tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38170531755164936782024-03-05T20:18:27.363-08:00The Epitaph: Tombstones, Mausoleums, Monuments and Memorials to Civil War SoldiersPhotographs of tombstones, mausoleums, monuments and memorials to Civil War soldiers with information, if it is available, and/or short jottings about soldier and other items of interest.
Postings will be periodic as time and resource permit.Sharon Murrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15667199358231667281noreply@blogger.comBlogger75125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3817053175516493678.post-25385826291817409092024-01-26T11:33:00.000-08:002024-01-26T11:33:00.721-08:00An Ornament To His Country<p> Finally a work that has been in progress since early 2017 is completed and in print. "An Ornament to His Country" is a 346 page biography of the life and military career of Benjamin Franklin Davis. Davis has been mentioned often in this blog throughout the years but not in the detail that is available in this book. The book is augmented by photographs and a series of maps drawn by an exceptional cartographer, Aaron Holly. It is an honor to tell this gallant officers life story. </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiKQyWsGg_F6jMLEqqtHxH6EvIVraYNLlbTdNipY2s2Y8sckceXbM_1VYBc-wzhQ6ZaKoUYVrHxvybNB4dUHML6UUCTS_St-cyTWgQQwtOc5a2DsWhtzXMRp6o3j8ylF0tJW4A2NKZrF--ctUAcblJ1TCO3b0PbsVqj5m15U8ApGCfMhSyk2Pu8qpIf" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="1080" height="557" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiKQyWsGg_F6jMLEqqtHxH6EvIVraYNLlbTdNipY2s2Y8sckceXbM_1VYBc-wzhQ6ZaKoUYVrHxvybNB4dUHML6UUCTS_St-cyTWgQQwtOc5a2DsWhtzXMRp6o3j8ylF0tJW4A2NKZrF--ctUAcblJ1TCO3b0PbsVqj5m15U8ApGCfMhSyk2Pu8qpIf=w418-h557" width="418" /></a></div><br /><p></p>Sharon Murrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15667199358231667281noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3817053175516493678.post-1696427623456597822023-03-03T08:35:00.009-08:002023-03-24T13:39:09.469-07:00The Cast Iron Brigade Preserves Historic Tablets at Antietam National Battlefield<p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> On August 30, 1890, almost twenty-eight years after the bloody Battle of Antietam the United States Congress appropriated money for “surveying, locating and preserving the lines of battle of the Army of the Potomac and the Army of Northern Virginia. In 1890 the Antietam Battlefield Board was created under the auspices of the Secretary of War to oversee the work. The original members of the board were Union Colonel John C. Stearns and Confederate Brigadier General Henry Heth. Stearns resigned due to ill health on July 31, 1894. He was replaced by Major George B. Davis, who had enlisted in the First Massachusetts Cavalry at sixteen, and later graduated from West Point, in October 1894. About the same time Jedediah Hotchkiss, was appointed to the board as an "expert topographer" and Brevet Brigadier General Ezra Carmen, who had served with the Thirteenth New Jersey at Antietam, was appointed as a “historical expert”. In August 1895 Major George W. Davis, who had served with the Eleventh Connecticut during the Civil War replaced George B. Davis as board president.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> After locating the lines of battle of the Union and Confederate forces, and securing the permission of the War Department, the battlefield board set about marking the various positions of the two armies with cast iron tablets “bearing historical descriptions of the movement of troops”. Carmen, and to a much lesser extent Davis, corresponded with veterans from both sides to obtain information about troop positions to write the text for the tablets. Once the research was completed and the tablet text drafted the War Department let a contract to the Chattanooga Car and Foundry Company, of Chattanooga Tennessee, who was also casting tablets for the Chickamauga Battlefield in northern Georgia, to cast the tablets for Antietam. Tablet production was in full swing in the first four months of 1895. In May 1895 the foundry shipped the first batch of cast iron tablets and 105 smaller markers to Sharpsburg. An additional 43 tablets were shipped in October 1895. In 1896 ninety more tablets were cast and shipped. By October 1897 the work was completed at a cost of $7,865. In total 338 tablets were cast and erected, of which 313 were installed at Antietam, five at Harpers Ferry, five at Shepherdstown, six at South Mountain and nine at Crampton’s Gap. After their work was completed the Antietam Battlefield Board was disbanded. In their final report written on March 18, 1898 it was noted, in reference to the tablets, “with an occasional repainting at small expense they will endure for centuries.” <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgGT9Ce67lKAwAv-Bed3Sf8ZLHJQrvOwwCU0XhvX6xq5EzwFvl4QdUFL3f6Hart3WnMx7kVwM5qUQXSvvth5q-ZzPc57P10FyLR2AvhaglE3y35QED1EZOU_2jR8-PyJKANzo3foe-3b2XquYk7eE-HJZdL3Wf_q2OWqADAEpNlR5QbI3zrRYF6gw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img data-original-height="2933" data-original-width="4429" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgGT9Ce67lKAwAv-Bed3Sf8ZLHJQrvOwwCU0XhvX6xq5EzwFvl4QdUFL3f6Hart3WnMx7kVwM5qUQXSvvth5q-ZzPc57P10FyLR2AvhaglE3y35QED1EZOU_2jR8-PyJKANzo3foe-3b2XquYk7eE-HJZdL3Wf_q2OWqADAEpNlR5QbI3zrRYF6gw=w400-h265" width="400" /></a></span></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Tablets Along the Sunken Road (Bloody Lane)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> Most of the tablets that were installed in the 1890’s on the fields of battle in Western Maryland and at Harpers Ferry and Shepherdstown are still there. A few have been damaged and/or removed over the years. Some have been replaced by aluminum replicas.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> It is unknown how many times the tablets have been repainted in the 126 years since they were erected. In 2016 or 2017 Antietam National Battlefield set up a special program which enabled a select number of volunteers to work under the auspices of the Cultural Resource Division and repaint the tablets.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> The first step involves removing the tablets from the field and taking them in to the maintenance warehouse. Some of the original cast iron tablets weigh well over 100 pounds.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi6L1p84VG3tkIckaAhLtUqA-Mzm6OPb1K8af7sMSlHMwayjBZz2fCFGSi8HDWiurLnzXvqECm3p1t73IvRWEd8c3qqKf4qLNzasdaPpUcC2W8Yt5S1K4AMg1-qLn_uI_28d19lU6ZXYLuSV_t6mvUDof0qvwkzUyh9gm9h-XGWmPeugKPKw82-Rw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img data-original-height="3304" data-original-width="4406" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi6L1p84VG3tkIckaAhLtUqA-Mzm6OPb1K8af7sMSlHMwayjBZz2fCFGSi8HDWiurLnzXvqECm3p1t73IvRWEd8c3qqKf4qLNzasdaPpUcC2W8Yt5S1K4AMg1-qLn_uI_28d19lU6ZXYLuSV_t6mvUDof0qvwkzUyh9gm9h-XGWmPeugKPKw82-Rw=w400-h300" width="400" /></a></div><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">A Tablet Being Removed From its Pedestal.</span></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">After the tablets are unloaded at the warehouse and placed on sawhorses they are wire brushed to remove accumulated dirt, grime, organic matter and old layers of paint. They are the cleaned and primed.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEitJjNcj7ABEXhitzOR8WSbucA_gJFAhlxnqnW9pPk80rh8c_omUkauhtp2rJe9eX8JpvnB2s3ssDqSgnCADoaG78wrb_iC28RLHaO5KVi2e2DbBdtJNc69XRur2nXZn-sM2HDTNZF0atIyE2RkqRI9AdcsEDKubxF0KiDuashKmCfc3YllSgUCkg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img data-original-height="3234" data-original-width="2426" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEitJjNcj7ABEXhitzOR8WSbucA_gJFAhlxnqnW9pPk80rh8c_omUkauhtp2rJe9eX8JpvnB2s3ssDqSgnCADoaG78wrb_iC28RLHaO5KVi2e2DbBdtJNc69XRur2nXZn-sM2HDTNZF0atIyE2RkqRI9AdcsEDKubxF0KiDuashKmCfc3YllSgUCkg=w300-h400" width="300" /></a></span></div><p></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Preparing a Tablet for Repainting.</span></p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> The primed tablet is first painted with two coats of black paint. Care is taken to ensure the paint is uniformly applied, that all letters and imperfections are covered. and there are no drips or runs in the paint.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEivx0WgDtJWvKMiPOxitHNPsbWiSjMBaNDpDhxEisDFPwwuEXxyhpxUmVJeILe71XX68J02VquNzxInRAa9OYrROAyXc7hDbN2qioPaVLANE-HHOq_CrQ58qVWfg9qPUswrlyravKXiGYXv-t4FpMJwm3Lk5D6vCaavJ0rvAS62br9fIr-sDvY8jQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEivx0WgDtJWvKMiPOxitHNPsbWiSjMBaNDpDhxEisDFPwwuEXxyhpxUmVJeILe71XX68J02VquNzxInRAa9OYrROAyXc7hDbN2qioPaVLANE-HHOq_CrQ58qVWfg9qPUswrlyravKXiGYXv-t4FpMJwm3Lk5D6vCaavJ0rvAS62br9fIr-sDvY8jQ=w300-h400" width="300" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Painting a Primed Tablet with a Coat of Black Paint.</div></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> After the black paint dries a brayer (a small rubber roller) is used to paint two coats of white paint on the raised letters and the boarder of the tablet. After the white paint dries the tablets are touched up to cover any areas where white paint might have overrun onto the black background. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjt1OuUdHKxhvXKUv6vUywucucKQ7PW88PhFhO11U1__o5gttKNa40pmu211_OTgM6Or1f8tXZ_J25MUY2qjXalT_YawHxYXVAD1hCpecA58cMzmTJ-3cS50yCADUuXXiDKIJ1ZkANvirutMuV5ck0_cFwypMa_Ehs3EFej2iSDwJjUgOCRubFZkQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img data-original-height="3789" data-original-width="2842" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjt1OuUdHKxhvXKUv6vUywucucKQ7PW88PhFhO11U1__o5gttKNa40pmu211_OTgM6Or1f8tXZ_J25MUY2qjXalT_YawHxYXVAD1hCpecA58cMzmTJ-3cS50yCADUuXXiDKIJ1ZkANvirutMuV5ck0_cFwypMa_Ehs3EFej2iSDwJjUgOCRubFZkQ=w300-h400" width="300" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Two Fresh Coats of White Paint</div></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> Once the paint has dried the tablets are put back on their pedestals on the battlefield. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgCUZYKoOQVNBWiyIaGnMd6wkZC8tidICtoJVJE22TNXRC2Qqp2hHDx5hIOpqWmQqqTMf21wBj34a7n439xeKF1mQ_Gv8o19MEyZXO7kRqOcLMaGrzHs4pwgCUuJgLpQRVnpHLT1l7GNw-e7rK9Kg9nxow9fDln33j0J24d6SKeuntZC4k50YzrIQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img data-original-height="2851" data-original-width="4306" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgCUZYKoOQVNBWiyIaGnMd6wkZC8tidICtoJVJE22TNXRC2Qqp2hHDx5hIOpqWmQqqTMf21wBj34a7n439xeKF1mQ_Gv8o19MEyZXO7kRqOcLMaGrzHs4pwgCUuJgLpQRVnpHLT1l7GNw-e7rK9Kg9nxow9fDln33j0J24d6SKeuntZC4k50YzrIQ=w400-h265" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Reinstalling a Freshly Repainted Tablet on the Field.</div></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEitiZBZUmqsyckkhDST-oobA4RjoGWUPHxyvYG5lzphFIDb_3AGPkPxTjYBywz92T_bchH53dUdX5R_C9CBVP58QRdvbAY7BLxDKIETV6MyVBaOnvOT33OPgad7xQyax_RMdddcbCMxNLFh8kMu5AZRUC5Y8X7HBvMR8C_Sj13TMy6Zpdg7-sx5MQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="4928" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEitiZBZUmqsyckkhDST-oobA4RjoGWUPHxyvYG5lzphFIDb_3AGPkPxTjYBywz92T_bchH53dUdX5R_C9CBVP58QRdvbAY7BLxDKIETV6MyVBaOnvOT33OPgad7xQyax_RMdddcbCMxNLFh8kMu5AZRUC5Y8X7HBvMR8C_Sj13TMy6Zpdg7-sx5MQ=w400-h265" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /><div style="text-align: center;">A Tablet Before Repainting</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhcpwCuKZ9aM3e0AI958ZuzE3qRFm9EgCnLHe6EAKWbvoFh5XOCrtaHlOo-SpdU9i-ksCT3lmAQiDUnYtgNFizb-KgXUhjEnCbbdD1HqCMGsWLe78zNu-m1SSlWZeNDo5FysLtxJSA7ZluBvuUnOpgdKqae8_dqTh2RnDFVyJFCGgusuER37kvtpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhcpwCuKZ9aM3e0AI958ZuzE3qRFm9EgCnLHe6EAKWbvoFh5XOCrtaHlOo-SpdU9i-ksCT3lmAQiDUnYtgNFizb-KgXUhjEnCbbdD1HqCMGsWLe78zNu-m1SSlWZeNDo5FysLtxJSA7ZluBvuUnOpgdKqae8_dqTh2RnDFVyJFCGgusuER37kvtpg=w400-h300" width="400" /></a></div><br />The Same Tablet After it is Repainted</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"> </span></div></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif">All is done “at small expense” for materials, in hopes the tablets will continue “to endure for centuries” and enable visitors to learn the history of the brave men north and south who fought in the Maryland Campaign and along Antietam Creek on September 17, 1862. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">For many of us who are privileged to work on this project I can unequivocally say it is a labor of love.</span></p>Sharon Murrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15667199358231667281noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3817053175516493678.post-49217012977541518212022-11-09T12:16:00.000-08:002022-11-09T12:16:57.887-08:00MOH Awarded for Sinking CSS Albemarle: Part II<p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center; text-decoration: underline;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjMRqCQaF8QE32Jwll2cBET6BnG0JW2VEr8B0MTmggOcD32Zzo54OBLQ_UmsdIFAXgi8yfAoGn-ZARhEDLH1rHzhAErXUgOK7Z6Nht5R4LsL3bCr1VsL4uZytRM_V8DMQu5trtsWJ-aq9Xv6G3y3P4Gk_toTZVa2QYC4UCB8xKlGOV1Uh0S6NfBWw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3658" data-original-width="5115" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjMRqCQaF8QE32Jwll2cBET6BnG0JW2VEr8B0MTmggOcD32Zzo54OBLQ_UmsdIFAXgi8yfAoGn-ZARhEDLH1rHzhAErXUgOK7Z6Nht5R4LsL3bCr1VsL4uZytRM_V8DMQu5trtsWJ-aq9Xv6G3y3P4Gk_toTZVa2QYC4UCB8xKlGOV1Uh0S6NfBWw=w400-h286" width="400" /></a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center; text-decoration: underline;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Abandoning Picket Boat No. 1 (US Naval Historical Center (NH 4222))</span></div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /><u>Edward J. Houghton</u></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Edward J. Houghton, an ordinary seaman on the <i>Chicopee</i>, in October 1864, was the eldest of five sons of Irish immigrants Richard Houghton and his wife Catherine (Kelley) Houghton. He was born in Mobile, Alabama in 1843. Sometime prior to 1850 the family moved to East Boston, Massachusetts where Richard was a grocer. Catherine appears to have died in 1856 and Richard in 1860. In 1860 the family lived in Suffolk, Massachusetts. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">On July 19, 1862, Edward Houghton enlisted in Company K, Thirty-ninth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. Houghton was reportedly nineteen years of age, five feet four inches tall, had hazel eyes, black hair and a light complexion. His occupation was listed as mariner.* He transferred to the navy on April 19, 1864. Naval enlistment records for May 1864 show Houghton, a native of Mobile, Alabama enlisting in the navy in Brooklyn on May 4 for one and a half years as an ordinary seaman. He was twenty-one years of age with hazel eyes, brown hair and a dark complexion and stood five feet five and one half inches tall. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> On July 16, 1865, one day before he was to be honorably discharged from the navy,</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> Edward J. Houghton was stabbed and killed by Henry Smith, at Gosport, Virginia, when a fight broke out amongst a number of sailors on shore leave. Houghton was originally buried in the Naval Cemetery at Norfolk, Virginia. In 1890 he was disinterred and reburied at Holyrood Cemetery in Brookline, Massachusetts. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">*Naval enlistment records show an eighteen year old Edward Houghton who had been born in Mobile, Alabama, enlisting in the navy as an ordinary seaman in Boston for 2 years on December 6, 1861. Houghton was described as being 5 feet five inches tall with hazel eyes, black hair and a light complexion. He deserted in December 31,1861.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi6EZRSDJI5onfaQqjrGdFnjhpp-x0ZI2tJV_CA8GIe-Qzk4o-EmECK16aGPo95nmjdcNLPH4jv0ggi7OT9mXtSWhyranYnvitZFNhd8oG8irxWjZTfLXdXz0DtZCemEK5tacnQCMPAlE1me9q_S0aEjhFjiR1ZsERKU3BSmtBOJN1LDT3Cqt9jeQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="950" data-original-width="800" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi6EZRSDJI5onfaQqjrGdFnjhpp-x0ZI2tJV_CA8GIe-Qzk4o-EmECK16aGPo95nmjdcNLPH4jv0ggi7OT9mXtSWhyranYnvitZFNhd8oG8irxWjZTfLXdXz0DtZCemEK5tacnQCMPAlE1me9q_S0aEjhFjiR1ZsERKU3BSmtBOJN1LDT3Cqt9jeQ" width="202" /></a></span></div><p></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Edward J. Houghton (Congressional Medal of Honor Society photo)</span></p></blockquote><p></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><u> Lorenzo Deming</u></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Lorenzo Deming was a landsman on <i>Picket Boat No. 1</i> in October 1864. He was born on September 6, 1843, in Granby, Connecticut, the second youngest of five child of Gideon and Lovisa (Bidwell) Deming. Lorenzo was a mechanic in New Haven, Connecticut when he enlisted in the United States Navy, as a substitute, for one year, on September 8, 1864. (Navy enlistment records indicate Lorenzo had served one year in the navy prior to his September 8, 1864 enlistment.) Deming was twenty-one years old, stood five feet six and one-hand inches tall and had hazel eyes, brown hair and a dark complexion. He was captured on October 28, 1864, and died at the Confederate Prison in Salisbury, North Carolina on February 5, 1865. Lorenzo Deming is probably buried within the grounds of what is now Salisbury National Cemetery. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><u>Henry Wilkes</u></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Henry Wilkes was a landsman on <i>Picket Boat No. 1</i> in October 1864. Wilkes was born in 1845 in New York City, New York. Henry was the oldest of John and Elizabeth Wilkes three children. He was nineteen years old when he enlisted in the United States Navy, for two years, as a substitute, on September 13, 1864. At the time of his enlistment he was employed as a printer. Henry was five feet five and three-quarter inches tall, had hazel eyes, brown hair and a fair complexion. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">After being discharged from the navy Henry returned to New York and married. He and his wife Louisa( Lucy) had two children before Henry's death on March 3, 1888. Henry is buried in Beverwyck Cemetery in Rensselaer, New York. </span></p><p><u> <span style="font-family: helvetica;">Daniel Griffin George (alias William Smith)</span></u></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Daniel Griffin George, was an ordinary seaman on the <i>Chicopee,</i> in October 1864, when he volunteered to serve on <i>Picket Boat No. 1</i>. Daniel was born on July 7, 1840, in Plaistow, New Hampshire to shoemaker Lyman P. George and his wife Eliza. He </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">was the oldest of seven children. </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Prior to 1850 the family moved to Massachusetts. By 1860 they were living in Salem.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">An article in the April 2, 1898, <i>Brooklyn Eagle</i> mentioned Daniel "sailed out of New Bedford for a three year cruise on a whaler in the Arctic Ocean" in 1857 when he was 17. On September 16, 1861, he enlisted as a private in Company D First Massachusetts Volunteer Cavalry, for three years. At the time of his enlistment George was twenty-one years of age. He was five feet seven and one-half inches tall, with blue eyes, brown hair and a light complexion. Daniel was promoted to sergeant February 8, 1863. He was captured June 17, 1863, at the Battle of Aldie, Virginia and paroled at Annapolis in August. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">George reenlisted in the First Massachusetts Volunteer Cavalry on January 1, 1864, and "transferred to the United States Navy on May 7, 1864, as an ordinary seaman under the name of William Smith." George was captured on October 28, 1864. Upon being paroled he returned to the <i>Chicopee</i> and served on several navy ships, for a time as a coxswain, until being discharged on April 26, 1866. </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Upon being discharged from the navy Daniel George returned to New Hampshire. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Daniel George married Florence A. Blake in Boston on February 23, 1864. She died on bronchitis on August 4, 1866. On September 6, 1866, George married Mary E. Beardsley in Danville, New Hampshire. They would have eight sons and two daughters before Mary's death in 1911. The George family lived in New Hampshire, where George was employed as a shoemaker and later a farmer. By 1900 they were living in Massachusetts. George died on February 26, 1916. He and his wife Mary are buried in Locust Grove Cemetery, in Merrimac, Massachusetts.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">*George purportedly "changed names" with William Smith when he joined the navy so he could serve on the <i>Chicopee</i> with his friend Edward J. Houghton.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><u>Robert Henry King</u></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Robert Henry King, a landsman on <i>Picket Boat No. 1</i>, in October 1864, was born in the Eighth Ward of the City of Albany, New York November 8, 1844. He was the second child of Samuel W. </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">and Susan M. King. Robert had an older sister named Henrietta. </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Robert's mother died on December 5, 1844, when he was less than a month old. Samuel, who was a successful merchant, would marry a second time and father four additional children before passing away from dropsy on June 18, 1864, leaving Robert King an orphan. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Robert enlisted in the United States Navy on September 10, 1864, as a substitute, in New York City. At the time of his enlistment Henry was a nineteen years old laborer. He was five feet three and one-half inches tall, with grey eyes, dark brown hair and a fair complexion. King was captured on October 28, 1864. After being paroled on February 21st he returned to Albany, New York where he died of typhoid fever on April 10, 1865. He is buried in Albany Rural Cemetery, Menard, Albany County, New York.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhaapQ7MZXlOIYvhGWoOy5PvYQ6htf8G-VK-hPSIkB_7nT25xUrMSjpkqbi5wvS939tVQMZhrUWjLuRBOscmfD8Laa1rGm-QZJ_OIpU7tb9lrsmophwi_y6wpnrEp28poXvLcBPK4qI1-mTgTDpA2H0w6DHmex400Frt3B56VzyTixCO7m8ANq5tw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="950" data-original-width="800" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhaapQ7MZXlOIYvhGWoOy5PvYQ6htf8G-VK-hPSIkB_7nT25xUrMSjpkqbi5wvS939tVQMZhrUWjLuRBOscmfD8Laa1rGm-QZJ_OIpU7tb9lrsmophwi_y6wpnrEp28poXvLcBPK4qI1-mTgTDpA2H0w6DHmex400Frt3B56VzyTixCO7m8ANq5tw" width="202" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /> Robert Henry King (Congressional Medal of Honor Society photo)</span><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Source information for this post includes, but is not limited too, newspaper articles from </span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Newspapers.com, records from Ancestry.com and Fold3.com, and information pertaining to Medal of Honor recipients. </span></div>Sharon Murrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15667199358231667281noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3817053175516493678.post-43146344578358386482022-11-03T15:33:00.000-07:002022-11-03T15:33:36.005-07:00 Medals of Honor Awarded for Sinking CSS Albemarle<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEii1UWAVUj_h1RgyDMKqgbrMyaQ2G0rojLlzU7vLtZyUuD6xCg1NtY3ugsnYdc_Os6i7QZcLaYS0740pek2GYEP4zEgywByBHaIQUtg6U8ohcTGviQDM15vy9m11hrm7WfMEh50JQZ4Ru35D8RtDngdMulC-S9XbCyNWWiswcMzf7PFeXBNL1Q1-w" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2136" data-original-width="4496" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEii1UWAVUj_h1RgyDMKqgbrMyaQ2G0rojLlzU7vLtZyUuD6xCg1NtY3ugsnYdc_Os6i7QZcLaYS0740pek2GYEP4zEgywByBHaIQUtg6U8ohcTGviQDM15vy9m11hrm7WfMEh50JQZ4Ru35D8RtDngdMulC-S9XbCyNWWiswcMzf7PFeXBNL1Q1-w=w479-h228" width="479" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">Picket Boat No. 1 (US Naval History Center photo </span><span style="text-align: left;">NH 63378</span><span style="text-align: left;">)</span></div><p></p><p> <span style="font-family: helvetica;">Lieutenant William Barker Cushing received the thanks of the Navy Department and the thanks of the United States Congress for leading the expedition that successfully sank the ironclad ram <i>CSS Albemarle</i> on October 28, 1864. He was also promoted one grade from lieutenant to lieutenant commander. There were fourteen officers and enlisted men that accompanied Cushing in Picket Boat No. 1, including: </span></p><div><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span> </span> Acting Asst. Paymaster Francis H. Swan, <i>USS Otsego (captured)</i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> Acting Ensign William L. Howarth, <i>USS Monticello (captured)</i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> Acting Master's Mate John Woodman, <i>USS Commodore Hull (drowned)</i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> Acting Master's Mate Thomas S. Gay, <i>USS Otsego (captured)</i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> Acting 3rd Asst. Engineer William Stotesbury, US <i>Picket Boat No. 1 (captured)</i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> Acting 3rd Asst. Engineer Charles L. Steever, USS <i>Ostego (captured)</i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> First Class Fireman Samuel Higgins, US <i>Picket Boat No. 1 (drowned)</i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i> </i>Coal Heaver, Richard Hamilton, <i>USS Shamrock (captured)</i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span><i style="font-family: helvetica;"> </i><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Ordinary Seaman Bernard Harley</span><i style="font-family: helvetica;">, USS Chicopee (captured)</i></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> Ordinary Seaman Edward J. Houghton, <i>USS Chicopee (escaped)</i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i><span> </span></i></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Ordinary Seaman, William Smith, (Daniel G. George), </span><i style="font-family: helvetica;">USS Chicopee (captured)</i></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> Landsman, Lorenzo Deming, US <i>Picket Boat No. 1 (captured)</i><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> Landsman, Henry Wilkes, US <i>Picket Boat No. 1 (captured)</i><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> Landsman Robert H. King, US <i>Picket Boat No. 1 (captured)</i></span></p></div><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Cushing and Edward J. Houghton escaped. Samuel Higgins and John Woodman drowned. Their bodies were recovered and taken to New Bern, North Carolina for burial in what is now New Bern National Cemetery. The remaining eleven men were captured and sent to a number of Confederate POW camp, including Salisbury and Danville, North Carolina and Libby Prison in Richmond, Virginia before being paroled on February 21, 1865.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The seven enlisted men of Cushing's crew, that survived, would ultimately be awarded the Medal of Honor. Their citations read as follows:</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">[This recipient] "served on board the US Picket Boat No. 1, in action, 27 October 1864, against the Confederate ram, <i>Albemarle</i>, which had resisted repeated attacks by our steamers and had kept a large force of vessels employed in watching her. The picket boat, equipped with a spar torpedo, succeeded in passing the enemy pickets within 20 yards without being discovered and then made for the <i>Albemarle</i> under a full head of steam. Immediately taken under fire by the ram, the small boat plunged on, jumped the log boom which encircled the target, and exploded its torpedo under the port bow of the ram. The picket boat was destroyed by enemy fire and almost the entire crew taken prisoner or lost." </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Five of the recipients including Richard Hamilton, Bernard Harley, William Smith, Henry Wilkes and Robert H. King would receive their medals from Commodore Montgomery in a ceremony at the Naval Yard in Washington D.C., on March 15, 1865. The March 16, 1865 <i>Philadelphia Inquirer</i>, reported, "The medals [were] prepared by the Navy Department. Each medal was accompanied by a letter from the Secretary saying it was awarded for gallant and meritorious conduct."</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Naval officers were not able to receive the Medal of Honor until 1915, however the five officers present with Cushing were advanced one grade for "conspicuous gallantry."</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">All the participants would receive a share of the prize money awarded for the destruction of the ram. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Following are the stories of the Medal of Honor Recipients. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><u>Richard Hamilton</u></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Richard Hamilton, a coal heaver on the<i> Shamrock</i>, in October 1864, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania January 23, 1836. He was the eldest of six children, five sons and a daughter, born to George and Emma Hamilton prior to George's death in 1856. Richard was employed as a cooper when he enlisted as a private in Company H, Seventeenth Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry on April 18, 1861. The company was mustered in on April 25th. The regiment spent time in Maryland and western Virginia prior to mustering out after three months on August 2, 1861. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">On February 23, 1864, Richard enlisted in the United States Navy for one year. He was twenty-eight years old, stood five feet seven and one-half inches tall, had blue eyes, brown hair and a light complexion. Hamilton served on the <i>USS North Carolina</i> from February 23 to June 13, 1864. On the 14th he transferred to the Shamrock. Richard was captured at Plymouth, North Carolina, October 28, 1864, and was paroled March 10, 1865, at Cox's Wharf on the James River in Virginia. He was discharged from the navy March 20th.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> Richard Hamilton married Mary Jane Nugent July 3, 1856, in Philadelphia. The 1880 Federal Census shows Richard living in Camden New Jersey with his wife Mary and a son George A. Hamilton age 9. Richard worked as a cooper. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Hamilton died of paralysis July 6, 1881, in Camden New Jersey. He is buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Camden.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><u>Bernard Harley</u> </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Bernard Harley, an ordinary seaman on the<i> Chicopee</i>, in October 1864, was born November 14, 1842, in Brooklyn, New York's Ninth Ward. He was the second to youngest son of Irish immigrants Hugh and Ann (Boyle) Harley. In the 1860 Federal Census Hugh, Sr was listed as an oil cloth maker. Seventeen year old Bernard and his younger brother Hugh were employed as paper stainers, a printer who patterned wall paper. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">On October 19, 1860, Bernard </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">enlisted in the United States Navy as a First Class Cabin Boy for three years. At the time of his enlistment he was eighteen years old, stood five feet three inches tall, had grey eyes, </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">light hair and a light complexion. He must have been discharged in the fall of 1863 </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">because he enlisted as a private in Company F, 84th New York Volunteer Infantry for three years o</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">n December 8th.</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> He was mustered in on December 13th. The roster of the 84th New York notes Bernard transferred to the Navy on April 26, 1864. Enlistment record's for the navy show Bernard re-enlisting in New York on May 5, 1864, for 2.75 years. Bernard's occupation is listed as sailor in the naval records.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">After being paroled, Bernard rejoined the navy. At some point he was assigned to the <i>USS Delaware</i> prior to being discharged from the navy on August 3, 1865.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">After being discharged Bernard returned to Brooklyn. On July 26, 2874, he married Annie Sutton. Bernard was employed as a laborer at the New York Naval yard at the time of his death from Bright's Disease on Friday January 15, 1886. he was buried on January 17, 1886, at Holy Cross Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York.</span></p><p>to be continued.</p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span></p>Sharon Murrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15667199358231667281noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3817053175516493678.post-78627553362231827272022-10-27T23:58:00.010-07:002022-10-31T07:20:03.150-07:00"A More Gallant Thing Was Not Done During The War": Lt. William B. Cushing and the Sinking of the CSS Albemarle<p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhP50E5mlo31jUKgeS_eZjVWkokzGUjeOv5LQGVIYZ5ZHl9YQYkQtJfpBt_h074Hkb0Y8fwK4yS9vuPJAfDupdraTDOs4iJ7DyMHimQePga-LQMruUo12GPhjirWGHOSWuiddOiSqhfQ59f9JtAariXvJHcyt_37QQFmFRrXzeL9vSzvaNS_BGA2w" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="725" data-original-width="500" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhP50E5mlo31jUKgeS_eZjVWkokzGUjeOv5LQGVIYZ5ZHl9YQYkQtJfpBt_h074Hkb0Y8fwK4yS9vuPJAfDupdraTDOs4iJ7DyMHimQePga-LQMruUo12GPhjirWGHOSWuiddOiSqhfQ59f9JtAariXvJHcyt_37QQFmFRrXzeL9vSzvaNS_BGA2w=w443-h640" width="443" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">William Barker Cushing (The New York Public Library photo*)</span></blockquote><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /> Albemarle Sound, North Carolina, October 30, 1864</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Sir: "I have the honor to report that the rebel ironclad <i>Albemarle</i> is at the bottom of the Roanoke River." These were the opening words in an official report, to Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter, penned by navy </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Lieutenant William Barker Cushing two days after he returned to the fleet from a successful suicide mission to sink the Confederate ram docked at Plymouth, North Carolina. The navy officer's exploits made the twenty-one year old an instant celebrity and a national hero as the "word of [his] deeds went all over the north." He received the thanks of the Navy Department for the fifth time. On December 20, 1864, at the request of President Abraham Lincoln, Cushing would become the youngest lieutenant, and only the second junior officer, in the history of the United States Navy to receive the thanks of Congress, as the august body commended him and "the officers and men under his command for the skill and gallantry displayed by them in the destruction of the...iron clad steamer...on the night of the twenty-seventh of October.** Seven enlisted men with Cushing would be awarded the Medal of Honor on December 31, 1864, in accordance with Special Orders No. 45.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEimsBHiNqLbHnnG333C2GtmWk5b1b3bOmobPklCSJo4iQ9zVLi2EhkmZjKuL0iSb_5lhw66qtKrrB44L6JlO4-udMI0ONjh-EZZkPoLNPCkWv-N8onqxHKgbAee6XUTFJU5UCDY1uz5Qr0bzlmlDyJwu2STG-4EIuZgmT5ghqtec2urjY74-ch8yg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="442" data-original-width="574" height="371" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEimsBHiNqLbHnnG333C2GtmWk5b1b3bOmobPklCSJo4iQ9zVLi2EhkmZjKuL0iSb_5lhw66qtKrrB44L6JlO4-udMI0ONjh-EZZkPoLNPCkWv-N8onqxHKgbAee6XUTFJU5UCDY1uz5Qr0bzlmlDyJwu2STG-4EIuZgmT5ghqtec2urjY74-ch8yg=w480-h371" width="480" /></a></div><p></p></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Sinking the Albemarle (US Naval Historical Center photo)</span> </p></div></blockquote><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The <i>CSS Albemarle</i> became the scourge of the the United State's Navy's North Atlantic Blockading Squadron upon its commissioning on April 17, 1864. The steam powered ram had been built in Peter Smith's cornfield, adjacent to the Roanoke River near Edward's Ferry, upriver of Plymouth, between January 1863 and early April 1864. The ironclad was 158 feet in length, 35 feet wide and drew nine feet of water. Its armament consisted of two 6.4 inch Brooke's Rifled Cannons, mounted fore and aft. The guns could pivot 180 degrees and fire out of three gun ports. <br /></span><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The ironclad steamed down the Roanoke River under the command of Captain John W. Cooke on April 17, 1864 to assist Confederate infantry under Brigadier General Robert F. Hoke in retaking the town of Plymouth, which had been held by federal forces since May 1862. By the evening of the 18th it was three miles above town. Between 3:00 and 5:00 a.m. on April 19, the<i> Albemarle </i>and the <i>CSS Cotton Plant</i> engaged the <i>USS Southfield</i> and the <i>USS Miami</i>. The <i>Albemarle</i> rammed the <i>Southfield</i> and sank her. She caused considerable damage to the <i>Miami </i>and drove off the other Union vessels supporting the federal garrison at Plymouth. Lieutenant Commander Charles W. Flusser, of the <i>Miami</i> a good friend of Cushing's was killed by a piece of shell, while actively engaged in firing his guns. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Hoke and the <i>Albemarle</i> continued the attack on the Union Army forces at Plymouth, who</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> were now without federal naval support,</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> on the 20th. The garrison was forced to capitulate by days end. Over 2,300 soldiers were captured. Many of them wound up at Andersonville. The Confederates had retaken Plymouth. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">On May 5th, t<i>he Albemarle</i>, accompanied by the <i>Cotton Plant</i> and the <i>CSS Bombshell</i>, left Plymouth in route to assist Confederate forces in an attempt to retake New Bern on the Neuse River. The ram first had to get by seven ships of the Union squadron blockading Albemarle Sound, who were laying in wait for the rebel ironclad and her support vessels. About 4:40 p.m. a spirited engagement commenced which lasted until about 7:30 p.m. Neither side was able to gain the upper hand. As darkness settled over the sound and with her smokestack pierced with holes and the muzzle of one of her Brooke's rifles shot off the <i>Albemarle</i> broke off the contest and steamed back up the Roanoke River to Plymouth. </span></p><p><span style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: helvetica;">Five enlisted men from the </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i>USS Wyalusing</i> made an unsuccessful attempts to sink the <i>Albemarle</i> at Plymouth,</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> with torpedoes,</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> on May 24, as she was a continued threat to the federal blockading squadron, and tied up a considerable number of their resources in watching for her. In sheer desperation, in early July, the navy finally asked Lt. William Barker Cushing if he would make an attempt to destroy the ram. He agreed to undertake the mission and proposed two options one of which was selected. Cushing proceeded to the New York Navy Yard in August where he had two steam powered launches (picket boats) fitted out and outfit with spar torpedos. The picket boats left New York on September 22. One was lost in the Chesapeake Bay. Cushing and the second boat arrived at Hampton Roads, on October 13th. On the 17th they proceeded to Albemarle Sound where he found the fleet at the mouth of the Roanoke River. Cushing reported to Commander William H. Macomb, who commanded the "District of the Sound", on October 24, and final preparations were made to launch the attack.