RoadTrippin' Thru History-- Part 15: A Beneficial Marriage for Captain Pershing?

John Joseph Pershing graduated from West Point in 1886, tanked #30 in his class of 77.  On 1895, he took command of the 10th Cavalry Regiment, one of the original Buffalo Soldiers units.  In 1897, he was an instructor at West Point and was unpopular with the cadets who nicknamed  him "N___ Jack" because of his leading the Buffalo Soldiers  Eventually this was softened to "Blackjack" a nickname that stuck with him the rest of his life.

In 1905, he married the daughter of U.S. Senator from Wyoming, Francis E. Warren, Helen, and had four children with her.  He was twenty years her senior.  It was a huge wedding in Washington, D.C., and reportedly Francis Warren said he wasn't going to have his daughter married to a lowly captain, that nothing less than a general would do.

President Theodore Roosevelt had visited Wyoming several times and stayed with Warren and was a good friend.  Advancement through the ranks was rapid for the captain, who within a few years rose to major, lieutenant colonel, colonel and then brigadier general.  In so doing, he was advanced over nearly 900 officers with more seniority.  And doing this during a peacetime army, quite an accomplishment.  It must be good to have friends in high places.

Tragedy struck in 1915, when a mysterious fire at the Presidio in San Francisco killed Helen and three of her four children.  Only his son Francis Warren Pershing survived.

I've Got Friends in High Places.  --Old Secesh

RoadTrippin'-- Part 14: In Politics He was, Then Wasn't, Then Was, Last Then First

After Francis E. Warren made his fortune, he went on to get involved in the politics of early Wyoming.  He served twice in the Wyoming Territorial Senate and once as senate president.    He was a member of the Cheyenne City Council (1873-1874),  treasurer of the state on several occasions,  and Mayor of Cheyenne in 1885.

In February  1885, he was appointed Governor of Wyoming Territory by President Chester A. Arthur, but was removed by Democrat  President Grover Cleveland in 1886.  He was reappointed by President  Benjamin Harrison in April 1889 and served until 1890, when he was elected as the State of Wyoming's first governor.

In November 1890, he resigned as governor, having been elected to the U.S. Senate as a Republican and served until March 4, 1893, when he resumed his business affairs  However, two years later, he returned to the U.S. Senate and served from March 4, 1895 to his death on November 24, 1929.

With all his seniority in the Senate, he served on and chaired many committees including Irrigation, Claims, Military Affairs, Agriculture and Forestry and Appropriations.  The man clearly had a lot of power.

(Of course, I have to wonder what all this power might have affected the military career of John Pershing and why he received that Medal of Honor so long after the war.)

I have read that he was really good at pork barrel politics and patronage and built a political machine  that was virtually unbeatable.

When he died in 1929, he was the last Civil War veteran to serve in the U.S. Senate and the longest-serving senator at the time.

Way to Accumulate Power.  --Old Secesh

RoadTrippin' Thru History-- Part 11: Head West Young Man

The 49th Massachusetts mustered out of service on September 1, 1863, after 11 months of service (they enlisted for nine months).  I am unable to find out if Francis Warren reenlisted or not.  Or, if his wound was severe enough that it would keep him from further service.  

I have seen sources say that he later served as a captain in the Massachusetts militia.

Another one says he returned to Massachusetts after the war.

He married Helen Smith and in 1868, went West to the new territory that was developing around a small town named Cheyenne.

He recalled later that the first thing he saw on arrival in Cheyenne in May 1868.  Two brass bands  were serenading arrivals at the train station.  He wondered if there was some big shot on the train, but was told the two bands were from the town's two biggest gambling houses and inviting arrivals to the tables.

There wasn't much to Cheyenne at the time, "a city of  shanties and tents, camps and covered wagons.  The population was migratory and the railroads built further west by then.  Many felt that the days of Cheyenne were really numbered.  It wouldn't be long before there would be nothing to show for it.

Frances Warren didn't subscribe to that prophesy and saw a bright future.  He was there to stay.  He was there to seek his fortune.

And become a Rich Man, He Did.  --Old Secesh

RoadTrippin' Thru History-- Part 10: A Follow Up on Warren's Civil War Service

Francis E. Warren was enrolled on September 11, 1862, in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and mustered in on September 19 for the term of nine months as a private in Captain Plunkett's company of the 49th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment.  Young Warren was promoted to corporal sometime in April or May 1863.

