Jefferson Davis v. Stonewall Jackson

   Confederate historiography is rife with accounts of Jefferson Davis’s legendary support of certain commanders, like Braxton Bragg, Leonidas Polk, and Lucius B. Northrop, along with politician Judah P. Benjamin, and his equally legendary feuds with others, like Joseph E. Johnston. Even with Johnston, the fault was more his than that of Davis, as in his correspondence, the President, often exhibits a great deal of grace and aplomb.

   But Davis was not, at least early on, an enthusiast of Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson. That might come as a shock, considering that many still celebrate Lee-Jackson Day across the South. Often, Lee is number one, with Jackson a close second in admiration of military skill.

   It appears that Davis and Jackson had never met prior to the spring of 1862. Davis was an 1828 United States Military Academy graduate. During his West Point years, he is described as frequently challenging the academy’s discipline, which includes being involved in the famous Eggnog Riot of Christmas 1826.[1] While serving in the regular army, Davis was court-martialed for insubordination in 1835.[2] Davis resigned from the U.S. Army shortly thereafter. He then became a cotton planter and politician, serving in the U.S. House from 1845-1846. During the Mexican-American War, Davis raised a regiment, for which he served as colonel, and fought at Monterrey and Buena Vista. He then served in the U.S. Senate from 1847 to 1851, as Secretary of War under President Franklin Pierce, and then again in the U.S. Senate from 1857 to 1861.

   Jackson was not a politician, nor a planter. He did gain entrance to the United States Military Academy, graduating in 1846, 17^th out of 59^th students. Jackson was also in the Mexican-American War, serving as a second lieutenant in Company K, 1^st United States Artillery. His unit saw action at the Siege of Veracruz, and the battles of Contreras, Chapultepec, and Mexico City. After Mexico, Jackson saw action in Florida battling the Seminoles. Jackson also resigned from the U.S. Army, taking a position of professor of Natural and Experimental Philosophy and Instructor of Artillery at the Virginia Military institute.

   Davis, being so intimate with the going-ons of the War Department, would have seen Jackson’s name in the reports and telegraphs that arrived in Richmond after the start of the war. Colonel Thomas J. Jackson took command of the garrison at Harpers Ferry in late April 1861. Robert E. Lee was critical of Jackson for occupying Maryland Heights, undoubtedly relaying the fears of others. Jackson wanted Confederate forces to take the offensive at once. Jackson would next clash with Joseph E. Johnston. While Jackson commanded over 7,000 men at Harper’s Ferry, he had a commission only in Virginia. Johnston, after Virginia joined the Confederacy, was a brigadier general in the Confederate army. When Johnson arrived to assume command of the post at Harper’s Ferry, no one had notified Jackson, who refused to relinquish command. Eventually, Johnston found an endorsement with Lee’s signature on it, and Jackson acquiesced. Jackson then assumed command of all Virginia regiments at Harpers Ferry.[3] Promotion to brigadier general came on June 17, 1861. Jackson went on to become the first icon of the South, earning the sobriquet of Stonewall Jackson at the battle of First Manassas in July 1861. A promotion to major general came in November 1861.

   It was Jackson who came up with the plan for the Romney Campaign. Jackson asked for reinforcements for the campaign and received W.W. Loring’s division. Finding few Federals in Romney, Jackson withdrew his brigade back to Winchester, leaving Loring at Romney. Loring has been described as incompetent and not having the ability to control his already demoralized soldiers. Loring’s officers believed that Jackson’s men were living high (and warm) in Winchester while they suffered through one of the coldest winters on record at Romney. Loring signed and forwarded a petition from eleven of his officers to Richmond asking that Jackson’s orders be overridden and they be allowed to withdraw from Romney. Others wrote to their Congressmen, and with Loring’s approval, Brig. Gen. William B. Taliaferro went to Richmond to plead their case. All of this happened without using the proper chain of command, as Loring believed Jackson would not endorse and forward the letters. Davis sided with Loring and ordered the Secretary of War to telegraph Jackson, ordering him to move Loring’s men. Jackson complied with the orders, then telegraphed, “With such interference in my command I cannot expect to be of much service in the field.” He requested to be assigned back to his old teaching job or allowed to resign.[4]

   Davis considered the Romney Campaign, and Jackson, “utterly incompetent.” It was only through the work of Joseph E. Johnston that the ruffled feathers of Jackson were smoothed and his resignation returned to him.[5] Jackson preferred charges against Loring, charges that Johnston endorsed and forwarded, but the matter was dropped in Richmond. A few days later, Loring was promoted to major general at Davis’s request and sent to the Western Theater.