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">At 10:30 p.m. on October 26 Cushing headed up the Roanoke toward Plymouth and the <i>Albemarle, </i>eight miles distant. His picket boat ran aground and he had to abort the mission. A second attempt was made on the 27th.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The night of October 27, 1864, was dark, stormy and rainy when Lt. Cushing and 14 men in <i>Picket Boat No. 1</i> started up the river again about 11:30 p.m. They towed a cutter from the<i> Shamrock</i> containing two officers and 11 men. </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Cushing hoped to board the <i>Albemarle</i> and bring it down river to join the Union fleet. If that failed he would attempt to blow up the ram with his spar torpedo. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Cushing's boats "hugged the shore as close as possible," to prevent being seen by Confederate pickets and sentries as they quietly steamed up the Roanoke. By 2:30 a.m. on the 28th the lieutenant and his men had made it too within a mile of Plymouth. They could see the silhouette of the <i>Southfield</i>. They were able to pass within thirty feet of the wreck without being detected. As the picket boat approached Plymouth around 3:00 a.m. Cushing could see the outline of the <i>Albemarle.</i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">As Cushing steamed toward the ironclad his luck ran out and his picket boat was spotted by sentries who hailed him. When he did not respond they lit bonfires on shore, "sprang their rattles, rang the bell and commenced firing, at the same time repeating their hail."</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> The lieutenant cast off the cutter and ordered it below to deal with the pickets on the<i> Southfield</i>, while he "made toward the [</span><i style="font-family: helvetica;">Albemarle]</i><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> under a full head of steam." </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The light from the fires "showed the ironclad made fast to the wharf, with a pen of logs around her about 30 feet from her side. Passing her closely [Cushing turned and] made a complete circle so as to strike her fairly and went into her bows on...The enemy fire was quite severe. The air seemed full of bullets." </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Paymaster Swan was wounded.</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> Bullets struck Cushing's clothing, "the whole back of [his] coat was torn off by buckshot and the sole of his shoe carried away. </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">A dose of canister at close range [from Cushing's 12-pound howitzer] served to moderate their zeal and disturb their aim" however.</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The speed of Cushing's picket boat forced the launch up onto the log apron where it came to rest. The picket boat was "ten feet from the muzzle of a rifled gun [<i>on the Albemarle</i>] and every word of command on board [the ram] was distinctly heard." Cushing lowered the torpedo by vigorously pulling "on the detaching line and succeeded in driving the torpedo under the overhang [of the ram]." He waited a moment for the torpedo to rise before pulling another line attached to the torpedo and exploding it at the same time that the gun on the <i>Albemarle</i> fired. "One hundred pounds of grape crashed in [the] midst" [of the men in the picket boat] and a dense mass of water rushed in from the torpedo, filled the [boat] and completely disabled her." The torpedo had blown a hole in the hull of the ram "big enough to drive a wagon through."</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The Confederates continued to fire at Cushing and his men "at 15 feet range" and repeatedly demanded he surrender, which he twice refused. After ordering his men "to save themselves" Cushing threw off his overcoat, shoes, revolver and sword and jumped into the Roanoke River. </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The cold water "chilled the blood while the whole surface of the stream was ploughed up by grape and musketry."</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> Cushing and several others swam toward the "middle of the stream, the rebels failing to hit them." </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">"The rebels were [soon] out in boats picking up [Cushing's] men." Eleven were captured. Two were drowned. Only one man, ordinary seaman, Edward J. Houghton, escaped besides Cushing. After swimming for a time in clothing that was "soaked and heavy, Cushing, completely exhausted...reached the shore. [He] was too weak to crawl out of the water until daylight, when he managed to creep into a swamp. Some hours' traveling in the swamp brought [the lieutenant] out well below town, when [he] sent a negro in [to town to find out] that the ram was truly sunk." </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">William B. Cushing "proceeded through another swamp [and] came to a creek where [he] captured a skiff, belonging to a picket of the enemy, and with this by [about 10:00 p.m. he] had made his way out to the mouth of the Roanoke River where he hailed a ship." "Boat ahoy! Send a boat!"</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">"A boat was sent out [from the <i>Valley City</i>]...Cushing was brought on board in his stocking feet, with only a coarse flannel shirt and pantaloons to cover him. He was wet, cold, tired, hungry and prostrated. [He was given a little brandy and water and taken to the <i>Shamrock</i>.] [Rockets were fired and] Commodore Macomb ordered the riggings of the fleet to be manned, and at the general signal to give Captain Cushing three hearty cheers; and such cheering-it made those swamps, forests and waters resound with the voices of glad-hearted men." </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">On October 29 Macomb's fleet steamed up the Roanoke River toward Plymouth. They recaptured the batteries and the town on October 31, 1864, and also took possession of the sunken hulk of the <i>Albemarle </i>and<i> Picket Boat No. 1</i>. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The <i>Valley City</i> was detached on October 30th and ordered to take Lieutenant Cushing to Fortress Monroe, Virginia. On November 1st he was</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> "received on board [Rear Admiral Porter's] flag-ship, with a salute of twenty-one guns." Cushing then proceeded to Washington D. C., and other northern cities, where he received a heroes welcome.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">**Lieutenant John L. Worden received the thanks of Congress on July 11, 1862 for his action in command of the <i>USS Monitor</i> in March 1862. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Information for this article is derived from various sources including but not limited to <i>Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies</i>, Series I, Volume 10, <i>Outline Story of the War Experiences of William B. Cushing by Himself</i>, US Naval Institute Proceedings, September 1912 Volume 33/3/145 and <i>Reminiscences of Two Years in the United States Navy</i> by John, M. Batten, Lancaster, Pa., Inquirer Printing and Publishing Co., 1881.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The words " a more gallant thing was not done during the war" come from the commander of the Albemarle, Lieutenant A. F. Warley.</span></p><div class="cite-group" style="margin: 0px; padding: 20px 20px 0px 0px;"><p style="margin: 0px 0px 12px 40px; padding: 0px; text-indent: -40px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">*The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Print Collection, The New York Public Library. <em>Lt. William B. Cushing.</em> Retrieved from https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47df-70a6-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99</span></p></div><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"></span></p><div class="cite-group" style="margin: 0px; padding: 20px 20px 0px 0px;"><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /></div></div>Sharon Murrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15667199358231667281noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3817053175516493678.post-23118684558273191202022-05-24T10:13:00.010-07:002022-06-02T11:29:35.749-07:00Uncle Tommy Devin: The Saga of a Commander of Cavalry<p> <span style="font-family: verdana;">Brevet Major General Thomas Casimer Devin stands out as one of the most capable Union cavalry commanders in the American Civil War even when compared with colleagues who were graduates of the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. Devin was born on December 10, 1822, in New York City. He was the oldest son of Michael Devin, born in County Louth, Ireland in 1788 and his wife Jane (Duffy) Devin who was also born in Louth, in 1803. The Devin's immigrated to the United States from "the Wee County", which is located on the eastern coast of Ireland, and settled in New York City.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Thomas Devin had four younger brothers; John Joseph Connolly born on September 25, 1825, Nicholas born on October 10, 1829, Philip Michael, born September 23, 1832 and Michael born in 1834. Michael died at nine months of age of whooping cough. Both John and Philip were merchants in New York City. John died in 1889. Philip died in 1918. Nicholas lived in Boston, Massachusetts prior to his death from bilious fever when he was thirty-seven years old. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Little is known of Thomas Devin's childhood. He appears to have spent all of it in New York City except for five years between circa 1837 and 1842 when he was in Missouri. His father passed away on December 22, 1837, when Thomas was fifteen. His mother died of consumption on February 11, 1843. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Thomas Devin married Elizabeth May Campbell in New York City on December 3, 1846. She was the grandniece of Sir Colin Campbell of Scotland. They had a daughter Jeanette Elizabeth Devin born on September 28, 1848. She would marry Lieutenant Charles Braden (retired) of the Seventh U. S. Cavalry in 1879.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">The 1848-1849 New York City Directory lists Thomas Devin as a painter residing at 611 Hudson. Subsequent directories also show his occupation as "painter" until he enlists in the United States Army in 1861. The 1852 Directory indicates he was a retailer of "paint, oil, etc." </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Devin was commissioned as the captain of Company B, First Regiment, First Brigade, New York State Militia Cavalry, January 1, 1858, with rank to date from November 22, 1857. There were 23 enlisted men in the company and three officers. On July 2, 1859, he became the lieutenant colonel of the First Regiment, First Brigade, First Division, New York State Militia Cavalry which was commanded by Colonel Spencer H. Smith. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjQ585ddXbXXo6CKg-a3JplC9OncqCVYa679_NJH5OzOZ3GMK92t9r0NlPpadS2mFYSyI5lvHVSfMmdvHBYU-kXz7PcIJeQ6NZS8zlzQ3Odz9GnQYIf57VyoZTngdDmk-lHHjlSggrBNFb87Qjbb47xTP-GPBh08uznwHrs7Olxy6yrlvAUq5nGxQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="5872" data-original-width="4569" height="463" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjQ585ddXbXXo6CKg-a3JplC9OncqCVYa679_NJH5OzOZ3GMK92t9r0NlPpadS2mFYSyI5lvHVSfMmdvHBYU-kXz7PcIJeQ6NZS8zlzQ3Odz9GnQYIf57VyoZTngdDmk-lHHjlSggrBNFb87Qjbb47xTP-GPBh08uznwHrs7Olxy6yrlvAUq5nGxQ=w362-h463" width="362" /></a></span></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Brig. Gen. Thomas C. Devin circa 1865</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Following the firing on Fort Sumter in April 1861, President Lincoln called for 75,000 men to "suppress treasonable combinations and cause the laws to be executed." New York's quota was 13,280. General Winfield Scott requested the governor of New York, Edwin D. Morgan, furnish "100 mounted men from the First Regiment New York State Militia, with their own horses and equipment." In 1878, Thurlow Weed, a newspaper publisher and New York politician, remembered meeting a stranger on the steps of the Astor House in July 1861, "who said he desired authority from the governor to raise a volunteer company of cavalry for immediate service. [The stranger] said his name was Devin, that he was a painter by trade, and that he belonged to a cavalry regiment of the city, from which he could recruit a company in twenty-four hours." Weed later wrote "I was so much impressed with Mr. Devin's bearing and manner that I asked him to come to my room in two hours. Meantime I sent a dispatch to Gov. Morgan, asking him for the appointment of Mr. Devin as captain, to which I received an affirmative reply. He [Devin] returned promptly at the appointed time. He was evidently delighted when I addressed him as 'Captain Devin' saying that he would report next day, and immediately took his leave...The next day, Captain Devin returned with his muster rolls, showing that he had a full company, for which he required subsistence and transportation, both of which were immediately provided and on the following morning Captain Devin and his company were on their way to Washington."</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Captain Devin's Company, also known as the Jackson Horse Guards, consisted of<i> </i>one hundred men, principally from Company A of the First New York State Militia Cavalry, from New York City who had volunteered, upon the request of the General Government for some cavalry, for a service of three months. Devin and his company were mustered into the service of the United States at Washington D.C., to date from July 14, 1861.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">The<i> Evening Star</i> published in Washington D. C., reported on July 18, 1861, "About one o'clock this morning a detachment of [the] First Regiment of New York State Cavalry arrived in a special train under command of Lieutenant Colonel Devin. Their horses [three hundred and fifty] had arrived several hours before them and had been conveyed to the government stables; so the men marched to their quarters in the first ward. They came over the Northern Central road to Baltimore. The detachment have not been sworn in for any stated period; but it is understood they will serve for three months, after which many of them will volunteer for the war. The officers of this regiment are - Lieutenant Colonel T. C. Devin; Quartermaster, George W. Maxwell; Captains, W. E. Duding, J. F. Barkley, George Mundorf; First Lieutenants Frederick Kuebel, F[rancis] Reiss, K[yrion] Honan; Second Lieutenants John McAuliff, John Haggerty and William McGoldrick."</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">At least part of the time Captain Devin's Company was in the Washington D.C. area they were stationed at Camp Lyon south of Alexandria, Virginia. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">While not drilling, Devin's command was engaged in provost duties in the defenses of Washington. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> The cavalrymen were also engaged in skirmishes in Falls Church, Vienna and Lewinsville, Virginia.</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> At some point Captain Devin was ordered to report to Brigadier General William F. "Baldy" Smith for scouting duties in Loudoun County, Virginia. In late September 1861, Devin was temporarily assigned to the staff of Brigadier General Isaac Stevens where he served as a brigade inspector. When the three month term of service of Devin and his company expired the unit returned to New York and mustered out on October 23, 1861.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Thomas Devin was mustered in as colonel of the Sixth New York Volunteer Cavalry Regiment, "on the earnest recommendation of General Stevens and Senator [Ira] Harris" on November 18, 1861, by New York City's Mustering and Disbursement officer Colonel Delos B. Sackett. Sackett, who graduated from West Point in 1845, had been an Assistant Instructor of Cavalry Tactics at the United States Military Academy between 1850 and 1855. After quizzing the Irishman, to ensure he was competent to command the regiment, Sackett reportedly wrote "I can't teach Col. Devin anything about cavalry; he knows more about the tactics than I do." At the time the freshly minted colonel stood five feet eight and one half</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> high. He had brown hair, grey eyes and a fair complexion. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">The regiment, known as the Second Ira Harris Cavalry, because it was originally intended to be part of the Ira Harris Brigade, set up recruiting headquarters at Number 4 Pine Street in New York City. Volunteering commenced in July 1861 and was completed by October 24th. The various companies mustered into the service of the United States between September 12 and December 19, 1861. The regiment's original camp of instruction, was at Camp Scott which was located at Oldtown on Staten Island. On December 21, <i>The New York Herald</i> reported, "The Sixth New York Volunteer Cavalry, will leave for the seat of war on Saturday Morning next. The regiment is being proficient in their drill, and will give their last dress parade in this vicinity today at their camp at half past two P.M." </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Colonel Devin and his Empire Staters left New York for York, Pennsylvania on the New Jersey Central Railroad on Monday December 23, 1861. <i>The New York Times</i> noted, "The men are in an efficient state of discipline, and in numbers amount to nearly nine hundred, and will no doubt prove a valuable acquisition to the service." The dismounted regiment spent the winter in the Keystone State building barracks and stables and receiving instructions in the school of the trooper. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">On January 3, 1862, while at his "Camp Harris" headquarters, Devin had an order published in the <i>York Gazette</i> notifying "all vendors of intoxicating liquors who shall hereafter be found furnishing such intoxicating liquors to any of the enlisted men connected with this Regiment, in <i>any</i> quantities or form, that upon proper proof of such offenses, their places of business will be indicted and the full punishment of the law inflicted." </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">On March 6, 1862, the Sixth New York was sent to Perryville, Maryland to guard depots and stores. Shortly after their arrival in Maryland four companies under the command of Major Floyd Clarkson joined McClellan's Army of the Potomac on the Peninsula. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">While Devin and the remainder of his command was camped in the vicinity of Washington D. C., on June 20, 1862, the non commissioned officers and privates of the Sixth New York presented their colonel with "a splendid sabre." The <i>Evening Star</i> reported, "The sabre is gotten up in the approved regulation style and is a very superior article. The scabbard is of very highly polished steel, very richly chased, the devices being swords, battle axes and arrows bound together in bundles...The scabbard bears the following inscription: 'Presented to Col. Thos. C. Devin by the non-commissioned officers and privates of the Sixth New York Cavalry June, 1862'. Accompanying the sabre is a scabbard for service, sword belt, shoulder straps, sash and spurs, all enclosed in a splendid rosewood box lined with white satin." Senator Ira Harris presented the sabre to Devin "as a memorial of trust and confidence from soldiers to an accomplished officer and leader." Upon receipt of the sabre "Colonel Devin replied he had no words to express his thanks for the testimonial. He knew not why he deserved it. All he had ever done was done in the execution of his duty...he had done that duty to the best of his ability, in studying the comfort of hims men and properly disciplining them...He trusted the regiment would never be ashamed of its Colonel; and he pledged himself that his saber would ever be ready to leap from its scabbard in the cause of his country, and the regiment should never be ashamed to follow his lead."</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Devin and the eight remaining companies remained in Maryland until July 15, 1862, when they were ordered to Warrenton, Virginia to join Major General Irvin McDowell's command, where they were engaged in scouting south of the Rapidan River.</span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Following Major General Pope's defeat at Second Manassas Devin and his troopers covered the evacuation of Fredricksburg and Aquia Creek. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">In a September 30, 1862, letter Colonel Devin wrote, [from August 29 to the 31st], "the 6th Reg[iment] alone held the line of the Rap[pahannock] from Fredericksburg to Rap[pahhanock] Station 40 miles, although constantly threatened by an overpowering force. It was then reinforced by the 4th Reg[iment] Ca[valry] 1 squadron of Infantry and a section of Artillery all under Col. Devin. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">The command was then ordered by Gen. Burnside to retire to a position behind Deep Run. The next day it was ordered to retire upon Falmouth which place I reached at 5 P.M. on the day of the evacuation. I was ordered to feed my command and hold Falmouth for two hours after all the other troops had left and then to march to Stafford Court House and hold the place to cover the embarkation from Aquia Creek. I held Stafford for two days and was ordered to fall back to Brooks Station - held that place one day and was ordered to Aquia Creek which I reached as the last regiment marched on the transports - at 1 A.M. embarked my regiment and at daylight was in Wash[ingto]n, having acted as a rear guard covering the right flank of Burnsides Corps for 12 days after Pope had left it - the enemy being on three sides of us our only avenue of escape the Falmouth road. It was reported for a week that we were cut off and it was only owing to the extent of the country we covered and the belief that we had a much larger force that the enemy did not gobble us up. I was so worn out with fatigue that I slept on my horse during the journey to Stafford. For seven nights I had not slept. We arrived in Wash[ington] Friday morning [September 5] and on Sunday at 12 N. [September 7] we were ordered to take the advance of the army through Maryland." </span></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">To be continued.....</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">I would like to thank descendent of Thomas Devin for providing information on his family.</span></p>Sharon Murrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15667199358231667281noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3817053175516493678.post-1218179541392338262020-09-14T12:47:00.014-07:002022-09-12T13:08:07.318-07:00A Valiant Coup: Colonel B F. Davis and the Exodus of the Union Cavalry From Harpers Ferry<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /><br /> In the book " The United States Cavalry: An Illustrated History, 1776-1944, Gregory Irwin wrote: "Davis's Valiant Coup compared favorably with anything Stuart had ever done, and it stands as an unrecognized omen of what was to come." Yet 158 years later this amazing accomplishment is still overshadowed by the magnitude of the losses when the Union Garrison surrendered at Harpers Ferry, Virginia on the morning of September 15, 1862 as well the losses at Antietam on September 17, 1862, and seems, to some extent, to have been relegated to the position of a footnote in the study of the Maryland Campaign. Maybe it is time to explore this subject once again and bring it out of darkness into the light.<br /><br />What is the "Coup" Irwin refers to anyway? It is described below. <br /><br />On the evening of September 14, 1862 the approximately 14,000 United States soldiers of all arms who made up the federal garrison at Harpers Ferry were surrounded on all sides by a much larger force of Confederates under the overall command of Major General Thomas J. Jackson. They were "trapped" in an indefensible town with no hope of escape. An ignominious surrender seemed inevitable. Or so it seemed. <br /><br />At least one man in the town, Colonel Benjamin Franklin Davis, commander of the Eighth New York Volunteer Cavalry, had different ideas, however. He had no intention of throwing in the towel. He was reportedly overheard telling the commanding officer of the garrison, Colonel Dixon S. Miles, a regular army officer he had know since 1856 when both were stationed at Fort Fillmore, New Mexico Territory, that "he would never surrender his force to a living person without a fight." As early as the afternoon of September 13, after Maryland Heights had been evacuated, he "was busy, for he was going to take his regiment out, and not stay there and be gobbled up by the rebels without making an effort to get away." He was actively engaged in getting support for and making arrangements to cut his way out. "To be compelled to surrender without a fight was not Colonel Davis's purpose." The colonel’s education, training, experience, natural aggressiveness and bravery made the thought of surrender totally repugnant to him. He was “tough, daring and resourceful” and was not about to wind up in some Confederate prison if he could help it.<br /><br /> Colonel Benjamin Davis, nicknamed "Grimes" by his West Point classmates had not come to Harpers Ferry to surrender and had no intentions of doing so. He consulted with at least some if not all of the other commanders of the six cavalry regiments at Harpers Ferry. They agreed they should make an attempt to get out of the beleaguered town. Davis then went to speak with Miles, and implored him to a give his permission for the movement noting "the horses and equipment would be of great value to the enemy if captured, and that an attempt to reach McClellan ought therefore to be made". Miles was reluctant to do so at first but finally late on the afternoon of September 14, he gave his permission for the attempted breakout, in hopes the cavalry might be able to reach George B. McClellan's Army, which was known to be in Maryland, and that he would come to the garrisons rescue before it was to late.<br /><br />Once a decision had been made Colonel Miles had his Assistant Adjutant General, Lieutenant H. C. Reynold draft the orders for the cavalry to leave Harpers Ferry.<br /><br />Headquarters,<br />Harpers Ferry, Va., 14 Sept., 1862<br /><br />SPECIAL ORDERS No.120.<br /><br />1st. - The cavalry forces at this post, except detached orderlies, will make immediate preparations to leave here at eight o’clock tonight, without baggage, wagons, ambulances or lead horses; crossing the Potomac over the pontoon bridge, and taking the Sharpsburg Road. <br /><br /> 2nd. - The senior officer, Colonel Voss, will assume command of the whole; which will form in the following order: the right at the Quartermaster’s Office; the left up Shenandoah Street, without noise or loud command, in the following order: Cole’s Cavalry, Twelfth Illinois Cavalry, Eighth New York Cavalry, Seventh Squadron Rhode Island Cavalry and First Maryland Cavalry. No other instructions can be given to the Commander for his guidance than to force his way through the enemy’s lines and join our own army. <br /><br /> By order of Colonel Miles,<br />H. C. Reynolds,Lieutenant and A.A.G.<br /><br />Once the orders had been issued cavalry commanders went to their respective regiment to inform the rank and file of the decision. When the Seventh Rhode Island heard the news about four o’clock Major Corliss also reportedly told his men that by the “next morning they would either be in “Pennsylvania, or in hell, or on the way to Richmond.” In some case’s men were given the option of staying at Harpers Ferry when the rest of the regiment left. There is no evidence well, able bodied men with a fit horse chose to stay however. The soldiers quickly prepared to leave Harpers Ferry. Horses were groomed and fed what forage was available and led to water. Saddle girths were checked. The men discarded all non-essential items including, tents, overcoats, blankets, extra paraphernalia and accouterments. They were issued extra ammunition. They might have eaten what food they had available and filled their canteens with water.<br /><br />The individual regiments began to gather at the rendezvous point on Shenandoah Street around 8 o’clock at night. Some of the troops probably also lined up on Potomac Street. By then it was dark. Commanders whispered last minute instructions to their men. Henry Norton wrote “We were drawn up in line, and our sutler, knowing that he could not get out with his goods, went down the line and gave the boys what tobacco he had. Before we crossed the pontoon bridge each captain gave orders to his company that each man must follow his file leader and that no other orders would be given. <br /><br />Each regiment formed in a column by two’s, in the order specified by Mile’s Special Orders 120. They began walking across the bridge, between 8:00 and 8:30 p.m., behind at least two guides who knew the country well. One of the guides was Second Lieutenant Hanson T. C. Green of Company A, Cole’s Cavalry, who had been seriously wounded at Leesburg on September 2, “when he was struck a crushing blow to the face with the butt end of a large army revolver, and across the head with a sabre.” Another guide was Thomas Noakes of Martinsburg, Virginia who had been employed for some time as a guide and scout by Major General Nathanial P. Banks and others. Noakes was reportedly “tall and athletic, brave and cruel, a Spartan in his indifference to physical comfort…a man of great prowess, and a valuable adjunct to the brigade.” Some participants noted that Colonel B. F. Davis and Lt. Colonel Hasbrouck Davis, of the Twelfth Illinois Cavalry were in the advance directly behind the guides. They were followed by the squadron of Cole’s Cavalry, some of whom had lashed their sabers to their saddles in an attempt to reduce the noise they made. <br /><br />The rushing water of the Potomac and the sod and dirt placed on the bridge’s wooden planking helped muffle the sound of the horse’s hooves as the cavalry crossed the span. When the head of the column reached the Maryland shore they turned left onto the “Harpers Ferry-Sharpsburg Road”, also referred to as “the John Brown Road” that ran between the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Towpath and the bluff at the base of Maryland Heights and spurred their horse to a gallop. The column was well spread out as it moved northward in the inky darkness. It took almost two hours for the group of horsemen to cross the Potomac. Captain William H. Grafflin of the First Maryland Cavalry, who brought up the rear, testified before the Harpers Ferry Commission that he did not start crossing the river until about 10:30 p.m.<br /><br />One mishap occurred aa the column crossed into Maryland. Some men from Company D of the Twelfth Illinois turned to the right toward Sandy Hook after getting across the Potomac. They quickly discovered their error and turned around after being fired upon by a few Confederate pickets. It is unclear if they all rejoined the rest of the column or if some re-crossed the pontoon bridge back into Harpers Ferry which they probably could not have done until the main column was all across.<br /><br />Not long after crossing the river the lead elements of the main column also encountered a few Confederate pickets, from the 13th Mississippi Infantry of Brigadier General William Barksdale’s Brigade, which had been left on Maryland Heights with two Parrott rifles when Lafayette McLaws pulled the rest of his command off the hilltop and took them to Pleasant Valley to confront the Union 6th Corps which was in his rear. Thomas Bell wrote “after a spirited response from Lieutenant Green, in which the enemy retreated up the road to Maryland Heights, the column was under full headway.” Another member of the Eighth New York wrote in a letter to his father “we came to the rebel pickets and they were so scart (scared) they could not fire so we bound and gagged them and on we went. We passed within 80 rods of their cannon on both sides of us but they had no idea of our trying to escape and we rode by safe. <br /><br />The column followed the Harpers Ferry - Sharpsburg road along the river for about a mile. While doing so they tried forming up as rapidly as possible by four, which was probably easier said than done. The road then took a sharp turn to the right and a steep climb up to the top of the Maryland Heights. One soldier noted the climb was so steep “that he had to grasp the mane of his horse to stay safe”. The column quickly became strung out. Henry Norton wrote “the only way we could tell how far we were from our file leaders was by the horses shoes striking against the stones in the road. Sometimes we would be twenty yards from our file leaders, and then we would come up full drive; then we would hear some swearing. That was the way we went for several miles”, sometimes on the road and other times across fields and open country. Thomas Bell also noted “the increasing pace of the head of the column making it difficult for those in the rear to retain their proper intervals. Until we reached Sharpsburg it was everyman for himself. The only clew was the clatter of hooves” and the rattle of sabers. “To those in the rear of the column the direction of these sounds was not easy to determine”. <br /><br />At the intersection of the Harpers Ferry – Sharpsburg Road and the Lime Kiln Road the column veered to the left and at times followed the route of the Lime Kiln Road toward Antietam Iron Works. When not on the roads the column went “across, flats, over fences and through creeks.” At the iron works the horsemen crossed the Antietam, not far upstream of its confluence with the Potomac and then took the Harpers Ferry – Sharpsburg Road again, northward toward Sharpsburg. The head of the column arrived at the outskirts of the town around midnight. Campfires helped the men avoid the bivouacs of the Confederates that had retreated from South Mountain late on the 14th. Norton reported “at Sharpsburg, the advance made a halt for about half an hour, so we could close up and let our horses get their wind.<br /><br />On nearing Sharpsburg, and thinking they might be in the vicinity of the Army of the Potomac orders were given to reply to any challenge that might be made. William Luffs of the Twelfth Illinois wrote, “the night had now become starlight, and as we approached the town, several cavalry vedettes were discovered in the road. To the challenge, “Who comes there?” the answer was “Friends of the Union.” This reply was unsatisfactory for the pickets fired upon the column. But without effect. A charge was ordered and promptly executed, driving the pickets in and through the principal street of Sharpsburg on the road toward Hagerstown. <br /><br /> As the Union cavalry headed northward out of Sharpsburg on the Hagerstown Pike the glow of campfires could be seen in the distance. Sounds carried through the night air including the loud voices of officers giving orders and the dull rumbling of wagon and limber wheels against the roadway, which indicated enemy camps could be nearby. “A civilian informed an officer of the 8th New York that the column was going right into Lee’s Army”. In actuality, Colonel Henry L. Benning’s Confederate Infantry of Brigadier General Robert Toombs Brigade and the Army of Northern Virginia’s reserve artillery under Brigadier General William N. Pendleton were both moving southward on the Hagerstown Pike toward Sharpsburg during the early morning hours of September 15 as the Union forces traveled north. The regimental officers and guides stopped the column to discuss the situation. The guides selected an alternate route, “a circuitous path through the lanes and by-roads, woods and fields” to the north and west of the Hagerstown Pike. The column marched steadily and silently threading their way between the camps of the foe” until it emerged at a point on the Boonsboro-Williamsport turnpike about two miles east of Williamsport. While Colonel Voss remained the titular commander of the cavalry column it is pretty evident by this time that Grimes Davis had assumed tactical command of the same and “took charge when trouble loomed”.<br /><br /> William Luffs of the Twelfth Illinois noted, “It was now just in the gray of morning. Fires of a large camp of the enemy could be seen, near Williamsport.” Henry Norton wrote, “just before we got to the pike we halted in a piece of woods. As the advance of the column approached the pike the rumbling of wheels in the distance toward Hagerstown was heard. Colonel (Davis) went ahead to reconnoiter, and when he got to the road, he soon found out it was a rebel wagon train principally loaded with ammunition and escorted by infantry with a detachment of cavalry in the rear.” The ordnance train was commanded by “London-born” First Lieutenant Francis W. Dawson, who was an assistant ordnance officer with Longstreet’s command. “It was an anxious moment, but Colonel (B. F.) Davis of the 8th New York and Lt. Colonel (Hasbrouck) Davis of the 12th Illinois, who were at the head of the column, were equal to the occasion.” The Eighth New York was immediately formed in line facing the road on the north side, the Twelfth Illinois in the same order south of the road, the Maryland and Rhode Island Cavalry were held in reserve; while Colonel Davis with a squadron of his regiment, advanced and took possession of the road so as to intercept the enemy. “All was done in silence, and it was still too dark for our troops, concealed in the timber which skirted the road to be seen”. The concealed Union horsemen watched Dawson and a small body of cavalry appear over a hill that rose to their right, followed by the ordnance wagons. As Dawson and the other unsuspecting Confederates rode toward the concealed Union troopers Colonel Davis reportedly quietly told his command “don’t shoot boys”.<br /><br />“When the head of the train came up” Colonel Davis ordered it to halt, which it did without a shot being fired.” Dawson later wrote “the gloss was not yet off my uniform, and I could not suppose that such a command, shouted with a big oath, was intended for me.” When the command was repeated Dawson road forward and found himself at the entrance of a narrow lane which was filled with men on horseback. He could not tell if they were friend or foe in the predawn darkness. He confronted the Union cavalryman who he thought had ordered him to stop. “How dare you halt an officer in this manner. The trooper responded surrender and dismount. You are my prisoner.” When Dawson asked who he was speaking to the cavalryman reportedly answered, “Colonel B. F. Davis, 8th New York Cavalry.” Colonel Davis then ordered Captain William Frisbie, Company D, Eighth New York to take the train, “turn it right on the turnpike that ran to Greencastle, Pennsylvania and run it through to that place at the rate of eight miles per hour”. Frisbie purportedly “innocently” asked Colonel Davis where the road was, “and he was peremptorily ordered to “find it, and be off, without delay”.