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The War Correspondent Newsletter of the Ray Fawcett Chapter of the Central Ohio Civil War Roundtable
April 2014 Vol. 24, No. 4
http://centralohiocwrt.wordpress.com
General-in-Chief’s
Report by
Jim Schultz
Greetings! First, I’d like to thank Mike Peters for standing in for me at April’s meeting. People like Mike are the heart and soul of the Roundtable. He does everything well. As June approaches and officers’ terms come to an end, think about how you might like to participate over the next two years. The Roundtable is doing fine, but to grow and become more vibrant, we need you to be involved. See you in May.
Adjutant General’s
Report
March 12, 2014 by
Tom Ayers
Irvin McDowell at Bull Run Harry Smeltzer is a nervous, edgy history buff. He reacts to consensus like a bull to the matador’s cape. Charge! And he lays waste to conventional wisdom. He doesn’t trust accepted “facts” and easy generalizations about battles, strategies, troop movements, and other assumptions that have been passed down as gospel over generations. Smeltzer’s obsession is the first battle of Bull Run (his blog is http://bullrunnings.wordpress.com) and Union Brigadier General Irvin McDowell, a native of Columbus, Ohio. Smeltzer treated Roundtable members in March to an exhaustive examination of McDowell and his plans and command at Bull Run in 1861.
(continued on page 2)
date: Wednesday, April 9, 2014 time: 7:00 P.M. location: Towers Hall, Room 318 Otterbein University Westerville, OH 43281 speaker/topic: Scott Mingus—Extra Billy Smith
this month’s meeting
Answer to the
March Puzzler
Puzzler: When riding a horse, which general had to hold the reins between his teeth because his left arm was missing? Answer: Major General Philip Kearny
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First, about McDowell: He was born October 15, 1818, to Eliza Seldon and Abram Irvin McDowell. The family was prominent and prosperous. Abram served a one‐year term as mayor of Columbus. The McDowell home was on Spring Street, likely near the intersection of Front Street downtown. The family was able to send Irvin to the College de Troyes in France on the recom‐mendation of his tutor. McDowell gained admission to the U.S. Military Academy and graduated eighteenth
of thirty‐five in the class of 1838 that included Pierre G. T. Beauregard, his future opponent at Manassas twenty‐three
years later. While McDowell taught tactics at West Point, from 1848 to 1861 he served largely as a staff officer to prominent commanders, namely General John E. Wool during the Mexican War and later to General Winfield Scott.
McDowell was promoted to brigadier general in May 1861 and given command of the Union army despite never having commanded soldiers in combat. Smeltzer emphasized that this was no accident. McDowell was well connected politically, particularly to Treasury Secretary Salmon P. Chase of Ohio, a prominent member of Lincoln’s cabinet. McDowell was deeply involved in arrangements for the high society marriage of Chase’s socialite daughter Kate to William Sprague of Rhode Island. And future President James A. Garfield named his third son Irvin McDowell Garfield. The Garfields had two daughters and five sons. Smeltzer disputes the long‐held notion that public and newspaper pressure forced McDowell to advance against Confederate forces at Manassas Junction in July 1861, earlier than he desired. Though his ninety‐day enlistees were green and lightly drilled, if at all, McDowell proceeded south from Washington with a well‐considered plan. At least, on paper. It is well known that the first major land battle of the war at Bull
Run on July 21, 1861, resulted in a crushing and humiliating defeat for the boys in blue. Smeltzer cannot, nor does he try, to rationalize the outcome. But he wants the intentions of the com‐manders and their move‐ments, as well as the major factors and turning points, to be understood accurately. McDowell’s objective was to take Manassas Junction by turning the Confederate flank, first the right flank, which proved impractical due to narrow roads hampering General Samuel Heintzelman’s division, then, the Confederate left flank. On the morning of July 21, Union forces attacked rebel positions at Matthews Hill, pushing the enemy way south of Warrenton Turnpike to Henry Hill. By taking the pike, McDowell was in good shape, but he failed to totally secure the road. As the afternoon wore on, the Union advance was repelled, and its right
(continued on page 3)
Chase
McDowell
Officer’s Club at the Presidio
3
April Puzzler
Who rides the horse in the center of the Great Seal of the Confederacy?
New Book: Maney’s
Confederate Brigade
at the Battle of
Perryville
Stuart Sanders’s third book, Maney’s Confederate Brigade at the Battle of Perryville, has just been published by The History Press. Of the troops who fought at Perryville, perhaps none endured more than Brigadier General George Earl Maney’s brigade. These Tennessee and Georgia soldiers entered the fray to save other Southern regiments; in doing so, they experienced the hardest fighting of the day. These troops fought two different Federal brigades, captured multiple artillery batteries, killed two Northern generals, and nearly broke the Union left flank. Many of Maney’s regiments suffered 50 percent casualties. Several soldiers—including Private Sam Watkins of the 1st Tennessee Infantry—commented that it was the hardest fight they experienced during the entire Civil War. The Battle of Perryville was Kentucky’s most important battle, and Maney’s Brigade played the most critical part. Tasked to break the Union left flank, these Confederates were nearly successful in rolling over that end of the Federal battle line. Had it not been for sheer exhaustion and staggering casualties, these Confederates could have won an overwhelming victory at Perryville and altered the entire 1862 Kentucky Campaign. Instead, their failure to break the enemy line helped keep the Bluegrass State in
Union hands for the remainder of the war. This book examines the Battle of Perryville—Kentucky’s largest Civil War battle—through the lens of Maney’s Brigade and provides a ground‐level view of this important action. Maney’s Confederate Brigade at the Battle of Perryville is available through Amazon.com, from the History Press, and local bookstores.
flank was crushed. Inexperienced troopers fled in disarray, scrambling back through Centerville to the Potomac. Smeltzer emphasized that McDowell never intended to flank rebel positions, a completely different maneuver from turning, and that Confederate reinforce‐ments from the valley were not that decisive, as often cited. Days after the embarrassing defeat, McDowell was summarily replaced by George McClellan, who went on to rebuild and reorganize the Union army. McDowell found some success as he was promoted to major general following action at Cedar Mountain. But ultimately he bore much of the blame for a second disaster at Bull Run in 1862. Fallen Union commanders were frequently sent west, far from the action. McDowell was dispatched as far as he could go, taking command of the Department of the Pacific in California. Following his retirement from the army in 1885, he served as park commissioner of San Francisco where he oversaw the construction of a spectacular park at the Presidio. McDowell was buried in 1885 at the Presidio, but his first name on his headstone is misspelled “Irwin.”