   A couple of months later, Jackson commanded all the troops in the Shenandoah Valley, with orders from Johnston to prevent Banks from reinforcing McClellan on the Peninsula. The next squabble came with Richard Ewell. Ewell was angry over Jackson’s secrecy, so angry, that Ewell sent one of his brigadier generals, Richard Taylor, to meet with Davis. Taylor just happened to be Davis’s brother-in-law (Davis’s first wife). It was Ewell and Taylor’s request that an officer be sent to the Valley, an officer who outranked Jackson and who could take command. Davis agreed and wanted to send either James Longstreet or Gustavus W. Smith. Davis agreed to send Longstreet as soon as possible and Taylor returned to Ewell with the news. Lee stepped in, and as one historian put it, prevented Davis from “making a truly colossal blunder.” Over the next few weeks, Jackson, with Lee’s encouragement “carried out one of the more brilliant campaigns of military history.”[6]

   The first meeting of Davis and Jackson is thought to have occurred on July 2, 1862, at Lee’s Headquarters near Malvern Hill. Lee was meeting with several of his generals when Davis arrived unannounced. Introductions were made. Dr. Hunter McGuire was an observer at the event, and it was McGuire who informed Jackson who Davis was, although he probably already knew. Woodward writes that Jackson’s “feelings toward Davis, however, were none too cordial, for he had not forgotten the Romney campaign and Davis’s intervention in Loring’s favor during the affair.” Hunter McGuire wrote that Jackson “stood as if a corporal on guard, his head erect, his little fingers touching the seams on his pants, and looked at Davis.” It was Lee who broke the awkward silence. “Why President, don’t you know General Jackson? This is our “Stonewall Jackson.” Davis bowed stiffly, and Jackson saluted. Lee and Davis soon adjourned into another room to talk. Davis and Jackson spoke later that day. Jackson was alone among Lee’s generals to continue to pursue McClellan.[7]

   Davis, Lee, Jackson, and others met in Richmond on July 13, devising the strategy of pursuing John Pope and his army in Northern Virginia. Jackson’s brilliant Second Manassas campaign still did not seem to inspire trust with Davis. When the army was reorganized after the Maryland Campaign, the rank of lieutenant general was created. Davis told Lee that “You have two officers now commanding several divisions and may require more. Please send to me as soon as possible the names of such as you prefer for Lt. General.” Lee could request promotions for Longstreet and Jackson, or Lee could recommend someone else, bypassing Jackson. Woodward believed that Davis was giving Lee “a convenient opportunity for reducing Jackson’s responsibilities.”[8] Lee responded with: “My opinion of the merits of General Jackson have been greatly enhanced during this expedition. He is true, honest, and brave; has a single eye to the good of the service, and spares no exertion to accomplish his object.”[9]

Did Davis, during the war, ever come around to being a supporter of Jackson? Perhaps. Davis was ill during the Chancellorsville campaign. However, like many others, he was concerned over Jackson’s wounding. Varinia Davis wrote that one of the Davis servants (slaves) was sent to the railroad depot where the latest news about Jackson’s health was reported on the arriving trains.[10] It was Davis who sent the first (new) national flag to rest on the casket of Jackson as it arrived in Richmond. In a letter to Lee on May 11, Davis described the event as “a great national calamity.”[11] In the funeral procession, Davis followed near the hearse in a carriage. Later that day, when someone came to the White House to discuss business with Davis, Davis “remained silent for a while and then said, ‘You must excuse me. I am still staggering from a dreadful blow. I cannot think.”[12]

   Is it possible to read more into the attitude of Jackson in meeting with Davis at Malvern Hill in July 1862? Maybe. Jackon was “stiff” around many people. Did Jackson know of Ewell and Taylor’s mission to get him replaced? Maybe. Did Jackson smart from the interference of Loring and his officers after the Romey campaign? Yes. Jackson did resign over the event. A larger question: why did David dislike Jackson so much? Was it disdain because Jackson was not of the social class of Davis and Lee? That is just something to consider.