<br /><br /> Charles D. Grace described the capture of Longstreet’s train from the Confederate perspective in an October 16, 1897 letter to Ezra Carmen head of the Antietam Battlefield Board. He wrote, “If I remember correctly there were no guard for Longstreet’s train. The only guard, if guard at all were the details sent back to cook rations and a few on the sick list. We passed through Hagerstown and were nearing Williamsport about half past four o’clock a.m., on the 15th. The moon would occasionally show itself brilliantly through the drifting clouds. At a point about a mile east of Williamsport at a knoll of timber on the south side of the pike a road supposed to be the river road intersected the pike at right angles. The knoll on which the timber stood had been graded down to the west side to a level with the pike. To the west as far as the river or Williamsport was cleared land. As I came up to the junction of the road I found the men stopping and noticing some cavalry back behind the knoll, perfectly concealed from view, approaching from the east. I demanded to know by what authority the men were halted – the train still moving on – when two or three cavalrymen threw their guns down on me, saying “by this authority” their barrels glistening brightly. I replied that authority was sufficient. Just at that moment Colonel B. F. Davis came up, his horse on the gallop, his pistol in his right hand and in a perpendicular position above his shoulder, remarking to the men, “stand fast men and we will cabbage a hell of a lot of them.” I said being a little petulant. “Yes sir, I hope you will have them do so for General Jeb Stuart will have you in our condition in a few minutes as he is on his way this side of Hagerstown. The remark was either fortunate or unfortunate because he immediately ordered the men to throw down the rail fence on the west side of the road, at the same time ordering the prisoners, who numbered sixty-one, to move out and get in the wagons, which they did of course, and as soon as the prisoners were in the wagons Colonel Davis ordered four men to ride up by each team. As soon as everything was ready, the order was given to move off as fast as the teams could be made to travel”.<br /><br />Elements of the First Virginia Cavalry harassed the rear of the Union column and it’s captured wagon train as it sped toward Greencastle. The Union rear guard was able to fend them off. The Virginians were not able to recapture any of the wagons or prisoners or inflict any casualties on the jaded Union horsemen. The command with their prisoners and captured wagons reached Greencastle about 9:00 a.m., on the 15th after riding fifty miles in twelve hours. The exhausted, hungry cavalrymen were warmly welcomed by the town residents, who plied them with every type of food imaginable. A trooper from the Fifteenth Pennsylvania Cavalry, who was in town when the column arrived wrote, “I saw the dusty procession marching into Greencastle, and had the honor of being placed, loaded revolver in hand, on the hind seat of an omnibus, to stand guard over the rebel prisoners, whom I conducted to the county jail”. <br /><br /> Not long after the Union Cavalry column arrived in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, the news was telegraphed to Harrisburg and Baltimore. The first telegram announcing the columns arrival in Pennsylvania was dated 8:00 a.m., from Greencastle. It noted “sixteen hundred of our cavalry are coming into town – they cut their way out from the neighborhood of Harpers Ferry”. At 9:00 a.m., Governor Curtin, who was in Harrisburg, telegraphed a message to Edward M. Stanton the Secretary of War; “United States Cavalry, from Harpers Ferry, has arrived at Greencastle, under command of Colonel Davis, Eighth New York. The force is 1,300 strong. They left Harpers Ferry at 9 o’clock last evening. One mile from Williamsport, they captured Longstreet’s ordinance train, comprising 40 wagons; also brought in 40 prisoners. Fighting has been going on for two days at Harpers Ferry. Colonel Davis says he thinks Colonel Miles will surrender this morning. Colonel Miles desires his condition made known to the War Department.<br /><br />The breakout of the Union Cavalry from the surrounded town of Harpers Ferry on September 14, 1862 succeeded beyond anyone’s wildest dreams. It compares favorably with Nathan Bedford Forrest’s breakout from Fort Donelson with his Confederate Cavalry, prior to the forts surrender, in February 1862. While there is no question according to Special Order 120, that Colonel Davis was not in “official” command of the cavalry expedition, at least on paper, there is ample evidence that he had a great deal to do with initiating the idea and persuading Colonel Miles to allow the column to depart. In route he was instrumental in helping ensure the success of the venture and in the capture of Longstreet’s train. William H. Nichols of the Seventh Rhode Island would pen words that were reiterated by many others authors and army officers after the successful breakout. Nichols noted, “much of the success of the expedition was due to Colonel B. F. Davis of the Eighth New York Cavalry” who was afterwards recommended by Major General McClellan, for the brevet of Major in the regular army for “conspicuous conduct in the management of the withdrawal of the cavalry from Harpers Ferry”. In a September 23, 1862 telegram to Major General Henry Halleck, General-in-Chief of the United States Army, McClellan wrote, Captain B. F. Davis merits the notice of the government. I recommend him for the brevet of major. The honorary rank was confirmed to date from September 15, 1862.<br /><br />It is unclear what the losses were in the ranks of the cavalry regiments that broke out of Harpers Ferry on September 14th, 1862, although the Eighth New York regimental history reported an enlisted man missing at Williamsport of the 15th. Some men were “lost” in route but many reportedly eventually rejoined their commands. A number of soldiers stayed in Harpers Ferry, either because they were sick or because they did not have a serviceable horse. The official records indicate the Twelfth Illinois reported two enlisted men wounded and four officers and 153 enlisted men missing. The Eighth New York’s casualties included 5 officers and 87 men missing. The First Maryland Cavalry lost 23 men when Miles surrendered. The men captured at Harpers Ferry were paroled. Many, including eighty members of the Eighth New York, wound up at Camp Douglas in Chicago, Illinois where they remained until they were exchanged in late November 1862.<br /><br />Stonewall Jackson was deeply disappointed when he arrived in Harpers Ferry on September 15, to find the Union Cavalry gone. The New York Daily Herald reported on September 18, 1862, “His first question, after glancing over the eight thousand infantry drawn up unarmed in line before him, was, “where is all the cavalry you had”? And on being informed that they had escaped the previous night, en masse, he was silent, but his face, and the countenance of the rebels about him, wore a look of disappointment and chagrin.” He purportedly cried, impossible! I would rather have had them than anything else in this place.” James Ewell Brown Stuart was no happier than Jackson, in part, because he had admonished Lafayette McLaws to watch the Harpers Ferry-Sharpsburg Road. Captain William Blackford, a member of Stuarts staff wrote,” To think of all the fine horses they carried off, the saddles, revolvers, and carbines of the best kind, and the spurs, all of which would have fallen to our share, and the very thing we so much needed, was enough to vex a saint”.<br /><br />In his September 21, 1862 report to President Jefferson Davis, General Robert E. Lee would play down the escape of the Union Cavalry from Harpers Ferry and the loss of Longstreet’s wagons when he wrote “unfortunately on September 14, the enemy cavalry at Harper’s Ferry evaded our forces, crossed the Potomac into Maryland, passed up through Sharpsburg, where they encountered our pickets, and intercepted on their line of retreat General Longstreet’s train. Some historians contend the loss of Longstreet’s ammunition had an adverse impact on Lee’s forces during the Battle of Antietam. The enemy captured and destroyed forty-five wagons.” Lt. Colonel Edward Porter Alexander, Chief of Ordnance for the Army of Northern Virginia would later write “the loss of forty-five wagons” loaded with ammunition and subsistence” had been a severe blow at such a distance from our base at Culpeper, Virginia. “On the 16th I was ordered to collect all empty wagons and go to Harpers Ferry and take charge of the surrendered ammunition; bringing back to Sharpsburg all suiting our calibres”.<br /><br /><br /><br />Portions of this blog are extracted from the draft of a biography about Benjamin F Davis that is in in the process of being written by your truly titled "An Ornament to His Country". The source document from which this is extracted is copiously footnoted. Stay tuned!<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></span><div><div><br clear="all" /><div id="ftn1"><p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="font-family: calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin: 0in;"><br /></p></div></div><div><br clear="all" /></div></div><div><div id="ftn1"><p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="font-family: calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin: 0in;"><br /></p></div></div><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Sharon Murrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15667199358231667281noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3817053175516493678.post-42513094564416862742020-03-25T11:28:00.001-07:002020-04-24T05:00:20.632-07:00Benjamin Franklin Davis: Service in the 1st U. S. Dragoons part IV<div style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">Jonathan Lettermen would reminisce about his friend and fellow army officer Benjamin Franklin Davis when he wrote </span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; text-decoration: underline;">Medical Recollections of the Army of the Potomac in 1866.</span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"> "This officer, who so successfully extricated his regiment from Harper's Ferry when the post was surrendered by General Miles - who fought so gallantly on our march through Virginia in the autumn of 1862 - had been my companion in more than one campaign among the Indians; my messmate at stations far beyond the haunts of civilized men. This long, familiar intercourse produced the warmest admiration for his noble character, which made him sacrifice friends and relatives to uphold the flag under which he was born and defend the Constitution of his country.” </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">When the Pah-Ute Campaign commenced there were three officers with the command, Brevet Major James H. Carleton commanding the expedition and Company K, 1st Dragoons and 1st Lieutenant Milton T. Carr and 2nd Lieutenant Benjamin F. Davis attached to Company B. Lieutenant David H. Hastings was assigned to Company K however he had been absent from Fort Tejon since April 12, 1858. The young lieutenant had been severely injured October 7, 1857 while in pursuit of Indians near Fort Buchanan. “While making a charge down a steep rocky hill, Lt Hastings was thrown from his horse with great violence, had his leg and collar bone broken, and his chest so severely crushed, that for sometime his life was despaired for. </span><span style="font-kerning: none;"> His injuries necessitated an extended sick leave. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Lt. Hastings was well enough by January 1860 to be promoted Captain on January 9, 1860 and transferred to Company D, 1st Dragoons to replace Captain Edward H. Fitzgerald. This left an opening for a 1st lieutenant in Company K and Grimes Davis was promoted to that rank as of January 9, 1860. The word of Davis promotion appears to not have reached him until early July 1860.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Following his promotion 1st Lieutenant Benjamin Davis, took a well deserved 60 day leave of absence from July 30 to September 25, the first leave of absence he had enjoyed since joining the ranks of the 5th U. S. Infantry at Ringgold Barracks on December 24, 1854. 1st Lieutenant Davis would not return to Fort Tejon to officially join Company K until September 25, 1860. With steamship traveling along and up both coasts and the railroad across the Isthmus of Panama B. F. Davis would have probably had time to go to Mississippi and spend time with his extended family and brothers who still lived there, however it is not known what he did or where he went during his time away from the army. One thing is certain, much had changed in the young man’s life since December 1854 and he was receiving well deserved recognition from his superiors as a promising young officer in the United States Army. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Upon his return to Fort Tejon Grimes Davis was appointed AAQM and ACS for the post. He would continue to exercise these duties until April 25, 1861 when he was replaced by the regimental quartermaster Henry B. Davidson. While 1st Lt. Davis was occupied with his quartermaster and commissary responsibilities his comrade 1st Lt. Milton T. Carr was assigned the daily duty of commanding the 1st Dragoons Regimental Band and acting as the post adjutant, who was responsible for assisting the commanding officer with correspondence and issuing orders.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">A number of changes took place in the Department of California in early 1861. The Departments of Oregon and California were merged together into the Department of the Pacific on January 15. Brevet Brigadier General and Colonel, 2nd U. S. Cavalry Albert Sidney Johnston, assumed command with headquarters in San Francisco. There were 143 officers and 2,245 enlisted men present for duty, in what was now the Department of the Pacific, as of December 30, 1860.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">There had been sectional tensions in California, particularly in the southern part of the state for years, both before and after it had been admitted to the Union September 9, 1850. As tension continued unabated, in isolated sections of California, Colonel A. S. Johnston continued to do his duty as a military officer however, in part, because of his strong ties to the south including his adopted state of Texas, which had succeeded on February 1, 1861, he was replaced by Brigadier General Edwin V. Sumner on March 23, 1861. Johnston would eventually resign from the United States Army May 3, 1861 and enter Confederate service as one of their fledgling army’s highest ranking officers. He was killed at the Battle of Shiloh April 6, 1862.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">On April 15,1861 when President Lincoln called for 75,000 troops tensions in Southern California rose. Captan Hancock was concerned about the safety of the vast quantity of government military stores and armaments he had in Los Angeles, as he was the only officer on hand. Upon assuming command, of the Department of the Pacific on April 25, Sumner noted “There is a strong Union feeling with the majority of the people of this State, but the secessionists are much the most active and zealous party, which gives them more influence than they ought to have from their numbers.” </span><span style="font-kerning: none;"> On April 29 Sumner ordered Fort Mojave abandoned and and the garrison sent to Los Angeles to make a show of force and assist Hancock. On May 3 Special Order No 71 directed “Company K, 1st Dragoons, will be detached, from Fort Tejon, and will proceed and take post at Los Angeles. </span><span style="color: #a30003; font-kerning: none;"> </span><span style="font-kerning: none;">Major James Carleton was directed to establish a camp at the most eligible position in the immediate vicinity of Los Angeles for his dragoons and the companies of infantry in route from Fort Mojave.</span><span style="color: #a30003; font-kerning: none;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">A number of Grimes Davis’s classmates who were with the 1st Dragoons, including William Dorsey Pender, Alfred B. Chapman, John T. Mercer and Horace Randall, resigned from the United States Army in the winter and early spring of 1861. All except Chapman donned Confederate Gray. Officers of the Army were required by General Order No. 13, issued by the War Department April 30, 1861, “to take and subscribe anew the oath of allegiance to the United States of America.” Special mention will be made of the failure to comply with the requirements of the order. </span><span style="font-kerning: none;">Lieutenants Milton T. Carr and Benjamin Franklin Davis honored both the oath of allegiance they had sworn to uphold at West Point and the one mandated by the April 30 order and stayed in the United States Army.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">Fort Tejon was closed, for all intents and purposes, on May 11, 1861. The troops manning garrison were moved closer to Los Angeles. Carleton, Davis and the rank and file of Company K left the post on that date in route to the City of Angles. On the 14th Major Carleton and “fifty mounted troopers from Company K” reportedly “trotted into Los Angeles, to the immense relief of Captain Hancock and the Union sympathizers in town.</span><span style="color: #a30003; font-kerning: none;"> </span><span style="font-kerning: none;">The officers and enlisted men of companies B and K 1st Dragoons were transferred to Camp Fitzgerald which was “on the southern outskirts of (Los Angeles), in line-of-sight with Captain Hancock’s Quartermaster building…Its location was at the base of the hill between 1st and 2nd Streets, on Front Street (now Broadway), and it initially consisted of eleven tents in a cleared area 100 yards wide and 150 yards long. ” They arrived there on May 15. This enabled “soldiers in blue to patrol the streets of Los Angeles”. </span><span style="color: #a30003; font-kerning: none;"> </span><span style="font-kerning: none;">A “Grand Union Demonstration” was held in Los Angeles on May 25. Union sympathizers “from as far away as San Pedro, guarded by army dragoons in full dress, gathered in the Plaza. The 1st Dragoon Band struck up a march. Civilians and soldiers marched toward the courthouse where Phineas Banning spoke as did Major Carleton and Captain Hancock. The dragoons “with their glittering sabres and burnished carbines” added to the dignity of the occasion”. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> The most eventful thing that probably happened to Lt. B. F. Davis while stationed at Camp Fitzgerald in the spring of 1861 occurred on May 23 when he had a run in with Company K’s farrier Morris Hurley. Private Hurley had enlisted in the 1st Dragoons in Boston, Massachusetts on September 8, 1857. His records of enlistment show him as a twenty-one year old blacksmith born in County Cork, Ireland, who stood five foot eight and one half inches tall, had grey eyes, brown hair and a fair complexion. If Hurley was 5’ 8” tall he would have been about as tall as Grimes Davis who, at age 18 in 1849, was 5’ 9 or 10” tall and weighted about 130 pounds.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Davis’s run in with Hurley is described in Three Dragoons on Trial a July 26, 2016 post by Will and John Gorenfield author’s of <u>Kearny’s Dragoons Out West The Birth of the U. S. Cavalry</u>. The two historians wrote: `It seems on the morning of 23 May 1861, Lt. Benjamin Davis found Farrier Hurley drunk. Hurley got into an altercation with Davis who had a sergeant arrest him. While in the guard tent, Hurley became loud and ill mannered, telling the other prisoners to leave the tent. Hearing the commotion Lieutenant Davis entered the tent and told Hurley to stop making noise. Hurley called the lieutenant a “damn son of a bitch,” ordering him out of the guard tent and threatening his life. Davis testified the drunken farrier began to shove him, first with his hands and then threatening death by pointing the muzzle of a Sharps carbine at Davis.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Hurley denied aiming the muzzle at Davis or threatening to kill him. He admitted to using the butt of the carbine to strike the lieutenant and produced witnesses to give his side of the fight. Unfortunately, most of the disturbance occurred inside of the guard tent and the prisoner’s witnesses did not observe what took place.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The Army charged Hurley with conduct to the prejudice of good order and military discipline. Hurley wasn’t charged with a violation of Articles 7 and 9 of the Articles of War with mutiny and striking a superior officer, each of which allow for the imposition of the death penalty. On 5 July 1861, the general court-martial panel, headed by Capt. John W. Davidson, 1st Dragoons, found Hurley guilty of the specifications and charge. It ordered him to suffer a forfeiture of pay and to be confined under guard for six months. During his confinement the farrier was to carry each day in prison a pack weighing fifty pounds.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">It is unlikely that Hurley served the entire sentence. Skilled farriers were difficult to come by, all the more so during wartime. Consequently, Maj. James Carleton testified Hurley, when sober, was a valuable soldier in his company. In the fall, Company K sailed for the East Coast and the civil war. Army records reveal Hurley served his full five year term enlistment and was honorably discharged in Mechanicsville, Virginia on September 8, 1862. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">In June the dragoons at Camp Fitzgerald were joined by Companies I and F of the 6th Infantry who arrived from Fort Mojave and San Diego. Lieutenant Davis was relieved as AAQM and ACS on June 20. He was then appointed post adjutant and took over commanded of the regimental band from Milton Carr. Camp Fitzgerald, which would be moved a total of three times during its short tenure as an army post at the start of the Civil War was relocated two miles south of Los Angeles adjacent to the San Pedro Road. The new camp site reportedly was able to accommodate a larger number of troops and provided better grazing for the horses.</span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; color: #a30003;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Benjamin Davis continued his duties as post adjutant and dragoons regimental band commander into July 1861. On July 14 Lt. Davis left Camp Fitzgerald on a special assignment and made a trip back to Fort Tejon to determine if there was any validity to the reports of citizens accusing Indians in the area of depredations and “threatening to make war”. On July 23 he submitted a report of his findings to Major Carleton. The report reads as follows:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Major: I have the honor to report that in compliance with your orders I left this camp the morning of the 14th and proceeded to Fort Tejon for the purpose of ascertaining the facts concerning certain reports made by the people of the vicinity that the Indians were committing depredations and threatening to make war on them. I arrived at that place on the 28th and made careful inquiries of Messers. Alexander, Barbee, Halpin, and other residents of the canon. From their statement it appears that when the troops left the fort the Indians came about in considerable number to pick up old rags, shoes, &c., as is usual with them in such cases, and Lieutenant Carr, the officer left in charge seems to have had some difficulty in getting rid of them. A few days afterwards two or three of these Indians got drunk at the “Yews” and on their way home attempted to throw a lariat over the head of a man whom they met coming up the can n a buggy. They also tried to break into the house of a Mrs. Welt, who lives below the fort, but she easily frightened them off by firing a pistol out the window. This seems to have been the extent of their depredations, and since that time they have been quiet and friendly. The apprehension that the people are under from the Indians may be judged of by the fact that most every family has them employed either as house servants or laborers, and they are well aware that it is in their power to prevent all trouble in the future by simply prohibiting the sale of liquor by any member of the community. I then proceeded to the settlements on the slough or South Fork of Kern River to inquire into the threatened depredations in those quarters. The story that these people tell is that an Indian boy told a Mrs Cottrell or Cottring that the Indians from the reservation were coming down when the corn got ripe to eat it up, and were then going to kill all the whites. This woman lives near her father, an old man named Bonny, who has also another daughter, Mrs Greenlis, who lives eight or ten miles down the slough. The old man becoming alarmed sent for this daughter, which caused the panic to spread to two or three other families in the neighborhood. They collected at his house and remained together three or four days, when, their fear having subsided, they returned to their homes. According to their own showing this is the only foundation for the reports which they circulated and the petition which they signed praying for protection. It is possible that some idle Indian boy may have amused himself by playing upon the fears of the women, but I believe the whole story to be a fabrication. Mr. Gale, an old mountaineer, who lives within a mile of Mr. Bonny, says he heard nothing of the matter until the people had returned to their homes, and James McKenzie, who lives near Greenlis, makes the same statement. I returned by the way of the reservation and had an interview with Mr. Bagchart, the newly appointed agent. He says that these reports about the Indians are false; that they are contented with their condition, and that he is well satisfied with their conduct. He also stated that he wanted no troops for protection against Indians. In this connection I would respectfully refer the general to the report which the gentleman has recently made to the Superintendent of Indian Affairs on this very point. The truth is that the people in the vicinity of Fort Tejon have lived so long upon Government patronage that they now find it difficult to do without it, and they will use every means to have troops restationed at that place.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In late July 1861 the headquarters of the 1st U. S. Dragoons was moved from Los Angeles to Fort Churchill, Nevada Territory. This did not affect Companies B & K who remained at Camp Fitzgerald near Los Angeles. On July 30, 1861 Lieutenant Benjamin F. Davis was promoted to Captain upon the dismissal from the service on the same date of Henry B. Davidson who had been the regimental quartermaster for the 1st Dragoons since December 5, 1858. 2nd Lieutenant George B. Sanford, who was attached to Company K but who had yet to join the regiment, was promoted to 1st Lieutenant filling Davis’s slot. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The 2nd U. S. Dragoons were also going through a transformation in July 1861. Colonel Philip St. George Cooke, who had 28 years of service with the dragoons, commanded the regiment and the Department of Utah from his headquarters at Camp Crittenden, Utah Territory. In late July the military forces at Camp Crittenden which included 4 companies of the 2nd U. S. Dragoons, 3 companies of the 4th U. S. Artillery and 2 companies of the Tenth Infantry were ordered to vacate the post and head east. They left there July 27 in route to Washington D.C. After leaving Fort Laramie Colonel Cooke left the group and took the stagecoach to Fort Leavenworth. On November 28 he assumed command of the regular cavalry serving with the Army of the Potomac outside Washington D.C. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On August 3, 1861 the 1st U. S. Dragoons, the oldest, longest serving mounted regiment in the United States Army would be renamed the 1st U. S. Cavalry. Many in the ranks of the Dragoons who had a proud history of service to the country were not happy with the new designation. The 2nd U. S. Dragoons would become the 2nd U. S. Cavalry. The original 1st and 2nd U. S. Cavalry, which dated from 1855, became the 4th U. S. Cavalry and 5th U.S. Cavlary.<span style="font-kerning: none;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">To be continued.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Most of the information in this post comes from Returns of U S Military Posts and from the Returns of the 1st U. S. Dragoons, and the Official Records of the War of the Rebellion. Additional information is extracted from newspapers, </span></span><span style="caret-color: rgb(163, 0, 3); font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">(Three Dragoons on Trial, July 26, 2016, www.achargeofthe</span><a href="http://dragoons.com/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">dragoons.com</span></a><span style="caret-color: rgb(163, 0, 3); font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">) and </span><span style="caret-color: rgb(163, 0, 3); font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Los Angeles in the Civil.</span></div>
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Sharon Murrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15667199358231667281noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3817053175516493678.post-27460817692334199012020-03-07T14:46:00.000-08:002020-03-10T05:28:51.865-07:00Benjamin Franklin Davis: Service in the 1st U. S. Dragoons Part III<div style="font-family: Tahoma; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
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On December 27, 1859 Benjamin F. Davis left Fort Tejon for Los Angeles on detached service. He was back at the fort by January 10, 1860. On the 10th Davis in command of thirty rank and file from Company B, which formed part of a squadron of 1st Dragoons commanded by Captain John W. Davidson, left the post for Los Angeles. They arrived there on the 11th after having traveled 105 miles in 33 hours. On the 12th the squadron attended the funeral of Brevet Major Edward H. Fitzgerald, Captain 1st Dragoons who had died On January 9, 1860 of tuberculosis at Los Angeles. Davidson and his squadron were back at Fort Tejon by January 18. </div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Brevet Major James H. Carleton, Company K, 1st Dragoons and Benjamin Davis left Fort Tejon on January 19 in route back to Los Angeles. Both men were assigned to court martial duty at Fort Yuma in accordance with Special Order No. 2, issued January 9 by the Department of the Pacific in San Francisco, which “orders a detail for court martial at Fort Yuma”. On Monday January 31 the young 2nd lieutenant left Los Angeles in the company of James Carleton, Lieutenant Julian McAllister and Lieutenant Chandler headed to Fort Yuma.</span><span style="color: #a30003; font-kerning: none;"> </span><span style="font-kerning: none;">Lt. Davis and his comrades would be relieved from court martial duty by mid February and he would be back at Fort Tejon by February 27. Upon his return to the fort Davis was put in charge of Company B. Milton Carr replaced Davis in command of the company in early March.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">On February 29, 1860 Dr. Jonathan Letterman arrived at Fort Tejon. He had been assigned to the post as an assistant surgeon. Letterman, the son of Dr. Jonathan Leatherman and his wife Anna Ritchie, was born in the southwestern Pennsylvania town of Canonsburg, December 11, 1824. He attended Jefferson College and Jefferson Medical School, graduating in March 1849. In June 1849 he joined the United States Army as an assistant surgeon. Dr Lettermen served in Florida, Minnesota, New Mexico Territory and Virginia before being assigned to Fort Tejon in 1860. </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">In April 1860 Company B and K, 1st Dragoons left Fort Tejon under the overall command of Major James H. Carleton to conduct a campaign against the Paiute (Pah-Ute) Indians in the Mojave Desert. They would not return to the post until July. Lieutenants Milton T. Carr and Benjamin F. Davis accompanied the detachment. Dr. Jonathan Letterman went along as assistant surgeon.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">The objective of the campaign was to punish the Paiutes who were accused of murdering three white men in the desert along the Salt Lake Trail which ran from Salt Lake City through Las Vegas to San Bernardino and terminated at Los Angeles. The first casualty was cattle herder Robert Wilburn, who was killed near the Mojave River on January 23, 1860. The second killings occurred at Bitter Springs on March 18 when two teamsters, Thomas Williams and his brother-in-law Jehu Jackson, were reportedly murdered by the Indians. The killings caused an uproar in Los Angeles. Citizens petitioned California’s Governor John G. Downey and the commander of the Department of California (formerly the Department of the Pacific), Brevet Brigadier General Newman S. Clarke “asking that the Pah-Utes be punished and a post established somewhere on the Salt Lake Trail for the protection of travelers”. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #a30003; font-kerning: none;"> </span><span style="font-kerning: none;">On April 5, 1860 Special Order No. 35 was drafted at San Francisco by command of Brevet Brigadier General Clarke: The order directed:</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">1. Major Carleton’s Company K 1st Dragoons (raised to 80 effective men and horses by detachments from the other companies serving at Fort Tejon) will proceed to the Mojave. </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">2. The Assistant Surgeon of the posts will accompany the troops.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">3. The Commanding officer at Fort Tejon will supply the command as far as the means at his disposal will permit and the assistant Quartermaster at Los Angeles (Captain Winfield S. Hancock) will furnish such additional supplies as are required by Major Carleton. </span><span style="color: #a30003; font-kerning: none;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">In an instructional letter accompanying the orders Carleton was directed to “proceed to Bitter Springs and chastise the Indians you find in the vicinity, then give them to understand that, they have been punished for the recent murder and that the punishment will be certain for future offenses and of increased severity…The punishment must fall on those dwelling nearest to the place of the murder or frequenting the water courses in the vicinity. The General wishes you on account of economy and expedition to move as light as possible, and that your arrangements shall be such as to enable him in future expeditions on the desert to give detailed instructions to officers of less experience than yourself.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Upon receipt of the orders preparations were made for the campaign. On April 12, as the command, including three commissioned officers, eighty-one rank and file, the assistant surgeon, two civilian guides, and an interpreter marched out of Fort Tejon in columns of four, followed by four wagons loaded with supplies, the regimental band played the music of a traditional English folk song from the Elizabethan Era “The Girl I left Behind Me”. The troops crossed Grapevine Creek and headed southward on the Los Angeles Road leaving a cloud of dust in their wake. On April 19, after covering about 170 miles in a week’s march, Carleton and him men arrived at a spot where “water came to the surface” a few miles east of the junction of the Mojave Road, which connected Los Angeles to Albuquerque, and the Salt Lake Road about 20 miles east of Barstow in San Bernardino County, California. Here they established a base camp called Camp Cady, after a friend of Carleton’s who was the commander at Fort Yuma, Major Albemarle Cady of the 6th U. S. Infantry. The Dragoons erected temporary shelters of brush and mud called “dugouts” which they lived in for three months while not out on frequent patrols in search of the Paiutes. Supplies, in addition to those brought from Fort Tejon, were shipped to the site from Los Angeles via Cajon Pass by Acting Quartermaster Captain Winfield Scott Hancock. Patrols would be sent out to all point of the compass from the base camp in search of Indians. </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">On April 19, 1860, while out on a scout southwest of Camp Cady, a detachment of Carleton’s command under 2nd Lt. Benjamin F. Davis encountered a group of Paiutes. In the skirmish that followed one Indian was killed and a second Indian taken prisoner, who was subsequently killed in an escape attempt. The bodies of the dead Indians were taken to Bitter Springs and reportedly hung on a gallows as a warning to the other Indian in the area. </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Potions of a letter written on April 22 by Dr. Letterman to Captain Hancock describing the engagement was published in the <u>Los Angeles Star</u> on April 28, 1860. Letterman noted: “ Davis killed two Indians on the 19th, in the mountains to the south-west from our camp, about twelve miles southwest of the fish-ponds. In the affray two men were seriously wounded - one in the neck and one in the abdomen, by one of the Indians. Both are doing well; the one wounded in the abdomen is not out of danger yet. One man received a flesh wound in the left shoulder from one of our men’s pistols. The Indian was surrounded so that there was no chance of escape, and he fought to the last. Davis, had a ride of fifty miles there and back, in about eight hours. The men all seemed to vie with each other, who should kill the rascal, and were perfectly fearless.” Letterman also noted “The Major (Carleton) and Davis are off beyond this place in different directions. I look for them back on the 26 or 27th” of April. </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">1st Lt. Milton Carr with 16 rank and file and guide David McKenzie left Camp Cady on April 30 on a ten day scouting expedition, heading in a northeasterly direction along the Mojave Road to Soda Springs and the Providence Mountains. Carr and his command attacked a group of Indians on May 2, killing three of the men, wounding another and taking a woman prisoner, without any loss to the Dragoons. By May 10 Carr was back at Camp Cady. Major Carleton reported to headquarters that “the heads of the Indians who were killed are hung upon the gibbit at Bitter Springs as a warning to the tribe for the murders committed there”. </span><span style="color: #a30003; font-kerning: none;"> </span><span style="font-kerning: none;">This did not go over well with department headquarters, however. On May 28 Wiliam W. Mackall, Clarke’s Assistant Adjutant General informed Carleton “Brigadier General Clarke has received your report of May 14, 1860. He desires you to give positive orders to prevent mutilation of the bodies of the Indians who may fall, and to remove evidence of such mutilations from the public gaze. He cannot approve of such acts, tho the effect upon the Indians may, or may be thought to be good”. </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Major Carleton and Lieutenant Davis both left Camp Cady on May 1. Davis and his command of 12 Dragoons left camp for Snow Mountain exploring the Mojave Desert southwest of the base camp for any sign of Indians. Davis was back in camp by May 5 having traveled 140 miles. In a letter drafted on May 14, 1860 accompanying the April Field Returns, sent to the Department of the Pacific, Carlton reported “Lt. Davis made several long marches, some of them by night, and swept over a good deal of the country from this camp (Cady) to the Point of Rocks and southward to the base of the great San Bernardino range of mountains. He did not succeed in finding any Indians. Major Carleton scouted to the south of Camp Cady and engaged the Indians on May 1. After a running fight Carleton "destroyed all their effects, burnt up their rancheria” and headed back toward Camp Cady. After Lieut. Davis’s scouting party alluded to (above) returned, (to camp) Major Carleton and Lieut. Davis with twenty men on foot made a night march and succeeded in getting to the highest point of the mountain. You can judge of the altitude: ice formed in our canteens. We were disappointed: the Indians had all fled. Their trails which have been cut by our scouting parties, indicate sixty or seventy, and they have all gone northward.