Due Diligence
It’s time to pay your membership dues. If you’ve forgotten, dues are
$25 for individuals $35 for families $15 for students
Your membership dues enable us to host some of the most well‐known Civil War speakers in the country, as well as contribute to various preservation efforts, and pay our few expenses throughout the year. Please bring your checks (or cash) to the April meeting. If you prefer, you may send your dues to the following address: Central Ohio Civil War Round Table
P.O. Box 471 Lewis Center, OH 43035‐0471
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2014 COCWRT CALENDAR
May 14 Mike Weaver—Colonel Thomas Worthington of the 46th OVI June 11 Roger Pickenpaugh—Topic TBD July 9 Jamie Ryan—Dan Butterfield August 13 Chris Kolakowski—Perryville September 10 Greg Mertz—Spotsylvania October 8 Earl Hess—TBA November 12 Patrick Schroeder—TBA Dates and speakers are subject
to change.
Confederate General
William “Extra Billy”
Smith
William “Extra Billy” Smith, the oldest and one of the most controversial Confederate generals on the field at Gettysburg, was also one of the most colorful and charismatic characters of the Civil War and the antebellum Old South. Known nationally as “Extra Billy” because of his prewar penchant for finding loopholes in government postal contracts to gain extra money for his stagecoach lines, Smith served as Virginia’s governor during both the War with Mexico and the
Civil War, served
five terms in the U.S. Congress, and was one of Virginia’s leading spokesmen for slavery and states’ rights. Extra Billy’s extra‐long speeches and wry sense of humor were legendary among his peers. A lawyer during the heady Gold Rush days, Smith made a fortune in California and, like his income earned from stagecoaches, quickly lost it. Despite his advanced age, Smith took the field and fought well at
First Manassas, was wounded at Seven Pines and again at Sharpsburg, and marched with Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia into Pennsylvania. There, on the first day at Gettysburg, Smith’s frantic messages about a possible Union flanking attack remain a matter of controversy to this day. Did his aging eyes see distant fence‐lines that he interpreted as approaching enemy soldiers—mere phantoms of his imagination?—or did his prompt action stave off a looming Confederate disaster? What we do know is that his calls for support diverted limited Confederate manpower away from attacks against Cemetery Hill and Culp’s Hill that might have turned the tide of Southern fortunes in Pennsylvania. Scott L. Mingus, who wrote Extra Billy Smith, will speak to the Roundtable in April. The Ohio native is a scientist and executive in the paper and printing industry and is a graduate of the paper science and engineering program at Miami University. Mingus was part of the research team that developed the first commercially successful self‐adhesive U.S. postage stamps and holds patents in self‐adhesive postage stamps and bar code labels. Mingus is the author of Flames Beyond Gettysburg (2010) and five wargaming books and maintains a popular blog on the Civil War history of his home in York County, Pennsylvania, for the York Daily
Record (www.yorkblog.com/cannonball). He is also a sanctioned Civil War tour guide for the York County Heritage Trust and together with his wife Debi, publishes CHARGE!, the leading international newsletter for Civil War miniature wargaming. His great‐great‐grandfather was a fifteen‐year‐old drummer boy for the 51st Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and other family members fought at Antietam and Gettysburg.
Mingus
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Inspector General’s Report by
Dave Delisio
The numbers for March 2014 are as follows: Beginning checking account balance 3/1/2014 = $2,461.81 March receipts = $147.00 ($47 February book raffle; $100 dues) March expenses = $264 ($200 February speaker fee, $64 to Mike Peters for speaker expenses) Ending checking account balance 3/31/2014 = $2,344.81
The War Correspondent Sheryl Taylor, Editor
Round Table Officers Jim Schultz General‐in‐Chief 614‐794‐1247 [email protected] Dave Delisio Inspector General 740‐879‐3944 [email protected] Tom Ayres Adjutant General 614‐939‐4910 [email protected] Mike Peters Historian General 614‐866‐6766 [email protected] Patty Barker Chief of Signal Corps 614‐985‐3353 Tim Maurice Webmaster 614‐361‐7313 [email protected] War Council Members Tim Maurice, War Council Commander Ed Chapdelaine Greg Drakulich Lowell Fauver Wendy Peters
Civil War
Trust
Teacher
Institute
This weekend (April 12–13), the Civil War Trust (CWT) is holding a Civil War Teacher Institute at the Ohio Village. The institute is completely free and is open to educators of all stripes, including public historians and passionate citizens. They will be conducting special tours, presentations, and workshops. Hari Jones of the African American Civil War Freedom Foundation and Museum will be delivering the keynote address. More details can be found at www.civilwar.org/columbusTI. It’s going to be a great event! If you are interested in attending, please send an e‐mail to Sam Smith, CWT Education Manager, at
[email protected], and he will help you register. Again, the institute is completely free (including the professional development credits), and the CWT will cover travel and lodging expenses.
Ohio Village