Fiddler’s Green: William B. Royall

11 Tuesday Jul 2017

Posted by dccaughey in 3rd U.S. Cavalry, 4th U.S. Cavalry, 5th U.S. Cavalry, Battle fo the Rosebud, Fiddler's Green, officers, Peninsual Campaign, Uncategorized

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3rd U.S. Cavalry, 4th U.S. Cavalry, 5th U.S. Cavalry, Battle of the Rosebud, officers

This is the first of several posts this month focusing on Civil War soldiers who fought on the frontier against Indians after the war, either in 1866-67 or the 1876 Sioux campaign.

William Bedford Royall was born in Virginia on April 15, 1825. His family moved to Missouri when he was at a very young age. During the Mexican War, he was appointed a first lieutenant in Company D, 2nd Missouri Infantry on July 31, 1846. Royall served creditably at the battle of Canada, the skirmish at Embudo and capture of Puebla de Taos in New Mexico, serving under the command of his uncle, Colonel Sterling Price. Upon the expiration of his regiment’s term of service, he was first lieutenant and adjutant of the Santa Fe Battalion on August 14, 1847. After a year of recruiting service back in Missouri, he was escorting his recruits to Santa Fe when he had a skirmish with Comanche Indians on June 18, 1848 near Coon Creek in Kansas. Royall’s command arrived in Santa Fe as the war ended, and he subsequently assigned with his recruits to escort duty with now-General Price on his return to Missouri. Royall was honorably mustered out of volunteer service on October 28, 1848.

When the Army expanded by the creation of two new cavalry regiments in 1855, Royall was appointed the senior first lieutenant in the 2nd U.S. Cavalry on March 3, 1855. He received his appointment at Columbia, Missouri, and proceeded immediately to recruiting service for his regiment in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania until July. He joined the regiment at Jefferson Barracks and served with Company C. Following a month of recruiting duty in Columbia, Missouri, he marched with his regiment to Texas in October and arrived at Fort Mason, Texas on January 14, 1856.

He was recognized for gallantry in action against the Comanches during skirmishes that summer, before reporting to Philadelphia for recruiting duty until November 1858. After leading his recruits from Carlisle barracks to Camp Radziminski, Texas, he assumed command of Company C. He commanded the company from December 31, 1858 to February 10, 1860. He was highly commended for conspicuous gallantry during fighting on May 13, 1859 in regimental reports and by General Winfield Scott. He was granted a leave of absence from June 1860 to February 1861.

At the outbreak of the Civil War, Royall chose to side with the Union, despite his southern birth and his uncle, now a Confederate general. During the regiment’s evacuation of Texas, he led his company from Fort Inge to Indianola, where it embarked on the steamship Empire City. He and his company arrived at Carlisle Barracks on April 27, 1861, where he learned he had been promoted to captain on March 21st.

Captain Royall and his company served under General Patterson in the Shenandoah Valley during the summer and fall of 1861, seeing action at Falling Waters, Martinsburg and Bunker Hill. He and his regiment drilled as part of the Cavalry Reserve in the defenses of Washington during the winter of 1861-1862.

During the Peninsula campaign in the spring, he and his regiment were active on the right flank of the army as it advanced toward Richmond. They saw action at the siege of Yorktown and the battle of Williamsburg in April and May. He again distinguished himself at the battle of Hanover Court House on May 27, 1862, receiving a brevet promotion to major for gallant and meritorious service there.

Captain Royall was commanding two squadrons of the regiment on the extreme right of the army when he fought an engagement against a cavalry brigade under Confederate Brigadier General J.E.B. Stuart on June 13, 1862 near Old Church, Virginia. This was the only significant fighting during Stuart’s ride around the Army of the Potomac. Royall’s command, heavily outnumbered, was overwhelmed after a stubborn fight and routed. He was again brevetted for gallantry, this time to lieutenant colonel, but at a heavy price. Royall received six saber wounds during the fighting: two contusions on the right side of the head, a cut two inches long on the forehead, a long cut on the left cheek, a cut dividing a tendon on the right wrist, and an incised fracture of the left parietal bone. These wounds disabled him from active field service for the rest of the war.

Royall was offered the colonelcy of the 27th New Jersey Volunteers in September 1862, but declined due to the effects of his wounds. When he returned to light duty in October, he was assigned to duty as a mustering and disbursing officer in Louisville, Kentucky until March 1864. He was promoted to major in the 5th U.S. Cavalry on December 7, 1863, but would not return to the regiment for nearly two and a half years.

After two months at the Cavalry Bureau in the spring of 1864, Major Royall was assigned as the superintendent of the Mounted Recruiting Service at Carlisle. He assumed command of the post on May 19, 1864. Like the two officers who had preceded him, Royall was another very experienced cavalryman. He also served as the commander of the drafted camp for his district, and much of his correspondence during this period refers to difficulties maintaining sufficient guards for the draftees, especially during Confederate General Early’s advance from the Shenandoah during the summer of 1864. Major Royall was ordered to send out his permanent company and recruits to scout Early’s advance, leaving him no capable soldiers for duty on the post. He served in this position until April 1866. He was brevetted colonel on March 13, 1865 “for arduous and faithful services in recruiting the Army of the United States.”

Major Royall next rejoined his regiment in Nashville, Tennessee, where he commanded four companies until November when he was relieved by the regiment’s lieutenant colonel. He continued to serve there until April 1867. Ryall was next assigned to North Carolina, where he worked as a cavalry inspector in the 2nd Military District and later Chief of the Bureau of Civil Affairs there. This was followed by duty at Morganton, N.C., where he oversaw execution of the reconstruction acts of Congress in fifteen counties of western North Carolina.

In September 1868, Major Royall was at last reassigned to frontier service with a detachment of four companies of the 5th U.S. Cavalry. He led them to Fort Harker, Kansas by September, and was then assigned to Fort Riley. Major Royall served during several campaigns in the vicinity of the Republican River in Kansas, Nebraska and northeastern Colorado over the next year.

On December 22, 1869, he was assigned with a detachment of the regiment to Fort D.A. Russell, Wyoming. He commanded the detachment of up to seven companies at different periods until March 1872, when he was reassigned to Camp Grant, Arizona. He served in various capacities in Arizona and southern California until May 1875, when he marched with the regimental headquarters and six companies of the regiment to Fort Lyon, Colorado, where the command was divided amongst several forts. Royall established the regimental headquarters at Fort Hays, Kansas.

After a brief leave of absence, he assumed command of Fort Dodge, Kansas, and a few days later was promoted to lieutenant colonel of the 3rd U.S. Cavalry on December 2, 1875. The promotion had to be bittersweet, as it ended nearly 21 years of service in the 5th Cavalry. He was transferred to the Department of the Platte at Fort Sidney, Nebraska. From January to March 1876, he served as a member of a board examining Army supplies and the best method of issuing them in the west for the War Department in Philadelphia. While he was there, General Crook applied for him to command the cavalry during the upcoming campaign against the Sioux in the summer of 1876. He returned to the department, and spent April and May purchasing horses for the campaign.

Lieutenant Colonel Royall joined the expedition on May 18, 1876, and commanded his regiment in the field. The regiment’s colonel, John J. Reynolds, was under a court martial for actions the previous December. Some speculate that he resented Crook because of this, but it seems unlikely since he wasn’t present during the incident, and the result of a personal request from the commander was a field command rather than continued staff work in Philadelphia. A battalion of the 2nd Cavalry was added to his command once the expedition was under way, giving him command of 14 companies of cavalry.
Royall had command of these companies during the battle of the Rosebud on June 17, 1876. He took personal command of several companies during the fight and made an independent attack without informing General Crook, which caused some difficulties in managing the battle. After the expedition disbanded in Nebraska in October, he was appointed an acting assistant inspector general for the Department of the Platte until September 1882. After a brief reunion with his regiment at Fort Whipple, Arizona, he was promoted colonel of the 4th U.S. Cavalry on November 1, 1882.

Five years later, Royall retired with the rank of brigadier general on October 19, 1887. On February 27, 1890, he was granted a brevet of brigadier general for gallant service in action at the battle of the Rosebud, fourteen years after the engagement. William Bedford Royall died in Washington, D.C. on December 13, 1895. He was buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery.

Sources:
Heitman, Francis B. Historical Register and Dictionary of the United States Army. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1903. Page 563.

Henry, Guy V. Military Record of Civilian Appointments in the United States Army, Volume 1. New York: George W. Carleton, 1869. Page 178.

National Archives, Record Group 94, Letters Received by the Office of the Adjutant General, 1861-1870.

National Archives, Record Group 94, Letters Received by the Commission Branch, 1863-1870.

National Archives, Record Group 94, U.S. Returns from Regular Army Non-infantry Regiments, 1821-1916: 5th U.S. Cavalry.

Price, George F. Across the Continent With the Fifth Cavalry. New York: D. Van Nostrand, Publisher, 1883. Pages 292-298.