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">On May 6 Carleton and Davis left Camp Cady with thirty-five enlisted men on another scout toward Rattlesnake Mountain. They were back in camp by the 9, having covered 80 miles.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">On May 14, Carleton, Davis, Dr. Letterman and forty rank and file, twenty five of whom were mounted, left Camp Cady on a ten day scout toward Las Vegas which was on the Salt Lake Trail northeast of Carleton’s base camp. After returning to camp on May 26 Carleton wrote the following report on May 28 outlining what happened on the scouting trip. He noted “The command reached Bitter Springs (on May 15). Here is was increased by 15 dismounted men. On the 16 after marching to a Dry Lake six miles in advance of Bitter Springs” the command was split. Carleton with fifteen mounted men, Dr. Letterman, an interpreter and four pack mules separated from Lt. Davis, scouting alone with his command with the intention of rejoining Davis at a spot on the Salt Lake Road southwest of Las Vegas called Mountain Springs. “Lieutenant Davis with twenty five dismounted men and McKenzie the guide proceeded with the provisions and forage in three wagons by the Kingston Springs Road”, an offshoot of the Salt Lake Road, toward Mountain Springs. Both Carleton and Davis were at the rendezvous point by May 17 however neither party had encountered any Indians. “Lt. Davis had been obliged from the breaking of a wheel to one of his wagons, to leave the wagon and its load of forage at Kingston Springs. He left a guard with it of a corporal and five men. One of his other wagons had upset in the night march, and a tire had come off the other, so he had been delayed a good deal on the road. These things are mentioned because they are really serious difficulties on these long stretches of dessert where one is without water, and when time becomes of great importance. Lt. Davis made up for all these embarrassments by promptness and energy, and arrived at Mountain Springs even before the hour agreed upon”. The combined command made it to Las Vegas by the 19th, stayed there until the 20th when they headed back to Camp Cady. “The distance to Las Vegas by the Amargosa (Carleton’s route) is 172 miles; by the other road (Davis’s route), in round numbers, 150 miles. The command marched it each way in five days, making over 300 miles in ten days on the desert. Very few Indians were encountered on the campaign although there signs were everywhere.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Lieutenant Milton Carr, with a detachment of twenty-two men left Camp Cady on a scout toward Soda Springs and the Providence Mountains on May 28. He was back at camp by June 6th. Second Lieutenant Grimes Davis left the base camp on May 30 with ten rank and file scouting toward the Rattlesnake Mountain. He returned without coming across any Indians. </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">On June 9 B. F. Davis was dispatched on another scouting mission, this time to “a snowy mountain to the north and west of Kingston Springs” now known as Telescope Peak which is within the confines of the current day Death Valley National Park. He would not return to Camp Cady until June 18. Accompanying Davis, as a scout, was an employee of Captain Hancock, Joel H. Brooks. Lieutenant Davis wrote a detailed report of his expedition on June 21, 1860 which he submitted to Major Carleton along with a map “Of a Reconnaissance of the Snow Mountain” showing the route he took into Death Valley.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"> I have the honor to report, that in pursuance of your directions to follow up the Indians in the direction of the large Snow Mountain, which lies to the Northwest, I left this place on the 9th instant with a detachment of thirty-five men and marched to the Turtle Springs, distance twenty-five miles. These springs are in a sandy ravine, about three miles to the northwest of the dry lake which you see to the left in going to Bitter Springs. There are three holes, two of which will contain 100 gallons, the other about 20. The water runs in very slowly. We were able to get half enough for our animals.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">June 10. We started at sunrise, passed the western end of Bitter Spring Mountain, then crossed a dry lake (Bicycle Lake) and ascended a long slope to the slope of a granite mountain (present day Granite Mountain) which runs east and west; after crossing some rough spurs we descended into the plain on the northern side. There the guide Mr. Brooks expected to find water, but failed. Sergeant McCleave while examining a ravine found two Indians; he gave chase but they escaped up the mountain. Here we also found some water in a granite hole, but only enough to give the men a drink.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">As the animals began to suffer it became necessary to push for the nearest water, which was Saratoga Springs. This place was reached at 9 o’clock at night, having traveled over fifty miles. The horses suffered so much, that most of the men were compelled to throw away their barley. </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">June 11. We remained in camp to recuperate till 6 o’clock in the evening. The Saratoga Springs is on the northern side of the Valley of the Amagosia; at the foot of a low black mountain which projects well into the valley from the General range on the west. It is twelve of fifteen miles due west of Salt Spring. It is a hole ten or twelve feet in diameter and three or four feet deep; the water boils up through quick sand holes in the bottom. The stream from it runs several hundred yards and forms two or three considerable lakes. Wood is plenty. The grazing is not good; there is some little grass and cane. Left camp at 6 o’clock p.m. and marched fifteen miles.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">June 12. At daylight we could see the Snow Mountain to the west, apparently twenty or twenty-five miles distant. We marched till 12 o’clock, when having passed the point at which the guide expected to find water, we halted and sent out parties to hunt for it. The day was intensely hot and the men began to suffer for water. Brooks returned at 2 o’clock but without success. At 4 o’clock we mounted and pushed on and found water after traveling five miles. The other party returned at 10 at night, having found water 15 miles up a canon on the mountain.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">June 13. We remained in camp, to rest the horses and the men. We were now at the foot of the mountain for which we had been aiming. The valley of the Aqua Magosia is here, ten miles wide and runs due north toward a large mountain, which appears to be 40 miles distant. It then turns to the west. The stream rises in a lake on the western slope of the above mentioned mountain and runs east and southeast to Salt Spring. It then turns west, northwest and finally due north to within 20 miles of its source, when it again turns to the west and is lost in the Desert.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Above Salt Spring there is said to be plenty of water, but below its valley consists of a series of dry lakes, interspersed with patches of lumpy soil which has been deposited by the salty waters of the river during freshets. </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">I took a party of men in the afternoon and travelled into the mountain ten miles and encamped for the night. I estimate the mountain 7000 feet above the valley. The snow still lies in small patches on the summit. There is also some Pinon timber on its top; but it is neither so well watered nor timbered as one would expect. There were no fresh Indian signs in the vicinity; a few old Indian huts in the valley and rancheros in the mountain show that they live here a certain season. Mr. Brooks says they are not the Pah-Utes; he calls them Ponomints and says they live in the valley from this point down. They do not speak the same language as the Pah-Utes and make war upon each other. Their Head Quarters are on a stream about 40 miles farther down the valley.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">July 14th We returned to camp at 9 o’clock a.m. I have called this water Ponomint Springs, from the name of the Indians who inhabit the valley. There is a large patch of grass, three or four hundred acres in extent, in which the water is found any where in great abundance by digging two or three feet. They are on the western side of the valley about 45 miles from Saratoga Springs.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">It is evident that the Indians we were in pursuit of, were not in this part of the country, but that they were still farther to the south and west, and that failing to find the 2nd water, had thrown us out of our course too much to the right; as the barley was entirely gone and rations were getting short, I determined to return. We turned around on the evening of the 14th and reached this camp (Cady) on the 18th instant. </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I am Major, Very Respy, Yr Obt Servt. B. F. Davis, 2nd Lt 1st Dgs.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"> </span>An article in the July 8, 1860 <u>Daily National Democrat</u> mentioned Lt. B. F. Davis’s scout noting “Lieutenant Davis, in command of a scouting party from Camp Cady made a journey lately from camp to a point distant about forty miles, in search of Indians, to a part of the Desert, where water is usually found, and where the Indians are known to frequent. Depending on the spring for water, he took a supply sufficient only for the outward journey, but on arriving at the place, he found that the water was exhausted, and the place desiccated, which caused great suffering to all the party. However, they succeeded in getting back to camp, greatly debilitated, having undergone great suffering”.</div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">After Davis’s scout failed to find the illusive Indians the party had been in search of Major Carleton decided to call off the campaign and take his command back to Fort Tejon. Carleton notified headquarters he would abandon Camp Cady on July 3, 1860. On July 2nd however, probably much to the surprise of the whole command “three Pah-Utes Chiefs appeared on the hill south of camp with a white flag. They came to hear the white man’s team for peace”. Carleton held a council with around 27 of the Indians and executed a treaty. </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Carleton and his dragoons evacuated Camp Cady on July 3 and were back at Fort Tejon by July 9, 1860. Lt. Davis and Dr. Letterman did not return to Fort Tejon with the rest of the command, instead they headed toward Los Angeles on detached service. Davis might have gone there to settle his accounts as AAQM and ACS for the Pah-Ute Campaign with Captain Hancock. Carleton’s Field Returns for July also mention 1st Lieutenant B. F. Davis was transferred by promotion to Company K, 1st Dragoons and indicate he was “temporarily attached to Co. “K” 1st Dragoons June 19, 1860”.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">To be continued. </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"> Considerable information about the Pah-Ute Campaign comes from </span><u>Carleton’s Pah-Ute Campaign</u> by Dennis G. Casebier, King Press, Norco, California, June 1972 . Additional information is derived from newspapers and Returns from Military Posts and Returns of the 1st U. S. Dragoons.</div>
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Sharon Murrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15667199358231667281noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3817053175516493678.post-17901282304830431232020-02-17T11:28:00.000-08:002020-02-19T06:46:02.043-08:00Benjamin Franklin Davis: Service in the 1st U S Dragoons, Part II<br />
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While most of the 1st Dragoons who were stationed at Camp Moore were on campaign against the Apache in May and June 1857 the post at Camp Calabasas was abandoned and moved closer to Tucson. Fort Buchanan, named in honor of President James Buchanan, was established in June 1857 40 miles from Tucson and 25 miles northeast of Camp Moore “on a slightly timbered bench above the junction of the Sonoita and Santa Cruz Rivers” in what is now Santa Cruz County, Arizona.<br />
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Accommodations at Fort Buchanan were primitive at best. Like most frontier forts erected in the era the buildings were not surrounded by walls or palisades because “they were designed primarily as shelter for small communities of officers, enlisted men, family members and civilian camp followers rather than defensive structures” which enabled the Indians to roam about the grounds at will, especially at night. In a February 1859 “Sanitary Report - Fort Buchanan, (Arizona), Assistant Surgeon B. I. D Irwin noted “Fort Buchanan consists of a series of temporary jacal (jackal) buildings, which have been erected from time to time, over a distance of a half mile, and built without any regard to the permanent occupation of the present immediate location. The site of these buildings is irregularly elevated some thirty or forty feet above the level of the surrounding cienega, a swampy morass which encircles it on the east, south and western aspect. The structures used as quarters for the men, most of those used by the officers, the laundresses quarters, storerooms, and workshops are formed of pickets placed perpendicular to the ground, the chinks filled with mud, and the roofs covered with the same material. The chinking remains only long enough to dry, shrink and tumble out, never to be replaced.” The rooms were low, narrow and lacked, neatness, comfort and ventilation.<br />
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Health and morale at Fort Buchanan were chronically low throughout the years the site was occupied, in part because the post was very remote but also because the fort had been established in an area that was inherently unhealthy. The marshy cienegas (springs) where malarial mosquitoes breeding grounds. According to Surgeon and Medical Director William J. Sloan intermittent and remittent fever was prevalent, especially during the rainy season.</div>
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Grimes Davis continued in command of Company B, 1st Dragoons at Fort Buchanan throughout September 1857. Alfred B. Chapman of Company K was absent on leave. Another classmate Horace Randall was also at Fort Buchanan assigned to Company G, 1st Dragoons.<br />
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On October 31, 1857, a little less than a year after the original event occurred, 2nd Lt. Davis wrote a letter to the the Adjutant General in Washington D.C., in response to correspondence he had received from that office. He noted in his letter “I have just received a letter from the War Department informing me that I have been reported to the President for dismissal for non rendition of accounts for the 3rd quarter of 1856.” Davis continues his response by noting “the only accounts which I had open with the government at that time, was for three hundred dollars of quartermaster money received from Lieutenant (Milton) Cogswell, AAQM, 8th Infantry, at Fort Stanton, N.M., about the 10th of August. This money was for the purchase of forage for the company whilst in route to (Arizona). As the command did not arrive there until sometime in November it was not convenient to make out the account until the last quarter of 1856. The returns were then sent to the proper office, but through some neglect, without the necessary explanation…In conclusion I would state that all my accounts with the government of whatever nature will be closed by this mail.” Davis letter would be received in the office of the Adjutant General January 2, 1858 and must have resolved any issues regarding his dismissal from the service.</div>
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The remainder of 1857 passed without notice. January 1858 saw both Captain John W. Davidson and 2nd Lieutenant Benjamin F. Davis away from Fort Buchanan on detached service. 1st Lt. Orren Chapman remained at the fort in command of the enlisted men of Company B who were there present for duty. He was sick much of the time however. Both Davidson and Davis left the fort on January 30, 1858. Davidson returned on the 1st. Grimes Davis was back at the fort on the 6th. Both men left again on February 15 and did not return until March 7. They were probably out scouting however the returns are not specific as to their whereabouts. By April 30, 1858 Benjamin Davis was in command of Company B at Fort Buchanan because both his superior officers were sick. <br />
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In early May 1858, the 72 enlisted men and 2 officers of Company B and the 71 rank and file and 3 officers of Company K, 1st Dragoons were transferred from Fort Buchanan, New Mexico to Fort Tejon, California in the Department of the Pacific, in accordance with General Order No. 5 Headquarters of the Army, issued January 27, 1858. The order specified “ Two companies of the 1st Dragoons at Fort Buchanan will remain to garrison the post. The other two only are transferred to the Department of the Pacific and will march for Yuma accordingly.” Companies B & K left Fort Buchanan May 11, 1858, in route to California. Companies D & G 1st Dragoons remained at Fort Buchanan. <br />
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Fort Tejon had been established in August 1854 in Grapevine Canyon about fifteen miles southwest of the Sebastian (Tejon) Indian Reservation south of present day Bakersfield, California. The wagon road running between San Francisco and Los Angeles ran in an east - west direction just north of the main complex. Joseph Mansfield noted in a February 1859 inspection report “the post is situated in the Paso de Las Uvas,… about six miles from the outlet into the Tulare or San Joaquin Valley at an elevation of about 2500 feet in vertical altitude above the valley; and in consequence is cold and damp, and an unpleasant climate through the whole fall, winter and spring, and on the 1st and 2nd of this month the ground was white with snow and ice. <br />
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The post is 374 miles from San Francisco, and 100 miles from Los Angeles, and all of its supplies are received through that place having first been landed at (the port of) San Pedro, and transported 25 miles by land. Thus 382 miles from Fort Yuma via Los Angeles, Temecula and Cariso Creek.<br />
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An August 13, 1858 article in the Baltimore Sun noted: “Captain John W. Davidson of the first dragoons with his command, consisting of companies B & K, numbering about 150 men, arrived at San Bernardino on the 18 ultimo (probably June 18, 1858) from Fort Buchanan having left that place on the 12th of May last. Lieutenants B. F. Davis and A. B. Chapman are with the command.” They would all arrive at Fort Tejon on July 7, 1858, having “joined by transfer from Fort Buchanan.” <br />
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On June 22, 1858, probably while at San Bernardino, Lt. Davis, Acting Assistant Quartermaster (AAQM), executed a contract with Phineas Banning, the owner of a stagecoach line and freighting business, who later in life would be known as “the father of the Port of Los Angeles”, for the transportation of supplies. Banning was to “furnish 5 10-mule teams, with good wagons, drivers, wagon-masters etc., each of the teams to be capable to convey 7000 pounds, of such supplies as shall be designated, from San Bernardino to Fort Tejon. The teams to leave the port of San Pedro on the 22nd of June 1858 and go to San Bernardino and load, and leave for Fort Tejon June 25, 1858. Compensation $30 per day for each team in going from and returning to San Pedro.” <br />
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On June 29, 1858 Davis signed a second contract with Banning again for the transportation of supplies. This contract called for Banning to furnish “1 10-mule team, wagon, driver, and wagon-master; the team to be capable to convey 7000 pounds of supplies from Los Angeles to Fort Tejon. The team to leave the port of San Pedro June 29, 1858 and to go to Los Angeles, and load, and leave there for Fort Tejon June 30, 1858. Compensation $30 per day from port San Pedro to Fort Tejon, and returning. (ibid) </div>
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When Company B and K, 1st Dragoons arrived at Fort Tejon on July 7, Company F was assigned to the fort. Company F was under the command of 2nd Lt. John T Mercer a classmate of Chapman and Davis. They had a short time to reminisce before Mercer and his command departed for Stockton, California on July 8. <br />
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Upon arrival at Fort Tejon 2nd Lieutenant Davis was appointed AAQM and Acting Assistant Commissary of Subsistence (AACS) for the fort, replacing 1st Lt. William T. Magruder who had previously held the positions. Grimes Davis would serve as the post AAQM and AACS until early December when the regimental quartermaster, 1st Lieutenant Henry Brevard Davidson, a Mexican War hero and 1853 West Point graduate, relieved him. <br />
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In early October 1858 Benjamin Davis was on detached service for a number of days, otherwise he appears to have remained at Fort Tejon most of the time from his arrival there in July through the end of December 1858. His duties as AAQM could have included being responsible for the civilian employees who worked at the fort including a wheelwright, six carpenters, four masons, a sawyer, three herders, four laborers and six teamsters.<br />
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One perk associated with being stationed at Regimental Headquarters of the 1st U. S. Dragoons was that the regimental band was there as were the field and staff officers. The band was probably made up of sixteen musicians in accordance with Army regulations. The regimental band of the 1st Dragoons was described by someone who saw it in September 1854 at Fort Union, New Mexico. An observer noted in his diary, “the band came out and played today. They were all mounted on black horses. They looked fine and played well. This is the first brass band I have heard since 1850. The first tunes played was “Old Folks at Home” and “Sweet Home.” <br />
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January 1859 finds 2nd Lieutenant B. F. Davis at Fort Tejon commanding Company B, 1st Dragoons up through January 8 when he is relieved by John Davidson who returned to the post from detached service. On January 9, 2nd Lieutenant Alfred B. Chapman, of Company K, was promoted to 1st Lieutenant of Company B, replacing Orren Chapman who had died January 6 in St. Louis. Chapman might not have received notice of this promotion until early April. He left Fort Tejon April 7 on leave and did not return until May 9 when he joined Company B from leave. Chapman’s promotion and transfer put Grimes Davis’s classmate immediately over him in the command structure of Company B. </div>
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In February 1859 Inspector General Joseph K. F. Mansfield arrived at Fort Tejon. He would remain at the post until March 3rd. While at the fort Mansfield reported on Company B. In an inspection report written March 5, 1859 and submitted to Bvt. Major General Irwin W. McDowell at Army Headquarters Mansfield report “Company B, 1st Dragoons, Captain J. W. Davidson (commanding) had been stationed here since July 1858. The company did not have a 1st Lieutenant. B. F. Davis served as 2nd Lieutenant. The company had 4 sergeants, 4 corporals, 1 farrier and 48 privates “of which 3 were sick, 7 confined and 16 on on extra duty and 57 horses.” </div>
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Mansfield noted “the company is armed with Model 1833 (Ames) sabres, Sharps Carbines and Colt belt pistols. It was in uniform, except for the cap, of the old pattern. ( In 1858 a new uniform had been prescribed for the two regiments of dragoons consisting of a “refined” version of the 1854 jacket, dark blue trousers, and a new “Hardee” hat of stiff black felt with a folded brim, ostrich feather, orange cord and brass company letters.) No sword knots—was neat on inspection, and appeared with arms in order. There was a deficiency of clothing of all kinds - some had no stocks on. The company is quartered in a good adobe building, shingled; but the mess, room and kitchen, not yet worked in and a temporary one in use. There were no bunks yet made.”</div>
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Map Fort Tejon from Mansfield's 1859 Inspection Report </div>
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“The horses were kept in temporary stables. There was no long forage on hand…For the last 7 months (the horses) have had but half long forage…The horses are daily herded on the scanty grass in the neighborhood within 8 miles. Barley is had in abundance.” <br />
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Mansfield’s report also described the Fort Tejon in some detail. He noted “There is no garden here, and no grazing of consequence for animals short of five miles. There is, however, a good spring of water, and abundant oak for fuel. It is particularly exposed to earthquakes, and every building is cracked by them; and on one occasion the gabled ends of two buildings were thrown down by earthquakes: in a few miles off, I saw an immense crack and crevice in the earth extending for many miles, caused recently by them…One person has been killed by the fall of an adobe building, and a cow has been swallowed up. <br />
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”On February 22 Mansfield reviewed and inspected Companies K & B of the 1st U. S. Dragoons. After the inspection and review were completed Mansfield noted the 2 companies of dragoons were “resolved into a squadron. I put Maj. (James H.) Carleton in command, in the absence of Lt. Col. Benjamin L. Beall at Los Angeles; and the following named officers to wit, Capt. J. W. Davidson, 1st Lieut. Charles H. Ogle, 2d Lieut. B.F. Davis, each in succession took the squadron through the various movements and the sabre exercise with the exception of the charge, which, with little practice they had it was deemed advisable not to attempt, and finally Major Carleton drilled the squadron as skirmishers both as mounted and dismounted. The squadron was broken up, and each company fired at the targets 6’ x 22” mounted, with Sharps carbine at 100 yards…They then fired at the same target 20 yards with Colts pistols and mounted…On the 23rd both Companies fired at the same target with Sharps carbines, on foot, at 100 yards…The men fired at will.”<br />
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“On the whole the military exercises were conducted by Major Carleton, and indicate a better state of military instruction and target firing in our service can be had if the rank and fire are properly instructed. These companies have been practicing at the targets preparatory to taking the field on the Mojave River, and Major Carleton on the day of my arrival, paid three premiums out of company fund for the 3 best shots. <br />
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Officers Quarters Fort Tejon (LOC image)<br />
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Benjamin Davis would remain at Fort Tejon through the early spring of 1859. On May 2, 1859 he left the post on detached service headed for San Francisco. He would not return until September 27. He could have gone overland some 300 miles to San Francisco or by ship from the Port of San Pedro. When exactly he arrived at the bay city is unclear. After arriving in San Francisco it is likely 2nd Lt. Davis went to Benecia Barracks and picked up the “35 recruits from Fort Walla Walla, (Washington Territory) in route to Fort Crook” that had arrived at the barracks on June 17 with 2nd Lt. George B. Dandy of the 3rd Infantry. Davis and 34 recruits left San Francisco in mid to late June traveling to Fort Crook in accordance with Special Order #56 Department of California, dated June 15, 1859. <br />
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Fort Crook, named after 1st Lieutenant George Crook of the 4th Infantry, was established on the north bank of the Falls River seven miles north of the Pitt River Ferry (Lockhart’s Ferry) in Shasta County on July 1, 1857, by Captain John W. T. Gardiner and forty-seven rank and file of Company A 1st Dragoons, to protect miners, settlers and travelers on the wagon road between Yreka and Red Bluffs, California. The post was established, in part, to address the murder of five white men, the burning of their homes, mill and two ferries by the Pitt River Indians earlier in the year in retaliation for depredation of the whites against Indian women. <br />
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After covering over 250 miles, Grimes Davis and his detachment of recruits arrived at Fort Crook, which was garrisoned by Companies A & F, 1st Dragoons, in July 1859. It was noted in the post returns “Lt Davis having lost the descriptive roll of these men, nothing definite is known regarding them.” Before leaving Fort Crook, to head back to San Francisco, Lt. Davis was probably able to catch up with two classmates from West Point, 1st Lt Milton T. Carr, Company A, 1st Dragoons and 2nd Lt. John T. Mercer of Company F. <br />
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Benjamin Davis was back in San Francisco, at the Presidio, by July 22, 1859. In a letter dated July 23, Headquarters, Presidio, Lt. Colonel Charles S. Merchant wrote, “I have the honor to report the departure on the 22nd of the U. S. troops under the command of 2nd Lt. B. F. Davis, 1st Dragoons.” Davis and the 32 recruits under his command, destined for Company C, 6th U. S. Infantry, were outbound on board the government transport brig (a two masted sailing vessel) Floyd for Yuma via the Port of San Pedro. Once the recruits got to San Pedro they could go overland to the mouth of the Colorado River where they could catch a steamboat for the 160 mile trip up the river to Fort Yuma. <br />
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In 1859 San Francisco city and county were the largest metropolitan areas in California, boasting a population of over 36,150 people in 1852 of which approximately 30,150 were white males. Los Angeles county and the city of Los Angeles, which were close to Fort Tejon, in contrast, had a population of about 7,800. Although everything was expensive in post gold rush era San Francisco it must have been exciting for young Benjamin Davis to spend a few days in the cosmopolitan city by the Golden Gate after spending most of the time since graduating from West Point in small, remote, isolated army posts with a few hundred army officers, enlisted men, contractors and camp followers. <br />
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The remainder of Company C, 6th U. S. Infantry had left the Presidio in San Francisco on July 15, just days before Davis sailed with his recruits. They arrived at Fort Yuma on August 1, 1859. The Returns for the 6th Infantry indicate Davis and his recruits arrived at Fort Yuma sometime in August 1859 as they were included on the months roster as present for duty. <br />
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By August 12 2nd Lieutenant Davis had another assignment. The post returns for Fort Tejon reported Davis on detached service since August 13 to the Colorado River in accordance with a post order dated August 12, 1859. It is unclear what this assignment entailed however, it would keep him away from Fort Tejon until September 27, 1859. <br />
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In his almost 5 months away from Fort Tejon on detached service Grimes Davis had traveled almost the entire length of the State of California. He went from Fort Tejon in Kern County to San Francisco, from San Francisco to Fort Crook in Shasta County, a distance of over 550 miles, and back to San Francisco, thence by sea to the port of San Pedro and on to Fort Yuma and finally back to Fort Tejon. One officer in charge of more than 30 recruits who at anytime might elect to desert and make a beeline for the gold fields. Not only did he have to keep the men in line he also probably had to take care of all the logistics for the expedition and ensure there was adequate food for the men and forage for their horses, if they had them of the trip between San Francisco and Fort Crook. It must have been an interesting, educational and at times trying summer for the young officer. <br />
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After returning to Fort Tejon Davis was back in command of Company B, 1st Dragoons for periods of time in October and November 1859. 1st lieutenant Milton T. Carr was transferred from Company A to Company B on September 27, replacing 1st Lt. Alfred Chapman who joined Company A. Carr would not join Company B at Fort Tejon until December 24, however. Captain John W. Davidson retained command of Company B. He had spent periods of the year on detached service campaigning against the Mojave, settling a despite at the San Sebastian Reservation and leading an expedition to Owens Lake River wherein the troops under his command marched 630 miles between July 21 and August 18. <br />
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To be continued. <br />
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Most of the information in this post comes from the "Returns from Military Posts, 1806-1916" and "U. S. Returns from Regular Army - Non Infantry Regiments, 1821 - 1916.<br />
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Mansfield's Inspection Report was downloaded from the following site. (Inspection Report and Muster Roll, Ft. Tejon 28 February 1859, downloaded January 18, 2020 from <a href="http://www.chargeofthedragoons.com/2009/09/fort-tejon-muster-28-february-1859/">http://www.chargeofthedragoons.com/2009/09/fort-tejon-muster-28-february-1859/</a>)<br />
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Sharon Murrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15667199358231667281noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3817053175516493678.post-27074428896566826052019-08-25T06:39:00.002-07:002022-08-24T03:16:50.069-07:00Benjamin Franklin Davis: Service in the 1st U S Dragoons<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Benjamin Franklin Davis graduated from West Point June 16, 1854 and was commissioned a brevet 2nd Lieutenant in the 5th U S Infantry. Upon graduation he returned to Aberdeen, Mississippi where he awaited orders to travel to his duty station Ringgold Barracks, which was just north of the Rio Grande River about 100 miles up river from Brownsville, Texas. After a 5 month leave of absence Davis arrived at Ringgold Barracks and joined Company C, 5th U S Infantry on December 24, 1854. Colonel Gustavus Loomis of the 5th Infantry commanded the post. Brevet 2nd Lieutenants Stephen D. Lee (Company D, 4th Artillery) and David H. Brotherton (Company G, 5th Infantry), classmates of Davis's at West Point, were at the camp when Davis arrived, having preceded him by about two weeks.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Brevet 2nd Lt. Davis's stay at Ringgold appears to have been uneventful. The post returns show him at the fort from December 24, 1854 until June 23, 1855. On May 23, 1855, Benjamin F. Davis and four of his classmates William D. Pender (2nd Artillery), Alfred B. Chapman (3rd Artillery,) John T. Mercer (6th Infantry) and Horace Randal (8th Infantry) were appointed 2nd Lieutenants, "to take rank therein from March 3, 1855" in the 1st Dragoons to fill the vacancies of field officers in that regiment. </span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Between 1848 and 1853 the United States gained over 1.5 million acres of land from Mexico and England through conquest, treaty and land sales. As the country expanded westward military forces were needed to establish forts along the major transportation corridors to protect immigrants and settlers from the Indians. They also patrolled the boarder between Mexico and the United States to help prevent depredation from Indians, Mexicans and Americans on both sides of line separating the two countries. The Dragoons were in the forefront of the military's efforts to establish forts as well as in their dealing with the Indians. Benjamin Davis and a number of his classmates would be actively engaged in fort building, scouting and in periodic battles and skirmishes with the Indians in some of the countries most remote and inhospitable environs between 1855 and the fall of 1861.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">2nd Lt. Davis left Ringgold Barracks on June 23, 1855 in route to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas where he arrived on August 3, 1855. On September 23 Davis, Pender and Chapman left Fort Leavenworth headed for Jefferson Barracks near St Louis and eventually to Fort Columbus on Governors Island in New York Harbor. Davis and Pender arrived in New York on October 2, 1855. They departed the fort at noon on October October 25, 1855, aboard the <i>SS Prometheus</i>, with a detachment of recruits in route to New Mexico Territory, via Corpus Christi, Texas, to join their regiment.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">On January 15, 1856 2nd Lt. Davis and the recruits under his jurisdiction arrived at Fort Fillmore, New Mexico territory. The fort was on the Rio Grande not far from the boarder with Mexico. It had been established in 1851 to protect immigration routes between El Paso and Tucson. Davis was temporarily attached to Company B, 1st Dragoons (that assignment was made official March 5, 1856) who were at the fort under the command of Captain John W. Davidson (West Point Class of 1845). He would remain at the fort throughout February and March 1856. On April 15, Davidson, Davis and Company B, 1st Dragoons departed Fort Fillmore for their permanent home Fort Stanton.</span><br />
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Map of Forts in New Mexico Territory</div>
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Benjamin Davis arrived at Fort Stanton with Company B on April 24, 1856. The military post at Fort Stanton, which is southeast of Albuquerque, and northeast of Fort Fillmore was established in 1855 to protect settlements along the Rio Bonita and control the Mescalero Apache. In 1856 the fort was staffed by Company B, 1st Dragoons, Company A & E, Third Infantry and Company E 8th Infantry Four days after his April 24 arrival, Davis was sent out on detached service to a grazing camp near the fort.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> Fort Stanton, circa 1887</span></div>
