often came into the tailor shop. He listened carefully when they argued about politics or read aloud to the tailors as they worked. He was very eager to learn to read and write. But for the most part his apprenticeship was a negative experience. The tailor was very strict with him and made the restless young boy work twelve hours per day. In 1824, Johnson ran away. On his own at the age of sixteen, Johnson made it as far as Laurens, South Carolina. He lived there for two years and worked in a local tailor shop. In his free time, he read constantly in order to educate himself. He returned to Raleigh briefly and tried to pay his old boss to release him from the apprenticeship contract, but the tailor refused. Then Johnson decided to leave North Carolina for good. With his family in tow, he moved to Greeneville, Tennessee. He soon fell in love 230


with Eliza McCardle, daughter of the local shoemaker, and the two were married on May 17, 1827. They eventually had five children together, three sons and two daughters.

A self-made man Johnson continued working as a tailor in Greeneville and soon earned a good reputation. Before long, he was able to open his own tailor shop and hire other tailors to work for him. Over time, he earned enough money to buy some property and make other investments. Johnson also continued his education during this time with the help of his wife, who had attended school. He gradually grew more confident about voicing his opinion on issues. One day, a customer in the tailor shop who disagreed with Johnson’s opinions challenged him to a public debate. Johnson discovered that he excelled at public speaking and won the debate. He soon joined a debating society to improve his skills further. In 1834, Johnson launched his political career as mayor of Greeneville. He was proud of the fact that he had raised himself from poverty to claim a position of importance in society. Like many other wealthy Southerners, he bought slaves to act as servants in his home. The following year, he went to Nashville, Tennessee, to represent Greeneville in the state legislature. Over the next few years, Johnson gained a reputation as a defender of the interests of the poor whites against wealthy landowners. In 1843, the popular and ambitious young Democrat was elected to the U.S. Congress. He ended up serving five terms in the House of Representatives. He was best known for his support of the Homestead Act, which would grant 160 acres of public land in the West to any family that wanted to settle it. Many wealthy Southerners and fellow Democrats opposed this idea. Some of them wanted the Western lands for themselves, while others wanted the government to sell the land rather than giving it away. But Johnson felt it was important for poor people to have access to land of their own so that they would be able to improve their lives, as he had done. He continued pushing the bill until it finally passed many years later. Andrew Johnson

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In 1853, Johnson ran for the office of governor of Tennessee. He promoted himself as a self-made man and a model for poor youths to follow. During his election campaign, he declared his belief that “Democracy is a ladder . . . one up which all, in proportion to their merit, may ascend.” Johnson won the election that year and was reelected to a second term two years later. One of his main acts as governor was to pass tax legislation that advanced public education in the state.

An unlikely Union supporter In 1857, Johnson returned to Washington, D.C., to represent Tennessee in the U.S. Senate. This was a time of great political tension in the United States. For years, the Northern and Southern sections of the country had been arguing over several issues, including slavery. Growing numbers of Northerners believed that slavery was wrong. Some people wanted to outlaw it, while others wanted to prevent it from spreading beyond the Southern states where it was already allowed. But slavery played a big role in the Southern economy and culture. As a result, many Southerners felt threatened by Northern efforts to contain slavery. They believed that each state should decide for itself whether to allow slavery. They did not want the national government to pass laws that would interfere with their traditional way of life. Johnson did not support the efforts of Northerners to abolish (put an end to) slavery. Like many Southerners, he believed that black people were inferior to white people. He thought that individual states should decide the issue for themselves. But Johnson also resented the power held by wealthy landowners in the South, and he knew that these landowners used slave labor to maintain their power. By 1861, the ongoing dispute over slavery had convinced several Southern states to secede from (leave) the United States and form a new country that allowed slavery, called the Confederate States of America. Tennessee was one of the Southern states that joined the Confederacy. Johnson opposed his state’s decision to secede. In fact, he became the only Southern senator to retain his seat in Congress following the secession of his state. 232


“I am unwilling, of my own volition [will], to walk outside of the Union which has been the result of a Constitution made by the patriots of the Revolution,” he stated. “I entreat [urgently request] every man throughout the nation who is a patriot . . . to come forward . . . and rally around the altar of our common country, and swear by our God, and all that is sacred and holy, that the Constitution shall be saved, and the Union preserved.” Northern politicians refused to let the Southern states leave the Union without a fight. As a result, the two sides went to war in April 1861. Within a year, the Union forces had taken control of large sections of territory in Tennessee. President Abraham Lincoln rewarded Johnson’s loyalty to the Union by making him a brigadier general and appointing him military governor of Tennessee. His job involved setting up a pro-Union government and rewriting the state’s constitution so that Tennessee could be restored to the Union. Johnson’s views on slavery began to change during this time. Although he still believed that whites were superior to blacks, his desire to preserve the United States as a democratic country became more important to him than his desire to preserve slavery. “I am for my Government with or without slavery,” he stated in 1863, “but if either the Government or slavery must perish [die], I say give me the Government and let the negroes go.” People in the South reacted to Johnson’s change of heart by calling him a traitor. But it only increased his popularity in the North.

President of the United States during Reconstruction In 1864, President Lincoln faced a difficult race for reelection. He and his advisors decided that he could improve his chances by choosing a vice presidential candidate who would balance the ticket. They decided that Johnson, as a Southerner and a Democrat, would appeal to many voters who did not support Lincoln, a Northerner and a Republican. Johnson eagerly accepted the nomination. After Lincoln won the election that November, Johnson was sworn in as vice president on March 4, 1865. Unfortunately, he had been ill for several weeks before this time, and he drank several Andrew Johnson

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A facsimile of a ticket to Andrew Johnson’s impeachment trial in 1868. (Reproduced by permission of AP/Wide World Photos.)

glasses of whiskey to steady his nerves before he appeared at the inauguration (swearing-in) ceremony. He then proceeded to give a rambling speech that many observers found disgraceful and offensive. But Lincoln defended his vice president, saying “I have known Andy Johnson for many years; he made a bad slip the other day, but you need not be scared; Andy ain’t a drunkard.” The Civil War ended a few weeks later, when the Confederate Army surrendered to Union forces. For a brief time, people across the North celebrated their victory and looked forward to beginning the process of healing the nation. But on April 14, a deranged (insane) Confederate supporter shot Lincoln as he attended a play in Washington. The president died the next day, and the mood in the North quickly changed from relief and happiness to grief and anger. Johnson took charge of the country as it entered the difficult period of American history called Reconstruction.

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The United States continued to struggle with important and complicated issues after the Civil War ended. For example, government officials had to decide whether to punish the Confederate leaders, what process to use to readmit the Southern states to the Union, and how much assistance to provide in securing equal rights for the freed slaves. From the beginning of his term of office, Johnson made it clear that he intended to control the process of Reconstruction. He believed that restoring the Union was his job rather than the U.S. Congress’s. He began implementing his own Reconstruction programs during the summer of 1865, while Congress was in recess (Congress often adjourns to let its members take time off between legislative sessions).

A political cartoon shows Andrew Johnson being crushed by the U.S. Constitution, which allows for removal of federal officals in certain instances. (Reproduced by permission of Archive Photos.)

Johnson started out by following the course he believed Lincoln had planned to take. He pardoned many Confederate leaders and set lenient conditions for the Southern states to return to the Union. The former Confederate states Andrew Johnson

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Rutherford B. Hayes, the President Who Ended Reconstruction When Rutherford B. Hayes became president in 1877, it marked the end of the difficult period in American history known as Reconstruction. The United States continued to deal with complicated issues after the Civil War ended. For example, Northern officials had to decide whether to punish Confederate leaders, how much assistance to provide in securing equal rights for freed slaves, and what process to use to readmit the Southern states to the Union. Beginning in 1866, Republican members of the U.S. Congress put harsh policies in place to reduce the power of Southern landowners and give black men an opportunity to vote and hold public office. They sent federal troops into the South to enforce their policies. But white Southerners reacted strongly against these Reconstruction measures. In many cases, they used violence to intimidate blacks and prevent them from exercising their rights. This was the political climate when Hayes became president in a hotly contested election. Rutherford Birchard Hayes was born in Delaware, Ohio, in 1822. His career began as an attorney in 1845. By the mid1850s, Hayes became caught up in the national debate over slavery, adopting a moderate antislavery position. He hoped that the North and South could reach a compromise on the issue, but this soon proved impossible. When the Civil War began in 1861, Hayes joined the Union Army. As an officer in the Twenty-Third Ohio Volunteer Infantry, he earned the respect of his men

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and was wounded in combat several times. Toward the end of the war, members of Ohio’s Republican Party nominated him to represent Cincinnati in the U.S. Congress. Hayes accepted the nomination, but refused to leave the army to come home and campaign. “An officer fit for duty who at this crisis would abandon his post to electioneer for a seat in Congress ought to be scalped,” he stated. He won anyway. When the war ended in 1865, Hayes resigned from the army with the rank of major general. He took his seat in Congress that December, just as radical members of the Republican Party began fighting to take control of the Reconstruction process from Democratic president Andrew Johnson. Immediately after taking office, Johnson had pardoned (officially forgiven) many former Confederates and established lenient (easy) conditions for the Southern states to return to the Union. But Hayes and the Republicans worried that the president’s policies would allow Confederates to return to power in the South and continue to discriminate against black people. As a result, Congress took charge of Reconstruction and sent federal troops into the South to enforce its policies. In 1868, Hayes was elected governor of Ohio. In an age of widespread political corruption, his administration was known for its freedom from scandal. During his two terms in office, he reformed the state’s prison system and helped found Ohio State University. In 1871, he declined


a certain number of electoral votes depending on its population. When the electoral votes were counted, Tilden had 184 and Hayes had 165, and 20 votes were in dispute. A candidate needed 185 electoral votes to win the presidency, so neither man could be declared the winner.

Rutherford B. Hayes. (Courtesy of the Library of Congress.)

to run for a third term and instead attempted to regain his seat in Congress. He lost, but in 1875, he ran for governor again. Upon winning the election, he immediately became one of the leading candidates for his party’s presidential nomination. Hayes won the Republican nomination for president in the election of 1876. His opponent in the general election was the Democratic governor of New York, Samuel J. Tilden (1814–1886). Most Northerners voted for Hayes, and most Southerners voted for Tilden. The election ended up being the closest in history. Tilden won the popular vote—4,284,020 people voted for him, compared to 4,036,572 for Hayes. But the actual winner of presidential elections is determined by an institution known as the electoral college. Each state receives

The controversy came down to three Southern states that still had mixedrace Reconstruction governments intact— South Carolina, Florida, and Louisiana. Hayes needed the electoral votes of all three states in order to become president. Congress set up a special committee to examine the election results in these states. But it was difficult to tell for certain which candidate had won because of widespread violence during the elections. Eventually, the parties arranged a compromise. The Democrats would allow Hayes to become president if he agreed to remove federal troops from the South. This meant that Republicans would lose control of the last three Southern states to white supremacists (people who believe that whites are superior to blacks). The arrangement became known as the Compromise of 1877. When Hayes removed federal troops from the South, this marked the end of Reconstruction. Hayes served only one term as president. He died in 1893 after suffering a heart attack.

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had to prepare new state constitutions that abolished slavery and met a number of other conditions. Then they could elect representatives to the federal government and be readmitted to the Union. But black people were not allowed to vote or to serve as representatives under the president’s plan. Johnson was reluctant to impose the power of the federal government on the South in order to guarantee equality for blacks. By the time Congress came back in session, Johnson’s Reconstruction policies had been in effect for nearly six months. Many Republican members of Congress felt that the president was too lenient toward the South. They worried that his policies would allow Confederate leaders to return to power and continue to discriminate against black people. Congress set up a Committee on Reconstruction to study the effects of Johnson’s policies. The committee heard numerous stories of discrimination and violence against blacks in the South. As a result, the U.S. Congress took control of the Reconstruction process in 1866 and sent federal troops into the Southern states to enforce their policies.

Faces impeachment over disputes with Congress As Congress began implementing its Reconstruction program, some members were willing to compromise with President Johnson. But Johnson refused to accept any changes to his lenient policies toward the South. He believed that some of his Republican opponents were engaged in a conspiracy to overthrow him, and he grew more and more determined to resist. Johnson vetoed (rejected) many bills passed by Congress, although Congress was usually able to gather enough votes (two-thirds of its members) to pass the bills over the president’s veto. As the struggle for power continued, even the more moderate members of Congress began to believe that the president would do anything to destroy their plans. In 1868, Republican leaders started a movement to remove Johnson from office. The Constitution says that all federal officials can be impeached (brought up on legal charges) and removed from elected office if they are found guilty of “treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.” All of the branches of the federal government have roles in an impeachment trial. 238


The House of Representatives brings the charges and acts as prosecutors. The chief justice of the Supreme Court presides over the trial as a judge. The Senate hears the case and votes as a jury. Two-thirds of the senators present must vote to convict in order to remove the impeached official from office. Congress began the process of impeachment on February 22, 1868. It marked the first time in history that an American president had been impeached. Even though the charges against him did not really meet the conditions for impeachment, Johnson was so unpopular by this time that the outcome of the trial was uncertain. The trial before the Senate continued for more than two months and captured the attention of the entire country. Finally, the senators voted on the charges on May 16. Johnson was found not guilty by one vote and remained in office. The remainder of Johnson’s term in office was uneventful. Famed Union general Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885; see entry) was elected to replace him as president later in 1868. Grant took charge of Reconstruction during his two terms in office. In 1877, Rutherford B. Hayes (1822–1893) became president and removed federal troops from the South to end Reconstruction. Meanwhile, Johnson returned to Tennessee but soon grew restless. He became determined to continue his career in politics. He ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Congress in 1871 and 1873. He finally won his old Senate seat back in 1875, but he suffered a stroke shortly after taking office and died on July 31, 1875. Across the country, the reaction to his death was mixed. Northern newspapers praised his loyalty to the Union during the Civil War, while Southern newspapers praised his service to the South during Reconstruction. “For generations after his death, his reputation has alternately suffered and flourished,” Trefousse explained. “After all is said and done, however, it is clear that although the seventeenth president unquestionably undermined the Reconstruction process and left a legacy of racism, he was an able politician.”

Where to Learn More HarpWeek. The Impeachment of Andrew Johnson. [Online] http://www.impeach-andrewjohnson.com/ (accessed on October 10, 1999). Malone, Mary. Andrew Johnson. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow, 1999. Andrew Johnson

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McKitrick, Eric L. Andrew Johnson and Reconstruction. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1960. Reprint, New York: Oxford University Press, 1988. National Park Foundation. Andrew Johnson National Historic Site. [Online] http://www.nationalparks.org/guide/parks/andrew-johns-1928.htm (accessed on October 10, 1999). President Andrew Johnson Museum and Library. [Online] http://www.inusa. com/tour/tn/knoxvill/johnson.htm (accessed on October 10, 1999). Simpson, Brooks D. The Reconstruction Presidents. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1998. Trefousse, Hans L. Andrew Johnson: A Biography. New York: W. W. Norton, 1989. Reprint, Newtown, CT: American Political Biography Press, 1998. Trefousse, Hans L. Impeachment of a President: Andrew Johnson, the Blacks, and Reconstruction. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1975. Reprint, New York: Fordham University Press, 1999.

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Joseph E. Johnston Born February 3, 1807 Cherry Grove, Virginia Died March 21, 1891 District of Columbia Confederate general Led Army of Tennessee against Union general William T. Sherman’s forces during Atlanta campaign

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oseph Johnston’s reputation as a Civil War general is a mixed one. On the one hand, he became known as one of the Confederacy’s most sensible and intelligent military leaders. Careful and crafty, he never sent his troops into battle rashly. This reluctance to commit troops to battle without good cause understandably made Johnston very popular with many of the soldiers under his command. But critics of Johnston argued that he avoided conflict on too many occasions, such as during the 1863 Vicksburg Campaign and the 1864 Atlanta Campaign. This criticism, coupled with his bitter feud with Confederate president Jefferson Davis (1808–1889; see entry) has made Johnston’s Civil War performance a subject of continued debate among students and historians.

Johnston “was loved, respected, admired; yea, almost worshiped by his troops. I do not believe there was a soldier in his army but would gladly have died for him.” One of Johnston’s soldiers

Born and raised in Virginia Joseph Eggleston Johnston was born in Virginia in 1807 into a powerful and respected family. His father was Peter Johnston, a judge and congressman who had fought in the Revolutionary War on behalf of the rebellious American

Joseph E. Johnston. (Reproduced by permission of the National Portrait Gallery.) 241

colonies. The Revolutionary War—also known as the War for Independence—was waged from 1776 to 1783 and eventually resulted in American independence from British rule. Joseph Johnston’s mother, meanwhile, was the niece of Patrick Henry (1736–1799), one of the most famous American heroes of the Revolutionary War. Johnston grew up in Abingdon County, Virginia, attending classes in the state’s finest schools. In 1825, he left home for the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in New York. Johnston excelled at his studies at the prestigious military school. He also became friends with a group of fellow cadets (military students) that included a young Robert E. Lee (1807–1870; see entry) during his stay at West Point.

Early military experiences In 1829, Johnston graduated from the academy and joined the U.S. Army. He spent most of the next decade at frontier outposts and in Florida. During his time in Florida, he took part in the expedition through the state of explorer John Wesley Powell (1834–1902) and participated in the socalled Seminole Wars (1835–42). This war between the U.S. military and the Seminole Indians eventually forced the Indians off of their ancestral homelands and onto reservations in Oklahoma. In 1845, Johnston married Lydia McLane, a member of a prominent Delaware family. A year later he traveled west to fight on behalf of the United States in the Mexican War (1846–48). This war was a struggle between Mexico and the United States for ownership of vast expanses of land in the West. Wounded twice during the conflict, Johnston impressed his commanding officers with his coolness and bravery. The Mexican War ended in 1848 when America forced its southern neighbor to give up its claims on California, New Mexico, and other western lands in exchange for $15 million. With the conclusion of the Mexican War, Johnston returned to the army’s topographical engineering branch. This division was responsible for exploring and surveying the geography of the growing nation (topography is the practice of creating maps that show exact geographic features of a re242


gion). In 1855, however, Johnston received a promotion to lieutenant colonel in order to command a newly created army cavalry unit known as the First Cavalry. Five years later he successfully pushed to be appointed as the army’s quartermaster general when that position became vacant. Johnston thus became responsible for supervising all efforts to provide soldiers with food, clothing, and equipment. He also was promoted to brigadier general around this time. In the spring of 1861, though, Johnston abruptly left the ranks of the U.S. Army when the nation’s Northern and Southern regions took up arms against one another. The arrival of war did not really surprise Johnston. After all, relations between the two sides had become tattered by years of bitter arguments and threats over a number of issues, especially slavery. Northern states wanted to abolish slavery because many of their citizens thought that it was a cruel and evil institution. The agriculture-based Southern economy had become extremely dependent on slavery over the years, though, and white Southerners worried that their way of life would collapse if slavery was abolished (eliminated). America’s westward expansion during this time made this dispute even worse, since both sides wanted to spread their way of life—and their political views—into the new territories and states. The two sides finally went to war in early 1861, after the Southern states tried to secede from (leave) the Union and form a new country where slavery was allowed, called the Confederate States of America.

Early Civil War success Johnston viewed the South’s attempt to secede from the United States as a terrible mistake. Ignoring early offers of generalship in the Confederate Army, he did not join the rebel (Confederate) military until April 1861, when his home state of Virginia announced its intention to secede. But Johnston left the U.S. Army with a heavy heart. As he submitted his resignation to Union secretary of war Simon Cameron (1799–1889), he confessed his belief that secession “was ruin in every sense of the word.” Upon arriving in Richmond a few days later, he was made a brigadier general in the Confederate Army. Joseph E. Johnston

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Initially assigned to defend Harpers Ferry, Virginia, from Union invaders, Johnston played a major role in helping the South win the first major battle of the Civil War in July 1861. Using clever maneuvers to escape from an advancing Federal army, he quickly transported thousands of soldiers by railroad to Manassas Junction, Virginia, where rebel troops under the command of General Pierre G. T. Beauregard (1818–1893; see entry) were being challenged by a larger Union force led by General Irvin McDowell (1818–1885). Johnston’s troops arrived just in time to turn the battle in favor of the South. Combining their two armies, Johnston and Beauregard produced a sloppy but decisive victory over McDowell’s troops. This triumph at the First Battle of Manassas (known as the First Battle of Bull Run in the North) gave Southerners confidence that they could fend off Northern attempts to restore the Union.

The Johnston-Davis feud The victory at Manassas made Johnston one of the Confederacy’s first military heroes. Six weeks later, he and four other Confederate officers were promoted to the newly created rank of full general. Johnston, however, expressed great anger with the details of these promotions. As he understood Confederate law, the seniority of Confederate military officers of the same rank was supposed to be based on the relative position they held back in the federal army. According to Johnston, this meant that he should be “top-ranked” of all the new Confederate generals. But Confederate president Jefferson Davis ranked Johnston fourth in seniority, ahead of only one other general. Johnston responded to news of the promotions by writing Davis a furious letter. He claimed that the president’s rankings had been made “in violation of my rights as an officer, of the plighted [promised] faith of the Confederacy and of the Constitution and laws of the land.” Johnston concluded his note by stating that “I now and here declare my claim that . . . I still rightfully hold the rank of first general in the armies of the Southern Confederacy.” But Davis refused to reconsider his decision. In fact, he sent Johnston an insulting reply in which he called the general’s arguments and state244


ments “one-sided” and “as unfounded [without a factual base] as they are unbecoming [unattractive].” Prior to the promotion controversy, relations between the two men had been cool and mildly distrustful. But the uproar over Johnston’s ranking dramatically worsened tensions between the two men. In fact, it created a cloud of animosity between Davis and Johnston that remained in place for years to come. Stubborn and proud, the two men spent the rest of the war believing the worst about each other.

Service in the West Johnston’s next major engagement took place in the spring of 1862, when Union general George B. McClellan (1826–1885; see entry) launched his so-called Peninsula Campaign to capture the Confederate capital of Richmond. By late May, McClellan’s army had advanced to Fair Oaks, only a few miles outside of Richmond. But a large Confederate force under Johnston’s command awaited the Federal army there. On May 31, the two armies clashed together in a bloody struggle for control of the Virginia peninsula. The two-day battle (known as the Battle of Seven Pines in the South) ended in a virtual stalemate (deadlock), with neither side able to gain an advantage. Johnston, though, was seriously wounded in the clash and had to turn command of his Army of Northern Virginia over to General Robert E. Lee. One month later, Lee forced McClellan to end his offensive campaign by defeating the Union general in a series of fierce clashes that came to be known as the Seven Days’ Battles. Lee then followed up that victory with a series of other triumphs. Lee’s performance convinced Davis to give him command of the Army of Northern Virginia for the rest of the war. Johnston spent the last months of 1862 recovering from the wounds he suffered at Fair Oaks. When Johnston returned to active duty in November, Davis sent him to the war’s western theater (the area of the country between the Mississippi River and the Appalachian Mountains). Despite growing doubts about Johnston’s abilities, Davis wanted him to take general command of the two main Confederate armies in the region. The president hoped that Johnston would be able to increase the effectiveness of the two armies Joseph E. Johnston

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by coordinating their actions. Johnston, though, complained about his new assignment. He told Davis that his command was “useless. . . . The great distance between the [Confederate] Armies of Mississippi and Tennessee, and the fact that they had different objects and adversaries [enemies], made it impossible to combine their action.” Johnston, Davis, and other Confederate officials continued to argue and debate about strategy, military authority, and other issues throughout the first few months of 1863. Union general Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885; see entry), meanwhile, launched a major offensive against Vicksburg, Mississippi, a strategically important Confederate stronghold. Grant knew that if he could seize the city from the Confederacy, the North would control the entire length of the Mississippi River. By May 1863, Johnston was certain that he did not have enough troops to save Vicksburg from Grant’s advancing army. He told Lieutenant General John C. Pemberton (1814–1881), the commander of the Confederate garrison (military post) within the city, to evacuate his army before it was lost to Grant. But Pemberton remained in Vicksburg after receiving orders from Davis to hold the city at all costs. The struggle for Vicksburg ended in disaster for the Confederacy. In late May, Grant ordered his army to surround the city and stop all shipments of food and other supplies. This strategy, known as a siege, was intended to starve Pemberton’s army into surrendering the city. Within a matter of weeks, Grant’s siege had created great hunger and misery within Vicksburg. Johnston tried to come up with a plan to lift the siege, but the small size of his army prevented him from posing any significant threat to Grant’s much larger force. Pemberton finally surrendered on July 4, giving the North control of both the city and the Mississippi River. When Davis learned that Vicksburg had fallen into Union hands, he placed the blame squarely on the shoulders of Johnston. The Confederate president and many other people believed that Johnston should have offered more resistance to Grant. They charged that Johnston had been too cautious and timid in his actions. Johnston and his supporters, meanwhile, blamed flawed strategies devised by Davis and other Confederate officials for the loss of the city. They also claimed that Johnston’s decision to avoid an all-out fight 246


with Grant had kept the South from losing thousands of men in a hopeless cause. Not surprisingly, the debate over who was to blame for the loss of Vicksburg increased the level of hostility (ill will) and distrust that existed between Davis and Johnston. In fact, one acquaintance of Johnston’s commented that from this time forward, Johnston’s “hatred of Jeff Davis became a religion with him.”

Johnston replaces Bragg During the fall of 1863, Davis relieved Johnston of many of his command responsibilities. He felt that Johnston’s tendency to retreat and avoid combat unless certain of victory was hurting the Southern cause. In November 1863, though, Davis reluctantly appointed Johnston to command the Confederate Army of Tennessee, the South’s last major army in the western theater. The Army of Tennessee was a tough and battle-hardened force. Over the course of 1863, however, it had been badly led by Confederate general Braxton Bragg (1817–1876; see entry). By the time Davis finally replaced Bragg, morale among the troops had plummeted to a very low level. Upon arriving in Dalton, Georgia, to take command of the Army of Tennessee in December 1863, Johnston immediately addressed the lingering morale problem. During the long winter months, he took steps to improve his troops’ food rations and living conditions. He also worked hard to reassure the soldiers that his command style would be different than the stern one adopted by Bragg. “[Johnston] passed through the ranks of the common soldiers, shaking hands with every one he met,” recalled one soldier. “He restored the soldier’s pride; he brought the manhood back to the private’s bosom. . . . He was loved, respected, admired; yea, almost worshiped by his troops. I do not believe there was a soldier in his army but would gladly have died for him.”

Sherman’s Atlanta Campaign In May 1864, Johnston faced his first major test as commander of the Confederacy’s Army of Tennessee. At that Joseph E. Johnston

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A view of Peachtree Street in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1864, the year before Union general William Sherman marched into that region. (Photograph by George N. Barnard. Reproduced by permission of the National Portrait Gallery.)

time, a major Union army under the command of General William T. Sherman (1820–1891; see entry) marched into Georgia in order to destroy Johnston’s sixty thousand-man army. The North believed that if the Confederate Army of Tennessee could be wiped out, Union control of the West would be complete, and weakening Southern support for the war might collapse altogether. As Sherman’s force of one hundred thousand troops began its pursuit of Johnston, Davis and Johnston once again quarreled about Confederate strategy. Davis and other officials wanted Johnston to strike against Sherman and recapture the state of Tennessee in an offensive campaign. Johnston, however, felt that his best course of action was to engage in a series of strategic retreats against his more powerful opponent. The general thought that if Sherman used up some of his troops in failed attacks, he might eventually be able to launch a counterattack. In addition, Johnston believed that if Sherman failed to

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gain a major victory during the summer of 1864, Northern voters might replace U.S. president Abraham Lincoln (1809– 1865; see entry) in the fall elections with a member of the antiwar Democratic Party who would grant independence to the Confederacy in exchange for peace. Throughout the months of May and June, Sherman moved his army southward in an attempt to smash the Confederate Army of Tennessee. The two armies engaged in countless bloody skirmishes during this period, but Johnston quickly and skillfully avoided all efforts to trap him. Instead, he steadily retreated deeper into Georgia, even as President Davis and other Confederate officials urged him to turn and attack the Yankee (Union) invaders. By mid-July, Sherman had seized large sections of Georgia. Johnston’s Army of Tennessee had been pushed backward to the outskirts of Atlanta, one of the Confederacy’s last remaining major cities. Johnston’s defensive maneuvers had enabled him to keep most of his army intact, but Davis and many other Confederate officials were very unhappy with his performance. They openly worried that Johnston might give up Atlanta without a fight, and became very frustrated when the general stubbornly refused to tell them about his plans. On July 17, Davis finally removed Johnston from command and replaced him with John Bell Hood (1831–1879; see entry), an officer with the Army of Tennessee who had a reputation as a fierce and aggressive fighter. The switch delighted Sherman, who had grown weary of pursuing Johnston. “I confess I was pleased at the change [in the Confederate command],” he wrote in a letter to his wife. Hood promptly ordered a series of attacks on the Union Army, but Sherman and his troops smashed all of these attacks. Within a few months, Sherman had captured Atlanta and launched a devastating campaign deep into the heart of the South. Hood, meanwhile, took his army into Tennessee, where it was torn to shreds by Union forces.

End of the war After being removed from command, Johnston spent the last part of 1864 traveling around the South with his wife. Joseph E. Johnston

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In February 1865, General Lee convinced Davis to recall Johnston to active service in the disintegrating Confederate Army. Johnston was ordered to assume command of rebel troops in the Carolinas and halt Sherman’s advance on Richmond. By this point, however, no Southern army was capable of stopping Union forces as they rolled across the Confederacy. Lee surrendered his Army of Northern Virginia to Union forces on April 9, 1865. Eighteen days later, Johnston signed final surrender terms in a meeting with Sherman. Johnston’s surrender marked the end of his military career. In the years following the Civil War, Johnston became involved in the insurance and railroad industries. He also served his home state of Virginia as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1879 to 1881. In addition, he continued his long-running feud with Davis in a series of articles and memoirs. He died in the District of Columbia in 1891.

Where to Learn More Connelly, Thomas L. Autumn of Glory: The Army of Tennessee, 1862–1865. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1971. Johnston, Joseph E. Narrative of Military Operations During the Civil War. New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1874. Reprint, New York: Da Capo Press, 1990. Newton, Steven H. Joseph E. Johnston and the Defense of Richmond. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1998. Symonds, Craig L. Joseph E. Johnston: A Civil War Biography. New York: Norton, 1992. Woodworth, Steven E. Jefferson Davis and His Generals. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1990.

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American Civil War

Biographies

Volume 2: L–Z

American Civil War

Biographies Kevin Hillstrom and Laurie Collier Hillstrom Lawrence W. Baker, Editor


Kevin Hillstrom and Laurie Collier Hillstrom

Staff Lawrence W. Baker, U•X•L Senior Editor

Carol DeKane Nagel, U•X•L Managing Editor Tom Romig, U•X•L Publisher Rita Wimberley, Senior Buyer Evi Seoud, Assistant Production Manager Dorothy Maki, Manufacturing Manager Mary Beth Trimper, Production Director Michelle DiMercurio, Art Director Cynthia Baldwin, Product Design Manager Shalice Shah-Caldwell, Permissions Specialist Pamela Reed, Imaging Coordinator Leitha Etheridge-Sims, Cataloger Robert Duncan, Senior Imaging Specialist Michael Logusz, Imaging Specialist Randy A. Bassett, Image Database Supervisor Barbara J. Yarrow, Imaging and Multimedia Content Manager Marco Di Vita, Graphix Group, Typesetting Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Hillstrom, Kevin, 1963– American Civil War. Biographies / Kevin Hillstrom and Laurie Collier Hillstrom ; Lawrence W. Baker, editor. p. cm. ISBN 0-7876-3820-X — ISBN 0-7876-3821-8 (v. 1) — ISBN 0-7876-3822-6 (v. 2) 1. United States—History—Civil War, 1861–1865—Biography. 2. United States—History—Civil War, 1861–1865—Biography—Miscellanea. I. Hillstrom, Laurie Collier, 1965– II. Baker, Lawrence W. III. Title. E467.H656 1999 973.7’092’2—dc21 [B] 99-046920

This publication is a creative work copyrighted by U•X•L and fully protected by all applicable copyright laws, as well as by misappropriation, trade secret, unfair competition, and other applicable laws. The author and editors of this work have added value to the underlying factual material herein through one or more of the following: unique and original selection, coordination, expression, arrangement, and classification of the information. All rights to this publication will be vigorously defended. Cover photographs of John Wilkes Booth and Jefferson Davis are reproduced courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration; Sojourner Truth, courtesy of the Library of Congress; and Martin R. Delany, reproduced by permission of Archive Photos, Inc. Copyright © 2000 U•X•L, an imprint of The Gale Group 27500 Drake Road Farmington Hills, MI 48331-3535 All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. Printed in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Robert E. Lee Born January 19, 1807 Westmoreland County, Virginia Died October 13, 1870 Lexington, Virginia Confederate general As commander of the Army of Northern Virginia, became the Confederacy’s most famous military leader of the Civil War

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eneral Robert E. Lee ranks as the most famous and beloved Confederate soldier to fight in the American Civil War. As commander of the Army of Northern Virginia, he masterminded many of the South’s greatest military victories. Combining clever battlefield strategy with inspiring leadership, he nearly engineered an ultimate Confederate victory. As the conflict progressed, however, improved performance by the larger Union Army proved too much for Lee to overcome. Lee’s decision to surrender in the spring of 1865 did not hurt his reputation among his fellow Southerners, though. In fact, the postwar South embraced Lee as its greatest symbol of nobility in defeat.

“With all my devotion to the Union and the feeling of loyalty and duty of an American citizen, I have not been able to make up my mind to raise my hand against my relatives, my children, my home.”

Raised to believe in duty and honor Robert Edward Lee was born in January 1807 to a wealthy Virginia family. His father, Harry Lee, was a Revolutionary War (1776–83) hero who had been one of George Washington’s best friends. His mother, Anne Hill Carter Lee, also came from a wealthy and privileged background. Robert

Robert E. Lee. (Courtesy of the Library of Congress.) 251

E. Lee spent his first three years at Stratford Hall, a fine mansion along the banks of the Potomac River that had been home to the Lee family for several generations. In 1810, however, serious financial problems changed the family’s living situation. Harry Lee lost the family fortune in a series of poor business decisions. The situation became so bad that he was thrown in debtor’s prison (a special jail that held people who failed to pay off financial debts), and the Lee family was forced to leave Stratford. They moved to a modest home in Alexandria, Virginia. Harry Lee did manage to secure his release from jail, but he did not provide much assistance to his family after his return. In May 1813, he abandoned them, sailing away to the Caribbean on a government-sponsored trip. He died five years later without ever returning to see his wife and children. When Harry Lee set sail for the Caribbean, he left his wife to raise all five of their children alone. Anne Lee’s family provided assistance, though. As her children grew up, Anne Lee did her best to teach them about concepts of duty and honor and sacrifice. Robert E. Lee took these lessons to heart. By young adulthood he was known as a person of deep religious faith and a strong sense of honor and integrity.

Begins life in military In 1825, Lee managed to secure an appointment to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, the finest officers’ training school in the country. Determined to restore his family’s reputation, the young cadet worked and studied very hard. He posted excellent grades and conducted himself so well that he did not receive a single demerit (a critical mark given to students who violate any of the school’s many rules on conduct and appearance) in his four years of study at the academy. In 1829, Lee graduated second in his class. After leaving West Point, he promptly joined the elite Army Corps of Engineers, which was responsible for forts, dams, and other major construction projects across America. Around this same time, his mother died, leaving him a small inheritance that included about ten slaves. In 1831, Lee married Mary Anna Randolph Custis (1806–1873), the great granddaughter of 252


Martha Washington (1732–1802), the wife of the first U.S. president, George Washington (1732–1799). They had seven children during the course of their long and happy marriage. Lee’s responsibilities with the Army Corps of Engineers took him all around the country during the 1830s and early 1840s. He worked on dams, levees (fortified shorelines designed to prevent rivers from overflowing their banks), forts, and other construction projects during this time, earning a promotion to the rank of captain. In 1846, Lee’s service in the Corps of Engineers was interrupted by the Mexican War (1846–48). This war was a fight between Mexico and the United States for ownership of huge sections of land in the West. Lee spent the next two years on the staff of U.S. general Winfield Scott (1786–1866; see entry). As the war progressed, Lee’s understanding of military tactics and his bravery in combat impressed Scott so much that the general stated that “Robert E. Lee is the greatest soldier now living, and if he ever gets the opportunity, he will prove himself the great captain of history.” The Mexican War ended in 1848, after the United States forced the Mexican government to give up its claims on California and other western lands in exchange for $15 million. After returning from Mexico, Lee continued his work with the Army Corps of Engineers. In 1852, he accepted an offer to become superintendent at West Point. He guided the school for the next three years, but resigned in 1855 to accept a lieutenant colonel position in the Texas cavalry. In 1857, Lee took an extended leave of absence from the army in order to take care of legal and financial problems associated with the Arlington, Virginia, estate of his deceased father-in-law. He returned to active military service in October 1859 when abolitionist John Brown (1800–1859; see entry) tried to start a major slave uprising in Harpers Ferry, Virginia. Lee commanded the military detachment that captured Brown and ended his raid.

Joins the Confederacy Lee and many other Americans viewed Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry as a sign that longstanding disagreements Robert E. Lee

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The Origins of Arlington National Cemetery In 1857, Robert E. Lee’s wife, Mary Anna Randolph Custis Lee, learned that her father had died and left her his Virginia estate. This property, known as Arlington, included a fine mansion and beautiful grounds, but had fallen into a state of disrepair. Restoration of the estate became General Lee’s responsibility, and he quickly took steps to improve the long-neglected land.

other cities in Virginia. The Union Army officially confiscated (seized) the Arlington estate a short time later by taking advantage of a wartime law requiring property owners in occupied areas to pay taxes in person. Since General Lee could not pay his property taxes in person without being captured, the estate became the property of the federal government.

By 1861, Lee and his wife had made dramatic improvements in the Arlington estate. But two days after Lee resigned from the Federal Army in order to join the Confederate military, Union forces seized the property. Union officers promptly converted the mansion and surrounding grounds into a headquarters area for their army. The loss of Arlington, meanwhile, forced Lee’s wife and other Custis family members to relocate to Richmond and

Arlington was first used as a cemetery for soldiers in 1864, when the Union Army set aside two hundred acres for burial of federal troops. By the end of the war the hills of the estate were dotted with graves marking the final resting place of thousands of Union soldiers. In 1882, Robert E. Lee’s son George Washington Custis Lee sued the government for return of the land that had belonged to his ancestors. The government responded by offer-

within the United States over the issue of slavery might never be settled peacefully. These fears came true in the spring of 1861, when the nation’s Northern and Southern regions went to war over the issue. Many Northerners had become convinced that slavery was wrong. They wanted the Federal government to take steps to outlaw slavery or at least keep it from spreading beyond the Southern states where it was already allowed. But the Southern economy had become very dependent on slavery over the years, and white Southerners worried that their way of life would collapse if slavery was abolished (eliminated). They argued that each state should decide for itself whether to allow the practice. By 1861, Southern dissatisfac254


ing him $150,000 to purchase the property. Lee accepted the offer, and the property subsequently became Arlington National Cemetery.

The Custis-Lee Mansion at Arlington National Cemetery. (Courtesy of the Library of Congress.)

Today, Arlington National Cemetery is the most famous cemetery in the United States. More than 175,000 American soldiers, including troops from every major war in which the United States has fought, are buried within its borders. Arlington is also the site of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which honors American servicemen who died in World War I (1914–18), World War II (1939–45), the Korean War (1950–53), and the Vietnam War (1955–75). Many famous Americans who devoted their lives to public service are buried at Arlington as well, including President John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) and his brother Robert Kennedy (1925–1968).

tion with the North had become so great that several states decided to secede from (leave) the Union and form a new country that allowed slavery, called the Confederate States of America. The Northern states, however, were unwilling to see the United States split in two. They vowed to force the South back into the Union. When the Civil War began in early 1861, Lee agonized over what he should do. He felt deep loyalty both to his country and to his native state of Virginia, which had voted to secede. Finally, though, he made up his mind. Turning down an offer to command all Union forces, he submitted his resignation from the U.S. Army in order to join the Confederate military. “With all my devotion to the Union and the feelRobert E. Lee

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Lee Predicts a Long War When the Civil War began, many people in both the North and the South expressed great confidence that their side would achieve total victory within a matter of months. General Robert E. Lee, though, believed that neither side really appreciated the courage and determination of their opponent. In the following letter written by Lee on May 5, 1861, he expresses deep concerns about the toll that the war might take on the two sides: [Politicians who predict an easy victory] do not know what they say. If it comes to a conflict of arms, the war will last at least four years. Northern politicians do not appreciate the determination and pluck [bravery] of the South, and Southern politicians do not appreciate the numbers, resources, and patient perseverance of the North. Both sides forget that we are all Americans. I foresee that the country will have to pass through a terrible ordeal, a necessary expiation (atonement or apology) . . . for our national sins.

As events turned out, Lee’s prediction of a long and bloody conflict proved accurate. The Civil War lasted almost exactly four years and cost the lives of hundreds of thousands of young men.

ing of loyalty and duty of an American citizen, I have not been able to make up my mind to raise my hand against my relatives, my children, my home,” he explained. “I have therefore resigned my commission in the army and, save in defense of my home state, with the sincere hope that my poor services may never be needed, I hope I may never be called upon to draw my sword.”

Assumes command of Army of Northern Virginia On April 23, 1861, Lee formally took command of all armed forces in Virginia. He spent most of his time, however, serving as a military advisor to Confederate president Jefferson Davis (1808–1889). He did not receive an important leadership position in the field until June 1862, when General Joseph Johnston (1807–1891; see entry) was wounded at the Battle of Seven Pines. President Davis then told Lee to take command of Johnston’s army, which Lee renamed the Army of Northern Virginia.

Once Lee took the field, he quickly reversed the Confederacy’s fortunes in Virginia, which had become the most fiercely contested region of the entire war. By the early summer of 1862, Union forces had advanced deep into the state, drawing to within a few miles of the Confederate capital of Richmond. But Lee halted the Northern offensive in a series of bloody clashes with the Yankee (Union) invaders. These clashes—known as the Seven Days’ Battles—forced Union general George B. McClellan (1826–1885; see entry) to end his campaign against Richmond.

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Lee followed up this success with a decisive triumph at the Second Battle of Bull Run (also known as the Second Battle of Manassas) in late August 1862. This victory over Union forces led by General John Pope (1822–1892) convinced Lee to attempt an invasion of the North. The Confederate general believed that a successful campaign into Union territory might convince Northerners to end their efforts to break the Confederacy. Lee’s invasion ended on September 17, however, when Union forces fought his Army of Northern Virginia to a stalemate in the bloody Battle of Antietam in Maryland.

Lee dominates in the East Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia suffered enormous casualties in the Battle of Antietam. As a result, the Confederate commander decided to return to Virginia and rebuild his army over the winter. Eager to smash Lee’s weary troops, Northern forces under the command of Ambrose Burnside (1824–1881; see entry) followed Lee to Fredericksburg, Virginia. When Burnside’s Army of the Potomac attacked Lee’s army on December 13, 1862, however, the offensive was smashed to pieces by Lee’s well-prepared defenses. The rebel (Confederate) victory at Fredericksburg forced Burnside to abandon his offensive and cemented Lee’s reputation as a brilliant and daring military strategist.

Lee’s greatest triumph In the spring of 1863, the Union Army mounted yet another offensive against Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia. Northern military and political leaders knew that if they could crush Lee’s army, Richmond and other important Southern cities would be vulnerable to Union attack, and the war could be brought to a close. With this in mind, Union general Joseph Hooker (1814–1879) led the Army of the Potomac into Virginia once again. Armed with a huge force of approximately 130,000 troops, Hooker planned to use flank attacks and superior numbers to crush Lee’s 60,000–man army, which remained entrenched in Fredericksburg. By late April, Hooker’s army had taken up strong positions around Fredericksburg and the nearRobert E. Lee

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by town of Chancellorsville. The Union Army appeared poised to strike. Lee, though, came up with a masterful strategy of countermoves that thoroughly puzzled Hooker. Relying on strong defensive positions, clever troop movements, and deadly attacks against Hooker’s exposed flanks, Lee battered the Union force for three solid days. On May 6, the Army of the Potomac finally gave up and retreated to the North. Lee’s victory at Chancellorsville was his greatest triumph yet. “Unquestionably, this latest addition to the lengthening roster [list] of Confederate victories was a great one,” wrote Shelby Foote in The Civil War: Fredericksburg to Meridian. “Indeed, considering the odds that had been faced and overcome, it was perhaps in terms of glory the greatest of them all; Chancellorsville would be stitched with pride across the crowded banners of the Army of Northern Virginia.”

Gettysburg Encouraged by his victory at Chancellorsville, Lee launched a second invasion of the North in June 1863. He knew that if Northern communities started to worry about their own safety, they would put tremendous pressure on Northern political leaders to negotiate a peace agreement with the Confederacy, even if it meant giving the Southern states their independence.

Union general Joseph Hooker. (Reproduced by permission of the National Portrait Gallery.)

Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia advanced into Pennsylvania, where they were met by the Union’s Army of the Potomac and its new commander, General George Meade (1815–1872; see entry). On July 1, the two armies clashed outside of a little town called Gettysburg. The battle contin258


ued for three days. Again and again, rebel troops crashed against Meade’s defenses in hopes of smashing through and seizing victory. But the Army of the Potomac fought bravely, refusing to cave in to the rebel attacks. The battle finally ended on July 3, when Lee ordered a disastrous charge at the heart of the Union defenses. This attack—known as “Pickett’s Charge” after one of the Confederate officers who led the offensive—ended in complete failure for the South. Union weaponry easily shattered the advance. Shocked by this disastrous turn of events, Lee gathered his battered army together and retreated back to Virginia.

Lee faces a new enemy In the days following the Battle of Gettysburg, Lee expressed great sadness and disgust with his performance in Pennsylvania. “It was all my fault,” he told his troops. Lee even offered his resignation to President Davis, saying “no blame can be attached to the army for its failure to accomplish what was projected by me. I am alone to blame.” Lee also pointed out that illness had begun to affect his ability to command (many historians believe that Lee began to suffer from heart disease around this time). Davis refused to accept the resignation, though, because Lee remained his finest general. Lee worked hard to strengthen his Army of Northern Virginia throughout the winter of 1863–64. He wanted his army to be ready for the upcoming spring, when Northern armies would resume their efforts to restore the Union. When the spring of 1864 arrived, however, Lee found himself pitted against a tough new opponent in Union general Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885; see entry). Over the previous two years, Lee had defeated many different Union commanders, from George McClellan to Joseph Hooker. U.S. president Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865; see entry) had begun to believe he would never be able to find a general who could neutralize Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia. In March 1864, however, Lincoln placed General Ulysses S. Grant in charge of Union forces. Grant had been the Union’s most successful general in the war’s western theater (the region of the country beRobert E. Lee

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tween the Mississippi River and the Appalachian Mountains). When he arrived in the East in 1864, he took control of the Army of the Potomac and marched into Virginia in search of Lee. Grant hoped to use his superior force to smash the Army of Northern Virginia once and for all. Lee and Grant clashed throughout the early summer of 1864. Fighting in engagements that ranged from bloody battles to small but deadly skirmishes, the two armies marched across the Virginia countryside in a desperate battle for survival. Lee avoided all of Grant’s attempts to trap the Confederate Army and crush it. But Grant continued his steady pursuit of Lee’s tired army. By mid-June, Lee’s army had been forced to retreat to defensive positions around Petersburg, a city on the outskirts of Richmond. In June 1864, Grant began a siege (a military effort to prevent food and other supplies from being delivered to a city or other location) of Petersburg. The siege did not starve Lee and his army into submission, but it prevented the Army of Northern Virginia from participating in the war. Lee and his men could only stand by helplessly as other Union armies marched across the South in triumph. “It must have been tragic for Lee to find himself ultimately bottled up at Petersburg because he loved the open fight and the war of maneuver,” wrote Brian Pohanka in Civil War Journal. “With his army pinned down and besieged, he realized the end was in sight.” In April 1865, the Confederate defenses at Petersburg and Richmond finally began to crumble. Lee organized a desperate evacuation of his battered army. Grant quickly gave chase, however, and within a week he had surrounded Lee and his men. Lee surrendered his army on April 9. After signing the terms of surrender at the home of Wilmer McLean in Appomattox County, Virginia, Lee returned to his camp and told his loyal soldiers that “I have done the best I could for you. Go home now, and if you make as good citizens as you have soldiers, you will do well, and I shall always be proud of you.”

College president and legend After the war, Lee became president of Washington College (now Washington and Lee University) in Lexington, Vir260


ginia. He spent five years at the school, where he helped introduce the country’s first educational departments of journalism and commerce. He also reshaped the school’s curriculum to provide more training in subjects like science and engineering. Lee also emerged as the war’s most beloved and respected figure in the South. His fabulous military record and his lifelong emphasis on personal honor and dignity made Robert E. Lee

The Appomattox County home of Wilmer McLean, site of Robert E. Lee’s Confederate surrender to Union general Ulysses S. Grant. (Photography by Timothy O’Sullivan. Courtesy of the Library of Congress.)