The 49th was drilled  at Pittsfield and Worcester then went to New York on provost duty before going to New Orleans and being made a part of the 19th Army Corps.  The regiment took part in the Battle of Plains Store on May 21, 1863, which ended up sealing the Confederates into their defenses at Port Hudson, Louisiana.

They then were involved in the whole siege of Port Hudson from investment to surrender, including the attacks on it.  

Their terms of service over, Warren and his company were mustered out and honorably discharged at Pittsfield, Massachusetts, on September 1, 1863, after a year of intensive military service.

Another source says that after Port Hudson that Warren served out the remainder of the war as a noncommissioned officer an received his discharge from the Union Army in 1865.Several sources say that after the war, he participated as a captain in the Massachusetts militia.

--Old Secesh

RoadTrippin' 9: Port Hudson Valor and a Delayed Medal of Honor

According to one account, Francis Warren received a serious scalp wound in the attack and initially was mistaken for dead, however, an alert doctor noticed he was alive and pulled him from the mass burial trench before it was covered. 

Another account says that after his entire platoon was destroyed by  Confederate bombardment, he was wounded but still managed to disable the enemy artillery.

Another account says that he was knocked down when the fascine he was carrying was struck by an artillery shall and he lay unconscious for several hours.

This same last account says that later, Congress recognized the valor of the volunteers and awarded them Medals of Honor.

The date of issue for Francis Warren's Medal of Honor was  September 30, 1893.  At the time, he was also serving his first term as U.S. Senator from Wyoming.

It's citation reads:

Volunteered in response to a call, and took part in a movement that was made upon  the enemy's works under a heavy fire therefrom in advance of the general assault.

I just have to wonder how much his service as Wyoming territorial governor and first U.S. governor and being in the U.S. Senate had to do with it.

--Old Secesh

RoadTrippin'-- Part 8: Francis Warren at Port Hudson and the 'Forlorn Hope'

By 1863, the Confederacy only controlled the part of the Mississippi River from Vicksburg, Mississippi, to Port Hudson, Louisiana.  In cooperation with General Grant who was going against Vicksburg, Union Major General  Nathaniel P. Banks' army moved against the Port Hudson.

Like Vicksburg, Port Hudson was located on high bluffs that gave the Confederates command of the river.

On May 11, 1863, Banks found that Confederates from Port Hudson had been sent to reinforce Vicksburg and  decided the time was right to attack the town.  By May 21st, Banks and his 30,000 troops surrounded Port Hudson, outnumbering the Confederates  four to one.

Francis E. Warren's 49th Massachusetts was with Banks at this time.  Banks, however, delayed attacking until May 27 giving the Confederates under Major Gen.  Franklin Gardner time to prepare his defenses.  A series of uncoordinated and unsuccessful attacks took place on May 27.  This is where Warren was wounded.

The 49th Massachusetts was called to furnish a few men from each company to perform the dangerous mission  of preceding the main force and putting down  fascines (bundles of sticks, twigs and other items) to fill in a ditch in front of the Confederate fortifications so that infantry might pass over it.

Corporal Warren was one of those volunteers.  The colonel and every officer in this what was to become known as the "Forlorn Hope" was killed and three-fourths of the men killed or wounded.  One of the wounded was Francis E. Warren.

--Old Secesh

The Battles of Baton Rouge and Port Hudson-- Part 1

From the May 16, 2021, Northwest Arkansas Democrat  Gazette  "Phillips discusses Civil War battles" by Rachel  Dickerson.

Dale Phillips spoke before the Bella Vista Civil War Round Table on May 6 about the battles of Port Hudson and Baton Rouge in 1863.

This latter battle is the one where Francis E. Warren of the 49th Massachusetts was seriously wounded, but recovered and eventually ended up in Wyoming after the war where he became a wealthy man and served as that state's first governor and long-time U.S. senator. I have written a lot about him.  Just click on the Warren label below.

Union troops were moving up the Mississippi River from Baton Rouge to Vicksburg and the Confederates realized they needed to stop them from occupying the Red River, which was a major supply route.  Disease hit the Union forces, however, and they fell back to Baton Rouge.

--Old Secesh

Monument for Nebraska Soldiers Proposed for Fort Donelson-- Part 1

From the March 23, 2020, Omaha (Neb) World Herald  "Monument proposed for Nebraska soldiers who helped  win a crucial Civil War battle" by Mia Azizah.