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">B. F. Davis returned to Fort Stanton from the grazing camp on May 19, 1856. On May 21 he left the fort on a scout with Captain Davidson to the Pecos River in an attempt to open communications with Captain John Pope who was attempting to drill artesian wells in the Llano Estacado in Texas. Davidson & Davis would not arrive back at Fort Stanton until June 16, 1856. </span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Company B of the 1st Dragoons would remain at Fort Stanton through July 1856. Orders were issued July 28, 1856 transferring Company B to Fort Thorn. Fort Thorn, originally called Cantonment Garland after John Garland was located about 50 miles northwest of Fort Fillmore on the west bank of the Rio Grande. Davis and Company B left Fort Stanton on August 11, 1856 to establish a grazing camp near Fort Thorn. They arrived at the grazing camp in early September. where they were joined Companies D, G & K, 1st Dragoons. </span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Company B left the grazing camp October 19 headed for Tucson about 340 miles northwest of First Thorn where Major Enoch Steen was directed to establish a fort. Steen was not happy with the facilities at Tucson so he headed south about 60 miles to the Calabasa (Calabaza) Ranch near the Santa Cruz River where he found good water and abundant grass. Calabasa Camp/Ranch was a stone fortress erected by the Mexicans in 1837 south of Tumacacori, New Mexico (now Arizona). B. F. Davis and Company B, 1st Dragoons arrived at Camp Calabasa November 2, 1856. Steen would name his new post, established at the ranch, Camp Moore. The camp commanded by Steen, was originally garrisoned by 2 squadrons of the 1st Dragoons containing 253 men and 228 serviceable horses. Company B was commanded by Captain Davidson, Company D by 1st Lt. Milton Carr, Company G by Captain Richard S. Ewell, and Company K by 1st Lt. David H. Hastings.</span><br />
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Map of (Camp) Calabasas and Fort Buchanan</div>
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Captain Davidson left Camp Moore on leave of absence on December 28, 1856 leaving 2nd Lt. Benjamin Davis in command of Company B. He would not return until October 1857. In January 1857 Davis left the post on detached service with 34 troops in pursuit of Indians. Captain Ewell was also in the field with men of G company marking the wagon road to Rio San Pedro. In March B. F. Davis would again be on detached service, having left Camp Moore on March 9, in pursuit of deserters. He did not return until sometime in April.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">On May 2, 1857 Captain Richard Ewell, 2nd lieutenants Alfred Chapman and Benjamin Davis left Camp Moore with 103 rank and file and headed in a northeasterly direction through the Chiricahua Mountains in search of Indians. Ewell established a camp in the mountain stronghold of the Apache on May 12 and went on a 7 day scout with Chapman and 65 men in search of the Indians who eluded them. A day after arriving back at his base camp Ewell struck out again in search of his nemesis. The second night out Ewell found the Apache and was engaged in hit and run fighting with them for several days before disengaging and heading off to join Colonel Benjamin L. E. Bonneville's (West Point Class of 1815) Gila River Expedition. Colonel Bonneville had organized the expedition to punish the Indians for the death of Indian Bureau agent Henry L. Dodge, who had been captured and killed by the Mogollon in early February 1857. The Coyotero and Mogollon Apache had increased their raiding and depredation in the area, in part because they were unhappy with the increased U S military and civilian presence in their ancestral homeland. Ewell's command arrived at Bonneville's Gila River depot on June 8, 1857.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> Once all the the forces were organized to participate in his expedition Colonel Bonneville split his command into 2 columns a northern one commanded by Colonel William W. Loring and a southern one under the command of Lt. Colonel Dixon S. Miles (West Point Class of 1824). Loring lead his troops out of Albuquerque on May 1. He arrived at the Gila River depot on May 18. Loring engaged the Mimbres Apache (who had no involvement with Dodge's death) on May 24, 1857 at their camp in the Black Range in what is now the Gila National Forest in Grant and Sierra Counties in New Mexico. He killing 7 warriors, captured 9 other and recovered about 2000 head of sheep that had reportedly been stolen.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">The southern column was split into two parts, one under Richard Ewell and the other under Dixon Miles. On June 24 Ewell’s command, including the three regiments of Dragoons, the Mounted Rifles and a battalion each of the 3rd and 8th Infantry were “sent to operate against the Indians reported in advance” by Mexican and Pueblos scouts and spies. “Captain Ewell, with twenty infantry and forty mounted dragoons, with all the officers under his command except Lieutenant Edson, endeavored to surround the camp. The guides and spies captured a woman, but the command was discovered. In this march Captain Ewell’s command suffered much, having to sustain itself by killing some of the Indian ponies they had captured.” </span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; color: #a30003; font-kerning: none;"> </span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">Ewell and his command continued toward the Gila River where the spies reported more Indians. Late on the evening of June 27 the Pueblos scouts “soon discovered Indian signs (on the Gila River about 35 miles north of Mount Graham near present day Stafford, Arizona) and told me to go in with my people. The dragoons were hurried on, and soon came on a (Coyotero) Apache camp on the river bank, partly surrounded by thick brush. Lieutenant (Isaiah N.) Moore* (Company K, 1st Dragoons) led the head of the column through the village and across the river, taking up such a position as to cut off all retreat (to Mount Turnbull). This well-timed movement went far toward securing the decisive results.” The Apache were caught completely by surprise and suffered severely because of it. </span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">(Ewell’s Report, San Lucia, July 13, 1857 in Report of the Secretary of War)</span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">. </span></span></div>
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"> “The dragoons having cut off the retreat of the Indians to the mountains on the left bank, the Mounted Rifles charged on the right bank, and prevented escape in that direction. The 3rd and 8th Infantry under Lieuts (William Dennison) Whipple** and (Alexander E.) Steen)*** and Lieuts (Thomas Klug) Jackson**** and (Alexander McDowell) McCook***** assisted by the Rifles and Dragoons, now attacked the Indians in the brush on opposite sides of the river, and after a severe conflict succeeded in killing and capturing nearly the whole party. The field of battle extended the distance of about a mile and a half on both sides of the Gila, and was covered with a thick growth of brush which enabled the enemy to fight with great advantage.” </span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">(Fayetteville Semi-Weekly Observer, Fayetteville, North Carolina October 8, 1857 page 2)</span></span></div>
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">Two officers and 7 enlisted men of Ewell's command were wounded. Lt. Steen was struck by an arrow in the corner of the eye.” In what was probably his first real experience in combat 2nd. Lt. Benjamin F. Davis was "shot in the (right)n knee in a personal encounter with an Apache”. The July 30, 1857 Santa Fe Democrat in reporting on the battle noted: “Lieutenants Davis and (Henry M.) Lazelle each had a personal encounter with the enemy. The latter shot one Indian and cut down a second as he was charging with the Dragoons and the former was attacked by a warrior, whom he slew, after a sharp conflict, in which he was wounded.” </span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">(Fayetteville Semi-Weekly Observer, Fayetteville, North Carolina October 8, 1857 page 2)</span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"> </span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"> </span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">Ewell noted in his report: "the wounded were promptly attended by Assistant Surgeon John M. Haden before the action was over”.</span></span></div>
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">In another description of the fighting on the Gila River provided by a participant which appeared in the Washington D C., </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="text-decoration: underline;">Evening Sta</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">r on August 29, 1857, it is mentioned that “Lieut. Davis, 1st Dragoons was wounded in the knee by an arrow in a personal encounter. He fired his revolver three times at the Indian, and not killing him - the Indian shooting too, not over five yards apart, - he became enraged and hurled his revolver at the Indian’s head, who fired again, struck Davis and then ran after the revolver, which he had scarcely picked up before he was pierced by a dozen balls.”</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #a30003;"> </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">(Evening Star, Washington, District of Columbia, August 29, 1857, Page 2)</span><br />
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Bonneville, Miles and the rest of Miles command arrived at the Apache camp after the fighting was mostly over. In his official report Dixon Miles noted “he believed the battle started about half-past four p.m.; it lasted until sunset, when we encamped on the field.”</span></span></div>
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">Colonel Bonneville reported 24 Indians killed, four women having accidentally been killed in the melee, including one afterwards, made twenty-seven prisoners; destroyed many fields of corn and rescued from captivity Mexican boy who escaped to us.”</span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; color: #a30003; font-kerning: none;"> </span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"> Miles and Bonneville’s official reports also indicate "great credit given by commanding officers to the following named officers: Captain Ewell, Lieutenants, Isaiah N. Moore, Alfred B. Chapman and Benjamin F. Davis” as well as Lieutenants Whipple and McCook, 3rd Infantry and Lieutenant Lazelle 8th Infantry.</span></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">The June 1857 Post Returns for Fort Buchanan show Benjamin Davis at the San Carlos River in command of Company B, 1st Dragoons. In July the young second lieutenant is sick at Fort Thorn which could mean he was ill or more likely absent from his command recovering from his knee wound. The returns for August indicate B. F. Davis is at Fort Buchanan as of August 5 after being absent sick. He assumes command of Company B upon his return because Captain John W. Davidson is still absent on leave.</span></span></div>
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">To be continued.</span></div>
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Most of the information in this post comes from the "Returns from Military Posts, 1806-1916" and "U. S. Returns from Regular Army - Non Infantry Regiments, 1821 - 1916.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">The information on Ewell and his action against the Chiricahua Apache comes from Richard S. Ewell A Soldiers Life by Donald C. Pfanz, The Univesity of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill and London, 1998 pg 92-93.</span><br />
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<br />Sharon Murrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15667199358231667281noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3817053175516493678.post-49940628944925572722019-06-02T09:40:00.001-07:002019-09-04T01:08:50.794-07:00An Officer, A Gentleman And An Ornament to His Country: The Life of Benjamin Franklin Davis, Part V<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Thirty one year old Colonel Benjamin F. Davis and the 8th New York Cavalry moved from Hagerstown, Maryland to Pleasant Valley On October 25, 1862 in preparation for crossing the Potomac River at Berlin (present day Brunswick) on the 26. After crossing the river Henry Norton noted </span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> in </span><u style="font-family: "helvetica neue", arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Deeds of Daring</u><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> the command "marched a number of miles into Virginia and made camp for the night. It was rainy, cold and a disagreeable time." Originally Major General McClellan had intended leaving Davis in Maryland to guard the upper Potomac with Arno Voss, John R. Kenly and Jacob M. Campbell's commands however, he appear to have moved into Virginia without having received the order to remain in Maryland. For the next three weeks Davis, the 8th New York and the other regiments of Brigadier General Alfred Pleasonton's Cavalry Division would be engaged almost daily in skirmishing with the cavalry of the Army of Northern Virginia as both tried to locate the forces of the other and screen the movement of their respective armies</span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">October 27 found the 8th New York pursuing Confederate cavalry from Purcellville toward Snickersville along the Snickersville Turnpike. An article in the October 31, 1862 <u>New York Daily Herald</u> reported: "the Eighth New York under Colonel Davis was sent on a reconnaissance along the turnpike toward Winchester. It was understood a rebel force was stationed at Snickersville about 15 miles from here. When the advance squadron of the regiment, under Captain Pope, reached within two miles of Snickersville the rebel pickets appeared on the right and left of the turnpike and fired at our men. Shots were exchanged, the enemy falling back and our men advancing... At every turn in the road the rebel skirmishers appeared in increasing force." As the Eighth New York continued their advance along the turnpike "the right platoon reached the enemy first near a belt of woods, the remainder of the squadron followed on a charge. The rebels were dispersed. Beyond there was a large open space completely commanded by rebel artillery planted on rising ground behind. As soon as our men debouched from the woods the artillery opened on them. One shell killed 5 of our horses and wounded two or three of our men." The squadron was then ordered to rejoin the regiment drawn in a line a short distance to the rear. Having ascertained the position of the enemy the regiment returned to Purcellville." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Henry Norton also described the action along the turnpike: "On the morning of the 27th, we broke camp and started for the rebs. Our cavalry was on the advance of the army. The rebel cavalry covered the retreat of their army...We marched along until we came to Snicker's Gap. The Colonel marched the regiment up the mountain to see what was there. We were marching by fours, and had gone but about one-half mile when we found the "rebs". They had a cannon planted in the road, and when we were near enough, they fired the gun. It was loaded with canister. The balls hit some of the horses, and made quite a commotion among the boys for a few minutes. The order was given to about face and retreat. Away the regiment went down the road faster than they had come up".</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After the engagement Colonel Davis noted in a report to Alfred Pleasonton that he had "driven the enemy through Snickersville, that his advance was fired on from the gap and he lost 1 man killed and 5 horses by the bursting of a shell". Actual losses included 1 enlisted man killed, 1 enlisted man wounded and 5 enlisted men missing.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Cavalry Action Near Snickersville from Harpers Magazine</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">On October 29, 1862 Major General J. E..B. Stuart headed east from Jefferson County, Virginia through Snickers Gap with Brigadier General Fitz Lee's Cavalry brigade, commanded by Colonel William C. Wickham and Major John Pelham's horse artillery. On October 31 Stuart advanced along the Snickersville Pike to Mountville where he routed three companies of the 1st Rhode Island Cavalry before coming in contact with George Bayard's command farther east near Aldie. Fearing federal forces that were reportedly approaching from his rear Stuart disengaged late in the day and retreated to Middleburg.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Area of Operations in Loudoun County, November 1-2, 1862.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">On November 1, 1862 Stuart was informed Pleasonton was advancing with his division southward toward Philomont from Purcellville. Stuart moved the 3rd Virginia Cavalry and Major Pelham's horse artillery from Middleburg to Union (present day Unison) and arrived there before Pleasonton. Stuart's cavalry skirmished with Pleasonton's forces near the town of Philomont for most of the afternoon. Colonel Davis's 8th New York, the 8th Pennsylvania, the 3rd Indiana and guns of Lieutenant Alexander C. M. Pennington's horse artillery engaged the rebel cavalry west of town. Norton commented on the fighting at Philomont. He said: "When General Davis came upon the rebels, he never waited for them to attack him. He would cast his eyes over the field, and he could tell in a minute what to do. He would take them on the flank and would go for them heavy. He would drive them every time he attacked them." By days end Union cavalry had pushed Stuart's forces westward toward Union where they would make a stand on November 2nd. Davis's command did not suffer any losses in the engagement.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">North Fork Beaverdam Creek Ford between Philomont & Unison</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The scene of the fighting moved westward on November 2, 1862. At dawn Pleasonton left Philomont, moving toward Union. In addition to his cavalry and horse artillery his command had been reinforced with several infantry regiments. The troops from both sides spared back and forth for most of the day. Pleasonton continued to exert pressure on Stuart's command as Stuart made a fighting withdrawal southwestward along the Unison Road buying time as he retreated. In his dispatch book for November 2nd Pleasonton noted: Colonel Davis captured 3 prisoners this morning and thinks he has 2 men badly wounded". Later in a dispatch to Randolph Marcy, McClellan's Chief of Staff Pleasonton reported: "The cavalry dismounted under Colonel Davis 8th New York have behaved markedly well." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Looking eastward from Unison toward Philomont</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="text-align: justify;"> Late in the evening, as darkness shrouded the battlefield, the Confederate cavalry withdrew toward Upperville where, according to </span><u style="text-align: justify;">Civil War in Loudoun Valley</u><span style="text-align: justify;"> "many spent the night huddled in their blankets in a family graveyard among the headstones". The 8th New York Cavalry under Colonel Davis was engaged most of the afternoon with other forces of Pleasonton's command. Davis's command captured 3 prisoners and had several men wounded during the days fighting. Pleasonton noted in his November 2 dispatch to Randolph Marcy, McClellan's Chief of Staff: "The cavalry dismounted under Colonel Davis 8th New York have behaved markedly well."</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="text-align: justify;">Looking eastward toward Unison from Quaker Meeting House site</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Fighting occurred east of Upperville on November 3. Pleasonton's command had been augmented by troops of Brigadier General William W. Averell's cavalry brigade and Captain John C. Tidball's horse artillery. When the 8th New York Cavalry arrived on the field Colonel Davis had Company H dismount and fight on foot. According to Henry Norton "every fourth man stayed with the horses... We marched along until we came to the edge of the woods...where there was a stone wall. One of our men saw a "reb" off about a half mile, and fired at him without orders. There was a rebel battery off to our right, and when they heard the shot, they turned their guns that way and commenced firing. We must have been just the right distance off for the shells exploded right over our heads. Soon we heard a yell. It was General Davis with the rest of the regiment, charging the rebels. We went back where our horses were, mounted, and on we went."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After the days fighting had ceased on November 3 Stuart departed Upperville and headed westward toward Ashby Gap in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Stuart briefly turned over command of Fitz Lee's cavalry to Colonel Thomas Rosser so he could confer with Stonewall Jackson at Millwood. Rosser would head the Confederate cavalry southward toward Piedmont Station (present day Delaplane) on the Manassas Gap Railroad where he hoped to join up with Wade Hampton's Brigade which was in route from Front Royal. When Rosser arrived at Piedmont Station Hampton was not there so Rosser moved westward toward Markham. Rosser would be engaged in a "minor skirmish" with Union forces commanded by Averell at Markham.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="text-align: justify;"> Area of Operations in Fauquier County, November 3-4, 1862</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">November 5, 1862 would find both Stuart's and Pleasonton's cavalry at Barbee's Crossroads (present day Hume) south of Markham. The crossroads was an important intersection of four roads about 12 miles northwest of Warrenton. Barbee's Crossroads was named after Joseph Barbee who built a tavern at the intersection about 1790. Stuart's troops arrived first. He deployed Fitz Lee's command </span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">(under Rosser)</span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> on the right and Hampton's on the left of the main road leading south out of town. They were supported by Pelham's horse artillery. Pleasonton arrived about 9:00 a.m. He positioned his two brigades of cavalry and Pennington's artillery to assaulted the rebel line. A savage fight ensued. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Colonel B. F. Davis's 8th New York was in the thick of the fight. General George McClellan addressed the fighting in his official report noting: "About 12 m today Pleasonton's cavalry met and attacked Stuart's command of about 3000 cavalry and 4 pieces of artillery at Barbee's. Colonel Gregg with the 8th Pennsylvania and the 6th U. S. Cavalry moved on the right and turned his (Stuart's) position. Colonel Davis with the 8th New York attacked the enemy's left and Colonel (John F.) Farnsworth with the 8th Illinois moved against the center. A largely superior force charged Colonel Davis's 8th New York but were gallantly met and repulsed." Davis had his horse killed under him.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Area of Operations in Fauquier County November 5, 1862</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Henry Norton mentions the fight at Barbee's in his history of the 8th New York Cavalry. Norton wrote" We marched along (on November 5) until the middle of the afternoon, when we came to Barbee's Crossroads. The rebels had made a stand to hold us in check. When we came within a mile of the crossroads we went into the fields. After marching nearly one hundred rods, we came to a knoll that hid us from view. There we halted...the general dismounted Company I and one other company to fight on foot." Davis deployed the dismounted men behind a stone wall and attempted to take a Confederate battery which was firing at the 8th New York. He was unable to capture the battery however. "We were glad when Davis came and marched us down under the knoll out of range" of the artillery. "After we went under the know the rebels lost track of us. They made out where the dismounted horses were, and made a charge on them. Then the General got in one of his counter charges. It was not long before he came over the knoll and gave the command to right wheel and come on. It was cut and slash. When the rebels saw us they were under such headway that many of them could not stop their horses and rode past us and were taken prisoners. Those who could, wheeled their horses and got out. We went for them heavy, and killed a number and wounded a good many."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Norton also mentioned that Pleasonton was watching the 8th New York. "When the rebels made the charge on us: Pleasonton "said to one of his aides: The Eighth New York is a goner. When he saw that we had driven the rebels back, he slapped his hands and yelled out: Bully for the Eighth New York." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A correspondent writing from Barbee's Crossroads, under date of November 5 wrote, in part, as printed in Frank Moore's <u>The Rebellion Record</u>, 6th Volume; "Colonel Davis had taken his regiment on the right, and placing two squadrons in a hollow, concealed from sight had dismounted one squadron and placed the men behind a stone wall, where there was a small detachment of the sixth regulars. Captain Houston lead the charge of the (1st) North Carolina Regiment...When he halted to form his own regiment, seeing the squadron deployed, he shouted, Only one squadron and then gave the command to charge. With a fearful yell the rebels in a solid column, with sabres flourishing, and pistols and carbines cocked, dashed at the squadron of Col Davis's regiment, expecting its speedy annihilation. Colonel Davis, who was watching the rebels from the knoll, behind which his two (mounted) squadrons were formed, dashed from the hollow, and bringing them around to the right, awaited the assault for a moment. At the same instant the dismounted men behind the wall opened fire as the North Carolinians came near. Then Colonel Davis, with his two squadrons, dashed at them. Sabres glistened, carbines cracked, and men rent the air with cheers. The rebel regiment wheeled about and fled as fast as their horses could carry them, and screaming like a troop of wild Indians, Colonel Davis, with his squadron chased them shouting and cheering as they went." </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Colonel Davis wrote an official report of the battle. It was found by another blogger, reportedly, in the National Archives. The report does not appear in the Official Records. It is included in its entirety below.</span></div>
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<span style="caret-color: rgb(64, 64, 64); color: #404040; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">“Dec. 5, 1862</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Captain,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I have the honor to submit herewith in compliance with the 742 Article Army Regulations, the following report of the operations of my regiment at the fight at [Barbee’s] Cross Roads on the 5</span><span style="border: 0px; bottom: 1ex; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-style: inherit; height: 0px; line-height: 0; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;">th</span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">of November.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">On leaving Piedmont in the morning the regiment was placed in rear of the leading section of artillery and followed in this order until we came up with the enemy. The guns were placed in position and I was directed to support them, but before the regiment was formed I was ordered by Gen. Pleasonton in person to move towards a mill which was on our right and front and operate in that direction. By taking advantage of hollows and ravines we reached the mill unmolested but on attempting to pass the crest were met by severe fire of spherical case from the enemy’s artillery which was posted on a commanding eminence about 600 yards to our left and front. The enemy’s cavalry could also be seen in large force in the other end of a field about a quarter of a mile distant. The regiment was halted momentarily behind the crest and dispositions made to attack.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Capt. [Hobert] Mann’s squadron was dismounted and sent along a stone wall which was somewhat in the direction of their guns, with orders to drive away their skirmishers and if he could get close enough to pick off their gunners. The other three squadrons were then moved over the hill into the field and placed behind some high ground to screen them from the artillery fire, which was at this time very severe.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The enemy’s cavalry were also hidden from view by high ground at the other extremity of the field. Capt. [Edmond] Pope’s, a small squadron of fifty men, was then thrown forward as skirmishers toward a piece of woods to the right and front. The regiment opposite to me proved to be the 1<span style="border: 0px; bottom: 1ex; font-style: inherit; height: 0px; line-height: 0; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;">st</span> North Carolina and the commanding officer seeing Capt. Pope’s squadron and supposing it to be alone immediately ordered the charge. The Captain ordered his men to rally in the corner of the field to my right and rear and the enemy came dashing after him at full speed and with loud cheers. From an eminence on which I was standing I galloped back to the Reserve Squadrons, brought them up over the hill and charged the enemy somewhat obliquely just as the main body had arrived nearly opposite to our position. Although less than half their numbers the charge was made with such vigor and intrepidity that he hesitated, pulled up, opened fire with pistol and carbines and finally as the leading files were closing upon him, turned about and fled in the utmost confusion. The men followed with the greatest eagerness close up to the reserves, sabering and taking prisoners at every step. Knowing that a regiment was in reserve ready to call on in case the pursuit was followed too far I ordered the men to rally in the woods on our right already referenced to. This was done but owing to the confusion that necessarily follows a successful charge, not without considerable delay.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I should have mentioned that a part of the enemy’s leading squadron had anticipated the main body and had reached the corner of the field in pursuit of our skirmishers when they were opened upon by a sharp fire from Capt. Mann’s dismounted squadron, and driven back, most of them making their escape through the woods on the right. Quite a number of prisoners also made their escape in the same manner for want of a reserve to pick them up. As soon as the command was rallied, Capt. Pope’s squadron was again thrown forward in the woods as skirmishers and was fast gaining a position to their left and rear when the 3<span style="border: 0px; bottom: 1ex; font-style: inherit; height: 0px; line-height: 0; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;">rd</span> Indiana reached me as a support. I ordered it forward to attack the enemy now in full retreat, and informed Major [George] Chapman that I would follow closely and give him support. Whilst proceeding to execute this order the Major was called by a counter order from Gen. Pleasonton to go to the rear and support guns. I then recalled Capt. Pope and moved the regiment to the front but by this time the enemy’s columns had safely retreated and taken up a position with their artillery a mile or so in rear. Understanding no pursuit was to be made I repaired to the rear and reported myself to the general in person.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The result of the charge was five of the enemy left dead on the field, one captain and fifteen non-commissioned officers and privates taken prisoners. We had one man “Pat [Peter Kelley]” of Co E killed by a blow from a saber and six wounded. Two of the wounded who were taken prisoner report that the enemy buried that night six of their men who were mortally wounded in the charge. I cannot conclude this report without claiming for the cavalry service in general and my regiment in particular that this was a complete and thorough repulse of a charge of cavalry by a counter charge, although the enemy outnumbered us at least two to one. In regard to the conduct of the officers and men I can make no discrimination. As far as I could see and hear every officer and man behaved in a courageous and soldier like manner.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The charging squadrons were those of Capt. [Benjamin] Foote and [George] Barry. Capt. Pope also rallied part of his men in time to join in the charge. The field officers, Lt. Col. [Charles] Babbitt & Major [William] Markell and my Adjt. Lt. [Albert] Ford were in the thickest of it and did good service.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I am Sir, Respectfully, B. F. Davis</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Col. 8th New York Cavalry”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">To be continued.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Some information in this presentation regarding the strength and disposition of Confederate forces is derived from "The Perfect Lion: The Life and Death of Confederate Artillerist John Pelham by Jerry H Maxwell.</span></div>
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Sharon Murrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15667199358231667281noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3817053175516493678.post-15744296429205191422019-05-23T12:41:00.000-07:002019-05-23T14:07:33.318-07:00A Long Standing Tradition: Sharpsburg Elementary Decorating Graves at Antietam National Cemetery for Memorial Day<div style="caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Although "Decoration Day" had been a tradition for a number of years, throughout the country, after the Civil War "Memorial Day" was not officially established until May 30, 1868. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Major General John Alexander Logan, who had served with distinction in the Army of the Tennessee, is recognized as having established Memorial Day, </span>or Decoration Day as it was then called, when on May 5, 1868, as national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, in General Order No. 11 he made the following proclamation: </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">HEADQUARTERS GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">General Orders No.11, WASHINGTON, D.C., May 5, 1868</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The 30th day of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village, and hamlet church-yard in the land. In this observance no form of ceremony is prescribed, but posts and comrades will in their own way arrange such fitting services and testimonials of respect as circumstances may permit. We are organized, comrades, as our regulations tell us, for the purpose among other things, "of preserving and strengthening those kind and fraternal feelings which have bound together the soldiers, sailors, and marines who united to suppress the late rebellion." What can aid more to assure this result than cherishing tenderly the memory of our heroic dead, who made their breasts a barricade between our country and its foes? Their soldier lives were the reveille of freedom to a race in chains, and their deaths the tattoo of rebellious tyranny in arms. We should guard their graves with sacred vigilance. All that the consecrated wealth and taste of the nation can add to their adornment and security is but a fitting tribute to the memory of her slain defenders. Let no wanton foot tread rudely on such hallowed grounds. Let pleasant paths invite the coming and going of reverent visitors and fond mourners. Let no vandalism of avarice or neglect, no ravages of time testify to the present or to the coming generations that we have forgotten as a people the cost of a free and undivided republic. </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">If other eyes grow dull, other hands slack, and other hearts cold in the solemn trust, ours shall keep it well as long as the light and warmth of life remain to us. Let us, then, at the time appointed gather around their sacred remains and garland the passionless mounds above them with the choicest flowers of spring-time; let us raise above them the dear old flag they saved from his honor; let us in this solemn presence renew our pledges to aid and assist those whom they have left among us a sacred charge upon a nation's gratitude, the soldier's and sailor's widow and orphan. </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It is the purpose of the Commander-in-Chief to inaugurate this observance with the hope that it will be kept up from year to year, while a survivor of the war remains to honor the memory of his departed comrades. He earnestly desires the public press to lend its friendly aid in bringing to the notice of comrades in all parts of the country in time for simultaneous compliance therewith.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Department commanders will use efforts to make this order effective. By order of </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">JOHN A. LOGAN,<br />Commander-in-Chief <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333;">Decorating graves for Memorial Day has been a long standing tradition at Antietam National </span><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">Cemetery, which was established in 1866, on the outskirts of Sharpsburg, Maryland, the site of the bloody Battle of Antietam on September 17, 1862. One part of that tradition has stood for over 30 years as the 5th Grade Class at Sharpsburg Elementary walks through town from the school to the cemetery and upon arrival will assist the National Park Service in placing American Flags in front of each of the more than 5000 headstone and small square numbered markers designating graves of the unknown.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">They do it in record time as well. This year all the flags were placed in 47 minutes. That is quite an accomplishment!</span><br />
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Sharon Murrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15667199358231667281noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3817053175516493678.post-25862823676948718732019-04-09T11:46:00.002-07:002020-01-27T12:04:41.168-08:00Dateline Brandy Station, Virginia June 9, 1863: A Fateful Encounter at DawnAs dawn approached about a mile from Beverly Ford on the north side of the Rappahannock River the morning of June 9, 1863 Brigadier General John Buford's Cavalry Division was waking from a fitful sleep. Included in that division was a brigade commanded by Acting Brigadier General Benjamin Franklin Davis.* Davis's command had been selected to spearhead the attack of the right wing of the Union Cavalry. They were to cross the Rappahannock at Beverly Ford than advance in conjunction with the left wing, which was ordered to cross at Kelly's Ford about six miles downstream, toward Culpeper Courthouse, where they expected to encounter the Cavalry Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia. Everything was in place for what the northerners thought would be a surprise attack. Events did not play out as planned however.<br />
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Map Beverly Ford and Environs</div>
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About 4:00 a.m. Davis's command silently mounted their horses and headed toward Beverly Ford. They arrived at the ford about four-thirty. As the cavalry horses stepped into the stirrup deep waters of the Rappahannock they and their riders were shrouded in mist rising from the river and any sounds they made were muffled by the noise the streams generated when it passed over a timber crib dam just upstream of the ford. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlb4K4b8KHvwoefnKsPHSxg4j0J1F5QVSwGnT4Fz44CO3J3J7TwuJft-92RmUWUagZem4MaW9k9mslwzX6DP8wJfHlWo4O4TagI3gxHhyphenhyphenRhqsqJ3SIacnisCZD8kp4mw8zEjD2ynMpDA/s1600/20654vNear+Beverly+Ford.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="686" data-original-width="1024" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlb4K4b8KHvwoefnKsPHSxg4j0J1F5QVSwGnT4Fz44CO3J3J7TwuJft-92RmUWUagZem4MaW9k9mslwzX6DP8wJfHlWo4O4TagI3gxHhyphenhyphenRhqsqJ3SIacnisCZD8kp4mw8zEjD2ynMpDA/s400/20654vNear+Beverly+Ford.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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The Rappahannock River near Beverly Ford</div>