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him very attractive to Southerners, who remained angry and upset over their defeat. “Southerners needed Lee to prove that good people can and do lose and to demonstrate that success in battle or elsewhere does not necessarily denote superiority,” wrote historian Emory M. Thomas. Lee died in October 1870, after suffering a stroke. News of Lee’s death triggered a tremendous outpouring of grief all across the South. Ordinary citizens and thousands of devoted soldiers who had served under him offered testimonials (public statements declaring a person’s merit) about his leadership and courage. Lee’s funeral service in Lexington was attended by thousands of mourners, many of whom traveled for hundreds of miles to pay their respects. Today, more than a century after his death, Lee’s status as a legend of the American South remains unchanged.

Where to Learn More Archer, Jules. A House Divided: The Lives of Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee. New York: Scholastic, 1995. Cannon, Marian G. Robert E. Lee. New York: Franklin Watts, 1993. Connelly, Thomas Lawrence. The Marble Man: Robert E. Lee and His Image in American Society. New York: Knopf, 1977. Davis, Burke. Gray Fox: Robert E. Lee and the Civil War. New York: Rinehart, 1956. Reprint, Short Hills, NJ: Burford Books, 1998. Foote, Shelby, The Civil War: A Narrative. 3 vols. New York: Random House, 1958–74. Reprint, Alexandria, VA: Time-Life Books, 1999. Freeman, Douglas Southall. R. E. Lee: A Biography. 4 vols. New York: Scribner’s, 1934–35. Harsh, Joseph L. Confederate Tide Rising: Robert E. Lee and the Making of Southern Strategy, 1861–1862. Kent, OH: Kent State University Press, 1998. Kavanaugh, Jack, and Eugene C. Murdoch. Robert E. Lee. New York: Chelsea House, 1994. Kerby, Mona. Robert E. Lee: Southern Hero of the Civil War. Springfield, NJ: Enslow, 1997. Lee, Fitzhugh. General Lee: A Biography of Robert E. Lee. New York: Da Capo Press, 1994. Marrin, Albert. Virginia’s General: Robert E. Lee and the Civil War. New York: Atheneum, 1994. National Park Service. Arlington House: The Robert E. Lee Memorial.[Online] http://www.nps.gov/arho/ (accessed on October 15, 1999). 262


Nolan, Alan T. Lee Considered: General Robert E. Lee and Civil War History. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1991. Robert E. Lee Memorial Association. Stratford Hall Plantation: The Birthplace of Robert E. Lee. [Online] http://www.stratfordhall.org (accessed on October 15, 1999). Snow, William P. Lee and His Generals. New York: Richardson & Co., 1867. Reprint, New York: Fairfax Press, 1982. Taylor, Walter H. General Lee, His Campaigns in Virginia, 1861–1865: With Personal Reminiscences. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1994. Thomas, Emory Morton. Robert E. Lee: A Biography. New York: W. W. Norton, 1995. Wilkins, J. Steven. Call of Duty: The Sterling Nobility of Robert E. Lee. Nashville, TN: Cumberland House, 1997. Woodworth, Steven E. Davis and Lee at War. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1995.

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Abraham Lincoln Born February 12, 1809 Hodgenville, Kentucky Died April 15, 1865 Washington, D.C. Sixteenth president of the United States

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braham Lincoln is widely viewed as the greatest president in American history. He presided over the nation during one of its most difficult trials—the Civil War. Lincoln rose from humble beginnings in Kentucky to become a successful lawyer and state legislator in Illinois. In 1858, his growing concern over the expansion of slavery convinced him to join the antislavery Republican political party and oppose Democrat Stephen A. Douglas (1813–1861) for the U.S. Senate. Lincoln lost the election, but the spirited debates between the two candidates propelled him to national attention. In 1860, he became the sixteenth president of the United States. But Lincoln’s election convinced the slaveholding states of the Southern United States to secede (withdraw) from the Union and form a new country that allowed slavery, called the Confederate States of America. Lincoln considered this act an illegal rebellion against the national government, and the two sides soon went to war. During the war years, Lincoln struggled with incompetent generals and faced criticism over his policies. Yet his guidance and determination helped bring victory to the Union and freedom to millions of black Americans.

“I have no other [ambition] so great as that of being truly esteemed of my fellow men, by rendering myself worthy of their esteem.”

Abraham Lincoln. (Courtesy of the Brady National Photographic Art Gallery, Library of Congress.) 265

Born poor in Kentucky Abraham Lincoln was born in a log cabin in the slave state of Kentucky on February 12, 1809. He was the second child born to Thomas Lincoln, a hard-working carpenter and farmer, and his wife Nancy Hanks Lincoln. Although his parents’ families had owned slaves in the past, the Lincolns came to oppose slavery. In fact, the Lincoln family joined an antislavery branch of the Baptist Church when Abraham was a boy. Slavery had been practiced in North America since the 1600s, when black people were first taken from Africa and brought to the continent to serve as white people’s slaves. The basic belief behind slavery was that black people were inferior to whites. Under slavery, white slaveholders treated black people as property, forced them to perform hard labor, and controlled every aspect of their lives. States in the Northern half of the United States began outlawing slavery in the late 1700s. But slavery continued to exist in the Southern half of the country because it played an important role in the South’s economy and culture. Lincoln mostly educated himself. His parents could not read or write, and they needed him and his older sister Sarah to help with the farm chores every day. As a result, it was rare when the children had time to attend school. Lincoln only went to school for a total of one year throughout his entire childhood. But he still managed to learn to read. He especially enjoyed reading poetry, because he liked the skillful ways poets put words together. He also became fascinated with a popular book called Life of George Washington by Mason Locke. This may have been the earliest indication of his future interest in politics. In 1816, the Lincolns moved to the neighboring free state of Indiana. Sadly, Nancy Lincoln died in an epidemic two years later. In 1819, Thomas Lincoln married Sarah (“Sally”) Bush Johnston, a widow with three young children. Young Abraham became very attached to his new stepmother. The Lincolns struggled financially during this time, so as a teenager Abraham worked at a series of odd jobs to help out. At nineteen, Lincoln took a flatboat loaded with produce down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers to New Orleans along with another young man. During his time in the Deep South, 266


he saw slaves in chains being sold at auction. The scene haunted him for many years and helped convince him that slavery was wrong. “The Negroes were strung together precisely like so many fish upon a trotline [a strong fishing line],” he recalled. “In this condition they were being separated forever from the scenes of their childhood, their friends, their fathers and mothers, and brothers and sisters, and many of them, from their wives and children, and going into perpetual [permanent] slavery.”

Becomes a successful lawyer and politician By the time Lincoln reached his twenties, he had become interested in the law. He started watching trials at the local courthouse, studying law books, and reading the Constitution and Declaration of Independence in order to understand the American justice system. When he was twenty-two, Lincoln left home and moved to New Salem, Illinois. As a clerk at the general store there, he met educated men who encouraged his interest in the law and politics. He practiced writing and public speaking, and joined a debating society. Within a year, he decided to run for the state legislature. “Every man is said to have his peculiar ambition,” he said of his decision. “Whether it be true or not, I can say for one that I have no other so great as that of being truly esteemed [regarded] of my fellow men, by rendering [making] myself worthy of their esteem.” Upon losing his first election, Lincoln volunteered to serve in the Illinois militia during the Black Hawk War (1832). This conflict came about when white settlers attempted to force the Sauk and Fox Indians to move out of Illinois. Led by Chief Black Hawk (1767–1838), the Indians refused to leave their ancestral territory. Lincoln led a small militia unit through woods and swamps for several weeks, but they did not see any action before the Indians surrendered. After his term of military service ended, Lincoln became postmaster of New Salem and also worked as a surveyor (one who measures land to determine property or boundries, or to make maps). In 1834, Lincoln ran for the state legislature again and won. He ended up serving four terms in office. He sponsored bills to improve the state’s schools and also protested against measures designed to silence abolitionists (people Abraham Lincoln

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who worked to end slavery). Lincoln also continued studying during this time and got a license to practice law in 1836. He showed great skill as an attorney. He was honest, funny, and sensitive in dealing with people. He also had a quick mind that allowed him to find weaknesses in his opponents’ arguments and persuade juries to take his side. He moved to the new state capital of Springfield, Illinois, in 1837. Whenever the legislature was not in session, he traveled around the state as an attorney. He won most of his 250 cases before the State Supreme Court over the next several years. In 1839, the successful young attorney and politician met Mary Todd, the daughter of a wealthy Kentucky family. After a rocky, on-again off-again courtship, they were married three years later. They eventually had four sons together, although only one of them survived to adulthood: Robert Todd (1843–1926), Edward Baker (1846–1850), William “Willie” Wallace (1850–1862), and Thomas “Tad” (1853–1871).

Bursts onto the national scene In 1846, running as a member of the Whig political party, Lincoln was elected to represent Illinois in the U.S. House of Representatives. He soon emerged as an opponent of the Mexican War (1846–48). This was a conflict between the United States and Mexico for possession of lands in the West. Lincoln felt that the United States was illegally grabbing territory that belonged to its weaker neighbor. He also worried that westward expansion would complicate the already heated debate between North and South over slavery. Both sides would want to extend their political ideas and way of life to the new territories. Despite Lincoln’s arguments, the U.S. government sent troops into the West and forced Mexico to give up huge areas of land in exchange for $15 million. After Lincoln’s term ended in 1849, he returned to his law practice in Springfield. But he continued to keep a close eye on politics and especially the ongoing debate over slavery. For almost thirty years, a federal law known as the Missouri Compromise of 1820 had prevented the spread of slavery to the Northern half of the country. This law basically established a line across the midsection of American territory above which slavery would not be permitted. By 1850, how268


ever, the addition of vast new lands in the West meant that neither side was happy with this arrangement any longer. People living in California, New Mexico, and other western territories wanted to be admitted into the Union as states. But both North and South wanted to influence whether or not slavery would be allowed in the new states. Finally, federal lawmakers came up with the Compromise of 1850. This law called for California to be admitted into the Union as a free state and authorized an end to slave trading in Washington, D.C. But it also provided Southern slaveholders with sweeping new powers to capture runaway slaves in the North. The fragile peace achieved through this compromise was shattered a few years later. The two western territories of Kansas and Nebraska were next in line for statehood. In 1854, Illinois senator Stephen A. Douglas introduced the KansasNebraska Act. It was based on the concept of “popular sovereignty,” which held that the citizens of each new state should be able to decide for themselves whether to allow slavery. It explicitly abolished [eliminated] the Missouri Compromise of 1820 and gave the South a golden opportunity to expand the practice of slavery into new territories. Most people accepted that Nebraska would enter the Union as a free state. But the status of Kansas was much less certain. Both abolitionists and proslavery forces rushed into Kansas in hopes of affecting the decision. Violence erupted throughout the region. But the impact of the Kansas-Nebraska Act also was felt far beyond the borders of Kansas. The entire nation was wracked with political change and uncertainty following its passage. The law triggered the disintegration of the national Whig political party, which divided into Northern and Southern factions over the slavery issue. The Southern Whigs joined the proslavery Democratic Party, while the Northern Whigs joined the antislavery Republican Party.

The Lincoln-Douglas debates Lincoln joined the Republican Party and spoke out against the Kansas-Nebraska Act in letters and speeches. His strong opposition to the act convinced him to challenge the Democrat Douglas for his Senate seat in 1858. “I clearly see, as I think, a powerful plot to make slavery universal and perAbraham Lincoln

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petual in this nation. The effort to carry that plot through will be persistent and long continued,” he said. “I enter upon the contest to contribute my humble and temporary mite [bit] in opposition to that effort.” Upon receiving the Republican Party’s official nomination for the Senate, Lincoln gave a controversial speech that made headlines across the country. Some people, especially in the South, felt that he was calling for a war over slavery. “A house divided against itself cannot stand,” he stated. “I believe this government cannot endure, permanently, half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved—I do not expect the house to fall—but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing, or all the other.” Lincoln ended up meeting Douglas in a series of debates. The two men were both excellent speakers, and their appearances attracted large crowds and a great deal of media attention. The debates reflected the growing division between the Republican and Democratic parties over slavery. Lincoln strongly opposed slavery because he believed it was morally wrong. He also thought that it contradicted the main principles upon which the country was founded. He felt that people of all races deserved an equal opportunity for “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” But he did not necessarily believe that black people were equal to white people. Like most white people of his time, he held some racist views toward black people. He questioned whether black people and white people could live peacefully and equally together in American society. In fact, for many years he favored the idea of colonization, which involved sending the black residents of the United States to all-black countries in Africa and the Caribbean. Lincoln recognized that it would be virtually impossible to outlaw slavery in the United States. That would require an amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and the Southern states would never support such a measure. So he and most other Republicans instead focused on preventing the spread of slavery outside of areas where it was already allowed. As the debates went on, Lincoln proved to be a strong force against slavery. “I have always thought that all men should be free; but if any should be slaves it should be first those who desire 270


it for themselves, and secondly, those who desire it for others,” he noted. “Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally.” Although Lincoln ended up losing the election, his views made him one of the most prominent members of the national Republican Party. Some people began mentioning him as a potential candidate for president in 1860.

President of the United States As the presidential election neared, the issue of slavery continued to divide the country. When Lincoln won the Republican nomination, the Southern states threatened to secede (withdraw) from the United States if he were elected president. Lincoln tried to reassure the South that he did not intend to interfere with slavery where it already existed. But most Southerners still felt that a Republican president could not possibly represent their interests. In the meantime, the Democrats had trouble agreeing on a single candidate or platform. They ended up splitting their party into two factions, the Northern Democrats and the Southern Democrats, and running two separate candidates for president, Stephen Douglas and current vice president John C. Breckinridge (1821–1875). As a result, Lincoln was able to secure enough votes to be elected the sixteenth president of the United States.

Republican presidential nominee Abraham Lincoln. (A drawing from a photograph by Mathew Brady. From Harper’s Weekly, May 26, 1860.)

Lincoln immediately began working to maintain peaceful relations with the South. In his first inaugural address, he argued against secession and let the South know that he would not make the first move toward war. He closed with a moving plea to his fellow countrymen: “We are not enemies but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every last battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthAbraham Lincoln

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stone, all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.” But Lincoln’s words seemed to have little effect on the tense situation between North and South. Eleven Southern states had already announced their intention to secede from the Union and form a new country that allowed slavery, called the Confederate States of America, by the time Lincoln was inaugurated (sworn in). A few weeks later, the new Confederate government demanded that he remove the Federal troops stationed at Fort Sumter, located in the harbor at Charleston, South Carolina. Confederate president Jefferson Davis (1808–1889; see entry) viewed these troops as a symbol of Northern authority and wanted them to leave. But Lincoln refused to acknowledge the Confederacy as a legitimate country and claimed that the Southern states were engaged in an illegal rebellion against the U.S. government. When negotiations failed, Confederate forces opened fire on the fort on April 12, 1861. This event marked the beginning of the Civil War.

Wartime commander in chief Lincoln faced an extremely difficult job as president during the war years. He had limited military experience, yet he was immediately expected to organize an army and devise a winning military strategy. He knew that every one of his actions could send thousands of young men to their deaths. As a result, conducting the war was difficult on him both emotionally and physically. But Lincoln possessed many traits that made him a great commander in chief. For example, he was able to analyze situations quickly and make good decisions. He was also good at dealing with difficult people. “His political experience had taught him how to win a political fight without making personal enemies out of the men he defeated, and he had as well the ability to use the talents of selfassured men who considered themselves his betters,” Bruce Catton explained in The Civil War. Still, Lincoln did experience problems with incompetent and insubordinate (disobedient) generals in the early years of the war. He also faced constant criticism from opponents who disagreed with his policies. He even struggled to maintain order within his own 272


cabinet (a group of advisors who head various government departments). But he overcame these difficulties with tact, diplomacy, and an unbending dedication to doing whatever was necessary to secure victory. As soon as the war began, Lincoln called for seventyfive thousand volunteers to come to Washington, D.C., and defend the nation’s capital against a possible Confederate attack. He also did everything in his power to keep the “border” states—which allowed slavery but remained loyal to the Union—from joining the Confederacy. For example, he suspended the legal provision known as habeas corpus in Maryland, a border state adjacent to Washington. Habeas corpus prevented government officials from imprisoning people without charging them with a crime. Lincoln knew that some people in the border states did not support the war effort, and he wanted the power to put these people in prison to stop them from helping the South. On several other occasions, he invoked the broad war powers granted to the president in the U.S. Constitution in order to keep control of the government and wage the war effectively. As a result, his political opponents called him a dictator and a tyrant. The war forced Lincoln to remain flexible and periodically rethink his positions on various issues. For example, in the early part of the war he argued that his main purpose in fighting was to save the Union, not to end slavery. He said this in part because he wanted to avoid losing the loyalty of the border states. But black leaders and abolitionists in the North criticized him for moving too slowly toward emancipation (granting freedom to the slaves). In mid-1862, Lincoln decided that he could not forge (form) a lasting peace without putting an end to slavery. He also wanted to increase support for the war in the North and make it easier to recruit new soldiers. He began drafting his Emancipation Proclamation at this time. This war measure would declare all the slaves in the secessionist states to be free and allow black men to serve as soldiers in the Union Army. It would not affect the status of slaves in the border states or in areas of the South that were already under the control of Union troops. Lincoln issued a preliminary proclamation on September 22, 1862, following a narrow Union victory in the Battle of Antietam in Maryland. It warned the South that Abraham Lincoln

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the final proclamation would take effect on January 1, 1863, unless they voluntarily rejoined the Union before that time. Of course, Lincoln could not force people in Confederate states to free their slaves. In fact, he had no power to enforce the proclamation until Union troops captured enemy territory. But the revolutionary document transformed the purpose of the war and ensured that there would be no further compromises on slavery. In 1863, Union forces won a series of major battles, including a bloody one at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. That November, Lincoln visited Gettysburg to dedicate a new military cemetery. There, he gave a brief speech that became one of the most famous addresses in the English language. Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address laid out the principles of democracy for which the North was willing to fight. It introduced the idea of nationalism (a sense of loyalty and devotion to the country as a whole) into Northern debate about the Civil War. Instead of fighting to preserve the Union of fairly independent states with different interests and motivations, he explained, the North was fighting for the higher purpose of preserving the United States as a democratic nation. Lincoln believed deeply in democracy, which he described as “government of the people, by the people, for the people.” He felt that if the South won the war and permanently separated from the United States, democracy would have failed. As the war dragged on into 1864, many people in the North grew weary of fighting. Lincoln faced reelection that year and legitimately worried that he might lose to Democratic candidate George B. McClellan (1826–1885; see entry). To some Americans it seemed strange to proceed with a presidential election during the middle of a war. In fact, such an event had never occurred before in any other country. But Lincoln knew that holding the election was vital to continuing democracy in the United States. “We cannot have free government without elections,” he stated, “and if the rebellion could force us to forego or postpone a national election, it might fairly claim to have already conquered and ruined us.” Lincoln ran on a platform that backed his war measures and called for a constitutional amendment banning slavery. Shortly before the election took place, the Union Army claimed a string of stirring victories that changed public opinion toward 274


the war and the president. Lincoln ended up winning reelection by a comfortable margin.

Death sends the North into mourning By the beginning of 1865, it became clear that the Union was about to win the Civil War. Lincoln turned his attention to the task of putting the country back together as quickly and painlessly as possible. In his second inaugural address in March 1865, he seemed willing to forgive the Southern states for their rebellion. “Fondly do we hope—fervently [with intense feeling] do we pray—that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away,” he stated. “With malice [ill will] toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation’s wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan; to do all which may achieve a just and lasting peace, among ourselves and with all nations.” Sadly, Lincoln would not live long enough to put his postwar plans into action.

President Abraham Lincoln’s assassin, John Wilkes Booth. (Reproduced by permission of AP/Wide World Photos, Inc.)

On April 9, Confederate general Robert E. Lee (1807– 1870; see entry) surrendered to Union general Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885; see entry) at Appomattox, Virginia, to end the Civil War. People throughout the North poured into the streets in wild celebration. The end of the war gladdened Lincoln’s heart, too. At times it had seemed to him that the war might never end, or that it would end in failure for the Union after years of heartache and pain. But Lee’s surrender was a sure sign that Lincoln’s heroic efforts to restore the Union had succeeded. When thousands of people gathered outside the White House to sing “The Star-Spangled Banner” and other patriotic songs, the president led them in loud cheers for General Grant and his soldiers. Abraham Lincoln

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The funeral train of President Abraham Lincoln. (Reproduced with permission of UPI/Corbis-Bettmann.)

But the celebrations came to an abrupt end a few days later. On April 14, 1865, Lincoln and his wife attended a play at Ford’s Theatre in Washington called Our American Cousin. They were seated in a fine balcony overlooking the stage. Midway through the performance, a fanatical supporter of the Confederacy named John Wilkes Booth (1838–1865; see entry) slipped into the rear of the balcony and shot Lincoln in the back of the head. Booth then leaped out of the balcony and landed on the stage below. He broke his leg in the fall, but still managed to limp off the stage and escape on horseback before anyone could capture him. Physicians in the audience rushed to Lincoln’s side, but they could do nothing for him. Concerned that the president would not survive any attempt to carry him to the White House, which was more than six blocks away, the doctors decided to take him to a boarding house across the street from the theater. Lincoln died there early the next morning.

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News of Lincoln’s death had an incredibly shattering impact on communities all across the North. After all, the Union’s victory in the Civil War had made the president extremely popular. Northern communities realized that during the previous four years, Lincoln had managed to keep the dream of a restored Union alive despite many periods of doubt and discouragement. They also knew that victory would not have been possible without his guidance and determination. His assassination plummeted them into a mood of deep grief and rage. “While the nation is rejoicing . . . it is suddenly plunged into the deepest sorrow by the most brutal murder of its loved chief,” wrote one Union veteran. The nation remained in mourning in the weeks following Lincoln’s death. Thousands of citizens paid their respects to their fallen president when the White House held a service in his honor. On April 20, Lincoln’s body was placed on a train so that he could be buried in his hometown of Springfield, Illinois. As Lincoln’s funeral car passed through the American countryside during the next few days, millions of farmers and townspeople gathered along the train’s route to pay their respects.

Where to Learn More Abraham Lincoln’s Assassination. [Online] http://members.aol.com/RVSNorton/Lincoln.html (accessed on October 8, 1999). Abraham Lincoln Research Site. [Online] http://members.aol.com/RVSNorton/Lincoln2.html (accessed on October 8, 1999). Assassination of President Lincoln and the Trial of the Assassins. [Online] http://www.tiac.net/users/ime/famtree/burnett/lincoln.htm (accessed on October 8, 1999). Bishop, Jim. The Day Lincoln Was Shot. New York: Harper, 1955. Reprint, New York: Greenwich House, 1984. Bruns, Roger. Abraham Lincoln. New York: Chelsea House, 1986. Donald, David Herbert. Lincoln. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1995. Dr. Samuel A. Mudd Society, Inc. Dr. Samuel A. Mudd House Museum Home Page. [Online] http://www.somd.lib.md.us/MUSEUMS/Mudd.htm (accessed on October 8, 1999). Handlin, Oscar. Abraham Lincoln and the Union. Boston: Little, Brown, 1980. Stern, Philip Van Doren. The Life and Writings of Abraham Lincoln. New York: Random House, 1940. Reprint, New York: Modern Library, 1999. Abraham Lincoln

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McPherson, James M. Abraham Lincoln and the Second American Revolution. New York: Oxford University Press, 1990. Meltzer, Milton, ed. Lincoln in His Own Words. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1993. National Park Service. Ford’s Theatre National Historic Site. [Online] http://www.nps.gov/foth/index2.htm (accessed on October 8, 1999). Oates, Stephen B. With Malice Toward None: A Life of Abraham Lincoln. New York: Harper and Row, 1977. Reprint, New York: HarperPerennial, 1994. Surratt Society. Surratt House Museum. [Online] http://www.surratt.org/ (accessed on October 8, 1999).

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Mary Todd Lincoln Born December 13, 1818 Lexington, Kentucky Died July 16, 1882 Chicago, Illinois Wife of President Abraham Lincoln Faced criticism and endured tragedy as first lady of the Union during the Civil War

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ary Todd Lincoln had a difficult job as first lady during the Civil War. She had to support her husband through stressful times and defend him against his opponents. She also faced a great deal of criticism herself for her expensive tastes and quick temper. Outwardly, she was well-equipped to deal with the job of first lady. After all, she came from a prominent family and had been a popular hostess in Lincoln’s home state of Illinois. Inwardly, however, she struggled with fears and depression that only grew worse with the untimely death of her husband in 1865. Her battle with mental illness after the war made her a tragic figure.

Mary Todd Lincoln struggled with fears and depression that only grew worse with the untimely death of her husband in 1865.

Born into a wealthy Kentucky family Mary Ann Todd Lincoln was born into a prominent family in Lexington, Kentucky, on December 13, 1818. She was the fourth of seven children born to Robert Smith Todd, a powerful banker, and his first wife. The Todds owned three slaves who acted as servants in their home and helped care for their children. Despite this fact, however, Robert Todd was

Mary Todd Lincoln. (Reproduced by permission of the National Portrait Gallery.) 279

not a strong supporter of slavery. When Mary was six years old, her mother died. Her father married Betsey Humphries the following year, and they eventually added eight more children to the family. Mary was an intelligent, strong-willed, and highly emotional child. She often came into conflict with her stepmother and threw temper tantrums when she did not get her way. She struggled to get attention in such a large family, and later remembered her childhood as unhappy and lonely. As a young woman, Mary went away to school at the Shelby Female Academy. She received an excellent education at a time when few women had that opportunity. In 1839, Mary moved to Springfield, which had recently become the capital of Illinois. She lived with one of her sisters, Elizabeth Edwards, who had married the son of the former governor of Illinois. Their home became the center of all the important social gatherings in Springfield. Mary proved to be a popular hostess and attracted a great deal of attention from the young men of the town. She was short and plump with an attractive face, and could make interesting and witty conversation on a wide range of subjects. But she remained insecure and sensitive to criticism, and she tended to hold a grudge against anyone who displeased her.

Marries the future president Sometime shortly after her arrival in Springfield, Mary Todd met Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865; see entry), an attorney and member of the state legislature. He was ten years older than her, tall and thin, and quiet and awkward around women. But she saw the intensity and ambition behind his shyness. For his part, Lincoln was attracted to her intelligence and charm. They entered into a rocky, on-again off-again courtship, despite a lack of support from her family. They finally got married on November 4, 1842. They eventually had four sons together, although only one of them survived to adulthood: Robert Todd (1843–1926), Edward Baker (1846–1850), William “Willie” Wallace (1850–1862), and Thomas “Tad” (1853–1871). Mary Lincoln had a difficult time during the early years of their marriage. Her husband was still working to es280


tablish himself as a lawyer and politician. Money was tight, and they initially rented a room in a hotel. It was a tremendous change for her, having grown up in luxury with servants to take care of her needs. She suddenly had to learn to cook, clean, wash, and care for her husband and young children. The Lincolns eventually moved into a nice house in Springfield and hired someone to help Mary with the chores. But these lean early years left her with a deep fear of poverty and a great love of expensive things.

Faces criticism and tragedy as first lady By the late 1850s, the debate over slavery had created a huge rift between the Northern and Southern sections of the United States. Growing numbers of Northerners believed that slavery was wrong. Some people wanted to outlaw it, while others wanted to prevent it from spreading beyond the Southern states where it was already allowed. But many Southerners felt threatened by Northern efforts to contain slavery. They believed that each state should decide for itself whether to allow the practice. They did not want the national government to pass laws that would interfere with their traditional way of life. America’s westward expansion only increased the tension between the North and South. Both sides wanted to spread their political views and way of life into the new states and territories.

Mary Todd Lincoln’s husband, Abraham, and son, Thomas (Tad). (Photograph by Anthony Berger. Courtesy of the Library of Congress.)

Abraham Lincoln joined the antislavery Republican political party and ran for the U.S. Senate in 1858. He emerged as an outspoken opponent of slavery during a series of debates with Democrat Stephen Douglas (1813–1861). Although Lincoln lost the election, he gained a national reputation. In 1860, he was elected president of the United States. At this point, several Southern states decided that the U.S. governMary Todd Lincoln

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ment and its antislavery president could no longer represent their interests. They announced their intention to secede (withdraw) from the United States and form a new country that allowed slavery, called the Confederate States of America. But Lincoln and other Northern politicians were determined to keep the Southern states in the Union. The Civil War began in April 1861, just a few weeks after Lincoln took office. Once the Lincolns moved to the White House in Washington, D.C., Mary Lincoln decided to redecorate their new home. She felt that the president’s house should reflect his important position. She purchased new china, furniture, carpets, and artwork for the White House. Although the items she chose reflected her good taste, they were also very expensive. In fact, she ended up exceeding the $20,000 budget for redecoration—which was supposed to cover the entire four-year term of her husband’s presidency—within the first year. She also bought a striking new wardrobe for herself. People in the North criticized the first lady’s spending habits. They thought it was inappropriate for her to live so extravagantly when thousands of young men were suffering and dying in the war. Some people even questioned Mary Lincoln’s loyalty to the Union. After all, she had been born in Kentucky, and her family had owned slaves. Four of her brothers and three of her half-brothers served in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. But in reality, Mary Lincoln felt a deep commitment to the Union cause and strongly endorsed her husband’s policies. The stress of the war created some strain in their marriage, but she stood by the president and defended him against his critics. She also supported him by visiting sick and wounded soldiers in hospitals, and by helping to entertain important military and political leaders in the White House. Mary Lincoln also faced a great deal of personal tragedy during the war years. The Lincolns’ beloved son Willie died of typhoid fever in 1862. She struggled to deal with his death and remained secluded in her room for several months. Afterward, she refused to enter the room where Willie had died. She also held a mystical meeting called a séance to try to contact his spirit. Then in 1865, just as the Union celebrated victory in the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln was shot in the head, as he and the first lady attended a play at Ford’s Theatre in Washington. He died the next day, April 15, 1865. The 282


shock and grief over her husband’s violent death left Mary Lincoln deeply depressed and virtually unable to function.

Struggles with mental illness As she began to recover, Mary Lincoln went to Chicago to be with one of her sisters. While there, she learned that Abraham Lincoln’s former law partner, William Herndon (1818–1891), was spreading ugly lies about her late husband and their marriage. Herndon claimed that Lincoln had never loved his wife, and had spent his whole life thinking about a childhood sweetheart named Ann Rutledge. The humiliation Mary Lincoln felt as a result of Herndon’s statements caused her to suffer an emotional breakdown. She never fully recovered and struggled with mental illness for the rest of her life. Mary Lincoln became obsessed with the idea that she was broke, but still could not stop herself from spending money extravagantly. During the late 1860s, she tried to sell some of her expensive clothing, jewelry, and furniture under an assumed name. This led to another embarrassing scandal, and she moved to Europe in order to avoid public criticism. She eventually returned to Chicago, and she received an annual pension (payment) from the U.S. Congress in 1870. In 1875, however, Mary Lincoln became involved in another traumatic and highly publicized episode. The Lincolns’ oldest son, Robert, went to court to have his mother declared insane. He was worried that she would spend all her money and become a financial burden to him, so he decided to commit her to a mental institution. Robert Lincoln won the first court battle. Mary Lincoln spent four months in an asylum in Batavia, Illinois, before being released to the custody of her sister. But she appealed the decision with the help of Myra Bradwell (1831–1894)—the first woman to practice law in the United States—and was found sane. Again hoping to avoid public attention, Mary Lincoln moved to Europe for a few years. Upon her return to the United States, she became ill and was crippled by a back injury. She died on July 16, 1882. She was buried beside her husband in Springfield, Illinois. Mary Todd Lincoln

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Where to Learn More Baker, Jean H. Mary Todd Lincoln: A Biography. New York: Norton, 1987. Collins, David. Shattered Dreams: The Story of Mary Todd Lincoln. Greensboro, NC: Morgan Reynolds, 1994. Neely, Mark E., Jr., and R. Gerald McMurtry. The Insanity File: The Case of Mary Todd Lincoln. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1993. Oates, Stephen B. With Malice Toward None: A Life of Abraham Lincoln. New York: Harper and Row, 1977. Reprint, New York: HarperPerennial, 1994. Mary Todd Lincoln Research Site. [Online] http://members.aol.com/RVSNorton/Lincoln15.html (accessed on October 8, 1999). Sandburg, Carl. Mary Lincoln: Wife and Widow. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co., 1932. Reprint, Bedford, MA: Applewood Books, 1995. Santow, Dan. Mary Todd Lincoln. New York: Children’s Press, 1999.

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James Longstreet Born January 8, 1821 Edgefield District, South Carolina Died January 2, 1904 Gainesville, Georgia Confederate general Controversial military leader whose reputation as General Robert E. Lee’s “old war horse” was shaken at Gettysburg

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ames Longstreet is perhaps the most controversial of the generals who served the Confederacy during the American Civil War. Longstreet’s supporters point out that he fought courageously at many of the war’s biggest battles, and that General Robert E. Lee (1807–1870; see entry) had such high regard for Longstreet that he affectionately referred to him as the Confederacy’s “Old War Horse.” But Longstreet’s critics argue that he devoted too much time and energy to trivial political quarrels, and that he did not always do a good job of supporting Lee. Much of this still-lively debate about Longstreet centers on the Battle of Gettysburg, during which he and Lee had a famous dispute over military strategy.

“James Longstreet made three mistakes that have denied him his deserved place in Southern posterity: He argued with Lee at Gettysburg, he was right, and he became a Republican.” Writer Stewart Sifakis

A Georgia childhood Longstreet was born on January 8, 1821, in Edgefield District, South Carolina, to James and Mary Ann Dent Longstreet. Within weeks of his birth, however, he was taken to his parents’ cotton plantation outside of Gainesville, Georgia. “My earliest recollections were of the Georgia side of the

James Longstreet. (Courtesy of the Brady National Photographic Art Gallery, Library of Congress.) 285

Savannah River, and my school days were passed there,” Longstreet recalled. As Longstreet grew older, he developed a keen interest in fishing, hunting, and other outdoor activities. Encouraged by his father, he also dreamed of someday building a career for himself in the military. “From my early boyhood [my father] conceived that he would send me to West Point [Military Academy] for army service,” Longstreet remembered. “But in my twelfth year he passed away [from cholera].” Longstreet’s mother then moved her family to northern Alabama. A few years later, one of Longstreet’s relatives helped him gain admittance to West Point.

West Point and Mexico Longstreet entered West Point in 1838. He struggled in some of his classes, but his athletic abilities and his outgoing personality helped him to get by. Longstreet’s many friends from this period of his life included Ulysses S. Grant 1822–1885; see entry), a boy from Ohio who would later take command of the Union Army during the Civil War. After graduating from the academy in 1842, Longstreet entered the U.S. Army. He was first stationed to a military outpost in St. Louis, Missouri. During Longstreet’s stay in St. Louis he met Louise Garland, the daughter of his regimental commander. The two became close, and in March 1848 Longstreet and Garland married. They eventually had ten children, but only five of them survived to adulthood. Longstreet’s first battlefield experiences came during the Mexican War, a conflict between Mexico and the United States that lasted from 1846 to 1848. This war came about when the United States became interested in acquiring significant sections of Mexican territory in order to expand its own land holdings. In 1845, America annexed (added) Texas to the Union and tried to negotiate the purchase of California and New Mexico from Mexico. But Mexico regarded Texas as one of its own provinces, and it refused to give up California and New Mexico. America’s determination to take possession of these lands did not diminish, however, and the two countries ended up going to war over the territories. 286


Longstreet first served in the Mexican War under General Zachary Taylor (1784–1850) as part of the U.S. Eighth Infantry. His steady performance during the first year of the conflict brought him considerable attention, and he began to rise through the ranks. In early 1847, the Eighth Infantry joined an offensive led by General Winfield Scott (1786–1866; see entry) into the heart of Mexico. Scott’s campaign included a successful assault on the Mexican fortress of Chapultepec. During this attack, Longstreet carried the flag of the Eighth Infantry over the fortress walls, only to be shot in the leg. He quickly turned and handed the flag to a fellow soldier named George Pickett (1825–1875), who waved the flag in triumph as he charged into the fort. Longstreet’s bravery during the storming of Chapultepec further added to his growing reputation. As Scott’s campaign unfolded, American forces captured most of Mexico’s major cities, including the capital of Mexico City. The offensive broke Mexico’s ability to resist the American push to expand its territory. When a treaty ending the war was signed in early 1848, Mexico ceded (gave up) two-fifths of its territory to the United States in exchange for $15 million.

Joins the Confederate Army Longstreet continued to serve in the U.S. Army in the 1850s. But his years of military service under the American flag came to an end on June 1, 1861, when he joined the newly formed army of the Confederate States of America. The Confederate States of America was composed of eleven Southern states which seceded from (left) the United States in late 1860 and early 1861. The root causes of this wave of secession were bitter disagreements between the nation’s Southern and Northern regions over the issues of slavery, states’ rights, and Federal authority. Many Northerners believed that slavery was wrong and wanted to abolish (eliminate) it. In addition, they argued that the Federal government had the authority to pass laws that applied to all citizens of the United States. But much of the South’s economy and culture had been built on the slave system, and Southerners resented Northern efforts James Longstreet

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Naming Civil War Battles Many famous Civil War battles are actually known by two different names, because the North and the South used different ways to name the engagements. The Union Army, for example, usually named battles for nearby creeks or rivers, while the Confederate forces often named battles for nearby towns. As a result, some battles came to be known by two different names: Union Name for Battle

Confederate Name for Battle

Stones River Antietam Bull Run Fair Oaks

Murfreesboro Sharpsburg Manassas Seven Pines

This system was also used by the two sides to name their armies. For example, the Union used river names like the Potomac and the James as names for their forces. The Confederacy, meanwhile, named armies based on the geographic region in which they operated (Army of Northern Virginia, Army of Tennessee, Army of Mississippi, etc.)

to halt or contain the practice. In addition, they argued that the Federal government did not have the constitutional power to institute national laws on slavery or other issues. White Southerners argued that each state should decide for itself whether to allow slavery. In early 1861, these differences broke out into open war, as the South declared its independence, and the North vowed to use force to keep the country together.

Lee’s “old war horse” After joining the Confederate Army, Longstreet quickly established himself as an able officer and a tough fighter. Assigned to the South’s Army of Northern Virginia, he was immediately promoted to brigadier general because of his West Point background and service in the Mexican War. In January 1862, however, Longstreet’s concentration on military duties was shattered when three of his children died from scarlet fever. According to some historians, Longstreet never fully recovered from this loss.

Despite his personal problems, Longstreet distinguished himself during the first two years of the war. Emerging as one of General Robert E. Lee’s most trusted officers, Longstreet helped secure Confederate triumphs in several major battles, including the First Battle of Bull Run (July 1861), the Seven Days’ Campaign (June 1862), the Second Battle of Bull Run (August 1862), and the Battle of Fredericksburg (December 1862). Of course, not every battle went in favor of the South. But even in engagements like the bloody Battle of Antietam (September 1862), in which the North clawed out a narrow victory in western Maryland, Longstreet’s troops displayed great spirit. 288


Longstreet’s divisions filled vital roles in many of these clashes. In some battles, they led offensive charges that sparked rebel (Confederate) victory. In others, Longstreet used his knowledge of military tactics (movement of troops and ships) and strategy to erect strong defensive positions that were difficult for Union forces to penetrate. But whatever the assignment, Longstreet’s troops seemed to do a good job of it. As Longstreet’s reputation for steady battlefield performance increased, Lee began referring to him admiringly as “my old war horse.”

The Battle of Gettysburg During the summer of 1863, Lee decided to follow up a smashing May victory at Chancellorsville, Virginia, with an invasion of the North. The Confederate general hoped that by bringing the war into the Northern states, he could capture badly needed provisions (food and supplies) and create a surge of antiwar sentiment in the North. Lee knew that President Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865; see entry) would not be able to continue the war against the South if he did not have the support of the Northern people. Lee moved his Army of Northern Virginia into Pennsylvania. His army of seventy-five thousand troops was a dangerous one. But the extended absence of Lee’s cavalry on a raid made it hard for him to obtain accurate information about enemy troop movements. As a result, the Confederate force nearly walked right into the Union’s Army of the Potomac, a ninety thousand–man force led by General George Meade (1815–1872; see entry). On July 1, the two armies finally came together in the vicinity of a village called Gettysburg. Neither side gained a big advantage during the afternoon. Instead, leaders of both armies maneuvered for the best possible strategic position. When the day’s fighting was over, Lee gathered Longstreet and his other officers together to discuss their next move. Longstreet believed that the Union Army had managed to secure superior positions. Concerned that the rebels would be unable to push the Yankees (Northerners) from those positions, he urged Lee to leave the area and establish a strong defensive position elsewhere. “[Longstreet] reasoned that beJames Longstreet

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cause a Confederate army was in Union territory, Meade . . . would be forced by political pressures to take the offensive to drive the enemy out of Pennsylvania,” stated historian James M. McPherson in Civil War Journal. “So he recommended to Lee that they find a strong position, wait for the inevitable [unavoidable] Union attack, and then break it to pieces.” But Lee was confident that his army could win, and he disregarded Longstreet’s advice. When it became clear that Lee intended to order a large-scale offensive on the Union defensive positions, Longstreet sulked and muttered his doubts about the plan to other officers. On the following day, Lee ordered his troops forward in a large-scale assault on the Yankee enemy. Longstreet’s performance during this attack has been a source of bitter debate ever since. Some historians contend that Longstreet was so mad at Lee that he deliberately did a poor job of leading his troops. But other historians believe that while Longstreet strongly disagreed with Lee’s strategy, he did his best to fulfill his commander’s wishes. In any event, Lee’s frontal assault of July 2 failed. But after retreating for the evening, Lee decided to attempt another offensive against the Union defenses the following day. Targeting a center of Union defenses called Cemetery Ridge, he told Longstreet to prepare his troops to lead the assault the next morning. On the morning of July 3, Longstreet once again expressed deep reservations about Lee’s plan. Noting that the open terrain in front of Cemetery Ridge offered no protection for his soldiers, he flatly predicted catastrophe. But when Lee refused to change his mind, Longstreet prepared his men for the assault. “Never was I so depressed as upon that day,” he later wrote. “I thought that my men were to be sacrificed and that I should have to order them to make a hopeless charge.” As Longstreet had predicted, the attack on Cemetery Ridge ended in disaster for the Confederates. Led by a division of soldiers under the command of George Pickett— Longstreet’s old comrade from the Mexican War— Longstreet’s corps (a military division) made a heroic but doomed effort to break through the Union defenses. The Union cannons and rifles lined up along Cemetery Ridge cut 290


A military bridge near Knoxville, Tennessee. James Longstreet’s attempt to overtake Union-occupied Knoxville failed. (Photograph by George N. Barnard. Courtesy of the Library of Congress.)

the advancing rebel force to pieces and brought Lee’s dreams of Northern invasion to an end. “That day at Gettysburg was one of the saddest of my life,” Longstreet later said.

Longstreet moves West The failure of “Pickett’s Charge,” as the July 3 attack came to be known, forced Lee to retreat back to Virginia with the battered remains of his army. Two months later Longstreet was transferred out of the Army of Northern Virginia at his own request. He joined the Army of Tennessee, commanded by General Braxton Bragg (1817–1876; see entry). At first, the switch to the war’s western theater (the region of the South between the Mississippi River and the Appalachian Mountains) seemed to rekindle Longstreet’s spirits. For example, in September 1863, he helped Bragg gain a decisive victory over Union troops in northern Georgia at the BatJames Longstreet

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tle of Chickamauga. But Longstreet became infuriated when Bragg fumbled away a chance to crush the remainder of the enemy army. After that, Longstreet engaged in bitter quarrels with several subordinate (lower ranked) officers and launched a siege of Union-occupied Knoxville, Tennessee, that ended in complete failure.

Rejoining General Lee After the failed siege of Knoxville, Longstreet became so depressed that he asked to be relieved of command. The Confederate Army refused to accept his resignation, but it did send Longstreet and his troops back to Virginia, where they were reunited with Lee. In May 1864, Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia faced Ulysses S. Grant’s Army of the Potomac in the bloody Wilderness campaign. During the course of this violent struggle, Longstreet was accidently shot in the throat by his own troops. He eventually recovered from the wound, but by the time he returned to active service, the Civil War was in its final stages. He helped defend Petersburg and Richmond from the advancing Union armies during the spring of 1865, but the Confederate resistance became hopeless. In April 1865, he accompanied Lee when he surrendered at Appomattox, Virginia.

Loved and hated in the South After the war, Longstreet became a successful New Orleans insurance and cotton broker. But while some Southerners continued to honor him for his wartime efforts, his popularity in the region dropped dramatically when he allied himself with the Republican political party, which had led the fights to end slavery and preserve the Union. Ignoring his critics, Longstreet served in a variety of federal Republican administrations until his death in 1904. Longstreet also became very unpopular in some quarters because of his postwar criticism of Lee. General Lee was beloved all across the South, and no one liked to hear him criticized. When Longstreet dared to complain about 292


Lee’s decisions at Gettysburg, Southerners instead blamed him for the loss. Debates about Longstreet’s performance at Gettysburg continue today. Some historians are among his strongest critics. For example, Steven E. Woodworth wrote in Jefferson Davis and His Generals that “At Gettysburg . . . Longstreet demonstrated that he could be anything but reliable and more than a little childish when the plan chosen by his commander did not meet with his approval.” Other historians, however, believe that Longstreet was one of the South’s strongest corps commanders, and that he has been treated unfairly. “Corps commander James Longstreet made three mistakes that have denied him his deserved place in Southern posterity,” commented Stewart Sifakis in Who Was Who in Civil War History. “He argued with Lee at Gettysburg, he was right, and he became a Republican.”

Where to Learn More DiNardo, R. L., and Albert A. Nofi, eds. James Longstreet: The Man, the Soldier, the Controversy. Conshohocken, PA: Combined Pub., 1998. Eckenrode, H. J., and Bryan Conrad. James Longstreet: Lee’s War Horse. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina, 1936. Reprint, 1986. Hallock, Judith Lee. General James Longstreet in the West: A Monumental Failure. Fort Worth, TX: Ryan Place, 1995. The Longstreet Chronicles. [Online] http://www.chickasaw.com/~rainbow/ (accessed on October 15, 1999). Longstreet, James. From Manassas to Appomattox: Memoirs of the Civil War in America. Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1896. Reprint, New York: Da Capo Press, 1992. Piston, William Garrett. Lee’s Tarnished Lieutenant: James Longstreet and His Place in Southern History. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1987. Wert, Jeffry D. General James Longstreet: The Confederacy’s Most Controversial Soldier—A Biography. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1993.

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Thaddeus Lowe Born August 20, 1832 Jefferson Mills, New Hampshire Died January 16, 1913 Pasadena, California Balloonist for Union Army Conducted military reconnaissance for Union forces during Civil War

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haddeus Lowe developed and supervised a fleet of manned balloons that provided valuable information to Union forces on enemy troop positions and movements. Lowe’s balloons thus became the first aviation aircraft used in American military history. The U.S. government never really appreciated the value of Lowe’s Balloon Corps, however. By mid-1863, administrative errors and general lack of support brought Lowe’s balloon operations to an end.

“[I] would lie in a field or sit astride a picket fence, gazing for hours at the great white clouds hanging like banners or floating slowly across the skies.”

Difficult childhood fosters independent spirit Thaddeus Soieski Constantine Lowe was born in Coos County, New Hampshire, on August 20, 1832, to a family whose ancestors had fought in the Revolutionary War (1776–83). His parents, Clovis and Alpha Lowe, had four other children in addition to Thaddeus. By the time he was ten years old they decided that they could no longer provide for all of them. They arranged to hire Thaddeus out to a neighboring farmer who agreed to provide him with food, shelter, and adult guidance in exchange for work. Saddened

Thaddeus Lowe in one of his balloons. (Courtesy of the Library of Congress.) 295

at the idea of separation from his parents and siblings, Lowe reluctantly went off to live with his new guardians. Lowe was treated poorly by the farmer and his wife. They were harsh disciplinarians who behaved as if he were their personal servant. They refused his requests for books to read and made little effort to provide for his education. Lowe, though, was very curious about the world around him. He borrowed books whenever he was able, and spent long hours exploring the neighboring countryside. Years later, Lowe recalled that he loved to look up into the sky during these excursions. “[I] would lie in a field or sit astride a picket fence, gazing for hours at the great white clouds hanging like banners or floating slowly across the skies,” he said. Lowe’s early interest in the sky and its mysterious properties eventually grew into a deep fascination with ballooning and aerial navigation. By the time that Lowe was eleven years old, he had become so unhappy on the farm that he decided to run away. He chose the Fourth of July as his day of departure because of its status as a symbol of independence. He set out alone into the world with a small bag of belongings and eleven cents. He spent the next several years in small farming communities and Portland, Maine, before moving to Boston, Massachusetts. Lowe spent his teenage years working at a variety of odd jobs in order to feed and clothe himself. But even though he had to devote a great deal of his time and energy to these jobs, he worked hard to increase his knowledge of chemistry and other subjects. His interest in the skies also remained strong, and he began using kites and balloons to conduct various experiments in aeronautics (the study of aircraft navigation).