A picture of Colonel John M. Thayer, who led the 1st Nebraska Volunteer Infantry at the Battle of Fort Donelson in February 1862.  Thayer would later be governor of Nebraska and represent the state in the U.S. senate.

Sounds a lot like Francis E. Warren in Wyoming.

Nebraska was only a territory during he warm but her soldiers were instrumental in a major Union victory at Fort Donelson, which led to the fall of Nashville, Tennessee, the first capital to fall.

Senator Patty Pansing Brooks of Lincoln thinks they should be honored with a monument and has introduced Legislative Bill 850, which would create a monument to honor the 1st Nebraska at Fort Donelson National Battlefield in Tennessee.

This is actually the first I've ever heard of Nebraska military units in the Civil War.

Completely in Favor of a Monument for Them.  --Old Secesh

Road Trippin' Through History, or How I Ended Up with Gen. Jacob "Howling Wilderness" Smith

And, you might be wondering where Jacob Smith got the nickname (actually derisive) and I can tell you it was because of his role in Philippine Insurrection.  Read my Cooter's History Thing blog from this month to find out about it.  It was what he did after the Belangiga Massacre and you can also find out about that in that blog.

I ended up there as a result of one of my Road Trippin' Through History tours which started with an article about a new SUVCW camp in Wyoming in this blog on March 29 of this year.  It was named after Francis E. Warren of Massachusetts who received a Medal of Honor for his action at the Battle of Port Hudson and later moved to Cheyenne, Wyoming, and became a big deal out there, eventually ended up as the first governor and a long-serving U.S. Senator.

After his death in 1928, the Army post at Cheyenne was renamed in his honor.  But before that, men from Fort Russell had served in the Indian Wars and in the Spanish-American War and the Philippines Insurrection (now called the Filipino-American War evidently).  You can read about these in the April and May Cooter's History Thing blog.

This is when I switched over to the Cooter's History Thing blog and wrote about the fort, the Belangiga Massacre, the Belangiga Bells and the general.

With Road Trippin' Through History, I start in one spot and follow it to wherever it ends, often with surprising and interesting events.

This was all stuff I didn't know about

And Very Interesting.  --Old Secesh

Siege of Port Hudson-- Part 2: Slaughter's Field

The first Union assault hit the Confederate  left flank, guarding the northern approach to Port Hudson.  Timely reinforcements from the Confederate center allowed them to repulse several Union attacks.  The fighting here had ended before the next two Union divisions attacked the Confederate center.

Here, the Confederates easily handled the Union advance going across Slaughter's Field, killing around 2,000 Union troops.  I imagine this is where Corporal Francis Warren received his wound and eventually received the Medal of Honor for his actions.  I also wonder if the field was named that before the attack or after it.

Union casualties here included 600 Blacks of the First and Third Louisiana Native Guards who were led by Captain Andre Cailloux, a black officer.

Thus ended the first big attack on Fort Hudson.  --Old Secesh

Siege of Port Hudson (Louisiana)-- Part 1: Banks Vs. 7,500 Rebels

From National Park Service  Explore the History and Culture of Southeastern Louisiana"  Port Hudson.

Port Hudson was the site of the longest siege in American history, lasting 48 days.  It pitted 7,500 Confederates against  40,000 Union troops. for almost two months in 1863.

In August 1862,  the Confederates began constructing earthworks at Port Hudson to control the Mississippi River.  In 1863, Union Major General  Nathaniel P. Banks moved against them.  Three Union divisions came down the Red River to attack Port Hudson from the north, while two more divisions advanced from Baton Rouge and  New Orleans to strike from the east and south.

Francis Warren's 49th Massachusetts was among these Union forces.

By May 22, they had isolated 7,500 Confederates in their 4 1/2 miles of earthworks.  Banks ordered an attack all along the Confederate lines on May 27, 1863.

--Old Secesh

Civil War Service of Francis Warren

From WyoHistory.org.  "Francis E. Warren:  A Massachusetts farm boy who changed Wyoming."

Son of a farmer born in Hinsdale, Massachusetts, June 22, 1844, but the farm began to falter and he had to drop out of school to help out.  At age 15 he was working on a neighbor's dairy farm for $13 a month.  He did manage to get back to school for a couple years.

When the Civil War broke out, he wanted to volunteer for the Union Army right away, but his father insisted he wait until his 18th birthday.  He joined Company C of the 49th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry.