Fiddler’s Green: Tattnall Paulding

16 Monday May 2016

Posted by dccaughey in 6th Cavalry, battle of Fairfield, Fiddler's Green, officers, Uncategorized

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6th U.S. Cavalry, battle of Fairfield, Civil War, Libby Prison, Military Order of the Loyal Legion, officers, tattnall paulding

Given the recent Facebook anniversary of the publishing of our book on the 6^th U.S. Cavalry in the Civil War, it seemed appropriate to get things rolling again with something from that regiment. I found a period obituary of Paulding, and it is relayed in full at the end of the post.

Tattnall Paulding was born March 5, 1840 at Huntington, New York. He was the son of Rear Admiral Hiram Paulding and the grandson of Captain John Paulding, one of the captors of Major John Andre’ (more about him here: ) during the Revolutionary War. He had completed his schooling and was in business at the beginning of the Civil War. Believing the conflict would be over quickly, he initially enlisted as a private into the 7^th New York Infantry, a ninety day regiment, and accompanied it to Washington.

He was in Washington when word of his appointment as a second lieutenant in the 3^rd U.S. Cavalry, dated May 14, 1861, reached him. He joined the regiment almost immediately, and by July and August was assisting with recruiting duties in the Franklin and Butler counties of Pennsylvania.

Lieutenant Paulding quickly adjusted to cavalry life, and was mentioned favorably on several occasions by his superiors in the regiment over the winter. When the unit saw its first action at Williamsburg the following May, he was mentioned in his commander’s report for his coolness and gallantry in action. He was selected to lead the regiment’s detachment assigned to the Army of the Potomac’s provost guard under Brigadier General Marsena Patrick following the engagement.

He continued to distinguish himself through the campaigns of 1862, Stoneman’s Raid and the battle of Brandy Station. Although only a lieutenant, Paulding commanded a squadron during the Gettysburg campaign. He led his squadron capably during the battle of Fairfield on July 3, 1863, commanding companies A and G. Although a disastrous defeat for his outnumbered regiment, Paulding received a brevet promotion to captain for “gallant and meritorious service” during the battle.

Following the battle of Fairfield, he was reported by Lieutenant Nicholas Nolan as “missing, and supposed to be in the hands of the enemy.” This was quickly confirmed, and Paulding spent the next nine months confined in Libby Prison. He was a prolific correspondent with his family during his internment, and these letters are very good primary source accounts of both the battle of Fairfield and life in Libby Prison.

August 1864 was a good month for Paulding. Not only was he finally released from Libby Prison, but he was also promoted to captain in the 6^th U.S. Cavalry on August 20^th. Upon his release, Captain Paulding was assigned to operate the Mounted Recruiting Service station in New York City. Although the station notionally recruited for the army as a whole, the overwhelming majority of these men were sent to bolster the dwindling number of veterans in the ranks of the regular cavalry regiments of the Army of the Potomac. Captain Paulding received brevet promotions to major and lieutenant colonel on November 11, 1865 for meritorious services during the war. He relinquished command of the recruiting station when he resigned his commission on July 1, 1866.

Paulding moved to Philadelphia after his resignation, where his father was the commander of the Naval Asylum, and studied law until 1870. He then became an insurance agent and broker for the company of Carstairs & Paulding in Philadelphia, specializing in fire insurance. He worked in the insurance industry for the next thirty seven years. Tattnall Paulding was the president of the Delaware Mutual Insurance Company of Philadelphia, known today as Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company, at the time of his death.

In addition to his professional achievements, Paulding was also a dedicated philanthropist. He served the Saving Fund Society of Germantown, the Mercantile Beneficial Association, the Union League, the Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and as the director of the Free Hospital for Poor Consumptives.

Tattnall Paulding died in Philadelphia on March 5, 1907, after more than a year of illness of more than a year from rheumatism and other complications. He is buried at St. Luke’s Episcopalian Church in Germantown, Pennsylvania.

I discovered this obituary in the Adjutant General Office records at the National Archives, and include it as I believe it has seldom been seen. Interestingly, it was filed not in Paulding’s records but in those of the author, Brevet Colonel William H. Harrison. It was originally published in a circular of the Headquarters Commandery of the State of Pennsylvania Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States (MOLLUS) dated September 12, 1907.

“Tattnall Paulding.

First Lieutenant 6^th U.S. Cavalry May 14, 1861; Captain October 20, 1864; resigned and honorably discharged July 1, 1866.

Brevetted Captain U.S. Army July 3, 1863, “for gallant and meritorious services in the Gettysburg Campaign;” Major and Lieutenant Colonel November 11, 1865, “for meritorious services during the war.”

Elected March 6, 1867. Class 1. Insignia 464.

Born July 5, 1840, at Huntington, N.Y.

Died March 5, 1907, at Philadelphia, Pa.

Companion Tattnall Paulding was the son of Rear-Admiral Hiram Paulding, United States Navy, and grandson of Captain John Paulding, one of the captors of Major Andre.

His ancestry of itself would have made him a marked man. It put an interrogation on the value of a distinguished and patriotic lineage. Its inheritance was an inspiration to noble living. It has been well said, “people will not look forward to posterity who never look backward to their ancestors.” But when to this is added Companion Paulding’s own distinguished services, it can also be said of him, “who serves his country well has no need of ancestors.” Companion Paulding by inheritance and his own achievement owned and added lustre to an honored name.

At the outbreak of the War of the Rebellion he accompanied the Seventh New York Regiment, S.M., to the City of Washington.

President Lincoln gave him an appointment in the United States Army and he was commissioned First Lieutenant, 6^th United States Cavalry, May 14, 1861.

He served continuously with his regiment in the campaigns of the Army of the Potomac. In an attack on his regiment near Gettysburg by a largely superior force, it suffered severely in loss of life and prisoners. Companion Paulding was captured and endured for many months the privations and sufferings of prison life. For his gallantry in this engagement he was brevetted Captain United States Army, July 3, 1863, “for gallant and meritorious services in the Gettysburg campaign,” and subsequently Major and Lieutenant-Colonel, November 11, 1865, “for meritorious services during the war.”” Companion Paulding resigned and was honorably discharged July 1, 1866. He came to Philadelphia and made it his home.

He was the first agent in this city of the Commercial Union Assurance Company of London, England, and at the end of twenty years resigned the position to accept the presidency of the Delaware Mutual Insurance Company of Philadelphia, which office he filled at the time of his death, March 5, 1907.

Companion Paulding was a member of a number of civil, military and charitable organizations and a trustee of the Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company. He had been a resident of Germantown since 1872.

Tattnall Paulding and Hannah S. Huddell were married November 15, 1872. Two children of this marriage are living, Companion John Tattnall Paulding and Caroline White Paulding.

Companion Paulding was gifted with a manly presence, and to this was added a poise and quiet dignity of manner crowned by a rare modesty, which gave grace and charm to his conversation and companionship.

Such a personality had its hidden spring deep down below the surface, a reserve of helpfulness and strength, which though possessed by few is acknowledged by the many as an ideal to be cultivated as well as admired.

It is these qualities of mind and heart, these character builders, that we shall miss as the days pass and Companion Paulding is no longer a presence in the councils and reunions of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States.

William H. Harrison, Brevet Colonel U.S. Volunteers.

Jackson McElmell, Chief Engineer, U.S. Navy

William F. Potter, Captain, 3d Penna. Cavalry.

Committee.

By command of

Captain John P. Green, U.S.V. Commander

John P. Nicholson, Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel U.S.V. Recorder.”

Sources:

Caughey, Donald C. and Jimmy J. Jones. The 6^th United States Cavalry in the Civil War. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc.: 2013.

Heitman, Francis B. Historical Register and Dictionary of the United States Army. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1903. Page 512.

Henry, Guy V. Military Record of Civilian Appointments in the United States Army, Volume 2. New York: George W. Carleton, 1869. Page 165.

Milgram, James W. “The Libby Prison Correspondence of Tattnall Paulding,” The American Philatelist. 89 (December 1975).

Morris, Charles, ed. Men of the Century. Philadelphia: L.R. Hamersly & Co., 1896.

National Archives, Record Group 94, Letters Received by the Office of the Adjutant General, 1861-1870.

National Archives, Record Group 94, Letters Received by the Commission Branch, 1863-1870.

National Archives, Record Group 94, U.S. Returns from Regular Army Non-infantry Regiments, 1821-1916: 6th U.S. Cavalry.

Obituary. Circular No. 29, Series of 1907. Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, Commandery of the State of Pennsylvania. September 12, 1907.

Obituary. The Germantown Guide. March 9, 1907.

Official Records of the War of the Rebellion, Series I, Volume 25, pages 156, 575, and 440. Also Volume 27, Part 1, page 948.

Fiddler’s Green: John A. Thompson

06 Saturday Jun 2015

Posted by dccaughey in 1st/ 4th Cavalry, 4th U.S. Cavalry, Chickamauga, Fiddler's Green, officers

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4th U.S. Cavalry, cavalry, chickamauga, Civil War, Fort Halleck, Fort Laramie, John Thompson, Virginia Military Institute

This one has been a LONG time coming.