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Benjamin Davis, who wore a Mexican serape to ward off the morning chill, led the advance as his command dashed up the southern bank of the Rappahannock. He was followed closely by two squadrons of the 8th New York Volunteer Cavalry who were in turn supported by the 8th Illinois Volunteer Cavalry and the 3rd Indiana. Just after crossing the river, much to their surprise, the northerners encountered two pickets, Fleet and Bob James, from the 6th Virginia Cavalry. The James brothers fled, firing their pistols in the air to alert their comrades as they headed in a southwesterly direction from the ford toward a stand of timber about a quarter mile in their rear. The Union troopers followed the retiring Confederate pickets down the Beverly Ford Road.</div>
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Captain Gibson of the 6th Virginia heard the picket fire and gathered his command for action. When he saw the James brothers come into view followed by the 8th New York Cavalry he ordered his line to fire at the attacking Yankees. Lt. Henry C. Cutler of the 8th New York was the first casualty of the day when he took a bullet in the neck from one of Gibson's troopers. Captain Gibson's small force delayed the Yankees momentarily before they were forced to make a hastey retreat toward their own lines themselves.</div>
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Benjamin Davis brought up the 8th Illinois Cavalry to support the New Yorkers under his command. The Union cavalry branched out on both sides of the Beverly Ford Road and headed southward. Their advance was met by a charge from additional troops of the 6th Virginia under the command of Cabell Flournoy. Flournoy's surprise, vicious counterattack halted the Union advance, which was pushed back in disarray.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3lw5xcw4x1qOrI8Zk_3MFnzVwfDlm-Bo5QoRCBppA3NGQ5MWriP9vFCTUf6svCDDaRA3GeuI_ZTYc_dfBzcfxX_LcLMWie0KhVCh4X7RoRr3-4dbyp46TzDTA1Q8bGxE5BA1u__vmNw/s1600/Davis+dead.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="793" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3lw5xcw4x1qOrI8Zk_3MFnzVwfDlm-Bo5QoRCBppA3NGQ5MWriP9vFCTUf6svCDDaRA3GeuI_ZTYc_dfBzcfxX_LcLMWie0KhVCh4X7RoRr3-4dbyp46TzDTA1Q8bGxE5BA1u__vmNw/s400/Davis+dead.png" width="396" /></a></div>
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Beverly Ford Road (Davis was wounded at the bend in the road just south of where the road intersects the Beverly Ford road from the east.) </div>
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Benjamin Davis saw his troops break. Realizing he needed to regain the initiative and rally his disorganized forces the gallant and brave officer raised his saber above his head and trotted down the Beverly Ford Road toward the Confederates. When about 75 yards in front of his command Davis turned in the saddle to face them with his back to the enemy. With raised saber he reportedly shouted "Stand Firm 8th New York" several times. </div>
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A Confederate lieutenant with the 6th Virginia, Robert Owen Allen, saw Davis in the road. Realizing the officer was in an exposed position and unaware of his presence he raced toward his unsuspecting prey. Benjamin Franklin Davis's attention was focused on his command and he failed to realize Lt. Allen was approaching him from behind until it was almost too late. Upon hearing Allen's horses's hoofbeats he turned in the saddle and raised his saber to strike Allen. Allen dodged the blow and at the same time raised his pistol and sent a bullet into the Union officers forehead. Davis fell to the ground mortally wounded at a bend in the road not far from Beverly Ford.</div>
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Mortal Encounter by Don Stivers Depicting Davis's Wounding</div>
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Site of Davis Wounding on the Beverly Ford Road</div>
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Sometime before 6:00 a. m., Benjamin Davis's comrades gathered the grievously wounded officer up in a litter and transported him back across the Rappahannock to the Hamilton House. In route the litter bearers encountered Reverend Samuel L. Gracey, Chaplain of the 6th Pennsylvania Cavalry. "Who is that boys?" Gracey reportedly said. "Colonel Davis Sir." "Is it possible!" "Noble fellow" Is he badly wounded?" Gracey asked. "A mine ball through the head, sir!" replied a litter bearer. Gracey then noted: "He is insensible, his hair matted and clotted with blood. God have mercy on this brave, noble, patriotic soldier the hero of Harpers Ferry." Davis wound breath his last before the sunset on June 9, 1863.</div>
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Colonel and Acting Brigadier General Benjamin Franklin Davis's body would be transported to Washington by train, where it would be embalmed before being shipped to New York for burial. On June 13, 1863 Davis's remains were interred in the cemetery at the U. S. Military Academy at West Point. He now reposes there next to Alonzo H. Cushing and one space away from his commander at Beverly Ford Major General John Buford. May these American heroes from a by gone era rest in peace.</div>
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* Confederate general JEB Stuart referred to Benjamin Davis as an "Acting Brigadier General" in his official report about the Battle of Brandy Station. Davis was the Colonel of the 8th New York and while he had been recommended for promotion to Brigadier General that appointment was not confirmed before his death, most likely, because, being from the south, he had no support in Congress which had to approve all military appointments. He lead a brigade and at times a division as a colonel for months before his death.</div>
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Sharon Murrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15667199358231667281noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3817053175516493678.post-63972162997077144482019-02-17T01:48:00.003-08:002023-09-29T23:51:14.425-07:00One Family's Sacrifice Exemplifies The True Cost of the Civil WarWhen studying or discussing the American Civil War we often focus on statistics and those statistics usually include a numerical listing of the casualties: those killed, wounded, captured or found missing after any skirmish or major engagement. What we many times fail to communicate or consider is what all those casualties signified, someone's loved one, a family member, a father, son, brother, uncle, nephew or cousin. Real men with real hopes, ambitions and desires.<br />
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One family from Mississippi via Alabama and Louisiana lost five boys in the war, four brothers and a cousin of the brothers. Due to family circumstances and the death of the parents of the brothers, when they were all less than fifteen years old, all the boys were raised by the family of the cousin, that is, they grew up together in the same household near Aberdeen in Monroe County, Mississippi.<br />
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Although raised together, at least for a time, the young men fought on different sides during the war. One served with distinction in the Union cavalry and the other four, one of whom proudly carried the colors for his regiment, fought for the Confederacy. Three were killed in or went missing in battle, in Virginia, the fourth died as a prisoner of war at Point Lookout, Maryland and the fifth took his own life within years of returning home to Mississippi after the war. One of the soldiers is buried in the cemetery at the United States Military Academy at West Point another is buried at the Confederate Cemetery at Point Lookout. The location of the remains of the other three is unknown. Here is their story in a little more detail.<br />
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The brothers, including the eldest Benjamin Franklin and the three youngest, Francis Marion, Christopher Columbus and Augustus Romalus are four of the six sons of Benjamin E. And Matilda Davis. They were born in Perry County, Alabama between 1831 and 1840. In the fall of 1840 the boys, their parents and their other brothers William Owen and Thomas Jefferson, moved to Union Parish, Louisiana where their father opened a store northeast of Farmerville. Their mother died in 1843 and their father passed away on or about June 26, 1846. The orphaned brothers moved to Monroe County, Mississippi where William Taylor became their guardian. Taylor, a successful planter, was the husband of Matilda Holladay's older sister Agnes Portatier. The cousin of the Davis brothers, James H. Taylor was the son of William and Agnes.<br />
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Benjamin Franklin Davis was a career army officer. After graduating from West Point July 1, 1854 as a brevet 2nd lieutenant he was assigned to the 5th U. S. Infantry in Texas. In March 1855 he transferred to the 1st U. S. Dragoons and served with them in New Mexico Territory and California until November 1861 when he headed east with the 1st U. S. Cavalry. Captain Davis lead a squadron of cavalry at the Battle of Williamsburg that routed the enemy and helped save a Union artillery battery. In June 1862 Davis was promoted to Colonel and assumed command of the 8th New York Volunteer Cavalry. He trained them to be an elite fighting force and helped lead the 8th New York and portions of five other cavalry regiments in a daring escape from Harpers Ferry, Virginia into Maryland and Pennsylvania on the night of September 14, 1862. After the Battle of Antietam Colonel B. F. Davis was assigned to brigade command. He was commanding a brigade of cavalry under Brigadier General John Buford when he was shot from the saddle and mortally wounded by Lt. Robert Owen Allen of the 6th Virginia Cavalry, early in the morning, on June 9, 1863, near where Beverly Ford crosses the Rappahannock River during the Battle of Brandy Station. Colonel Davis's body was taken to West Point and interred in the cemetery on the grounds of the United States Military Academy.<br />
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Augustus Romalus Davis, a lawyer in Monroe County, Mississippi in 1860 and the youngest of the 6 Davis boys was the first to enter the Confederate Army. He was 20 years old when he enrolled as a private in the Van Dorn Reserves in February 1861 at Aberdeen, Mississippi. The Van Dorn Reserves would become Company I, 11th Regiment Mississippi Infantry. Davis was ordered into the Confederate Service on April 26, 1861. The regiment formed in Corinth, Mississippi , a major railroad hub, on May 4, 1861 and soon headed to the theatre of war in Virginia. He was with the regiment when they mustered into Confederate service May 13,1861 at Lynchburg. A. R. Davis would serve as a private in Company I from his enlistment date until April 21, 1864 when he was promoted to ensign. His compiled service records note he was absent from the regiment sick at Strasburg in September and October 1861. He received a $50.00 bounty in February 1862 when he reenlisted and was given a 2 month furlough. November and December 1862 found him absent from the regiment recovering from wounds. He was killed in action on August 18, 1864 at the Battle of Weldon Railroad south of Petersburg, Virginia in the waning months of the war.<br />
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Francis Marion Davis, known as Marion by his friends and family, was about 13 years old when his eldest brother left Mississippi for West Point. They might have met once more before the civil war, when Benjamin came home after graduation and before heading to Texas in December 1854.<br />
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In 1850 Marion was living with his guardian William Taylor's family. Marion was still in Monroe County, Mississippi when he enlisted as a private in Company I, 11th Regiment Mississippi Infantry in November 1861. By this time the 11th Mississippi and Marion's younger brother Augustus were already in Virginia. Marion would serve with the regiment throughout the winter, spring and early summer of 1862. He also would receive a $50.00 bounty and a furlough in February 1862 after re-enlisting. In late June and early July 1862, when the 7 Days Battles were occurring around Richmond, Virginia the 11th Mississippi was brigaded with the 2nd Mississippi as part of Evander Laws Brigade of William H C. Whiting's Division. Marion Davis would appear on the list of missing in action from the 11th following the Battle of Gaines Mill, June 27, 1862.<br />
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Christopher Columbus Davis was probably born in early 1839 as he was sandwiched between Marion and Augustus. He would have gone to Mississippi with his 5 brothers after his fathers death. The 1850 Census shows him living with his cousin Sarah E. Clopton and her husband Dr. John H. Clopton. William Taylor appear to have been his guardian.<br />
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Christopher would enlist as a private in Company D (William Beck's Company), 2nd Regiment Mississippi Infantry on April 27, 1861 for twelve months. At the time of his enlistment Christopher was listed as a 21 year old farmer from Pine Grove, Tippah County, Mississippi. He stood 5 feet 8 1/2 inches tall, with blue eyes, black hair and a dark complexion. One wonders if he resembled his older brother Benjamin who stood 5 feet 9 or 10 inches tall and weighted about 130 pounds in 1849 when he was 18 years old.<br />
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The 2nd Mississippi was mustered into Confederate service May 10, 1861 at Lynchburg, VA. Christopher was present with his company throughout 1861. On February 9, 1862 he received a $50.00 bounty for re-enlisting for 2 years. C. C. Davis was listed on the Roll of Honor for action at 2nd Manassas August 28-30 where he was the regimental color bearer. Private Davis was present at the Battle of Antietam on September 17, 1862 and would have been engaged when John Bell Hood's Division made a successful counter-attack against the Union 1st Corps between 7:00 and 7:30 a.m. Christopher was wounded in the right arm during Hood's counterattack and left on the field. He was captured, sent to Fort Delaware as a POW and later exchanged in December 1862, after which he rejoined his regiment.<br />
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On February 16, 1863 Private Christopher C. Davis was promoted to 4th Sergeant. He was with the 2nd Mississippi at Gettysburg although he did not participate in the fighting on July 1st because he was sick. Sergeant Davis would be wounded in both legs while carrying the colors during Pickett's Charge. He would be captured July 5, 1863 and taken to a hospital either in or near Gettysburg. On July 19, 1863 Christopher was transferred to a hospital in Chester, Pennsylvania. On October 4, 1864 C.C. Davis arrived at Hammond General Hospital at Point Lookout, Maryland as a POW.<br />
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On January 26, 1864 Christopher C. Davis "galvanized" when he became a sergeant in the 1st U. S. Volunteers. He officially mustered into Federal service on May 1, 1864 at Norfolk, Virginia. He deserted August 2, 1864 and entered Confederate lines at Suffolk, Virginia. In September 1864 Davis was promoted to ensign to rank from August 25, 1864. <br />
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Christopher Davis survived the Civil War and returned to Mississippi after the Confederate troops surrendered only to take his own life by suicide several years after returning home. In a letter written by D. J. Hill, who was a member of the 2nd Mississippi, to Rufus R. Dawes, of the 6th Wisconsin, on September 12, 1893, Hill noted C.C. Davis may have taken his life due to "the grief over the loss of his four bothers during the war, coupled with the defeat of the Confederacy." (See Note at bottom of page)<br />
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James H. Taylor was born March 9, 1839 in Monroe County, Mississippi, the son of William and Agnes Taylor. He spent his teenage years growing up with four of the Davis brothers who were his cousins. On June 25, 1861 James Taylor would join for duty and enroll as a private in the Hamilton Guards which became Company B, 20th Regiment Mississippi Infantry. By October 1861 he would be a 4th Sergeant. <br />
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The 20th Mississippi originally served with John B. Floyd's Brigade in Western Virginia after mustering into Confederate service before being transferred to Tennessee in early 1862. In February the regiment was sent to reinforce Fort Donelson on the Cumberland River.<br />
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James H. Taylor was captured at Fort Donelson on February 16, 1862 and sent to Camp Douglas in Chicago as a POW. Sergeant Taylor was exchanged in September 1862 near Vicksburg, Mississippi and rejoined his regiment which remained in the western theatre. Taylor was captured a second time, at Brownsville (Edward's Station) on May 16, 1863 during the Vicksburg Campaign. He was sent to Fort Delaware as a POW in June and later transferred to Point Lookout, Maryland on September 20, 1863. Taylor died at Point Lookout on August 22, 1864. He was buried in the Confederate Cemetery at the prison.<br />
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Maybe it is a blessing the Davis brothers parents proceeded them in death so they did not have to experience the loss of four of their six sons because of the fratricidal conflict that was the Civil War. One must also wonder how difficult it must have been for William and Agnes Taylor when they realized that 5 boys they had helped raise were casualties of this great American conflict. It must not have been easy to put their shattered lives back together. <br />
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Most of the information in this post related to the military careers of the Davis brothers and their cousin who served with the Confederacy is derived from their Compiled Service Records.<br />
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Note: The Hill letter to Rufus Dawes, who met C. C. Davis on the field of Gettysburg on or about July 5, 1863 is in the Special Collections at McCain Library at the University of Southern Mississippi (Dawes (Rufus R.) Letters, Collection M30).<br />
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<br />Sharon Murrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15667199358231667281noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3817053175516493678.post-11873108623448947572019-01-06T09:23:00.001-08:002020-09-29T15:01:57.105-07:00Benjamin Franklin Davis: The Measure of a Man in the Words of his Peers.<span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">What most historians know about this Alabama born, Louisiana and Mississippi raised orphan, who spent his short adult life as an officer in the United States Army, can be summed up in a couple of paragraphs. The vast majority of what is known is positive, but not all. This dearth of information has lead me on an exhaustive search in an attempt to bring to light something more definitive and insightful about this young man. The following is the result of that ongoing research extracted from the written word of his family, friends, colleagues and peers.</span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">William F. Dowd, a Mississippian, who would serve as a colonel in the Confederate Army during the Civil War, had this to say about his young friend Ben Davis in a letter he wrote January 2, 1850, supporting Davis's application to the United States Military Academy at West Point: "<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">Davis is a young man of about 18 years of age of unblemished reputation of very superior mental endowment - also if educated at West Point I feel soon will prove an ornament to the service and an honor to his country."</span></span></span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"><br /></span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">Benjamin F. Davis was admitted to West Point July 1, 1850. Upon graduation, in 1854, the brevet 2nd Lieutenant was assigned to the 5th U. S. Infantry. In March 1855 he transferred to the 1st U. S. Dragoons. He would serve with the dragoons in New Mexico Territory and California from 1856 until late 1861.</span></span></span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">On page 56<u> Executive Documents The House of Representatives 1st Session of the Thirty-fifth Congress</u> in </span>documentation<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> referring Captain Bonneville's 1957 Gila River Expedition it is noted: "Great credit (was) given by the commanding officer to the following named officers - Alfred B. Chapman and Benjamin F. Davis. </span></span></span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">In the fall of 1861 orders were issued to transfer almost all the regular army troops from the west coast, east, so they could serve in the rebellion. To do this volunteer regiments had to be raised in California, Washington and Oregon to replace them. In August 1861 the governor of California was looking for an officer for the 1st California Volunteer Cavalry Battalion. In recommending Lt. Davis for this position to both California's </span>governor<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> and Lorenzo Thomas, the army's Adjutant General, Brigadier General Edwin V. Sumner, commander of the Department of the Pacific, had this to say: "</span></span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">General in raising the volunteers from this state, I find it indispensably necessary, for economy as well as efficiency to have a cavalry officer of experience and ability to command the five companies of cavalry.</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">There was no suitable man to be found out of the army, and at my request</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">the governor of California has given the commission of Lt. Colonel of Cavalry to </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">Lt. B. F. Davis</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> of the 1st Dragoons.</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">I have known this young officer since he entered the army and I know him to be one of the best officers in it.</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">He is from the south but a firm loyalist to the government.</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> Between August and November 1861 Davis reportedly "whipped the raw recruits of the 1st California Cavalry into 1st class horse soldiers."</span></span><br />
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<span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">Captain B. F. Davis came east with his regiment in November 1861. By early 1862 he would be serving in the </span>defenses<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> of Washington, prior to joining the Army of the Potomac for the 1862 Peninsula Campaign, where he would be commended for his action at the Battle of Williamsburg on May 5, 1862. While at Camp Sprague, on the outskirts of Washington Captain Davis "trained" George B. Sanford, the 1st Lieutenant of Company K 1st U. S. Cavalry. Sanford noted in "<u>Fighting Rebels and Redskins:</u> "To Captain Davis more than any other one officer I am indebted for whatever I afterwards became in the service. He was a thorough officer ... and never missed an opportunity to impart the instructions that I required...He required me to study and recite to him daily. On the march he taught me to notice the character of the country, the advantages of positions for attack and defense, sites for camps etc. At a halt he would practice with me in the saber exercise and give me instructions in posting pickets and sending out scouts. If I did not appreciate his kindness at the time, I certainly have since." Sanborn also mentioned "Captain Davis was a handsome man of about twenty-eight years...He had gained some reputation for his gallantry in action with the Apache. He was as loyal as he was brave, and nothing but his early death prevented him from reaching very high rank in the service." </span></span></span><br />
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<span> By mid June 1862, Benjamin Davis would be on leave, sick at Willard's Hotel in Washington D.C. About this time however the 8th New York Volunteer Cavalry was </span><span>looking for a new commander and George Stoneman recommended Davis. Davis's commission as Colonel of the 8th New York was backdated to June 25, 1862. He would not take over command of the regiment in the field in Maryland until mid July 1862. </span><br />
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<span>At first the 8th New York Volunteers did not think very highly of their West Point educated regular army colonel but this is what several members of the regiment had to say after they became better acquainted. </span></span><br />
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<span>On July 29, 1862 a member of the 8th New York wrote a letter to New York's Governor Morgan. He said "You will not think it amiss if I give you the public judgement already pronounced in the 8th Cavalry Regiment upon the quality of it's head....The bearing of our colonel among us has given us a lofty example of the hard-working soldier and of the man of honor, at home in his work, quiet, thoughtful, cheerful, of few words, and, like the weight of a pendulum of a clock, in ceaseless and noiseless influence on all of the wheels. His quarters and their furnishings are as plain as those of any other officer, that is, as plain as plain can be, and no one rises in the morning and finds him abed. That he means to do his duty is evident, and no one is left in doubt that he expects the rest of us to do ours. He has no favors to ask for himself. That is both evident and striking. I dare say your Excellency will recognize that as a peculiarity; but it is also the secret of true dignity and freedom....To the office of the Chaplain he has shown himself respectful and considerate, in making it useful and impressive, and so have all the officers - to his gray hairs courteous and kind</span><span>. In reproof to officers I hear no instance of impatience, and none have been administered in the presence of subordinates. In this record I believe I have the camp's unanimous concurrence." </span></span><br />
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<span>Henry Norton noted in <u>Deeds of Daring History of the 8th New York Volunteer Cavalry,</u> that Colonel B. F. Davis “was a military man clear through, the right man in the right place. He was a strict disciplinarian, and brought the regiment down under the regular army regulations.” </span></span><br />
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<span>The 8th New York Volunteer Cavalry, and Colonel Davis were ordered to leave Relay House, Maryland for Harpers Ferry, Virginia on August 28, 1862. Once at Harpers Ferry they were primarily charged with protecting the Winchester and Potomac Railroad that ran from Harpers Ferry to Winchester, Virginia and breaking up the 12th Virginia Cavalry. The 8th New York and 5 other regiments of cavalry were trapped in Harpers Ferry when Confederate forces commanded by Stonewall Jackson surrounded the town on September 13, 1862. Colonel Davis was instrumental in facilitating and helping lead the Union cavalry escape from Harpers Ferry on September 14, 1862. For this action he was breveted Major in the regular army and given command of a brigade by Major General George B. McClellan. Davis would lead a brigade as a colonel until his untimely death at Beverly Ford, Virginia during the June 9, 1863 Battle of Brandy Station.</span></span><br />
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<span>In his official report following the Battle of Brandy Station Major General Alfred Pleasonton, commander of the Cavalry Corps, Army of the Potomac reported: we "would have captured his (Beckham's) guns but for the untimely loss of the brave and accomplished Colonel B. F. Davis of the 8th New York Cavalry, who while commanding a brigade, charged at the head of his column into the midst of the enemy and was shot through the head."</span></span><br />
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<span>Brigadier General John Buford, who commanded the 1st Division, which Davis's brigade was attached to, wrote: "this success was dearly bought, for among the noble and brave ones who fell was Colonel B. F. Davis. He died in front, giving examples of heroism and courage to all who were to follow. He was a thorough soldier, free from politics and intrigue, a patriot in its true sense, an ornament to his country and a bright star in his profession."</span></span><br />
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<span>In <u>Annals of the 6th Pennsylvania Cavalry,</u> Reverend Samuel Levi Gracey Chaplain of the 6th Pennsylvania Cavalry, and, for a time, the 1st Division of the Cavalry Corps, who saw the insensible Davis being carried from the field (at Beverly Ford) in a litter wrote: “Here comes a rough litter bearing an officer. Who is that boys? “Colonel Davis sir!” “Is it possible!” Noble fellow! “Is he wounded badly” “A minie ball through the head, sir!” He is insensible his hair matted and clotted with blood. God have mercy on this brave, noble, patriotic soldier the hero of Harpers Ferry.” This is our hastily breathed prayer, as we linger for a moment, and then hurry on to join our command.” </span></span><br />
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<span>In writing his <u>Personal Recollections of the Civil War</u> Brigadier General John Gibbon, who also had ties to the south from growing up in North Carolina, wrote in a June 9 letter: “he (Davis) was killed in the fighting up the river either yesterday or today…I regard his death as the greatest loss this army has met with in a long time. He ought long ago to have been promoted, but such men, I am sorry to say, seldom get positions to which their merit and service entitle them.” </span></span><br />
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<span>In another letter dated June 11 John noted: "Poor Davis was killed while gallantly charging at the head of his brigade….I feel very sad when I think of him, and he is a very, very great loss to this army.”</span></span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #121212;">Brigadier General Marsena Patrick's notation in his diary for June 9, 1863 read</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #121212;">: "Pleasonton has been engaged up the River, in a severe fight, which cost us the life of our best Cavalry Officer - Col. Benjamin F. Davis."</span></span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(18, 18, 18);">In an article written for</span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(18, 18, 18); text-decoration: underline;"> Harpers Weekly</span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(18, 18, 18);"> titled </span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(18, 18, 18);"> "The Battle of Brandy Station" General Wesley Merritt noted" “the leading brigade of Buford’s Division was commanded by Col. B. F. Davis, 8th New York Cavalry, a captain in the 1st U S Cavalry…The battle was hotly joined and Davis had fallen mortally wounded. He was dearly beloved throughout the command, and many a veteran of the old 1st and 2nd Dragoons drew his chin grimly to his breast and with clinched teeth awaited the shock of battle determined to do his share in avenging the death of this hero."</span></span></span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(18, 18, 18);">Merritt also noted in <u>Personal Recollections-Beverly Ford to Mitchell's Station</u>, "He (Davis) was a gallant man, an ambitious soldier, a courtly gentleman. A southerner, like the idolized chief of the first division (Buford), he stood firm by the flag under which he had received his qualifications and commission as an officer; he died for that flag, under that flag fell to soon, but oh! so bravely."</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(18, 18, 18); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #121212;">Elias Beck, surgeon of the 3rd Indiana Volunteer Cavalry did not have the same high regard for Colonel B. F. Davis as did many of his fellow officers. Beck remarked in </span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(18, 18, 18); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #121212;"> June 10, 1863 letter to his wife that we: "had a fight, our brigade commander Colonel Davis was killed...Davis was a regular, a Mississippian by birth, a proud tyrannical devil and had the ill will of his whole command. I bet he was killed by our own men.” He noted in another part of the letter: There was "general rejoicing among our brigade that Davis was killed he was such a <i>tyrant</i>. A West Point man and a southerner - proud spirited - he led the 8th New York Cavalry in a charge & was 20 feet ahead of his men when his body was pierced by balls." </span></span><br />
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(18, 18, 18); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #121212;">In a <u>History of the 3rd Indiana Cavalry</u>, </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(18, 18, 18); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #121212;">William N. Pickerill painted a different picture of the regiments opinion of Davis. Pickerill wrote: “Colonel Davis was an officer of the regular army, a strict disciplinarian…was regarded as one of the best subordinate cavalry commanders of the army.”</span></span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">Frederic C. Newhall also commented about B. F. Davis in the </span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none; text-decoration: underline;">Battle of Beverly Ford in The Annals of the War Written by Leading Participants North and South.</span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none; text-decoration: underline;"> Newhall recorded:</span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"> “he (Davis) fell in a moment mortally wounded on the further bank, and should be remembered with special honor for he was a southern man and a graduate of West Point. He was called “Grimes” by all his army friends and was the beau ideal of a cavalry officer. He was borne back in a blanket just as Pleasonton gained the southern bank of the river.”</span></span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-family: helvetica;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In the years after the Civil War and </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Colonel Benjamin F. Davis's untimely death at age 31 encomiums were still being written about the gallant American soldier. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span><br /></span><span><u>In Three Years in the Federal Cavalry</u> Willard W. Glazier wrote: “ In the early part of the engagement (Brandy Station) fell Colonel B. F. Davis of the 8th New York Cavalry. His loss was a subject of great lamentation. He had distinguished himself for great sagacity, wonderful power of endurance and unsurpassed bravery.”</span></span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Jonathan Letterman, Medical Director of the Army of the Potomac served with Benjamin Davis at Fort Tejon in California before the Civil War. Lettermen wrote in</span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span><u>Medical Recollections of the Army of the Potomac</u><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">,</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> "This officer, who so successfully extricated his regiment from Harper's Ferry when the post was surrendered by General Miles - who fought so gallantly on our march through Virginia in the autumn of 1862 - had been my companion in more than one campaign among the Indians; my messmate at stations far beyond the haunts of civilized men. This long, familiar intercourse produced the warmest admiration for his noble character, which made him sacrifice friends and relatives to uphold the flag under which he was born and defend the Constitution of his country."</span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">For many years the survivors of the 8th New York Volunteer Cavalry would hold a reunion in June on or close to the anniversary of the Battle of Brandy Station. George H. Chapman remembered Colonel Davis at the 1881 reunion. He noted in his address that "Colonel Davis was a competent officer, a stern disciplinarian and a man of strong character. Had his life been spared I have no doubt he would have gained great distinction. I always think of him as a man who was entitled to much credit for being faithful to the flag when almost everyone who was surrounded by the same influences proved faithless...It required strong conscientious conviction and moral courage to sustain him, and all in like situation, in remaining faithful to the flag and standing with the north. Let his memory be revered."</span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #121212;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Henry L. Abbott, who graduated 2nd in the same West Point Class as Davis, noted in a book he wrote titled <u>Half Century of a West Point Class 1850 to 1854</u>, that Davis was a Captain of Cadets. </span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #121212;">Abbott also wrote on page 18: “He took part in all the battles and skirmishes of the Army of the Potomac after that of South Mountain, always with so much credit to himself, as to be regarded as having very few equals and no superiors in the cavalry branch of the service. He commanded a brigade of the 1st Division of Pleasonton's Cavalry Corps for many months, and was over and over again recommended for promotion to the grade of Brigadier General...</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #121212;">The request that his body might repose at West Point was granted by the Secretary of War.</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #121212;"> </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #121212;">It is the fitting place.</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #121212;"> </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #121212;">He was a gallant son of his Alma Mater, and an honor to his class and to the Academy.”</span></span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #121212;">And maybe one of the final and most fitting remarks regarding the life and career of Benjamin Franklin Davis was written by Major General George B. Davis in an article about Harpers Ferry published in the <u>Journal of the U. S. Cavalry Association</u> May 1, 1913. General Davis noted: "Colonel Davis, affectionately known as "Grimes" by his friends and admirers who were many and enthusiastic - was to valuable a man to permit to be cooped up again (as at Harpers Ferry), or employed in escorting his own forage and rations...and was immediately assigned to the command of a brigade of cavalry by General McClellan. Here he was at his best, and Grime's Davis's best was something beyond the common...In one of the early combats of cavalry against cavalry of which the year 1863, and those following were to see many, he was killed while leading his brigade - not upon a place - but upon a mounted force of the enemy, of equal if not superior strength; and so the gallant spirit passed, in the tumult of battle, "to where beyond these voices there is peace." A photograph, dating probably from the late summer of 1861, is - or was, one of the cherished possessions of the Army Mess at the Military Academy, which in life, not less in his untimely death he so much adorned."</span></span><br />