[1] Cooper, Jefferson Daivs, 33.

[2] Davis, Jefferson Davis, 68-69.

[3] Robertson, Stonewall Jackson, 234-44.

[4] Woodworth, Davis & Lee, 87-88.

[5] Tanner, Stonewall in the Valley, 83, from the diary of Thomas Bragg.

[6] Woodworth, Davis & Lee, 121-22; Parrish, Richard Taylor, 153.

[7] Woodworth, Davis & Lee, 171.

[8] Woodworth, Davis & Lee, 202.

[9] OR, 19, pt.2:643-4.

[10] Davis, Jefferson Davis, 2:382-83.

[11] OR 25, pt. 1:791.

[12] Davis, Jefferson Davis, 2:382-83.

A.P. Hill and his Staff at Chancellorsville

   “You have shot my friends! You have destroyed my staff!” In the confusion of the night of May 2, 1863, Maj. Gen. A.P. Hill and members of his staff had followed Stonewall Jackson out in front of Confederate lines just west of the Chancellor House. Jackson was scouting the Federal lines in the darkness. Hill had followed him at a distance and was much closer to the main Confederate lines. It was not a position for either a corps or a division commander. Shots between the main Confederate line, main Federal line, and their respective skirmishers rolled from one side to another. As Jackon and his staff returned to the Confederate lines, someone thought they were being attacked by Federal cavalry – there were remnants of just such a charge earlier in the day scattered about. One officer in the 18^th North Carolina wrote that “the tramp of thirty horsemen advancing through a heavy forest at a rapid gait seemed to the average infantryman like a brigade of cavalry.”[1]

   “Cavalry!” someone cried out. With the intense small arms fire just across the Orange Plank Road to their right, the 18^th North Carolina sent a strong volley into the darkness. Jackson and several members of his staff were stuck. Hill jumped from his horse, prostrating himself on the ground, and escaped unharmed. The staff that rode with a general were paramount to operations. There were medical officers, commissary officers, quartermasters, inspectors, ordinance officers, and volunteer aides, all essential to operations, whether in camp or on campaign. During battle, these were typically the men who relayed orders to those commanders under the general.

   Captain Murray F. Taylor was one of those aides on Hill’s staff that evening. In 1904, his recollections of the events were published. Taylor writes that “eleven of our staff, including Capt. [James K.] Boswell, who were in front of this regiment, were either killed or wounded.” Boswell was a member of Jackson’s staff. Because of his familiarity with the area, he had been temporarily assigned to Hill to serve as a guide. According to Taylor, the only two not wounded among the staff were Taylor and Capt. Watkins Leigh. Taylor was pinned under his horse. He recalled hearing Hill’s voice in the darkness, wanting “to know if any of his staff were alive.” Hill was trying to help extricate Taylor when a courier arrived bearing news that Jackson was wounded. With that information, Hill left Taylor to manage the best that he could and went in search of Jackson.[2]

   Boswell was killed, and his death much lamented. Another of the killed was Capt. James F. Forbes, serving as a volunteer aide-de-camp. The horses of Major Howard and Sergeant Tucker were so unnerved that they carried their riders into Federal lines. Private Richard J. Muse, courier, was killed, and another courier, Eugune Saunders, was struck twice in the face. Possibly another courier, Kilpatrick, might have also been killed. There might have been others wounded. Compiled service records on each of the men who served on Hill’s staff are somewhat thin. Many times, those who were only slightly wounded were not reported as such.[3]

   Replacing Palmer as assistant adjutant general was William N. Starke. Prior to his assignment, Starke had served as Acting Assistant Adjutant General in his father’s brigade. Starke served in this role for the rest of the war. Palmer would return to Hill’s staff and follow Hill when the latter was promoted to command of the Third Corps. It does not appear that another volunteer aide-de-camp was assigned to Hill’s command after the death of Forbes.

   Not long after the volley that killed Boswell and Forbes and wounded Palmer, and after Hill oversaw the evacuation of Jackson from such an exposed position between the lines, Hill himself was wounded by an artillery fragment. While it was not a dangerous wound, Hill was unable to walk or ride and passed command over to JEB Stuart.