Passion for flying By the mid-1850s, Lowe had gained enough education in chemistry and other fields of science to support himself as a lecturer on these subjects. He spent nearly all of his free time, however, trying to develop a reliable balloon that would allow him to explore the skies that had fascinated him for so long. People had been traveling through the air by balloon since 1783, when a Frenchman named Jean François de Rozi296


er flew over Paris. (De Rozier died a few months later during an attempted flight over a European waterway known as the English Channel.) By the 1850s, American John Wise and other balloonists—sometimes called aeronauts—had made repeated ascents up into the skies in manned balloons. But ballooning remained an expensive and dangerous occupation that few people dared to attempt. In February 1855, Lowe married Leontine Gachon, a Frenchwoman who encouraged his study of aeronautics. They settled in New England, where Lowe earned enough money to buy a balloon. In 1856, Lowe ascended in his balloon for the first time. His first ride was a “captive” ascent— one in which the balloon rises but is connected to the ground by a system of ropes. Within a short period of time, however, Lowe was making “free” ascents. He could then roam wherever he wished because no ropes kept the vessel tethered to the ground. “More ascensions followed as Lowe perfected his ballooning techniques, and he learned to make free ballooning flights across country,” wrote Eugene B. Block in Above the Civil War. “He loved the silence in the air, the apparent stillness while the balloon, borne by the wind, moved effortlessly far above the surface of the earth.” By 1858, Lowe was constructing his own balloons and making flights of ever greater distance. In 1859, he constructed a huge balloon called the City of New York. He dreamed of flying that balloon across the Atlantic Ocean to Europe. But two attempts to make this voyage ended in failure because his airship had problems retaining enough gas to stay inflated.

Lowe’s most famous flight In early 1861, Lowe abandoned his efforts to cross the Atlantic in favor of a flight across America’s heartland. He and several other leading scientists believed that this flight would prove their theory that an eastward flowing air stream existed in the upper levels of the atmosphere, and that this air stream could someday be used to float across the ocean to Europe. Early in the morning of April 20, 1861, Lowe launched his bold experiment. Departing from Cincinnati, Ohio, he rose skyward until he was almost three miles above the earth. Just as he and his fellow scientists expected, he enThaddeus Lowe

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Thaddeus Lowe sets up balloon gas generators near the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. (Reproduced by permission of Corbis.)

tered into a powerful air stream that carried him steadily eastward. His exhilarating voyage carried him over the Allegheny Mountains at altitudes that sometimes exceeded four and a half miles above the earth’s surface. He finally landed outside Unionville, South Carolina, nine hours later, only to be taken into custody as a Union spy. Lowe, as it turned out, had launched his flight in the opening days of the American Civil War. This conflict between the nation’s Southern and Northern states began in April 1861. The two sides had become extremely angry with one another over the years, especially over the issue of slavery. Many Northerners believed that slavery was immoral. Some people wanted to outlaw it, while others wanted the Federal government to stop it from spreading beyond the Southern states where it was already allowed. But slavery played a big role in the Southern economy and culture, and white Southerners felt threatened by Northern efforts to

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contain slavery. They believed that each state should decide for itself whether to allow slavery. They did not want the national government to pass laws that would interfere with their traditional way of life. The two sides finally went to war in the spring of 1861 when the Southern states tried to secede from (leave) the United States and form a new country that allowed slavery, called the Confederate States of America. When Lowe first landed in South Carolina, he worried that he might be thrown into prison or even executed. The local townspeople who watched him land had never seen anything like his balloon before, and they viewed its “Yankee” (Northerner) owner with suspicion and alarm. They grew even more doubtful of his truthfulness when he insisted that he had flown all the way from Cincinnati, more than nine hundred miles away. But Lowe finally convinced them of his honesty when he pulled out a Cincinnati newspaper that explained the details of his flight. The Southern authorities promptly released him and his balloon. But when he returned North, he made his way to Washington, D.C., to volunteer his balloon expertise to the Union cause.

Balloonist for the Union Within a few weeks of his arrival in Washington, Lowe was granted an audience with President Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865; see entry). During his meeting with the president, Lowe explained his belief that balloons could be used by the Union Army as a valuable tool in tracking Confederate positions and troop movements. After all, they could rise to heights that would allow passengers to peer onto the other side of forests and hills and mountains, where Confederate camps and armies might be lurking. Lowe noted that this information would greatly help Union generals in devising their military strategies. Lincoln was intrigued by Lowe’s presentation. A few days later, Lowe further demonstrated the value of his balloons by sending a telegraphic message to the ground from a height of five hundred feet. This demonstration impressed Lincoln so much that he assigned the civilian (non-military) balloonist to the Army of the Potomac and named him chief of army aeroThaddeus Lowe

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nautics. Lowe remained a civilian, but he received an army salary that was equivalent to that earned by a colonel. Over the next two years, Lowe provided valuable assistance to Union forces. He developed a fleet of seven balloons, each of which was capable of taking army officers thousands of feet above the ground. From these high vantage points, Union observers were able to develop accurate maps, determine effective transportation routes, and scout possible campsites. Best of all, Lowe’s small but effective Balloon Corps enabled Union officers to observe Confederate activities. Union artillery officers, for example, sometimes used the balloons to help them determine where to aim their cannons in the middle of battles. The balloons also allowed the Union to track enemy movements and see where rebel (Confederate) armies were camped. In fact, it was not unusual for observers in Lowe’s balloons to detect smoke from enemy camps at distances of twenty-five miles or more. Not surprisingly, Lowe’s balloons became a prime target for Confederate gunfire and artillery shells. The rebels knew that the balloons were used by the Union to gather military information. With the balloons in use, the Confederates had a difficult time launching surprise attacks and keeping the size of their armies secret. Confederate forces subsequently fired on Lowe and other members of his Balloon Corps whenever they could in hopes of bringing one of the airships down. This desire to shoot Lowe down led one historian to call the balloonist “the most shot-at man in the war.”

Lack of support causes frustration As the war progressed, Lowe and his fleet of balloons gained many admirers in the Union Army. Army of the Potomac commander George B. McClellan (1826–1885; see entry) and his cavalry commander George Stoneman (1822–1894) became particularly vocal supporters of Lowe. They praised the usefulness of the balloons in their reports and urged the Federal government to increase its financial support for Lowe’s corps. Despite these expressions of support, though, Lowe experienced great frustration during his service to the Army of the Potomac. His Balloon Corps received little financial or 300


Longstreet’s View of Lowe’s Balloon Corps Many Confederate soldiers and officers admitted that they were very relieved when Lowe’s Balloon Corps disbanded in 1863. Years after the Civil War concluded, the famous Confederate general James Longstreet (1821–1904; see entry) wrote Thaddeus Lowe a letter in which he expressed admiration for Lowe’s ballooning exploits. He also talked about the South’s failed effort to launch a balloon of its own: I was . . . in the woods May 2, 1862, when I saw your balloon about to rise. Then commenced [began] a heavy cannonading from the Confederate works [artillery]. Shots went over our heads, tearing six branches from the trees. The balloon rose, and the firing was soon directed at this air target, shot after shot, shells exploding way up, and occasionally the sharp crack of a rifle would be heard when our sharpshooters took a chance shot—and it kept up for half a day. No damage was done, except slaughter of five old trees and great holes in the ground where the solid shot struck. At all times we were fully aware that you Federals [Union forces] were

using balloons to examine our positions and we watched with envious eyes their beautiful observations as they floated high in the air, well out of range of our guns. While we were longing for balloons that poverty denied us, a genius arose and suggested that we send out and get every silk dress in the Confederacy and make a balloon. It was done and soon we had a great patchwork ship of many and various hues [colors] which was ready for use in the Seven Days’ campaign [a battle in Virginia that lasted from June 25 to July 1, 1862]. We had no gas [for the balloon] except in Richmond and it was the custom to inflate the balloon there, tie it securely to an engine, and run it down the York River Railroad to any point at which we desired to send it up. One day it was on a steamer down the James River when the tide went out and left the vessel and the balloon high and dry on a bar [sandbar]. The Federals gathered it in, and with it the last silk dress in the Confederacy. This capture was the meanest trick of the war and one I have never yet forgiven.

administrative support from the U.S. War Department. In addition, many Union officers stubbornly refused to consider using the balloons, even though their effectiveness had been proven. Instead, they relied on cavalry and other traditional scouting methods with which they were familiar. Finally, Lowe’s repeated requests to be given a military commission (an officer ranking in the army) were ignored. The army’s refusal to grant Lowe a military commission infuriated him. After all, he and his fellow balloonists Thaddeus Lowe

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had braved enemy cannonfire and stormy weather for almost two years in order to provide the Union Army with valuable reconnaissance information. This disappointment, along with continued bureaucratic interference, finally convinced Lowe to resign his position in May 1863. Lowe’s Balloon Corps remained in operation a few months longer, but it quickly fell apart without its leader. The Corps formally disbanded (broke up) on August 1, 1863, marking an end to aerial scouting activity in the war. Lowe’s resignation did not attract that much attention in the North. But several officers and scientists who had witnessed his exploits (bold deeds) sent him letters expressing their appreciation for his efforts on behalf of the Union. Major General George Stoneman, for example, offered heartfelt words of thanks to the balloonist for his service: “I beg to testify to you in writing, as I often have in words, my appreciation of the valuable services you have rendered the government during your connection with the Army of the Potomac. . . . I have been up in [your balloons] often and never made an ascent without coming down much better informed in regard to everything in my vicinity than I could possibly have been by other means. Valuable as your balloons have been, I feel satisfied that you would have made them still more so had you been encouraged by having more facilities [resources] extended to you.”

Inventor and businessman After the war, Lowe became a noted inventor and entrepreneur. He devised a new process for manufacturing artificial ice in 1866, and in 1873 he developed a manufacturing process that greatly improved the use of gaslight illumination. He also introduced new processes in the steelmaking industry and financed the construction of an observatory and an electric railway in California. In the late 1890s, however, Lowe experienced financial difficulties that dogged him for the rest of his life. He died in California in 1913.

Where to Learn More Block, Eugene B. Above the Civil War: The Story of Thaddeus Lowe, Balloonist, Inventor, Railroad Builder. Berkeley, CA: Howell-North Books, 1966. 302


Hoehling, Mary. Thaddeus Lowe: America’s One-Man Air Corps. New York: Messner, 1958. Karr, Kathleen. Spy in the Sky. New York: Hyperion Books for Children, 1997. Sims, Lydel. Thaddeus Lowe: Uncle Sam’s First Airman. New York: Putnam, 1964.

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George B. McClellan Born December 3, 1826 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Died October 29, 1885 Orange, New Jersey Union general known as “the young Napoleon” Commander of the Army of the Potomac in 1861–62 Democratic nominee for the presidency in 1864

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eorge B. McClellan was one of the top Union military leaders during the early years of the Civil War. He took command of the Army of the Potomac in July 1861—following the Union’s humiliating defeat at the First Battle of Bull Run—and soon proved to be a great organizer and motivator of troops. When it came time to lead his forces into battle, however, McClellan became slow and indecisive. His shortcomings as a battlefield leader may have prevented the Union from capturing the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia, during the Peninsula Campaign of spring 1862. In September of that year, his extreme caution allowed Confederate forces under Robert E. Lee (1807–1870; see entry) to escape after the Battle of Antietam in Maryland. McClellan was very popular with his troops, but his failures and his arrogance strained his relationship with Union political leaders. President Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865; see entry) finally removed him from command in November 1862.

“McClellan was capable and skilled in creating an army, but he had too much of a mother’s instinct in him, too much of the protective instinct.” From Civil War Journal: The Leaders

George B. McClellan (Courtesy of the Library of Congress.) 305

A high-achieving young man George Brinton McClellan was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on December 3, 1826. He was the third of five children born to George McClellan, a doctor and founder of a medical school, and his wife, Elizabeth Brinton McClellan. Both of his parents belonged to old and distinguished Philadelphia families. As a result, McClellan had many advantages growing up. He attended a top preparatory school as a boy, then enrolled in the University of Pennsylvania at the age of thirteen. In 1842, he received an appointment to attend the prestigious U.S. Military Academy at West Point in New York. At fifteen, McClellan was actually too young to become a cadet at West Point, but the school made an exception to its age rule for him. He had a brilliant career as a cadet (military student) and graduated second in his class in 1846. After leaving West Point, McClellan joined the U.S. Army as an engineering officer. He served in the Mexican War (1846–48; a dispute between the United States and Mexico over large sections of territory in the West) and won two awards for distinguished service. After the United States forced Mexico to give up its claims on California and other areas in 1848, McClellan remained in the military and built forts, harbors, and railroads. He also became an instructor at West Point for three years. In the mid-1850s, McClellan traveled to Europe to study the latest military advancements. This was an important assignment for the young officer. Upon his return, he designed a new saddle for military use and introduced the pup tent to American forces. In 1857, McClellan resigned from the army to become an engineer in the rapidly growing railroad industry. By 1860, he had become president of the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad. He also married Ellen Marcy that year. They eventually had a son and a daughter together.

Rejoins the military at the start of the Civil War McClellan’s work in the railroad industry made him a wealthy man. But he remained interested in military matters, especially as ongoing disputes between the Northern and Southern sections of the country threatened to erupt into war. The main issue dividing the two regions was slavery. Growing numbers of Northerners believed that slavery was 306


wrong. Some people wanted to outlaw it, while others wanted to prevent it from spreading beyond the Southern states where it was already allowed. But slavery played an important role in the South’s economy and culture. As a result, many Southerners felt threatened by Northern efforts to contain slavery. They believed that each state should decide for itself whether to allow the practice. They did not want the national government to pass laws that would interfere with their traditional way of life. America’s westward expansion further increased the tension between the North and South. Both sides wanted to spread their political views and way of life into the new states and territories. By 1861, the situation convinced a group of Southern states to secede (withdraw) from the United States and form a new country that allowed slavery, called the Confederate States of America. But Northern political leaders would not let the Southern states leave the Union without a fight. The Civil War began a short time later.

George McClellan and his wife, Ellen. (Courtesy of the Library of Congress.)

McClellan lived in Cincinnati, Ohio, when the war started. As the Northern states began to raise armies for the conflict, the governor of Ohio asked McClellan to take command of that state’s volunteer forces. Even though his main army service had been as an engineer, McClellan eagerly accepted the rank of major general in the Ohio Volunteers. His forces fought in some of the earliest clashes of the Civil War. They entered western Virginia—a region that remained sympathetic to the Union despite Virginia’s decision to secede— in July 1861. Their successful offensive (attack) chased most Confederate troops out of the area and cleared the way for Union supporters to separate from Virginia and establish their own state, known as West Virginia. McClellan took a great deal of credit for this early Northern success. He soon came to national attention as the Union’s first war hero. George B. McClellan

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Commands the Union’s Army of the Potomac While McClellan was running Confederate forces out of western Virginia, the main Union Army was suffering an embarrassing defeat in July 1861 at the First Battle of Bull Run (also known as the First Battle of Manassas) in the eastern part of the state. Poorly prepared and terribly disorganized, the Army of the Potomac ended up making a panicked retreat back to Washington, D.C. President Abraham Lincoln reacted to the defeat by naming McClellan commander of the Army of the Potomac. At the age of thirty-four, McClellan took control of the North’s largest army. He became the second-highest ranking officer in the American military. The only soldier who outranked him was General Winfield Scott (1786–1866; see entry), the commander of all U.S. armed forces. Within a short time, McClellan proved himself to be a great organizer and trainer of troops. He used tough training schedules and strict discipline to improve the army’s preparation and confidence. He made sure his men had the best arms and equipment, were well fed, and got paid on time. He also mingled with the troops and showed that he cared about them, which helped raise their morale. Over time, McClellan turned the inexperienced and demoralized Army of the Potomac into a strong fighting force. Thanks to the general’s personal style of leadership, the soldiers in the ranks almost worshiped him. In fact, he was more popular among his men than any other Civil War general. Unfortunately, McClellan was not as popular among Northern political leaders. He tended to be arrogant and boastful, and he resented having civilian (non-military) officials tell him what to do. As a result, he clashed with President Lincoln, Secretary of War Edwin Stanton (1814–1869), and General Scott on many occasions. In fact, he actively worked against Scott and ended up forcing the elderly general to retire in November 1861. McClellan then took his place as general-in-chief of all the Union armies. By this time, Northern newspapers were calling McClellan the “Young Napoleon,” after the famous French military leader and emperor Napoléon Bonaparte (1769–1821). Once McClellan had trained and supplied his troops, Northern political leaders expected him to launch an offensive strike against the Confederates in Virginia. But McClellan 308


continually found excuses to delay the attack. “So soon as I feel that my army is well organized and well disciplined and strong enough, I will advance and force the Rebels [Confederates] to a battle on a field of my own selection,” he stated. “A long time must elapse before I can do that.” Part of the problem was that McClellan consistently overestimated the size and strength of the opposing forces. He became convinced that the Confederate Army waiting for him in Virginia consisted of 250,000 men, when in fact it was more like sixty thousand. By November 1861, he decided that he should wait for the end of winter before moving against the enemy. In December, he became ill with typhoid fever, which led to another delay of several weeks. But the main reason behind McClellan’s extreme caution and indecision was that he was unwilling to commit troops to battle unless he was guaranteed of success. “McClellan was capable and skilled in creating an army, but he had too much of a mother’s instinct in him, too much of the protective instinct,” according to William C. Davis, Brian C. Pohanka, and Don Troiani in Civil War Journal: The Leaders. “He was creating an army, and he wanted that army to be as good as any that had ever taken a battlefield, but at the same time he wanted no harm to come to it.”

The Peninsula Campaign Lincoln finally forced McClellan into action. In January 1862, the president released General War Order No. 1, which called for a Union offensive into Virginia to begin by February 22. When the Army of the Potomac remained in Washington past that date, Lincoln punished McClellan for his inaction by stripping him of his title as general-in-chief over all Union forces. McClellan, who remained in charge of the Army of the Potomac, finally began his ambitious Peninsula Campaign in mid-March. Rather than marching through northern Virginia, he transported about one hundred thousand troops by boat to the Virginia coast. His army then marched inland up the peninsula toward the Confederate capital of Richmond. At first, it appeared that McClellan’s plan would be successful. The Union forces met with little resistance and George B. McClellan

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Allan Pinkerton— The Detective Who Convinced McClellan He Was Outnumbered One of the main reasons Union general George B. McClellan was so reluctant to move against the Confederate Army was that he always believed he was outnumbered. For example, McClellan delayed the start of his Peninsula Campaign for six months because he thought there were 250,000 Confederate troops waiting for him in Virginia. But the real number of enemy forces was more like sixty thousand. The man who provided McClellan with these inflated estimates of Confederate troop strength was Allen Pinkerton, one of the best-known detectives of his day. Pinkerton was born in 1819 in Glasgow, Scotland. He grew up in the city’s slums and eventually became involved in protests against conditions there. After a clash with police in 1841, Pinkerton smuggled himself aboard a boat heading across the Atlantic Ocean to Nova Scotia, Canada. He eventually moved to the United States and settled in Chicago, Illinois. During his early years in Chicago, Pinkerton worked as a barrel maker. One time, his work led him directly to a band of counterfeiters (people who illegally produce and use fake money). He gave the police information about the band that led to their arrest. Soon afterward, Chicago mer-

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chants began hiring Pinkerton to help them track down other criminals. In 1850, Pinkerton founded the Pinkerton National Detective Agency. It eventually became the nation’s largest private investigation firm. During the early years, his agency specialized in providing security for the rapidly growing railroad industry. In the late 1850s, he worked closely with McClellan, who was the vice president of an Illinois railroad company at that time. In November 1860, Abraham Lincoln was elected as the new president of the United States. He was scheduled to travel from Illinois to Washington, D.C., to be inaugurated (sworn in) in early 1861. Pinkerton’s detectives learned of a plan to assassinate Lincoln as he made his way to Washington. Pinkerton spoiled the plan by changing the president’s transportation plans at the last minute. When the Civil War began a short time later, McClellan took command of volunteer forces in western Virginia. He asked Pinkerton to join his staff and provide military intelligence (information about the enemy) to assist in his war efforts. Before long, some of Pinkerton’s best detectives were moving behind Confederate lines in the South and collecting secrets to help the


McClellan could expect to encounter in any given area. Pinkerton came up with a formula to help him determine enemy troop strength. Unfortunately, his assumptions were so far off that his estimates consistently turned out to be wrong. In fact, Pinkerton provided wildly inflated numbers that were often double or triple the actual figures. “Each step in Pinkerton’s collection of this military intelligence was marked by error, adding up finally to colossal [gigantic] error,” Stephen W. Sears explained in George B. McClellan: The Young Napoleon. Allan Pinkerton. (Reproduced by permission of Archive Photos, Inc.)

Union. Pinkerton also spent a great deal of time interviewing prisoners, refugees, and fugitive slaves who crossed into Union territory to find out what they knew about the enemy. He regularly produced long, detailed reports about conditions in the Confederate Army. Pinkerton remained with McClellan as the young officer took command of the Army of the Potomac and then of all the Union forces. By this time, the famous detective’s most important job involved estimating the number of Confederate troops

Nevertheless, McClellan believed Pinkerton’s estimates without question. “McClellan accepted these reports with no more critical analysis than went into their making,” Sears noted. “They were, after all, exactly what he expected: confirmation of his own conclusions.” Due in part to Pinkerton, McClellan was extremely hesitant to move his army against the Confederates. His slowness prevented the Union from claiming major victories on two occasions, and forced Lincoln to remove McClellan from command in November 1862. Pinkerton quit working for the military at this time as well. He continued his detective agency after the war and died in 1884.

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claimed victory in several minor battles as they moved toward Richmond. But then McClellan was tricked into thinking that the Confederates had established a major defensive position in Yorktown. He spent a month setting up a siege (a blockade intended to prevent delivery of food and supplies) of the town, only to have the small enemy force leave before he attacked. The delay enabled Confederate general Joseph E. Johnston (1807–1891; see entry) to prepare his troops for the defense of Richmond.

In early fall of 1862, President Abraham Lincoln visited George McClellan and his troops at Antietam. Here, Lincoln speaks with McClellan’s intelligence expert, Allan Pinkerton (left) and Major General John A. McClernand. (Courtesy of the Library of Congress.)

McClellan pushed past Yorktown in early May, but his army continued to move slowly. The longawaited clash between McClellan’s and Johnston’s armies finally took place on May 31 at Fair Oaks, only six miles from Richmond. Although the fighting ended in a virtual draw, it resulted in a change in Confederate leadership. Johnston suffered a serious wound in the battle, and Robert E. Lee took his place. Lee soon proved that he was more cunning and aggressive than Johnston. On June 25, he led a force of seventy thousand Confederate troops against McClellan. The two sides engaged in a series of fierce battles across the Virginia peninsula over the next week. These clashes, which came to be known as the Seven Days’ Battles, convinced McClellan to abandon his offensive. Some historians claim that McClellan could have captured Richmond and ended the Civil War three years earlier if he had acted more quickly and decisively. For his part, McClellan blamed Lincoln and the war department for his defeat. He claimed that they did not provide him with the reinforcements and supplies that he needed to win. “The president is an idiot!” he declared. “I only wish to save my country and find the incapables around me will not permit it.” By August 1862, Lincoln decided that he had endured enough of McClellan’s indecision and disrespect. He placed the Army of the Potomac under the com-

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mand of Major General John Pope (1822–1892), who had already commanded the Federal Army of Virginia, and ordered them to return to Washington. But before McClellan’s troops could get back from the Virginia peninsula, Confederate forces attacked Pope’s army in northern Virginia. This contest, known as the Second Battle of Bull Run, resulted in another costly defeat for the Union.

Replaced as commander following the Battle of Antietam As the losses continued to mount for the Union Army, many Northerners became concerned that the Confederates might win the war. President Lincoln knew that the lack of success in battle had left Union soldiers feeling fearful and discouraged. Recognizing the intense loyalty the troops felt toward McClellan, Lincoln made the difficult decision to return him to command of the Army of the Potomac. Once again, the young general turned the army around, improving the men’s discipline and morale. In the meantime, Confederate general Robert E. Lee decided to take advantage of his recent victories to invade the North. He believed that if the Confederate Army proved that it was capable of seizing control of Northern territory, Lincoln might be forced to negotiate an end to the war. Lee led fiftytwo thousand troops across the Potomac River into Maryland in early September. A few days later, McClellan left Washington with seventy-five thousand troops from the Army of the Potomac. On September 13, McClellan received an incredible stroke of good luck. One of his men found a copy of Lee’s orders to his army. The papers had been dropped by a careless Confederate officer. McClellan’s discovery of Lee’s orders spurred him to close on the Confederate Army more quickly. But many historians claim that he was still too slow to act. Although his army reached Antietam Creek in western Maryland on September 16, McClellan decided to wait until the following day to launch an attack. The delay allowed Confederate troops under General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson (1824–1863; see entry) to arrive and reinforce Lee’s position. On September 17, the two armies finally met in a vicious day-long battle George B. McClellan

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that killed or wounded more than twenty-three thousand Union and Confederate soldiers. This one-day casualty total marked the single bloodiest day in Civil War history. By September 19, Lee decided to retreat back to Virginia. But it took his men some time to cross the swollen Potomac River. Some historians claim that if McClellan had launched another attack, he could have destroyed the Southern army. But the Union general was shaken by the high casualties his troops had suffered. “This Army is not now in condition to undertake another campaign nor to bring on another battle,” he stated. “I am tired of the sickening sight of the battlefield with its mangled corpses and poor, suffering wounded. Victory has no charms for me when purchased at such a cost.” As a result, McClellan did not pursue Lee’s army when it retreated. He thus gave up another opportunity to bring an earlier end to the war. In November 1862, Lincoln relieved McClellan of his command for good. The young general had demonstrated great skills as an organizer and motivator. But when it came to leading troops into battle, he was a failure. “The tragedy of McClellan,” Davis, Pohanka, and Troiani wrote, “is that he failed to utilize his greatest strengths. His army would have done anything for him. . . . Yet he did not grant them that opportunity because it would mean that his beloved army would suffer.”

Runs for president in 1864 After being stripped of his command, McClellan returned home to Trenton, New Jersey, and waited for new orders. But no orders ever came. He continued to watch the war closely, however, and before long he decided that he might be able to affect the outcome through politics. In 1864, McClellan challenged Lincoln as the Democratic political party’s candidate for president. At first it appeared that he might be successful. But the Union Army claimed several important victories before the election that increased Northern support for Lincoln and the war effort. As a result, Lincoln returned to office by a comfortable margin. “For my country’s sake I deplore [regret] the result—but the people have decided with 314


their eyes wide open and I feel that a great weight is removed from my mind,” McClellan said afterward. Following his failed presidential bid, McClellan took his family to Europe for several years. Upon returning to the United States, he went back to work in engineering. In 1878, he was elected governor of New Jersey. During his three-year term in office, he improved the state’s schools and built up a state militia. By the 1880s, McClellan finally decided that he was ready to face his Civil War record. He began speaking to veterans’ groups and visiting battlefields during this time. He also wrote a memoir of his days with the Army of the Potomac called McClellan’s Own Story. He defended his actions in the book, but also admitted that he lacked the killer instinct required of great battlefield generals. McClellan died suddenly of heart failure in Orange, New Jersey, on October 29, 1885. Many of the soldiers who had fought under him attended his funeral.

Where to Learn More Davis, William C., Brian C. Pohanka, and Don Troiani. Civil War Journal: The Leaders. Nashville, TN: Rutledge Hill Press, 1997. Green, Carl R., and William R. Sanford. Union Generals of the Civil War. Springfield, NJ: Enslow, 1998. McClellan, George B. McClellan’s Own Story. New York: C. L. Webster, 1887. Reprint, Scituate, MA: Digital Scanning, 1999. McClellan Society. MG George B. McClellan Pages. [Online] http://www. civilwarreader.com/mcclellan/ (accessed on October 15, 1999). Rowland, Thomas J. George B. McClellan and Civil War History: In the Shadow of Grant and Sherman. Kent, OH: Kent State University Press, 1998. Sears, Stephen W. George B. McClellan: The Young Napoleon. New York: Ticknor and Fields, 1988. Reprint, New York: Da Capo Press, 1999. Waugh, John C. The Class of 1846: From West Point to Appomattox: Stonewall Jackson, George McClellan, and Their Brothers. New York: Warner Books, 1994.

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George G. Meade Born December 31, 1815 Cádiz, Spain Died November 6, 1872 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Union general Led Northern forces to victory at the Battle of Gettysburg

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eneral George G. Meade will always be best remembered for his involvement in the famous Battle of Gettysburg. During this mid-1863 battle in the Pennsylvania countryside, Meade guided the Union’s Army of the Potomac to a smashing victory over the South’s Army of Northern Virginia, commanded by General Robert E. Lee (1807–1870; see entry). This Union victory is often cited as a major reason why the North eventually was able to win the war.

“The results of [Meade’s] victory [were] priceless. . . . The charm of Robert Lee’s invincibility [was] broken. Writer George Templeton Strong

But despite his role in this important Northern triumph, Meade has received less praise for his performance than a number of other Civil War generals. His cautious pursuit of Lee’s battered army after Gettysburg has been criticized by many historians. In addition, the decision of General Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885; see entry) to take personal command of the Army of the Potomac in 1864 put Meade in Grant’s shadow for the remainder of the war. Nonetheless, Meade’s triumph at Gettysburg has assured him a prominent place in Civil War history. George G. Meade. 317

Early career in engineering George Gordon Meade was born in Spain on New Year’s Eve, 1815. His father, Richard Worsam Meade, was stationed in Spain as a naval agent for the United States government. The Meade family lived comfortably during young George’s first years, but mounting debts gradually began to threaten their economic well-being. Richard Meade brought his family back to the United States in an effort to regain his financial footing. He died a short time later, however, leaving his family deeply in debt. The family’s strained financial circumstances forced young George to withdraw from a public school in Philadelphia that he had been attending. In 1831, Meade managed to gain admission into the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in New York. He did not have a driving desire to build a career for himself in the army. He studied hard, though, because he knew that a good performance at the academy would aid him in whatever career he decided to pursue. Meade graduated from the academy in 1835. One year later he resigned from the army and took a series of jobs in the area of civil engineering (design and construction of bridges, canals, forts, and other public works). Meade’s civil engineering career took him all around the country in the late 1830s and early 1840s. He performed engineering work for Southern railroad lines and assisted in surveying (determining the boundaries of) the Mississippi and Texas border. As time passed, however, he realized that much of the engineering work taking place across the nation was being handled by the U.S. Army. He decided to return to active military duty, and on May 19, 1842, he was appointed a second lieutenant in the army’s Corps of Topographical Engineers. Meade spent most of the next two decades working on various engineering projects along the eastern seaboard and the Great Lakes coastlines. These projects ranged from conducting surveys of the Great Lakes boundaries to design work on coastal lighthouses. His only break from engineering work during this time came during the late 1840s, when he fought in the Mexican War (1846–48).

Tough Civil War soldier Meade’s career as an army engineer came to an end in April 1861, when hostilities between America’s Northern and 318


Southern states erupted into war. These two regions had long been angry with one another over the issue of slavery. The Northern states thought slavery was wrong and wanted to abolish it. But the agriculture-based Southern economy had grown dependent on slavery, and white Southerners worried that their way of life would collapse if slavery was abolished (eliminated). As Northern calls to end slavery persisted, Southerners became increasingly resentful and defensive. The two sides finally went to war when the Southern states tried to secede from (leave) the Union and form a new country that allowed slavery, called the Confederate States of America. When the Civil War began, Meade was promoted to brigadier general in the Union reserve army. Commanding a brigade of Pennsylvania soldiers, he helped build defenses around Washington, D.C. In June 1862, he was assigned to the Union’s Army of the Potomac, commanded by Union general George B. McClellan (1826–1885; see entry). The Army of the Potomac was the Union’s largest army in the war’s eastern theater (the region of the country east of the Appalachian Mountains), so Meade knew that his new assignment meant that he would likely see a great deal of combat. Meade’s instincts were right. Over the course of the following year, he repeatedly found himself pitted against Confederate forces on battlefields throughout Virginia and southern Maryland. Leading commands in both minor skirmishes and major battles (Seven Days’ Campaign [June 1862], Second Bull Run [August 1862], Antietam [September 1862], Fredericksburg [December 1862], and Chancellorsville [May 1863]), Meade acquired a reputation as a tough and steady officer. By mid-1863, his battlefield courage and aggressive style had captured the attention of President Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865; see entry) and his advisors.

Takes command of Army of the Potomac Ever since the Civil War started back in 1861, Lincoln had been dissatisfied with the performance of the generals leading the Army of the Potomac. The president felt that the army’s first commander, General George B. McClellan had been too cautious in confronting the Confederate enemy. Lincoln thus fired McClellan, only to watch in dismay as his successors—Ambrose Burnside (1824–1881; see entry) and George G. Meade

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Joseph Hooker (1814–1879)—suffered costly defeats at the hands of General Robert E. Lee and his rebel (Confederate) Army of Northern Virginia. When Lee launched a daring invasion of Northern territory in June 1863, Lincoln decided to replace Hooker with Meade. The president knew that if Lee’s invasion was successful, pressure to negotiate an end to the war would increase throughout the North. If these calls became loud enough, he would have no choice but to negotiate a peace agreement with the South that would grant the secessionist states their independence. When Meade took command of the Army of the Potomac on June 28, he knew that the entire course of the war might rest on his ability to beat back Lee’s advance. He concentrated his army of ninety thousand troops together in the vicinity of a small Pennsylvania town called Gettysburg to prepare for the arrival of the Confederate Army.

Battle of Gettysburg The two armies met outside of Gettysburg on July 1, 1863. During the battle’s first day, Lee’s seventy-five thousand–troop force pushed hard against Meade’s defensive lines. But Meade had selected his position well, and Lee’s forces were unable to dislodge the Federal Army. The following day, Lee launched a second major assault on the Army of the Potomac in hopes of breaking Meade’s army and moving deeper into Union territory. Once again, however, the Army of the Potomac held its ground, delivering punishing blows of its own on the rebel army. On July 3, the fighting resumed. As the battle wore on, it became clear to Lee that he would not be able to defeat Meade using ordinary measures. He gambled that a full frontal assault on the center of the Union’s defenses might cripple the Northern army. He ordered fifteen thousand troops under the command of James J. Pettigrew (1828–1863) and George E. Pickett (1825–1875) to rush Cemetery Ridge, the heart of the Northern defenses. Some of Lee’s officers urged him to abandon the plan, but the Confederate general refused to change his strategy. 320


This assault on Cemetery Ridge—commonly known as “Pickett’s Charge”—ended in disaster for Lee’s army. As Pettigrew and Pickett urged their troops on across the open ground that separated the two armies, Union artillery destroyed the advance with deadly cannon fire. Stunned by this disastrous turn of events, Lee gathered his battered army together and retreated back to Virginia. The Battle of Gettysburg took a terrible toll on both armies. Meade’s Army of the Potomac sustained more than twenty-three thousand casualties in the three days of fighting, while the Confederates lost approximately twenty-eight thousand troops. But while both sides suffered enormous losses in the clash, it was clear that the Union had won a major victory. Meade’s triumph ended Lee’s dreams of forcing a peace treaty and showed the North that the Confederate general could be defeated. As Northern writer George Templeton Strong exclaimed, “The results of this victory are priceless. . . . The charm of Robert Lee’s invincibility is broken. The Army of the Potomac has at last found a general that can handle it, and has stood nobly up to its terrible work in spite of its long disheartening list of hard-fought failures. . . . Government is strengthened four-fold at home and abroad.” Everyone in the North reacted with excitement to news of Meade’s great victory. But his cautious pursuit of Lee’s bloodied army disappointed some observers, including Lincoln. These critics felt that if Meade had acted aggressively, he might have been able to destroy the Army of Northern Virginia completely and bring the war to an end. Today, some historians continue to criticize Meade for letting Lee get away. But others point out that a continuation of the fighting might not have ended in a Union victory, for Lee still had thousands of veteran troops at his disposal. “A heavy load of responsibility weighed on Meade’s shoulders [at Gettysburg],” explained James M. McPherson in Battle Cry of Freedom. “He had been in command only six days. For three of them his army had been fighting for the nation’s life, as he saw the matter, and had narrowly saved it. Meade could not yet know how badly the enemy was hurt, or that their artillery was low on ammunition.” George G. Meade

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Major General George G. Meade stands in front of his tent in June 1864. (Reproduced by permission of the National Portrait Gallery.)

Grant takes over On July 3, 1863, Meade was promoted to brigadier general in the regular Union Army. He continued to lead the Army of the Potomac throughout the fall and winter of that year. In the spring of 1864, however, Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant decided to accompany the Army of the Potomac. As the chief of all Union forces, Grant assumed leadership of the army. His arrival dropped Meade to second in command. But the hero of Gettysburg handled the new arrangement with dignity. He carried out Grant’s orders with efficiency, and in August 1864, Grant arranged Meade’s promotion to the rank of major general. During the final months of the war, Meade assisted Grant as he slowly squeezed the life out of the disintegrating Confederate armies. He fought with distinction in several battles. In addition, he helped Grant develop the siege of Petersburg, Virginia, a maneuver that trapped Lee’s army in the city

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for months. By the spring of 1865, it was clear that the Confederacy was on the verge of collapse. In April 1865, General Lee finally surrendered the battered remains of his army to Grant, bringing the war to a close. After the war, Meade spent two years as commander of the Military Division of the Atlantic and the Department of the East in Philadelphia. In January 1868, he was reassigned to Atlanta, Georgia, where he enforced federal Reconstruction policies in a fair and reasonable manner (Reconstruction was the period in American history immediately following the Civil War when the nation struggled to resolve its differences and readmit the Southern states into the Union). He died in Philadelphia on November 6, 1872, as a result of pneumonia and the lingering effects of old war wounds.

Where to Learn More Cleaves, Freeman. Meade of Gettysburg. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1960. Lyman, Theodore. With Grant and Meade from the Wilderness to Appomattox. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1994. The Meade Archive. [Online] http://adams.patriot.net/~jcampi/welcome. htm (accessed on October 15, 1999).

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John Singleton Mosby Born December 6, 1833 Powhatan County, Virginia Died May 30, 1916 Washington, D.C. Confederate guerrilla leader Tormented Union forces in northern Virginia from 1863 to 1865 as commander of “Mosby’s Rangers”

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uring the course of the Civil War, groups of armed raiders known as “guerrillas” or “rangers” sprouted up all across the Confederacy to fight against invading Union armies. A number of these groups amounted to little more than semiorganized bands of outlaws who became best known for episodes of drunkenness and mindless violence. But other Southern guerrilla units operated with great effectiveness against important Union patrols and supply lines. The best of these guerrilla companies was commanded by John Singleton Mosby, a native Virginian whose bravery and dedication made him one of the most feared and respected of Confederate military leaders.

“Mosby has annoyed me considerably.” Union general William T. Sherman

Born and raised in Virginia John Singleton Mosby was born in Virginia in 1833 to Alfred and Virginia Mosby. Both sides of Mosby’s family had lived in Virginia for generations. As he grew up, his relatives instilled in him a great love for his home state. Mosby entered the University of Virginia at the age of nineteen, but his

John Singleton Mosby. Reproduced by permission of the National Portrait Gallery.) 325

studies were abruptly cut short when he killed a man in an angry dispute. When Mosby was brought to trial, the court decided that he did not deserve to receive a long prison term. Nonetheless, he was expelled from the university and imprisoned for nine months on a charge of unlawful shooting. Mosby spent much of his time in jail reading law books. When he was released, he became a legal assistant in the office of the local prosecutor who had convicted him. Mosby worked and studied hard during this time. Within a year or so of his release from prison, he launched a successful career for himself as an attorney. In 1857, Mosby married Pauline Clark, the daughter of a Kentucky politician, and the couple soon started a family. Mosby’s peaceful life was shattered, though, when the American Civil War broke out in April 1861.

Mosby sides with Virginia The Civil War came about because of long-standing differences between the Northern United States and the Southern United States over a variety of issues, especially slavery and the concept of states’ rights. Many Northerners believed that slavery was wrong and wanted to abolish (eliminate) it. They also contended that the Federal government had the authority to pass laws that applied to all citizens of the United States. But a large part of the South’s economy and culture had been built on slavery, and Southerners resented Northern efforts to halt or contain the practice. In addition, they argued that the Federal government did not have the constitutional power to institute national laws on slavery or other issues. Instead, white Southerners argued that each state should decide for itself whether to allow slavery. Finally, America’s westward expansion worsened these disputes, since both sides wanted to spread their way of life—and their political ideas—into the new territories and states. By the spring of 1861, these bitter differences had caused a dramatic split in the country. At that time, a number of Southern states seceded from (left) the United States to form a new country that allowed slavery, called the Confeder326


ate States of America. The U.S. government, however, declared that those states had no right to secede and that it was willing to use force to make them return to the Union. In April 1861, the two sides finally went to war over their differences. When the war began, Mosby promptly joined Virginia’s Confederate army as a private. During the first six months of his service, however, Mosby did not make much of an impression on his superiors. Bored with routine military duties, he showed little initiative or interest in advancing to a higher rank. “We all thought he was rather an indifferent soldier,” admitted one Confederate officer who knew Private Mosby.

Mosby becomes a ranger By the spring of 1862, Mosby was spending most of his time helping Confederate colonel William E. Jones with paperwork and other administrative affairs. Desperate to escape these routine duties, he occasionally managed to grab an assignment to go scout enemy positions. Within a few months, the detail and accuracy of Mosby’s scouting reports caught the attention of General Jeb Stuart (1833–1864; see entry), a dashing cavalry officer in the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. Impressed by Mosby’s scouting abilities, Stuart used the young Virginian whenever he could. In fact, Mosby’s scouting reports proved vital in helping Stuart execute a famous reconnaissance (exploration and spying) mission around Union troops in the summer of 1862. After the mission was completed, Mosby could barely contain his enthusiasm. “My dearest Pauline,” he wrote to his wife. “I returned yesterday with General Stuart from the grandest scout of the war. I not only helped to execute it, but was the first one who conceived and demonstrated that it was practicable. Everybody says it was the greatest feat of the war. I never enjoyed myself so much in my life.” Mosby’s experiences on the reconnaissance mission convinced him that he could better serve the Confederacy as the leader of one of the guerrilla units that were popping up across the South. These guerrilla or ranger companies used violent raids and sabotage (destruction or vandalism of properJohn Singleton Mosby

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ty) to strike against Union outposts and supply lines. Loosely connected with the Confederate Army, they were supposed to operate under the direction of the South’s regular military commanders. In many cases, though, these guerrilla companies functioned with little supervision from the army. At first, Stuart resisted Mosby’s requests for permission to start a new guerrilla group that would operate behind enemy lines in northern Virginia. But in December 1862, Stuart finally approved the request. On January 1, 1863, Mosby officially became the captain of a nine-man guerrilla group that eventually became the most effective ranger company in the entire South.

“Mosby’s Confederacy” Mosby spent the first two months of 1863 adding new recruits to his band. Then, as springtime arrived in northern Virginia, Mosby launched a series of raids that rocked Union forces throughout the region. Sometimes they ambushed (lied in wait to attack) Union patrols or captured Union horses and other supplies. At other times they destroyed Union railroads or cut telegraph lines. On a number of occasions, he and his men even struck on the outskirts of the Federal capital of Washington. Mosby’s most daring escapade of 1863 came in March, when he traveled into Northern territory and captured a Union general, thirty-two other Federal soldiers, and fifty Union horses. According to Mosby, the Union general was sound asleep in his bedroom when he walked in. Mosby promptly drew the covers back, pulled up the general’s nightshirt (a long shirt worn in bed), and swatted him on the rear with the blunt side of his sword blade. As the general bolted upright in bed, Mosby said, “Do you know Mosby?” The stillsleepy Union commander responded, “Yes, have you captured him?” Smiling, Mosby answered, “No, but he has captured you.” Mosby’s raids angered Union commanders in the region, but they seemed helpless to stop his band. The Union’s inability to catch “Mosby’s Rangers,” as they came to be called, was due in no small part to pro-Confederate feelings 328


in northern Virginia, which Mosby’s guerrillas continued to use as a base of operations. In fact, most people who lived in that area were so sympathetic to Mosby and his fellow guerrillas that a few counties came to be known as “Mosby’s Confederacy.” “The people of Mosby’s Confederacy were overwhelmingly pro-Virginia, pro-Confederacy, and therefore proMosby,” wrote William C. Davis in Civil War Journal: The Leaders. “They opened their homes, silos, barns, hayricks, and cellars to Mosby’s men, and they fed and hid them. Without this informal civilian volunteer infrastructure, Mosby could not have operated.” In June 1863, Mosby formally organized his rangers into the Forty-third Battalion of Virginia Cavalry. By this time, many men were asking to join Mosby’s company. They were drawn by his spectacular successes and the idea of serving the Confederacy without putting up with lots of military rules and regulations. But even as the size of his band grew— an estimated one thousand guerrillas rode with Mosby at one time or another during the war—the Virginian never gave up control. In fact, he was known as a tough disciplinarian who commanded complete respect, even though he was one of the smallest men in the entire company.

Triumphs and setbacks From mid-1863 through early 1865, Mosby’s Rangers continued to steal Union supplies, destroy Union communication lines, and ambush Union patrols with great effectiveness. Mosby recognized that he was a hunted man, and he barely escaped death in a couple of battles with Union pursuers. But he never gave any thought to quitting his guerrilla activities. “The true secret was that it was a fascinating life, and its attractions far more than counterbalanced its hardships and dangers,” he later admitted. Mosby’s leadership enabled his band of guerrillas to avoid disaster on numerous occasions. But in early 1864, his fortunes took a turn for the worse. On January 10, eight of Mosby’s Rangers—including his two best lieutenants—were killed by Union cavalry forces outside of Harpers Ferry, Virginia. Then, in May 1864, Mosby learned that his close friend John Singleton Mosby

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Jeb Stuart had been killed in battle outside of the Confederate capital of Richmond. In August 1864, Mosby faced his greatest challenge yet when Union cavalry under the command of General Philip Sheridan (1831–1888; see entry) entered northern Virginia. Sheridan’s mission had two primary elements. First, he had been ordered to destroy fields and farms in the area so that they could not be used by Confederates. Second, he had been instructed to clear northern Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley of the troublesome Confederate cavalry and guerrilla units that had used it as their home for the previous few years.

Battling Sheridan Over the next few months, Mosby’s Rangers and regular Confederate cavalry under the command of Lieutenant General Jubal Early (1816–1894) repeatedly struck against Sheridan’s invading army. Mosby’s raids on the Union Army’s supply lines were so effective that Sheridan admitted that “Mosby has annoyed me considerably.” But Sheridan diverted large numbers of troops to protect his supply lines. He then continued with his brutally effective demolition of the Shenandoah Valley. In September, Mosby suffered a gunshot wound that forced him to the sidelines for a few weeks. During his absence, Sheridan’s cavalry captured seven of Mosby’s men and executed them. They killed their captives because they believed that a Union cavalryman had earlier been murdered while trying to surrender. Before leaving, the Union troops pinned a note on one of the bodies that indicated that death would “be the fate of all Mosby’s guerrillas caught hereafter.” Mosby decided that he had to take firm action to put a halt to such executions. In October, Mosby’s Rangers derailed a train outside Harpers Ferry and stole more than $170,000. Union cavalry under the command of Major General George A. Custer (1839–1876) gave chase, but over the next two weeks Mosby captured thirty of his pursuers. On November 6, the guerrilla leader ordered all of the prisoners to pull a piece of paper out of a hat. The seven men who selected papers with marks on them were to be killed in revenge 330


for the executions of his men a few weeks before. When Mosby saw that one of the unlucky drawers was a teenage drummer boy, he spared his life. But he forced the other prisoners to draw again to see who would take his place. Of the seven condemned Union prisoners, four actually lived (two survived their gunshot wounds, and two escaped). But Mosby felt that he had made his point. If any more of his rangers were executed, he would execute the same number of Union prisoners. By late October 1864, Sheridan had swept Jubal Early’s cavalry out of the Shenandoah Valley and burned many of the farms and crops in northern Virginia. He never fully crushed Mosby and his raiders, but ultimately the guerrillas could do little to stop Sheridan, as he pushed his way through the region. In December 1864, Mosby was wounded once again. Rumors of his impending death swirled around the Confederacy until February 1865, when he made an appearance in Richmond.