John A. Thompson was born in Belmont County, Ohio in 1832. The family’s holdings were just across the Ohio River from Moundsville, Virginia. He was the son of Colonel John Thompson, of Belmont County, Ohio, and his wife, Sara Ann Walker, both born in Pennsylvania, and whose paternal parents came from County Armagh, Ireland.

John attended Virginia Military Institute in the graduating class of 1850-51. During his senior year, he and several other classmates had an issue with the Second Cadet-Captain. According to one history of the Institute, “Thompson was a great favorite, and the Second Captain was very unpopular – both in his Class and the Corps at large. The issue was joined by Thompson denouncing in unmeasured terms his commanding officer. A court-martial resulted; but his classmates (all but two or three) stood by him, and they were threatened with dismissal for “forming a combination,” in contravention of the Regulations of the Institute. There was great excitement in the Corps which met and adopted resolutions upholding both Thompson and his Class, and condemning the Second Captain. The verdict of the court-martial was generally thought to have been unjust. Thompson left the Institute, but carried with him unmistakable proof of the confidence and admiration of his classmates (except one or two) and of the whole Corps.”

Three years later, June 25, 1855, he received a commission from civil life as second lieutenant in the First United States Dragoons. He reported to Brevet Colonel Charles A. May for instruction at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri on July 7th, but was transferred to the newly formed 1st U.S. Cavalry Regiment a few weeks later on August 29th. He reported to Colonel Edwin V. Sumner at Fort Leavenworth in time to join the regiment on the Sioux expedition that fall. He was assigned to Captain William D. De Saussure’s company.

In 1857, he was part of the escort of Lieutenant Colonel Joseph E. Johnston’s expedition to survey the southern boundary of the Kansas territory. The expedition consisted of four companies of the 1st Cavalry and two companies of infantry. Lieutenant Thompson led the pioneer party and preliminary survey line for the expedition.

The following year, Thompson’s company served as part of the advance guard on the march from Fort Bridger to Salt Lake in March 1858. The young lieutenant also served as acting quartermaster and commissary officer for the command. He was relieved on August 6, 1858 and ordered back to Fort Leavenworth, where he arrived in October. He was granted a four month leave of absence later that month after settling his quartermaster accounts. He rejoined his company at Fort Riley, where it had moved during his leave.

Lieutenant Thompson spent the summer of 1859 as part of an expedition along the Arkansas River. The four companies of the 1st Cavalry spent the summer protecting Santa Fe mail trains before returning to Fort Riley in the fall. During that winter he served as the post adjutant of Fort Riley for Major John Sedgwick.

The next spring he accompanied Major Sedgwick on an expedition against the Kiowa and Comanche. That summer he assisted the command in the construction of Fort Wise, Colorado Territory (later renamed Fort Lyon). One of the second lieutenants in the command was James E.B. Stuart. Thompson departed on another four month leave of absence at the end of September. During his leave he married Mary J. Wilson, of St. Louis, Missouri.

Lieutenant Thompson’s return from his leave did not go as planned. He was diverted on his return trip in St Louis to go to Jefferson Barracks and drill infantry recruits. Shortly after organizing a company of 80 men, Thompson was ordered to secure the St Louis Arsenal. He was relieved in early April and ordered to rejoin his company at Fort Wise. He immediately set out for his unit, escorting paymaster Major Brice from Fort Riley to the post.

He arrived to some welcome news. He had been promoted to first lieutenant in Company F, 1st U.S. Cavalry in January. He immediately renewed his oath of allegiance with Lieutenant Colonel Sedgwick and in the absence of the assigned captain assumed command of the company. Although appointed from the state of Virginia, he apparently never considered resigning his commission to fight for the Confederacy.

After a week or so he and his company were ordered to Fort Larned, Kansas, where he assumed command of the post. Captain Tyler of the 2nd U.S. Dragoons had spiked the guns and deserted the post as he departed to join the Confederacy. On May 23rd he received notification of his promotion to captain and command of Company K, 1st U.S. Cavalry, but was not yet relieved and remained at Fort Larned.

Captain Thompson was and assigned to survey the route between Fort Larned and Fort Kearny, N.T., and assigned to the latter post. He arrived on June 4th to learn he was one of three officers assigned to the fort. The senior officer, Captain Brockholst Livingston of the 2d Dragoons, was incapacitated. Captain E.W.B. Newby commanded the post, and Captain Thompson served as post adjutant, quartermaster and commissary in addition to commanding his company. After Captain Newby’s relief and arrest by Major General Hunter in November, Captain Thompson commanded the post as well.

In June 1862, Brigadier General James Craig ordered a swap, shifting Colonel E.B. Alexander to Fort Kearny and Captain Thompson with his squadron of Companies F and K, 1st Cavalry to Fort Laramie. Fort Laramie was otherwise garrisoned by volunteer units, and had the important responsibility of safeguarding the overland mail and telegraph lines. Captain Thompson managed the post well, writing afterwards “although it was a difficult matter at first to bring some of the volunteer companies to a proper understanding of discipline.”

In August 1862 the Overland Mail Company shifted its route south to the Bridger Pass road. Since securing the mail routes was one of Fort Laramie’s responsibilities, Captain Thompson was ordered by General Craig to find a location for a new fort on this southern route. He selected the site for what would become Fort Halleck, surveying it and planning the buildings. He then went east to the Cache la Poudre River to superintend hay contracts for cavalry which would garrison the new fort. He made the following observations in his report to General Craig:

“I have selected a beautiful piece of ground for the fort on the north side of the Medicine Bow Mountains. Three streams of clear mountain water run through it, either or all of which can be turned so as to water every part of the garrison without an hours work. There is plenty of the finest timber on the mountains within a mile of the place selected. The government will not be compelled to haul timber either for lumber or firewood more than two miles for many years, in fact the supply is almost inexhaustible. A fine quality of limestone can be found in the mountains half a mile distant, and hay can be had in abundance within twelve miles of the post. I submit for the approval of the Gen’l Comd’g the enclosed plan of buildings for the new post.”

Commended by Craig for his efforts, Captain Thompson was ordered to Washington to report on the state of affairs in the region. While he was away, a mutiny occurred due to maladministration of the post by his successor, Captain Herrington, and Thompson was ordered back to Fort Laramie. There had been a conflict between a lieutenant of the 6th Ohio and men of the 8th Kansas, and Herrington’s assistant adjutant general, Captain Eno, had been compelled to shoot one of the enlisted men.

Thompson was ordered to join his regiment in March 1863, but requested permission to delay the move. His wife had just given birth to their second child, John, and the doctor stated that she was unable to make the 800 mile trip by wagon for eight weeks. Requests to the War Department and Governor Pierpont of what would become West Virginia to delay the move were approved.

Captain Thompson and his squadron were delayed again during their march west. They stopped in St Louis for two weeks to update their arms, and again in Louisville to arm and equip a group of recruits. He joined the rest of the 4th U.S. Cavalry at McMinnville, Tennessee in August 1863, with both companies of his squadron fully equipped and in fine condition.

Thompson served with the regiment through a number of skirmishes in the vicinity of Chattanooga during the late summer and early fall of 1863. He commanded the regiment during the greater portion of the battle of Chickamauga, Captain McIntyre being too unwell to ride. He relinquished command to McIntyre the day before the regiment moved inside the lines at Chattanooga.

I found the following statement in an anonymous tribute written after his death, but could find no evidence to confirm or deny it: “He was present at the battle of Chickamauga, and it was his presence of mind, his personal bravery, and fortitude, and his disobedience of orders (or, rather, his substitution of his own military discretion), that saved the retreat of the Army and its almost total destruction.”

Thompson became very ill with dysentery and fever shortly thereafter, and was granted a 20 day leave of absence to join his family in St Louis and recover. On his arrival in St Louis, however, he was placed on temporary duty as an acting assistant commissary of musters. On November 6th he was ordered to permanently assume the position from Captain Cheek of the 13th U.S. Infantry.

Due to the fact that he had been absent from service with his regiment for such an extended period, Captain Thompson was ordered to appear before a retiring board in Washington, D.C. on April 14, 1864. After recounting his military career, he ended his statement to the retention board, “I am well and sound and know of no reason why I should be unfit for duty.” The board, including Major Generals Irwin McDowell and Erasmus Keyes, voted unanimously to retain him in service.

Captain Thompson remained a conscientious cavalryman despite serving far from the action. In July 1864 he wrote to the Army’s Adjutant General concerning the possibility of recruiting newly mustered out volunteers for regular cavalry service. He noted “all I would require is a good noncommissioned officer and one man to look after these men after they have been mustered out – to bring them in after they have spent their money.” Recruiting was authorized three days later.

Captain Thompson returned to duty in the field with his regiment before the war’s end. He commanded the regiment at the battle of Selma on Wilson’s Raid during the closing days of the war. He continued to command the regiment through June, as it moved to Macon, Georgia for occupation duty. When the regiment moved to Texas, he resumed command of his company and the post of Fort Mason, Texas.