   Hill’s statement “You have shot my friends! You have destroyed my staff!” was remembered by Taylor long after the war. As Hill took a roll call of his staff in the darkness and confusion, he could have believed that the volley had been worse than it was. Maybe some of the wounded were members of the 39^th Battalion Virginia Cavalry, an organization that supplied couriers to division, corps, and general staff. Several members of the 39^th Battalion were reported wounded or killed at Chancellorsville, including John Hall, George Smith, and Thomas Williamson (he was wounded and captured). While these soldiers were not considered as belonging to the staff of a particular general, it is possible that Hill might have considered some of them friends or staff.[4]

   When historians write on the battle of Chancellorsville or the life of A.P. Hill, the volley that wounded Jackson and took out several of Hill staff is always mentioned. However, the focus is usually on Jackson. Sears, in his standard work on the battle, neglects details about the volley in relationship to Hill.  Likewise, Schenck neglects this part of the story. In his biography of Hill, Robertson only includes Taylor’s account. Only Lively, in Calamity at Chancellorsville, dives into who was with Hill as the volley wreaked havoc on Hill’s staff in the woods that fateful, dark night at Chancellorsville.[5]                                                                                                                                                                                       

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[1] Robertson, General A.P Hill, 187.

[2] Taylor, “Stonewall Jackson’s Death,” Confederate Veteran, 12:493.

[3] Krick, Staff Officers in Gray, 130; 236; Palmer, “Another Account of It,” Confederate Veteran, 13:233; Lively, Calamity at Chancellorsville, 52, 57. 
                          

[4] Hardy, General Lee’s Bodyguard, 49.

[5] Sears, Chancellorsville, 295; Schrenck, Up Came Hill, 250; Robertson, General A.P. Hill, 187; Lively, Calamity at Chancellorsville, 52, 57.

 

Circling the Wagons at Chancellorsville

    Thanks to the Westerns that many of us watched growing up, we are familiar with the idea of “circling the wagons.” In an effort to provide some security overnight, the wagons were formed in a circle, creating an ad hoc fort to ward off attacks. But did such an event occur during the war? According to an officer in the 12^th Alabama, yes it did.

   Forming a defensive formation was not an alien concept. The concept of the infantry square or hollow square went back two millennia and were used by Roman legions. In forming this large box, there would not be an exposed rear for enemy cavalry to slash through. If the fire coming from the soldiers in the square was staggered, then it might present a continuous wall of fire. Plus, the wall of bayonets might deter a rush of mounted men through the formations. Infantry squares had their zenith of popularity during the Napoleonic Wars and were used at battles like Quatre Bras and Waterloo.

   It was a tactic taught to new regiments being formed in the 1860s, both Gray and Blue, but was seldom used. Those handful of times include the Battle of Rowlett’s Station and the battle of Valverde, both in Texas; and the first day at Gettysburg and at Chickamauga.[1]

   Those early training camps were probably where Robert E. Park learned of the formation. Born in Troop County, Georgia, in 1843, Park was a student at the East Alabama Male College (now Auburn University) when he received word that the last twelve-month company being accepted by the Secretary of War was being formed. Park joined that company, the “Macon Confederates,” and was sent to Richmond where the company, joined by other Alabama companies, became the 12^th Alabama Infantry. He was mustered in as a private. When the regiment was reorganized for three years or the war in the spring of 1862, Park was elected second lieutenant of Company F. The 12^th Alabama was in Robert Rodes’ Brigade, and was active in the campaigns at Williamsburg, Seven Pines, Seven Days, Boonsboro, Sharpsburg, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville Gettysburg, the Overland Campaign, the Valley Campaign, and ended the war at Appomattox.[2]

   In January 1863, Park, now a first lieutenant, was assigned to duty as acting quartermaster of the 12^th Alabama. Park was instructed to “report to the wagon yard, take charge of the wagons with the horses and mules, teamsters, and such baggage as I might find.” The role of the “wagon corps” on a regimental level is not one that gets much press, and his descriptions of his duty are fairly significant for the study of history.[3]