Mosby joins the Republican Party By the spring of 1865, the Confederacy was tottering on the brink of defeat. On April 9, the largest of the remaining rebel armies surrendered, and the other Confederate forces quickly followed suit. Instead of formally surrendering, however, Mosby disbanded his company of rangers on April 21. After the war, Mosby returned to his law practice. The size of his family continued to grow (he and his wife eventually had eight children), and he became increasingly involved John Singleton Mosby

Dressed in his military uniform, John Singleton Mosby poses in front of a painted landscape. (Reproduced by permission of Corbis.)

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in politics. During the presidency of Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885; see entry), Mosby decided to join the Republican political party. This decision shocked and angered many of Mosby’s Southern friends, since the party was viewed as an organization of Northerners and abolitionists. But Mosby refused to budge from his decision. Over the next several years he served in Republican administrations in a variety of positions, including assistant attorney in the Department of Justice. He died in 1916 at the age of eighty-two.

Where to Learn More Carter, Samuel. The Last Cavaliers: Confederate and Union Cavalry in the Civil War. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1980. Col. John Mosby and the Southern Code of Honor. [Online] http://xroads. virginia.edu/~class/am483_97/Projects/anderson/intro.html (accessed on October 15, 1999). Jones, Virgil Carrington. Ranger Mosby. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1944. Reprint, McLean, VA: EPM Publications, 1987. Longacre, Edward C. Mounted Raids of the Civil War. South Brunswick, NJ: A. S. Barnes, 1975. Reprint, Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1994. Ramage, James A. Gray Ghost: The Life of Colonel John Singleton Mosby. Lexington: University of Kentucky Press, 1999. Siepel, Kevin H. Rebel: The Life and Times of John Singleton Mosby. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1983. Reprint, New York: Da Capo Press, 1997. Wert, Jeffry D. Mosby’s Rangers. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1990.

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Thomas Nast Born September 27, 1840 Landau, Germany Died December 7, 1902 Guayaquil, Ecuador Northern newspaper artist Drew sentimental pictures and harsh editorial cartoons that increased public support for the Union cause during the Civil War

n the days before photography enjoyed wide use, American newspapers hired artists to draw pictures to accompany news stories. Thomas Nast was one of the best-known and most influential newspaper artists of this period. He produced over three thousand pictures during his career, ranging from sentimental paintings to harsh editorial cartoons. His work inspired public support for the Union cause during the Civil War, and helped end government corruption in New York City in the years afterward. “For nearly a quarter of a century, through the pages of Harper’s Weekly, Nast gave his strength to the American people,” Albert Bigelow Paine wrote in Thomas Nast: His Period and His Pictures. “He was profoundly moved by every public question, and his emotions found expression in his pictures. Such a man can but awaken a powerful response.”

“Thomas Nast has been our best recruiting sergeant. His emblematic cartoons have never failed to arouse enthusiasm and patriotism. . . .

Shows artistic talent from an early age

Thomas Nast. (Reproduced by permission of Archive Photos, Inc.)

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Thomas Nast was born in Landau, Germany, on September 27, 1840. When he was six years old, his family

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moved to the United States and settled among other German immigrants in New York City. Nast showed an interest in art from an early age. Since he could not speak English when he first came to America, he communicated with his friends and classmates by drawing pictures. During Nast’s early school years, his teachers praised his drawing ability. But they also noticed that he did not perform so well in other subjects. As a result, Nast ended his regular schooling as a teenager and began taking art classes at New York’s Academy of Design. When he was fifteen, Nast took some of his drawings to the offices of Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper. Leslie recognized that Nast had talent, but doubted whether someone so young would be responsible enough to hold a job as a newspaper artist (in those days, photography was a new and complicated process, so newspapers used artists to provide illustrations for news stories). Leslie decided to test the young man with a difficult assignment—he told Nast to go to the ferry dock and bring back a picture of a crowd boarding a boat. When Nast returned the next day with a first-rate picture, Leslie gave him a job. For the next few years, Nast traveled to various news events around New York City and drew pictures of the people and places involved. In 1857, he began expanding his role at the newspaper to include drawing cartoons that expressed his opinion about certain issues. One of his first cartoons was a satire (a work that uses sarcasm or wit to comment on social problems and other issues) about an ongoing police scandal in New York. In 1860, Nast traveled to Europe, where he covered political events in England and Italy and visited the town where he was born in Germany. He returned the following year and married Sarah Edwards, the daughter of a theater family for whom he had designed sets. They eventually had four children and bought a house in Morristown, New Jersey.

Pictures inspire support for the Union during the Civil War By the time Nast returned to the United States in 1861, long-standing disagreements between the Northern and Southern sections of the country had erupted into war. The two sides had been arguing over several issues—including 334


slavery and the power of the national government to regulate it—for many years. Growing numbers of Northerners, like Nast, believed that slavery was wrong. Some people wanted to outlaw it, while others wanted to prevent it from spreading beyond the Southern states where it was already allowed. But slavery played a big role in the Southern economy and culture. As a result, many Southerners felt threatened by Northern efforts to contain slavery. They believed that each state should decide for itself whether to allow slavery. They did not want the national government to pass laws that would interfere with their traditional way of life. This ongoing dispute came to a crisis point when Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865; see entry) was elected president of the United States. Lincoln was a Northerner who opposed slavery, although he wanted to eliminate it gradually rather than outlaw it immediately. Following Lincoln’s election, many people in the South felt that the national government could no longer represent their interests. Several Southern states decided to secede (withdraw) from the United States and form a new country that allowed slavery, called the Confederate States of America. But it soon became clear that Northern leaders were willing to fight to keep the Southern states in the Union. The Civil War began a short time later. Upon his return, Nast briefly covered the war for New York Illustrated News and for Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper. In 1862, he accepted a position as an artist at Harper’s Weekly—the best paper of its time—which he would hold for the next twenty-five years. Nast felt intense loyalty toward the Union and expressed his feelings through his skillful drawings and witty cartoons. Both his scenes of battle and his cartoon commentaries on political issues inspired Northern support for the war effort. In fact, President Abraham Lincoln once declared that “Thomas Nast has been our best recruiting sergeant. His emblematic [symbolic] cartoons have never failed to arouse enthusiasm and patriotism, and have always seemed to come just when these articles were getting scarce.” One of Nast’s most famous works from the war years was “Christmas Eve,” published in the winter of 1862–63. The two-paneled picture showed a woman at home praying for the safe return of her husband, and a soldier sitting by a Thomas Nast

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campfire looking longingly at a picture of his family. This picture inspired hundreds of Northerners to write letters of thanks to the paper, and even encouraged some young men to volunteer to join the Union Army. But not all of Nast’s wartime pictures were sentimental. He also produced many satiric cartoons that showed exactly what he thought about Southerners, as well as certain generals and politicians. “They were not works of art—Nast did not so consider them,” Paine said of the cartoons. “War is not a time of culture and discrimination, but of blows, and those dealt by Thomas Nast were swift and savage and aimed to kill.” In fact, some of his cartoons were so harsh that he received death threats from offended Southerners.

Becomes a social reformer and statesman The Civil War ended in a Union victory in 1865. Nast became a vocal critic of President Andrew Johnson (1808–1875; see entry) during Reconstruction (1865–77)— the period in American history immediately following the Civil War, when the country struggled to settle its differences and bring the Southern states back into the Union. Nast believed that Johnson’s lenient (easy) policies toward the South would allow Confederate leaders to return to power and prevent former slaves from gaining equal rights. He drew caricatures (portraits in which the subject’s features are exaggerated or distorted) of Johnson in order to call attention to these concerns. In 1869, Nast turned his attention to New York City politics. A powerful man named William Marcy “Boss” Tweed (1823–1878) led a ring of officials that controlled all business dealings in the city. Tweed’s government was corrupt and used trickery and deception to steal millions of dollars. After investigating the situation, Nast produced numerous cartoons criticizing the Tweed ring. For example, one cartoon showed Tweed wearing a king’s robes and sitting on a throne. For a while, Nast was one of the only people who dared to say anything bad about the powerful political leader. But as he increased public awareness of the situation, more and more citizens of New York became outraged. His work helped cause Tweed’s fall from power in 1872. 336


In 1874, Nast used an elephant as a symbol of the Republican political party in one of his cartoons. The idea caught on, and the party still uses an elephant as its symbol today. In the late 1870s, Nast’s contributions to newspapers lessened as he spent more time painting and illustrating books. In 1886, he broke off his long relationship with Harper’s Weekly. A few years later, he tried unsuccessfully to start his own paper. In 1895, Nast completed one of his bestknown paintings. It showed Confederate general Robert E. Lee (1807–1870; see entry) surrendering to Union general Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885; see entry) at Appomattox, Virginia, to end the Civil War.

One of George Nast’s most well-known paintings shows the surrender of Confederate general Robert E. Lee to Union general Ulysses S. Grant. (From Harper’s Weekly.)

In 1902, some of Nast’s old friends in the U.S. government offered him a position as consul (an official government representative) to the South American nation of Ecuador. Nast did not feel qualified for the job, but he wanted to serve his country and also needed the money. UnfortuThomas Nast

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nately, he became ill shortly after his arrival in Ecuador and died there on December 7, 1902.

Where to Learn More Hoff, Syd. Boss Tweed and the Man Who Drew Him. New York: Coward, McCann, and Geoghegan, 1978. Keller, Morton. The Art and Politics of Thomas Nast. New York: Oxford University Press, 1968. Paine, Albert Bigelow. Thomas Nast: His Period and His Pictures. New York: Chelsea House, 1980. Shirley, David. Thomas Nast: Cartoonist and Illustrator. New York: Franklin Watts, 1998. Thomas Nast Homepage. [Online] http://www.buffnet.net/~starmist/nast/ main.htm (accessed on October 15, 1999).

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Edward A. Pollard Born February 27, 1831 Albemarle County, Virginia Died December 12, 1872 Lynchburg, Virginia Editor of the Richmond Examiner Early historian of the Confederacy

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dward A. Pollard emerged as one of the South’s best known commentators on Confederate leadership and military strategy during the Civil War. As the editorial page editor of the Richmond Examiner, Pollard’s harsh criticism of Confederate president Jefferson Davis (1808–1889; see entry) and other political leaders turned him into one of the South’s most controversial writers. In addition, he published an annual series of books during the Civil War in which he provided his own interpretations of the war’s progress. These volumes, which also attracted a lot of attention, made Pollard one of the first historians of the Confederacy.

“Morning broke on a scene never to be forgotten. . . . The smoke and glare of fire mingled with the golden beams of the rising sun. . . .”

Born into Virginia aristocracy Edward Alfred Pollard was born in February 1831 in Albemarle County, Virginia. His parents were members of the state’s planter (plantation owner) aristocracy (a privileged and influential class of people with distinguished ancestors). Unlike most other members of that group, however, Pollard’s parents were not wealthy. The farmland that they owned was 339

not very fertile, and Pollard’s father, Richard Pollard, had lost a lot of money in bad business deals. As a result, young Edward and his eight brothers and sisters knew that they would have to find careers for themselves. Fortunately for Edward, the generosity of several relatives enabled him to gain admittance into the region’s finest schools, including the University of Virginia and the College of William and Mary. By the time Pollard left William and Mary in 1850, he had excellent writing skills and a growing knowledge of the law. But he never earned a degree, in part because he spent a lot of his time gambling and engaging in other distracting activities. Pollard spent much of the 1850s wandering around the globe. He spent the first part of the decade in Europe, where he supported himself as a writer for newspapers and magazines. He then moved on to California and Mexico before landing in the Central American country of Nicaragua. Once he arrived in Nicaragua, he allied himself with slaveowners who were trying to expand slavery into the region. “The path of our destiny on this continent lies in . . . tropical America [where] we may see an empire as powerful and gorgeous as ever was pictured in our dreams of history,” Pollard wrote in 1859. “An empire . . . representing the noble peculiarities of Southern civilization. . . . The destiny of Southern civilization is to be consummated [completed] in a glory brighter even than that of old.” In the end, however, these efforts to establish Southern-style slavery in Nicaragua failed.

Defender of slavery During the late 1850s, Pollard watched the growing tensions between America’s Northern and Southern regions with great interest. The main issue dividing the two regions was slavery. Growing numbers of Northerners believed that slavery was wrong. Some people wanted to outlaw it, while others wanted to prevent it from spreading beyond the Southern states where it was already allowed. But slavery played an important role in the South’s economy and culture. As a result, most white Southerners felt threatened by Northern efforts to contain slavery. They believed that each state should decide for itself whether to allow the practice. They 340


did not want the national government to pass laws that would interfere with their traditional way of life. Pollard strongly supported the South’s point of view regarding slavery. He believed that blacks were terribly inferior to whites, and saw nothing wrong with keeping blacks enslaved. As a result, Northern claims that slavery was an immoral system angered and frustrated him. These feelings led Pollard to write and publish a book called Black Diamonds Gathered in the Darkey Homes of the South in 1859. Using his own childhood memories as the foundation for his book, Pollard portrayed slaves as being happy in their captivity and characterized all slaveowners as kind and gentle masters. “In these sketches,” wrote historian Jon L. Wakelyn, “Pollard had created a fantasy world of old Virginia, a world he believed worth preserving.”

Writing in Richmond In early 1861, relations between the North and South became so bad that a group of Southern states decided to secede (withdraw) from the United States and form a new country that allowed slavery, called the Confederate States of America. But Northern political leaders would not let the Southern states leave the Union without a fight. By April it was clear that the differences between the two regions were going to be settled through warfare. As the two sides prepared for war, Pollard established himself as one of the Confederacy’s most vocal defenders. In addition to helping his brother Henry Rives Pollard edit a strongly pro-Southern newspaper in Baltimore, Maryland, he completed a book called Letters of a Southern Spy. This collection of essays, published in the spring of 1861, viciously attacked President Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865; see entry) and all Northerners as cowardly and dishonest people who wanted to stir up a race war in the South. Letters of a Southern Spy angered many people who lived in and around Baltimore. After all, the city, which was located only thirty miles from the Federal capital of Washington, D.C., was home to many people who opposed slavery and remained loyal to the Union. As threats against Pollard Edward A. Pollard

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poured in, he hurriedly left town and relocated to the Confederate capital of Richmond. Once Pollard arrived in Richmond, he joined the staff of John M. Daniel’s Richmond Examiner as the editor of its editorial page. During his first weeks in Richmond, Pollard wrote many editorials praising the Confederate people and their civilian leaders, such as President Jefferson Davis. He also expressed great confidence in the South’s military leaders. As time passed, however, Pollard grew more critical of Davis and other civilian authorities. Statements of hopefulness about the Confederacy gradually gave way to nasty, gossipy attacks on Davis, Vice President Alexander Stephens (1812–1883; see entry), and many other rebel (Confederate) leaders. The only group of Confederate leaders toward which Pollard remained friendly was the military command. Eventually, however, even some military leaders felt the sting of Pollard’s critical editorials. Today, many historians point to Pollard’s harsh words as prime examples of the sort of attacks that Davis was forced to endure throughout the course of the war. These attacks, they agree, hindered Davis’s ability to lead and unify the Confederacy.

Imprisonment Pollard’s criticism of Southern leaders finally became so strong that he lost the support of Daniel, the owner of the Examiner. As a result, Pollard resigned from the newspaper and boarded a ship for England, where he hoped to resume his writing career. The ship upon which he was traveling, however, was stopped by a Union ship that was part of a Northern blockade (a military operation designed to cut an enemy area off from outside supplies or communications) of the entire East Coast. When the Union sailors discovered Pollard’s identity, they immediately arrested him as a spy. Pollard was sent to prison in Boston, Massachusetts. His jailers let him go when they determined that he was not really a spy. But when he was released, he attempted to resume his anti-Northern writings in New York. His activities angered the Union authorities, who arrested him again and threw him in jail. 342


Pollard Describes the Fall of Richmond In early April 1865, the Confederate defense of the capital city of Richmond finally crumbled. As General Robert E. Lee evacuated his army from the city, the atmosphere on Richmond’s streets became scary and chaotic. Writing for the Richmond Examiner, Edward Pollard described the scene with a heavy heart: As the day wore on, clatter and bustle in the streets denoted the progress of the evacuation and convinced those who had been incredulous [doubtful] of its reality. The disorder increased each hour. The streets were thronged [crowded] with fugitives making their way to the railroad depots [stations]; pale women and little shoeless children struggled in the crowd; oaths and blasphemous shouts [swearing] smote [struck] the air. . . . When it was finally announced by the Army that . . . the evacuation of Richmond was a foregone [unavoidable] conclusion, it was proposed to maintain order in the city by two regiments of militia [army composed of citizens]; to destroy every drop of liquor in the warehouses and stores; and to establish a patrol through the night. But the militia ran through the fingers of their officers . . . and in a short while the whole city was plunged into mad confusion and indescribable horrors. It was an extraordinary night; disorder, pillage [looting], shouts, mad revelry. . . . In the now dimly lighted city could be seen black masses of people crowded around some object of excitement . . . swaying to and fro in whatever momen-

tary passion possessed them. The gutters ran with a liquor freshet [overflow], and the fumes filled the air. Some of the straggling soldiers . . . easily managed to get hold of quantities of the liquor. Confusion became worse confounded; the sidewalks were encumbered [littered] with broken glass; stores were entered at pleasure and stripped from top to bottom; yells of drunken men, shouts of roving pillagers [robbers], wild cries of distress filled the air and made night hideous. But a new horror was to appear upon the scene and take possession of the community. To the rear-guard of the Confederate force . . . had been left the duty of blowing up the iron-clad vessels in the James [River] and destroying the bridges across the river. . . . The work of destruction might well have ended here. But the four principal tobacco warehouses of the city were fired; the flames seized on the neighboring buildings and soon involved a wide and widening area; the conflagration [fire] passed rapidly beyond control. And in this mad fire, this wild, unnecessary destruction of their property, the citizens of Richmond had a fitting souvenir of the imprudence [lacking in judgment] and recklessness of the departing Administration. Morning broke on a scene never to be forgotten. . . . The smoke and glare of fire mingled with the golden beams of the rising sun. . . . The fire was reaching to whole blocks of buildings. . . . Its roar sounded in the ears; it leaped from street to street. Pillagers were busy at their vocation, and in the hot breath of the fire were figures as of demons contending [fighting] for prey.

Edward A. Pollard

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Pollard finally won his release from jail in January 1865. He promptly returned to Richmond and returned to the staff of the Examiner. But by this time, Union armies were marching to victory throughout the South. As the war drew to a close, many of Pollard’s editorials reflected shock and sadness at the Confederacy’s collapse.

Historian of the Confederacy Pollard’s work as a wartime editor of the Richmond Examiner brought him considerable attention. In the years immediately after the war, however, he became best known as one of the first people to provide a historical account of the Confederacy’s brief existence. Pollard’s work as a historian actually began during the war, when he published annual volumes devoted to summarizing the previous year’s events. As with his editorials for the Examiner, these volumes praised the actions of General Robert E. Lee (1807–1870; see entry) and other rebel generals and attacked President Davis as incompetent and stubborn. According to historian Jon L. Wakelyn, these volumes “probably [did] more than any other of the early histories to fix the reputations of Confederate leaders for the future.” Pollard continued his work as a historian of the Confederacy during the postwar years. In 1866, he published The Lost Cause, a book that described the South’s bid to leave the Union as a heroic effort that was undertaken to preserve Southern honor and virtue. In this and other works of the late 1860s he continued to criticize both the North and the Confederacy’s civilian (nonmilitary) leaders, while simultaneously urging whites to maintain their superior social positions over blacks. Pollard’s writing output dwindled in the early 1870s, when his health began to decline. He died on December 12, 1872, in Lynchburg, Virginia, after a long illness.

Where to Learn More Maddex, Jack P., Jr. The Reconstruction of Edward A. Pollard: A Rebel’s Conversion to Postbellum Unionism. Chapel Hill, University of North Carolina Press, 1974. 344


Pollard, Edward A. Letters of a Southern Spy. E. W. Ayres, 1861. Pollard, Edward A. The Lost Cause. New York: E. B. Treat, 1866. Reprint, New York: Gramercy Press, 1994. Wakelyn, Jon L. “Edward Alfred Pollard” in Leaders of the American Civil War. Edited by Jon L. Wakelyn and Charles F. Ritter. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1998.

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Dred Scott Born 1795? Southampton County, Virginia Died September 17, 1858 St. Louis, Missouri Slave who sued unsuccessfully to obtain his freedom The U.S. Supreme Court’s controversial ruling in Dred Scott v. Sandford increased the hostility between North and South that led to the Civil War

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red Scott was a slave who challenged the institution of slavery in court. He filed a lawsuit arguing that he should be free since his master had taken him to live in free territory for several years. The historic case, known as Dred Scott v. Sandford, made it all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1857. At this time, the Northern and Southern halves of the country were involved in a fierce debate about slavery and the extent to which the government should be allowed to control it. The Supreme Court ruled that black Americans did not have the rights of citizens, so Scott was not entitled to file his lawsuit. The sweeping ruling also said that the U.S. government could not limit the spread of slavery to new states and territories—or even prevent people from holding slaves in free states—because the Constitution does not allow the government to deprive citizens of their property. The court’s decision upset many people in the North, but thrilled many people in the South. It also increased the hostile (unfriendly) feelings between the two sections of the country that led to the Civil War a few years later.

Dred Scott v. Sandford placed the entire institution of slavery on trial.

Dred Scott. (Courtesy of the Library of Congress.) 347

Born a slave The man who became famous in court as Dred Scott was born in Virginia around 1795. He was originally called Sam, but he changed his name sometime before he filed his historic lawsuit. Scott never knew the exact date of his birth because he was born a slave. Black people were taken from Africa and brought to North America to serve as slaves for white people beginning in the 1600s. The basic belief behind slavery was that black people were inferior to whites. Under slavery, white slaveholders treated black people as property, forced them to perform hard labor, and controlled every aspect of their lives. States in the Northern half of the United States began outlawing slavery in the late 1700s. But slavery continued to exist in the Southern half of the country because it played an important role in the South’s economy and culture. Most slave owners tried to prevent their slaves from learning much about themselves or the world around them. They believed that educated slaves would be more likely to become dissatisfied with their lives. For this reason, Scott received no information about his birth. He also never learned to read and write. Years later, he used a symbol to represent his name whenever he was required to sign legal documents. As a young man, Scott belonged to Peter Blow, who owned a farm in Virginia. Blow eventually decided that the land was not fertile enough to farm successfully. In 1819, he moved west along with his family and their six slaves, including Scott. They settled in the busy frontier town of St. Louis, Missouri, where Blow opened a boarding house called the Jefferson Hotel. Since he did not need Scott’s help in the boarding house, Blow hired his slave out as a deckhand on riverboats that went up and down the Mississippi River. Slave owners often rented their extra slaves to other people and received payment for the work they did.

Sold and taken to free territory In 1832, Peter Blow became ill and was forced to give up his hotel business. He ended up selling his slaves in order to pay off his debts. He sold Scott to Dr. John Emerson for 348


$500. It is not clear how Scott felt about being sold. One story says that he was so upset that he ran away and hid in a swamp. But another story says that he asked to be sold because Blow had whipped him. Shortly after buying Scott, Emerson received a commission as a surgeon in the U.S. Army. He went to live at Fort Armstrong in Illinois in 1833 and took Scott with him. Illinois was a free state, meaning that it did not allow slavery. But at that time, the laws were unclear about what happened when a master brought a slave into free territory. Most people generally agreed that slaveowners could travel into free states with their slaves and remain there for short periods of time. If slaveowners wanted to settle in a free state permanently, however, they might have to free their slaves. In 1836, Emerson was transferred to Fort Snelling. This fort was located on the Mississippi River, near what would later become St. Paul, Minnesota. At that time it was part of Wisconsin Territory, which did not allow slavery. Emerson took Scott with him to Fort Snelling. During this time, Emerson also arranged to purchase a female slave named Harriet Robinson. Scott and Robinson became romantically involved and considered themselves married, although slaves were not legally permitted to marry. They eventually had four children, although only their daughters Eliza and Lizzie survived to adulthood. In 1837, Emerson moved back to St. Louis, but Dred and Harriet Scott remained behind. The doctor eventually got married and moved to Fort Jesup in Louisiana. He then sent for his servants. When the Scotts arrived in Louisiana, they again lived in a slave state. But later that year Emerson returned to Fort Snelling with his slaves. In 1840, they returned to St. Louis. Dr. Emerson died in December 1843. Some slaveowners put provisions in their wills that freed their slaves upon their death. Instead, Dr. Emerson’s will said that ownership of Scott and his family would pass to his widow, Irene Emerson.

Sues to obtain freedom Shortly after the death of his master, Scott tried to purchase freedom for himself and his wife. But Mrs. Emerson refused to set them free. On April 6, 1846, Scott took the unDred Scott

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A handbill announces a public meeting for individuals interested in discussing the Supreme Court’s decision in the Dred Scott case in 1857.

usual step of filing a lawsuit against the widow. The suit claimed that he should be given his freedom because he had spent long periods of time with Dr. Emerson in areas of the country where slavery was banned. Scott knew that slaves had won their freedom in similar cases before. The courts had ruled that masters who took their slaves to live in free territory for a certain period of time must set them free. Scott just had to prove in court that he had lived in free territory and that the Emersons treated him as a slave. After several delays, a Missouri circuit court judge ruled in Scott’s favor on January 12, 1850. But the Emerson family appealed the ruling to the state supreme court. In 1852, that court reversed the earlier decision and found in favor of the Emersons. Shortly afterward, Mrs. Emerson sold Scott and his family to her brother, John F. A. Sanford. Sanford lived in New York but often traveled to St. Louis on business. Scott brought a new lawsuit against Sanford. Since the

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suit now involved people from two different states, Scott was entitled to take his case to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Appears before the Supreme Court The case known as Dred Scott v. Sandford finally appeared before the Supreme Court in February 1856. (The trial name offically, though erroneously, spelled Sanford’s name with two d’s.) By this time, the entire nation had become involved in an intense debate over slavery. Growing numbers of Northerners believed that slavery was wrong. Some people wanted to outlaw it, while others just wanted to prevent it from spreading beyond the Southern states where it was already allowed. But slavery played a big role in the Southern economy and culture. As a result, many Southerners felt threatened by Northern efforts to contain slavery. They believed that each state should decide for itself whether to allow the practice. They did not want the national government to pass laws that would interfere with their traditional way of life. This dispute grew even more heated as the United States expanded westward. Both sides wanted to spread their political ideas into the new territories and states. Scott’s case concerned several issues that both abolitionists (people who wanted to end slavery) and slavery supporters considered important. For example, it would decide whether slaves who were brought to free states had a right to freedom. Since Scott brought the suit as a citizen of Missouri, it would also decide whether black Americans could be considered citizens. Finally, it would decide whether the federal government had the authority to limit the spread of slavery to new states. Basically, the impact of the case extended far beyond Dred Scott and his family. The entire institution of slavery was placed on trial. Chief Justice Roger B. Taney (1777–1864) announced the court’s decision on March 6, 1857. Led by five justices who were Southerners, a majority of the nine-person court ruled against Scott. According to the Supreme Court, no black man—whether he was free or a slave—could ever become a U.S. citizen. Since only citizens were allowed to sue in federal court, Taney explained that Scott had no legal right to file his lawsuit in the first place. This ruling alone would have Dred Scott

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shocked and angered abolitionists all across the North. But Taney also said that the federal government did not have the right to outlaw slavery in any U.S. territories. He claimed that laws banning slavery were unconstitutional (went against the principles outlined in the U.S. Constitution) because they deprived slaveholders of property. He also stated that slaveholders could legally transport their slaves anywhere in the country since slaves were considered property.

Ruling increases hostility between North and South Antislavery organizations immediately spoke out against the verdict. They were upset that the Supreme Court had opened the door to slavery anywhere in the country. Some Northerners saw the court’s decision as proof of a Southern conspiracy to spread the institution of slavery into free states as well as the disputed western territories. After all, the ruling theoretically made it possible for slaveholders to move permanently into a free state without ever releasing their slaves from captivity. Many people worried that the Northern states would be powerless to prevent slavery from being practiced within their borders. On the other hand, many Southerners were thrilled with the Supreme Court’s decision. Northerners had been trying to force them to make major changes to their economy and social system for years. But with the Dred Scott decision, the Supreme Court had supported the South’s view of the slavery issue. It had firmly rejected the efforts of abolitionists and black Americans to limit the spread of slavery and gain equal rights for people of all colors. Over the next few years, Northern abolitionists used the Dred Scott decision as evidence that slavery and freedom could not exist together in the United States. Sure enough, the North and South went to war over the issue in 1861. As reaction to the court’s decision swept through the country, the slave Dred Scott—whose lawsuit had sparked the whole controversy—faded from view. In 1858, he and his wife were purchased by Taylor Blow, a member of the family that had owned Scott many years earlier. Blow granted Scott his freedom in May of that year. Sadly, Scott did not have 352


much time to enjoy his hard-won freedom. He died on September 17, 1858, in St. Louis.

Where to Learn More Fehrenbacher, Don E. The Dred Scott Case: Its Significance in American Law and Politics. New York: Oxford University Press, 1978. Finkelman, Paul. Dred Scott v. Sandford: A Brief History with Documents. Boston: Bedford Books, 1997. Fleischner, Jennifer. The Dred Scott Case: Testing the Right to Live Free. Brookfield, CT: Milbrook Press, 1997. Herda, D. J. The Dred Scott Case: Slavery and Citizenship. Hillside, NJ: Enslow, 1994. Lukes, Bonnie L. The Dred Scott Decision. San Diego: Lucent Books, 1997.

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Winfield Scott Born June 13, 1786 Petersburg, Virginia Died May 27, 1866 West Point, New York Union general in chief at the beginning of the Civil War Developed the “Anaconda Plan,” which eventually helped the Union win the war

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veteran of the War of 1812 (1812–15), the Seminole Wars (1835–42), and the Mexican War (1846–48), General Winfield Scott had achieved the position of commander over all Federal forces when the Civil War began in 1861. His advanced age and poor health made it impossible for him to lead troops into combat personally, and he was forced to resign his position a few months after the war started. Before resigning, though, he developed a war strategy for the Union that helped it gain victory in the conflict. Scott’s strategy helped cement his reputation as one of America’s most successful military figures of the nineteenth century.

Winfield Scott was one of America’s great military heroes of the nineteenth century.

A famous American soldier Winfield Scott was born to William and Ann Mason Scott on June 13, 1786, on a large farm about fourteen miles from Petersburg, Virginia. Scott's father died when he was six years old, leaving his mother to raise him alone. He credited her and two teachers with his training in manners as well as his passion for books. His mother died when Scott was seventeen.

Winfield Scott. (Courtesy of the Library of Congress.) 355

After a year of high school, Scott entered the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. But he stayed only one year, leaving to study law with a prominent attorney, David Robinson. Shortly thereafter, Scott began his own practice, travelling around the area to provide legal aid wherever it was needed. In 1807, President Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) announced the need for a militia (a group of citizens who volunteer to provide military services) to help the U.S. government keep British troops at bay during a foreign trade conflict. Hearing of the president's need, Scott rode twenty-five miles in one night to borrow a friend's old uniform and report for duty. Shortly thereafter, he was put in charge of a small group patrolling a section of coastline. A year later, Scott achieved the rank of captain of artillery. A few years later, he performed with great distinction in the War of 1812. This war, which lasted from 1812 to 1815, pitted the United States against Great Britain in a struggle for possession of lands in the North American West. Neither side was able to claim a clear victory in the struggle, and they finally agreed to a treaty that ended the war. Scott built a very good reputation for himself during this conflict. Despite being wounded twice and captured once, he emerged as one of America’s best officers. By the time the war ended, his exploits (brave deeds) fighting British troops along the Canadian border and elsewhere had made him one of the nation’s best known soldiers. Scott spent the next four decades serving his country in the military. During the 1830s and 1840s, he led American troops in important campaigns against several different Indian tribes, including Cherokee, Seminole, Winnebago, Sac (Sauk), and Fox groups. These clashes pushed the tribes onto reservations or forced them to relocate further West so that white settlers could move onto the land they had previously inhabited. In 1841, Scott was appointed general in chief over all federal forces. A few years later, he and General Zachary Taylor (1784–1850) led American forces in the Mexican War. This war, which began in 1846, was a fight between Mexico and the United States for ownership of huge sections of land in the West. Mexico’s leaders did not want to give up their 356


claims on these lands, because they recognized that the territory was quite valuable. By 1848, though, Scott and Taylor guided American forces to a series of dramatic military victories in the heart of Mexico. These triumphs forced the Mexican government to give up its claims on California and other western lands in exchange for $15 million. The treaty that ended the war enlarged the territory held by the United States by nearly one quarter. It also reduced the size of Mexico’s territory by almost one half.

Preparing for the Civil War By the time the Mexican War ended, Scott was known across America as a fierce fighter and a bold military strategist. In 1852, the Whig political party nominated him for the presidency of the United States. They hoped to take advantage of his fame and popularity. Divisions within the party over the issue of slavery hurt Scott’s cause, though, and he was soundly defeated by Democratic Party candidate Franklin Pierce (1804–1869) in the general election. Scott remained in charge of America’s army through the remainder of the 1850s, acquiring the nickname of “Old Fuss and Feathers” because of his affection for military rules and conduct. His health and conditioning declined during this time, however, as advancing age and various physical ailments took their toll. By the end of the decade he was so overweight that he could not even mount a horse, and he sometimes fell asleep in the middle of important meetings. People began to wonder if perhaps he should be replaced.

Winfield Scott and future U.S. president Zachary Taylor (above) led American forces in the Mexican War. (Courtesy of the Library of Congress.)

Questions about Scott’s ability to command the Federal military intensified in the spring of 1861, when the American Civil War began. This war came about because of longstanding differences between the nation’s Northern and Winfield Scott

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Winfield Scott returned from the Mexican War a military hero. (Courtesy of the Library of Congress.)

Southern regions over several major issues. The most important of these issues was slavery. Many Northerners believed that slavery was wrong. They wanted the federal government to take steps to outlaw slavery or at least keep it from spreading beyond the Southern states where it was already allowed. But slavery played an important role in the Southern economy and culture. Many Southerners resented Northern attempts to contain slavery. They felt that each state should decide for itself whether to allow the practice. They did not want the federal government to pass laws that would interfere with their traditional way of life. The two sides finally went to war in 1861, after the Southern states tried to secede from (leave) the Union and form a new country that allowed slavery, called the Confederate States of America. When it became clear that the Southern states were going to attempt to form their own country, both North and South scrambled to convince leading military officers to join

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their side. Scott remained with the Federal army in the North, even though he had been born and raised in the secessionist state of Virginia. He decided that his greatest loyalty was to his country and the army to which he had devoted his life. But he recognized that his age (seventy-four) and poor health would make it impossible for him to lead armies into combat in the upcoming war. He asked an army officer and fellow Virginian named Robert E. Lee (1807–1870; see entry) if he would accept field command of the Union Army in the upcoming war. But Lee informed Scott that he had reluctantly decided to join the Confederate Army because he could not “raise my hand against my birthplace, my home, my children” of Virginia. When Scott heard this, he replied, “You have made the greatest mistake of your life, but I feared it would be so.” Scott’s second choice as field commander of Union forces was Major General George B. McClellan (1826–1885; see entry). McClellan gladly accepted the offer, and in May 1861, he became the second-highest ranking general in the U.S. Army. During the summer of 1861, both men worked hard preparing defenses around the U.S. capital of Washington. They recognized that if the city’s defenses were not strong, Confederate forces might try to capture it in hopes of ending the war with one big victory. But while the generals succeeded in establishing effective fortifications around Washington, their relationship became strained.

Scott’s “Anaconda Plan” As Scott, McClellan, President Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865; see entry), and other officials prepared the Union forces for the upcoming war, disagreements arose between them over the best strategy for obtaining victory. Many people in the North—from politicians and military officers to newspaper editors and ordinary citizens—believed that the Union Army would easily defeat the Confederate force. They called for a full-scale invasion of the South, arguing that the Union Army’s advantages in manpower, weapons, supplies, and veteran officers would enable it to smash the Confederate rebellion within a matter of months. Winfield Scott

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Winfield Scott did not agree with this strategy, however. He believed that a big invasion of the South was a terrible idea for several reasons. For one thing, he thought that the South might be a far tougher opponent than most Northerners realized. He also did not have a lot of confidence in the inexperienced soldiers that the Union was training for the war. Scott worried that it would take months before these men developed into competent troops. Finally, he believed that a successful full-scale invasion might produce “devastated [slave states] not to be brought into harmony with their conquerors, but to be held for generations, by heavy garrisons [large numbers of troops].” Instead of an invasion plan, Scott developed a strategy to “envelop the insurgent [secessionist] States and bring them to terms with less bloodshed than by any other plan,” as he stated in a May 1861 letter to McClellan. Under Scott’s proposed plan, the North would hold off on a major invasion and instead concentrate its efforts on blockading Southern ports and controlling the Mississippi River, which ran through the western section of the Confederacy. The general believed that these waterways held the key to Union victory. Northern control of the seas would prevent the Confederacy from receiving weapons and other supplies from other nations. Northern control over the Mississippi River, meanwhile, would drive a wedge between Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas and the rest of the Confederacy. Scott firmly believed that if the North could establish an effective blockade and divide the South by taking control of the Mississippi, the Confederacy would eventually collapse from supply shortages and economic weakness. The Union could then invade and smash the remains of the Confederate Army into pieces. Scott believed that his plan would eventually work, and that it would cause less bloodshed than other strategies. But many Northerners did not like Scott’s plan. Political leaders, newspaper writers, and ordinary farmers and townspeople all said that his plan was too cautious and that it would take too long to execute. They called Scott’s strategy the Anaconda Plan, after the large snake that kills its victims by slowly squeezing them to death. Impatient and overconfident, these critics continued to call for a massive military invasion 360


of the South. Public demand for a big offensive (attacking) campaign finally became so great that Lincoln agreed to an invasion plan.

McClellan pushes Scott into retirement During the summer of 1861, the North mounted a major offensive into Virginia. The invasion ended in disaster, though, when Southern troops smashed the Union Army at Manassas Junction on July 21. Many Northerners called on Scott to retire when they learned the results of this battle, called the First Battle of Bull Run or the First Battle of Manassas. Since he was general in chief over all Union troops, they argued that he deserved some of the blame for the defeat, even though he had been at his offices in Washington, D.C., when the actual battle took place. General McClellan maneuvered to push Scott into retirement as well. McClellan ignored the general, saying that “he understands nothing, appreciates nothing.” Submitting his reports directly to Lincoln, he tried to convince Northern political leaders that Scott should resign. Lincoln tried to calm the bitter rivalry between the two generals, but his efforts failed. On November 1, Scott retired from active military service “for reasons of health.” In reality, though, it was the actions of McClellan and his political allies that forced him to retire. Scott spent the rest of the war watching from the sidelines. As the war progressed, he noted with great satisfaction that the Union used a great deal of his Anaconda Plan to defeat the Confederacy. The Union Navy established a blockade of Southern ports that eventually became extremely effective, and his proposal to seize control of the Mississippi Valley became a key part of Union strategy by 1862. In the spring of 1865, the Union finally won the war. Scott lived to see the Union restored, although health problems plagued him throughout the Civil War years. He died in 1866 while staying at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in New York. Winfield Scott

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Where to Learn More Eisenhower, John S. D. Agent of Destiny: Life and Times of General Winfield Scott. New York: Free Press, 1997. Johnson, Timothy D. Winfield Scott: The Quest for Military Glory. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1998.

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William Henry Seward Born May 16, 1801 Florida, New York Died October 10, 1872 Auburn, New York Secretary of state in the Lincoln and Johnson administrations

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illiam Henry Seward was an important political figure throughout the Civil War era. In the 1840s and 1850s, he became known as one of America’s leading advocates of abolitionism (the movement to end slavery). During the war, he joined the administration of President Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865; see entry) as secretary of state and became one of the president’s most trusted advisors. Seward remained in his position as secretary of state through the first years of Reconstruction (the period from 1865 to 1877 during which the Southern states were rebuilt and rejoined the United States) as well. During this period, Seward supported President Andrew Johnson (1808–1875; see entry) and his generous policies toward the South and negotiated the purchase of Alaska from Russia.

“There is no law of this State which recognizes slavery, no statute which admits that one man can be the property of another, or that one man can be stolen from another.”

Growing up in rural New York William Henry Seward was born in 1801 in Florida, New York, a small village in the southern region of the state. His father was Samuel Seward, a wealthy landowner who was

William H. Seward. (Courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration.) 363

very strict with young William and his five brothers and sisters. His mother was Mary Jennings, who treated her children with kindness and affection. As a boy, Seward had his full share of chores around the family farm. Health problems bothered him throughout his childhood, though, leading his parents to wonder if he had the strength to succeed at farming or other strenuous pursuits. “My health caused me to be early set apart for a collegiate education, [which was regarded at the time] by every family . . . as a privilege so high and so costly that not more than one son could expect it,” remembered Seward. In 1816, Seward’s father enrolled him in Union College, an all-male school in Schenectady, New York. Seward excelled in his studies, graduating four years later with top honors. In October 1822, he passed the state bar exam, which enabled him to practice law in New York. Soon after passing the exam, he accepted a position at a law firm in Auburn, New York, where he maintained a home for the rest of his life. In 1824, he married a local girl named Frances Miller, with whom he eventually had four children.

Law and politics Seward’s law practice became very successful during the 1820s. As the years passed, however, Seward never really warmed up to the idea of being an attorney. Instead, he became attracted to local and state politics. In 1830, he was elected to the state senate, where he quickly emerged as one of New York’s brightest young legislators. He maintained his flourishing law practice during this time, but devoted most of his energy to his senatorial duties. In the mid-1830s, Seward became a dedicated member of the Whigs, a new political party that believed in a strong national bank, high tariffs (taxes on imported goods), and social reforms designed to help poor people. In 1834, he ran for governor of New York as the Whig nominee, only to be decisively defeated. Four years later, however, he won the governor’s office by a sizable margin. 364


Governor of New York Seward served as governor of New York for two terms, from 1839 to 1843. During this time he became widely known for his efforts to improve education, increase economic development, expand state canal and railroad systems, and improve conditions in prisons. He worked hard to expand educational opportunities for immigrant children, for example, and tried to relieve the terrible conditions in the New York prison system. Seward’s opposition to slavery also became evident during this period. He endorsed bills that increased the civil rights of both free blacks and fugitive slaves, and changed laws to make it easier for black children to obtain an education. Seward’s views on slavery became even better known, however, when he got in a bitter fight with Virginia slaveowners. Seward’s dispute with Virginia erupted in 1839, when three black sailors from New York state unsuccessfully attempted to smuggle (secretly carry) a Virginia slave aboard their ship. When Virginia’s governor learned about the scheme, he demanded that the three sailors be turned over to Virginia officials for trial. Seward responded by launching an attack on the institution of slavery and ignoring Virginia’s demands. “There is no law of this State which recognizes slavery, no statute which admits that one man can be the property of another, or that one man can be stolen from another,” wrote Seward. “[The sailors’ act] is not a felony [major crime] nor a crime within the meaning of the constitution.” The New York governor’s stand “placed Seward squarely in the antislavery camp at a time when the abolitionists were gaining prominence on the national political scene,” wrote John M. Taylor in William Henry Seward: Lincoln’s Right Hand.

Seward joins the U.S. Senate Seward decided not to seek the governorship of New York in 1842. The political battles of the previous few years had exhausted him, and he decided that he needed to take a break. He returned to his law practice, where he made enough money to pay off several large debts that he had accumulated as governor. William Henry Seward

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By the mid-1840s, though, Seward’s enthusiasm for politics had returned. In 1849, he was elected to the U.S. Senate, where his criticism of slavery intensified. Alarmed at Southern efforts to expand slavery into America’s western territories, he warned of a future war between the slavery-dependent South and the Northern states, where slavery was increasingly viewed as immoral. In the mid-1850s, Seward left the Whig Party, which was falling apart because of disagreements over slavery. He joined a new antislavery party known as the Republicans. Within a matter of months, Seward emerged as one of the leading antislavery voices of the new party. On October 25, 1858, for example, he delivered a famous speech in Rochester, New York, where he warned of an approaching “irrepressible conflict” between the South’s slave-based economy and the North’s free labor economy. “The United States must and will, sooner or later, become either entirely a slave-holding nation or entirely a free-labor nation,” he stated. “I know, and you know, that a revolution has begun. . . . While the government of the United States, under the conduct of the Democratic party, has been all that time surrendering one plain and castle after another to slavery, the people of the United States have been no less steadily and perseveringly [persistently] gathering together the forces with which to recover back again all the fields and castles that have been lost.” By 1860, Seward was completing his second full term as senator (he was reelected in 1855) and thinking about running for president of the United States. After all, he was one of America’s best known political leaders, and he knew he could count on support from many influential Republican Party leaders. As the time drew near for Republicans to select their candidate for president in the fall 1860 elections, Seward was sure that he would win the nomination. As it turned out, however, Seward did not receive the party’s nomination. Some delegates (representatives) opposed him because of his past policies as New York governor. Others voted against him because they knew that Seward’s strong antislavery reputation would make him unpopular with Southern voters. These factors enabled a relatively unknown politician named Abraham Lincoln to capture the Republican 366


nomination for the presidency. Lincoln’s victory shocked Seward and his supporters, as well as the rest of the nation. But after spending a few weeks at his home in Auburn, Seward actively campaigned for Lincoln’s election.

The American Civil War begins In November 1860, widespread support from Northern voters enabled Lincoln to defeat Democratic candidates Stephen Douglas (1813–1861) and Vice President John C. Breckinridge (1821–1875) to become the sixteenth president of the United States. Lincoln’s victory infuriated America’s Southern states, though. Republicans had hoped that their decision to nominate Lincoln instead of a “radical abolitionist” like Seward would reassure white Southerners that the party wanted to settle North-South differences over slavery through negotiation and compromise. But most white Southerners believed that all Republicans were alike. They worried that Lincoln would take immediate steps to abolish (eliminate) slavery, which they viewed as the cornerstone of their economic and social lives. As a result, a number of Southern states seceded from (left) the United States following Lincoln’s election. With their enemies in control of the U.S. government, they felt that the only way they could protect their rights as independent states was to leave the Union. But it soon became clear that the North was willing to fight to keep the Southern states in the Union. Within a matter of months, the two sides were at war.

Lincoln’s secretary of state When Lincoln won the presidential election of 1860, he asked Seward to serve as his secretary of state. Seward accepted the position, which was the most important one in the entire cabinet (a group of advisors who guide various departments of government). Upon arriving in Washington, D.C., however, Seward acted as if he were the president. Skeptical about Lincoln’s abilities to lead the country, he lectured the president about various policy issues and tried to dictate military strategy. William Henry Seward

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Seward’s actions angered Lincoln. But the president knew that the New York native was a bright legislator and a talented statesman. As a result, he skillfully neutralized Seward’s maneuvers until mid-1861, when the secretary of state realized that Lincoln knew what he was doing. From that point on, Seward accepted his role and became an important member of the Lincoln administration. As the Civil War progressed, Seward proved his value to Lincoln in many ways. For example, Lincoln recognized that if Great Britain or France declared support for the Confederate government, the Union might have to let the Southern states go or risk a disastrous trade war with Europe. Seward used his diplomatic skills to convince Great Britain and France to withhold recognition of the Confederacy’s claim of independence. He also intervened to prevent foreign nations from providing the South with ships, weapons, and other supplies.

Lewis Paine, the man who stabbed William Seward the night of President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination. (Reproduced by permission of the National Portrait Gallery.)

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By the time the war ended in the spring of 1865, Seward had become a close friend and trusted advisor to Lincoln. After all, they had spent the previous four years laboring together to restore the Union and defending each other from critics who did not like their wartime policies. On April 14, 1865, however, their friendship and alliance came to a tragic end. That evening, fanatical Southern sympathizers attacked both men in separate incidents. Seward was attacked in the bedroom of his Washington, D.C., home, where he was recovering from a carriage accident. He suffered several stab wounds at the hands of Lewis Paine, but survived the assault. Lincoln was murdered by John Wilkes Booth while attending a play at Washington’s Ford Theatre. American Civil War: Biographies

“Seward’s Folly” Lincoln’s death vaulted Vice President Andrew Johnson into the presidency on April 15, 1865. Seward continued to serve as secretary of state in the Johnson administration. He supported Johnson’s Reconstruction policies, which were widely criticized for being too lenient on the South. Defending Johnson’s approach to restoring the Southern states to the Union, Seward argued that “history shows that the more generous and magnanimous [forgiving] the conqueror to the conquered, the sooner victory has been followed by conciliation and a lasting peace.” In 1867, Seward made his most remarkable postwar contribution when he negotiated the purchase of Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million. Some people referred to the acquisition of Alaska as “Seward’s Folly,” because they could not believe that he had paid so much money for a distant land of ice and mountains. As time passed, however, Americans realized that Seward’s purchase of the land was one of the great bargains of all time. Seward left his government position in March 1869, when Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885; see entry) became president of the United States. He returned to Auburn, but soon became restless in retirement. He subsequently went on a tour of the world with some family friends. Shortly after his return to Auburn, however, his health began to decline. He died on October 10, 1872.