On August 25, 1867, he was promoted major of the Seventh Cavalry, though it took time for the news to reach him. He was preparing to move to join his new regiment when he was murdered by desperadoes at Fort Mason, Texas on November 14th.

The San Antonio (Texas) Express, in its issue of November 18, 1867, published this account of the incident:

“An express from Fort Mason arrived in this City on Saturday morning bringing the intelligence of the brutal murder of Major John A. Thompson, Commander of the Post, on Thursday morning last. Major Thompson was out driving with his wife and two children, and, passing by a store about half a mile from the Post, saw a difficulty taking place between some citizens and soldiers. He stopped his ambulance and ordered a sergeant, who was present, to have the parties arrested, when the desperadoes turned upon the Major and his sergeant, shooting the major through the head, killing him instantly, while by his wife’s side, and mortally wounding the sergeant.

“The murderers, having their horses at hand, fled before any attempt for their arrest could be made. [Then followed the names of the gang.] Scouts have been sent in all directions to (if possible) catch the murderers. The officers of the regiment have offered one thousand dollars reward for their arrest, and delivery to the military authorities.”

Sergeant John McDougall of the 4th Cavalry died of his wounds at the fort later the same day.

Fort Mason Assistant Surgeon John A. Hulse, wrote the following account of his murder to his father:

“Fort Mason, Texas, November 14, 1867.
Colonel John Thompson, Moundsville, W. Va.
Dear Sir – It becomes my painful duty to inform you of the death of your son, Major John A. Thompson, at this post, this morning, at the hands of desperadoes, while commanding the peace in an affray between them and a party of soldiers just arrived from Fort Chadbourne.
The ball struck the right cheek below the eye, cutting the internal carotid artery, and emerging below the left ear, with fatal hemorrhage in about twenty minutes. I was by his side in a few moments, but my best endeavors to preserve his valuable life were hopelessly futile.
He was universally esteemed here, his many noble qualities winning him a large circle of friends who, with his inconsolable family, and the Army which loses one of its most valuable officers, will ever deplore his irreparable loss.
Accept, dear sir, my most sincere sympathy, in this your sad bereavement.
Mrs. Thompson will leave for St. Louis as soon as proper escort can be secured to accompany her.
Very respectfully,
John A. Hulse, A.A. Surgeon, U.S.A.”

Major General Winfield Hancock, commanding the department, requested and received authority from the War Department to provide transportation and escort for the bereaved family.

There were several tributes written of him after his death, of which I have excerpted three:

“He was universally beloved by his fellow officers and the men under his command. He was very happy in his domestic relations, having one of the sweetest of women for a wife, and two beautiful children.”

“He was scholarly, soldierly, and gentlemanly, with the love of his men, the respect of his fellow officers, and the confidence of his superiors.”

“He devoted the best energies of a noble manhood to his country’s service, and closed an honorable career with that sublimest of offerings, a hero’s life.”

I give you Major John A. Thompson, a gallant cavalryman whose career was tragically cut short.

Sources:

Heitman, Francis B. Historical Register and Dictionary of the United States Army. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1903. Page 639.
National Archives, Record Group 94, Letters Received by the Office of the Adjutant General, 1861-1870.
National Archives, Record Group 94, Letters Received by the Commission Branch, 1863-1870.
National Archives, Record Group 94, U.S. Army Register of Enlistments, 1798-1914
National Archives, Record Group 94, U.S. Returns from Regular Army Non-infantry Regiments, 1821-1916: 4th U.S. Cavalry.
Wise, Jennings C. The Military History of the Virginia Military Institute from 1839 to 1865. Lynchburg: J.P. Bell Company, Inc., 1915. Pages 501-504.
http://www.legendsofamerica.com/wy-forts.html#Fort H.W. Halleck
http://wyoshpo.state.wy.us/NationalRegister/Site.aspx?ID=84

Fiddler’s Green: Thomas Hood McCormick

03 Tuesday Feb 2015

Posted by dccaughey in 1st/ 4th Cavalry, 4th U.S. Cavalry, Fiddler's Green, officers

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4th U.S. Cavalry, battle of Franklin, Civil War cavalry, George H. Thomas, James H. Wilson, James McIntyre, Neil McCafferty, Thomas McCormick, U.S. Grant

It’s ironic that this Fiddler’s Green entry follows the last one of James McIntyre. These two officers were virtually inseparable throughout their cavalry service during the war, though their careers ended rather differently. Contrary to appearances from the frequent mention of McCaffertys, McCormicks and McIntyres, there were a number of non-Irish officers in the 4th U.S. Cavalry during the Civil War.

Thomas Hood McCormick was born on February 24, 1836 at Mill Hall, Clinton County, Pennsylvania to Saul and Catharine Hood McCormick. He graduated Lafayette College with a law degree in 1855, and according to census information was living with his mother and family and working as an attorney in Lock Haven in 1860.

He was appointed second lieutenant in the 1st U.S. Cavalry on March 27, 1861. As one of the early appointees he was quickly promoted as resignations thinned the regiment’s officer ranks, achieving first lieutenant less than a month and a half later on May 7, 1861.

Lieutenant McCormick quickly completed his initial training as a cavalry officer at Carlisle Barracks over the summer, and was assigned to the squadron of the regiment in Washington, D.C. Although only a first lieutenant, he assumed command of Company A, 1st U.S. Cavalry, which was redesignated the 4th U.S. Cavalry in August. The commander of Company E and the squadron of the 4th U.S. Cavalry as a whole was Captain James McIntyre. In addition to his other duties, McCormick also served as an acting assistant quartermaster for the squadron, as the remainder of the regiment was serving in the western theater.

He requested additional recruits to bring his company to full strength in September, and appears to have served well over the winter in the defenses of Washington. As the Army of the Potomac prepared to embark on the Peninsula Campaign, the squadron was assigned as Major General McClellan’s escort. It served in this position throughout this campaign, assigned to the army headquarters. The squadron’s men saw little action other than the odd artillery shelling when the general moved too close to the action. McCormick was promoted to captain and retained command of Company A on August 7, 1862.

The day after the battle of Antietam he recommended his first sergeant, Neil J. McCafferty, for a commission in the regiment. The two had been together since McCormick joined the company, first McCafferty was the quartermaster sergeant, then he was promoted to company first sergeant in October 1861. Captain McCormick wrote in his recommendation, “The highest compliment I can pay to the excellence of his character and his soldierly qualities is to request that if he should receive a commission he may be attached to my company.” Captain McIntyre, still commanding the squadron, endorsed the request, and McCafferty was commissioned a short time later.

The squadron finally rejoined the rest of the regiment during the winter of 1863-1864, and the following spring saw its first active campaigning of the war. Captain McCormick apparently had no issues with the adjustment. He was commended for his actions during fighting at Franklin, TN on April 10, 1863. According to the report of Captain James McIntyre, who commanded the regiment during the battle, “No officer could have behaved more gallantly than Captain McCormick, who with the rear squadron repulsed the enemy who in force attempted to surround and cut off our retreat to the ford.” He served through the remaining campaigning of 1863 and 1864 without reported incident.

Captain McCormick took a leave of absence during the winter of 1864-1865. He saw a doctor while at home in Lock Haven and requested an extension of twenty days on February 24, 1865 for “congestion of the liver,” which was granted. This is the first clue in his records that something may have been wrong.

On June 18, 1865, Captain McCormick’s cavalry career came to an abrupt and unpleasant end. According to the report of acting regimental commander Captain John A. Thompson:

“I have the honor to state that at about 5 o’clock last evening Capt. Thos. H. McCormick 4th U.S. Cav was driven into this camp in an ambulance in a beastly or insensible state of intoxication – he was lying on his back on two seats with his head hanging down and totally unconscious of where he was or his condition. I believe several of the men saw him. Myself and Lieut. W.W. Webb saw him and conversed with the driver.

“The driver said he had been taken out of the cars in that condition by Col Eggleston and himself aided by others at the depot.

“His condition was such that I could not permit him to be taken out in presence of the command and ordered the driver to take him to Wilson Hospital.”
The regimental surgeon, Assistant Surgeon Merritt S. Jones, concurred with Captain Thompson’s assessment, describing McCormick’s condition as “insensible from intoxication. He was so entirely helpless that he had to be carried into the ward on a stretcher.”

Correspondence then followed fast and furiously on the subject of McCormick’s dismissal. Brevet Major General James H. Wilson recommended immediate dismissal for habitual drunkenness. “This is no new thing in his conduct,” he wrote. “His public disgrace by drunkenness is a matter of notoriety in service tho’ hitherto he has managed to escape punishment. A Court Martial cannot well be convened to try him, and the credit of the public service, as well as its discipline and good order demands his summary dismissal.” Major General George H. Thomas concurred and forwarded the recommendation. It was approved by Lieutenant General U.S. Grant on July 12th, and by the Secretary of War on July 21st. McCormick was dismissed on July 25, 1865, and returned home to Lock Haven.