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Sharon Murrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15667199358231667281noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3817053175516493678.post-48711435765298475222018-08-09T11:40:00.002-07:002018-08-10T09:31:38.300-07:00An Officer, A Gentleman and an Ornament to His Country: The Life of Benjamin Franklin Davis, Part IV<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On August 31, 1862 Colonel Davis would get instructions from Henry M. Binney, Aide-de-Camp to Colonel Dixon S. Miles, commanding the garrison at Harpers Ferry to "take post at Summit Point on the Winchester (and Potomac) Railroad, with your regiment"... protect the railroad and "closely watch the operations of an active partisan group" the 12th Virginia Cavalry. Norton notes the 8th New York was "sent up the Shenandoah River scouting about every day to Charlestown and Shepherdstown, to ascertain the whereabouts of the rebel cavalry. He also mentions "we had not been there (Harpers Ferry) long before we found out we were surrounded by rebels."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">When General Lee invaded Maryland in September 1862 he had expected the federal garrisons at Harpers Ferry and Martinsburg would evacuate. When they did not Lee sent Major General Thomas J. Jackson with about two-thirds of his army to either capture the garrisons or force their evacuation. Jackson left Frederick, Maryland September 10 and by the 13th he had Harpers Ferry surrounded. Maryland Heights fell on the 13th and confederate artillery began shelling the town on the 14th. It was inevitable the garrison would have to surrender.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> According to Ezra A. Carmen in <u>The Maryland Campaign of September 1862, Volume I, South Mountain</u> page 255, "During the afternoon of September 13 Colonel B. F. Davis, 8th New York Cavalry and Lieutenant Colonel Hasbrouck Davis 12th Illinois Cavalry, waited upon General White...and suggested that as the cavalry was of no use there and forage short, it cut its way out, as if obliged to surrender, the horses and equipment would be a great prize to the enemy, and that an effort to reach McClellan ought to be made. That evening a conference of all the cavalry commanders was held at Miles' headquarters, and Miles agreed they could consult and propose means of getting out." Purportedly there were sharp words between Grimes Davis and Dixon Miles, at the meeting, before the latter reluctantly gave his permission for the cavalry to attempt the breakout. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Miles's Aide-de-Camp Lt. Reynolds drafted Special Order #120 on September 14, 1862 which stated: "The cavalry force at this post, except detached orderlies, will make immediate preparations to leave here at eight o'clock tonight, without baggage wagons, ambulances or led horses, crossing the Potomac over the pontoon bridge, and taking the Sharpsburg Road. The senior officer, Colonel Voss, will assume command of the whole, which will form the right at the quartermaster's office, the left up Shenandoah Street, without noise or loud command, in the following order: Cole's Cavalry, 12th Illinois Cavalry, 8th New York Cavalry, 7th Squadron Rhode Island Cavalry and the 1st Maryland Cavalry. No other instructions can be given to the commander than to force his way through the enemy's lines and join our own army." </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">A</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">round 8:00 p.m. on the 14th about 1,500 cavalry composed of Companies H & I, 1st Maryland Cavalry, the 7th Squadron Rhode Island Cavalry, Cole's 1st Maryland Potomac Home Brigade Cavalry, Samuel Means Loudoun Rangers, the 12th Illinois and the 8 New York led by local guide Hanson T. C. Green and scout Thomas Noakes left the ferry via the pontoon bridge that spanned the Potomac to the base of Maryland Heights. The guide and scout would lead the cavalry men along the existing roads and through various farm fields and pastures to Antietam Iron Works at the confluence of the Potomac River and Antietam Creek, then on to Sharpsburg, where they would rest for a while and regroup before heading northwestward on the Mercerville road. According to Carmen, "once on the (Mercersville) Road they broke into a brisk trot, went through New Industry and Mercersville, traversing hills and ravines, through cornfields and meadows, over fences and water cources, with an occasional halt to breath the horses. Before daylight the column came out near St. James College then continued northward entering the woods, "skirting the turnpike from Hagerstown to Williamsport. About two and one half miles from Williamsport the low, rumbling sound of heavy carriage wheels was heard." The command decided to surprise and capture the wagon train. "The 8th New York and 12th Illinois were formed in line near the turnpike, the Maryland and Rhode Island Cavalry in Reserve, while Colonel B. F. Davis with a squadron of the 8th New York quietly advanced and took possession of the turnpike to interrupt the passage of the train to Williamsport." In so doing a number of the wagons from Major General James Longstreet's ordinance train were captured and taken to Greencastle, Pennsylvania with the Union Cavalry column. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Colonel Davis and the 8th New York did not have much time to rest at Greencastle, Pennsylvania following the arduous escape from Harpers Ferry. Late on September 15, Davis was ordered by Major General MacClellan to retrace his steps to Jones' Cross Roads, at the intersection of the Keedysville - Williamsport Road four miles north of Sharpsburg, and join the 15th Pennsylvania cavalry there. Davis and the 8th New York would stay around the Hagerstown area for much of the time until they crossed the Potomac at Berlin, Maryland on October 26 and joined the rest of the army of the Potomac in Virginia. Colonel Davis would command the 5th Brigade, consisting on the 8th New York and the 3rd Pennsylvania Cavalry of Alfred Pleasonton's Division from September thru part of November 1862.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-size: 13px;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Although the historical records are considerably muddled regarding who was responsible for coming up with the idea the Union Cavalry should try to escape Harpers Ferry, before the town surrendered, most of the credit has been given to Colonel Benjamin F. Davis for originating the idea and helping ensure the endeavor was a success. I would suspect however, the idea was on the minds of most if not all of the cavalry officers and troopers present at Harpers Ferry even though they do not get much credit for it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In the Records of the Harpers Ferry Military Commission which are part of Volume 19, Part I of the Official Records Henry Binney statement under oath supports the contention the idea for the cavalry to attempt an escape from originated with Colonel B. F. Davis. Binney testified, "On Sunday night (September 14) Colonel Davis of the Eighth New York Cavalry, came down and represented that the cavalry was of no use there, and if we were obliged to surrender the place eventually they would be as great a prize as the enemy could get. Furthermore, that we had no forage for the horses ... and that he desired the privilege of cutting his way out. Colonel Miles then issued an order, or sent his orderlies to the commanders of cavalry to meet at his office that evening. They met at 7:00 or 7:30." After considerable discussion a route was selected and Colonel Miles issued Special Orders #120.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">A telegram George McClellan sent to Henry Halleck on September 23, 1862 adds credence to the supposition the idea to escape and the success of the venture rested squarely on the shoulder of Benjamin F. Davis. The telegram stated: "The conspicuous conduct of Captain B. F. Davis 1st cavalry in the management of the withdrawal of the cavalry from Harpers Ferry at the surrender of that place merits the special notice of the government. I recommend him for the brevet of major."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Many army officers who were contemporaries of Davis, also gave him credit for successfully leading the escape and called him the hero of Harpers Ferry. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Since there is no evidence Colonel Davis himself ever wrote or spoke about the incident, that we know of, we may never know all the facts. He certainly deserved some recognition but not all of it in deference to his fellow officers, scouts, guides and cavaliers.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">To be continued.</span><br />
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Sharon Murrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15667199358231667281noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3817053175516493678.post-1237026400497350132018-08-06T12:27:00.000-07:002018-08-11T06:40:40.735-07:00An Officer, A Gentleman and an Ornament to His Country: The Life of Benjamin Franklin Davis, Part III<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Captain Benjamin F. Davis would arrive at Camp Sprague near Washington, D.C. and join Company K, 1st U. S. Cavalry on January 18, 1862. Eight companies of the 1st Cavalry, including K, would remain at Camp Sprague engaging in drilling, camp and garrison duties as well as serving as escorts, couriers and pickets, in the defense of Washington, until March 10, 1862 when they would depart for Alexandria, Virginia to join the Army of the Potomac. They would be brigaded with the 8th Pennsylvania Cavalry and the McClellan Dragoons commanded by Charles Barker to form Colonel George A. H. Blake's 2nd Brigade, Cavalry Reserve.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Blake's command left Alexandria, Virginia March 29, 1862, embarking on schooners in route to Hampton, Virginia, arriving there April 3rd. On April 4th they were camped on the Kentucky Farm. The command left the Kentucky Farm April 11 and arrived at a new camp near Ship Point on the Chesapeake Bay the same day. The Union Army would use Ship Point as a point of debarkation, a hospital and a supply depot during part of the Peninsula Campaign. Blake's Brigade left their bivouac near Ship Point April 24 heading to Camp Winfield Scott near Yorktown, Virginia. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Camp Winfield Scott was about a mile and a half from Yorktown. Theophilus Rodenbough notes in <u>From Everglades to Canyon with the Second United States Cavalry</u>: the camp was "in a large open plain, surrounded by trees, the sun has a good chance at us. The location is a very fine one, far superior to our last one, some eight miles back, where we lived in mud literally fifteen inches deep, and drowned out every other day." Major General McClellan was attempting to defeat the rebels at Yorktown by siege, however the Confederates thwarted his plans when they evacuated their camp on the night of May 3rd, 1862. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The May returns for the 1st U. S. Cavalry state the regiment left camp on Cheeseman's Creek, about six miles southeast of Yorktown, on Sunday May 4th. They were engaged, along with the 6th U. S. Cavalry and Captain Horatio Gibson's Light Company C 3rd U. S. Artillery et al, as the advance guard of the Army of the Potomac, against the rebels on both May 4th and 5th near Williamsburg, Virginia. On May 4th Brigadier General George Stoneman directed his two reserve cavalry brigades to harass the rear of the retreating Confederates. Emory became engages with Stuart's cavalry while Blake's command, which included the 1st U. S. Cavalry, followed the rebels in the direction of Fort Magruder. While Blake skirmished and maneuvered to assault the Confederates they attacked his cavalry and Gibson's battery. Captain Benjamin Davis commanded a squadron of about 60 men who were part of the rear guard as the 1st U. S. Cavalry and Gibson's Battery retired from the field late in the day. According to Brigadier General Philip St. George Cooke's official report while the 1st Cavalry was retiring with it's last squadron (Davis's) at a walk, and carrying off the wounded they were "charged in the narrow road by a superior force of the enemy's cavalry. Captain Davis, wheeling about by fours, met and with great gallantry (handsomely) repulsed them" driving them back in confusion which protected the artillery battery and the wounded. Davis's command captured a rebel standard and suffered 13 casualties. Captain Davis would be recommended for a brevet promotion two different times for leading the gallant charge at Williamsburg, the first time by Philip Cooke on June 20, 1862 and the second time by Edwin M. Stanton, February 23, 1863 however, neither would be conferred.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On May 6th Captain Davis and the rest of the 1st U. S. Cavalry would be camped near Williamsburg. They left the Williamsburg area on May 11th and camped near West Point, Virginia. On the 13th the regiment advanced to New Kent Courthouse. They were at St. Peters Church by the 18th before moving to Tunstall's Station on the Richmond and York River Railroad 18 miles from Richmond by the May 20th. On May 23rd the regiment would be camped 7 miles from Richmond. On May 31 they relocated their camp near Walnut Grove, nine miles from Richmond.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The 1st U. S. Cavalry would remain at their camp 9 miles from Richmond for most of the month of June 1862. On June 13 they left camp in pursuit of Stuart's Cavalry who had been causing depredation at Garlick's Landing on the Pamunkey and Tunstall's Station during his ride around McClellan's Army. They were back in camp by the 15th. Later in the month 4 companies of the 1st cavalry were engaged at the Battle of Gaines Mill. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> It is unclear if Captain Davis was with his regiment during this time. The June returns indicate Company K might have been on detached service at Fort Monroe. The returns also indicate Davis was on leave as of June 25, 1862 as per Order #141, Army of the Potomac dated June 15 and a Special Order of the War Department dated June 17. What is known is that on June 7, 1862 Captain Davis was commissioned Colonel of Volunteers by the governor of New York, to date from June 6, and assigned to command the 8th New York Volunteer Cavalry. He was unable to report to duty with his new command immediately however, as on June 30, 1862 W. K. Barnes of the Surgeon General's Office, Washington D.C., noted Davis was confined to his bed, with a febrile (fever) attack, at Willards Hotel. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">July 1862 would find Colonel B. F. Davis at Relay House, Maryland, near Baltimore, commanding the 8th New York Volunteer Cavalry. He had been mustered in as the units colonel July 11, 1862 to date from June, 25th. The 8th New York had been organized on November 14, 1861. They left New York for Washington D.C., November 29. The regiment, which was not mounted and equipped as cavalry until July 1862, served in the defenses of Washington until March 9, 1862. Between March 9 and April 6th they were guarding the Potomac River and the C & O Canal between Edwards Ferry and Point of Rocks. On April 6th they moved to Harpers Ferry where they were assigned to guard the railroad between Harpers Ferry and Winchester, Virginia. On June 23, 1862 they were ordered to Relay House to meet their new colonel and finally get outfitted as a mounted unit.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Colonel Davis would spend July and most of August drilling the 8th New York Cavalry into an elite fighting unit. He had been commissioned their colonel at the request of their officers and upon the recommendation of George Stoneman. Henry Norton described Davis in <u>Deeds of Daring or History of the Eighth New York Cavalry</u>: "He was a military man clear through, the right man in the right place. He was a strict disciplinarian and brought the regiment down under the regular army regulations. Some of the boys thought he was to severe with them. They said no man could bring a volunteer under regular army style with success. Previous to Davis taking command the boys were put in the guard house for punishment. That suited them too well. Colonel Davis's mode of punishment was to make the soldier carry a rail on his shoulder and walk a ring until he gave orders for him to stop." Norton also noted Davis was quite a smoker. "He had an old clay pipe and when he got engaged he would keep it in his mouth for an hour after it was smoked out."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Another member of the 8th New York described Davis in a July 21, 1862 letter to the governor of New York: "<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-size: 15.2px;">As I stepped to the door of my quarters...and looked out this moment on the busy scene of work and drill in camp—two acres swept like a floor—all filth and garbage removed; tents open, clean and aired; officers hard at work in drill; the men busy, orderly and cheerful—I thought of you and intrude upon your time... just to express to you our sense of obligation for the commission to Col. Davis. </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-size: 15.2px;">The bearing of our Colonel among us has given us a lofty example of the hard-working soldier and of the man of honor, at home in his work, quiet, thoughtful, cheerful, of few words, and, like the weight and pendulum of a clock, in ceaseless and noiseless influence on all the wheels. His quarters and their furnishings are as plain as those of any of his officers; that is, as plain as plain can be, and no one rises in the morning and finds him abed. That he means to do his duty is evident, and no one is left in doubt that he expects the rest of us to do ours. He had no favors to ask for himself. That is both evident and striking. I dare say your Excellency will recognize that as a peculiarity; but it is also the secret of true dignity and freedom."</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The 8th New York Cavalry would get their horses and accouterments on July 8 and July 20, 1862. Norton noted the regiment drilled every day until late August. On August 28, Colonel Davis would be ordered by Major General John Wool to have his "regiment ready to start for Harpers Ferry by Saturday at the latest." Davis and the 8th New York left Relay House for Harpers Ferry on the 29th by railroad, arriving there on August 30, 1862. Little did they know that in about 2 weeks time, after arriving at the ferry, they would have a date with destiny on account of their colonel.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">To be continued. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>Sharon Murrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15667199358231667281noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3817053175516493678.post-2630178818470981732018-07-04T11:18:00.005-07:002018-08-01T16:41:07.130-07:00An Officer, a Gentleman and an Ornament to his Country: The Life of Benjamin Franklin Davis, Part II Fort Tejon was established near Tejon Pass at the head of the San Joaquin Valley in California in August 1854. In December 1856 the fort became the headquarters of the 1st U. S. Dragoons. Companies H & I were at Fort Tejon while Companies B, D, G and K remained at Camp Moore. By 1858 the post was commanded by Major George A. H. Blake, 1st Dragoons.<br />
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2nd Lt. B. F. Davis arrived at Fort Tejon on July 7, 1858 along with his commanding officer Captain John W. Davidson and Albert B. Chapman of Company K. Davis immediately took on new duties at the fort as he began serving as the posts Acting Assistant Quartermaster (AAQM) and Acting Assistant Commissary of Subsistence (AACS). He would continue these duties until December 1858. He also spent some time on detached service and in command of Company B, 1st Dragoons.<br />
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Benjamin Davis spent the first several months of 1859 at Fort Tejon. On the May returns he was reported as being on detached service in San Francisco since May 2nd. In June he was again absent from the fort conducting recruits to Fort Crook as per Special Order #56, Department of California dated June 15, 1859. Fort Crook, named after 1st Lieutenant George Crook, 4th U. S. Infantry, was located on the north bank of the Falls River in Shasta County, California near the present town of Falls River Mills. It was established in 1857 to protect settlers from the hostile Indians. In August 1859 Davis was still on detached service, this time on the Colorado River. He left Fort Tejon on August 12 and did not return until September 29. By December 27, 1859 Davis was again on detached service at Los Angeles.<br />
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1st Lt. Benjamin Davis left Fort Tejon January 19, 1860 for Fort Yuma where he was a member of a general court martial. He returned to Fort Tejon February 27. Fort Yuma was established in 1848 in what is now Imperial County, California across the Colorado River from Yuma, New Mexico Territory (now Arizona). By 1858 The Butterfield Overland Mail had a station near the fort. In March 1860 Company B, 1st Dragoons was temporarily under the command of Milton T. Carr a West Point classmate of Benjamin Davis. Both Carr and Davis left Fort Tejon in mid April for the Mojave River. They were probably part of Brevet Major James H. Carletons Pah-Ute Campaign against the Southern Paiutes and the Chemehuevis Indians who had been attacking wagon trains on the Mojave Road which linked Southern California to Beale's Wagon Road and the Santa Fe Trail. On April 18, 1860 Companies B & K of the 1st Dragoons were engaged near Camp Cady on the Mojave River in Arizona. Both Carleton and Carr were back at Fort Tejon by July 9. Davis probably returned at the same time.<br />
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The July returns for Fort Tejon show 2nd Lt. Benjamin F. Davis being promoted to 1st lieutenant, after almost five years as a 2nd lieutenant, and transferred from Company B, to Company K, 1st Dragoons. Post records do not show the promotion date however Davis's service records indicate the promotion occurred on January 9, 1860. On July 18, 1860 1st Lieutenant Davis will apply for and receive 60 days leave of absence, the first extended leave he appears to have taken since joining the 5th U. S. Infantry in Texas in December 1854. By early October Benjamin will be back at Fort Tejon where he again will serve as the AAQM and Acting Commissary of Subsistence (ACS) of the post. He will continue these duties until June 20, 1861.<br />
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First Lieutenant Grimes Davis spent the first four months of 1861 at Fort Tejon. On May 3, 1861 he was ordered to Los Angeles on detached service. He left Fort Tejon May 11. As noted on pages 55-58 of "Los Angeles in the Civil War, 1860 to 1865": "On May 14 Major James Henry Carleton and 50 mounted troopers from Company K, 1st Dragoons, from Fort Tejon, trotted into Los Angeles, to the immense relief of Captain (Winfield Scott) Hancock (the Army's lone officer in town) and the Union sympathizers. A few days later they were joined by cavalry from Fort Mojave and the immediate danger of insurrection in Los Angeles was over. The soldiers set up camp on the southern outskirts of town in view of Hancock's Quartermaster buildings. The new encampment was named Camp Fitzgerald."<br />
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June finds Lt. Davis at Camp Fitzgerald. He would remain here for several months commanding the 1st Dragoon Band and serving as the camp adjutant. Camp Fitzgerald was garrisoned by a little over 300 soldiers belonging to Companies B & K of the 1st Dragoons and Companies F & I of the 6th U. S. Infantry. <br />
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On July 30, 1861 1st Lt. Benjamin F. Davis was promoted to Captain 1st U. S. Dragoons which was renamed the 1st U. S. Cavalry on August 3. He stayed at Camp Fitzgerald until mid August. The camp returns for the month note he is on detached service per a telegraph dispatch from San Francisco dated August 15, 1861. The young officer would leave Camp Fitzgerald August 17, 1861 to take command of the 1st Battalion (5 companies) 1st California Volunteer Cavalry.<br />
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When the Civil War started California was asked to provide a regiment of infantry and 5 companies of cavalry to help guard the overland mail route between Carson City (Nevada) and Fort Laramie (Wyoming). Suitable officers had to be found to organize and train the raw recruits. Brigadier General Edwin V. Sumner commander of the Department of the Pacific was coordinating with John G. Downey California's governor to find officers for the California volunteers. In correspondence to Lorenzo Thomas, Adjutant General, Washington DC dated August 22, 1861 Sumner wrote: "General in raising the volunteers for this state, I find it indispensably necessary, for economy as well as efficiency to have a cavalry officer of experience and ability to command the five companies of cavalry. There was no suitable man to be found outside of the Army, and at my request the governor of California has given the commission of Lt. Colonel to Lt. B. F. Davis of the 1st Dragoons. I have known this young officer since he entered the army and I know him to be one of the best officers in it. He is from the south but a firm loyalist to the government. I would respectfully ask the sanction of the war department to this appointment."<br />
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Benjamin F. Davis was commissioned Lt. Colonel of Volunteers August 19, 1861 to date from August 6, 1861. In an August 29 letter Colonel James H. Carleton wrote "by authority of the general commanding the Dept. of the Pacific Lt. Col. B. F. Davis is designated as mustering officer for the 1st Cavalry and 1st Infantry now camped at Contra Costa, (County) California". It would be Davis's responsibility not only to muster in the volunteer cavalry but also to drill and discipline the raw recruits and make them an effective fighting force. <br />
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The volunteers who would make up the five companies of the 1st California Volunteer Cavalry rendezvoused at Camp Merchant near Lake Merritt Oakland, California in August 1861. They would receive barely a month's training before being mustered into federal service and ordered to Southern California. On September 14, 1861 Richard C Drum, AAG wrote Special Order #172, Department of the Pacific directing Colonel James H. Carleton to take the 1st California Infantry and Cavalry to Los Angeles. The horses of the battalion of cavalry were to be left in San Francisco. The cavalry would be remounted at Los Angeles. The quartermaster was to procure the necessary transportation by water to San Pedro.<br />
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The California Volunteer Cavalry and Infantry arrived at the port of San Pedro on September 19 and 20th. They disembarked and marched approximately 18 miles northward where they established a camp near Bollona Creek christened Camp Latham. Three companies of cavalry remained at Camp Latham with the 1st California Infantry while the other two were sent to Camp Carleton near San Bernardino. The recruits training would continue in southern California.<br />
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On October 13, 1861 Lt. Col. Davis wrote a letter from Camp Latham applying for a seven day leave of absence with permission to visit San Francisco. He noted in the letter "I have given the colonel commanding verbally my reasons for deserving this indulgence". His leave was approved and Davis departed Camp Latham on October 15. It is unknown if the request was related to business or pleasure or both however my supposition is he was primarily seeking permission from headquarters to return east with the 1st U. S. Cavalry Regiment. After Davis arrived in San Francisco he applied for an additional ten days of leave on October 19. Then in a letter dated October 29, 1861 he resigned his commission as Lt. Colonel of the 1st California Volunteer Cavalry. The resignation was accepted October 30, 1861 by Headquarters Dept. of the Pacific who subsequently drafted the following Special Order # 205: "Captain B. F. Davis, 1st Cavalry, having tendered his resignation as lieutenant-colonel of cavalry, California volunteers, will join his company at San Pedro in time to embark with the same on the steamer leaving this port on the 1st proximo". All the regular army regiments except 4 artillery batteries had been ordered east. Captain B. F. Davis would leave the port of San Pedro, California November 1st, aboard the wooden side-wheel Steamer S. S. Golden Gate, cross the Isthmus of Panama, by train, board another ship headed for New York and finally arrive in Washington City, DC by early January 1862. <br />
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To be continued.<br />
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<br />Sharon Murrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15667199358231667281noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3817053175516493678.post-63499477321591055672018-06-30T14:44:00.000-07:002019-07-25T15:43:04.237-07:00An Officer, a Gentleman and an Ornament to his Country: The Life of Benjamin Franklin DavisWhen Brigadier General John Buford wrote his official report on the Battle of Brandy Station near Warrenton Junction, Virginia on June 13, 1863 he noted: "This woods were dearly bought, for among the noble and brave ones who fell was Colonel B. F. Davis, 8th New York Cavalry. He died in the front giving example of heroism and courage to all who were to follow. He was a thorough soldier, free from politics and intrigue. A patriot in the true sense, an ornament to his country and a bright star in his profession." Who is this man who elicited such glowing comments from the well respected cavalier John Buford who would follow Davis to the cemetery at the U. S. Military Academy at West Point after his own untimely death on December 16, 1863. Very little is known about him but he deserves to be remembered. I will try and do that in this short essay.<br />
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Benjamin Franklin Davis was born in Perry County, Alabama on or about October 24, 1831. He was the eldest of six sons born to Benjamin E. Davis and his wife Matilda Holladay Davis between 1831 and 1840. Little is known about Benjamin E. Davis except for the marriage records showing either his marriage to Matilda E. Holladay or the issuance of a marriage license on January 1, 1831; his purchase of 79.81 acres of government land in the E2NW4 Section 17 T. 18 N., R. 8 E., in Perry County on November 14, 1833 and a reference in the 1840 Perry County Census showing Benjamin E., as being between 30 and 39 with a wife age 20 to 29, 3 sons age 5 to 9 and 3 sons under age 5. The census also indicated the elder Davis owned 5 slaves.<br />
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Matilda E. Holladay Davis was born in Wilkes County, Georgia before 1813. She was one of 11 children (8 girls and 3 boys) born to Captain Benjamin W. Holladay and his wife Elizabeth Cook Jones Holladay. Captain Benjamin W. Holladay was born in Spotsylvania County, Virginia in April 1777. He was the son of John M. Holladay III who served as a private in the 10th Virginia Regiment of Foot in the Continental Army. John M. Holladay III was the great grandson of Thomas Holladay a native of Middlesex, England who came to the colonies with some of the early arrivals and settled in Virginia.<br />
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Sometime after the completion of the Perry County Census in late 1840 Matilda and Benjamin E. Davis and their six sons moved to Union Parish, Louisiana. Matilda died of unknown causes in early 1843. Benjamin E. Davis passes away on or about June 26, 1846. All six sons, including Benjamin, became wards of Walter Taylor the husbands of Matilda's sisters Agnes. Very little is known about the life of Benjamin F. Davis and his five brothers from 1840 until they reappear in court records in 1846 & 1847, correspondence in 1849 and Monroe County, Mississippi Census records in 1850. Benjamin Davis did enlist as a private in Company E, Anderson's Mississippi Rifles, commanded by Lt. Colonel James Patton Anderson on December 23, 1847, at Aberdeen, when he was sixteen years old. The rifles were stationed at Tampico. He mustered out with the unit on June 28, 1848 at Vicksburg. In 1850 William O. Davis age 17, Frances Marion Davis age 13 and Augustus R. Davis age 11 reside with William Taylor. Thomas J . Davis age 16 lives with Wiley and Nancy Howell. It is not know who Christopher Columbus Davis, age 10 lived with in 1850.<br />
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In 1849 Benjamin F. Davis was seeking an appointment to the U. S. Military Academy at West Point. A number of his friends and relatives wrote letters to the local congressman W. S. Featherston supporting his application. E. Abbott, a friend of Benjamin Davis had this to say in his December 28, 1849 letter to Featherston: "Mr. Davis is 18 years of age, 5' 9 or 10 inches high, and will weigh about 130 pounds, a fine looking fellow. Mr. Davis served in the battalion from this state at Tampico in the Mexican War and is one of it's best soldiers. He is the grandson of B. W. Holliday 6 miles from Aberdeen on the Columbia Stage Road. Mr. Davis has lost both father & mother and has 5 brothers all fine strong well behaved boys." In another letter Davis's uncle John Abbott wrote Featherston on December 26, 1849: "Permit me to ask a favor of you, my nephew Benjamin Franklin Davis of Monroe Co., heard that there is a vacancy from your district... if so I wish that Mr. Davis could get the situation. He is the grandson of Capt. Benj W. Holladay of this county, nephew of W. Taylor and Wiley Howell and all of his relations live in this and the adjoining county. He is a very promising young man about 18 years of age and has a liberal education for a youth, he has a fine appearance of good size and in every way a gentleman....His means is limited." Benjamin Davis himself wrote Featherston a letter on December 28, 1849, from Columbus, Mississippi. Davis noted that he had written Featherston a letter of inquiry three or four weeks ago concerning a commission in the navy but now realized "that I am to old by one year 17 being the limited age and besides I would rather have this appointment." The letter writing campaign was successful. On April 3, 1850 Benjamin F. Davis acknowledged receipt of the communication from the Secretary of War dated March 16, 1850 of his conditional appointment of cadet in the service of the United States and to inform you of my acceptance of the same.<br />
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Benjamin Davis was admitted to West Point on July 1, 1850. His age is listed at 18 years 8 months at date of admission. Sometime during his tenure at the academy he acquired the nickname "Grimes". During his 4th year he ranked 43rd of 71 cadets. His best subject was engineering studies where he ranked 31st. He accumulated 92 demerits. In 1852 Davis ranked 53rd of 60 cadets in the third class. His best subject was French. He ranked 224 of 224 cadets in conduct with 200 demerits. During his second year Davis moved up in the class standings ranking 30th of 54 cadets. He ranked 23rd in philosophy and 26th in chemistry. His conduct also improved as he ranked 172 of 225 cadets with 186 demerits.<br />
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In 1854 Benjamin Davis was a member of the 1st class at West Point. Henry L. Abbott who wrote "Half Century of a West Point Class 1850 to 1854" noted in a table titled "Record at West Point" on page 56 that Davis was one of four Captains of Cadets along with James Ewell Brown Stuart, Charles N. Turnbull and John B. Villepigue. Of the 46 cadets that graduated on July 1, 1854 Davis ranked 26 in cavalry exercises and 32nd over all with 198 demerits. He was commissioned a brevet 2nd Lieutenant in the 5th U. S. Infantry upon graduation.<br />
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Benjamin F. Davis returned to Aberdeen, Mississippi after graduating from West Point. In a letter dated August 26, 1854 he accepted his commission as a brevet 2nd lieutenant offered him by the president. The returns from Ringgold Barracks, Texas where Davis was to report to join his unit shows him on leave from July 1, 1854 through the end of October. The November returns note his passage is delayed through New Orleans to join his regiment until December 1, 1854. Davis finally joins the 5th Infantry at Ringgold Barracks on December 24 after 5 months leave.<br />
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Brevet 2nd Lieutenant Davis will remain at Ringgold Barracks with Company C, 5th Infantry from January to June 1855. In June he will transfer to the 1st Dragoons, as per a war department letter dated May 23, 1855. The United States Regiment of Dragoons, organized by an Act of Congress on March 2, 1833, was an elite mounted force trained to fight on foot and on horseback with sabres, carbines and pistols. Four West Point classmates, all from the south, William D. Pender, Alfred B. Chapman, John T. Mercer and Horace Randal will join Davis with the 1st Dragoons. When the Civil War starts all but Davis will resign their commissions in the U. S. Army. Pender, Mercer and Randal would fight for the Confederacy. Chapman would take up the practice of law in California.<br />
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Benjamin F. Davis left Ringgold Barracks June 23, 1855 in route to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. While in St. Louis on July 1, 1855 he accepts his appointment as 2nd Lieutenant in the 1st Dragoons to date from March 3, 1855. He arrives at Fort Leavenworth August 3rd. At this time the post was commanded by Colonel. Edwin V. Sumner, 1st U. S. Cavalry.<br />
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On September 23, 1855 2nd Lt. Davis leaves Fort Leavenworth headed to Jefferson Barracks outside St Louis, Missouri. By early October he is at Fort Jay, New York in route to join his regiment in New Mexico Territory. On October 25, 1855 Davis, Chapman, and David McMurtrie Gregg (West Point Class of 1855) depart New York Harbor by sea in route to Corpus Christie, Texas in charge of a number of recruits. Davis is the acting adjutant.<br />
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Benjamin Davis would arrive at the remote outpost of Fort Stanton in south central New Mexico on April 24, 1856. The, fort named after Captain Henry W. Stanton, had been constructed along the Rio Bonita River by the 1st Dragoons and the 3rd and 8th Infantry in 1855 to protect settlers from the indigenous Mescalero Apache. The April 1856 post returns show Davis at a grazing camp near Fort Stanton since April 28, 1865. In late May he is on a scout to the Pecos River. By June 15 he is back at the fort. Davis will leave Fort Stanton August 11, 1856 in route to Camp Moore (renamed Fort Buchanan in June 1857) near Calabasa Ranchero 45 miles southeast of Tucson in what is now the state of Arizona. 2nd Lt. Davis will remain at Camp Moore from November 1856 through February 1857 with Company B 1st Dragoons. He will leave the post March 9th, 1857 on detached service in search of deserters and will not return until April 15.<br />