Where to Learn More Lothrop, Thonrton Kirkland. William Henry Seward. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1895. Reprint, 1972. Taylor, John M. William Henry Seward: Lincoln’s Right Hand. New York: HarperCollins, 1991. Van Deusen, Glyndon G. William Henry Seward. New York: Oxford University Press, 1967.

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Robert Gould Shaw Born October 10, 1837 Boston, Massachusetts Died July 18, 1863 Morris Island, South Carolina Union colonel of the all-black Fifty-Fourth Massachusetts Regiment Led the assault on Fort Wagner in South Carolina that proved the courage of black soldiers in combat

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obert Gould Shaw became a hero as commanding officer of the Fifty-Fourth Massachusetts Regiment—the first allblack regiment to be organized in the North. Black men were not allowed to join the Union Army in the early days of the Civil War. Even when the law was changed in mid-1862, many people still doubted whether black men could be good soldiers. Prominent black leaders and abolitionists (people who wanted to eliminate slavery) organized the Fifty-Fourth Massachusetts and selected Shaw as its leader in the hope of changing people’s views. In July 1863, the regiment led an assault on Fort Wagner, a Confederate stronghold guarding the harbor in Charleston, South Carolina. The bravery of Shaw and the Fifty-Fourth Massachusetts during the assault convinced people across the North that black soldiers deserved to fight for the freedom of their race.

“Isn’t it extraordinary that the Government won’t make use of the instrument that would finish the war sooner than anything else—the slaves?”

Son of wealthy abolitionists

Robert Gould Shaw. (From Harper’s Weekly, August 15, 1863.)

Robert Gould Shaw was born into a life of wealth and privilege on October 10, 1837, in Boston, Massachusetts. His

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parents, Francis George Shaw and Sarah Blake Sturgis Shaw, were both descended from early American colonists. They put their money and influence to work as social reformers. One of the issues that concerned them deeply was slavery. Black people were taken from Africa and brought to North America to serve as slaves for white people beginning in the 1600s. The basic belief behind slavery was that black people were inferior to whites. Under slavery, white slaveholders treated black people as property, forced them to perform hard labor, and controlled every aspect of their lives. States in the Northern half of the United States began outlawing slavery in the late 1700s. But slavery continued to exist in the Southern half of the country because it played an important role in the South’s economy and culture. The Shaws believed that slavery was wrong and wanted to abolish (put an end to) it. They frequently spoke out on the subject and held meetings of fellow abolitionists at their home. As a result, Robert was exposed to the arguments against slavery from an early age.

Educated in Europe When Robert was nine years old, his family moved to Staten Island, New York. At this time, Staten Island was a rural area populated by a few wealthy families who lived on large estates. Shaw loved being outdoors and exploring the fields and woods near his home. He attended a small private school there, and then went to boarding school for a short time. In 1848, Shaw went to Europe with his family. He lived there for most of the next eight years, studying in Switzerland and Germany. In 1856, Shaw returned to the United States and enrolled at Harvard University. He found the schoolwork easy compared to his education in Europe, so he spent most of his two years there enjoying an active social life. He joined a boating club and played violin in string quartets. He also struggled with the question of what he wanted to do with his life. Hoping to do more traveling, he took a job in the New York City offices of an overseas trading company owned by his uncle in 1859. He did not like the work, however, and worried that he lacked the ability to move up into management. 372


Joins the Union Army By 1860, the issue of slavery had caused a huge division between the Northern and Southern sections of the country. Thanks to the efforts of Shaw’s parents and other abolitionists, growing numbers of Northerners believed that slavery was wrong. Some people wanted to outlaw it, while others wanted to prevent it from spreading beyond the Southern states where it was already allowed. But many Southerners felt threatened by Northern efforts to contain slavery. They believed that each state should decide for itself whether to allow slavery. They did not want the national government to pass laws that would interfere with their traditional way of life. This situation exploded when Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865; see entry) was elected president of the United States. Since Lincoln w as a Northerner who opposed slavery, the Southern states believed that the nation’s government could no longer represent their interests. In early 1861, several Southern states seceded (withdrew) from the United States and formed a new country that allowed slavery, called the Confederate States of America. But Northern political leaders were determined to keep the Southern states in the Union. The two sides soon went to war. Shaw was glad when the Civil War began because he was tired of seeing the North compromise with the South. “As for making concessions [compromises], it is only patching up the affair for a year or two, when it would break out worse than ever,” he stated. He also felt that force was justified to settle the issue of slavery. When the Southern states began to secede, Lincoln called for volunteers to come defend the U.S. capital in Washington, D.C. Shaw immediately joined the Seventh New York National Guard as a private. This military unit was made up almost entirely of young men like Shaw, from wealthy New England families. Huge crowds of people lined the streets to see them off on their trip to Washington. They ended up being the first regiment to arrive in the capital. But Shaw’s first experience of military life did not prove very exciting. He spent most of his time doing chores during his ninetyday term of service. Robert Gould Shaw

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Becomes an officer in the Second Massachusetts When his time with the Seventh New York ended, Shaw applied for a commission as an officer in the Second Massachusetts Regiment. Under the direction of Colonel George H. Gordon, Shaw learned military discipline and his self-confidence increased. He finally seemed to have found something meaningful to do with his life. Within a short time, the Second Massachusetts began to see action in the war. They were sent to the Shenandoah Valley in western Virginia, where they engaged in a number of skirmishes (brief fights) with Confederate forces under the command of Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson (1824–1863; see entry). During breaks in the fighting, Shaw began thinking and talking with other officers about the wisdom of using black soldiers, and especially former slaves, in the Union Army. At this point, Federal law prohibited black men from joining the army. Many Northern whites wanted to keep it that way. Some whites claimed that the purpose of the Civil War was to restore the Union rather than to settle the issue of slavery. And since the war was not about slavery, they felt that there was no need to change the law so that black people could join the fight. Another reason that many Northern whites did not want black men to be allowed to join the army was deep-seated racial prejudice. Some whites believed that they were superior to blacks and did not want to fight alongside them. Finally, some Northerners worried that allowing blacks to become soldiers would convince the border states— four states that allowed slavery but remained part of the Union anyway—to join the Confederacy. Black leaders and white abolitionists in the North were outraged at the policies and prejudices that prevented black men from fighting in the Civil War. Free black men from the North had tried to enlist from the earliest days of the conflict. They wanted to help the Union forces put an end to slavery. They also believed that proving their patriotism and courage on the field of battle would help improve their position in American society. Many Northern blacks signed petitions asking the Federal government to change its rules, but the government refused. In the meantime, thousands of blacks—both freemen and escaped or liberated slaves—provided unofficial help for the cause by serving as 374


cooks, carpenters, laborers, nurses, scouts, and servants for the Union troops. Shaw and some of his fellow officers believed that allowing black men to become soldiers could only help the Union war effort. “Isn’t it extraordinary that the Government won’t make use of the instrument that would finish the war sooner than anything else—the slaves?” Shaw wrote. “What a lick it would be to [the Confederates] to call on all the blacks in the country to come and enlist in our army! They would probably make a fine army after a little drill, and could certainly be kept under better discipline than our independent Yankees [Northerners]!” In September 1862, Shaw’s regiment joined a large Union force under General George B. McClellan (1826–1885; see entry) along Antietam Creek in Maryland. On September 17, they fought a vicious day-long battle against Confederate forces under General Robert E. Lee (1807–1870; see entry). The Battle of Antietam killed or wounded more than twentythree thousand Union and Confederate soldiers, making it the single bloodiest day in Civil War history. Although the fighting ended without a clear winner, Lincoln used it as an excuse to issue his Emancipation Proclamation. This document stated his intention to free all the slaves in Confederate territory on January 1, 1863. In addition, it declared that black men would officially be allowed to serve in the Union Army.

Takes command of the all-black Fifty-Fourth Massachusetts In January 1863, the United States government authorized Governor John Andrew (1818–1867) of Massachusetts to put together a regiment of black soldiers from his state. Since there were not enough black men living in Massachusetts at that time, Andrew called upon prominent abolitionists and black leaders to recruit men from all over the North to form the Fifty-Fourth Massachusetts Regiment. The Fifty-Fourth Massachusetts would be the first all-black regiment to represent a state in battle during the Civil War. Many white people in the North were opposed to allowing black soldiers to fight for the Union Army, so Governor AnRobert Gould Shaw

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drew and his recruiters had a lot to lose if the regiment failed. “Andrew wanted to prove that black men would fight—which would in turn prove that they were men and thus entitled to be free citizens,” Russell Duncan wrote in his introduction to BlueEyed Child of Fortune: The Civil War Letters of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw. “Andrew understood the importance of making the venture a success, and he staked his reputation and career upon his conviction [belief] that blacks would fight and fight well.” Since black men were not allowed to become officers in the Union Army, the governor selected several white men to lead the Fifty-Fourth Massachusetts. Andrew knew that the regiment would receive a great deal of publicity, so he chose these officers carefully. In February, he wrote a letter asking Shaw to become colonel of the regiment. “I am about to raise a Colored Regiment in Massachusetts. This I cannot but regard as the most important corps [military unit] to be organized during the whole war,” the governor wrote. “I am desirous to have for its officers . . . young men of military experience, of firm AntiSlavery principles, ambitious, superior to vulgar contempt of color [about common prejudices about blacks], and having faith in the capacity of Colored men for military service.” Shaw’s father delivered the message to him personally. The young soldier agonized over the decision. At first, Shaw questioned whether he could handle the responsibility. He knew that leading the first all-black regiment from the North would be a difficult job, and that many people would criticize his efforts and hope that he would fail. In addition, Shaw felt very close to his current regiment. Facing battle together had created a bond of trust that he was reluctant to break. After considering all these factors, Shaw informed his father that he would refuse Governor Andrew’s offer. But then his mother wrote him a letter saying that she was bitterly disappointed in him, and his commanding officer expressed faith in his abilities as a leader. As a result, Shaw decided it was his duty to lead the Fifty-Fourth Massachusetts Regiment. He wrote to Andrew a few days later and accepted the job.

Gains respect for his black soldiers When Shaw arrived in Boston to begin training the recruits for the Fifty-Fourth Massachusetts, he had never been 376


around black men before. At first, he tended to believe some of the stereotypes (a generalized, oversimplified view of an ethnic group’s behavior) he had heard about black people. But as he got to know more of his soldiers personally, he gained a great deal of respect and affection for them. “Never before around African Americans, Shaw changed through contact with them. He still held himself above blacks and formally addressed them, but he began to respect their abilities,” Duncan noted. “Soon, Shaw became attached to his men and defended them strongly against outside abuse. He had been forced by their actions to question, then conquer, his own misconceptions. They proved their intelligence, commitment to order, pluck [courage], and adaptability to military life. As Shaw changed, he won the respect of his men.” On May 2, 1863, Shaw married Anna Kneeland Haggerty. A few weeks later, she was on hand to watch the FiftyFourth Massachusetts take part in a ceremony to mark the end of their training. Many prominent abolitionists and military leaders were in the crowd. At the end of the ceremony, Governor Andrew handed Shaw a flag and said, “Wherever its folds shall be unfurled, it will mark the path of glory.” Immediately afterward, the Fifty-Fourth Massachusetts shipped out to Hilton Head, an island off the coast of South Carolina. For the first month, Shaw’s regiment took part in several raids along the Southern coast. On one of these raids, they accompanied a regiment made up of former slaves under the command of Colonel James Montgomery. The two regiments entered the town of Darien, Georgia, and took all the food and supplies they could find. Afterward, Montgomery ordered his troops to burn the town. Shaw protested the order, but Montgomery’s troops destroyed the town anyway. Southern newspapers picked up the story and criticized the black regiments, calling them “vandals” and “thieves.” Even though Shaw had not participated in the destruction, he ended up sharing the blame. By early July, Shaw was eager to take his troops into battle and prove what they could do. “I want to get my men along side of white troops, and into a good fight, if there is to be one,” he stated. Around this time, the Union military leaders decided to concentrate on capturing the port city of Charleston, South Carolina. General George Strong asked Robert Gould Shaw

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Shaw to bring his regiment up the coast to help implement the plan. On the way, the Fifty-Fourth Massachusetts stopped on James Island and saw their first real action. In a coordinated effort with white soldiers, they helped beat back a Confederate attack.

Leads Union assault on Fort Wagner The Fifty-Fourth Massachusetts finally arrived at Charleston Harbor on July 18, 1863. The regiment was chosen to lead an assault on Fort Wagner, a Confederate stronghold that guarded the entrance to the harbor. The soldiers had marched all of the previous day and night, along beaches and through swamps, in terrible heat and humidity. But even though they were tired and hungry by the time they reached Charleston, they still proudly took their positions at the head of the assault. As evening came, Shaw led the Fifty-Fourth Massachusetts in a charge toward the fort. They were immediately hit with heavy artillery and musket fire from the Confederate troops inside the fort. Shaw was killed in the fighting, along with nearly half of his six hundred officers and men. But the remaining troops kept moving forward, crossed the moat (deep ditch sometimes filled with water) surrounding the fort, and climbed up the stone wall. They were eventually forced to retreat when reinforcements did not appear in time, but by then they had inflicted heavy losses on the enemy. The next day, Confederate troops dug a mass grave and buried Shaw’s body along with his fallen black soldiers, despite the fact that the bodies of high-ranking officers were usually returned by both sides. The Confederates intended this action to be an insult, since they believed that whites were superior to blacks and thus deserved a better burial. Several weeks later, when Union forces finally captured Fort Wagner, a Union officer offered to search for the grave and recover Shaw’s body. But Shaw’s father refused the offer. “We hold that a soldier’s most appropriate burial-place is on the field where he has fallen,” he wrote. Even though the Fifty-Fourth Massachusetts did not succeed in capturing Fort Wagner, their brave performance in 378


William H. Carney, the First Black Soldier Awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor William H. Carney was born a slave in Norfolk, Virginia, in 1840. When his owner died in 1854, he and his family received their freedom. They soon moved to New Bedford, Massachusetts, because they felt that black people were not safe in the South. When the call went out for black men to join the Union Army, he was among the first to enlist. He joined the Fifty-Fourth Massachusetts Regiment in February 1863 for a three-year term. He quickly impressed Colonel Shaw and the other officers with his bravery and strength. Carney played a leading role in the assault on Fort Wagner in July 1863. As the Fifty-Fourth Massachusetts moved forward, artillery and gunfire exploded all around them. Many of his fellow soldiers were killed. At one point, Carney found the American flag lying on the ground. The man who had been carrying it was dead. He picked up the flag and continued his charge across the moat and up the wall of the fort. He caught up with Shaw just as his commanding officer was fatally shot. He then stuck the flagpole he was carrying into the ground and crouched on the top of the wall, firing repeatedly at Confederates inside the fort. He kept on fighting even though he received serious wounds to his chest, arms, and legs. As the Union troops began to fall back from the assault, Carney limped back to his regiment. He tried to raise their spirits

William H. Carney. (Reproduced with permission of Fisk University Library.)

and convince them to return to the fort. But after seeing his wounds, the officer in charge told him he had done enough already. Carney replied: “I have only done my duty, the old flag never touched the ground.” He then handed the flag over to the officer and stumbled alone to the field hospital. After recovering from his wounds, Carney received a discharge from the Union Army. He lived in the Boston area with his wife, Susanna Williams, after the war. He worked for the city as the superintendent of street lighting and as a mail carrier. In May 1900, Carney received the Congressional Medal of Honor for his bravery at Fort Wagner. He thus became the first African American to win the nation’s highest military honor. Carney died in 1908 following an elevator accident that crushed his leg.

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battle was considered a triumph. Newspapers throughout the North carried the story, even those that had opposed the enlistment of blacks in the Union Army. People were forced to admit that black men were just as capable as whites of fighting and dying for the Union and freedom. By the end of 1863, sixty new black regiments were being formed across the North. The success of the Fifty-Fourth Massachusetts and other black regiments not only helped the North win the Civil War, but also led to greater acceptance of blacks in American society. Shortly after Shaw’s death, Governor Andrew began organizing a memorial to him and his fallen soldiers in Boston. He hired the famous sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens (1848–1907) to design the memorial. The artist finally unveiled his work in 1897, at a ceremony attended by many black Civil War veterans. It shows Shaw on horseback, surrounded by his black troops, as they march southward to fight for freedom and equality for people of all races. “There they march, warm-blooded champions of a better day for man,” philosopher William James (1842–1910) said at the dedication. “There on horseback, among them . . . sits the blue-eyed child of fortune, upon whose happy youth every divinity had smiled. Onward they move together, a single resolution kindled in their eyes.”

Where to Learn More Burchard, Peter. We’ll Stand by the Union: Robert Gould Shaw and the Black 54th Massachusetts Regiment. New York: Facts on File, 1993. Duncan, Russell, ed. Blue-Eyed Child of Fortune: The Civil War Letters of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1992. Duncan, Russell. Where Death and Glory Meet: Colonel Robert Gould Shaw and the 54th Massachusetts Infantry. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1999. National Gallery of Art. Augustus Saint-Gaudens’ Memorial to Robert Gould Shaw and the Massachusetts Fifty-fourth Regiment. [Online] http:// www.nga.gov/feature/shaw/home.htm (accessed on October 16, 1999). Smith, Marion W. Beacon’s Hill Colonel Robert Gould Shaw. New York: Carlton Press, 1986. Smith, Marion W. Colonel Robert Gould Shaw: A Pictorial Companion. New York: Carlton Press, 1990. Trudeau, Noah Andre. Like Men of War: Black Troops in the Civil War. Boston: Little, Brown, 1998. 380


Philip H. Sheridan Born March 6, 1831 Albany, New York Died August 5, 1888 Nosquitt, Massachusetts Union cavalry general Led successful Shenandoah Campaign in 1864 and won Battle of Five Forks in April 1865, which ultimately resulted in General Lee’s surrender at Appomattox

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hilip Sheridan was one of the Union Army’s finest military leaders during the second half of the Civil War. His steady direction was vital in improving the performance of the Army of the Potomac’s cavalry corps in 1863. A year later, his successful invasion of Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley pushed the Confederacy one step closer to surrender. Finally, his victory at Five Forks in April 1865 forced General Robert E. Lee (1807–1870; see entry) to abandon his defense of Richmond (the capital city of the Confederacy) and helped bring the war to a close. In recognition of these accomplishments, Union commander Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885; see entry) stated, “I believe General Sheridan has no superior as a general, either living or dead, and perhaps not an equal.”

“I believe General Sheridan has no superior as a general, either living or dead, and perhaps not an equal.” Ulysses S. Grant

Aiming for a military career Philip Henry Sheridan was born in Albany, New York, in 1831. After attending school in Albany, he was accepted into the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in July 1848. During his time at West Point, however, he got in a quarrel

Philip H. Sheridan. (Courtesy of U.S. Army Photographers.) 381

with a fellow cadet (military student). Sheridan was suspended for the incident, but he eventually was allowed to return to the academy. After graduating from West Point in July 1853, Sheridan was assigned to a variety of military posts in Kentucky, Texas, and Oregon. These military assignments in the West often took him to outposts that were hundreds of miles from the population centers of the United States. But no matter where he was stationed, Sheridan followed the growing tensions between America’s Northern and Southern regions with great interest. By the 1850s, the North and South had become deadlocked over several emotional issues, including slavery and the concept of states’ rights. Many Northerners believed that slavery was wrong and wanted to abolish (eliminate) it. They also contended that the federal government had the authority to pass laws that applied to all citizens of the United States. But a large part of the South’s economy and culture had been built on slavery, and Southerners resented Northern efforts to halt or contain the practice. In addition, they argued that the federal government did not have the constitutional power to institute national laws on slavery or other issues. Instead, white Southerners argued that each state should decide for itself whether to allow slavery. Finally, America’s westward expansion made the situation even worse, since both sides wanted to spread their way of life—and their political ideas— into the new territories and states. In early 1861, several Southern states became so fed up with the situation that they seceded from (left) the United States to form a new country that allowed slavery, called the Confederate States of America. The U.S. government, though, declared that those states had no right to secede and that it was willing to use force to make them return to the Union. In the spring of 1861, these bitter differences finally erupted into war.

Sheridan makes his mark in battle As a native New Yorker who had pledged to serve the U.S. Army, there was no doubt that Sheridan would fight for the Union in the Civil War. During the first months of the 382


war, he served as a staff officer for higher-ranking officers in the army, helping with strategy sessions and administrative duties. In May 1862, though, Sheridan was promoted to colonel and given command of the Second Michigan Cavalry. During the remainder of 1862, Sheridan distinguished himself in several different battles in the Civil War’s western theater (the region of the South between the Mississippi River and the Appalachian Mountains). First, he led a successful raid on Booneville, Mississippi, in July. Then, Sheridan and his troops helped the North take hard-fought victories at the Battle of Perryville in Kentucky and the Battle of Stones River in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. In recognition of his impressive military performance, Sheridan was promoted to the rank of major-general at the beginning of 1863. During the next sixteen months, he remained in the West as an infantry commander in the Union’s Army of the Cumberland.

Service in the Army of the Cumberland The Army of the Cumberland spent much of the summer of 1863 in the state of Tennessee. Their main opponent in that state was the Confederate Army of Tennessee, led by General Braxton Bragg (1817–1876; see entry). By late September 1863, Army of the Cumberland maneuvers masterminded by Union general William S. Rosecrans (1819–1898) convinced Bragg to abandon the city of Chattanooga and clear out of Tennessee. But when Rosecrans continued his pursuit of Bragg into northern Georgia, the Confederate general counterattacked. This battle—known as the Battle of Chickamauga—ended in disaster for the North, as Union divisions under the command of Sheridan and other Union officers broke into chaotic flight. Bragg’s army chased the retreating Union soldiers all the way back to Chattanooga, then surrounded the city. For a short time it appeared that the Army of the Cumberland was in danger of being destroyed. But Union reinforcements soon arrived, and General George H. Thomas (1816–1870; see entry) organized a successful counterattack in late November. Sheridan’s division played an important part in this counterattack. Their capture of the strategically important position Philip H. Sheridan

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known as Missionary Ridge triggered a complete Confederate retreat back into Georgia.

Sheridan joins Grant In February 1864, General Grant assumed command of all Union armies. Leaving General William T. Sherman (1820–1891; see entry) in charge of the Union Army in the West, Grant moved east to take personal control of the Army of the Potomac. The Army of the Potomac was the primary Union army in the war’s eastern theater, and Grant wanted to guide its activities himself. (General George Meade [1815–1872; see entry] remained the official head of the Army of the Potomac, but Grant exercised ultimate control over its actions.) Upon taking over the Army of the Potomac, Grant decided to make Sheridan its new cavalry commander. The reassignment delighted Sheridan, and he immediately requested greater freedom to use his cavalry without waiting for orders all the time. He believed that if he were given an independent command, he could go out and track down Jeb Stuart (1833–1864; see entry), the leading Confederate cavalryman in Virginia. Grant liked the idea, and he quickly approved the plan.

The Battle at Yellow Tavern In the spring of 1864, Sheridan advanced on Richmond with a force of twelve thousand cavalry. As he hoped, his march on the rebel capital convinced the Confederates to send Stuart and his cavalry to stop him. Stuart managed to halt the Union advance at a small village called Yellow Tavern, located a few miles outside of Richmond. But Stuart had only about forty thousand horsemen under his command, which gave Sheridan a big advantage in battle. The two cavalry forces clashed together on May 11, 1864. Fighting desperately to defend their capital, Stuart’s troops halted Sheridan’s advance and eventually forced him to retreat. But Stuart was mortally wounded in the clash and died a day later. According to Sheridan, Stuart’s death made his mission a success. “Under [Stuart], the cavalry of Lee’s 384


army had been nurtured but had acquired such prestige that it thought itself well nigh invincible [unconquerable],” Sheridan later stated. “Indeed, in the early years of the war, it had proved to be so. This was now dispelled [eliminated] by the successful march we had made in Lee’s rear, and the removal of Stuart at Yellow Tavern had inflicted a blow from which entire recovery was impossible.”

The Shenandoah Valley Campaign Sheridan’s performance against Stuart convinced Grant that he should use the steady cavalry commander against other troublesome Confederate cavalry forces. In the summer of 1864, he sent Sheridan into the Shenandoah Valley, an area of northern Virginia that had been a favorite Confederate invasion route and supply source since the war’s early days. Sheridan’s main target in the Shenandoah Valley was a fifteen thousand–strong Confederate cavalry force led by Lieutenant General Jubal Early (1816–1894). But Grant also wanted to eliminate the valley as a source of food and supplies for the South. He thus ordered Sheridan not only to drive Jubal Early’s cavalry out of the region, but also to destroy the farmlands that had been used to supply Confederates with needed food and supplies. “Carry off stock [livestock or supplies] of all descriptions and negroes so as to prevent further planting,” Grant ordered. “If the War is to last another year we want the Shenandoah Valley to remain a barren waste.” Armed with a forty thousand–man force of cavalry and infantry, Sheridan moved through the valley with grim determination. In August, his army—designated the Army of the Shenandoah by Grant—began their assault on the valley’s proConfederacy farms and villages. They burned barns, destroyed crops, and captured livestock wherever they went, obeying Sheridan’s declaration that “the people [of the Shenandoah Valley] must be left nothing but their eyes to weep with over the war.” Confederate guerrillas (armed raiders) led by John Singleton Mosby (1833–1916; see entry) repeatedly struck against Sheridan’s army during this time, but their efforts proved useless in stopping the destructive Union advance. Philip H. Sheridan

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George Armstrong Custer (1839–1876) General Sheridan’s favorite officer in his command was George Armstrong Custer, a cavalryman who became known for his bravery and daring during the Civil War. But while Custer’s Civil War exploits made him a familiar figure to American newspaper readers, he became even more famous in 1876, when Sioux warriors killed him and all 264 soldiers under his command at the Battle of Little Bighorn. Born in Ohio in 1839, Custer moved to Michigan as a youngster. In 1857, he enrolled at West Point. He graduated in 1861, but ranked last in his class. Three weeks after graduating from the academy, he fought at the First Battle of Bull Run (July 1861) in the cavalry of the Union’s Army of the Potomac. Over the next four years, Custer fought in many of the Civil War’s biggest

and bloodiest battles. During this time, the young officer built a reputation as a bright strategist and a fearless soldier. In fact, Custer once said that he would “be willing . . . to see a battle every day during my life.” Everyone who knew the dashing young soldier knew that such statements accurately represented his feelings about the war. But Custer was not universally loved. Some of the soldiers in his command viewed him as an unnecessarily harsh disciplinarian. Even people who liked Custer admitted that his thirst for publicity and fame sometimes got out of hand. Nonetheless, Custer’s battlefield performances impressed Sheridan. After Sheridan took command of the Army of the Potomac’s cavalry in 1863, he quickly promoted Custer through the ranks. Custer eventually became the youngest

By late September, Sheridan’s army had smashed much of the valley’s farmland and claimed two victories over Early’s dwindling cavalry force. But Early was not forced to leave the valley until mid-October, when Sheridan showed the entire country the strength of his military leadership. Confident that his army could maintain control over the valley in his absence, Sheridan and some members of his staff traveled to Washington for a conference. On the morning of October 19, however, Early’s cavalry launched a surprise attack on the Army of the Shenandoah’s camp at Cedar Creek. The assault shocked the Union soldiers. They fled the camp in a disorganized retreat, leaving behind food, artillery guns (large guns too heavy to carry), and other supplies. 386


Confederate foes. The performance of Custer’s troops made it much easier for Sheridan to seize control of the valley by the end of the year.

George Custer. (Courtesy of the Library of Congress.)

major general in American military history. During Sheridan’s Shenandoah Valley campaign of 1864, Custer’s cavalry led many of the Union offensives (attacks) on

After the Civil War ended, Custer stayed in the U.S. military. When federal efforts to seize lands from Native American tribes heated up, Custer transferred to military posts in the West. In 1876, he led the army’s Seventh Cavalry in a campaign against Sioux and Cheyenne Indians in southern Montana. But on June 25, Custer stumbled into a large war party led by the legendary chief Sitting Bull (c. 1831– 1890) near the Little Bighorn River. Custer and his cavalrymen were wiped out in the resulting battle, which remains the most famous Indian military victory in American history.

Unfortunately for Early, though, Sheridan ran into his fleeing soldiers on his way back from Washington. “There burst upon our view the appalling spectacle of a panic-stricken army,” Sheridan recalled. “Hundreds of slightly wounded men, throngs of others unhurt but utterly demoralized, and baggage-wagons by the score [groups of twenty], all pressing to the rear in hopeless confusion.” The sight of Sheridan, however, immediately changed the attitude of his frightened troops. Using a combination of encouragement and verbal abuse, Sheridan stopped the retreat. He then reorganized his troops and led a furious charge back into their Cedar Creek camp. Sheridan’s counterattack Philip H. Sheridan

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crushed Early’s cavalry. By the time the Confederate cavalry was able to escape, it had been torn to pieces. Sheridan’s victory at Cedar Creek established Union control over the Shenandoah Valley for the remainder of the war.

The Battle of Five Forks After his triumph in the Shenandoah Valley, Sheridan continued to show his value to the Union cause throughout Virginia. In early 1865, he was ordered to rejoin Grant’s Army of the Potomac at Petersburg, where Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia had maintained a monthslong defense of that city and neighboring Richmond. As Sheridan’s Army of the Shenandoah moved across the Virginia countryside, it launched a series of successful raids against Confederate positions. Soon after Sheridan reached Petersburg, Grant sent him on an important mission. Grant knew that both Petersburg and Richmond were running short of food and other supplies. He reasoned that if he could seize control of the Confederates’ last remaining railroad line, he could force Lee to evacuate his army from the two cities. He thus ordered Sheridan to take twelve thousand cavalry and capture the railroad at an area south of Petersburg known as Five Forks. On April 1, Sheridan’s force successfully seized the rail line at Five Forks. Confederate troops led by George Pickett (1825–1875) tried to protect the area, but Sheridan smashed them with ease. By the evening of April 1, Sheridan had taken more than five thousand rebel prisoners and cut off the last remaining supply line into Petersburg. When Sheridan informed Grant of his victory at Five Forks, Grant ordered a full assault on the Confederate defenses at Petersburg. Lee evacuated his army from Petersburg on April 3, leaving it and Richmond to the advancing Union forces. The Confederate general mounted a desperate bid to escape the area, but Grant immediately gave chase. For the next week or so, Sheridan’s cavalry struck again and again against Lee’s flanks, as the remainder of the Union Army followed in close pursuit. On April 7, Sheridan’s cavalry successfully cut off the rebels’ last remaining escape route, forcing Lee to halt his bat388


tered army at an area known as Appomattox. Lee surrendered two days later, ending Confederate hopes of independence once and for all.

After the war In the months following the end of the Civil War, Sheridan was appointed to lead federal Reconstruction (1865–77) efforts in Texas and Louisiana. (Reconstruction is the name given for the period immediately after the war, when the federal government worked to put the war-torn nation back together again.) But Sheridan had a difficult time implementing Reconstruction policies, which were intended to rebuild the South and protect the rights of blacks. His policies were so harsh that he was removed from this assignment after only six months. Sheridan then spent several years in the American West, where he took part in cavalry operations against many Indian tribes in what he called “at best an inglorious [dishonorable] war.” He also spent a great deal of time working for the creation of Yellowstone National Park. In 1884, he was named general-in-chief of all U.S. forces. He died four years later.

Where to Learn More Carter, Samuel. The Last Cavaliers: Confederate and Union Cavalry in the Civil War. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1979. Heatwole, John L. The Burning: Sheridan in the Shenandoah Valley. Charlottesville, VA: Rockbridge Pub., 1998. Hutton, Paul Andrew. Phil Sheridan and His Army. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1985. Reprint, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1999. Longacre, Edward C. Mounted Raids of the Civil War. South Brunswick, NJ: A. S. Barnes, 1975. Reprint, Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1994. Morris, Roy, Jr. Sheridan: The Life and Wars of General Phil Sheridan. New York: Crown Publishers, 1992. Perry County Historical Society. The Sheridan Monument. [Online] http://www.netpluscom.com/~pchs/sheridan_monument.htm (accessed on October 15, 1999). Stackpole, Edward J. Sheridan in the Shenandoah. Harrisburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 1961. Reprint, 1992. Philip H. Sheridan

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William T. Sherman Born February 8, 1820 Lancaster, Ohio Died February 14, 1891 New York, New York Union general Led the capture of Atlanta, Georgia, then took his forces on the destructive “March to the Sea”

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illiam T. Sherman was one of the most controversial generals of the Civil War. He rose through the military ranks to become commander of the Union forces in the West (the area west of the Appalachian Mountains). In September 1864, his troops captured the important Southern industrial city of Atlanta, Georgia. Sherman ordered all civilians (people who are not part of the army, including women and children) to leave the city and then burned it down. Afterward, the general marched his Union troops across Georgia to the city of Savannah on the Atlantic coast. During this famous “March to the Sea,” Sherman’s army lived off the countryside, taking whatever food and supplies they could use and destroying everything else. Southerners were shocked and angered by Sherman’s actions. Before this time, the Civil War was mostly fought between armies on battlefields. Sherman was one of the first leaders to attack civilians and their property under a new strategy known as “total war.” He felt that defeating the Confederate Army on the battlefield was not enough to ensure a lasting peace. He thought it was also necessary to break the spirit of

“There is many a boy . . . who looks on war as all glory, but boys, war is all hell.”

William Sherman. 391

the civilian population that supplied the army and supported the war effort. Sherman believed that by showing ordinary Southerners the destructive power of war, he could make them want to surrender.

Named after an Indian war chief William Tecumseh Sherman was born on February 8, 1820, in Lancaster, a wilderness outpost in southern Ohio. He was the sixth of eleven children born to Charles R. Sherman and Mary Hoyt Sherman. His father named him Tecumseh after the great Shawnee Indian chief Tecumseh (1768–1813). His family and friends called him “Cump” for short. Charles Sherman died in 1829, leaving large debts that the family was unable to repay. Knowing that she could not afford to care for the children, Mary Sherman sent them away to live with various friends and relatives. Nine-year-old Cump moved in with Thomas and Eleanor Ewing, who lived just up the road from the Shermans in Lancaster. The Ewings welcomed the young boy into their family and treated him the same as their own children, but never formally adopted him. Thomas Ewing (1789–1871) was a successful lawyer who later became a U.S. senator from Ohio. Cump admired his foster father and tried hard to gain his approval. In 1830, the Ewings arranged for the boy to be baptized by a Catholic priest. Since Sherman needed a Christian name for the ceremony, his foster father changed his first name to William. From that time on, Sherman signed his name W. T. Sherman or William T. Sherman.

Attends West Point In 1836, Sherman entered the prestigious U.S. Military Academy at West Point in New York. He was an excellent student, but he was nearly expelled several times for bad behavior. He managed to graduate sixth in his class in 1840, but his lack of discipline kept him from getting a top appointment in the U.S. military. Instead of fighting in the Mexican War (1846–48)—which gained new territory for the United States and launched the careers of many young army offi392


cers—Sherman was posted in Florida and in California during the 1840s. In 1850, Sherman married his foster sister, Ellen Ewing. They eventually had seven children, although only five survived to adulthood. In 1853, Sherman grew frustrated with his military career and decided to leave the army. He drifted from job to job over the next few years. He became a banker in San Francisco, but the bank failed. He then moved to Kansas and started a law and real estate office, which also failed. Although Sherman was a bright and capable young man, he was also insecure and lacked focus. He took his business failures very hard. “I am doomed to be a vagabond [drifter],” he said. “I look upon myself as a dead cock [rooster] in the [cock-fighting] pit not worthy of further notice.”

North and South go to war In 1859, Sherman finally found a job he liked as headmaster of a military school in New Orleans that eventually became Louisiana State University. While there, he developed a deep affection for the South and its people. But this was a time of great political tension in the United States. For years, the North and the South had been arguing over several issues. The most important issue dividing the two sections of the country was slavery. Many Northerners believed that slavery was wrong. Some people wanted to outlaw it, while others wanted to prevent it from spreading beyond the Southern states where it was already allowed. But slavery played a big role in the Southern economy and culture. As a result, many Southerners felt threatened by Northern efforts to contain slavery. They believed that each state should decide for itself whether to allow slavery. They did not want the national government to pass laws that would interfere with their traditional way of life. By 1861, this ongoing dispute had convinced several Southern states to secede from (leave) the United States and attempt to form a new country that allowed slavery, called the Confederate States of America. But Northern political leaders were determined to keep the Southern states in the Union. Sherman believed in the Union and felt that the Southern states’ secession would cause a long and bloody war. William T. Sherman

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He resigned from his job and moved his family to the North in February 1861.

Suffers breakdown early in the war Two months later, the North and South entered into the Civil War. Sherman joined the Union Army. He commanded a brigade (military unit consisting of two or more regiments) during the Union’s defeat at the First Battle of Bull Run (July 1861), then served in Kentucky. At this time, he became frustrated with the disorganized state of the Union war effort, as well as with his inability to do anything about it. He became convinced that the Confederate Army was much larger and stronger than his poorly trained Union volunteer force. Feelings of helplessness and insecurity gradually overcame him, and he considered suicide. Sherman finally came out of his depression, but his critics would call him mentally unstable and paranoid for the rest of his career. After recovering his mental health, Sherman took command of the Department of Cairo in Paducah, Kentucky, in February 1862. He fought well at the bloody Battle of Shiloh (April 1862) in Tennessee, which resulted in a narrow Union victory. His performance got the attention of Union general Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885; see entry), who had been his friend at West Point. Sherman then accepted a position under Grant, who was the Union’s top commander in the West. Sherman contributed to the Union victories in Vicksburg, Mississippi (1862–63), and Chattanooga, Tennessee, in October and November 1863. Leading men into battle seemed to give Sherman a sense of purpose that had been missing in his life. He was very popular with his troops, and he could often be found smoking cigars and telling stories with enlisted men.

Captures Confederate city of Atlanta, Georgia In 1864, Sherman took over as commander of Union forces in the West when Grant was promoted to commander of the entire Union Army. His troops spent much of the spring of 1864 chasing a much smaller Confederate force under General Joseph E. Johnston (1807–1891; see entry) 394


through Tennessee and Georgia. By the time summer arrived, Sherman had pushed Johnston’s forces to the outskirts of Atlanta—one of the major industrial cities of the Confederacy. At this point, Confederate president Jefferson Davis (1808–1889; see entry) grew frustrated with Johnston’s series of retreats and replaced him with Lieutenant General John B. Hood (1831–1879; see entry), a bold leader known for his aggressive style. Hood went on the offensive against Sherman’s larger Union forces in mid-July with disastrous results. By August, Hood and his troops were trapped in the city.

The ruins of a Confederate engine house in Atlanta, Georgia. (Reproduced by permission of the National Portrait Gallery.)

Rather than attacking Atlanta directly, Sherman decided to lay siege to the city. He surrounded it with troops, cut off the Confederate supply lines, and began pounding the enemy forces with artillery fire. Finally, Hood was forced to evacuate his men from the city. The Union Army captured Atlanta on September 2, 1864, after four months of nearly constant fighting. The victory convinced many Northerners to William T. Sherman

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renew their support for the war effort and for President Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865; see entry). In fact, many historians claim that Sherman’s capture of Atlanta helped assure Lincoln’s reelection as president.

Leads “March to the Sea” The capture of Atlanta made Sherman one of the top military leaders of the Civil War. He used his hero status to convince Lincoln and Grant to adopt a new strategy of “total war.” Sherman had spent his lifetime studying and thinking about the tactics of warfare. He had concluded that the Civil War was more than just a battle between armies— it was also a conflict between two different societies and ways of life. He felt that in order to win the war and achieve a lasting peace, the North had to break the spirit of the Southern people and convince them to give up the fight. In order to do this, Sherman planned to march his army through the heart of the Confederacy and attack civilian as well as military targets. Sherman turned Atlanta into a fortress and forced all civilians to evacuate the city. In November 1864, he ordered his soldiers to set fire to the railroads, factories, and shops in Atlanta that could be used by the Confederates. The fire spread out of control and ended up consuming one-third of the city, including the main business district and thousands of homes. Then Sherman set out toward Savannah with sixtytwo thousand soldiers. During their famous “March to the Sea,” Sherman’s army lived off the land, with no outside supplies or communications. Sherman spread his forces into a line that stretched sixty miles wide, and authorized them to take food and supplies wherever they found them. They cut a wide strip through the heart of the Confederacy, taking whatever they could use and destroying anything that could be used by the Confederate Army. Sherman concluded his historic march by successfully capturing Savannah on December 24, 1864. He sent a telegraph message to Lincoln that offered him “as a Christmas gift the city of Savannah.” In February 1865, Sherman moved his troops northward into South Carolina. They encountered little resistance as they captured the South Carolina cities of Augusta and Colum396


bia, then moved into North Carolina. In April, Confederate general Joseph E. Johnston—who had regained his command from Hood—requested a meeting with Sherman near Raleigh. Sherman had inflicted more punishment on the Southern people than any other Union general, but mainly because he believed that it would bring a quick end to the war. As soon as he saw an opportunity for peace, he grabbed it. Sherman negotiated generous surrender terms with Johnston. But President Lincoln and Secretary of War Edwin Stanton (1814– 1869) rejected the treaty. They felt that Sherman had gone beyond his authority in reaching agreements on nonmilitary matters. Sherman and Johnston met again later in the month, and this time their treaty was accepted. A few weeks earlier, Confederate general Robert E. Lee (1807–1870; see entry) had surrendered to Grant to mark the end of the Civil War.

“War Is Hell” Many people think of General William T. Sherman as the man who came up with the expression, “War is hell.” Although Sherman certainly shared this feeling, he never actually said it. Some historians believe that the mistaken quotation was taken from a letter the general wrote to the leaders of Atlanta, Georgia, shortly after capturing the city in 1864. In this letter, he defended his order for civilians to evacuate Atlanta by saying that “War is cruelty.” But it is more likely that these words came from a speech Sherman made in 1880. Addressing a group of Civil War veterans, Sherman said: “There is many a boy here today who looks on war as all glory, but boys, war is all hell.”

Hero or villain? After the war ended and Grant was elected president of the United States, Sherman became general in chief of all U.S. armies. He remained in that post for thirteen years, until his retirement from the army in 1883. The Republican political party tried to convince him to become their candidate for the presidency in 1872, but he consistently refused to run for office. “If nominated I will not accept; if elected I will not serve,” he stated. In 1876, Sherman published a book about his life, Memoirs of General William T. Sherman. He died of pneumonia on February 14, 1891, in New York City. Thousands of people lined the streets as his casket passed by in a huge funeral procession. His body was taken by train to St. Louis, Missouri, where he was buried alongside his wife, who had died two years earlier. His son, Father Tom Sherman, conducted the burial service. William T. Sherman

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Sherman was considered a great hero by the North and a horrible villain by the South. His “March to the Sea” claimed a great deal of food and other supplies that would have gone to support the Confederate Army. But perhaps more importantly, Sherman’s march changed public opinion in the South against the war. Many Southerners, particularly in Georgia, came to believe that continuing the fight was not worth the cost Sherman forced them to pay. Even though Sherman’s methods were cruel, he believed that they were necessary in order to bring a quicker end to the war.

Where to Learn More Barrett, John Gilchrist. Sherman’s March Through the Carolinas. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1956. Davis, Burke. Sherman’s March. New York: Random House, 1980. Reprint, New York: Vintage Books, 1988. Fellman, Michael. Citizen Sherman: A Life of William Tecumseh Sherman. New York: Random House, 1995. Hart, B. H. Liddell. Sherman: Solider, Realist, American. New York: Dodd, Mead, & Company, 1929. Reprint, New York: Da Capo Press, 1993. Hirshson, Stanley P. The White Tecumseh: A Biography of William T. Sherman. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1997. Lewis, Lloyd. Sherman: Fighting Prophet. New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1932. Reprint, Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1993. Marszalek, John F. Sherman: A Soldier’s Passion for Order. New York: Free Press, 1993. Marszalek, John F. Sherman’s Other War: The General and the Civil War Press. Memphis, TN: Memphis State University Press, 1981. Reprint, Kent, OH: Kent State University Presss, 1999. Royster, Charles. The Destructive War: William Tecumseh Sherman, Stonewall Jackson, and the Americans. New York: Knopf, 1991. Sherman, William T. Memoirs of General William T. Sherman. New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1876. New York: Da Capo Press, 1984. Vetter, Charles Edmund. Sherman: Merchant of Terror, Advocate of Peace. Gretna, LA: Pelican Pub. Co., 1995. Walters, John Bennett. Merchant of Terror: General Sherman and Total War. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1973. Whitelaw, Nancy. William Tecumseh Sherman: Defender and Destroyer. Greensboro, NC: Morgan Reynolds, 1996.

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Robert Smalls Born April 5, 1839 Beaufort, South Carolina Died February 22, 1915 Beaufort, South Carolina Union Navy pilot and one of the first black U.S. congressmen Made a dramatic escape from slavery by stealing a Confederate Navy ship

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n 1862, Robert Smalls stole a Confederate supply ship and turned it over to the Union Navy. What made this feat even more remarkable was the fact that Smalls was a slave. His dramatic escape from slavery brought him wide acclaim in the North as a Civil War hero. After the war ended, Smalls became an important black leader during the difficult period of American history known as Reconstruction (1865–77). He overcame discrimination to serve five terms in the U.S. Congress as a representative from South Carolina.

Robert Smalls’s escape from slavery was “one of the coolest and most gallant naval acts of war.” Union admiral Samuel DuPont

Born into slavery Robert Smalls was born a slave on April 5, 1839, in Beaufort, South Carolina. Black people were taken from Africa and brought to North America to serve as slaves for white people beginning in the 1600s. The basic belief behind slavery was that black people were inferior to whites. Under slavery, white slaveholders treated black people as property, forced them to perform hard labor, and controlled every aspect of their lives. States in the Northern half of the United States

Robert Smalls. (Courtesy of the Library of Congress.) 399

began outlawing slavery in the late 1700s. But slavery continued to exist in the Southern half of the country because it played an important role in the South’s economy and culture. Smalls’s mother, Lydia, worked as a house servant on a plantation (a large farming estate) in Beaufort. Smalls did not reveal the identity of his father, but it was probably the owner of the plantation, John McKee. Like many slaves, Smalls did not have a last name as a boy. He began using “Small” as his last name because he was short, so people often called him “Small Robert.” He later changed his last name to Smalls. Compared to slaves who worked in the fields growing cotton and rice, Smalls had a relatively easy life as the son of a house servant. He lived in slave quarters near the main house, helped his mother with the cooking and cleaning, and acted as a personal slave and companion for the master’s oldest son, Henry McKee. When John McKee died in 1848, Smalls and all of the other slaves became the property of Henry McKee.

Works in Charleston Harbor In 1851, Henry McKee sent Smalls to work as a laborer in the nearby port city of Charleston, South Carolina. Slaveowners often arranged for their extra slaves to take jobs in the cities. This way, the master avoided the expense of feeding and housing them, and also collected some of the money that the slaves earned in wages. Although he was just twelve years old, Smalls worked as a waiter, lamplighter, and stevedore (a person who loads and unloads cargo from ships). He enjoyed the freedom of living in the city—away from the watchful eye of his master—but also struggled to provide for himself. In the mid-1850s, Smalls became romantically attached to a slave woman named Hannah. They considered themselves married, even though slaves were not legally allowed to marry. After working on the docks for several years, Smalls joined the crew of a commercial ship in the late 1850s. But this was a time of great political tension in the United States. For years, the North and the South had been arguing over several issues, including slavery. Growing numbers of North400


erners believed that slavery was wrong. Some people wanted to outlaw it, while others wanted to prevent it from spreading beyond the Southern states where it was already allowed. But many Southerners felt threatened by Northern efforts to contain slavery. They believed that each state should decide for itself whether to allow slavery. They did not want the national government to pass laws that would interfere with their traditional way of life. By 1861, this ongoing dispute had convinced several Southern states to secede from (leave) the United States and attempt to form a new country that allowed slavery, called the Confederate States of America. South Carolina was one of the states leading the secession movement. But Northern political leaders were determined to keep the Southern states in the Union. The two sides soon went to war. Many people in the South used their slaves to perform the hard labor needed to prepare the Confederacy for war. In March 1861, Smalls was hired to serve as a pilot on the Planter. This steamboat was originally designed to carry cotton shipments, but during the war it was used to move troops and supplies between Confederate forts along the South Carolina coast.

Escapes from slavery on a Confederate ship The North had a big advantage on the seas during the Civil War. It controlled most of the ships that made up the U.S. Navy fleet, and it had many factories to make more ships. The Union used this superior naval strength to capture Port Royal Sound—a good harbor near Beaufort, only fifty miles south of Charleston—early in the war. Using Port Royal Sound as a base of operations, the Union Navy then set up a blockade of several major port cities along the Atlantic coast in the South, including Charleston. The blockade consisted of a row of warships that prevented Confederate ships from reaching the Southern cities with shipments of food, guns, ammunition, and other supplies. In the early morning hours of May 13, 1862, the Planter left Charleston harbor on what appeared to be a routine supply mission. On deck, a man wearing a captain’s hat even saluted to the Confederate forts as he passed by them at the entrance to the harbor. But the Planter steamed directly Robert Smalls

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toward the Union ships forming the blockade. The surprised Union ships nearly fired upon the approaching Confederate vessel, but held off at the last minute as the Planter raised a white flag of surrender.