Thomas Hood McCormick died in Lock Haven on March 30, 1866. He is buried in Highland Cemetery, Lock Haven, PA.

A thorough examination of McCormick’s personnel records revealed no clues as to what may have happened other than the surgeon’s certificate on his request to extend his leave. While it was far from infrequent for there to be issues with alcohol for officers on the frontier following the war, examples such as this during the war were pretty infrequent and seldom drew such high-ranked ire. General Wilson’s evident disgust may have been the result of extended service by the regiment as his escort during that spring’s campaigns.

I give you Thomas Hood McCormick, gallant in battle, but all too human in the end.

Sources:
Coffin, Selden Jennings. Record of the Men of Lafayette. Easton, PA: Skinner & Finch, Printers, 1879.
Heitman, Francis B. Historical Register and Dictionary of the United States Army. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1903. Page 430.
National Archives, Record Group 94, Letters Received by the Office of the Adjutant General, 1861-1870.
National Archives, Record Group 94, Letters Received by the Commission Branch, 1863-1870.
National Archives, Record Group 94, U.S. Returns from Regular Army Non-infantry Regiments, 1821-1916: 4th U.S. Cavalry.

Fiddler’s Green: James B. McIntyre

17 Wednesday Dec 2014

Posted by dccaughey in 4th U.S. Cavalry, Fiddler's Green, officers

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4th U.S. Cavalry, Fort Larned, George H. Thomas, Horace Randal, J.E.B. Stuart, James B. McIntyre, United States Military Academy, West Point

James B. McIntyre was born in Tennessee on August 14, 1833. His family moved to Texas during his childhood, near the town of Brenham in Washington County. In 1849, he and Horace Randal became the first two appointees to the United States Military Academy from the state of Texas. Randal was later a cavalry officer and brigadier general in the Confederate Army. James graduated the academy on July 1, 1853, near the bottom of a class that included future cavalrymen Philip Sheridan, John Chambliss and Nelson Sweitzer. He received an appointment as a brevet second lieutenant in the 7th Infantry, as there were no open second lieutenant vacancies.

Upon joining the regiment at Fort Brown, Texas, he was initially assigned to Company A. His commander was Robert S. Garnett, later the first general officer killed during the Civil War and cousin of the general killed at Gettysburg. The first lieutenant of the company was Edmund Kirby Smith. Although only a brevet officer, he performed well, and served in command of Company I within a year of graduation from the academy.
On October 17, 1854, James McIntyre married Jane A. Selkirk in Austin, Texas. They had three children over the next four years: Hugh on October 9, 1855, Mary Bell on October 1, 1857 and William James D. in October 1859.

On March 3, 1855, McIntyre finally received his appointment as a second lieutenant, but in a different service. He received an original appointment to the newly authorized 1st U.S. Cavalry, and joined his new regiment at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He spent the next several years on frontier duty skirmishing with the Cheyenne, Sioux and Comanche Indians. He was promoted to first lieutenant in the regiment on January 16, 1857. He was one of four lieutenants present when J.E.B. Stuart was wounded in an action at Solomon’s Fork of the Kansas River on July 29, 1857. The other two were Lunsford Lomax and David S. Stanley.

McIntyre served as the regimental quartermaster from April 15, 1858 to April 30, 1860. He was part of the force under Major John Sedgwick dispatched toward Utah in May 1858. They marched as far as the Colorado Territory before a peace settlement was reached, and they returned to Fort Leavenworth. He assisted with the construction of Fort Wise (later Fort Lyon), Colorado, and served there and at Fort Riley, Kansas until 1860.
McIntyre was on a leave of absence with his family when the war broke out. He was promoted to captain and command of Company E on May 3, 1861, and soon joined his company at Washington, D.C. As the senior officer present, he commanded the only squadron of the 4th U.S. Cavalry in the eastern theater for the next year and a half.

Although kept very busy, the squadron saw little combat, serving as escort for Major General McClellan through the Peninsula, Antietam and Fredericksburg campaigns. After a brief period of detached service in Washington, D.C. from December 1862 to March 1863, he rejoined his company in Tennessee. He commanded the company during operations in Tennessee and Alabama during the spring of 1863. Captain McIntyre received a brevet promotion to major for gallant and meritorious service during the battle of Franklin, Tennessee on May 10, 1863, and assumed command of the regiment the following month.

Captain McIntyre commanded the regiment for the rest of the year. He earned a brevet promotion to lieutenant colonel for gallant and meritorious conduct in his leadership of the regiment in the battle of Chickamauga on September 25, 1863. After a brief leave of absence during the winter, he resumed command of the regiment in March and led it through all of the campaigns of 1864 as well.

In his report on Kilpatrick’s Raid during August 1864, Captain McIntyre made the following statement on his regiment’s performance near Lovejoy’s Station:

“But it was in the charge, when cavalry fought in the legitimate way, the cool, dismounted lieutenant, sergeants and soldiers became the cavalryman, and where all were heroes it would be invidious to make distinction.”

After another brief leave of absence during the winter of 1864, McIntyre again commanded the regiment at Gravelly Spring, Alabama from January to March 1865. Ironically, after commanding the regiment for nearly two years, he missed its last major action of the war, Wilson’s Raid and the battle of Selma. He was detached from the regiment for recruiting duty at Baltimore, Maryland on March 1, 1865 and served there for the remainder of the year.

On November 15, 1865, his wife Jane died, and their three children went to live with his father, Hugh, in Brenham, Texas. His father later received his pension.

In 1866, former Army of the Cumberland commander major General George H. Thomas recommended McIntyre for a brevet to full colonel for his services during the war. In his recommendation, General Thomas noted, “Capt. McIntyre has been an industrious and zealous officer and has performed the duties of every position he has held with ability, and with great credit to himself and to the satisfaction of his commanding officers.”

Following the war, he returned to the frontier with his regiment, once again in command of his Company E in Texas. He commanded Fort Brown, his first assignment as a brevet second lieutenant in 1853, from May 1866 to January 1867. He then moved with his company to Fort Riley, Kansas. Although he was promoted to major in the 3rd U.S. Cavalry on July 28, 1866, the news took months to reach him, and he never joined his new regiment.

Major McIntyre set out from Fort Riley on April 16, 1867. He had been ill with consumption since January with symptoms of consumption and “also suffering from excessive indulgence in alcoholic liquors,” according to the post surgeon. He arrived at Fort Larned on May 1st, but his condition had worsened, and he was too sick to continue his journey.

James B. McIntyre died of consumption at Fort Larned, Kansas on May 10, 1867, but his story doesn’t end there. He was buried in grave #9 in the post cemetery. A very popular officer while he commanded the post, the garrison constructed a brown obelisk in his honor that still stands today. Though weathered and difficult to read, one can still make out the inscription:

“J.B. MacIntyre, Col. USA Died at Fort Larned Kansas, May 9 1867. Was one of the officers, of Extra Duty, Maintained the Honor of his Country Gallantly during the Days of the Recent Rebellion.”

When the post was closed in 1888, the cemetery contents were moved to the cemetery at Fort Leavenworth. In an oversight, the contents of the cemetery were not cataloged. They were interred in new graves in their own section of the Fort Leavenworth cemetery, surrounded by a short wooden fence. Captain John McIntyre rests with 62 of his comrades from Fort Larned, in a grave marked “Unknown US Soldier.”

Sources:
Cullum, George W. Biographical Register of the Officers and Graduates of the U.S. Military Academy, Volume II. Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1891. Pages 569-570.
Fort Larned NHP website (http://www.nps.gov/fols/planyourvisit/upload/Cemetery.pdf) accessed December 8, 2014.
Heitman, Francis B. Historical Register and Dictionary of the United States Army. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1903. Page 437.
National Archives, Record Group 94, Letters Received by the Office of the Adjutant General, 1861-1870.
National Archives, Record Group 94, Letters Received by the Commission Branch, 1863-1870.
National Archives, Record Group 94, U.S. Returns from Regular Army Non-infantry Regiments, 1821-1916: 4th U.S. Cavalry.
Tom Jones, “Randal, Horace,” Handbook of texas Online (http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fm28) accessed December 8, 2014.
Wert, Jeffry D. Cavalryman of the Lost Cause. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2008.

Fiddler’s Green: Ephraim Adams

16 Sunday Nov 2014

Posted by dccaughey in 2nd U.S. Cavalry, battle of Cedar Creek, Fiddler's Green

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2nd U.S. Cavalry, battle of Cedar Creek, cavalry, Civil War, enlisted men, Ephraim Adams, Shenandoah Valley campaign

I don’t often feature enlisted men in the Fiddler’s Green series, for the simple reason that there isn’t normally much information available about them. I found the case of Ephraim Adams somewhat unique, though. He literally grew up in his company, and held every enlisted rank in it before falling at its head in battle.

Ephraim Adams was born in Carlisle, Pennsylvania in late 1839. He was enlisted into Company F, 2nd U.S. Dragoons at Carlisle on December 24, 1855 by Lieutenant Tyler as a bugler at the age of 16. His enlistment documents describe him as 5’4″ tall, with gray eyes, brown hair and a fair complexion. He served his first enlistment on the frontier with his regiment, earning the rank of sergeant just before reenlisting in Company F at Fort Kearney, Nebraska Territory on September 20, 1860.