   During the battle of Chancellorsville in May 1863, Park was with his regimental wagons at Hamilton’s Crossing when he was told by a member of JEB Stuart’s command that Federal cavalry was approaching (see this post on Stoneman). At this time, they were in O’Neal’s Brigade, Rodes’ Division. The division quartermaster placed Park in command of the division’s wagons, “composed of quartermasters, wagon masters, cooks and stragglers.” Maybe Park’s prior combat experience led to the division quartermaster’s faith in Park’s abilities. Park then armed the band, “about ninety men,” from the ordnance wagon, “and gave them directions how to meet the cavalry when they approached. I had the wagons parked in a square, with the horses and men within the square, and the guns were stacked and ready for use, one man being on guard to each wagon and on the lookout.” To defend themselves against Federal cavalry, Park “circled the wagons.”[4]

   “Fortunately, the cavalry did not attack us,” Park wrote, “as it was very probable my entire crowd . . . would have fled without delay, upon hearing the first gun.” Are there other examples of the wagons forming a square on the approach of a possible cavalry attack? That would be great to know. Following the battle of Chancellorsville, Park transferred back to his company. He was captured at Boonsboro, wounded in the hip at Gettysburg, wounded in the leg at Winchester and captured. Park survived the war and returned to Georgia, becoming the state treasurer. He passed in May 1909 and is buried in Riverside Cemetery, Bibb County.[5]

   Park’s accounts of his war-time service originally appeared in the Southern Historical Society Papers. They were published in 1906. In 2022, they were reissued by Scuppernong Press and are available at https://www.scuppernongpress.com/

   You can check out additional articles on wagon trains here and here .

 

[1] Nofi, “Form Square! North & South, Vol. 14, No. 1, pg 7-11 (2012).

[2] Park, Sketch of the Twelfth Alabama Infantry, 1.

[3] Park, Sketch of the Twelfth Alabama Infantry, 36.

[4] Park, Sketch of the Twelfth Alabama Infantry, 38.

[5] The Newnan Herald, May 14, 1909.

William F. Randolph and the wounding of Stonewall Jackson

   Born in Virginia in 1831, William F. Randolph had ties to some of the best families in Virginia.  It probably came as a surprise when the well-traveled Randolph enlisted as a private in the 6^th Virginia Cavalry in May 1862. He was soon appointed as a courier to the staff of Richard S. Ewell. It is not clear if the idea was Randolph’s or Ewell’s, but later that year, Randolph was leading a group known as Ewell’s Body Guard. This group would become the nucleus for the 39^th Battalion Virginia Cavalry. Unofficially, the 39^th Battalion was known as Lee’s Body Guard. The members of the four companies of this battalion were often distributed to various generals to serve as couriers and guides.

   Based upon a post-war account, Randolph was with Jackson’s command during the Chancellorsville campaign. It was Randolph who helped scout the Federal lines on May 1. (It is unclear if this is a different scout than the one undertaken by JEB Stuart.) After the flank march and primary Confederate attack had run out of steam, Jackson, desirous to continue the attack, started deploying the rest of the Light Division, still stacked on the Orange Plank Road. Lane’s brigade was first in line, and deployed on either side of the road, with one regiment moving forward as skirmishers.

   Jackson, Randolph, and a few others passed by Lane’s brigade heading toward the Federal lines. It was dark, and the party, according to Randolph, was walking their horses toward the front when firing broke out nearby.

   “Jackson turned to me and said: ‘Order those men to stop that fire, and tell the officers not to allow another shot fired without orders.’”

   “I rode up and down the line and gave the order to both men and officers, telling them also they were endangering the lives of General Jackson and his escort. But it was in vain; those immediately in front would cease as I gave the order, but the firing would break out above and below me, and instead of ceasing, the shots increasing in frequency. I rode back to Jackson and said: ‘General, it is impossible to stop these men; they seem to be in a kind of panic. I think we had best pass through their lines and get into the woods behind them.’ ‘Very well said,’ was the reply. So making a half wheel to the left . . . our little company commenced the movement to pass through the line, and thus put ourselves beyond the range of the fire. A few more seconds would have placed us in safety . . . but as we turned, looking up and down as far as my eye could reach, I saw that long line of bayonets rise and concentrate upon us. I felt what was coming, and driving spurs into my horse’s flanks . . . he rose high in the air and as we passed over the line the thunder crash from hundreds of rifles burst in full in our very faces. I looked back as my horse made the leap, and everything had gone down like leaves before the blast of a hurricane . . . My own horse was wounded in several places, my clothing and saddle were perforated with bullets, yet I escaped without a wound.”