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On May 3, 1857 2nd Lt. Davis will leave Camp Moore. He will participate with Company B & K, 1st Dragoons, commanded by Captain Richard S. Ewell, et al, as part of Lt. Colonel Dixon S. Miles southern column in Colonel Benjamin Bonneville's Gila River Expedition. After marching from a depot on the Gila River for 12 days the command made up of about 400 men will encounter a band of Coyotero and Mogollon Apache on June 27, 1857. In the fighting 24 Apache will be killed and 27 taken prisoners and all their property captured or destroyed. Several officers under Ewell's command will also be injured including 2nd Lt. Davis who received an arrow wound in the right knee. In General Orders #14, dated November 14, 1857 Irvin McDowell noted "great credit was also given to both 2nd Lieutenants Benjamin F. Davis and Alfred B. Chapman" for their conduct in the June 27 action against the Apache. 2nd Lieutenant Davis would return to Fort Buchanan with the 1st Dragoons in August 1857. He would remain in and around the fort the remainder of the year.<br />
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Fort Buchanan, by all accounts, was a miserable place. The post historian noted: "It consisted of a series of temporary jackals. The quarters lacked neatness and comfort and the houses were built of upright posts of decayed timber coated in mud. The floors and roofs were covered with dirt and grass and the rooms were low, narrow and lacked ventilation." Marshes surrounded the fort on three sides which exposed the garrison to mosquito borne malaria.<br />
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In early 1858 Benjamin Davis would spend considerable time on detached service away from Fort Buchanan. During one stint in April while at the fort he would be in command of Company B, 1st Dragoons a position he had also temporarily held in the fall of 1857. On May 11, 1858 2nd Lieutenant Benjamin F. Davis was transferred to the Department of the Pacific. He left Fort Buchanan for Fort Tejon in southern California where the 1st Dragoons were headquartered.<br />
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To be continued.<br />
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<br />Sharon Murrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15667199358231667281noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3817053175516493678.post-60040857134694778572018-05-11T11:47:00.000-07:002018-07-22T10:58:36.614-07:00Were Jefferson F. Davis and Benjamin F. Davis Related: Examining the Question in Light of the EvidenceIt has been stated by a number of historians when writing about Captain 1st U. S. Cavalry and Colonel 8th New York Volunteer Cavalry Benjamin Franklin "Grimes" Davis, who was mortally wounded in the early morning hours of June 9, 1863 near Brandy Station Virginia, that he is a 1st or 2nd cousin of Confederate States president Jefferson F. Davis, and if not a cousin at least a relative. I found this association quite intriguing and not knowing much about B. F. Davis's family I set out to find more information about him. I have spent considerable time researching the genealogical records of both Benjamin and Jefferson and in so doing have found some interesting history about both of them. It is evident they are not 1st cousins and probably not second cousins however proving or disproving whether they are related at all is a much more difficult task. The following is my assessment of the situation based on my research and the extant evidence.<br />
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The first reference I have been able to uncover as to the two Davis's being related comes from "Fighting Rebels and Redskins: Experiences in Army Life of Colonel George B. Sanford, 1861-1892" published in 1969 by the University of Oklahoma Press. In 1862 Sanford was a 1st lieutenant in Company K, 1st U. S. Cavalry commanded by Captain Benjamin F. Davis. Sanford, who obviously knew Captain Davis, noted: He was a thorough officer" and "I am indebted to him more than any other one officer for whatever I afterwards became in the service." He also wrote on page 175 "Davis was born in Alabama and appointed to the Military Academy from Mississippi, and I believe was a distant relative of Jefferson Davis."<br />
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A second reference to the two Davis's being related appears on page 35, Volume 16 Southern Historical Society Papers where Captain Milton Rouse who was captured by Colonel Davis at Harpers Ferry noted: "Davis claimed to be a Mississippian, and a relative of Hon. Jefferson Davis."<br />
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A third reference appears in an article written for the National Tribune by O. O. Howard on July 12, 1884. Howard was writing about the Battle of Brandy Station and noted Buford's leading brigade was in charge of Colonel B. F. Davis. "Davis was a classmate of mine at West Point and a distant relative of Jefferson Davis."<br />
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I assume Benjamin Davis's being related to Jefferson Davis has morphed from these statement by Sanford et al of their possibly being related to them being either 1st or 2nd cousin in subsequent histories covering the cavalry officer.<br />
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As noted in a prior post on this blog Benjamin Franklin Davis was the eldest son of Benjamin E. Davis and Matilda Holladay Davis. Benjamin E. and Matilda were married in early 1831 in Perry County, Alabama as per county marriage indexes. Benjamin F. Davis was born in Perry County Alabama on or about the 24th of October 1831. (Davis himself notes in an August 26, 1854 letter written in acceptance of his commission as a brevet 2nd lieutenant: "My age is 22 years, ten months and two days".) 1840 Federal Census records show Benjamin E. and Matilda still living in Perry County, where the elder Davis had homesteaded, with 6 sons, the youngest of which was born about 1840. By the late 1840's the sons were living with married sisters of Matilda in Monroe County, Mississippi where a relative noted the boys were orphans.<br />
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Benjamin Franklin Davis</div>
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Matilda Davis, the daughter of Benjamin W. Holladay, was born in Wilkes County, Georgia about 1813. The family moved to Perry County, Alabama before 1830. It is not known when or where Benjamin E. Davis was born which is a huge fly in the ointment in trying to ascertain any relationship between Jefferson Davis and Benjamin F. Davis. It is also not know when or where Benjamin E. and Matilda E. Davis died, what they died of or where they are buried. I have tried in vain to locate then in any of the Perry County, Alabama cemetery records. <br />
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Jefferson F. Davis, who is probably best know as the president of the Confederate States of America although he was also a graduate of West Point, Secretary of War in the Pierce administration and both a Senator and Congressman from Mississippi, was born in Fairview, Christian (now Todd) County, Kentucky in 1808. He was the youngest of 10 children born to Samuel Emory Davis and his wife Jane (Cook) Davis. What is noteworthy about this is that Jefferson Davis is at least a generation older than Benjamin Franklin Davis even though he is the youngest child in his family.<br />
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Jefferson F. Davis<br />
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Samuel Emory Davis, Jefferson's father, was born about 1756 probably in Georgia although references also indicate he could have been born in Pennsylvania. Samuel Emory Davis was the only child of Evan Davis Jr., and his wife Mary (Emory) Williams Davis. Mary had two sons from a prior marriage who would have been half-brothers to Samuel Emory Davis. The fact that Samuel Emory Davis was an only child precludes Jefferson Davis and Benjamin Franklin Davis from being 1st cousins because to be 1st cousins you have to have grandparents in common. Second cousins are children of parent's 1st cousins. Samuel Davis would not have had any 2nd cousins on his father's side because he did not have any 1st cousins because he was an only child. <br />
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Evan Davis Jr., Jefferson Davis's grandfather, was the youngest son of Evan Davis Sr., and his wife Mary. He was born in Philadelphia about 1729. He spent some time in South Carolina before moving to Wilkes County, Georgia where he raised his son Samuel and stepsons from Mary's 1st marriage and is buried. <br />
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Evan Davis Sr., Jefferson Davis's great grandfather, was purportedly born in Wales, before 1695, although records vary on this issue. He lived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with his wife Mary. Evan and Mary had six children, 5 sons, Benjamin, William, Samuel, Joseph and Evan Jr., and a daughter Hannah. Records indicate William, Samuel, Hannah and Evan Jr., married where as Benjamin and Joseph did not. With all these brothers and sisters Evan Davis Jr., could have had relatives that could be related to Benjamin E. Davis, Benjamin Franklin Davis's father however without more information about Benjamin E, Davis's ancestry this possibility cannot be confirmed or denied.<br />
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In conclusion, it is safe to assume Benjamin Franklin Davis and Jefferson F. Davis are not either 1st or 2nd cousins. More information will have to become available and more research conducted to ascertain if they are related in any way. So as with many things the quest will continue.<br />
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<br />Sharon Murrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15667199358231667281noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3817053175516493678.post-53644894272509881122018-03-31T03:32:00.000-07:002018-03-31T03:32:21.217-07:00The Wounded at Antietam: Battery B 4th U. S. Artillery Part 7<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As noted in a prior post 25 privates with Battery B 4th U. S. Artillery were wounded during the fighting in the fields adjacent to D. R. Miller's cornfield on the morning of September 17, 1862. Twenty of those privates have been discussed previously. Here are the stories of four of the remaining five. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Private Henry M. Colby was born in Whitefield, Lincoln County, Maine October 27, 1839. Henry, his three brothers and three sisters were the children of Nathaniel and Charlotte (Norris) Colby. In 1850 the family lived in Whitefield where Nathaniel was employed as a carpenter/joiner. Henry and his older brother Seymour were living in Taylor's Falls, Chicago County, Minnesota when he enlisted in Company B, 6th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry on June 25, 1861. Henry was detached to serve with Battery B on December 2, 1861. Private Colby suffered a gunshot wound to the leg on September 17, 1862 at Antietam. On October 6, 1862 Henry Colby would be admitted to General Hospital A, a tent hospital located on the almshouse property near Frederick, Maryland where he would remain until January 17, 1863. Henry Colby would be discharged from the army for disability on March 31, 1863. He might have spent time in Washington Territory in the late 1870's employed as a lumberman.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Henry's older brother Seymour, who was born March 29, 1837, enlisted in Company B, 6th Wisconsin on June 8, 1861. He served with Battery B from December 2, 1861 until July 15, 1864 when he was mustered out at the expiration of his three years of service. Seymour would return to Maine, where he would marry and raise a family. He died on March 22, 1918.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Private John H. Fillmore, a son of Norman and Sarah Ann (Shanks) Fillmore, was born July 28, 1839 in Bennington, Wyoming County, New York. On May 31, 1861 he enlisted in Company G, 6th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry. He was detached to Battery B on December 2, 1861 and remained on detached service until August 8, 1864. Silas Felton notes in The Iron Brigade Battery an essay in "Giants in Their Tall Black Hats"that John was wounded at Antietam. John veteranized after 3 years of service and transferred to Company D, 6th Wisconsin on November 27, 1864. He would be mustered out on July 14, 1865. In 1870 John his wife Sarah and daughter Clara, who was born in 1866, were living in Hortonia, Outagamie County, Wisconsin where John was a farmer. Sadly Clara would die in 1874. In 1880 John and Sarah still lived in Hortonia. Sarah passed away in 1891. On September 3, 1896 John H. Fillmore, aged 57 was admitted to the Northwestern Branch National Home for Disabled Soldiers in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. At the time of admission he stood 5' 8" tall with a dark complexion. John lived at the Old Soldiers Home until his death on November 7, 1912. John H. Fillmore is buried in Wood National Cemetery in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Headstone John H. Fillmore Find A Grave photo Steven Blackwood</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Private Claus Young, who was born in Holstein January 10, 1838, came to America in 1859. He enlisted in Company G, 19th Indiana Volunteer Infantry on July 29, 1861. He was on detached service with Battery B from September 1862 until October 1863. Claus was wounded at Antietam while serving with Battery B. Private Young continued to serve with the 19th Indiana after leaving Battery B. In January 1, 1864 he would join the 20th Indiana and serve as a sergeant in Company C, until he was mustered out on October 19, 1864. In 1870 John and his wife Nancy Jane (Davis) Weaver, whom he married on February 2, 1864 were living in Fremont, Steuben County, Indiana. The couple had a son Frank and 2 daughters Mary and Ina. In 1880 the family lived in Fairview, Madison County, Nebraska where Claus was a farmer. In 1882 he received a patent to a 160 acre homestead. In 1900 Claus lived in Union, Madison County, Nebraska. Claus Young died March 22, 1908 in Norfolk, Nebraska. He is buried in the Crown Hill Cemetery in Madison County. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Headstone of Claus Young Find A Grave photo William Peel</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">John J. Lee was born in Yorkshire England in January 1841. Census records indicate he came to the United States in 1850. It is unclear when he enlisted in Company M, 1st U. S. Cavalry however he left the unit on August 12, 1861 at the expiration of his term of service. On August 26, 1861 John enlisted in Company D 7th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry. He stood 5'6" tall with grey eyes, light colored hair and a ruddy complexion. Private Lee was detached to serve with Battery B on March 7, 1862. He was wounded at Antietam. Lee served with Battery B until September 1, 1864 when he mustered out at the expiration of service. He served with Company C 2nd Wisconsin Cavalry from February 1, 1865 until November 15, 1865. In 1870 John his wife Lucy and 3 month old daughter Dora were living in Brooklyn, Green County, Wisconsin. By 1880 the family had moved to Prarie Dog, Harlan County, Nebraska where another daughter was added to the clan. The 1900 Census shows John J. Lee a 59 year old widower employed as a laborer at Hunters Hot Springs, Park County, Montana. In 1910 John was living with his daughter Dora and her husband in Seattle, Washington. Sometime before 1920 the family moved to Berkeley, Alameda County, California. John J. Lee was admitted to the Old Soldiers Home in Yountville, Napa County, California on July 13, 1915. He died there on March 10, 1917 of diabetes. John J. Lee is buried in Veterans Memorial Grove Cemetery in Yountville, California. He had been a member of the Richmond, Contra Costa County GAR prior to his death. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Headstone of John J. Lee Find A Grave photo Peg & Lacey</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are many mysteries that still remain regarding the wounded of Battery B at Antietam. All of the wounded are yet to be identified. The records are unclear and confusing. The wounded includes regulars assigned to the battery, volunteers on detached service with the battery and other volunteers that stepped up to the plate to assist on that fateful September day 156 years ago. Maybe the complete answer will never be know but the quest will continue so stay tuned.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Information in this post is obtained mostly from U. S. Army Register of Enlistments 1798-1914, U. S. Burial Registers, Military Posts and National Cemeteries; U. S. Census records, Regimental Rosters, Civil War Pension Indexes, Headstones Provided for Deceased Union Civil War Veterans, Government Land Office Records, U. S. National Home for Disabled Volunteers records, Registers of Deaths of Volunteers, <u>Giants in Their Tall Black Hats</u>, <u>The Cannoneer</u>, <u>One Vast Hospital: The Civil War Hospital Sites in Frederick, Maryland after Antietam</u>; and other Civil War related Records on Ancestry.com and <a href="http://fold3.com/"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">fold3.com</span></a>. </span></span></div>
Sharon Murrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15667199358231667281noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3817053175516493678.post-47355734377169726282018-02-27T11:10:00.000-08:002018-02-27T14:48:22.628-08:00The Wounded at Antietam: Battery B 4th U. S. Artillery Part 6 Private John H. Cook was born in Albany, New York in 1842. He was the son of tinsmith Jeduthan and Margaret (Brewer) Cook. In 1850 the family was living in Williamstown, Massachusetts but by 1860 they had moved to Hartford, Washington County, Wisconsin. John was an 18 year old farm laborer, standing 5' 5 " tall with blue eyes and a florid complexion when he enlisted in Company D, 6th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry at Milwaukee on May 10, 1861. Private Cook was detailed to Battery B, 4th U. S. Artillery on September 12, 1862. He received a gunshot wound in the right leg during the Battle of Antietam. On September 26, 1862 John was admitted to General Hospital #2 in Frederick, MD. On October 1 he would be transferred to Philadelphia and would wind up spending 7 months in a hospital in Chester, Pennsylvania before returning to Battery B. He served with the battery until March 4, 1864 when he transferred to the 10th Independent Battery Wisconsin Light Artillery. Private Cook was discharged from the volunteer service June 7, 1865 at Madison, Wisconsin. After being discharged John Cook returned to Hartford. While in the service Cook was known as the "tough one" having had run-ins with officers in both the 6th Wisconsin and Battery B for infractions of the rules. After returning home Cook would marry a woman named Grace and work as a tinner (tinsmith). By 1890 he was a resident of the Northwestern Branch U. S. Home for Disabled Soldiers. He would be in and out of the home several times before finally being discharged on June 22, 1910. By this time his wife Grace had passes away. John H Cook had three brothers who served in the Union Army during the civil war, older brother James Ezra Cook and two younger brothers Albert Lymon Cook and Franklin Dewey Cook. All 4 brothers would survive the war.<br />
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Private James S. Armstrong was born in Canada about 1845 one of seven children of mill wright Thomas and Phoebe (Turner) Armstrong. In 1855 the family lived in Ramsen, Oneida County, New York. By 1860 they had settled in Trimbelle,Pierce County, Wisconsin. James enlisted in Company B, 6th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment on June 6, 1861 following in his brother Edgar's footsteps, edgar having enlisted on May 10, 1861 in the 6th Wisconsin. James Armstrong was detached to serve with Battery B 4th U. S. Artillery on December 1, 1861. He was serving with the battery at Antietam when he was wounded September 17, 1862. James would be discharged for disability October 25, 1862. After being discharged he would return to Trimbelle where he died November 10, 1862. Private Armstrong is buried in the Trimbelle Cemetery Pierce County, Wisconsin. Jame's brother Edgar would serve with Battery B from December 1, 1861 until mustering out of federal service on July 15, 1864. Edgar would live until November 6, 1910. <br />
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James S Armstrong Headstone (Find A Grave photo by JLH)<br />
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Private Isaac Sourwine enlisted in Company E, 19th Indiana Volunteer Infantry Regiment of July 29, 1861. Isaac, who was born November 14, 1841 in Cross Roads, Delaware County, Indiana was the son of Virginians Christian Souerwine and his second wife Catherine. By 1860 Isaac and his father were residents of Bear Creek, Poweshiek County, Iowa. Private Sourwine was detached from the 19th Indiana on November 1861, volunteering to serve with Battery B. He was wounded by a shell fragment in the left leg during the Battle of Antietam. On September 28, 1862 he was admitted to General Hospital No. 6 in Frederick, Maryland. He was discharged for disability on December 2, 1862 at Frederick. Isaac would return to Indiana after his discharge. In July 1863 he enlisted for 10 days in Company F, 110th Indiana Volunteer Infantry. He later enlisted as a sergeant in Company G 7th Indiana Cavalry From September 5, 1863 until September 19, 1865. On June 12, 1866 Isaac married Margaret Susannah Clevenger in Indiana. In the 1870 & 1880 Census the family was living in Monroe, Delaware County, Indiana where Isaac was listed as a farmer. The couple would eventually have 6 children, 2 daughters and 4 sons. By 1900 Isaac and Margaret were living in Jackson, Wells County, Indiana. Isaac would die of throat cancer April 22, 1906. Margaret would out live him by about 11 years dying in1917. Isaac and Margaret are buried in Jones Cemetery, Wells County, Indiana.<br />
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Isaac Sowerwine Headstone (Find A grave photo by NLBMZ)<br />
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John H. McLaughlin, a son of John and Mary A. (Walker) McLaughlin was born in Pennsylvania in March 1836. He was living in Trimbelle, Pierce County, Wisconsin when he enlisted as a private in Company B,of the 6th Wisconsin. He would be detached to Battery B June 7, 1862 and would serve with it until mustering out of the service July 15, 1864. McLaughlin was wounded at Antietam. John married Elizabeth K. (Beardsley) September 10, 1865 at Oak Grove, Pierce County, Wisconsin. In 1870 the family lived in Trimbelle where John was a cooper. By 1880 he was farming and also served as the Trimbelle town treasurer. John & Elizabeth would have three daughters, Ella, Lulu and Maud. 1900 would find John and Elizabeth residing in Clear Lake, Skagit County, Washington with at least one of their daughters. John McLaughlin died on October 21, 1909 age 73. He is buried in the Clear Lake Cemetery in Skagit County, Washington.<br />
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John McLaughlin Headstone (Find A Grave photo by Mostloved)<br />
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John Holland was born in New York, February 24, 1833, the son of Irish immigrant parents. John was a resident of Oshkosh, Wisconsin when he enlisted in Company E, 2nd Wisconsin Infantry of May 18, 1861. Private Holland was detailed to Battery B September 15, 1862. He would remain on detached service until May 9, 1864. Holland would be wounded in action at Antietam and Gettysburg. He mustered out of federal service on July 14, 1865. John Holland would marry Harriet Mull in Shawano County, Wisconsin on July 4, 1870. Their son Abraham was born in February 1872. The 1880 Census shows the family living in Alma, Jackson County, Wisconsin. John was listed as a laborer. By 1900, when John was 67, John, Harriet and Abraham were living in Summit, Langlade County, Wisconsin where John was a farmer and Abraham a farm laborer. John Holland died in Summit, Wisconsin December 25, 1917. He is buried in Gleason Cemetery, in Lincoln County, Wisconsin. His headstone notes he served with the 2nd Wisconsin and Battery b 4th U. S. Artillery.<br />
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John Holland Headstone (Find A Grave photo by Kizzie)</div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Information in this post is obtained mostly from U. S. Census records, Regimental Rosters, Pension Indexes, Headstones Provided for Deceased Union Civil War Veterans, U. S. National Home for Disabled Volunteers records, Registers of Deaths of Volunteers, New York, Town Clerks Register of Men Who Served in the Civi War. Giants in Their Tall Black Hats, and other Civil war related Records on Ancestry.com and Fold3.com.</span></div>
<br />Sharon Murrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15667199358231667281noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3817053175516493678.post-2789388269254679882018-02-11T15:10:00.000-08:002018-02-13T08:17:01.563-08:00The Wounded at Antietam: Battery B 4th U. S. Artillery Part 5A<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In September 1865 1st Lieutenant James Stewart would be transferred to Battery G, 4th U. S. Artillery ending his long association and illustrious career with Battery B. Battery G was assigned to Fort Wayne, Detroit, Michigan. Stewart moved there with his wife Sabine, son James and daughters Margaret, Sabine and Mary who had been born in the District of Columbia in 1865. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">On November 23, 1866 Stewart would be promoted to Captain and assigned to command Company K 18th U. S. Infantry. He left Michigan in December 1866 in route to Fort McPherson, Nebraska where he arrived on April 1, 1867. His next duty station was Fort Fetterman, Dakota Territory (now Wyoming) where he commanded Company K and a post located at a sawmill 17 miles from the fort. By March 1868 Company K and Captain Stewart were at Fort Sedgwick, Colorado. While in Colorado Stewart commanded a sub post at Sydney Station on the Union Pacific Railroad Route, staying at Sydney Station until at least December of 1868. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In 1869 the 18th U. S. Infantry would be combined with the 25th Infantry and assigned to Atlanta Georgia. Stewart would move to Atlanta with his wife and 6 children. Two children had been added to his growing brood between 1865 and 1869, a son John G. Stewart born in Michigan January 1, 1867 and a daughter Emma born in February 1870 in Nebraska. Another son William would be born in 1871.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The 18th U. S. Infantry was sent south during Reconstruction. They had a varied number of assignments and duty stations. James Stewart and Company K did not stay long at one location during this period. They were in Atlanta from April 1869 until October 1870. They were then assigned to Columbia, South Carolina until March 1871. In April Company K and their commander moved to Laurensville. The next assignment was Newberry, South Carolina from December 1874 until July 1875.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">James Stewart took his family south with him in 1869. In November 1873 while Captain Stewart was stationed at Newberry his wife Sabine died. The Columbia, South Carolina newspaper noted: "Mrs. Stewart was a native of Alsace and had no living relations on this continent. She was the mother of seven children, the eldest a son, to whom she was most tenderly attached, being absent from her side at a school in a distant city" (Detroit, Michigan). At age 47 Brevet Major & Captain James Stewart was a widower with seven children to take care of, four of whom were less than 10 years of age.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In July 1875 Stewart and Company K 18th U. S. Infantry were transferred to Greenville, South Carolina. While stationed in Greenville Captain Stewart and 10 men of the 18th Infantry were ordered to report to the Deputy Collector of Internal Revenue to protect the collector while he enforced revenue laws. While assisting the deputy revenue collector the party destroyed 13,300 gallons of mash and beer, arrested 17 men and destroyed 7 stills, caps and worms. Stewart commanded the post at Greenville until July 24, 1877. He was then transferred to the Allegheny Arsenal in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania until November 1, 1877 before returning to McPherson Barracks at Atlanta, Georgia where he would remain until his retirement in March 20, 1879.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Captain and Brevet Major James Stewart was retired at age 53 on a surgeons certificate of disability with noted he was "incapacitated from active service due to pleuritic adhesions, impaired vision and some loss of locomotion due to an ankle broken during the siege of Petersburg." All of these impairments were obtained in the line of duty. Upon retirement Stewart and his family moved to Carthage, Ohio.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The 1880 Census shows James Stewart living with his 2nd wife Rebecca (Duffy) Stewart as residence of Carthage. Rebecca, the daughter of Irish immigrant Dr. Thomas Stringer Duffy and his wife Catherine had been born in Rutherfordton, North Carolina in 1848. The family includes children from his 1st marriage, Margaret, Sabine, Mary, John, Emma and William. James and his second wife would have three children of their own, Katherine born in June 1880, Thomas, born August 1881 and Mignon born in March 1888.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">James Stewart would be active in retirement. He was a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, the Loyal Legions, The Masonic Fraternity, the Episcopal Church and the Republican Party. For many years he was a vice president of the Iron Brigade Association and attended a number of their reunions. In the 1890's he taught classes at the Ohio Military Institute for several years. On May 31, 1904 he would be appointed Major, retired in the U. S. Army.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">During the last few years of his life Stewart resided at Fort Thomas, Kentucky. He died at 10:00 p.m. April 19, 1905 at the post hospital several weeks before his 79th birthday. His remains were transported to Washington D. C. for burial at Arlington National Cemetery on April 23, 1905. Prior to the internment a funeral was held at the home of General W. W. Dudley a long standing friend of Stewart who had served with the 19th Indiana Volunteer Infantry during the civil war.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Stewart's headstone, which bears the emblem of the Iron Brigade Association, was unveiled on July 28, 1907 by his son Thomas Duffy Stewart. The program was orchestrated by General Dudley. Edward S. Bragg, formerly of the 6th Wisconsin gave the dedication oration.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Stewart's second wife Rebecca would outlive the Major by 30 years dying in Cincinnati, Ohio July 8, 1935. Rebecca and at least 5 of Stewart's children are buried in Spring Grove Cemetery in Cincinnati. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 15px;">Information in this article is derived from sources including but not limited to: U. S. Army Register of Enlistments, U. S. Returns from Military Posts, 1806 - 1916, letters written by Stewart, U. S. Census Records, History of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, Ohio, Fold3.com military records, newspaper articles.</span></span><br />
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Sharon Murrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15667199358231667281noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3817053175516493678.post-2735771704493174062018-01-10T16:27:00.000-08:002018-01-11T00:25:16.740-08:00The Wounded at Antietam: Battery B 4th U. S. Artillery Part 5When Captain Joseph B. Campbell was wounded three times in quick succession during the Battle of Antietam, September 17, 1862, and had to relinquish command of Battery B 4th U. S. Artillery the command devolved on 2nd Lieutenant James Stewart. In his official report following the battle Stewart noted the battery suffered 1 captain wounded, 3 sergeants, 4 corporals, 32 privates killed and wounded and 26 horses killed and 7 wounded. He failed to include one wounded officer in his total however.<br />
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In a letter written to John M. Gould on January 16, 1893 when Stewart was retired and living in Carthage, Ohio he wrote: " About ten minutes after being placed in command (at Antietam) I was struck by a minie ball breaking my belt plate and knocking me down. On getting up I found my sword belt broken in two. The shock was terrible for some time, but I knew if I should allow it to be known that I was wounded that someone else would be sent to command the battery. I suffered a great deal and had to use a Catheter for many a year and sometimes especially when I would catch cold the old pains will come back. General Gibbon does not know to this day that I was wounded in that battle. To when the battle was over, in place of looking over the field and making notes I had to lie flat on my back and obtain all the relief I possibly could until the Surgeon came and helped me with the pain." <br />
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What else can we say about a man who would receive a painful, grievous, wound in combat that he would suffer with the remainder of his life but consciously elect to not report the incident to a superior officer because he does not want to relinquish command.<br />
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James Stewart was born in Leith, Scotland, May 18, 1826. His mother died in 1829 when he was three years old. His father who was a builder and contractor followed her to the grave in 1841, leaving James an orphan when he was 15 years old. Stewart attended school in Leith and was a typesetter in the Queens Printing Office before leaving Scotland and immigrating to the United States in 1846. He was employed as a printer in New York City prior to his enlistment in the United States Army on October 29, 1851 when he was 25 years old. At the date of his enlistment he stood about 5 feet six inches tall, had blue eyes, brown hair and a fair complexion.<br />
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Stewart's 1st duty station after enlisting was at Fort Columbus, Governor's Island New York, headquarters of the 4th U. S. Artillery. In May 1852 acting 1st Sergeant Stewart, and 90 recruits made their way to Brownsville, Texas where Private Stewart was assigned to Battery B 4th U. S. Artillery beginning an association with the battery that would last for more than ten years and see Stewart rise in rank from private to 1st Lieutenant.<br />
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James Stewart would be appointed Corporal October 1, 1853, Sergeant on January 1, 1855 and 1st Sergeant on October 6, 1855. Sometime in 1856 Stewart would marry Sabine Haas a daughter of farmer John Haas of Baden, Germany. On August 29, 1856 he would reenlist for 2nd 5 year term with Battery B. In late November 1856 Battery B, which had been in Texas since the close of the Mexican War, would get orders to proceed to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.<br />
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James Stewart, his wife and Battery B would spend the winter at Jefferson Barracks in St Louis, departing that city for Fort Leavenworth in March, 1857. On June 19 James Stewart, his growing family which now included a son also named James, and Battery B headed for Camp Floyd, Utah Territory, arriving there in the early summer of 1858.<br />
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When the Civil War started in 1861 James Stewart was still in Utah with Battery B which was now under the command of Captain John Gibbon. By this time Stewart's family had grown to include two daughters born in Utah, Margaret born in 1859 and Sabine born in 1861. On July 1, 1861 Stewart reenlisted for a 3rd 5 year term. Eighteen days later on July 19, Battery B departed Camp Crittenden for the east. By late October they were in Washington DC assigned to the Army of the Potomac. <br />
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On November 15, 1861 James Stewart was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant with Battery B 4th U. S. Artillery at the recommendation of Captain John Gibbon who referred to Stewart as being "intelligent, faithful and honest, and without exception the best non-commissioned officer I have ever seen in the army." <br />
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Stewart would serve conspicuously with Battery B as a 2nd Lieutenant in numerous engagements with the Army of the Potomac and the Army of Virginia until appointed a 1st Lieutenant on July 3, 1863. As previously noted he would assume command of Battery B at Antietam and command it throughout the vast majority of the remainder of the civil war. <br />
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At Gettysburg, where Stewart received his second war wound when he was struck in the thigh by a shell fragment, Battery B was engaged on both sides of the famous unfinished railroad cut in support of the 1st Corps on July 1 before retreating to East Cemetery Hill where they were engaged on July 2nd and 3rd. While the elements of the Union Army were retreating through town on July 1 and after getting his 3 guns out of harms way Stewart went back to look for his remaining three guns commanded by James Davidson. Stewart ran into the rebels instead who yelled at him to surrender. He noted "As I had not gone there for that purpose, I wheeled my horse and started off as fast as he could go."<br />
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Battery B was in the thick of the fighting at Gettysburg. They lost 40 men killed and wounded and 57 horses killed or disabled during 3 days of combat. Rufus Dawes of the 6th Wisconsin, who knew Stewart well and served alongside him at both Antietam and Gettysburg noted in "Service with the 6th Wisconsin that "Stewart was as brave and efficient a man as ever fought on a field of battle." <br />
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1st Lieutenant James Stewart commanded Battery B during the Overland Campaign and the Siege of Petersburg in 1864 and 1865. He would be breveted Captain on August 1, 1864 for brave and meritorious conduct at Spotsylvania Courthouse and to Major on August 18 for action at Weldon Railroad. He would be wounded a third time late in 1864 before Petersburg when his horse was shot under him and fell on his leg permanently injuring his ankle. <br />
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At the close of the Civil War James Stewart would lead Battery B down Pennsylvania Avenue during the Grand Review May 23, 1865 before being transferred to Battery G 4th U. S. Artillery in September 1865 and being assigned to Fort Wayne, Detroit, Michigan. James Stewart would continue to serve in the United States Army until his retirement in 1879. To be continued... <br />
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Information in this article derived from sources including but not limited to: U. S. Army Register of Enlistments, 2 articles written by James Stewart for MOLLUS, letters written by James Stewart & John Gibbon, U. S. Census Records, History of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, Ohio, The Cannoneer (photo).<br />
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<br />Sharon Murrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15667199358231667281noreply@blogger.com0