Ephraim continued to serve with his company through most of the Civil War, earning the rank of first sergeant by the time he reenlisted a second time. Lieutenant Robert Lennox, his former sergeant major, reenlisted him into Company F on July 12, 1864 at Light House Landing, Virginia, as the regiment recovered from Sheridan’s two raids. Due to heavy losses among the regiment’s officers, he was commanding his company when the regiment moved to the Shenandoah Valley in early September.

First Sergeant Adams was leading his company during the battle of Cedar Creek when he received a gunshot wound to the face on October 19, 1864. After initial treatment at a field hospital on the battlefield, he was admitted to the U.S. General Hospital at York, Pennsylvania on October 26th. He did not regain consciousness before he died there on November 1, 1864. According to the final statement signed by First Lieutenant James Cahill, a former fellow first sergeant, he was buried on November 3, 1864 in plot #130 at Prospect Hill Cemetery, York, Pennsylvania.

Fiddler’s Green: Lewis Thompson

03 Monday Nov 2014

Posted by dccaughey in 2nd U.S. Cavalry, Fiddler's Green, Gettysburg campaign, officers

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2nd U.S. Cavalry, Civil War, Gettysburg campaign, James Brisbin, John Pope, Lewis Thompson, Little Big Horn campaign, Philip Sheridan, Rufus Saxton, Theophilus Rodenbough, William Hardee

I am greatly indebted to Sherry Harris, a relative of Lewis Thompson, for adding a great deal of detail and both pictures to the story of this brave cavalryman.

Photo courtesy of Sherry Harris.

Lewis Tappen Thompson was born in Philadelphia on July 25, 1838. He was the eldest of five children who survived childhood. His father, also named Lewis, was a publisher and member of the Anti-Slavery Society in Philadelphia. He was also part of the Underground Railroad before the Civil War.

Lewis was raised in Philadelphia, and educated for a business career. He was working as a cashier and bookkeeper for P. Waples and Co. of Philadelphia when the war broke out. Lewis and his brother James enlisted in Company A, 71st New York State Militia, a ninety day regiment, on April 21, 1861, and mustered out with the rest of the company on July 30th. He served primarily at the Washington Navy Yard, but also fought in the first battle of Bull Run.

When the regiment was mustered out, Thompson was appointed a lieutenant of volunteers and assigned as an aide on the staff of Brigadier General John C. Fremont. After Fremont was relieved of command, he worked briefly as an adjutant general for Lane’s brigade before being appointed a captain in the 3rd Kansas Cavalry. Singled out for bravery and leadership in a winter expedition into Missouri for forage, General Lane recommended him for an appointment in the regular army.

On February 19, 1862, Lewis Thompson was appointed a second lieutenant in the 2nd U.S. Cavalry and assigned to Company I. He wouldn’t see his new company for nearly a year. He remained at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas for several more months working as a Mustering & Disbursing Officer. He was promoted to first lieutenant on October 28, 1862, but word of the promotion did not reach him or the regiment until the following spring.
Lieutenant Thompson joined the 2nd U.S. Cavalry at Fort Albany, Virginia in December 1862, where several recently recruited companies were en route to join the regiment. He commanded Company G during the march, then joined Company I upon arrival. He spent the winter on picket duty with his company, based from their winter quarters near Falmouth.

Lieutenant Thompson was active in the spring campaign, serving with his company under Lieutenant Thomas Dewees during Stoneman’s Raid and the battle of Brandy Station. He received a brevet promotion to captain for gallant and meritorious service two weeks later during the battle of Upperville on June 21, 1863.

Lieutenant Thompson was captured during the Gettysburg campaign on July 2, 1863 while “attempting to communicate with corps headquarters,” according to brigade commander Wesley Merritt’s report on the battle. He was held at Libby Prison in Richmond until June 1864, then he was transferred briefly to Macon, Georgia and then onward to Charleston, South Carolina.

Lewis became very sick with tuberculosis and bronchitis while in Charleston, and likely would have died there if not for some family intervention. His sister, Matilda, had married Brigadier General Rufus Saxton, a quartermaster officer. When the Union captured parts of South Carolina in 1864, Saxton was appointed military governor of the state. He established his offices in the same building as the erstwhile Confederate commander of the area, former member of the 2nd Dragoons William Hardee. Hardee had been Saxton’s commander at West Point before the war. Saxton heard of his brother in law’s illness, and by luck was holding one of Hardee’s staff officers of the same rank prisoner. After Saxton contacted Hardee, “he responded cordially, and the two officers were exchanged, and the life of one brave officer was saved.”

Thompson was exchanged at Charleston, SC on October 4, 1864, and sent to Camp Parole, near Annapolis, Maryland to recover in the military hospitals there. After recovering from his illness and his release from Camp Parole, Maryland, Captain Thompson was assigned to special duty on the staff of Governor Cummings in Golden City, Colorado. He served there from September 25, 1865 until September 1866, when he was ordered to join his company. In the interim, he had been promoted twice. He received a brevet promotion to major for meritorious service during the war on September 25, 1865. On July 28, 1866, he was promoted to captain and command of Company L, 2nd U.S. Cavalry.

Thompson continued to suffer the effects of his captivity for the remainder of his life. He took a sick leave of absence from August 16, 1868 to March 29, 1869. He rejoined his company at Fort Ellis, Montana in the summer of 1869. The photo below is from a group picture of regimental officers on a porch at the fort.

On February 26, 1869, the President directed that the brevet rank of Colonel be conferred upon Thompson. The reason was not stated. Other than the letter to Secretary of War Schofield directing the promotion on Executive Mansion stationery, there is no documentation of the promotion in his records.

Captain Thompson was sent to a retiring board in 1870, but the board recommended him for retention. He proved their judgment in the field, commanding his company during the Piegan expedition under Major E.M. Baker earlier that year. He also led his company in an engagement with Sioux at Prior’s Fork, Montana on August 14, 1872.

He returned home to Germantown, Pennsylvania on a sick leave of absence August 25, 1874 to September 12, 1875. He was suffering from chronic bronchitis and tuberculosis. One of the certificates of sickness states “the latter Cachenia having existed for the past six years, I reproduce the certificate given by Dr. Frantz, Surgeon, U.S.A. and continued in June 67 by Dr. Bailey, Surgeon, U.S.A.”

Despite his illnesses, he remained in touch with the regiment and its former officers. He even wrote a short chapter on the Piegan expedition of 1870 for Theophilus Rodenbough’s From Everglade to Canon with the Second United States Cavalry, published in 1875.

Captain Thompson commanded Company L in Major James Brisbin’s battalion of the 2nd Cavalry in Colonel John Gibbon’s column during the Little Big Horn campaign. He was so ill toward the end of the march that he was carried on a stretcher behind a mule with his company.

Lewis Thompson committed suicide in his bed near the headwaters of the Little Big Horn at 6 a.m. on July 19, 1876 “by shooting himself through the breast.” Assistant Surgeon H.O. Paulding’s letter stated, “Captain Thompson had been ailing with Neuralgia of the Stomach, together with excessive vomiting and diarrhea, for two days previously, and no doubt it was the intense suffering that produced the mental aberration which led to the fatal act.”

An article in the Freeman Journal noted, “He was a gentle, genial man, a true gentleman. He was buried at 6:30 pm. All the officers and men attended. General Gibbon made a few appropriate remarks. 1st LT. Edward McGuire read the service.”

In a letter to General Sherman upon learning of his death, Governor Potts of Montana wrote “He was a fine officer and an accomplished gentleman, & was very popular. He was a Philadelphian.”

Unfortunately, Thompson’s story didn’t end there. His brother in law, Lieutenant Colonel Rufus Saxton, requested to move his remains home from Montana to be buried with the rest of his family. His request was endorsed by Brigadier General John Pope, commander of the Department of the Missouri, and Lieutenant General Philip Sheridan, but denied by order of the Secretary of War.

A year later, Saxton and Lewis’ brother moved his remains to the family plot in Saulsbury Church Yard, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. The cemetery is currently known as Thompson Memorial Cemetery.

Sources:

Heitman, Francis B. Historical Register and Dictionary of the United States Army. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1903. Page 640.

Henry, Guy V. Military Record of Civilian Appointments in the United States Army, Volume 2. New York: George W. Carleton, 1869. Page 345.

National Archives, Record Group 94, Letters Received by the Office of the Adjutant General, 1861-1870.

National Archives, Record Group 94, Letters Received by the Commission Branch, 1863-1870.

National Archives, Record Group 94, U.S. Returns from Regular Army Non-infantry Regiments, 1821-1916: 2nd U.S. Cavalry

Official Records of the War of the Rebellion, Series I, Volume 27, Part 1, page 943.

Rodenbough, Theophilus. From Everglade to Canon with the Second United States Cavalry. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2000. Pages 378-383 and 470.