   “As soon as I could control my horse, rendered frantic by his wounds, I rode among our men who were falling back into the woods and from behind the trees were still continuing that reckless and insane fire, and urged them to form their line and come back to the road, telling them that they had fired not upon the enemy, but upon General Jackson and his escort.”

   “Then sick at heart I dashed back to the road, and there was where the saddest tragedy of the war was revealed in its fullest horror.”

   “I saw the General’s horse . . . standing close to the edge of the road . . . Jumping from my horse I hastened to the spot and saw the General himself lying in the edge of the woods. He seemed to be dead and I wished all the bullets had passed through my own body rather than such a happening as this. I threw myself on the ground by his side and raised his head and shoulders on my arm. He groaned heavily.”

   “’Are you much hurt, General?’ I asked as soon as I could find a voice and utterance.”

   “’Wild fire, that sir, wild fire,’ he replied in his usual way.”

   “This was all he said. I found that the left arm was shattered by a bullet just below the elbow, and his right hand lacerated through the palm. Not a living soul was in sight then, but in a few moments A.P. Hill rode up, and then Lieutenant Smith, one of his aides. General Hill ordered me to mount my horse and bring an ambulance quickly.”[1]

   Randolph’s account, published decades later, contains some differing accounts of events. James I. Robertson, in his biography of Jackson, places Capt. Richard E. Wilbourne and Pvt. William T. Wynn with Jackson. They were the ones who removed Jackson from his horse, and Wynn went to find a surgeon. While Robertson mentioned Randolph as one of the party, only Wilbourne and Wynn are there to take Jackson off of his horse.[2] Likewise, Dabney in his biography of Jackson never mentioned Randolph’s role.[3]

   Randolph was captured at Gettysburg and spent the rest of the war at Johnson’s Island. Was he simply mis-remembering the events of the night of May 2, 1863? It is possible. But there is probably some truth in his story.

   If you would like more information on the 39^th Battalion Virginia Cavalry, check out my book, Lee’s Body Guards.

[1] Randolph, “With Stonewall Jackson at Chancellorsville.” Southern Churchman, April 11, 1931, 24-26.

[2] Robertson, Stonewall Jackson, 726, 729-30.

[3] Dabney, Life and Campaigns of Lieut. Gen. T.J. (Stonewall) Jackson, 686-687.

Did Robert E. Lee read Poe?

   January 19 is the birthday of both Robert E. Lee and Edgar Allan Poe. Lee was born in 1807 at Stratford Hall, Westmoreland County, Virginia. He grew up in Alexandria, just across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. Lee attended Eastern View in Fauquier County, and Alexandria Academy before entering West Point in 1825. Poe was born in 1809, two years later, in Boston, Massachusetts. His father abandoned his family in 1810 and his mother died the next year. Poe went to live with the Allan family in Richmond, Virginia. He was educated locally, attended the University of Virginia, dropped out after a year, enlisted in the U.S. Army, then found a substitute and quit the army, but then was appointed to West Point. Poe was admitted in 1830 and was later dismissed for disobedience.

   Poe emerged as a fiction writer in the 1830s, publishing works in various literary magazines and newspapers. His first book was published in 1832, and he wrote numerous pieces and books over the next twenty-plus years. On October 3, 1849, Poe was found in Baltimore in a semiconscious state. He was taken to Washington Medical College, where he died on October 7. His actual cause of death remains a mystery.

   While at school, Lee read a common list for those pursuing a classical education: Homer, Longinus, Tacitus, and Cicero, along with “all the minor classics.”[1] His time at West Point would have been full of military texts, but other books as well. In 1828, between January 26 and May 24, he checked out fifty-two books from the library, including books on seamanship and the works of Alexander Hamilton, along with Rousseau’s Confessions.[2] While superintendent at West Point, Lee returned to checking out books from the library. Biographer Douglas Southall Freeman wrote that in those years, he read “six works on geography . . . one on forestry, eight on architecture, five on military law, two on non-military biography, one on French and Spanish grammar, and fifteen on military biography, history, and the science of war.”[3] Seven of those dealing with war were on Napoleon.