Captain Robert Small’s medical supply boat, the Planter, is docked on the Appomattox River in Virginia. (Courtesy of the Library of Congress.)

When Union sailors boarded the enemy ship, they found sixteen slaves—including eight male crew members, five women, and three children—along with four cannons 402


and some ammunition. The man in the captain’s hat introduced himself as Robert Smalls. He explained that the people on board the Planter were slaves who had risked their lives to escape and also to deliver the ship and its guns to the Union. When the Planter’s white crew members had gone ashore for the night, the black crew members had picked up their families and made a desperate dash for freedom.

Becomes a Union war hero The story of Smalls’s dramatic escape from slavery attracted a great deal of media attention in the North. Many newspapers and magazines published articles about him and called him a war hero. Admiral Samuel DuPont (1803–1865), the commander in charge of the Union naval blockade of Charleston, called Smalls’s escape “one of the coolest and most gallant [brave and daring] naval acts of war.” Of course, people in the South were not so thrilled by the news. A newspaper in Richmond, Virginia, called the loss of the Planter “one of the most shameful events in this or any other war.” Smalls and the other former slaves on board the Planter were accepted into the Union as “contrabands” (the Union Army was authorized to seize any Confederate property used in the war effort, including slaves, as “contraband of war”). The U.S. Congress granted Smalls a $1,500 cash reward for delivering the ship, and gave several hundred dollars to each member of his crew. Smalls continued to help the Union Navy by providing valuable information about Confederate defenses in the Charleston area. After all, he had explored many rivers and inlets during his supply missions on the Planter. At that time, black men were not allowed to serve as Union soldiers. Smalls joined a group of prominent black leaders who tried to convince President Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865; see entry) to allow black men to join the army. Lincoln eventually allowed an all-black regiment—the First South Carolina Volunteers—to be formed on the South Carolina coastal islands, near Smalls’s home. Smalls helped recruit black men to join the war effort both in his home state and in the North. Smalls himself served in the Union Navy. When he was promoted to captain of the Planter, he Robert Smalls

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became the first black man ever allowed to command an American warship. He continued to carry supplies along the coast—this time for the Union—and also fought in seventeen naval battles.

Launches political career By the time the Civil War ended in 1865, Smalls was a well-known and wealthy man. He arranged to buy the plantation in Beaufort where he was born, and he and his wife raised three children there. The United States continued to struggle with important and complicated issues during this time. For example, federal lawmakers had to decide whether to punish the Confederate leaders, what process to use to readmit the Southern states to the Union, and how much assistance to provide in securing equal rights for the freed slaves. This difficult period in American history was called Reconstruction, and it lasted until 1877. Now that they were free, black people wanted equal rights and opportunities in Southern society. But many white people in the South wanted things to stay the way they were before the war. In many cases, the struggle between the two groups turned violent. As a result, the U.S. Congress took control of the Reconstruction process in 1866 and sent federal troops into the Southern states to enforce their policies. Under Congressional Reconstruction, black Americans were allowed to vote and to participate in government in the South for the first time. Smalls decided to put his reputation as a war hero to use by running for public office. In order to rejoin the Union, the Southern states were required to hold conventions to rewrite their state constitutions. Smalls was elected as a delegate to South Carolina’s constitutional convention. He helped create a new state constitution that outlawed slavery, provided free public education to all children, and guaranteed black people the right to vote and hold office. In November 1868, Smalls was elected to the South Carolina state legislature representing Beaufort and the surrounding area along the coast. He was one of 82 black men elected to the state legislature, out of a total of 155 represen404


tatives. South Carolina was the only state in which black members made up a majority of the state legislature during Reconstruction. In 1874, Smalls was elected to represent South Carolina in the U.S. Congress. He lost his seat in the elections of 1878, but then regained it in 1880. He failed to hold his seat again in 1882, but was reelected in 1884. Although Smalls lost the election in 1886, he reclaimed his seat anyway because his opponent died before taking office. He completed his final term in public office in 1888.

Retires in Beaufort In 1890, President Benjamin Harrison (1833–1901) appointed Smalls as the customs collector for the Port of Beaufort. He was in charge of collecting fees from international merchants who shipped goods into the United States. Smalls also married schoolteacher Annie Elizabeth Wigg that year (his first wife had died seven years earlier). They had a son together, William. In 1895, South Carolina held another convention to rewrite the state constitution. This time, however, the idea was to roll back many of the reforms that had taken place during Reconstruction. Only 6 of the 160 delegates to the convention were black. Racist white people had used violence to intimidate black people so that they would not vote or try to hold office. As a result, whites had gradually returned to power throughout the South, and they passed many laws discriminating against blacks. Smalls knew that the proposed changes to South Carolina’s constitution would hurt black people. In a speech at the convention, he said: “My race needs no special defenses. For the past history of them in this country proves them to be the equal of any people anywhere. All they need is an equal chance in the battle of life.” Smalls was not successful in his efforts to prevent discrimination from returning to South Carolina. However, he remained in his job as customs collector for twenty years before retiring in 1913. He died on February 22, 1915, at the age of seventy-five. Since he was still a considered a hero in the black community, his funeral was the largest ever to take place in the town of Beaufort. Robert Smalls

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Where to Learn More Cooper, Michael L. From Slave to Civil War Hero: The Life and Times of Robert Smalls. New York: Lodestar Books, 1994. Meriwether, Louise. The Freedom Ship of Robert Smalls. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1971. Miller, Edward A., Jr. Gullah Statesman: Robert Smalls from Slavery to Congress. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1995. Sterling, Philip. Four Took Freedom: The Lives of Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, Robert Small, and Blanche K. Bruce. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1967. Uya, Okon Edet. From Slavery to Public Service: Robert Smalls, 1839–1915. Oxford University Press, 1971. Williamson, Joel. After Slavery: The Negro in South Carolina during Reconstruction, 1861–1877. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1965. Reprint, Hanover, NH: University Press of New England, 1990.

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Alexander H. Stephens Born February 11, 1812 Crawfordsville, Georgia Died March 4, 1883 Atlanta, Georgia Vice president of the Confederate States of America Despite his office, he became one of the most vocal critics of Confederate president Jefferson Davis

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s a prominent Georgia politician, Alexander H. Stephens opposed his state’s decision to secede (withdraw) from the Union at the beginning of the Civil War. Nevertheless, he actively participated in forming the Confederate government and ended up becoming the vice president of the new Southern nation. Shortly after taking office, however, Stephens began disagreeing with Confederate president Jefferson Davis (1808–1889; see entry) over the need to create a strong central government to manage the war effort effectively. Stephens believed that the right of individual states to decide issues within their borders for themselves was more important than the needs of the Confederacy. “He could not understand that if the war were to be won, great powers must be entrusted to those who had the task of waging the nation’s war,” Rudolph Von Abele explained in Alexander H. Stephens: A Biography. As a result, Stephens became one of Davis’s most vocal critics at a time when the president needed his assistance the most.

The Confederacy’s “foundations are laid, its cornerstone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery, subordination to the superior race, is his natural and moral condition.

Alexander H. Stephens. (Reproduced with permission of Archive Photos, Inc.) 407

Overcomes poverty and the death of his parents Alexander Hamilton Stephens was born on February 11, 1812, in rural Georgia. His father, Andrew Baskins Stephens, struggled to support the family as a store clerk. His mother, Margaret Grier Stephens, died shortly after he was born. His father eventually remarried, but then both his father and stepmother died when Alexander was a young teen. At this point, Stephens and his siblings were sent away to live with relatives. Alexander was taken in by his maternal uncle, Aaron Grier, who helped him get an education. Stephens attended Franklin College (which later became the University of Georgia) and graduated first in his class in 1832. He taught school for a while, then studied law. He soon became a successful attorney. As his wealth increased, he showed his generosity by helping his poor relatives. He even adopted his half-brother, Linton, and paid for his education. The two men remained extremely close for the rest of their lives. Stephens also used some of his money to buy slaves. Beginning in the 1600s, black people were taken from Africa and brought to North America to serve as slaves for white people. The basic belief behind slavery was that black people were inferior to whites. Under slavery, white slaveholders treated black people as property, forced them to perform hard labor, and controlled every aspect of their lives. States in the Northern half of the United States began outlawing slavery in the late 1700s. But slavery continued to exist in the Southern half of the country and became an important part of the region’s economy and culture. Growing up in Georgia, Stephens came to believe that slavery offered the best possible life for black people. He felt that blacks were incapable of living on their own, so they needed white people to give them food, clothing, shelter, and religion. He thought that black people in Africa lived as savages, while black slaves in the South were relatively civilized. Compared to many other slaveowners, Stephens treated his slaves well. He never whipped or beat them, and he never sold family members separately. 408


Enters politics and supports states’ rights Within a short time, Stephens had become a prominent member of his community. He grew interested in politics and won election to the Georgia state legislature in 1836. He remained in office until 1840, then was elected to one more term in 1842. During this time, Stephens earned the respect of his fellow lawmakers and voters with his intelligence and biting speeches. The local press gave him the nickname “Little Ellick” because he was so small, weighing only ninety pounds. In 1843, Stephens was elected to represent his region of Georgia in the U.S. House of Representatives. He remained in office for the next fifteen years. During this time, the Northern and Southern sections of the country engaged in a heated debate over slavery and the power of the national, or federal, government to regulate it. Like many other Southerners, Stephens defended slavery and supported states’ rights. People who supported states’ rights wanted to limit the power of the federal government. They wanted individual states to have the right to decide important issues for themselves without interference from the national government. In the eyes of Stephens and other Southern politicians, one of the most important issues that should be decided by the states was slavery. Many Northerners believed that slavery was wrong, and they urged the federal government to take steps to limit it. Some people wanted to outlaw slavery altogether, while others just wanted to prevent it from spreading beyond the Southern states where it was already allowed. But slavery played a big role in the Southern economy and culture. As a result, Stephens and many other Southerners felt threatened by Northern efforts to contain slavery. They believed that each state should decide for itself whether to allow slavery. They did not want the national government to pass laws that would interfere with their traditional way of life. By the late 1850s, several Southern states were threatening to secede from the United States because of this ongoing dispute. Unlike many other Southern politicians, Stephens opposed the idea of secession. He felt that the Southern states should remain in the Union and continue to work out their differences with the North. In fact, he tried unsuccessfully to form a new political party dedicated to the principles of the Union, along with fellow lawmakers Robert Alexander H. Stephens

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A. Toombs (1810–1885) and Howell Cobb (1815–1868). Stephens worried that the North would not allow the South to leave without a fight, so the result of secession would be civil war. “Men will be cutting one another’s throats in a little while. In less than twelve months we shall be in a war, and that the bloodiest in history,” he warned. “There are not virtue [moral goodness] and patriotism and sense enough left in the country to avoid it.” By 1860, it became clear that the issue of secession depended on the outcome of the upcoming presidential election. If Democratic candidate Stephen A. Douglas (1813–1861) won, then the Southern states might remain in the Union. But if Republican candidate Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865; see entry) won, the Southern states would almost certainly secede. Lincoln opposed slavery, so many Southerners felt that his government could not possibly represent their views. Despite the fact that Lincoln was an old friend of his, Stephens campaigned for Douglas. But Lincoln won the election. Just as Stephens had feared, the Southern states reacted by seceding from the United States and forming a new country that allowed slavery, called the Confederate States of America. With their enemies in control of the U.S. government, they felt that the only way they could protect their rights as independent states was to leave the Union.

Elected vice president of the Confederacy In January 1861, Stephens’s home state of Georgia held a convention to decide whether it should join the Confederacy. Stephens argued against the idea of Georgia seceding. “In my judgment, the election of no man, constitutionally chosen to that high office [president of the United States], is sufficient cause for any state to separate from the Union,” he stated. “Let us not be the ones to commit the aggression.” Despite Stephens’s pleas, the men at the convention voted to secede. Once the decision had been made, however, Stephens threw his support behind the Confederacy. In February 1861, representatives from each of the secessionist states met in Montgomery, Alabama, to design the government of their new nation. Stephens acted as a delegate (representative) to the convention and helped establish the 410


“Slavery Is the Cornerstone of the Confederacy” Stephens made probably his bestknown speech in 1861, shortly after the Confederacy was formed. In this speech, which was published under the title “Slavery Is the Cornerstone of the Confederacy,” he explained his view that slavery was the founding principle of the Southern nation and the main cause of the Civil War. Stephens began by discussing the U.S. Constitution, which did not address the issue of slavery directly. The authors of the Constitution believed that slavery was wrong, but most thought the practice would eventually end on its own, without action by the Federal government. Stephens, on the other hand, claimed that slavery was right and natural because the races were not created equal. In fact, he believed that by making slavery the foundation of their society, the founders of the Confederacy were fixing an error that had been made by the founders of the United States. The following is an excerpt from Stephens’s speech:

world, based upon this great physical, philosophical, and moral truth. . . .

Our new Government is founded upon exactly the opposite ideas [of equality between the races]; its foundations are laid, its cornerstone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery, subordination to the superior race, is his natural and moral condition. This, our new Government, is the first, in the history of the

The great objects of humanity are best attained, when conformed to his laws and degrees, in the formation of Governments as well as in all things else. Our Confederacy is founded upon principles in strict conformity with these laws. This stone which was rejected by the first builders “is become the chief stone of the corner” in our new edifice [building]. . . .

It is the first Government ever instituted upon principles in strict conformity to nature, and the ordination [commandment] of Providence, in furnishing the materials of human society. Many Governments have been founded upon the principles of certain classes; but the classes thus enslaved, were of the same race, and in violation of the laws of nature. Our system commits no such violation of nature’s laws. The negro by nature . . . is fitted for that condition which he occupies in our system. The architect, in the construction of buildings, lays the foundation with the proper material—the granite—then comes the brick or marble. The substratum [underlying support layer] of our society is made of the material fitted by nature for it, and by experience we know that it is best, not only for the superior but for the inferior race, that it should be so. It is, indeed, in conformity [harmony] with the Creator. It is not for us to inquire into the wisdom of His ordinances or to question them. For His own purposes He has made one race to differ from another, as He has made “one star to differ from another in glory.”

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Confederate Constitution. The delegates then selected Jefferson Davis as president and Stephens as vice president of the Confederate States of America. For the next six weeks, Davis and Stephens tried to negotiate a peaceful settlement with the North. They still wanted to avoid a war if possible. One of the issues they hoped to resolve was the presence of Federal troops at Fort Sumter, located in the middle of the harbor at Charleston, South Carolina. They viewed these troops as a symbol of Northern authority and asked Lincoln to remove them. When negotiations failed, Confederate forces opened fire on Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861. The Confederacy gained control of the fort, but the Civil War had begun. During the first year of the war, Stephens found that he disagreed with President Davis on a number of important issues. For example, Davis wanted to establish a conscription (military draft) program to register Southern men for service in the Confederate Army. He thought that the government should require men to serve in the military. The president also wanted to suspend the legal provision known as habeas corpus, which prevented government officials from imprisoning people without charging them with a crime. Davis knew that some people in the South did not support the war effort, and he wanted the power to put these people in prison to stop them from helping the North. Stephens and many members of the Confederate Congress opposed these policies. After all, the Southern states had seceded from the Union in order to assert their right to make important decisions for themselves, without interference from the national government. Yet Davis wanted broad new powers for the Confederate government. He felt he needed to create a strong central government for the Confederacy in order to manage the war effectively. The South would have no chance of winning against larger, better organized Union forces if each state insisted on fighting on its own. But Davis’s opponents believed that states’ rights and individual freedom were more important than the needs of the Confederacy as a whole. “Away with the idea of getting independence first, and looking after liberty afterward,” Stephens stated. “Our liberties, once lost, may be lost forever.” By 1862, Stephens had become one of Davis’s most vocal critics. He even argued that the president should give up 412


Confederate vice president Alexander Stephens’s home in Richmond, Virginia. (Courtesy of the Library of Congress.)

the war effort and try to negotiate peace with the North. Because of his disagreements with Davis, Stephens eventually moved away from the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia, and returned to Georgia. He only accepted two official missions as vice president during this time. Most of his wartime service to the Confederacy consisted of visiting wounded soldiers in hospitals and promoting the exchange of Union prisoners of war for equal numbers of Confederate prisoners.

Remains in politics after the war The Civil War ended in defeat for the Confederacy in early 1865. But the United States continued to struggle with complicated issues in the period after the war. For example, Union authorities had to decide whether to punish Confederate leaders, what process to use to readmit the Southern states to the Union, and how much help to provide in securing equal rights for the freed slaves. This difficult period in AmerAlexander H. Stephens

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ican history came to be known as Reconstruction (1865–77). Immediately after the war ended, Union officials charged Stephens with treason (betraying his country) and put him in prison in Boston, Massachusetts. But they released him after only six months and allowed him to return home to Georgia. During this time, President Andrew Johnson (1808– 1875; see entry)—who took office after Lincoln was assassinated in April 1865—controlled the Reconstruction process. He pardoned many Confederate leaders and established lenient (easy) conditions for the Southern states to return to the Union. Many Northerners worried that Johnson’s Reconstruction policies would allow Confederate leaders to return to power in the South and continue to discriminate against blacks. Georgia set up a new state government that met the president’s conditions. In January 1866, Stephens was elected to represent the state’s interests in the U.S. Senate. But many Northerners were outraged by this turn of events. They felt that Stephens should have been punished more severely for his role in causing the Civil War. They pointed to his election to the Senate as proof that the South had not learned anything from its defeat. At this point, members of the Republican political party in the U.S. Congress decided to take over control of Reconstruction from the president. They established new, stricter conditions for the Southern states to rejoin the Union, and they sent federal troops into the South to enforce their policies. They also refused to allow Stephens or any other Southern representatives to take their seats in the federal government. As a result, Stephens became a vocal opponent of Congress’s Reconstruction policies over the next few years. Denied a chance to serve in the Senate, Stephens resumed his legal practice in Georgia. He finally regained his former seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1872 and served for the next ten years. He also wrote a two-volume history of the Civil War called A Constitutional View of the Late War between the States. The book became a best-seller, and Southerners adopted “War between the States” as their unofficial name for the conflict. In 1882, Stephens put the finishing touch on his political career by being elected governor of Georgia. He only served one year in office, however, before he died on March 4, 1883. 414


Where to Learn More Schott, Thomas Edwin. Alexander H. Stephens of Georgia: A Biography. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1988. Stephens, Alexander Hamilton. Recollections of Alexander H. Stephens: His Diary Kept When a Prisoner at Fort Warren, Boston Harbour, 1865. New York: Doubleday, 1910. Reprint, Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1998. Von Abele, Rudolph. Alexander H. Stephens: A Biography. New York: Knopf, 1946. Reprint, Westport, CT: Negro Universities Press, 1971.

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Thaddeus Stevens Born April 4, 1792 Danville, Vermont Died August 11, 1868 Washington, D.C. Union political leader, head of the Radical Republicans in the U.S. Congress Led the fight to abolish slavery and secure equal rights for black Americans during the Civil War and Reconstruction

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haddeus Stevens was a highly influential—and also controversial—politician during and immediately after the Civil War. People in the North who opposed slavery hailed him as one of the bravest leaders in American history. No one did more to promote the principles of freedom and equality laid out in the U.S. Constitution. “Every man, no matter what his race or color, has an equal right to justice, honesty, and fair play with every other man; and the law should secure him those rights,” Stevens once said. “Such is the law of God and such ought to be the law of man.” But white people in the South hated Stevens. They believed that his radical proposals to free their slaves, take away their land, and put black people in charge of their government would destroy Southern society. Some people in the North also felt that Stevens went too far. They worried that his harsh policies toward the South would prevent the two halves of the country from reconciling their differences after the Civil War. Stevens was a complex man who held strong beliefs and fought for them until the end. “Perhaps if Stevens had been more forgiving, his ideas might have had a better

“Every man, no matter what his race or color, has an equal right to justice, honesty, and fair play with every other man; and the law should secure him those rights.”

Thaddeus Stevens. (Courtesy of the Library of Congress.) 417

chance in his lifetime,” Joy Hakim wrote in Reconstruction and Reform. “Or maybe he was just ahead of his time.”

Uses education to escape from poverty Thaddeus Stevens was born into a poor farming family in Caledonia County, Vermont, on April 4, 1792. His father, Joshua Stevens, was an alcoholic who deserted the family when Thad was five years old. His mother, Sarah Stevens, raised him and his three brothers alone. She encouraged her boys to work hard and get an education. She taught them to read at a young age, using the Bible as a textbook. Thad was born with a deformed foot and lower leg— known as a clubfoot—that caused him to walk with a limp his whole life. Other children sometimes called him names or imitated the way he walked. But he got back at them with his keen intelligence and wit. Although young Thad could not run and play ball games with other kids, he excelled at swimming and horseback riding. When a private school opened in nearby Peacham, Vermont, Sarah Stevens sold the farm so that Thad could attend. He was an eager student, although his teachers also called him “headstrong.” At the age of nineteen, Stevens continued his education at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. With his quick mind and excellent speaking ability, he showed great skill in debate.

Becomes a prominent lawyer After graduating from college in 1814, Stevens moved to the small town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and began to practice law. In one of his early cases, he claimed that his client should not be executed for murder because the client was insane. This marked the first time that a lawyer had attempted to use insanity as a defense in a murder case. Stevens lost the case, but he gained a reputation as a tough, innovative lawyer. Surprisingly, Stevens represented a slaveowner in his first case before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in 1821. The slaveowner was a woman from Maryland (a slave state) who 418


spent each summer in the mountains of Pennsylvania (a free state), along with her slaves. Pennsylvania law said that any slave who lived in the state for six months would be free. One of the woman’s slaves carefully counted the days she spent in Pennsylvania until they added up to six months, then refused to return to Maryland and sued for her freedom. Stevens won the case by arguing that the law required a slave to live in Pennsylvania for six continuous months, rather than a total of six months over a longer period of time. The slave was forced to return to Maryland. It is not clear why Stevens took the case or how he felt about the outcome. Within a few years, however, he began speaking out against slavery. In his law practice, he became known for defending runaway slaves to prevent them from being forced to return to their masters. Over time, Stevens’s success as a lawyer made him a wealthy man. He bought land in the area around Gettysburg and started an iron forging business. As his wealth grew, so did his reputation for helping others in need. For example, one time he happened to be riding past a farm that was being sold at auction. He found out that the farm belonged to a widow who was unable to pay off a bank loan, and that the loss of the farm would leave her homeless. He bought the farm himself, gave it back to the widow, then quickly rode away. Stevens also helped others to get an education. He opened his extensive private library to the public, and he allowed many young men to study law in his offices.

Begins his political career In 1833, Stevens was elected to the Pennsylvania state legislature. He immediately began fighting to establish free public schools for all children. Until this time, most schools were private and only children from wealthy families attended. Poor children had to work from a young age to help support their families, and rarely even learned to read and write. But creating free public schools was not a popular idea. Many people resented having to pay taxes to support the schools. Some wealthy people wanted to keep the advantages of education for themselves. Stevens made several speeches that helped convince the legislature and voters to support the idea. The number of schools in Pennsylvania increased from Thaddeus Stevens

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800 to 3,400 over the next three years, while the number of students enrolled in school went from 32,000 to 150,000. In 1842, Stevens left politics to deal with his personal affairs. Financial troubles convinced him to move his law practice to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, during this time. In 1848, Stevens was elected to the U.S. Congress. This was a time of great political tension in the United States. For years, the North and the South had been arguing over several issues, including slavery. Growing numbers of Northerners, like Stevens, believed that slavery was wrong. Some people wanted to outlaw it, while others wanted to prevent it from spreading beyond the Southern states where it was already allowed. But slavery played a big role in the Southern economy and culture. As a result, many Southerners felt threatened by Northern efforts to contain slavery. They believed that each state should decide for itself whether to allow slavery. They did not want the national government to pass laws that would interfere with their traditional way of life. Stevens made his position clear in his very first speech before Congress. He said that slavery was wrong, and that political leaders from the North had an obligation to stand up to the South on the issue. Some Southern legislators claimed that black people were inferior to white people, and said that they were actually better off as slaves than they would be trying to care for themselves. They argued that slaves were well fed and happy, while free blacks in the North were hungry and desperate. But Stevens refused to accept this argument. “If slavery is such a moral, political, and personal blessing, let us give all a chance to enjoy this blessing,” he replied. “Let the slaves, who choose, go free, and the free, who choose, become slaves. If these gentlemen believe there is a word of truth in what they preach, the slaveholder need be under no apprehension [fear] that he will ever lack bondsmen [slaves].”

Helps make the Civil War a fight against slavery By 1861, the ongoing dispute between the two sections of the country convinced several Southern states to secede from (leave) the United States and attempt to form a new country that allowed slavery, called the Confederate 420


States of America. But Northern political leaders were determined to keep the Southern states in the Union. The two sides soon went to war. Stevens became even more powerful in the U.S. Congress at this time. He served as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee during the Civil War. This meant that he controlled the collection and spending of tax money that allowed the Union to fight the war. Stevens also understood the personal cost of the war. Confederate troops destroyed his iron factories during the Battle of Gettysburg. He lost $90,000, or the equivalent of his life savings. But he claimed that he was willing to pay any price for victory. “We must all expect to suffer by this wicked war. I have not felt a moment’s trouble over my share of it,” he stated. “If, finally, the government shall be reestablished over our whole territory, and not a vestige [trace] of slavery left, I shall deem [believe] it a cheap purchase.” Stevens became very critical of President Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865; see entry) during the war years. Lincoln was against slavery, but he wanted to end it gradually. He was also hesitant to grant full civil and political equality to black people. In contrast, Stevens wanted to abolish (put an end to) slavery immediately and completely. And he believed that if black people were free, they should be treated the same as white people. People like Stevens were considered extreme or radical, while people like Lincoln were considered more cautious or moderate. Stevens and other radicals criticized the president for moving too slowly toward ending slavery and for being too lenient (easy) in his policies toward the South. They kept pushing Lincoln to take dramatic steps toward freeing the slaves and changing the structure of Southern society. But even though Stevens and Lincoln had their political differences, they actually respected and helped each other. As their mutual friend Alexander McClure (1828–1909) described their relationship: “Stevens was ever clearing the underbrush and preparing the soil, while Lincoln followed to sow the seeds that were to ripen in a regenerated Union.”

Promotes radical Reconstruction policies After the Civil War ended in 1865, the United States continued to struggle with important and complicated issues. Thaddeus Stevens

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For example, Stevens and other federal lawmakers had to decide whether to punish the Confederate leaders, what process to use to readmit the Southern states to the Union, and how much assistance to provide in securing equal rights for the freed slaves. This difficult period in American history was called Reconstruction (1865–77). President Andrew Johnson (1808–1875; see entry)— who took office after Lincoln was assassinated—controlled the earliest Reconstruction efforts. He pardoned (officially forgave) many Confederate leaders and set lenient conditions for the Southern states to return to the Union. But Stevens and other radical Republican members of Congress worried that Johnson’s policies would allow the Confederate leaders to return to power and continue to discriminate against black people. They set up a Committee on Reconstruction, with Stevens as its chairman, to study the effects of Johnson’s policies. The committee heard numerous stories of discrimination and violence against blacks in the South. As a result, the U.S. Congress took control of the Reconstruction process in 1866 and sent federal troops into the Southern states to enforce their policies. By this time, Stevens was in his seventies and in poor health. In fact, he sometimes had to be carried into sessions of Congress. His voice was weak, but the other members respected his authority so much that they crowded around his desk to hear him when he spoke. Stevens viewed the North’s victory in the war as an opportunity to make fundamental changes in Southern society. He argued that the Southern states should only be readmitted to the Union if they gave black men the right to vote and guaranteed that they would be treated equally under the law. He also wanted to punish the Confederate leaders for their rebellion. Stevens’s extreme positions on Reconstruction earned him many enemies in the South. Even in the North, many people did not share his views. Some Northerners worried that his hard line would make it more difficult for the nation to settle its differences and return to normal. One of Stevens’s most controversial proposals involved confiscating (taking away) land that belonged to wealthy planters (plantation owners) who had supported the Confederacy. He wanted to distribute this land to former 422


slaves and poor white people in forty-acre parcels. Stevens believed that land was the key to making lasting changes in Southern society. Land ownership would allow former slaves to live independently and support themselves and their families. Otherwise, they would be forced to work for wealthy white landowners again. “The whole fabric of southern society must be changed and never can it be done if this opportunity is lost,” he said in a speech before Congress in 1865. “No people will ever be republican [where power resides with the voting public and representatives are responsible to that public] in spirit and practice where a few own immense manors and the masses are landless.” But Stevens’s proposal was rejected by Congress. Many Northerners were hesitant to confiscate property because they feared it could happen to them someday. For example, poor industrial workers might decide to seize factories belonging to wealthy owners. The United States never took meaningful steps to provide land to former slaves. Thaddeus Stevens

The U.S. House of Representatives impeachment committee of President Andrew Johnson. Seated from left to right are representatives Benjamin F. Butler (Massachusetts), Thaddeus Stevens (Pennsylvania), Thomas Williams (Pennsylvania), and John A. Bingham (Ohio). Standing are James Wilson (Iowa), George S. Boutwell (Massachusetts), and John A. Logan (Illinois). (Photograph by Mathew Brady. Reproduced with permission of Corbis.)

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Thaddeus Stevens gives the last speech at the impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson. (Reproduced with permission of Corbis.)

Leads impeachment proceedings against President Johnson As Stevens and other radical Republican members of Congress implemented their Reconstruction plans, President Johnson fought them every step of the way. He vetoed (rejected) many bills passed by Congress, although Congress was usually able to gather enough votes (two-thirds of its members) to pass the bills over the president’s veto. Stevens emerged as the most vocal opponent of Johnson during this time. In 1868, he led a movement to remove the president from office. The Constitution says that all federal officials can be impeached (brought up on legal charges) and removed from elected office if they are found guilty of “treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.” All of the branches of the federal government have roles in an impeachment trial. The House of Representatives brings the charges and acts as

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prosecutor. The chief justice of the Supreme Court presides over the trial as a judge. The Senate hears the case and votes as a jury. Two-thirds of the senators present must vote to convict in order to remove the impeached official from office. Most people agreed that the charges against Johnson were not serious enough to remove him from office, but the president was so unpopular that the outcome of the impeachment trial was uncertain. Johnson ended up remaining in office by one vote. Although Stevens had failed in his efforts to impeach the president, he succeeded in passing the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution. This amendment made black people citizens of the United States. It also prevented individual states from taking away the civil rights of citizens or denying them equal protection under the law.

Dies fighting for equality After suffering from poor health for many years, Stevens died on August 11, 1868—just a few weeks after the impeachment trial ended. He had never married or had children. His black housekeeper, Lydia Smith, cared for him in his last days. Some of his political enemies claimed that Stevens and Smith had been lovers, but there was never any proof of a romantic relationship between them. Upon his death, Stevens asked to be buried in a remote cemetery that was open to people of all races. He also prepared a message for his gravestone, which read: “I repose [rest] in this quiet and secluded spot, not from any natural preference for solitude, but finding any other cemeteries limited as to race by charter rules, I have chosen this, that I might illustrate in my death the principles which I advocated through a long life: equality of man before his Creator.” For a few years after Stevens’s death, black people were allowed to vote and to participate in government in the South. After the federal troops left the South in 1877, however, black people’s civil and political rights were taken away bit by bit through intimidation and violence. But nearly one hundred years later, the civil rights movement of the 1960s built upon the Fourteenth Amendment and other laws that Stevens had put in place. Thaddeus Stevens

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Where to Learn More Belcher, Edward. Thaddeus Stevens: Commoner. Boston: A. Williams & Co., 1882. Reprint, New York: AMS Press, 1972. Meltzer, Milton. Thaddeus Stevens and the Fight for Negro Rights. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, 1967. Hakim, Joy. Reconstruction and Reform. New York: Oxford University Press, 1994. Korngold, Ralph. Thaddeus Stevens. New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1955. Reprint, Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1974. Miller, Alphonse B. Thaddeus Stevens. New York: Harper, 1939. Palmer, Beverly Wilson, ed. The Selected Papers of Thaddeus Stevens. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1997. Trefousse, Hans L. The Radical Republicans: Lincoln’s Vanguard for Racial Justice. New York: Knopf, 1969. Reprint, Baton Rouge: University of Louisiana Press, 1975. Trefousse, Hans L. Thaddeus Stevens: Nineteenth-Century Egalitarian. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1997. Woodley, Thomas Frederick. Great Leveler: The Life of Thaddeus Stevens. New York: Stackpole, 1937. Reprint, Freeport, NY: Books for Libraries Press, 1969.

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Harriet Beecher Stowe Born June 14, 1811 Litchfield, Connecticut Died July 1, 1896 Hartford, Connecticut Writer and abolitionist Author of the best-selling antislavery novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin

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arriet Beecher Stowe brought to life the horrors of slavery for people in the Northern United States through her popular novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Her book was one of the first to portray black characters as real people with the same hopes and dreams as whites. It inspired thousands of people in the North to join the fight against slavery, and also increased the tensions between the North and South. As a result, many historians have claimed that Stowe helped cause the Civil War.

“Let the President of the United States proclaim that all men shall hereafter be declared free and equal, and that the [military] service of all shall be accepted, without regard to color.”

Grows up in a large family Harriet Beecher Stowe was born on June 14, 1811, in Litchfield, Connecticut. She was the seventh of thirteen children (only eleven of whom survived to adulthood) born to the fiery Puritan minister Lyman Beecher (1775–1863). Her mother, a gentle and well-educated woman named Roxanna Foote Beecher, died of tuberculosis when she was four years old. Harriet—known to her family and friends as Hatty—was a small girl with lots of energy and a playful sense of humor.

Harriet Beecher Stowe. (Courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration.) 427

She loved to read and became a very good student. After winning prizes for her essays as a student at Litchfield Academy, she dreamed of becoming a famous writer. For the most part, Hatty had a happy childhood surrounded by her large family. She was particularly close to her younger brother, Henry Ward Beecher (1813–1887), who would eventually become a famous preacher like their father. Another important influence was her oldest sister, Catherine Beecher, who helped raise her after their mother died. Catherine held progressive views about the role of women that were unusual for that time. Believing that women should have the same educational opportunities as men, she opened a school for girls in Hartford, Connecticut. Hatty attended the school for a time and also taught there during her teen years.

Comes into contact with slavery Growing up in the Northern United States in the early 1800s, Stowe had little direct contact with black people. But she heard stories about the way black people were treated in the Southern part of the country under the institution of slavery. Black people were taken from Africa and brought to North America to serve as slaves for white people beginning in the 1600s. The basic belief behind slavery was that black people were inferior to whites. Under slavery, white slaveholders treated black people as property, forced them to perform hard labor, and controlled every aspect of their lives. States in the Northern half of the United States began outlawing slavery in the late 1700s. But slavery continued to exist in the Southern half of the country, where it became a dominant part of the region’s economy and culture. One of the stories Stowe heard as a girl helped convince her that slavery was wrong. A few years before Stowe was born, her aunt married a wealthy planter (plantation owner) from the West Indies, a chain of islands in the Caribbean, off the southern coast of North America. She returned to his island plantation with him, only to discover that he had fathered more than a dozen children with his slaves there. He considered the black women his property and saw nothing wrong with breeding new servants the way he might breed livestock. Stowe’s aunt was outraged at her hus428


band’s attitude and behavior. Overcome with shame, she moved back to Connecticut and died. Whenever Stowe’s father told this story, he always concluded by saying that slavery was a sin that would be punished by God. Stowe received her first real contact with slavery in 1832. At this time, her family moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, so her father could teach at Lane Theological Seminary. Cincinnati was a booming frontier town just across the Ohio River from Kentucky—a state that allowed slavery. As a result, many fugitive slaves passed through Cincinnati on their way to freedom in the North or in Canada. In fact, Cincinnati was a major stop on the Underground Railroad—a secret network of abolitionists (people who fought to end slavery) who helped escaped slaves. The Underground Railroad system consisted of a chain of homes and barns known as “safe houses” or “depots.” The people who helped the runaway slaves go from one safe house to the next were known as “conductors.” Since Cincinnati bordered the South, slavery was a subject of great debate there. Some of the students at Lane Theological Seminary formed an antislavery society, and Stowe was exposed to their arguments on the issue. She often saw advertisements offering rewards for the capture of runaway slaves. She spoke with one of her father’s colleagues who allowed fugitive slaves to stay in his home. She also visited Kentucky and witnessed plantation life firsthand. But throughout this time, Stowe kept her growing hatred of slavery to herself. She worked as a teacher, joined a literary society, and began publishing articles in magazines. She also wrote her first book, a geography textbook to be used in schools.

Fugitive slave law prompts action During her time in Cincinnati, Harriet Beecher became close friends with Eliza Stowe, the wife of her father’s colleague Calvin Ellis Stowe. When her friend died in 1834, she and Calvin Stowe shared their grief. Eventually their friendship blossomed into love, and they were married on January 6, 1836. In the years following her marriage, Stowe’s main responsibility was caring for her growing family. She ended up having seven children (only six survived to adulthood). But she still made time to write articles and stories, Harriet Beecher Stowe

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mostly because her family needed the money. During this time, her writing focused on domestic and romantic themes and ignored the heated debate over slavery that was taking place across the country. In 1850, Stowe and her husband moved to Brunswick, Maine. She was very happy to return to New England. But before long an event occurred that made it impossible for her to contain her anger about slavery any longer—Southerners in the U.S. Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Act. This measure granted slaveowners sweeping new powers to capture and reclaim escaped slaves. It also required people in the North to assist the slaveowners in retrieving their property. Many Northerners resented the Fugitive Slave Act. Some people simply disobeyed the act. Others became active in helping escaped slaves to hide or to reach Canada, where slavery was not allowed. The Fugitive Slave Act ended up increasing the antislavery and anti-Southern feelings of many people in the North. The passage of the Fugitive Slave Act convinced Stowe that she had to do something to help end slavery. Her family encouraged her to write a book on the subject. She began working on a novel at night, when her children were asleep. She hoped that her book would show people the true evil of slavery and inspire them to take action against it. “I feel now that the time is come when even a woman or a child who can speak a word for freedom and humanity is bound to speak,” she noted. “My object will be to hold up [slavery] in the most lifelike and graphic manner possible.” In order to add realistic details to her novel, Stowe read several books on slavery, including American Slavery as It Is by abolitionist Theodore Dwight Weld (1803–1895; see entry). She also exchanged letters with former slave and abolition leader Frederick Douglass (1818?–1895; see entry).

Uncle Tom’s Cabin Stowe’s novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, became the single most important piece of antislavery literature in American history. The story first appeared as a series of short articles in National Era magazine in 1851. It proved to be extremely popular with Northern readers, and was published in book form in 1852. Uncle Tom’s Cabin follows the lives of several black 430


slaves who work for a cruel man named Simon Legree in the South. Through the experiences of Uncle Tom, Eliza, and others, the novel painted a powerful picture of the evils of slavery. It also gave readers a more realistic understanding of slaves. It was one of the first books to portray black characters as human beings with the same desires, dreams, and weaknesses as white people. Uncle Tom’s Cabin turned out to be a perfect expression of people’s guilt, anger, and disgust at seeing slaves being hunted down in the North under the Fugitive Slave Act. Readers all across the North were captivated by Uncle Tom’s Cabin. The novel sold three hundred thousand copies in the first year following its publication, and went on to sell over two million copies in the next ten years. Stowe’s work was so popular that it became the best-selling book ever. More importantly, Uncle Tom’s Cabin raised people’s awareness of the terrible injustice of slavery. It convinced countless Northerners to join the abolitionist movement. Some historians claim that, by making people in the North less willing to compromise on the issue of slavery, it helped cause the Civil War. In fact, President Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865; see entry) once called Stowe “the little lady who wrote the book that made this big war.”

An illustration of the Uncle Tom character from Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin. (Originally published by Coward, McCann & Geoghegan, Inc., 1929.)

Of course, reaction in the Southern states was not so positive. Most people in the South were highly critical of the book. They claimed that Stowe distorted the facts of slavery and exaggerated the punishments that blacks received. “There never before was anything so detestable or so monstrous among women as this,” wrote a reviewer for the New Orleans Crescent. Many states tried to ban the book, but Southerners still wanted to read it. In fact, copies sold so fast that bookstores in Charleston, South Carolina, could not keep up with demand. Still, Stowe was extremely unpopular Harriet Beecher Stowe

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in the South. She received many obscene or threatening letters, including one that contained a black person’s ear.

Continues to write during and after the Civil War In the years following the publication of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Stowe was the most famous writer in the world. She traveled around Europe, where she was entertained by royalty. When she returned to the United States, her home became a center for abolitionist activity. The fees she collected from her book made her wealthy, but all the money and attention did not change the way she lived. By 1861, the ongoing dispute between North and South over slavery and other issues convinced several Southern states to secede from (leave) the United States and attempt to form a new country that allowed slavery, called the Confederate States of America. But Northern political leaders were determined to keep the Southern states in the Union. The two sides soon went to war. After the Civil War began, Stowe appealed to her friends in England to support the Union. She also argued that President Abraham Lincoln should free all the slaves immediately so they could assist in the North’s war effort. “Let the President of the United States proclaim that all men shall hereafter be declared free and equal, and that the [military] service of all shall be accepted, without regard to color,” she wrote. In 1864, Stowe and her husband built an expensive house in Hartford. The following year, the Civil War ended in victory for the North. Stowe was thrilled when the U.S. Congress passed the Thirteenth Amendment outlawing slavery. She continued to write in the years following the war, but she concentrated on less controversial themes. In 1869, she published Oldtown Folks, a novel about small-town life in New England in the early nineteenth century. This book is generally considered her most important work besides Uncle Tom’s Cabin. By the late 1860s, Stowe and her husband began spending the winter months in Florida, where one of their sons ran a farm. Stowe started a small school there to teach former slaves how to read and write. To her surprise, people 432


in the South treated her kindly. In 1873, she sold the house in Hartford and bought a smaller one next door to fellow writer Samuel Clemens (1835–1910), who later became famous under the pen name Mark Twain. Stowe’s husband died in 1886, and her beloved brother Henry Ward Beecher died the following year. In 1889, she helped her son Charles Edward Stowe collect her papers and publish her biography, The Life of Harriet Beecher Stowe. Shortly afterward, she suffered a stroke and grew weak. She died on July 1, 1896, at her home in Hartford.

Where to Learn More Coil, Suzanne M. Harriet Beecher Stowe. New York: Franklin Watts, 1993. Fritz, Jean. Harriet Beecher Stowe and the Beecher Preachers. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1994. Harriet Beecher Stowe Center. [Online] http://www.hartnet.org/~stowe/ (accessed on October 15, 1999). Hedrick, Joan D. Harriet Beecher Stowe: A Life. New York: Oxford University Press, 1994. Jakoubek, Robert E. Harriet Beecher Stowe. New York: Chelsea House, 1989. Kirkham, E. Bruce. The Building of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1977. Ohio Historical Center. Stowe House. [Online] http://www.ohiohistory. org/places/stowe/ (accessed on October 15, 1999). Stowe, Charles Edward. The Life of Harriet Beecher Stowe. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1889. Reprint, Detroit: Gale Research, 1967. Stowe, Harriet Beecher. Uncle Tom's Cabin. Originally published in book form in 1852. Various subsequent editions.

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Jeb Stuart Born February 6, 1833 Patrick County, Virginia Died May 12, 1864 Richmond, Virginia Legendary general of the cavalry corps of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia

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eb Stuart ranks as one of the great military heroes of the Confederacy. He led the cavalry corps of the South’s Army of Northern Virginia in many of the Civil War’s greatest campaigns, including First Bull Run (July 1861), Antietam (September 1862), Chancellorsville (May 1863), Gettysburg (July 1863), and the Wilderness (May 1864). The scouting and fighting exploits of his cavalry in these campaigns account for much of Stuart’s fame. But he is also well known for leading daring raids on Union positions and supply lines during the war. In fact, Southern newspaper coverage of these raids transformed Stuart into one of the Confederacy’s most respected and beloved soldiers.

“The war is going to be a long and terrible one. . . . We’ve only just begun it and very few of us will see the end. All I ask of fate is that I may be killed leading a cavalry charge.”

Trained at West Point James Ewell Brown “Jeb” Stuart was born in 1833 in Virginia. One of ten children, he was an outgoing boy who was close to both his gentle, poetry-reading mother and his father, who was a prominent lawyer. Stuart enrolled in the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1850, where he became one of the school’s top students. In 1853, Robert E. Lee (1807–1870; see entry) accepted a position at West Point as the school’s su-

Jeb Stuart. (Courtesy of the Library of Congress.) 435

perintendent. During the next two years, Stuart established a close relationship with Lee and the rest of his family. After graduating from West Point in 1854, Stuart was made a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army and assigned to a military post at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. During his time at Fort Leavenworth he married Flora Cooke, who was the daughter of post commander Colonel Phillip St. George Cooke. Stuart and his wife quickly started a family, producing three children over the next few years. While stationed in Kansas, Stuart took part in many patrols against Indian raiding parties. He and his fellow soldiers also tried to put a halt to the violence that battered the Kansas Territory in the mid-1850s, when differences between proslavery and antislavery settlers erupted into an epidemic of murder and arson. In 1859, Stuart helped Robert E. Lee capture John Brown (1800–1859; see entry) at Harpers Ferry, Virginia, after Brown’s violent attempt to start a mass slave uprising failed.

Stuart sides with the Confederacy In early 1861, tensions between the Northern United States and the Southern United States led Stuart to resign from the U.S. military. For years, the North and the South had been arguing over several issues. The most important issue dividing them was slavery. Many Northerners believed that slavery was wrong. Some people wanted to outlaw it, while others wanted to prevent it from spreading beyond the Southern states where it was already allowed. But slavery played a vital role in the Southern economy and culture, and Southerners resented Northern efforts to halt or contain the practice. They argued that each state should decide for itself whether to allow slavery. By early 1861, this ongoing dispute had convinced several Southern states to secede from (leave) the United States and attempt to form a new country that allowed slavery, called the Confederate States of America. But Northern political leaders refused to stand idly by as the United States was torn in two. They announced that they were willing to go to war to keep the Union together. In April 1861, the war between the two sides finally began. Thousands of soldiers who had been born and raised 436


in the South resigned from the United States military in order to join the Confederate Army. Many of the soldiers who resigned from the Federal Army left with a heavy heart. After all, they had sworn allegiance to the United States when they joined the army. But these Southerners believed that they owed an even greater allegiance to their home state, where their friends and families lived. In May 1861, Stuart joined the ranks of Southern-born Federal soldiers who decided to serve the Confederacy. He resigned from the U.S. Army and accepted a position as commander of a regiment of cavalry in the Army of Northern Virginia. This army was the largest one in the entire Confederate military.

Stuart’s reputation grows During the first year of the Civil War, Stuart became known to friend and enemy alike as one of the South’s top cavalry commanders. Most of the cavalrymen under his command had grown up in rural areas, where they had learned to ride horses and shoot rifles at an early age. But few of them had any military training or background, so Stuart spent a great deal of time training them to operate together as a unit. “I regard it as a foregone [unavoidable] conclusion that we should ultimately whip the Yankees,” Stuart stated around this time. “We are bound to believe that anyhow, but the war is going to be a long and terrible one first. We’ve only just begun it and very few of us will see the end. All I ask of fate is that I may be killed leading a cavalry charge.” By the summer of 1861, Stuart’s cavalry was ready for war. In mid-July, large Union and Confederate armies confronted each other outside Manassas, Virginia, in the First Battle of Bull Run. Following the orders of Confederate general P. G. T. Beauregard (1818–1893; see entry), Stuart fooled one Union army into staying away from the battlefield. He then rushed his cavalry into the thick of the battle, where they helped push the Union Army into panicked retreat. Stuart’s cavalry thus proved vital in delivering a big Confederate victory in the first significant battle of the Civil War. Over the next several months, the reputation of Stuart and his cavalry continued to grow. They showed that they had a talent for conducting raids on Union railroads and supJeb Stuart

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A cavalry regiment passes the Rappahannock River in Virginia in 1862. (Reproduced by permission of the National Portrait Gallery.)

ply centers. In addition, Stuart’s cavalrymen proved to be very good spies. They tracked Union Army movements with such great skill that rebel (Confederate) military leaders were able to avoid many surprise attacks from the North. Stuart’s reports also helped Confederate leaders plan effective attacks on Union military positions.