Saxton, Rufus. “The Reminiscences of a Quartermaster in the Early Days of the Civil War,” Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, Volume 6 (1921), pages 394-412.

Fiddler’s Green – Richard Fitzgerald

06 Monday Oct 2014

Posted by dccaughey in 1864, 5th U.S. Cavalry, Battle of Winchester, Casualties, cavalry depots, Fiddler's Green, officers

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5th U.S. Cavalry, battle of Winchester, Civil War, Richard Fitzgerald

Richard Fitzgerald was born in County Waterford, Ireland in 1838. After immigrating to the United States, he worked as a fireman prior to serving in the army. He was enlisted into the General Mounted Service by Lieutenant Magruder in Baltimore, Maryland on January 20, 1859. His enlistment documents describe him as 5’ 10” tall, with brown hair, hazel eyes and a ruddy complexion.

At this period, the General Mounted Service meant assignment to the Cavalry School at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania and various recruiting assignments. Fitzgerald rose through the enlisted ranks, and was serving as a first sergeant in the permanent company at Carlisle Barracks service when he was appointed a second lieutenant in Company I, 5th U.S. Cavalry on November 7, 1863.

Cavalry depot commander Captain David Hastings of the 1st U.S. Cavalry submitted the recommendation for his appointment, which was also signed by every officer assigned to the depot. It read: “Sergeant Hastings is well instructed in all the details and duties relative to the mounted service, and will make an excellent Cavalry Officer. His character and services justly intitle [sic] him to that position: he done some good service, as first sergeant of the permanent company of this Depot, in the recent battles in Pennsylvania and Maryland.”

Lieutenant Fitzgerald joined his regiment at Mitchell’s Station, Virginia the following month. He served there through the winter and spring, including skirmishes at Barnett’s Ford, Charlottesville, Stanardsville, and Morton’s Ford. Although assigned to Company I, he spent very little time there. He was on special duty commanding Company E from January to March, then shifted to Company M in April as the spring campaign began.

He led his company ably in the Overland Campaign and Sheridan’s two raids toward Richmond. He was promoted to first lieutenant in Company I on June 12, 1864, replacing former sergeant major Joseph P. Henley when he was killed at Trevillian Station. Fitzgerald continued to command Company M as the regiment was transferred to the Shenandoah Valley.

Lieutenant Fitzgerald led his company well in the near constant skirmishing that comprised the first month of the campaign. During the battle of Opequon on September 19, 1864, “he was killed while gallantly leading his company in a charge against the enemy.” He is buried in the military cemetery at Winchester, Virginia.

Sources:
Heitman, Francis B. Historical Register and Dictionary of the United States Army. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1903. Page 268.
Henry, Guy V. Military Record of Civilian Appointments in the United States Army, 2 volumes. New York: George W. Carleton, 1869. Volume 1, page 152.

National Archives, Record Group 94, Letters Received by the Office of the Adjutant General, 1861-1870.
National Archives, Record Group 94, U.S. Returns from Regular Army Non-infantry Regiments, 1821-1916: 1st, 2nd and 5th U.S. Cavalry

National Archives, Record Group 94, U.S. Army Register of Enlistments, 1798-1914

Price, George F. Across The Continent With The Fifth Cavalry. New York: D. Van Nostrand, 1883. Pages 507-508.

Fiddler’s Green: Samuel McKee

04 Wednesday Jun 2014

Posted by dccaughey in 1st U.S. Cavalry, Fiddler's Green, officers

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1st U.S. Cavalry, Cold Harbor, Samuel McKee

It seems appropriate to feature this officer on the 150^th anniversary of his death. Due to the heavy fighting in June 1864, there will be several of these features this month.

Samuel McKee was born in St Louis, Missouri in 1835. He was appointed to the United States Military Academy from Utah in 1854 at the age of 19, and graduated 13^th in the class of 1858. Upon graduation, he was initially appointed as a brevet second lieutenant of mounted rifles, and served his initial assignment at the Cavalry School for Practice at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania. He was transferred to the 1^st Dragoons on June 22, 1859, and conducted a party of recruits to join his new regiment at Fort Tejon, California.

He was promoted to second lieutenant in the 1^st Dragoons on January9, 1860, and continued to serve with the parts of the regiment at Fort Tejon. Later that year he married Matilda Harris Finley, the daughter of Army Surgeon General Dr. Clarence A. Finley.

With the outbreak of the war, promotions accelerated rapidly. Samuel was promoted to first lieutenant in the regiment on May 7^th, and appointed regimental adjutant on August 7^th. In October tragedy struck the young family, as Matilda died in childbirth on October 31^st at the age of 25. Their daughter was named Matilda Finley McKee. Samuel had little time to mourn, as he was relieved as adjutant when he was promoted to captain on November 14^th.. The regimental headquarters departed by ship from Los Angeles for Washington, D.C. They arrived and established Camp Sprague in late January 1862, with Captain McKee in command of Company B.

The regiment spent the next two months drilling and preparing for the spring campaign as part of the Army of the Potomac’s Cavalry Reserve. A career fellow officer in the regiment later noted in his memoirs that McKee was “perhaps the best drill officer I have ever known.” He participated with his regiment in the spring’s fighting on the Peninsula, distinguishing himself in the skirmish at Williamsburg on May 4^th.

The following month he departed on a leave of absence to serve as lieutenant colonel for the 77^th New York Volunteer Infantry, but rejoined the 1^st Cavalry in September in time for the Antietam campaign. He served with the regiment through the winter of 1863, Stoneman’s Raid and the Gettysburg campaign.

He was again detached from his regiment on special service with General Ayres at New York City following the draft riots from August 23, 1863 to January 14, 1864. After a brief sick leave in Washington, D.C., he joined the regiment at Mitchell’s Station in February. He was engaged in picket duty and reconnaissance for the remainder of the winter, serving as the regimental commander until April.

Captain Nelson Sweitzer resumed command of the regiment for the spring campaign, but Captain McKee served prominently at Todd’s Tavern and during the fighting during Sheridan’s first raid. He was mortally wounded during the cavalry fighting at Cold Harbor, Virginia on May 31^st, and died on June 3^rd. He is buried with his wife in Los Angeles, California.

He was well remembered by peers and superiors alike. Catain George Sanford wrote of him that his death “cut short a most promising career and deprived the regiment of one of the finest and best loved officers who ever followed its colors.” His brigade commander, Brigadier General Wesley Merritt, called him “a pure, unaffected, moderate man, a chivalrous, educated, accomplished soldier.” General Alfred T.A. Torbert, his division commander, wrote “a more gallant and accomplished soldier has not given his life for his bleeding country.”

Sources:

Cullum, pgs 704-705.

Hageman, E.R., ed. Fighting Rebels and Redskins. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1969.

Heitman, pg 438.

Jordan, F. “A Forgotten Captain.” Los Angeles Herald, Volume 37, Number 184, April 3, 1910, page 10.

Official Records of the War of the Rebellion, Volume 36, part I, pages 806, 814 and 849.

Fiddler’s Green: John Mix

03 Sunday Nov 2013

Posted by dccaughey in 2nd U.S. Cavalry, Fiddler's Green, officers

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2nd U.S. Cavalry, 3rd NY Cavalry, Fort Laramie, Fort Sedgwick, John Mix

I was overdue for another post in the Fiddler’s Green series, and this one is proof of how much information can find if you pull the right string and keep following it. After initially being stymied on this man, I ended up with almost 50 pages of documents on him. He is one of the two men at the head of the column in the photo I sometimes use to head this blog, which will give some readers of the blog an idea of just how long this post has been brewing. Unsung but unforgotten, I give you cavalryman John Mix.

John Mix was born in Chautauqua County, New York on December 25, 1834. He was enlisted into Company F, 2^nd U.S. Dragoons by Captain James Oakes on April 11, 1852 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His enlistment documents describe him as 21 years old, 5’ 7” tall, with gray eyes, brown hair and a dark complexion. He was promoted to corporal and sergeant in the company during his first enlistment. He was re-enlisted into the same company by Lieutenant John Might at Fort Riley, Kansas on February 21, 1857. He grew three inches during his first enlistment, as he is listed as 5’10” in the enlistment description.

At the beginning of the Civil War, Mix, now first sergeant of Company F, was the first noncommissioned officer in the 2^nd Dragoons recommended for a commission. According to the letter sent to the Adjutant General requesting a commission for him, “He is a man of steady habits, fine intelligence, and has been a faithful noncommissioned officer, and in our opinion is in every way worthy of promotion among the appointments now being made. Especially in the mounted service.” The letter was signed by Major Lawrence P. Graham, Captain Samuel H. Starr, and Captain Charles E. Norris of the 2^nd Dragoons, Lieutenant Napoleon B. McLaughlin of the 1^st U.S. Cavalry (another former NCO from Company F), and Brigadier General Joseph K.F. Mansfield. Captain Starr added in his endorsement to the letter that First Sergeant Mix “is a thorough soldier, brave, energetic and intelligent. He will make an excellent officer.”