   Lee on campaign, during the war years, read constantly: letters, reports, enemy newspapers. Undoubtedly he kept up his reading in the book of Common Prayer. Lee did mention once in a letter to home that he was sending Mary a copy of Winfield Scott’s autobiography. It was unclear if he had read it.[4] Other details about what Lee might have read for leisure during the war are not clear.

   In 1865, Mrs. Jackson sent Lee Dabney’s Life and Campaigns of Lieut. Gen. Thomas J. Jackson. This was probably the only manuscript regarding the war that he read and about which he had comments. “I am misrepresented at the battle of Chancellorsville in proposing an attack in front, the first evening of our arrival,” Lee wrote. “On the contrary I decided against it, and stated to General Jackson, we must attack on our left as soon as practicable; and the necessary movement of the troops began immediately. In consequence of a report received about that time, from General Fitz Lee, describing the position of the Federal army, and the roads which he held with his cavalry leading to its rear, General Jackson, after some inquiry concerning the roads leading to the Furnace, undertook to throw his command entirely in Hooker’s rear, which he accomplished with equal skill and boldness…”[5]

   Regarding Lee’s post-war reading on the war, Doctor A.T. Bledsoe wrote Lee in 1867, asking for Lee’s opinion of an article in The Southern Review on the battle of Chancellorsville. Lee replied that he had not read the article, or any other books, “published on either side since the termination of hostilities . . . I have as yet felt no desire to revive my recollections of those events, and have been satisfied with the knowledge I possessed of what transpired.” [6]

   In the post-war years, Philip Stanhope sent Lee a new translation of Homer’s Iliad.[7] “That winter,” Robert E. Lee, Jr. wrote, “my father was accustomed to read aloud in the long evenings to my mother and sisters.” A couple of years later, Professor George Long sent Lee a second edition of one of Lee’s favorites, Thoughts of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius.[8]

   Of course, Lee did eventually start to collect material for his own history of the war, one he never finished.

   Concerning the Bible, one was sent to him by an admirer in 1867. Lee sent a reply, thanking him for the gift, and adding that the Bible was “a book which supplies the place of all others, and one that cannot be replaced by any other.”[9]

   Probably the most important piece regarding the original question, did Lee ever read the works of Edgar Allan Poe, comes from a letter Lee wrote his daughter Mildred in December 1866. Lee writes: “I hope you will find time to read and improve your mind. Read history, works of truth, not novels and romances. Get correct views of life, and learn to see the world in its true light.”[10] In the end, we might conclude that Lee probably never read Poe.

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[1] Freeman, R.E. Lee, 1:36, 40.

[2] Freeman, R.E. Lee, 1:71.

[3] Freeman, R.E. Lee, 1:353.

[4] Freeman, R.E. Lee, 3:527.

[5] Freeman, R.E. Lee, 2:587.

[6] Freeman, R.E. Lee,  2:588.

[7] Lee, Recollections and Letters, 213.

[8] Lee, Recollections and Letters, 215.

[9] Jones, Personal Reminiscences, 114-15.

[10] Lee, Recollections and Letters, 247-48.

Did Grant visit the site of Jackson’s death?

    After Stonewall Jackson was wounded and his arm amputated, he was taken via wagon to the Chandler Farm (also known as Fairfield). The farm was very near the railroad and many Confederates were brought to this site, to later be transported to Richmond by train. (You can read a previous post about one of those soldiers here.) Jackson was placed in a room

Chandler Office (NPS)

in the office building on the farm, with plans to transport him to Richmond for better care. Of course, Jackson died in the Chandler office building on May 10, 1863.   A story emerged in the page of Confederate Veteran in 1897 of another famous visitor to the site. It was May 1864, and the visitor was U.S. Grant.

