Battle of Shepherdstown (Civil War) and Battle of Princeton (American Revolution)

I must admit that I was entirely unaware of this Battle before I wrote about it in this blog.  On the scale of the Battles of Antietam and Gettysburg, it was not a huge battle, but important in the Maryland Campaign.

The two commanders were Fitz John Porter for the Union and  William N. Pendleton on the Confederate side.

Casualties for the North were 366 (73 killed, 163 wounded and 132 captured or missing).  For the Confederacy 307 (36 killed,  267 wounded and 6 missing or captured).

From what I've read, this was not William Pendleton's proudest moment.

Of course, learning new stuff is a big reason I started this blog.

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BATTLE OF PRINCETON

This was a key battle during the American Revolution and, like with the case of the Battle of Shepherdstown, one that I was unaware of.  It was a follow up to George Washington's much more famous crossing of the Delaware River and surprising the British at Trenton the day after Christmas, December 26, 1776.  The Battle of Princeton took place January 3, 1777.

I have been writing about this one in my Cooter's History Thing blog.

Like I Said, I Do These Blogs to Learn Stuff.  --Old Secesh

Edward Everett's Speech (Well a Little Part of It)

This is the start of Edward Everett's speech he gave before Abraham Lincoln gave what is now known as the Gettysburg Address that November19, 1863.

Of course, he spoke for over two hours.  I will not type the whole speech.  But, you can tell just from what little I wrote, the man was quite eloquent.

"Standing beneath this serene sky, overlooking these broad fields now reposing from the labors of the waning year, the almighty Alleghenies towering before us, the graves of our brethren beneath our feet, it is with hesitation that I raise my poor voice to break the eloquent silence of God and Nature.  But the duty to which you call me must be performed; --grant me, I pray you,  your indulgence and your sympathy."

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Then he went into a comparison of ancient Greece and the events of July 1863.  Then:

"We have assembled, friends, fellow-citizens, at the invitation of the Executive of the great central state of Pennsylvania, seconded by the Governors of seventeen other loyal States of the Union, to pay last tribute of respect to the brave men who, in the hard-fought battles of the first, second and third days of July last, laid down their lives for the country on these hillsides and the plains before us, and whose remains have been gathered   into the cemetery we consecrate today."

I don't know, but this kind of sounds a bit like Lincoln's speech.

Eloquent, Eloquent.  --Old Secesh

About That Everett Gettysburg Address-- Part 5: Only 285 Words

When Edward Everett was finished speaking, Abraham Lincoln  rose to speak.  Unlike Everett, he did not relive the battle.  In fact, he never mentioned the battle, the Union or slavery.  Instead, as Garry Wills wrote in his book on the Gettysburg Address, the president reached "beyond the historical particulars, ... [to] derive a new, transcendental, significance from this bloody episode."

In  only 285 words, he "wove a spell that has not, yet, been broken -- he called up a new nation out of the blood and trauma."

Edward Everett was quick to acknowledge the greatness of Lincoln's brief speech.  The day after the ceremony, he wrote to the president praising the "eloquent simplicity & appropriateness" of his remarks.

"I should be glad, if I could flatter myself that I came as near the central idea of the occasion, in two hours, as you did in two minutes."

Lincoln sent an immediate and gracious response:  "In our respective parts yesterday, you could not have been excused to make a short address, nor I a long one.  I am pleased to know that, in your judgement, the little that I did say was not entirely a failure."

Very Gracious of Lincoln and Quite a Compliment.  --Old Secesh

About That Everett Gettysburg Address-- Part 4: Preparing for His Oration

Edward Everett's public service gave him many opportunities to demonstrate his power as a public speaker, and his orations became the stuff of legend.  He could hold forth for several hours with such skill and drama that listeners lost all track of time.  

After preparing meticulously  and producing a text for his speech, once at the odium, he set the manuscript aside and spoke from memory.  He had delivered memorable speeches commemorating Revolutionary battlefields at Lexington, Concord and Bunker Hill; now he was expected to find the words to dignify and consecrate Gettysburg.

In the weeks before the dedication, he immersed himself in military reports, researching and reconstructing every aspect of the three-day battle so that he could recreate it, step by awful step, for his listeners.  He strove, as always, to be an accurate historian and to stir the emotions of the audience.