Earning Lee’s trust In June 1862, General Robert E. Lee took command of the Army of Northern Virginia. Stuart was delighted to hear about the promotion of his old West Point superintendent, and over the next several months he became one of Lee’s most trusted officers. In fact, Stuart proved how valuable he and his cavalry could be almost immediately. In mid-June, Lee sent Stuart and his cavalry on a reconnaissance (exploration and spying) mission into southeastern Virginia, where 438


a large Union force commanded by General George B. McClellan (1826–1885; see entry) had moved. Over the course of four days, Stuart’s cavalry gathered a great deal of valuable information about the Union Army’s size and movements, while at the same time avoiding all Federal attempts to catch them. One of the many Union commanders who chased Stuart was his father-in-law, General Phillip St. George Cooke. The information that Stuart gathered helped Lee develop a winning strategy to stop the invasion. “History cannot show such another exploit as this of Stuart’s!” exclaimed the Richmond Daily Dispatch. “The whole country is astonished and applauds. McClellan is disgraced. Stuart and his troopers are now forever in history.” In July 1862, Lee promoted Stuart to major general and placed him in charge of the Army of Northern Virginia’s entire calvary corps. Lee’s decision was a good one. As historian Gary W. Gallagher noted in Civil War Journal, Stuart was “a hard-headed professional soldier who knew exactly what cavalry should do and who was as good at those tasks as anybody on either side. When it came to screening his own army, gathering information about the opposing army, and controlling the middle ground between the two armies, Stuart was unexcelled [unequalled].” Over the next several months, Stuart’s bold raids and clever scouting methods increased his fame throughout the South and his fearsome reputation across the North. During this time, however, he became almost as well known for his colorful taste in clothing as for his military abilities. Unlike other military leaders who preferred to wear regular army uniforms, Stuart wore clothing that reinforced his image as a dashing cavalryman. His garments—which often included a cape lined with red cloth and a fancy hat with a big plume (a large feather) in the band—made him instantly recognizable to Southerners everywhere and contributed to the widespread popularity of the Confederate cavalryman.

Tragedy and triumph In late 1862 and early 1863, Stuart and his cavalry suffered a number of serious setbacks. First, in November 1862, Stuart learned that one of his young daughters had died of a fever. Jeb Stuart

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Then, in the first months of 1863, several of his most trusted lieutenants were killed in battle. Finally, the improved performance of Union cavalry forces around this time made scouting missions much more dangerous for Stuart and his men. Nonetheless, Stuart’s cavalry forces continued to serve the South with great effectiveness. At the end of 1862, for instance, Stuart led a successful raid deep into Northern territory. And in May 1863, the magnificent performance of Stuart and his cavalry helped the Confederacy win the Battle of Chancellorsville in Virginia. First, Stuart’s cavalry tricked a large Union army into stopping in a poor defensive position. Then, Stuart took command of a corps of Confederate infantrymen after their leader, Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson (1824–1863; see entry), was wounded in battle. The actions of Stuart and his men helped Lee defeat a much bigger army and secure his greatest victory of the entire war.

Jeb Stuart and the Battle of Gettysburg After his stunning victory at Chancellorsville, General Lee invaded the North. He hoped to seize badly needed food and supplies and create a surge of antiwar sentiment in the North. Lee knew that President Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865; see entry) would not be able to continue the war against the South if he did not have the support of the Northern people. As Lee’s Confederate Army pushed through Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley into Northern territory, Stuart’s cavalry troops worked to screen their movements from a large Union army in the area. On June 23, Lee ordered Stuart to take his cavalry on a scouting and raiding mission around the Union forces. Over the next several days, Stuart’s efforts to maneuver his cavalry past the Union Army undetected were repeatedly delayed by enemy troop movements. Once he reached the lightly defended area behind the advancing Union forces, he captured more than one hundred supply wagons. But his decision to return to Lee with the supply wagons greatly slowed his progress. In the meantime, Lee struggled to keep track of the approaching Union Army. The general had always relied heavily on Stuart’s cavalrymen to scout out enemy locations 440


and movements. Their absence made it difficult for Lee to determine the strength and whereabouts of Union forces in the region. Lee’s knowledge of enemy movements grew shakier with each passing day, and the Confederate general became anxious for Stuart’s return. He admitted that without Stuart’s cavalry reports, “I am in ignorance as to what we have in front of us here.” In the final days of June, Lee suddenly learned that the Union Army, which was led by General George Meade (1815–1872; see entry), had drawn dangerously close. The Confederate general hastily gathered his army together at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, to prepare for battle. A few days later, the famous Battle of Gettysburg began. From July 1 to July 3, Meade’s Army of the Potomac and Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia fought for control of the Pennsylvania countryside. For the first day and a half of the battle, Lee fought without the use of Stuart’s cavalry. Stuart and his men finally returned from their mission on the evening of July 2, but their arrival was not enough to bring victory to the Confederacy. After one final day of warfare, Lee’s battered rebel army retreated back to the South in defeat. Stuart’s extended absence from Lee’s side has been cited by many historians as a major factor in the Union victory at the Battle of Gettysburg. Some people argue that Stuart’s long absence was Lee’s fault. They argue that Lee’s orders to Stuart were too confusing, and that he never should have ordered his scouts so far away. Many other historians, though, contend that Stuart was far too slow in returning from his mission. In any case, Lee badly missed Stuart’s cavalry.

Stuart’s death at Yellow Tavern The controversy over Stuart’s performance during the Gettysburg campaign tarnished the cavalryman’s previously spotless reputation. But the dashing cavalryman did his best to ignore his critics. Instead, he became even more determined to whip his foes from the North. In the months following the Confederate defeat at Gettysburg, Stuart and his cavalry continued to strike against Union positions. But by early 1864, Union armies were marchJeb Stuart

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ing all across the South. One of these armies was a force of ten thousand cavalrymen under the command of General Philip Sheridan (1831–1888; see entry). Sheridan wanted to stop Stuart once and for all. He immediately advanced on the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia, confident that General Lee would send Stuart’s cavalry to stop him. Sheridan’s prediction proved to be accurate. As his Union troops made their way toward Richmond, more than forty thousand Confederate cavalry under the command of Stuart tried to halt their advance. The two cavalry corps met in full battle on May 11, 1864, at Yellow Tavern, only six miles north of Richmond. As the battle wore on, a series of charges led by Union general George A. Custer threatened to collapse Stuart’s defensive position. Stuart rode over to help hold the position, only to be shot in the stomach by a Union soldier. Stuart’s cavalry quickly retreated from Yellow Tavern and carried their commander into Richmond, where he died the next day. Stuart’s stand at Yellow Tavern had stopped Sheridan’s advance on Richmond. But his death was a serious blow to the Confederate Army, as Lee himself admitted. “The commanding general announces to the army with heartfelt sorrow the death of Major General J. E. B. Stuart,” proclaimed Lee on May 20. “The mysterious hand of an all-wise God has removed him from the scene of his usefulness and fame. To his comrades in arms, he has left the proud recollection of his deeds and the inspiring influence of his example.”

Where to Learn More Blackford, William Willis. War Years with Jeb Stuart. New York: Scribner, 1945. Reprint, Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1993. Carter, Samuel. The Last Cavaliers: Confederate and Union Cavalry in the Civil War. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1980. Davis, Burke. Jeb Stuart, the Last Cavalier. New York: Rinehart & Co., 1957. Reprint, New York: Fairfax Press, 1988. Laurel Hill. Welcome to Laurel Hill: Birthplace of General J. E. B. Stuart, CSA. [Online] http://www.jebstuart.org/ (accessed on October 15, 1999). Longacre, Edward C. Mounted Raids of the Civil War. South Brunswick, NJ: A. S. Barnes, 1975. Reprint, Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1994. 442


McClellan, Henry B. I Rode with Jeb Stuart: The Life and Campaigns of Major General J.E.B. Stuart. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1958. Reprint, New York: Da Capo Press, 1994. Nesbitt, Mark. Saber and Scapegoat: J. E. B. Stuart and the Gettysburg Controversy. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 1994. Pflueger, Lynda. Jeb Stuart: Confederate Cavalry General. Springfield, NJ: Enslow, 1998. Thomas, Emory M. Bold Dragoon: The Life of J. E. B. Stuart. New York: Harper & Row, 1986. Reprint, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1999. Thomason, John W., Jr. Jeb Stuart. New York: C. Scribner’s Sons, 1930. Reprint, Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1994. Yates, Bernice-Marie. Jeb Stuart Speaks: An Interview with Lee’s Cavalryman. Shippensburg, PA: White Mane Pub. Co., 1997.

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Charles Sumner Born January 6, 1811 Boston, Massachusetts Died March 11, 1874 Washington, D.C. Republican senator from Massachusetts Abolitionist and leader in the impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson

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harles Sumner was one of America’s most prominent political figures during the Civil War era. A dedicated abolitionist, he fought against laws that extended or protected the institution of slavery in any way. Sumner’s views made him a hated man in the South, though. In 1856, this hatred became so intense that a Southern congressman viciously attacked him on the floor of the Senate. This physical assault immediately became famous throughout the North as a symbol of Southern wickedness. Sumner spent the following three years recovering from his injuries.

“Whatever apologies may be offered for the toleration of slavery in the States, none can be offered for its extension into Territories where it does not exist.”

Sumner returned to the Senate, once again establishing himself as one of the nation’s most influential politicians. He provided firm support to President Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865; see entry) and his wartime policies, and later became a vocal opponent of President Andrew Johnson (1808–1875; see entry) and his Reconstruction (1865–77) plans. Charles Sumner. (Reproduced with permission of Archive Photos, Inc.) 445

Journalist and lawyer Charles Sumner was born in 1811 in Boston, Massachusetts. His family was wealthy, so young Sumner was able to attend the finest schools in the Boston area. In 1831, he enrolled in the law school at Harvard University. He graduated two years later, and in 1834, passed the state bar exam and became an attorney. Sumner was both energetic and ambitious, so he spent the mid-1830s engaged in a wide range of activities. In addition to practicing law, he also edited a law review called the American Jurist, lectured at Harvard, and worked as a reporter for the U.S. Circuit Court. In 1837, he left America to go to Europe. He traveled through Europe for the next three years, exploring its museums and libraries and establishing friendships with a number of influential European politicians.

Joins abolitionist movement After returning to the United States in 1840, Sumner became a successful attorney in the Boston area. He became best known, however, for his participation in the growing abolitionist movement (a movement to end slavery in the United States). In fact, Sumner’s passionate antislavery speeches soon made him one of Massachusetts’s leading abolitionist voices. In the mid-1840s, Sumner’s opposition to slavery led him to oppose both America’s annexation of Texas (1845) and the Mexican War (1846–48), which forced Mexico to give the United States thousands of square miles of territory in the West. Sumner battled against America’s addition of these territories because he feared that the government would allow slavery to expand onto those lands. In 1851, leaders of the Democratic Party and the antislavery Free-Soil Party selected Sumner to fill the vacated Senate seat of Daniel Webster (1782–1852), who had resigned to become secretary of state. As Massachusetts’s newest senator, Sumner quickly established himself as one of the strongest antislavery voices in the entire U.S. Senate. He bitterly denounced the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act, which gave Southern slaveowners sweeping new powers to reclaim runaway slaves in the North. He also opposed the 1854 Kansas-Nebraska Act, which let citizens of western territories decide for themselves 446


whether to permit slavery based on the theory of “popular sovereignty.” In fact, Sumner and many other Northern abolitionists viewed the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act as a tragedy. After all, the 1854 law explicitly abolished the Missouri Compromise of 1820, which had outlawed slavery in thousands of square miles of American territory for the previous three decades. The passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act made those territories vulnerable to slavery once again.

Hated in the South Certain that Southern politicians would soon try to spread slavery into the West, Sumner joined with Ohio senator Salmon P. Chase (1808–1873) and several other antislavery congressmen to issue a document called The Appeal of the Independent Democrats. This document criticized the KansasNebraska Act as “part . . . of an atrocious [terrible] plot [to convert the West] into a dreary region of despotism [tyranny], inhabited by masters and slaves. . . . Whatever apologies may be offered for the toleration of slavery in the States, none can be offered for its extension into Territories where it does not exist.” Around this same time, Sumner helped organize the national Republican Party, which soon became the leading antislavery political party in the country. Finally, Sumner continued to deliver public speeches in which he harshly criticized the law and the morality (principles of right and wrong conduct) of Southern slaveholders. His fiery words made him a favorite of Northern abolitionists. But in America’s slaveholding states, dislike for Sumner grew into outright hatred. In May 1856, mounting Southern anger over Sumner’s harsh criticism of their society and morals finally erupted into a violent incident that became one of the most famous events in U.S. Senate history. On May 19 and 20, 1856, Sumner delivered a speech called “The Crime Against Kansas,” in which he condemned Southern leaders for their efforts to expand slavery into Kansas and other territories. During the course of his speech, he criticized a number of Southern politicians by name, including Senator Andrew P. Butler (1796–1857) of South Carolina. At one point, for example, Sumner declared that “[Senator Butler] has chosen a mistress Charles Sumner

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An editorial cartoon pokes fun at Southern chivalry by showing the attack of Massachusetts senator Charles Sumner by South Carolina congressman Preston Brooks. (Reproduced with permission of CorbisBettmann.)

to whom he has made his vows, and who, though ugly to others, is always lovely to him; though polluted in the sight of the world, is chaste [pure] in his sight. I mean the harlot [prostitute] slavery.” Two days later, South Carolina congressman Preston Brooks, who was Butler’s nephew, strode over to where Sumner was seated in the Senate chambers. Without warning, Brooks beat Sumner senseless with his cane. By the time other congressmen intervened to end the assault, Sumner lay bloody and semiconscious on the floor of the Senate. The attack on Senator Sumner immediately became a symbol of Southern brutality and viciousness across much of the North. “Has it come to this, that we must speak with bated breath [cautiously or quietly] in the presence of our Southern masters?” wrote poet and editor William Cullen Bryant (1794–1878) in the New York Evening Post. “Are we to be chastised [punished] as they chastise their slaves? Are we too,

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slaves, slaves for life, a target for their brutal blows, when we do not comport [behave] ourselves to please them?” Northern outrage over the incident became even greater when the South treated Brooks like a hero. Southerners praised him for defending the region’s honor, and South Carolina voters reelected him to the Senate a few months after the attack. The only punishment that Brooks received for his actions was a $300 fine handed out by a district court. Sumner, meanwhile, spent the next three years recuperating from his injuries.

Sumner and the Civil War In 1857, the voters of Massachusetts reelected Sumner to the Senate, even though he had not yet recovered from Brooks’ attack. In December 1859, he returned to Washington, D.C., and resumed his place in the U.S. Senate. By 1861, when North-South disputes over slavery finally triggered the American Civil War, Sumner had regained his position as a member of the Republican leadership. In fact, he was made chairman of the Senate’s important foreign relations committee that year. Sumner generally supported fellow Republican Abraham Lincoln and his policies during the war’s first two years, even though he grew frustrated with the president’s refusal to emancipate (free) Southern slaves during this period. In 1863, however, Lincoln issued his Emancipation Proclamation freeing slaves all across the Confederacy. The declaration delighted Sumner, who later introduced a constitutional amendment formally abolishing slavery in America. This amendment—the Thirteenth Amendment—became law in December 1865.

Sumner and Reconstruction After the Civil War ended in the spring of 1865, Sumner and many other Republican leaders who had led the fight to end slavery wanted to punish the Southern states for their rebellion. Angry about the April assassination of Lincoln and the bloodshed of the war, these Republicans—called “Radical Republicans”—wanted to pass laws that would guarantee black rights, punish Confederate leaders, and change Southern institutions that promoted racism. When their ideas were Charles Sumner

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criticized as unconstitutional, Sumner argued that the Southern states had “committed suicide” by their secession and thus had lost their rights under the Constitution. Sumner’s harsh stance toward the South changed somewhat after he toured the region’s devastated farmlands and cities. Stunned by the widespread destruction that he saw, he began to show a greater interest in legislation designed to help the entire region recover from the war. Most of the bills that he personally introduced, however, were designed primarily to help blacks. He introduced a number of civil rights bills, for example. He also helped create the Freedmen’s Bureau, an organization charged with helping former slaves build new lives for themselves. In addition, he remained hostile to the South’s old political leaders and slaveholders. He held them personally responsible for starting the Civil War. In the years immediately following the Civil War, President Andrew Johnson and the Republican-led Congress became involved in a bitter dispute about how to rebuild the South and readmit the Confederate states into the Union. For one thing, both sides disagreed about who was responsible for this process, known as Reconstruction, which took place from 1865 to 1877. Congressional leaders, for example, charged that Johnson did not have the authority to shape Reconstruction policies. Johnson, however, argued that he—not Congress—should be primarily responsible for the Reconstruction process. This disagreement became even more heated when it became clear that Johnson and the Radical Republicans had very different approaches to Reconstruction. Johnson, for instance, pardoned many Confederate leaders and set lenient (easy) conditions for the Southern states to return to the Union. In addition, his Reconstruction plan did not give blacks the right to vote or serve as elected representatives. Republican members of Congress thought Johnson’s Reconstruction policies were too lenient toward the South. They worried that former Confederate leaders would return to power and continue to discriminate against blacks. The Radical Republicans wanted guarantees of increased black rights and other new laws. As a result, the Republican-led U.S. Congress took control of the Reconstruction process in 1866 and 450


sent federal troops into the Southern states to enforce their policies. As Congress began implementing its own Reconstruction program, some members were willing to compromise with President Johnson. But Johnson refused to accept any changes to his policies toward the South. The battle between the two sides continued until 1868, when Sumner and other Republican leaders became so angry that they launched an effort to remove Johnson from office.

Leads impeachment efforts against Johnson The Constitution notes that all federal officials can be impeached (brought up on legal charges) and removed from elected office if they are found guilty of “treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.” All of the branches of the federal government have roles in an impeachment trial. The House of Representatives brings the charges and acts as prosecutor. The chief justice of the Supreme Court presides over the trial as a judge. The Senate hears the case and votes as a jury. Two-thirds of the senators present must vote to convict in order to remove the impeached official from office. Congress began the process of impeachment on February 22, 1868. It marked the first time in history that an American president had been impeached. The trial lasted for more than two months and captured the attention of the entire country. Finally, the senators voted on the charges on May 16. Johnson was found not guilty by one vote and remained in office. The verdict deeply disappointed Sumner. In fact, Sumner disliked Johnson so much that he unsuccessfully tried to convince his fellow Republicans to impeach the president again. In 1869, Union war hero Ulysses S. Grant (1822– 1885; see entry) replaced Johnson as president of the United States. Sumner’s relationship with Grant proved to be a difficult one as well, even though they were both Republicans. They clashed over a wide range of issues, and in 1872, Sumner broke with the Republicans and threw his support behind the candidacy of liberal Republican presidential candidate Horace Greeley (1811–1872; see entry). On March 10, 1874, Sumner suffered a heart attack in the Senate chamber. He died one day later. Charles Sumner

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Where to Learn More Blue, Frederick J. Charles Sumner and the Conscience of the North. Arlington Heights, IL: Harlan Davidson, 1994. Donald, David Herbert. Charles Sumner. New York: Da Capo Press, 1996. Donald, David Herbert. Charles Sumner and the Coming of the Civil War. New York: Knopf, 1960. Reprint, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1981. Palmer, Beverly Wilson, ed. Selected Letters of Charles Sumner. Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1990.

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George Henry Thomas Born July 31, 1816 Southampton County, Virginia Died March 28, 1870 San Francisco, California Union general known as the “Rock of Chickamauga” Alienated his family and friends by siding with the Union, then became one of the top leaders in the Union Army

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lthough George Henry Thomas was born into a Southern slaveholding family, he sided with the Union at the start of the Civil War. He went on to become one of the most successful Northern generals. In fact, some historians have ranked him behind only Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885; see entry) and William T. Sherman (1820–1891; see entry) among the men they consider most important in securing victory for the Union. Thomas’s brave stand during a Union defeat in 1863 earned him the nickname “Rock of Chickamauga.” He is also remembered for leading the Army of the Cumberland to an impressive victory at Nashville in 1864. Despite Thomas’s successes, some Union leaders questioned his loyalty almost until the end of the war. But the men who served under him loved his cool, steady style and his commitment to always being prepared.

The men who served under George Henry Thomas loved his cool, steady style and his commitment to always being prepared.

Raised on a Virginia plantation

George Henry Thomas. (Courtesy of the Library of Congress.)

George Henry Thomas was born on July 31, 1816, in Southampton County, Virginia. Like many other Virginia

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plantation (large farming estate) owners, his parents, John and Mary Thomas, owned slaves. Black people were taken from Africa and brought to North America to serve as slaves for white people beginning in the 1600s. The basic belief behind slavery was that black people were inferior to whites. Under slavery, white slaveholders treated black people as property, forced them to perform hard labor, and controlled every aspect of their lives. States in the Northern half of the United States began outlawing slavery in the late 1700s. But slavery continued to exist in the Southern half of the country because it played an important role in the South’s economy and culture. When Thomas was fourteen years old, his father died. Thomas then became the man of the house, charged with taking care of his family and their farm. In 1831, a slave named Nat Turner (1800–1831) who lived on a nearby plantation started a slave revolt. Turner and a small band of followers murdered the family that owned them, then roamed the countryside, adding dozens of angry slaves to their group along the way. After learning of the revolt, Thomas hid his family in the woods and then rode from house to house to warn others of the danger. The poorly organized rebellion was crushed within two days, and Turner and a number of his followers were eventually executed. But the revolt caused panic in communities throughout the South and fed white fears of a widespread slave rebellion.

Chooses a military career With the encouragement of his mother, Thomas studied law for awhile as a young man. But in 1836, a local politician helped him obtain an appointment to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in New York. Thomas was so excited to receive military training at the prestigious school that he showed up several weeks early to prepare for his first term. He studied hard at West Point and finished twelfth in his graduating class of 1840. After graduating, Thomas joined the army and was posted to an artillery unit. The artillery division of combat forces included heavy weapons like cannons and the men who hauled and operated them. Thomas always enjoyed 454


working with the big guns. Over the next decade, he fought in the Seminole War (1835–42; a clash between the U.S. Army and the Seminole Indian tribe over lands in Florida) and the Mexican War (1846–48; a dispute between the United States and Mexico over territory in the West). He earned two promotions for bravery on the battlefield. In 1853, Thomas returned to West Point as an artillery instructor. While there, he met and married Frances Kellogg. Two years later, he joined the Second Cavalry in Texas, where the American military was involved in battles over territory with various Indian tribes. In 1860, Thomas was taking part in one of these fights when a Comanche warrior shot him in the chest with an arrow. Thomas removed the arrow himself and then went for medical treatment.

Supports the Union in the Civil War Thomas was still recovering from his wound when the Civil War began in 1861. By this time, the Northern and Southern sections of the country had been arguing over several issues for many years. The main issue dividing the nation was slavery. Growing numbers of Northerners believed that slavery was wrong. Some people wanted to outlaw it, while others wanted to prevent it from spreading beyond the Southern states where it was already allowed. But many Southerners felt threatened by Northern efforts to contain slavery. They believed that each state should decide for itself whether to allow the practice. They did not want the national government to pass laws that would interfere with their traditional way of life. America’s westward expansion only increased the tension between the North and South. Both sides wanted to spread their political views and way of life into the new states and territories. Finally, the ongoing dispute convinced a group of Southern states to secede (withdraw) from the United States and form a new country that allowed slavery, called the Confederate States of America. Thomas’s home state of Virginia was one of those that joined the Confederacy. In March 1861, the governor of Virginia offered him a position of leadership in the state’s volunteer military forces. George Henry Thomas

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Thomas faced a difficult decision. After all, he had been raised in Virginia, and his family and friends supported the Confederacy. But he had worn the uniform of the U.S. Army for many years and felt an intense loyalty to his country. He ended up swearing allegiance to the United States and joining the Union Army. Unfortunately, his decision alienated many of the people he cared about. In fact, both of his sisters wrote him letters saying that they did not consider him their brother any longer. In the early days of the war, Thomas fought in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley. In August 1861, he was promoted to brigadier general and sent to Kentucky. From that point on, he fought in nearly every major battle in the war’s western theater (the area west of the Appalachian Mountains). He saw his first major action at Mill Springs, Kentucky, in January 1862. His brigade fended off a surprise Confederate attack and helped open a path for Union forces to move into Tennessee. Thomas also fought in Mississippi at Corinth (October 1862), and in Kentucky at Perryville (October 1862) and Stone’s River (also known as Murfreesboro; December 1862–January 1863).

The “Rock of Chickamauga” Of all the battles in which Thomas fought, he is probably best known for his performance at the Battle of Chickamauga in Georgia. In September 1863, Confederate general Braxton Bragg (1817–1876; see entry) sent several of his men into the Union lines claiming to be deserters (soldiers who leave the army illegally before their term of service is completed). The “deserters” told Union leaders that Bragg’s forces were retreating. Union general William Rosecrans (1819–1898) believed the story and ordered his army to spread out into a thin line, twenty miles wide, and follow the Confederates. But Bragg had not really retreated. In fact, he was waiting nearby for the Union troops to spread out, so that he could attack them one section at a time. Thomas soon learned the truth about the Confederate plans. After pulling his troops back into defensive positions, he warned the other Union leaders of the danger. Rosecrans collected his army near Chickamauga Creek, and Bragg launched a full-scale attack on September 19. 456


It soon became clear that the Confederate forces held an advantage in the battle. One side of the Union line was pushed back almost immediately. But Thomas’s brigade held their side of the line for five long hours, and even gained some ground on the Confederates. Finally, Thomas received orders to abandon their position. He organized a fighting retreat that protected the other Union forces. Although the Union had lost the battle, Thomas had saved Rosecrans and his army. Northern newspapers gave him the nickname “Rock of Chickamauga” for his brave performance.

Defender of Nashville, Tennessee A month later, General Ulysses S. Grant took command of all the Union armies in the West. Grant chose Thomas to command the Army of the Cumberland. By this time, Confederate forces had pushed the Union troops back to Chattanooga, Tennessee, and set up a siege of the city (a blockade intended to prevent the delivery of food and supplies). On November 25, Thomas and his army led an assault on Missionary Ridge—the strong point in the Confederate defenses—that helped break the siege. In May 1864, Thomas and his army helped Union general William T. Sherman capture the important Southern industrial city of Atlanta, Georgia. That fall, Sherman’s army continued moving through Georgia on its destructive “March to the Sea.” Meanwhile, Confederate general John Bell Hood (1831–1879; see entry) began moving his forces northward toward Tennessee. Thomas and his army of thirty-five thousand men were sent to defend Nashville. If they failed to prevent Hood from taking the city, the Confederates would have a clear path to continue moving north. Hood reached Nashville in December 1864. Thomas and his men remained behind the city’s defenses as the Confederates set up a siege. At this point, Union leaders wondered why Thomas was hesitating and pressured him to attack. Despite his impressive service to the Union, some people questioned his patriotism. In fact, Grant almost removed him from command. But Thomas believed that proper preparation was a key factor in winning battles. He allowed his tired army to recover and regain their strength, then attacked George Henry Thomas

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Union general George Thomas (seated at table) with a group of officers near Ringgold, Georgia, on May 5, 1864. (Reproduced by permission of the National Portrait Gallery.)

with great force on December 15. His Army of the Cumberland conquered Hood’s troops and forced them to retreat southward all the way to Mississippi. Thomas’s successful defense of Nashville ended up being one of the most decisive Union victories of the Civil War. Afterward, he was promoted to the rank of major general. But Thomas felt he had earned this honor a year earlier. He believed that the promotion had been delayed because he was from the South. “It is better late than never, but it is too late to be appreciated,” he stated. “I earned this at Chickamauga.” The U.S. Congress later recognized his contributions to the Union cause and gave him their official thanks.

Dies shortly after the war ends After the war ended in a Union victory in 1865, Thomas remained in the military and took command of the 458


Department of the Cumberland. For the next few years, he used his troops to help rebuild the city of Nashville. He also helped establish new state governments in Tennessee, Kentucky, Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia. His fair treatment of his former enemies earned the respect and appreciation of many Southerners. In 1869, Thomas requested a transfer to the West. He took command of the Division of the Pacific in San Francisco, California, that June. But he died of a stroke less than a year later, on March 28, 1870.

Where to Learn More Cleaves, Freeman. Rock of Chickamauga. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1948. Reprint, Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1974. Green, Carl R., and William R. Sanford. Union Generals of the Civil War. Springfield, NJ: Enslow, 1998. Juergensen, Hans. Major General George Henry Thomas: A Summary in Perspective. Tampa, FL: American Studies Press, 1980. Korn, Jerry. The Fight for Chattanooga: Chickamauga to Missionary Ridge. Alexandria, VA: Time-Life Books, 1985. Palumbo, Frank A. George Henry Thomas, Major General, U.S.A.: The Dependable General, Supreme in Tactics of Strategy and Command. Dayton, OH: Morningside House, 1983.

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Sally L. Tompkins Born November 9, 1833 Matthews County, Virginia Died July 25, 1916 Richmond, Virginia Confederate nurse and hospital administrator Only woman to hold a position as a commissioned officer in the Confederate Army

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ver three thousand American women acted as paid nurses during the Civil War, and thousands more performed nursing duties as volunteers. Sally Tompkins was one of the most successful nurses on either side of the conflict. The private hospital she established for wounded Confederate soldiers in Richmond, Virginia, had the highest survival rate of any Civil War medical facility. Between the time she opened it in July 1861 and the end of the war in 1865, she lost only 73 out of 1,333 patients.

Sally Tompkins overcame traditional attitudes about women and provided much-needed care to Confederate troops.

Resident of Richmond at the beginning of the Civil War Sally Louisa Tompkins was born into a wealthy family on November 9, 1833, at Poplar Grove in Matthews County, Virginia. Her father died when she was five years old, and then her mother moved the family to Richmond, Virginia. She lived there comfortably on her large inheritance until the beginning of the Civil War. 461

The war resulted from many years of political tension between the Northern and Southern sections of the United States. The two halves of the country mainly disagreed about slavery and the power of the national government to regulate it. Many Northerners believed that slavery was wrong. Some people wanted to outlaw it, while others wanted to prevent it from spreading beyond the Southern states where it was already allowed. But slavery played a big role in the Southern economy and culture. As a result, many Southerners felt threatened by Northern efforts to contain slavery. They believed that each state should decide for itself whether to allow slavery. They did not want the national government to pass laws that would interfere with their traditional way of life. By 1861, this ongoing dispute had convinced several Southern states to secede from (leave) the United States and form a new country that allowed slavery, called the Confederate States of America. But Northern political leaders were determined to fight to keep the Southern states in the Union. Tompkins’s home state of Virginia was one of those that left the Union. Before long, Richmond became the capital of the Confederacy.

First major battle overwhelms Richmond’s medical facilities The first major battle of the Civil War took place in July 1861 near Manassas Junction, Virginia, along the banks of Bull Run Creek. At that time, people on both sides expected the war to end quickly. In fact, Northerners were so confident of victory that thousands of civilians (people who are not part of the army, including women and children) traveled from Washington, D.C., to watch the battle. They brought picnic baskets and champagne, as if they were going to watch a sporting event. But the terrible reality of war soon became clear to both sides. The bloody battle ended in a Union defeat, and the Northern Army and spectators were forced to make a hasty retreat back to Washington. Even though the South won the First Battle of Manassas (also known as the First Battle of Bull Run), the high number of casualties (killed and wounded soldiers) took the Confederacy by surprise. Injured men soon filled Richmond’s hos462


pitals, and hundreds of others still needed medical attention. In desperation, Confederate president Jefferson Davis (1808–1889; see entry) asked the people of Richmond to care for wounded soldiers in their homes. Tompkins was one of many people who responded to this call for volunteer nurses. She convinced a local judge, John Robertson, to let her turn his home in downtown Richmond into a hospital. After collecting supplies and recruiting six staff members, she opened the Robertson Hospital on July 31, 1861. In the early days of the war, both the Union and Confederate armies actively discouraged women from serving as nurses. Many men of that time felt that nursing was not an appropriate activity for women. They did not want “refined ladies” to be subjected to the horrors of war by treating sick, wounded, and dying soldiers in army hospitals. Confederate nurses faced special problems. Since most of the fighting took place in the South, they were often forced to move patients and entire hospitals in order to remain behind the battle lines. In addition, the South suffered from shortages of food, clothing, and medical supplies throughout the war. But Tompkins and other courageous women overcame traditional attitudes and provided much-needed care to Confederate troops.

Made a captain in the Confederate Army Within a few weeks of asking Richmond residents to care for wounded soldiers in their homes, Confederate officials became concerned that many soldiers were remaining in private hospitals in Richmond rather than returning to active duty with the army. As a result, Davis issued an order that placed private hospitals under the control of military officers. Tompkins met with the Confederate president and requested that he return control of Robertson Hospital to her. On September 9, 1861, Davis made Tompkins a captain in the Confederate Army so that she could run her hospital without violating his earlier order. Tompkins thus became the only female officer in the Confederate Army. For the next four years, Tompkins and her staff ran the most successful hospital on either side of the Civil War. Even though Robertson Hospital usually treated the most seSally L. Tompkins

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Ella King Newsom, the “Florence Nightingale of the Southern Army” Ella King Newsom was another wealthy Southern woman who refused to remain on the sidelines during the Civil War. Instead, she established field hospitals, organized the shipment of medical supplies, and trained nurses to help wounded Confederate soldiers. She earned the nickname “Florence Nightingale of the Southern Army” for her efforts. Newsom was born in June 1838 in Brandon, Mississippi. She married William Frank Newsom, a wealthy doctor and landowner, in 1854. He died a short time later, leaving her a great deal of money. When the Civil War began in 1861, Newsom decided to use the money to provide medical care for wounded Confederate soldiers. She felt that this would be an ideal tribute to her late husband. After training as a nurse in Memphis, Tennessee, Newsom took over the administration of a hospital in Bowling Green, Kentucky. The South had a shortage of medical facilities and supplies at this time,

and Confederate efforts to care for wounded soldiers were not well organized. Newsom directed the movement of hospitalized troops, recruited and trained new nurses, and sent supplies where they were needed. Her organizational skills earned the respect of patients, doctors, and Confederate officials. In the later war years, she took charge of hospitals in Nashville and Chattanooga in Tennessee, as well as in Atlanta, Georgia, and Corinth, Mississippi. After the war ended in 1865, Newsom wrote a book about her experiences called Reminiscences of War Time. She also married a former Confederate officer, William H. Trader. Unfortunately, he managed their finances poorly and left her almost broke when he died in 1885. But Newsom managed to rebuild her life with the help of Southerners in the U.S. government. She moved to Washington, D.C., and worked in the Patent Office, Pension Office, and General Land Office until her retirement in 1916. She died on January 20, 1919.

riously injured men, it had the highest survival rate of any hospital. Out of 1,333 patients who stayed there between the time it opened and the end of the war in 1865, only 73 died. In addition, a higher percentage of the soldiers treated there returned to action than in any other Confederate medical facility. Despite her success, Tompkins refused to accept any salary for her work. Instead, she used her family’s money and government rations to supply the hospital. 464


Continues working for others after the war After the war ended in 1865, Tompkins continued helping others through her work with veterans’ organizations, the Episcopal Church, and various charities. The people of Richmond considered her a hero and affectionately called her “Captain Sally.” In 1905, Tompkins retired to the Confederate Women’s Home in Richmond. Since she had spent all of her own money caring for soldiers, veterans, and others who needed help, the management allowed her to live there for free for many years. She died on July 25, 1916, and was buried with full military honors in Matthews County, Virginia. Since that time, four chapters of Daughters of the Confederacy have been named in her honor.

Where to Learn More Chang, I. A Separate Battle: Women and the Civil War. New York: Scholastic, 1994. Hagerman, Keppel. Dearest of Captains: A Biography of Sally Louisa Tompkins. White Stone, VA: Brandyland Publishers, 1996. Massey, Mary Elizabeth. Women in the Civil War. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1966.

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Sojourner Truth Born 1797 Ulster County, New York Died November 26, 1883 Battle Creek, Michigan Abolitionist and women’s rights activist

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bolitionist Sojourner Truth is one of the most famous women in American history. Born into slavery, she became a leader in the abolitionist movement (the crusade to end slavery in America) and a pioneer in the battle for women’s rights during the 1840s and 1850s. Truth also emerged as an energetic advocate (supporter) for blacks during the post–Civil War era known as Reconstruction (1865–77). Today, she is remembered as one of the leading social reformers of her time.

The energetic Sojourner Truth is remembered as one of the leading social reformers of her time.

Born a slave Sojourner Truth was born as Isabella Baumfree in 1797 in Ulster Country, New York. The daughter of slave parents owned by James and Elizabeth Baumfree, Truth spent her childhood as a slave. As she grew older, she witnessed many of slavery’s cruelties firsthand. For example, several of her brothers and sisters were sold and taken away from their family during her childhood.

Sojourner Truth. (Courtesy of the Library of Congress.) 467

Truth was torn away from her family, too. When she was nine years old, her master separated her from her grieving parents by selling her to another planter (plantation owner). By 1810, when Truth was sold to John Dumont, she had been the property of several slaveowners. Her purchase by Dumont, though, brought a measure of stability to her life. She spent the next seventeen years as a slave on the Dumont estate in New Paltz, New York. During this time she married a fellow slave named Thomas, with whom she had five children.

Released from slavery Truth’s life changed dramatically in the late 1820s. In 1827, the state of New York declared slavery illegal within its borders. This meant that Truth and her children were emancipated (freed from slavery). Around this time, however, Dumont illegally sold her youngest child, who was then transported to Alabama. Truth responded by enlisting the aid of Quaker abolitionists, who helped her secure his return. (Quakers were members of a religious group that strongly opposed slavery.) This incident showed Truth’s increased willingness to defy America’s slavery system. After gaining their freedom, Truth and her children were taken in by Maria and Isaac Van Wagenen. During her stay with the Van Wagenens, Truth adopted their last name as her own and experienced a profound religious conversion. These new, deeply felt religious beliefs became a guiding force in Truth’s life for the rest of her days.

Searching for a home The next decade was a period of transition for Truth, as she worked to build a life for herself. In 1829, Truth moved to New York City, where she joined a Methodist Church congregation and devoted herself to assisting in the church’s worship and social programs. Truth’s increased involvement in religion took place during a period in American history known as the Second Great Awakening. This period, which reached its height dur468


ing the 1820s and 1830s, was a time in which religion took on greater importance to thousands of people all across the nation. Guided by influential religious leaders, increased numbers of Americans came to believe that they could achieve salvation by leading moral lives and actively opposing sinful practices. Truth’s life was fundamentally changed by her growing religious convictions (beliefs). During the 1830s, she attended dozens of religious gatherings called camp meetings. At these meetings she developed a reputation as a gifted speaker. Truth also became involved in the evangelical activities of Elijah Pierson and Robert Matthews (evangelism is preaching about the teachings and doctrines of Christianity) at various times during this period.

Truth joins abolitionist movement In 1843, the former Isabella Wagenen changed her name to Sojourner Truth. She later explained that she made the change when God spoke to her and gave her a new name. She also left New York City during this time, in part because she felt depressed about the poverty in which so many of its citizens lived. After leaving New York City, Truth became a wandering preacher of God’s word. Traveling up and down the Connecticut River Valley, she delivered her message about God’s love, wisdom, and power to countless rural audiences. During her travels of this period, she also became acquainted with many of the most important members of America’s growing abolitionist movement, including Frederick Douglass (1817–1895; see entry), William Lloyd Garrison (1805–1879), and George Benson. Truth’s contact with these leaders in the abolitionist cause had a tremendous impact on her. Inspired by their efforts to abolish slavery—and their support for women’s rights—Truth added strong statements about these issues to her evangelical message. By the late 1840s, Truth’s blunt and fiery speaking style had established her as one of the abolitionist movement’s most popular speakers. Sojourner Truth

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Truth speaks out

A painting shows Sojourner Truth’s visit with President Abraham Lincoln. (Courtesy of the Library of Congress.)

In 1850, Truth joined with abolitionist Olive Gilbert to write The Narrative of Sojourner Truth. Sales of this book, which Truth published herself, became the abolitionist’s primary means of supporting herself for the next several years. In 1851, she attended a women’s rights conference in Akron, Ohio. Truth had gone to the conference in order to talk with other supporters of women’s rights and sell copies of her autobiography. During the conference, however, several male ministers ridiculed female attempts to win the right to vote and gain legal protections that white men took for granted. When none of the white women at the conference rose to defend their cause, Truth boldly stood up and delivered a spirited scolding to the ministers that ended with thunderous applause from her female audience. Her speech, in which she proudly asserted her identity as both a woman and a black person, is remembered today as one of the most significant events in the American women’s rights movement.

Works on behalf of former slaves During the mid-1850s, Truth moved to Battle Creek, Michigan, a center of American religious and abolitionist activity. She remained devoted to seeing slavery brought to an end during this time, but also spent a lot of her time on women’s rights. As a result, Truth became angry with some male abolitionists who did not seem to realize that the inferior status of women in American society was also an injustice. During the Civil War, Truth led efforts to provide food, education, and employment opportunities to ex-slave refugees. In 1864, she met personally with President Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865; see entry) to discuss the future of 470


those refugees. After the Civil War concluded in 1865, Truth remained a leading advocate for former slaves. She contributed great amounts of time and energy to the Freedmen’s Bureau and other relief agencies. In addition, she continued to deliver public lectures in which she championed the cause of equal rights for all. She also submitted a plan to Congress in which government land in the West would be given to former slaves. Congress failed to act on her proposal, but Truth’s support for black migration to the West convinced thousands of former slaves to establish homesteads in Kansas. Truth’s activism on behalf of blacks and women ended in the late 1870s, when her health began to decline. She stopped traveling and returned to Battle Creek, where she died in 1883.

Where to Learn More Bernard, Jacqueline. Journey Toward Freedom: The Story of Sojourner Truth. New York: Norton, 1967. Reprint, New York: Feminist Press at the City University of New York, 1990. Krass, Peter. Sojourner Truth. New York: Chelsea House, 1988. Mabee, Carleton. Sojourner Truth: Slave, Prophet, Legend. New York: New York University Press, 1993. McKissack, Patricia, and Frederick McKissack. Sojourner Truth: Ain’t I a Woman? New York: Scholastic, 1992. Painter, Nell Irvin. Sojourner Truth: A Life, a Symbol. New York: Norton, 1996. Sojourner Truth Institute of Battle Creek. Sojourner Truth Institute. [Online] http://www.sojournertruth.org/ (accessed on October 15, 1999). Stetson, Erlene. Glorying in Tribulation: The Lifework of Sojourner Truth. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 1994. Truth, Sojourner, and Olive Gilbert. The Narrative of Sojourner Truth. 1850. Whalin, T. Sojourner Truth: American Abolitionist. Uhrichsville, OH: Barbour & Co., 1997.

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Harriet Tubman Born 1820 or 1821 Dorchester County, Maryland Died March 10, 1913 Auburn, New York Escaped slave who became a leader of the Underground Railroad Risked her life in order to guide hundreds of slaves to freedom in the North

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arriet Tubman was a fugitive slave who helped other slaves gain their freedom through the Underground Railroad. The Underground Railroad was not actually a railroad. It was a secret network of abolitionists (people who fought to end slavery) who helped slaves escape from their masters and settle in the Northern United States and Canada, where slavery was not allowed. The Underground Railroad system consisted of a chain of homes and barns known as “safe houses” or “depots.” The people who guided the runaway slaves from one safe house to the next were known as “conductors.” As one of the most successful conductors, Tubman made nineteen dangerous trips into slave territory and helped more than three hundred slaves gain their freedom.

“There was one of two things I had a right to, liberty, or death; if I could not have one, I would have the other; for no man should take me alive.”

Born into slavery Harriet Tubman was born on a plantation (a large farming estate) in Dorchester County, Maryland, in either 1820 or 1821. She never knew the exact date of her birth because she was born a slave. Black people were taken from Africa and

Harriet Tubman. (Reproduced with permission of Archive Photos, Inc.) 473

brought to North America to serve as slaves for white people beginning in the 1600s. The basic belief behind slavery was that black people were inferior to whites. Under slavery, white slaveholders treated black people as property, forced them to perform hard labor, and controlled every aspect of their lives. States in the Northern half of the United States began outlawing slavery in the late 1700s. But slavery continued to exist in the Southern half of the country because it played an important role in the South’s economy and culture. Most slave owners tried to prevent their slaves from learning much about themselves or the world around them. They believed that educated slaves would be more likely to become dissatisfied with their lives. For this reason, Tubman never knew the details of her birth. However, she did know that she was one of eleven children born to Harriet Greene and Benjamin Ross. Her whole family was the property of Edward Brodas, the white man who owned the plantation where they lived. The name she received when she was born was Araminta. She adopted the name Harriet in 1831. When Tubman was seven years old, her master hired her out to an impatient and cruel woman named Miss Susan. Many slaveowners loaned their extra slaves to other people in exchange for a fee. Tubman took care of Miss Susan’s baby and performed household chores. Miss Susan beat her whenever the house was not clean enough or the baby cried at night. The beatings left scars on her back and neck that would remain visible the rest of her life. Eventually Miss Susan returned Tubman to the Brodas plantation. From that time on, Tubman worked in the fields and became very strong. She constantly thought about running away from the plantation, but did not know where to go and could not read a map. One day, Tubman noticed a young male slave sneaking away from the fields where they worked. She decided to follow him. Unfortunately, the overseer (a person who watches over field hands and directs their work) chased and caught them. When Tubman refused to help the overseer tie up the male slave, the overseer threw a heavy weight that hit her in the middle of the forehead. She slipped into a coma for several weeks before slowly recovering. This head injury caused her to suffer from blackouts and terrible nightmares for the rest of her life. 474


Tubman Should Never Have Been a Slave In 1844, Tubman used some of the money she had earned to hire a lawyer. She wanted someone to research her family’s history in order to find out if they were held in slavery legally. Tubman took this unusual step after learning how her new husband had become free. John Tubman had been freed because his former master, who had no children, died without leaving a will. Then Tubman remembered a story her mother had told about her past. Harriet Greene had once belonged to a woman named Mary Patterson. Patterson died young, had no heirs, and left no will. As a result, Tubman’s mother legally should have been freed. But Harriet Greene did not know the law, and no one bothered to tell her. Instead, she remained a slave, and all her children became slaves as well. After learning that she was being held in slavery illegally, Tubman asked the lawyer what she could do to secure her rights. But the lawyer said that no judge

Harriet Tubman. (Reproduced with permission of Corbis-Bettmann.)

would ever consider the case because too much time had passed, and the women had always lived as slaves. Instead of gaining her freedom on legal grounds, Tubman was forced to escape from slavery on the Underground Railroad.

Escapes to the North Edward Brodas died in 1835, and ownership of Tubman and her family passed to his son. Tubman convinced her new master to let her “hire her time,” or find her own jobs outside of the plantation. She still had to pay her master a large chunk of her earnings, but she also got to keep some money for herself. In 1844, she married a free black man named John Tubman and went to live in his cabin. Before long, it became clear that Tubman and her husband had different priorities. She dreamed of escaping from slavery and Harriet Tubman

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traveling to the North, but he worried that his freedom would be put in jeopardy if he left Maryland. He threatened to report his wife to her master if she attempted to escape. In 1849, Brodas’s son died. At this point, one of Tubman’s worst fears became a reality. She learned that she and her family would be sold in order to pay the plantation’s debts. There was little market for slaves in Maryland, so they would likely be taken to the Deep South to pick cotton. Tubman decided that the time had come for her to run away. “I had reasoned this out in my mind,” she noted. “There was one of two things I had a right to, liberty, or death; if I could not have one, I would have the other; for no man should take me alive.” Late one night, Tubman left the plantation and went to a nearby home that was rumored to be part of the Underground Railroad. The woman who lived there provided directions to the next safe house. For the next few days, Tubman traveled at night with the assistance of strangers who opposed slavery. At one house she pretended to be a servant in order to avoid suspicion. Another time she hid in the back of a vegetable wagon. Sometimes she hiked north along the coast and through swamps and woodlands. She took careful notice of the route so that she could return later to rescue her family. Tubman finally crossed the border into Pennsylvania—where slavery was not allowed—after a one hundred–mile journey. “I looked at my hands to see if I was the same person now that I was free,” she recalled. “There was such a glory over everything; the sun came like gold through the trees, and over the fields, and I felt like I was in heaven.”

Becomes a conductor on the Underground Railroad Tubman was finally free, although she knew that she might be captured and returned to slavery at any time. She settled in Philadelphia and took a job washing dishes at a hotel. She saved her money in the hope of returning to Maryland to deliver her family to freedom. She met many prominent abolitionists during this time, including John Brown (1800–1859; see entry) and Frederick Douglass (1817–1895; see entry). In 1850, Tubman made her first trip to the South as a conductor on the Underground Railroad. She returned to 476


her old plantation in order to rescue her brothers and their families from slavery. Another time, she helped her elderly parents make the trip to the North. She once tried to bring her husband to Pennsylvania, but found that he had remarried and was not interested in leaving Maryland. Tubman made a total of nineteen trips into slave territory over the next ten years. She guided more than three hundred slaves to freedom. Each time she made the dangerous journey, she risked being captured and returned to her owner, or even killed. As word of her daring rescues spread, white Southerners offered a large reward for her capture. But although she had some close calls, she never ran into serious trouble. “I never ran my train off the track, and I never lost a passenger,” she stated. Tubman made her final trip on the Underground Railroad in December 1860. Then it became clear that the issue of slavery would be settled by war.