   “While our people were putting up the tents and making preparations for supper, Gen. Grant strolled over to a house near by, owned by a Mr. Chandler, and sat down on the porch. . . In a few minutes a lady came to the door, and was surprised to find that the visitor was the general-in-chief. He was always particularly civil to ladies, and he rose to his feet at once, took off his hat, and made a courteous bow. She was ladylike and polite in her behavior, and she and the General soon became engaged in a pleasant talk. Her conversation was exceedingly entertaining. She said, among other things: ‘This house has witnessed some sad scenes. One of our greatest generals died here just a year ago: Gen. Jackson, Stonewall Jackson, of blessed memory.’”

   “Indeed?” Remarked Gen. Grant. “He and I were at West Point together for a year, and we served in the same army in Mexico.”

   “Then you must have known how good and great he was,” said the lady.

    “O yes,” replied the General. “He was a sterling, manly cadet, and enjoyed the respect of everyone who knew him. He was always of a religious turn of mind and a plodding, hard-working, student. His standing was at first very low in his class, but by his indomitable energy he managed to graduate quite high. He was a gallant soldier and a Christian gentleman and I can understand fully the admiration your people have for him.”

   The soldier making the observation was Brig. Gen. Horace Porter, personal secretary to Grant, and the article originally appeared in an the article “Campaigning with Grant,” published in Century magazine, now what we call Battles and Leaders.

Wounded at Chancellorsville

   Diaries written by common soldiers provide the best insights into the day-to-day life of soldiers. They were not written for wide publication, nor to ‘set history straight,’ as post-war reminiscences. Lieutenant James M. Malbone chronicled his life in a diary that now resides in the collection of the New York State Military Museum and Veterans Research Center in Saratoga Springs, NY.

   Malbone was born in 1828, probably in Princess Anne County, Virginia. Prior to the war, he served as a private tutor. He enlisted March 25, 1862, in Interior Line, Virginia. Malbone was mustered in as a private in Company B, 6^th Virginia Infantry. About six weeks later, Malbone was elected 2^nd lieutenant. He was reported as present until wounded at the battle of Chancellorsville, and remained absent until March 1864 when he was reported on light duty in Gordonsville, Virginia. It does not appear that he ever rejoined his company. Malbone passed away on February 20, 1917, and is buried in the Moore Family Cemetery, Virginia Beach, Virginia.[1]

   At the time of Chancellorsville, the 6^th Virginia Infantry was assigned to Mahone’s brigade. Mahone’s brigade led the advance of Anderson’s division on May 1, moving toward the Federals who were positioned west of Fredericksburg. Malbone’s company was on picket duty and rejoined the 6^th Virginia just in time. He mentioned in his diary advancing some two miles.[2]

   As Jackson launched his attack late on the afternoon of May 2, Mahone was busy holding the attention of the Federals on the eastern front. The skirmishers of the 6^th Virginia captured the flag on the 107^th Ohio. Chronicling a few days after the event, Malbone stated that he was wounded in the right arm about six that morning. As soon as he was wounded, he headed to the rear, “a bout two miles,” to the hospital to have his wound treated. On May 3, he started for Guinea Station, some twenty miles away, walking the entire distance. When he arrived, he found his captain, William C. Williams, mortally wounded.  Malbone stayed with his captain “in the depot house and on a few old bags close by my Capt.” until he died. Malbone then procured a coffin and had Williams buried. [3]

   Malbone found the hospital at Guinea Station “An awful place, for wounded men[.]” After Williams was buried, Malbone returned to Guinea Station, “sick & my wound was very painful.” Later that day, he set out on foot in the rain, looking for his regimental commissary. “[A]t last I found him after so long a time,” he wrote. He returned to Guinea Station the next day and attempted to board a train to Richmond. Federal cavalry had cut the rail lines and it was two days before Malbone could be transported South. During that time, he was able to “sleep in a negro kitching.” On May 8, he was transported to General Hospital No 10, “A regular officers Hospitals.”[4]

   The battle of Chancellorsville produced 9,233 Confederate wounded. Most did not leave accounts of their ordeal, but James M. Malbone did, and his account might represent the rest.

 

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[1] James M. Malbone, CMSR, RG109, M324, Roll#0442, NA.

[2] Sears, Chancellorsville, 198-99; Malbone, Diary, May 1, 1863.

[3] Sears, Chancellorsville, 282; Malbone, Diary, May, 4, May 5, May 8, 1863.

[4] Malbone, Diary, May 4, May 9, 1863.