As was his habit,  he sought to elevate the oration by evoking connections to Greek antiquity.  On his lengthy speech. Everett  relived the battle and denounced the enemy. Many in the crowd were moved to tears.

--Old Secesh

About That Everett Gettysburg Address-- Part 3: Education and Political Service

Continued from December 15, 2021.

Edward Everett was born in Dorchester, Massachusetts in  1794.  A precocious youth, he graduated from Harvard at age 17, receiving highest honors in spite of being the youngest member of the class.  Three years later, after  earning a Masters of Divinity  degree, he was invited to be the minister of the Brattle Street Church, then Boston's largest and most fashionable congregation and was installed as its minister before reaching his 20th birthday.

After a year in the pulpit, he decided  that he preferred scholarship to the ministry and accepted a faculty appointment in Greek Literature at Harvard.  Since he was only 21 and only had a Master's degree, the university sent him to Europe for two  years of further study.  He completed a Ph.d. in Germany before returning to Harvard in 1819.

Everett was unusual for a 19th century scholar in his having aspirations beyond campus.  He  left teaching to serve five terms in the U.S. House of Representatives (1825-1835); four (one year) terms as the Massachusetts governor (1836-1839); four years as ambassador to England (1841-1845); Secretary of State  under President Millard Fillmore; one term   in the U.S. Senate (1854-1860)

In the mid 1840s, he took a break from politics to serve as Harvard's  rsident.

A Remarkable Man.  Maj. Charles Winchester Would Be So Proud.  --Old Secesh

Battle of Shepherdstown-- Part 3: The Aftermath and Proclamation

AFTERMATH

The total Union dead and wounded at the Battle of Shepherdstown makes it the bloodiest battle fought in what would become the state of West Virginia.

The battle convinced both commanders that the Maryland Campaign was over.  George McClelland decided that an active pursuit of the enemy was not possible at this time and established a defensive line along the Maryland side of the Potomac River. 

And, for the Confederates, Robert E. Lee chose to abort his army's movement back into Maryland.

With the Confederates  driven from Northern soil, President Abraham Lincoln used the opportunity to issue the Emancipation Proclamation  on September 22, 1862.

BATTLEFIED PRESERVATION

As of December 2021, the American Battlefield Trust  and its partners have acquired and preserved 621 acres of the battlefield in more than ten acquisitions since 2004.

--Old Secesh

Battle of Shepherdstown-- Part 2: The Bloodied 118th Pennsylvania

Major Charles  Lovell's brigade of   Regulars encountered Major General A,P, Hill's "Light Division" about a mile from the Potomac River.  While withdrawing back to Boteler's Ford,  Hill's men attacked under a withering fire from federal artillery causing tremendous casualties.

Union Col. James Barnes' brigade was ordered to the top of the bluffs to cover to cover the retreat and two more federal brigades were ordered to cross over into Virginia (West Virginia).  After a violent clash  along the heights above the river, Porter ordered a withdrawal.

However, the colonel of the inexperienced 118th Pennsylvania  (the "Corn Exchange" regiment) refused to retire until orders were received through the proper  chain of command.  In this engagement, their first time under fire,  the 118th regiment was driven  in by four Confederate brigades and suffered 36% casualties.

--Old Secesh

Battle of Shepherdstown-- Part 1: A Rear Guard Action

Since I had never written about this battle before this week and actually wasn't even familiar with it, I will write about it here.

From Wikipedia.

Also known as the Battle of Boteler's Ford, took place September  19-20, 1862, in Jefferson County, Virginia, (now West Virginia), at the end of the Maryland Campaign which resulted in the Battle of Antietam

After the Battle of Antietam, there was an improvised truce for  both sides to recover and exchange their wounded.    Lee's forces started withdrawing across the Potomac River on the evening of September 18 and expected to be pursued by the Union Army.  he left behind a rear guard of two infantry brigades and 44-45 cannons under Brigadier General William N. Pendleton to hold Boteler's Ford.