Serves the Union during the Civil War The North and the South had been arguing over several issues, including slavery, for many years. Growing numbers of Northerners believed that slavery was wrong. Some people wanted to outlaw it, while others wanted to prevent it from spreading beyond the Southern states where it was already allowed. But slavery played a big role in the Southern economy and culture. As a result, many Southerners felt threatened by Northern efforts to contain slavery. They believed that each state should decide for itself whether to allow slavery. They did not want the national government to pass laws that would interfere with their traditional way of life. By 1861, this ongoing dispute had convinced several Southern states to secede from (leave) the United States and attempt to form a new country that allowed slavery, called the Confederate States of America. But Northern political leaders were determined to keep the Southern states in the Union. The two sides soon went to war. Once the Civil War began, Tubman began looking for a way to help the Union cause. She ended up volunteering as a cook, nurse, and laundress for Union troops who had taken over Beaufort, South Carolina. Tubman also served as a spy, conducting several successful raids and scouting missions. In June 1863, she led a Harriet Tubman

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group of Union gunboats manned by black soldiers on a raid up the Combahee River in South Carolina. They removed mines from the river, destroyed Confederate supplies, and led 750 slaves to freedom. Nearly all of the male slaves who were freed in this mission later joined the Union Army.

Helps freed slaves after the war After war ended in a Northern victory in 1865, Tubman expected the U.S. government to pay her for her wartime service. After all, the Union had offered a bounty (reward) to people who recruited new soldiers. Counting the freed slaves Tubman had convinced to sign up after the Combahee River mission, she figured the government owed her $1,800. But the government refused to pay her the money, even when Secretary of State William Seward (1801–1872; see entry) made a personal appeal on her behalf. As a result, Tubman lived in relative poverty after the war. She had a home in Auburn, New York, that she shared with her parents. She earned a living by selling fruits and vegetables from her garden door-to-door. The people in town welcomed her into their homes, bought her goods, and listened to her amazing stories about the Underground Railroad. In 1867, Tubman’s friend Sarah Bradford published a book called Scenes in the Life of Harriet Tubman. This book discussed Tubman’s accomplishments before and during the war and included statements of praise from her important friends, such as Frederick Douglass. Bradford gave the money she earned from sales of the book to Tubman, who used it to build schools to educate freed slaves and facilities to nurse sick and injured blacks. In 1869, Tubman married Nelson Davis. In the 1870s, she threw her support behind efforts to secure the right to vote for women. In 1897, Tubman received a medal from Queen Victoria (1819–1901) of England. In 1908, she donated land in Auburn to the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. The site was to be used for a home for sick and elderly black people. Tubman had several disagreements with the church about how the home should be run, but they eventually settled their differences. As she grew frail, Tubman moved into the home in 1911. She died of pneumonia on March 10, 478


1913, at the age of ninety-three. A group of Union Army veterans arranged for her to receive a military funeral. “Harriet Tubman’s life story is an inspiration to blacks and women in their ongoing battle for equal rights,” Bree Burns wrote in Harriet Tubman and the Fight against Slavery. “She is remembered as a hero who was not afraid to fight for her beliefs. Tubman’s dedication to justice has become a model for all Americans.”

Where to Learn More Access Indiana Teaching and Learning Center. Harriet Tubman. [Online] http://tlc.ai.org/tubman.htm (accessed on October 15, 1999). AME Zion Church. The Harriet Tubman Home. [Online] http://www.nyhistory.com/harriettubman/home.htm (accessed on October 15, 1999). Bentley, Judith. Harriet Tubman. New York: Franklin Watts, 1990. Bradford, Sarah H. Scenes in the Life of Harriet Tubman. Auburn, NY: W. J. Moses, 1869. Reprint, Freeport, NY: Books for Libraries Press, 1971. Burns, Bree. Harriet Tubman. New York: Chelsea Juniors, 1992. Harriet Tubman Historical Society. [Online] http://www.harriettubman.com (accessed on October 15, 1999). Janney, Rebecca Price. Harriet Tubman. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1999. McClard, Megan. Harriet Tubman: Slavery and the Underground Railroad. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Silver Burdett Press, 1991. McMullan, Kate. The Story of Harriet Tubman: Conductor of the Underground Railroad. New York: Dell, 1991. Reprint, Milwaukee: Gareth Stevens, 1997. Sterling, Dorothy. Freedom Train. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1954. Taylor, Marian. Harriet Tubman. New York: Chelsea House, 1991. White, Terry Ann. North to Liberty: The Story of the Underground Railroad. Champaign, IL: Garrard, 1972.

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Clement L. Vallandigham Born July 29, 1820 New Lisbon, Ohio Died June 17, 1871 Lebanon, Ohio Ohio congressman and candidate for governor Leader of the antiwar “Copperhead” Democrats

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s a leader of the antiwar Democrats known as “Copperheads,” Clement L. Vallandigham emerged as a bitter critic of President Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865; see entry) and his administration during the Civil War. Vallandigham’s opposition to Lincoln was based on his belief in the principle of states’ rights and his certainty that the Union could never be restored through war. In 1863, however, his criticisms of the war effort became so strong that he was exiled (forced to leave) from the North.

“Must I shoot a simpleminded soldier boy who deserts, while I must not touch a hair of a wily agitator [Vallandigham] who induces him to desert?” Abraham Lincoln

A veteran of Ohio politics Clement Laird Vallandigham was born in New Lisbon, Ohio, in 1820. The son of a minister, Vallandigham studied at the New Lisbon Academy and Pennsylvania’s Jefferson College before opening up a law practice in his hometown in 1842. In the mid-1840s he won election to the state house of representatives, where he became one of Ohio’s best known politicians. In 1852 and 1854, however, Vallandigham’s campaigns to win a seat in the U.S. Congress ended in defeat.

Clement Vallandigham. (Courtesy of the Library of Congress.) 481

By the mid-1850s, Vallandigham was one of Ohio’s leading Democrats. Married to the daughter of a wealthy Maryland planter (plantation owner) and slaveowner, he sided with the South in the growing national debate over slavery. For example, he strongly supported the principle known as “states’ rights.” This principle was popular among Southerners who feared federal efforts to limit or end slavery. It held that each state has the right to decide how to handle various issues for itself—including slavery—without interference from the national government. In 1856, Vallandigham ran for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives once again. At first, it appeared that he had been defeated. He contested the election results, however, and in May 1858, authorities awarded him the seat. After winning reelection in November 1858, he became known across the country for his vocal support of states’ rights and active opposition to abolitionism (the movement to end slavery). Vallandigham worried that Northern efforts to end slavery would cause a revolt in the South that might break the Union in two. During the 1860 presidential campaign, Vallandigham threw his support behind Northern Democratic candidate Stephen A. Douglas (1813–1861), whom he viewed as more moderate on the slavery issue than Republican nominee Abraham Lincoln or Southern Democratic nominee John Breckinridge (1821–1875). Lincoln won the election, though, triggering a wave of secessionist proclamations across the American South. When Southern states declared their intention to secede from (leave) the United States and form their own country, Lincoln ordered the U.S. Army to prepare for war in order to keep them in the Union. By mid-1861 the American Civil War had begun.

Opposes Lincoln and his war policies During the first months of the Civil War, Vallandigham launched a series of harsh attacks on Lincoln and his war policies. Vallandigham wanted to see the Union restored, but he did not believe that the North could force the South to return. Instead, he thought that the North’s best chance to restore the Union was to agree to let slavery contin482


ue in the South. “In considering terms of settlement we [should] look only to the welfare, peace, and safety of the white race, without reference to the effect that settlement may have on the African,” he stated. Vallandigham’s views and his outspoken nature quickly made him a leader among a group of antiwar Northern Democrats known as “Copperheads.” These politicians urged the North to either let the South depart in peace or convince it to return by guaranteeing states’ rights. As the war progressed, Vallandigham actively opposed virtually every aspect of Lincoln’s war policies. He voted against conscription (a military draft), criticized Lincoln’s efforts to silence unfriendly newspapers, and even encouraged Northern soldiers to desert from the army. Vallandigham’s calls for desertion infuriated Lincoln, who viewed the Ohio congressman as a traitor (someone who betrays one’s country). “Must I shoot a simple-minded soldier boy who deserts, while I must not touch a hair of a wily agitator [clever troublemaker] who induces [persuades] him to desert?” asked Lincoln. “I think that in such a case to silence the agitator and save the boy is not only constitutional but withal [actually] a great mercy [kindness].” Vallandigham’s actions and statements also made him a target of Lincoln’s Republican colleagues. As time passed, they became determined to neutralize the outspoken Ohio legislator. In 1862, they changed the shape of his congressional district to ensure his defeat in that year’s elections. They did this through a process called gerrymandering, in which one political party divides a geographic area into voting districts that give an unfair advantage to its party in elections.

Arrested and exiled After losing his seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, Vallandigham decided to run for governor of Ohio. As he campaigned, he repeatedly denounced Lincoln’s policies and leadership. He charged that during Lincoln’s presidency, “Money [had been] expended [spent] without limits and blood poured out like water.” Vallandigham also suggested that if he was elected governor, he might encourage the state Clement L. Vallandigham

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to join the Confederacy. Union military leaders threatened him with arrest for making statements of sympathy for the enemy, but Vallandigham continued to speak out. In fact, the Copperhead leader began to hope for an arrest because he thought that it might energize his fading campaign. In May 1863, Vallandigham’s continued criticisms of Lincoln finally resulted in his arrest by General Ambrose Burnside (1824–1881; see entry), the commander of the Department of the Ohio. Charged with treason (betrayal of one’s country), Vallandigham was tried by a military court even though he was a civilian. He was found guilty and sentenced to two years in a military prison. Vallandigham’s conviction, though, worried many people in the North, including some members of Lincoln’s Republican Party. “The Vallandigham case did indeed raise troubling constitutional questions,” wrote James M. McPherson in Battle Cry of Freedom. “Could a speech be treason? Could a military court try a civilian? Did a general, or for that matter a president, have the power to impose martial law [temporary military rule over the civilian population] or suspend habeas corpus [a section of the Constitution meant to protect individuals from illegal imprisonment] in an area distant from military operations where the civil courts were functioning?” As expressions of concern about Vallandigham’s conviction increased, President Lincoln decided to commute (end) his jail sentence and banish him (send him away) from Union territory. On May 26, Vallandigham was transported to Confederate territory, where his Union escort released him. Upon arriving in the South, however, he discovered that the Confederate leaders did not trust him. Unwelcome in the Confederacy, Vallandigham moved to Canada. He settled in Ontario, where he began a strange “campaign-inexile” to win the governorship of Ohio. Despite being forbidden from entering Ohio, he managed to gain the Democratic nomination for governor in June. In October 1863, though, his bid for the governorship ended in a landslide (overwhelming) defeat at the hands of Republican candidate John Brough (1811–1865). 484


Continues to oppose war Vallandigham continued to battle Lincoln and his war policies during the final two years of the Civil War. In June 1864, he returned to Ohio in disguise. Resuming his work with the “Copperhead” Democrats, he also became involved with a mysterious antiwar organization known as the Sons of Liberty. Members of this strange organization were dedicated to states’ rights, sympathetic to the Confederate cause, and fiercely opposed to the Republican Party. Many Northerners believed that this organization provided dangerous support to the Confederacy through spying and other espionage activities. In reality, however, the group remained small and insignificant throughout the war. Lincoln learned of Vallandigham’s return to the United States almost as soon as it occurred. The president, however, let him resettle in Ohio. Aware that Vallandigham’s previous arrest had boosted the Copperhead’s popularity, the president decided that it was better to just ignore him. Lincoln’s instincts in this situation proved correct. Vallandigham continued to criticize the president and his Republican allies for the war’s financial cost and heavy casualties. When Union military forces registered a series of big victories in the summer and fall of 1864, however, Vallandigham’s influence diminished quickly.

Postwar career The North won the Civil War in the spring of 1865, forcing the rebellious Southern states to return to the Union. This development doomed Vallandigham’s political career, since he had always insisted that the Union could never be restored by war. He tried to win election to political office in both 1866 and 1867, but both efforts failed miserably. In the late 1860s, Vallandigham resumed his law practice. He established a partnership with a former judge that became very successful. In June 1871, however, he accidently shot himself during a trial when, using a pistol that he did not realize was loaded, he tried to demonstrate how a murder victim actually might have committed suicide. Vallandigham died one day later from his wound. Clement L. Vallandigham

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Where to Learn More Klement, Frank L. Dark Lanterns: Secret Political Societies, Conspiracies, and Treason Trials in the Civil War. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1984. Klement, Frank L. The Limits of Dissent: Clement L. Vallandigham and the Civil War. Lexington: University of Kentucky Press, 1970. Reprint, New York: Fordham University Press, 1998. Klement, Frank L. Lincoln’s Critics: The Copperheads of the North. Shippensburg, PA: White Mane Books, 1999.

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Elizabeth Van Lew Born October 12, 1818 Richmond, Virginia Died September 25, 1900 Richmond, Virginia Union spy known as “Crazy Bet” Escaped detection by pretending to be a harmless eccentric

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lizabeth Van Lew was a wealthy and refined (cultured) lady of Richmond, Virginia—the city that became the Confederate capital during the Civil War. Her neighbors called her “Crazy Bet” and laughed at her strange behavior. But she only pretended to be eccentric (odd or peculiar). In fact, she was a cunning and highly effective spy for the Union. She sent valuable information to the North through the entire course of the war, and she also helped numerous Union soldiers escape from Southern prisons.

“She risked everything that is dear to man— friends, fortune, comfort, health, life itself, all for the one absorbing desire of her heart—that slavery might be abolished and the Union preserved.” From Elizabeth Van Lew’s gravestone

Supports the abolition of slavery Elizabeth Van Lew was born in Richmond in 1818. Her family owned a large farm and several businesses. Their wealth made them part of Richmond’s upper class. Like many wealthy Southern families of this time period, Van Lew’s family owned slaves. The slaves performed household tasks like cooking and cleaning and also worked on the farm. As a young woman, Van Lew went to the North to complete her

Elizabeth Van Lew. (Reproduced with permission of the Granger Collection, New York.) 487

education. During this time, she came into contact with abolitionists (people who worked to end slavery). The basic belief behind slavery was that black people were inferior to whites. Under slavery, white slaveholders treated black people as property, forced them to perform hard labor, and controlled every aspect of their lives. Thanks to the efforts of the abolitionists, growing numbers of Northerners believed that slavery was wrong. They outlawed slavery in the Northern states and tried to prevent it from spreading beyond the Southern states where it was already allowed. But slavery played a big role in the Southern economy and culture. As a result, many Southerners felt threatened by Northern efforts to contain slavery. They believed that each state should decide for itself whether to allow slavery. By the time Van Lew returned to the South, she believed that slavery was wrong and felt that black Americans should have the same rights and opportunities as whites. She convinced her family to free all of their slaves and to help them obtain an education in the North. As a result, the freed slaves remained loyal to the family. Most of them stayed with Van Lew throughout the Civil War. In fact, several of her former slaves played important roles in her spy operation.

Decides to help the Union cause The debate over slavery and other issues caused a great deal of political tension between the North and South. By 1861, the ongoing dispute had convinced several Southern states to secede from (leave) the United States and attempt to form a new country that allowed slavery, called the Confederate States of America. Van Lew’s home state of Virginia was among those that seceded. But Northern political leaders were determined to keep the Southern states in the Union. Before long, the two sides went to war. Since Van Lew strongly opposed slavery, she supported the Northern cause in the war. Shortly after the war started, she decided to help the Union by keeping its military leaders informed of events in the Confederate capital. At first, she simply wrote letters to President Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865; see entry). Once Union leaders discovered the 488


value of her information, however, they made her part of the Secret Service—a formal intelligence-gathering network. She then reported to George Sharpe, the main information officer for Union general Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885; see entry). Many of Van Lew’s friends and neighbors realized that she did not support the Confederacy. After all, she spoke out against slavery in Richmond, and she refused to join other local women in sewing shirts for Confederate soldiers. But no one ever suspected that this wealthy, refined lady—who had been born into Richmond’s high society—would dream of spying for the Union. Van Lew realized that her image worked in her favor and did her best to keep it up. She often appeared in public with her hair messy and her clothing in disarray, and she did strange things like visiting Union soldiers in prison. She also welcomed Confederate officers into her home, which everyone knew a Union spy would never do. As a result, the people of Richmond viewed Van Lew as a harmless eccentric. They even gave her the nickname “Crazy Bet.”

Develops expert spy techniques Over the course of the war, Van Lew developed excellent spy tactics. For example, she often tore secret messages into pieces and sent each piece with a different courier. That way, any single piece would be meaningless if the messenger was captured. She also invented a special code that she used for many of her messages. Sometimes she wrote them in ink that was invisible until it came into contact with milk. She disguised some secret messages as long, newsy letters from a Miss Eliza Jones of Richmond to her Uncle James Jones in Norfolk, Virginia—behind the Union lines. These people did not actually exist. Instead, the letters went to Union officials, who used milk to read the invisible messages between the lines. Since Van Lew’s family owned a farm outside of Richmond, she managed to obtain passes from the Confederate Army that allowed her and her servants to travel back and forth. This route served as the first leg of the journey to the North for many secret messages. She sometimes carried the messages in baskets with false bottoms. She even hollowed out the inside of eggs to carry some messages. Elizabeth Van Lew

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Elizabeth Van Lew’s mansion in Richmond, Virginia. (Courtesy of the Library of Congress.)

Van Lew often visited Union prisoners held in Richmond jails. These men provided her with information about Confederate troop positions and strategy. She also had a safe room in her house to hide escaped Union prisoners until she could arrange for friends to guide them to freedom in the North. None of the prisoners were ever captured in her home, even though she sometimes had Confederate officers staying with her at the same time. Once, when the Confederates came looking for horses to use in the war effort, Van Lew used her safe room to hide her last horse. She wanted to keep the horse, in case she needed to send a fast message to the North. One of Van Lew’s best sources of information was her former slave, Mary Elizabeth Bowser. Van Lew had sent Bowser to Philadelphia for schooling prior to the war. Once the war started, she arranged for Bowser to become a servant to President Jefferson Davis (1808–1889; see entry) in the Confederate White House. Bowser pretended that she could not

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read, then stole glances at confidential memos and orders while she was cleaning. She also eavesdropped on conversations between Confederate officials while she served dinner. Bowser passed information about troop movements and other Confederate Army plans along to Van Lew, who sent it on to Union officials. Bowser’s activities as a Union spy went undetected throughout the war.

Traitor to the South, hero to the North Van Lew continued spying for the Union until the end of the war and was never arrested. But her friends and neighbors did spread rumors about her, and most people in Richmond eventually came to believe she was guilty. Shortly before the war ended, an angry mob came to her house and threatened to burn it down. Van Lew stopped them by saying that she would send the Union troops to burn the mob members’ houses down as soon as they arrived in the city. When the Union troops captured Richmond in 1865, General Grant assigned a group of soldiers to protect Van Lew and her property. A few years later, when Grant became president of the United States, he rewarded her loyalty by naming her postmistress of Richmond. But the people of Richmond never forgave Van Lew for spying for the Union. She was lonely and isolated in the years after the war. Since she had used her own money to finance her spy operations, she was also poor. In her later years, she was supported by her loyal servants and by donations from some of the Union prisoners she had helped to escape. Van Lew was considered a traitor in the South, but a hero in the North. “If I am entitled to the name of ‘spy’ because I was in the Secret Service, I accept it willingly; but it will hereafter have to my mind a high and honorable signification [meaning],” she once wrote. “For my loyalty to my country I have two beautiful names—here I am called ‘Traitor,’ farther North a ‘Spy’—instead of the honored name of ‘Faithful.’” When Van Lew died in 1900, she remained so unpopular in Richmond that no local residents came to her funeral. But a group of admirers in Boston, Massachusetts, bought a Elizabeth Van Lew

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granite marker for her grave. The bronze plaque summed up her service to the Union during the Civil War: “She risked everything that is dear to man—friends, fortune, comfort, health, life itself, all for the one absorbing desire of her heart— that slavery might be abolished and the Union preserved.”

Where to Learn More Axelrod, Alan. The War Between the Spies: A History of Espionage during the American Civil War. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 1992. Elizabeth Van Lew. [Online] http://pixel.cs.vt.edu./aramsey/civil/vanlew.html (accessed on October 15, 1999). Hall, Beverly B. The Secret of the Lion’s Head. Shippensburg, PA: White Mane Pub. Co., 1995. Kane, Harnett T. Spies for the Blue and Gray. Garden City, NY: Hanover House, 1954. Markle, Donald E. Spies and Spymasters of the Civil War. New York: Hippocrene Books, 1994. Nolan, Jeannette Covert. Yankee Spy, Elizabeth Van Lew. New York: J. Messner, 1970. Ryan, David, ed. A Yankee Spy in Richmond: The Civil War Diary of “Crazy Bet” Van Lew. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 1996. Zeinert, Karen. Elizabeth Van Lew: Southern Belle, Union Spy. New York: Dillon Press, 1995.

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Theodore Dwight Weld Born November 23, 1803 Hampton, Connecticut Died February 3, 1895 Boston, Massachusetts Religious leader and abolitionist Author of the influential book American Slavery as It Is

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heodore Dwight Weld was a leading abolitionist (person who worked to put an end to slavery) during the years of heated debate over slavery that led to the Civil War. He was one of the most effective opponents of slavery during the 1830s, when the abolitionist movement was just beginning to gain ground in the Northern United States. He converted thousands of people to the cause with his passionate speeches and powerful books. But in the 1840s, long before the issue of slavery was resolved, Weld disappeared from view. Poor health, the loss of his voice, and a series of public defeats caused him to reevaluate his life. He lived quietly from that time on, although he occasionally emerged to comment on a particular social issue.

“The Nation is its citizens, and the Nation’s right and duty to protect and defend its citizens, all of them, is absolute and paramount.”

Brought up in a religious household Theodore Dwight Weld was born on November 23, 1803, in Hampton, Connecticut. He was the fourth of five children born to the Reverend Ludovicus Weld and his wife, Elizabeth Clark Weld. Both of his parents came from promi-

Theodore Weld. (Courtesy of the Library of Congress.) 493

nent families that had lived in New England for over one hundred years. The Weld house was usually noisy and chaotic during Theodore’s childhood. In addition to five active children, it often contained a number of his father’s theology students. As a result, Theodore sometimes resorted to practical jokes or wild pranks to get attention. But the Weld household was also a deeply religious one. The children were expected to live by strict rules of moral conduct. When they made mistakes, they sometimes received harsh punishment. For example, Theodore once cut the casing on a hunk of cheese, causing it to spoil. When his parents asked about it, he lied. In response, they confined him to his bedroom alone for a week and gave him only bread and water. As a boy, Weld respected his minister father but did not feel close to him. He tried to win his father’s love by reading the Bible and studying to become a minister. In 1819, Weld went to the prestigious Andover Academy to further his religious training. But within a year he became ill and suffered an emotional breakdown. One of his teachers suggested that traveling in a warmer climate might help. Since Weld did not have money for a vacation, he took a job as a traveling lecturer on mnemonics—the science of memory. As he visited towns throughout the South, he developed his public speaking and presentation skills. He was also exposed to slavery for the first time.

Joins the abolitionist movement Black people were taken from Africa and brought to North America to serve as slaves for white people beginning in the 1600s. The basic belief behind slavery was that black people were inferior to whites. Under slavery, white slaveholders treated black people as property, forced them to perform hard labor, and controlled every aspect of their lives. States in the Northern half of the United States began outlawing slavery in the late 1700s. But slavery continued to exist in the Southern half of the country because it played an important role in the South’s culture and economy. For most of his youth, Weld had not thought much about slavery. After all, he lived in the North, a region where 494


slavery was not allowed in most states. In 1826, though, Weld experienced a religious awakening under the guidance of evangelist Charles G. Finney (1792–1875). He began to view slavery as a sin against God. In the early 1830s, he joined a group of young religious leaders who shared his views in forming the American Anti-Slavery Society. Around this time, Weld began to argue that the best place to wage a war against slavery was in the West. The western United States was still being settled at that time, and much of it remained wilderness. Weld wanted to bring his antislavery message to the West while settlers had not yet formed solid opinions on the subject. He and many other young abolitionists went to Lane Theological Seminary in Cincinnati, Ohio, just across the Ohio River from the slaveholding state of Kentucky. The head of Lane Seminary (a school that trains for the ministry) was Lyman Beecher (1775–1863), a fiery Puritan minister and father of the writer Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811–1896; see entry). Weld also came into contact with Angelina Grimké (1805–1879) and Sarah Grimké (1792–1873) at Lane. These sisters had been raised in a wealthy slaveholding family in South Carolina, but had adopted the abolitionist cause after converting to the Quaker religion. They were the first American women to speak out against slavery, and eventually became leaders in the fight for women’s rights.

Becomes an effective abolitionist speaker and writer In 1836, a dispute between the students and faculty at Lane caused Weld to leave the school. He then turned his full attention to speaking out against slavery. He traveled to small towns around the country and made passionate speeches about the evils of the institution. Some people called him a fanatic, but many others were forever moved by the experience of hearing him speak. He ended up convincing thousands of people to support the abolitionist cause. For example, he brought six hundred new members to the local antislavery society in Utica, New York, in February 1836. A month later, he converted eight hundred more people in Rochester, New York. In addition, he recruited and taught Theodore Dwight Weld

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other talented speakers to spread the antislavery message in other areas across the country. In his speeches, Weld told his listeners that America had to end slavery in order to relieve itself of sin and follow a path of moral rightness. He argued that the nation was not truly based on principles of liberty if millions of people were denied freedom and basic rights. He supported freeing all the slaves immediately and granting black people equal rights as fellow human beings. “No condition of birth, no shade of color, no mere misfortune of circumstances, can annul [cancel] that birth-right charter [guarantee specified rights], which God has bequeathed [granted] to every being upon whom he has stamped his own image, by making him a free moral agent,” Weld stated. “He who robs his fellow man of this tramples upon right, subverts [overthrows] justice, outrages humanity, unsettles the foundations of human safety, and sacrilegiously [in violation of something sacred] assumes the prerogative [special power] of God.” Weld also spread his antislavery message through printed materials during this time. For example, he acted as editor of a magazine called the Emancipator. Although he wrote many articles for the magazine, he usually used a different name so that readers would focus their attention on the issue of slavery rather than on him. He also distributed thousands of antislavery pamphlets around the country. In 1839, Weld published an important book called American Slavery as It Is: Testimony of a Thousand Witnesses. This book reached a wider audience than any antislavery book ever had before and had a profound effect on its readers. In fact, Harriet Beecher Stowe used it as one of the main sources for her antislavery novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin. American Slavery as It Is included a collection of articles and notices from Southern newspapers, as well as letters from people who had had direct personal involvement with slavery. Weld tied all of these materials together with his own analysis. The idea behind the book was to show people the horrors of slavery. At that time, many Southern slaveowners argued that slavery provided the best possible life for black people. They claimed that blacks were not capable of caring for themselves. But Weld’s book made an angry and passionate argument against such attitudes. “Suppose I should seize you, rob 496


you of your liberty, drive you into the field, and make you work without pay as long as you live,” he wrote. “Would that be justice and kindness, or monstrous injustice and cruelty?”

Disappears from public view Throughout his career as an abolitionist, Weld experienced periods of intense energy and activity followed by emotional breakdowns. In addition, he had always felt a great need to look inward in an attempt to understand himself and define his relationship with God. Weld suffered his first major public defeat in 1836, when an angry mob prevented him from speaking in Troy, New York. Shortly afterward, he lost his voice from years of shouting to be heard in crowds. By the late 1830s, these factors convinced Weld to step back from the abolitionist movement and reevaluate his life. He gradually came to believe that his efforts were useless in solving America’s problems. In May 1838, Weld married fellow reformer Angelina Grimké. They opened a school in New Jersey in the 1840s and slowly faded from public view. They eventually had two sons and a daughter. When the Civil War began in 1861, Weld came forward to express his support for the Union cause. He even went on a brief speaking tour to encourage public support of the Emancipation Proclamation, an order by President Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865; see entry) that freed the slaves living in Confederate territory. He also spoke up during Reconstruction, the period in American history immediately following the Civil War, when the country struggled to settle its differences and bring the Southern states back into the Union.) Weld urged the federal government to send troops into the South to defend the rights of freed slaves. “The Nation is its citizens, and the Nation’s right and duty to protect and defend its citizens, all of them, is absolute and paramount [of primary importance],” he stated. In 1868, Weld and his family found an opportunity to help freed slaves directly. The Grimké sisters discovered that their father had had children with one of his slaves. They suddenly found that they had three half-brothers who had lived in slavery until the end of the Civil War. Weld and his wife accepted these men into their family, paid for their eduTheodore Dwight Weld

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cation, and helped them become some of the most prominent black men of their generation. Following the death of his wife in 1879, Weld lived quietly in Boston, Massachusetts. A humble and private man, he refused to allow anyone to write about his life or his activities in the early days of the abolition movement. He died on February 3, 1895.

Where to Learn More Abzug, Robert H. Passionate Liberator: Theodore Dwight Weld and the Dilemma of Reform. New York: Oxford University Press, 1980. Thomas, Benjamin P. Theodore Weld: Crusader for Freedom. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1950. Reprint, New York: Octagon Books, 1973. Weld, Theodore Dwight. American Slavery As It Is. New York: American Anti-Slavery Society, 1839. Itasca, IL: F. E. Peacock Publishers, 1972.

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Henry Wirz Born November 1823 Zurich, Switzerland Died November 10, 1865 Washington, D.C. Confederate commander of Andersonville Prison Only Confederate official executed for his actions during the Civil War

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enry Wirz was the commander of Andersonville Prison, a Confederate prisoner-of-war camp that housed more than forty thousand Union soldiers during the Civil War. More than twelve thousand Union prisoners died of disease and hunger at Andersonville, making the prison the most notorious of the many prison camps operated by the Union and Confederate armies. In November 1865, Wirz was hanged by the Federal government for crimes committed at Andersonville. He was the only Confederate official executed for his actions during the Civil War.

“Our feelings cannot be described as we gazed on these poor human beings. . . . Such squalid, filthy wretchedness, hunger, disease, nakedness and cold, I never saw before.” A Union soldier, commenting on his fellow prisoners at Andersonville.

Swiss native sides with Confederacy Heinrich Hartmann Wirz was born in Switzerland in 1823. As a youth he attended schools throughout Europe, including Zurich, Switzerland; Paris, France; and Berlin, Germany. He was interested in studying medicine, but pressure from his father led him to abandon a medical career and go into business. In 1849, Wirz immigrated to America. Changing his first name to Henry, he took a job as a doctor’s assis499

tant in Kentucky. By the time the Civil War started in 1861, Wirz had moved down to Louisiana, where he provided medical services at a plantation. The Civil War came about because of long-standing disagreements between America’s Northern and Southern states. One major area of disagreement was slavery, which was still practiced in the South. Many Northerners believed that slavery was wrong and wanted to abolish (eliminate) it. But the economy of the South had been built on slavery, and Southerners resented Northern efforts to halt or contain the practice. The two regions also disagreed about the appropriate balance between state and Federal authority. The Northern states favored a strong central government, but Southern states supported the concept of states’ rights, which held that people in each state could make their own decisions about slavery and other issues. America’s westward expansion during this time made these disputes even worse, since both sides wanted to spread their way of life—and their political ideas—into the new territories and states. In early 1861, these differences became so great that eleven Southern states voted to secede from (leave) the United States and form a new country that allowed slavery, called the Confederate States of America. The North, though, was not willing to let the secessionist states break up the Union without a fight. In the spring of 1861, the two sides finally went to war. When the Civil War began, Wirz quickly sided with the South, which he had adopted as his homeland. He joined Louisiana’s Confederate forces in June 1861 as a private. Over the next fifteen months, he rose through the ranks of the army to the position of captain. His military record during this period, however, was controversial. For example, Wirz claimed that he was wounded in the Battle of Seven Pines in Virginia in 1862. But some historians doubt that he was even present at the battle.

Andersonville Prison In 1863, Wirz was assigned to a military prison in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. In March of 1864, he was ordered to take command of a prisoner-of-war camp outside of Ander500


sonville, a village in Sumter County, Georgia. The Andersonville prison had opened one month earlier. Located on sixteen acres of open land, it was designed to hold about ten thousand men. For the first two years of the war, the two sides managed to limit the number of prisoners they held by engaging in prisoner exchanges. Each side would exchange a certain number of prisoners for the same number of its own soldiers that had been captured by the enemy. In mid-1863, though, prisoner exchanges between the Federal and rebel (Confederate) armies ground to a halt because the Confederacy refused to turn over black prisoners. In the meantime, newly captured Union soldiers continued to pour into Andersonville, sometimes at the rate of four hundred a day. By August 1864, Andersonville held more than thirtythree thousand Union soldiers, making it the fifth-largest city in the entire Confederacy. The size of the prison was increased to twenty-six acres, but this did not do much to improve the dreadful living conditions that the prisoners endured. Wirz did not allow them to build shelters, so most of them dug holes in the dirt and used scraps of clothing and blankets to protect themselves from the hot sun. In addition, widespread food shortages across the South meant that inmates at Andersonville received very little to eat. Each inmate’s daily ration of food consisted of a teaspoon of salt, three tablespoons of beans, and a small amount of unsifted cornmeal. The water situation at Andersonville was terrible as well. A small stream ran through the camp, but prisoners were forced to use it both as their sole source of drinking water and as a latrine to carry away human waste. After awhile, the stream backed up and flooded large portions of the camp, turning some flooded sections into swampy areas crusted with human waste. As the summer of 1864 came to an end, an average of more than one hundred Andersonville prisoners died each day from typhoid fever, gangrene, diarrhea, dysentery, and malnutrition. A small number were shot trying to escape or died when their burrows caved in on them, burying them alive. As the conditions worsened with each passing day, the morale of the hungry and feverish soldiers plummeted. Many imprisoned soldiers became hopelessly depressed at the idea of surviving major battles like Gettysburg (July 1863) or Antietam (September 1862), only to die slowly of diarrhea or dysentery. Henry Wirz

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Civil War Prisons The Confederate prison in Andersonville, Georgia, is the best known of the many prisoner-of-war camps that operated during the American Civil War. But captured soldiers imprisoned at other camps endured horrible conditions as well. According to mortality (rate of death) statistics, Andersonville was not even the worst prison in the South. That distinction goes to a Confederate prison in Salisbury, North Carolina, where 34 percent of the 10,321 Union soldiers imprisoned died (by comparison, 29 percent of the Union prisoners held at Andersonville died). Meanwhile, at the Belle Isle Prison in Richmond, Virginia, prisoners received so little food that 90 percent of the Union soldiers who survived weighed less than one hundred pounds. “Can these be men?” asked writer Walt Whitman (1819–1892) when he saw several former prisoners at Belle Isle. “Are they not really mummied, dwindled corpses? They lay there, most of them, quite still, but with a horrible look in their eyes and skinny lips (often with not enough flesh to cover their teeth). . . . The dead [at Belle Isle] are not to be pitied as much as some of the living that have come from there . . . many of them are mentally imbecile [suffered mental collapse], and will never recuperate.”

Prison conditions at some Union prisons were extremely poor as well, even though the North had far greater supplies of food, medicine, and other supplies. At the prison in Elmira, New York, for instance, approximately one out of four Confederate prisoners of war died. And at the Union prison in Rock Island, Illinois, a smallpox epidemic killed eighteen hundred Southern prisoners in a matter of weeks. Altogether, more than 56,000 Civil War soldiers (25,976 Confederate and 30,218 Union) lost their lives in prisoner-of-war camps. These terrible statistics make it clear that “the treatment of prisoners during the Civil War was something that neither side could be proud of,” remarked James M. McPherson in Battle Cry of Freedom. The terrible conditions that existed at many Civil War prison camps developed because the two sides stopped exchanging prisoners in May 1863. This halt came about because the South refused to trade black Union soldiers that it captured. Instead, they forced these black soldiers back into slavery in the South. This policy outraged President Abraham Lincoln (1809– 1865; see entry) and his administration, which announced that all prisoner ex-

The situation at Andersonville became so bad that when newly captured Union soldiers arrived at the camp, they could hardly believe their eyes. “Hunger, sickness, exposure, and dirt had so transformed them that they more resem502


few exceptions, like perhaps Wirz at Andersonville, the men in charge of the camps did the best they could. . . . The big trouble was that in North and South alike, as far as the authorities were concerned, the prison camps came last. They got what was left over when all of the other needs had been met. They were last on the line for food supplies, for medical supplies, for doctors, for housing, for clothing, for guards, for all of the things that are needed to run a prison camp.”

Prisoners at the Confederate prison in Andersonville, Georgia, await their rations on August 17, 1864. (Photograph by A.J. Riddle. Courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration.)

changes would cease until black Union soldiers were included. This in turn caused the war prisons to become filled far beyond their normal capacity and made it harder for prison officials to provide for all of their inmates’ needs. “The prison camps in the Civil War were inhuman,” wrote Bruce Catton in Reflections on the Civil War. “[But] with very

As time passed, the end of prisoner exchanges hurt the South much more than the North, since they began to suffer from a severe shortage of soldiers. Because of this, some people have charged that the North was actually most responsible for ending the prisoner exchanges because it knew that a halt benefited its efforts to break the Confederate Army. But most historians agree that it was the South’s refusal to exchange black soldiers that caused the deadlock. In fact, prisoner exchanges did take place from January 1865 forward, after the Confederate government finally agreed to exchange black, as well as white, Union troops.

bled walking skeletons, painted black,” recalled one Union soldier who was part of a group of prisoners sent to Andersonville in the fall of 1864. “Our feelings cannot be described as we gazed on these poor human beings. . . . Such squalid Henry Wirz

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[dirty], filthy wretchedness, hunger, disease, nakedness and cold, I never saw before.”

Freed prisoners continue to suffer after the war ends By the time the Civil War finally ended in the spring of 1865, conditions at Andersonville had claimed the lives of an estimated thirteen thousand Union prisoners of war, 29 percent of its total prisoner population of forty-five thousand But many of those who survived felt the effects of their imprisonment for the rest of their lives. Some never fully recovered from the physical stress that they endured, while others struggled to deal with emotional problems that developed as a result of being in the middle of so much death and suffering. Northerners were horrified when they learned about the prison conditions at Andersonville. Their anger became even greater on April 27, 1865, when the boiler of an overloaded steamship called the Sultana blew up on the Mississippi River. An estimated seventeen hundred passengers drowned or burned alive in the accident. Most of the casualties were freed prisoners from Andersonville, on their way home to their families. The Sultana disaster remains the worst maritime disaster in American history.

Wirz on trial In May 1865, Wirz wrote to Union officials asking for permission to return to Switzerland. “The duties I had to perform were arduous [difficult] and unpleasant and I am satisfied that no one can or will justly blame me for things that happened here and which were beyond my power to control,” Wirz stated. But he was instead arrested and sent to Washington to be tried for war crimes. Wirz’s trial took place before a special military court that was charged with determining whether Wirz had committed war crimes during his command at Andersonville. Many historians believe that the Confederate officer did not receive a fair trial. For example, some witnesses who were friendly to Wirz were prevented from testifying. Other wit504


The hooded body of Henry Wirz hangs from the scaffold on November 10, 1865. (Courtesy of the Library of Congress.)

nesses claimed that Wirz personally shot or assaulted prisoners on dates when he was actually absent from the prison on medical leave. Prosecutors, though, also presented many other witnesses who testified about Wirz’s cruelty and the camp’s awful living conditions. After listening to the testimony, the court found Wirz “guilty of murder, in violation of the laws and customs of war,” and ordered his execution. Just before he was to be executed, Union officials offered to spare his life if he would testify that Confederate president Jefferson Davis (1808–1889; see entry) engaged in a conspiracy to kill Union prisoners. But Wirz refused the offer, saying that “Jefferson Davis had no connection with me as to what was done at Andersonville.” Wirz was hanged on November 10, 1865, in Washington’s Old Capitol Prison. Wirz thus became the only Confederate official or soldier to be executed for his wartime activities. Today, historians continue to debate Wirz’s responsibility for conditions at Andersonville. Some people believe Henry Wirz

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that the commandant was a cruel and evil man who did not care whether the prison’s Union inmates died. Others, though, say that Wirz was only an inefficient administrator who found it impossible to provide for prisoners at a time when the entire Confederacy was crumbling.

Where to Learn More The Court Martial of Henry Wirz Official Records. [Online] http:// www.civilwarhome.com/wirzcourtmartial.htm (accessed on October 15, 1999). Hesseltine, William B. Civil War Prisons: A Study in War Psychology. Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1930. Reprint, 1998. Marvel, William. Andersonville: The Last Depot. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1994. Page, James Madison. The True Story of Andersonville Prison: A Defense of Major Henry Wirz. New York: Neale, 1908. Reprint, Scituate, MA: Digital Scanning, 1999. University of Missouri at Kansas City School of Law. Famous American Trials: The Trial of Captain Henry Wirz. [Online] http://www. law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/wirz/wirz.htm (accessed on October 15, 1999).

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Where to Learn More

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he following list of resources focuses on material appropriate for middle school or high school students. Please note that the web site addresses were verified prior to publication, but are subject to change.

Books Anders, Curt. Hearts in Conflict: A One-Volume History of the Civil War. Secaucus, NJ: Carol Pub. Group, 1994. Anderson, Nancy Scott, and Dwight Anderson. The Generals—Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee. New York: Knopf, 1988. Aptheker, Herbert. Abolitionism: A Revolutionary Movement. Boston: Twayne, 1989. Basler, Roy P., ed. The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1953. Berlin, Ira, Joseph P. Reidy, and Leslie S. Rowland, eds. Freedom’s Soldiers: The Black Military Experience in the Civil War. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1998. Blight, David W. Frederick Douglass’s Civil War: Keeping Faith in Jubilee. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1989. Bradford, Ned, ed. Battles and Leaders of the Civil War. New York: New American Library, 1984. xxxiii

Buell, Thomas B. The Warrior Generals: Combat Leadership in the Civil War. New York: Crown, 1997. Carter, Alden R. The Civil War: American Tragedy. New York: Franklin Watts, 1992. Carter, Samuel. The Last Cavaliers: Confederate and Union Cavalry in the Civil War. St. Martin’s Press, 1980. Catton, Bruce. The Centennial History of the Civil War. 3 vols. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1961–65. Catton, Bruce. The Civil War. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1960. Chadwick, Bruce. The Two American Presidents: A Dual Biography of Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis. Secaucus, NJ: Carol, 1999. Chang, Ina. A Separate Battle: Women and the Civil War. New York: Scholastic, 1994. Civil War Generals: An Illustrated Encyclopedia. New York: Gramercy, 1999. Commager, Henry Steele. The Blue and the Gray. Indianapolis: BobbsMerrill, 1950. Davis, William C. The Commanders of the Civil War. San Diego: Thunder Bay Press, 1999. Davis, William C. Jefferson Davis: The Man and His Hour. New York: HarperCollins, 1991. Donald, David Herbert. Lincoln. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1995. Dowdey, Clifford. Lee’s Last Campaign: The Story of Lee and His Men against Grant. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1993. Foote, Shelby. The Civil War: A Narrative. 3 vols. New York: Random House, 1958–74. Freeman, Douglas S. Lee’s Lieutenants. 3 vols. New York: Scribner’s, 1942–44. Goen, C. C. Broken Churches, Broken Nation. Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 1985. Grant, Ulysses S. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant. New York: Library of America, 1990. Green, Carl R., and William R. Sanford. Confederate Generals of the Civil War. Springfield, NJ: Enslow, 1998. Green, Carl R., and William R. Sanford. Union Generals of the Civil War. Springfield, NJ: Enslow, 1998. Grimsley, Mark. The Hard Hand of War, Union Military Policy Toward Southern Civilians, 1861–1865. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1995. Gutman, Herbert G. The Black Family in Slavery and Freedom. New York: Pantheon, 1976. Hargrove, Hondon B. Black Union Soldiers in the Civil War. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1988. Harmon, Dan. Civil War Generals. Philadelphia: Chelsea House, 1997. xxxiv


Harrell, Carolyn L. When the Bells Tolled for Lincoln. Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 1997. Haskins, J. The Day Fort Sumter Was Fired On: A Photo History of the Civil War. New York: Scholastic, 1995. Hattaway, Herman. Shades of Blue and Gray: An Introductory Military History of the Civil War. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1997. Hendrickson, Robert. The Road to Appomattox. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1998. Hennessey, John. Return to Bull Run: The Campaign and Battle of Second Manassas. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1992. Holt, Michael F. The Political Crisis of the 1850s. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1978. Kunhardt, Philip B., Jr. A New Birth of Freedom: Lincoln at Gettysburg. Boston: Little, Brown, 1983. Leonard, Elizabeth D. All the Daring of the Soldier: Women of the Civil War Armies. New York: W. W. Norton, 1999. Lincoln, Abraham. Abraham Lincoln: Speeches and Writings. 2 vols. New York: Library of America, 1989. Linderman, Gerald. Embattled Courage: The Experience of Combat in the American Civil War. New York: Free Press, 1987. Litwack, Leon. Been in the Storm So Long: The Aftermath of Slavery. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1979. Macdonald, John. Great Battles of the Civil War. New York: Macmillan, 1988. Macmillan Encylopedia of the Confederacy. New York: Macmillan, 1998. Massey, Mary Elizabeth. Women in the Civil War. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1966. McFeely, William S. Grant: A Biography. New York: Norton, 1981. McPherson, James M. Battle Cry of Freedom. New York: Oxford University Press, 1988. McPherson, James M. For Cause and Comrades: Why Men Fought in the Civil War. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997. McPherson, James M. Ordeal by Fire: The Civil War and Reconstruction. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1982. McPherson, James M., ed. Encyclopedia of Civil War Biographies. Armonk, NY: Sharpe Reference, 2000. Mitchell, Joseph B. Military Leaders in the Civil War. New York: Putnam, 1972. Mitchell, Reid. Civil War Soldiers: Their Expectations and Their Experiences. New York: Viking, 1988. Morris, Roy, Jr. Sheridan: The Life and Wars of General Phil Sheridan. New York: Crown, 1992. Murphy, Jim. The Long Road to Gettysburg. New York: Scholastic, 1995. Where to Learn More

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Nolan, Alan T. Lee Considered: General Robert E. Lee and Civil War History. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1991. Oates, Stephen B. With Malice Toward None: The Life of Abraham Lincoln. New York: Harper & Row, 1977. Paludan, Phillip S. The Presidency of Abraham Lincoln. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1994. Potter, David M. The Impending Crisis, 1848–1861. New York: Harper & Row, 1976. Ritter, Charles F., and Jon L. Wakelyn. Leaders of the American Civil War. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1998. Royster, Charles. The Destructive War: William Tecumseh Sherman, Stonewall Jackson, and the Americans. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1991. Sandburg, Carl. Abraham Lincoln: The War Years. 4 vols. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1939. Sifakis, Stewart. Who Was Who in the Civil War. New York: Facts on File, 1988. Stewart, James Brewer. Holy Warriors: The Abolitionists and American Slavery. New York: Hill & Wang, 1976. Stokesbury, James L. A Short History of the Civil War. New York: William Morrow, 1995. Thomas, Emory. The Confederate Nation, 1861–1865. New York: Harper & Row, 1979. Tracey, Patrick Austin. Military Leaders of the Civil War. New York: Facts on File, 1993. Trelease, Allen W. Reconstruction: The Great Experiment. New York: Harper & Row, 1971. Trudeau, Noah Andre. Like Men of War: Black Troops in the Civil War, 1862–1865. Boston: Little, Brown, 1998. Venet, Wendy Hamand. Neither Ballots Nor Bullets: Women Abolitionists and the Civil War. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1991. Ward, Geoffrey C. The Civil War: An Illustrated History. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1990. Woodworth, Steven E. Jefferson Davis and His Generals. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1990.

World Wide Web American Civil War/Conflict Between the States. http://americanhistory. miningco.com/education/history/americanhistory/msub13.htm (accessed on October 20, 1999). American Civil War Homepage. http://sunsite.utk.edu/civil-war (accessed on October 20, 1999). xxxvi


American Civil War Resources on the Internet. http://www.janke.washcoll. edu/civilwar/civilwar.htm (accessed on October 20, 1999). Civil War Music and Poetry and Music of the War Between the States. http://users.erols.com/kfraser/ (accessed on October 20, 1999). Library of Congress. Gettysburg Address Exhibit. www.lcweb.loc.gov/exhibits/gadd (accessed on October 20, 1999). Library of Congress, American Memory. Selected Civil War Photographs. lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/cwphome.html (accessed on October 20, 1999). Rutgers University Libraries. Civil War Resources on the Internet. http:// www.libraries.rutgers.edu/rulib/socsci/hist/civwar-2.html (accessed on October 20, 1999).

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