In the endorsement, Starr also elaborated on an incident during the regiment’s march east from Utah between First Sergeant Mix and his troop. “He was offered by his late troop commander, Lt. Geo. Jackson, now with the army of the Confederacy, a commission in that army if he would join the rebels; and a furlough was offered him for that purpose. He is too loyal a man to listen willingly to traitors; but Lt. Jackson commanded his troop, and respect for his officer restrained him.”

The request was approved, and Mix was appointed a second lieutenant in the 2^nd U.S. Cavalry, still in Company F, on August 14, 1861. In his letter of acceptance he reported his age as 27.

Lieutenant Mix was soon separated from his regiment. Volunteer units were forming across the country, and experienced cavalrymen were in short supply. On September 17^th, Lieutenant Mix was placed on a leave of absence in accordance with War Department Special Orders #254 to accept a volunteer commission as a major in the 3^rd New York Cavalry. The fact that the regiment’s lieutenant colonel was named Simon H. Mix likely had something to do with the volunteer commission.

A month later, Major Mix was commanding four companies of the 3^rd New York Cavalry at Edward’s ferry during the fighting at Ball’s Bluff. Tangentially involved in the fighting from a position on the far Union right flank, he was summoned before Congress’ Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War in February 1862.

In April 1862, the regiment was assigned to XVIII Corps in North Carolina, and participated in the fighting near New Bern. Major Mix was promoted to lieutenant colonel in the 3^rd New York Cavalry on April 26, 1862, and to first lieutenant in Company M, 2^nd U.S. Cavalry effective July 17, 1862. His replacement as the second lieutenant in Company F, was the former company first sergeant, Paul Quirk.

On September 23, 1862, he requested an end to his leave of absence from the regular army to return to the 2^nd Cavalry, stating “the object of my being sent to the volunteer service having I think been gained, no objection it appears to me can be raised to granting my request.” The letter continues to clarify that he was requesting a change of assignment back to his previous rank and regiment, not a release from military service. The only caveat to his request was that he was the only field grade officer present with the 3^rd New York Cavalry, and asked that assignment orders be delayed until the return of the absent regimental commander. On December 27, 1862, Mix resigned his volunteer commission and returned to the 2^nd U.S. Cavalry. While unusual, it was not unheard of for regular officers to resign their volunteer commissions and return to their units. The same Captain Starr who had endorsed Mix’s request for a commission had resigned his volunteer commission as a colonel in charge of a brigade of New Jersey infantry regiments just the month before to return to the same regiment.

Lieutenant Mix rejoined his regiment in Virginia at the beginning of 1863. Since his company, Company M, was still being recruited, he asked to join the officers forming the company at Carlisle Barracks. Before his request reached the War Department at the end of February, however, the company had joined the regiment in the field.

In early March, Lieutenant Mix requested assignment to the staff of Major General Nathaniel P. Banks for duty. The two had become acquainted when part of the 3^rd NY Cavalry was assigned to Banks’ division along the Potomac in late 1861. Among the reasons listed In his request, Mix referred to “a desire to serve under an old and beloved commander, under whom I have already won some honor, and a desire to benefit my health which has been shattered by eleven years active service & which now nearly incapacitates me for active service in a northern latitude especially during the cold and wet seasons.”

General Banks endorsed the request, but Mix was selected by Brigadier General John Buford to serve on the staff of the Army of the Potomac’s Cavalry Reserve Brigade before it was considered at the War Department.

Lieutenant Mix’s health apparently recovered prior to the opening of the spring campaign, as he was among several members of the staff singled out and highly praised by General Buford in his official report. Following over two weeks of grueling riding, Buford described their performance as “severely worked, and have rendered valuable service to me,” and “untiring and zealous.” He was again commended by Buford in his report on the cavalry battle of Upperville in June as “most efficient in bringing up troops and delivering messages.” This resulted in his appointment as provost marshal for the Reserve Brigade during and following the Gettysburg campaign.

In September 1863, a detachment of regular cavalry was separated from the Reserve Brigade and assigned to Point Lookout, Maryland under the command of Lieutenant Mix to assist in securing an area where negro troops were being recruited and suppress smuggling. The detachment consisted of two companies of the 5^th U.S. Cavalry under Lieutenant Frank Dickerson and two companies (Cos. B and D) of the 2^nd U.S. Cavalry under Lieutenants Mix and Lennox. He established his headquarters at Leonardtown, subordinate to Brigadier General Gilman Marston’s Military District of Saint Mary’s.” Other than a fifteen day leave of absence to attend to personal matters granted in November, Mix served there with his detachment until the following summer. Mix and his company rejoined the regiment in time for the Shenandoah Valley campaign in 1864.

Active campaigning during the war ended for Lieutenant Mix following an engagement at Berryville, Virginia on August 10, 1864, where he, Lieutenant Robert Lennox and an enlisted man were wounded. After several months of recovery, Mix was ordered before an officer retention board in December in Annapolis, Maryland. The board consisted of Brigadier General Lawrence P. Graham, formerly of the 2^ndU.S. Cavalry, a Major J. Hendrickson, and Surgeon G.S. Palmer, formerly of the 5^th U.S. Cavalry. In the board results, Surgeon Palmer describes Mix’s condition as “suffering from the effects of a gunshot wound of the right knee. The ball entered perpendicularly just below the patella, passed backwards without exit. Much exercise produces inflammation.” The prognosis was that Mix should be retained and might be fit for field duty after several months, but in the meantime should be assigned to light duty.

He was subsequently assigned to the Mounted Recruiting Service for the last few months of the war. The assignment is unsurprising given that Graham had formerly commanded the service, and Palmer was on temporary duty away from Carlisle barracks specifically for the retention board. Lieutenant Mix served on recruiting duty in Cleveland and then Philadelphia until September 1866. On October 19, 1865, he was promoted to captain and command of Company M, 2^nd U.S. Cavalry.

Upon his relief from recruiting duty, Captain Mix requested a leave of absence to return to New York “to settle some private business” before joining his regiment on the frontier. Once he reached Springfield, Otsego County, New York, he requested a further twenty days of leave. Springfield was also the home of Mary T. Barrett, who Mix married some time before 1870, most likely during this leave. Mrs. Mix did not accompany her husband to Colorado, as she was still living on her parents’ farm in Springfield during the 1870 census.

Captain Mix joined Company M at Fort Sedgwick, Colorado Territory in October 1866 and served there for the next three years. His tenure there included “numerous successful field operations along the line of the Republican River,” according to Rodenbough’s history of the regiment.

In November 1869, Company M was reassigned to Omaha Barracks, Nebraska, where it served until early 1874. The pattern was six months in garrison each year, followed by roughly six months of field operations. In 1870 and 1871, these were to protect the Union Pacific Railroad. In 1872, the company scouted the Nebraska frontier.

In 1873, Captain Mix was selected to serve on a board of inspection of the Army’s cavalry horses, which lasted from May to September. He returned to Omaha Barracks for the rest of the year.

In February 1874, Captain Mix and Company M was reassigned to Fort Laramie. They served here until September 1877, when the majority of the regiment was transferred to newly constructed Forts Keough and Custer in Montana Territory. Fort Custer, on the Big Horn River at the mouth of the Little Big Horn, was garrisoned by the regimental headquarters and four companies, including Company M. Mrs. Mix joined her husband at this post, as the 1880 federal census shows her present at Fort Custer.

On January 25, 1881, John Mix was promoted to major and assigned to the 9^th U.S. Cavalry. He had served for 29 years in the 2^nd U.S. Cavalry, ten years in Company F and 19 in Company M. He joined his new regiment in New Mexico several weeks later. In declining health, he was granted a leave of absence to return to his home in New York in the fall, but never reached his destination.

Major John Mix died in Santa Fe on October 26, 1881, while en route from Porter, New Mexico to New York. Assistant Surgeon St. Clair Streett listed his cause of death as “malignant disease of the walls of the chest and axillary glands attended with complete paralysis of both lower extremities.” He is buried next to his wife in Section 21, Cedar Grove Cemetery, New London, Connecticut.

References:

Heitman, Francis B. Historical Register of the United States Army, volume 1. Washington, D.C.: The National Tribune, 1890.

Henry, Guy V. Military Record of Civilian Appointments in the United States Army, volume 1. New York: George W. Carleton, 1869.

Lambert, Joseph I. One Hundred Years with the Second Cavalry. San Antonio, Newton Publishing Company, 1999.

National Archives, Record Group 94, M617, Returns from Military Posts, 1806-1916 (accessed online, 2013)

National Archives, Record Group 94, M619, Letters Received by the Adjutant General

National Archives, Record Group 94, M1064, Letters Received by the Commission Branch of the Adjutant General’s Office

Rodenbough, Theophilus F. From Everglade to Canyon with the Second United States Cavalry. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2000.

U.S. Federal Census, 1860, 1870 and 1880.

Regular Cavalry in the Civil War

Category Archives: Fiddler’s Green

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Fiddler’s Green: John Mix