On May 27, 1863, during the Siege of Port Hudson, Louisiana, he volunteered to be part of the first attack group which was met by a tremendous Confederate fire with most of the men either wounded or killed.  Francis Warren received a serious scalp wound and at first was thought to be dead.

An alert doctor saw that he was still alive and had him pulled from a trench or he might have been buried alive in a mass grave.  He recovered fully from his wounds.

For his efforts on the battlefield that day, young Francis was cited for "bravery above and beyond  the call of duty."  Thirty years later, while serving in the U.S. Senate, he received the Congressional Medal of Honor for his courage.

--Old Secesh

Francis E. Warren's Legacy

Still from Wikipedia.

**  F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne, Wyoming,  is named after him.

**  His daughter, Helen Frances Warren, married Army Captain John J. Pershing in 1905.  he went on to achieve fame in World War I.

Several years later, President Theodore Roosevelt promoted him, with support from Francis Warren, from captain to brigadier general, despite many people in the Army having superiority over him.  The marriage definitely helped.

Sadly, Helen and three daughters were killed in a fire at the Presidio in San Francisco.

**  Warren was the first senator to hire a female staffer.

**  He and his wife Clara Barron  Morgan, bought the Nagle Warren Mansion in 1910 and it hosted many dignitaries including Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft.

--Old Secesh

Francis E. Warren's Medal of Honor

From Wikipedia.

Medal of Honor citation:

Rank and Organization:    Corporal, Co. C, 49th Massachusetts Infantry

Place and Date:  Port Hudson, Louisiana,  27 May 1863

Entered Service:  Hinsdale, Massachusetts

Date of Issue:  30 September 1897

--Old Secesh

Francis E. Warren-- Part 2: Moved to Wyoming, Became Wealthy and Public Service

Following the war, he engaged in farming and stock-raising in Massachusetts before moving to Wyoming, then part of the Dakota Territory.  He settled in Cheyenne and engaged in mercantile, real estate and live stock and became quite wealthy.

He got involved in public ervice and served as a member of the Wyoming Territorial  Senate, Cheyenne City Council, Wyoming treasurer and mayor of Cheyenne.  In 1885, he was appointed Governor of Wyoming Territory and served from 1885 to 1890, when he was elected the first governor of the State of Wyoming.

Then he became a U.S. Senator and with a two year hiatus, served there until he died in 1929.  At that time he was the longest-serving senator.

Francis married a woman from Massachusetts, but they spent all their married lives in Wyoming.  They had two children, a boy and a girl.  The girl's name was Helen Francis and she married  General John J. Pershing of WW I fame.

--Old Secesh

Francis E. Warren of Wyoming-- Part 1: Medal of Honor Recipient

Back on Friday, March 29, 2019, I wrote about a new camp of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War being named after him.  I'd never heard of him, so....

From Wikipedia.

FRANCIS EMROY WARREN  (June 20, 1844 - November 24, 1929)

American politician of the Republican Party best known for his years as a U.S. Senator from Wyoming and first governor of that state.    A soldier in the Union Army during the Civil War and a Medal of Honor recipient.

Born in Massachusetts and in the 49th Massachusetts during the Civil War as a noncommissioned officer.  At the Siege of Port Hudson he received a Medal of Honor for battlefield gallantry.  When Confederate artillery devastated his platoon, despite receiving a scalp wound, he disabled the guns.

He later served as a captain in the Massachusetts Militia.

--Old Secesh

Wyoming Gets New Sons of Union Veterans Camp-- Part 2

Membership in the SUVCW is restricted to men  who have direct or collateral ancestors who served in the Union military, in the Army, Navy, Marine Corps or Revenue Cutter Service.

The new camp's name is the same as a former camp in Sheridan that was formed in 1890.  Both camps are names after Francis Emroy Warren (1844-1929) who served  in the infantry of the Union Army as a noncommissioned officer in the  49th Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteers.

At the age of 19, he received a Medal of Honor for battlefield gallantry demonstrated at the Siege of Port Hudson, Louisiana.  Later he was commissioned as a captain in the Militia of Massachusetts.  After the war, he served as the last territorial and first governor of Wyoming and was the last Civil War veteran as a member of the U.S. Senate.

He is also the namesake of  Francis Emroy Warren  Air Force Base in Cheyenne.

The new camp commander is Karl Falken.

Always good to see a new Civil War organization on the scene.  I myself am a member of the Camp Douglas Sons of Confederate Veterans here in Illinois.

Congratulations Camp Warren in Wyoming.  --Old Secesh