Shortly before dusk on September 19, Union Brigadier General  Charles Griffin sent two regiments, the 1st U.S. Sharpshooters and the 4th Michigan, across the Potomac at Boteler's Ford.  They attacked Pendleton and captured four artillery pieces before being recalled.

Early on September 20,  Union Gen. Fitz John Porter sent two brigades across the Potomac for a reconnaissance in force.

Then, the fighting really took off.

--Old Secesh

Battle of Shepherdstown

From the December 2021 American Battlefield Trust calendar.

SHEPHERDSTOWN, WEST VIRGINIA

622 acres saved.

Still reeling from America's deadliest day at the Battle of Antietam -- the Union and Confederate armies clashed again at Shepherdstown on September 189-20, 1862. 

As Lee's Confederate Army slopped back into Virginia following the battle, he had strategically left two infantry brigades at Shepherdstown to guard Boteler's Ford on the Potomac River.  So, when elements of Union Major General Fitz John Porter's V Corps pushed across there, a battle ensued.

The Trust along with the Jefferson County Historic Landmarks Commission has added 622 acres of hallowed ground at Shepherdstown.

I just read an article in the December Civil War Times by noted blogger John Banks about his trip there.  Done, of course, in his distinct style.

Of Course, Shepherdstown was in Virginia at the Time.--Old Secesh

About That Everett Gettysburg Address-- Part 2: Establishing a Cemetery and a Speaker

When the armies withdrew after that three-day battle in and around Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, it was a hellish scene of carnage: 8,000 human corpses and 5,000 dead horses strewn across the fields.  The toll would grow to thousands more in the days that followed as men succumbed to their mortal wounds.

In the summer heat, Pennsylvania Governor Andrew Curtain faced a pressing need to identify and bury the dead.  But he also felt compelled to  give meaning to the bloody tragedy and hope to the future.

Curtain enlisted the help of leading Gettysburg citizen, David Wills, who immediately acquired  17 acres for a battlefield cemetery and began planning its dedication.  Looking for someone who could  with "artful words ... sweeten the poisoned air of Gettysburg."    Wills naturally turned to Edward Everett for those words.

Everett had inherited the mantle of Daniel Webster, the nation's leading orator at the time of his death in 1852.  The Bostonian had long  been recognized for his deft and graceful use of language, intuitive dramatic sense, musical voice and magnetic presence.

--Old Secesh

About That Everett Gettysburg Address-- Part 1: Two Hours for One, Three Minutes for the Other

From Mass Movement "Edward Everett gives Gettysburg Address.

November 19, 1863.

The Place:  Gettysburg

Two Major Speeches Given That Day

Of course, the best-known was the shortest by far, the one President Abraham Lincoln gave.  His followed a much, much longer, but eloquent speech nonetheless.

That first one was given by Edward Everett, considered the country's greatest orator and a successor to Daniel Webster.

The Boston orator was  the obvious choice for the occasion.  During his forty year career as professor, diplomat and statesman, he had consistently dazzled audiences.  At Gettysburg that day, he held the crowd spellbound  for two hours.

When the president followed him to the podium, he spoke for just three minutes.  But what a three minutes.  What he said that day has entered into the national memory.

Abraham Lincoln gave a handwritten copy of his speech to Edward Everett and that is the one at the Lincoln Presidential Museum in Springfield, Illinois.

--Old Secesh

Events Taking Place in December: USS Cairo-- Nashville-- 13th Amendment-- Fort Fisher-- Mason & Slidell-- Stones River

DECEMBER 12, 1862

The USS Cairo strikes a torpedo and sinks in the Yazoo River, Mississippi.

DECEMBER 15, 1864

The Battle of Nashville, Tennessee, begins.

DECEMBER 18, 1865

The 13th Amendment, abolishing slavery, becomes a part of the U.S. Constitution.

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DECEMBER 24, 1864

The first attack on Fort Fisher, North Carolina, begins.

DECEMBER  26, 1860

Major Robert Anderson evacuates Fort Moultrie for Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina.

DECEMBER 26, 1861

The U.S. releases Confederate commissioners Mason and Slidell, ending the Trent Affair.

DECEMBER 31, 1862

The Battle of Stones River (Murfreesboro), Tennessee begins.

--Old Secesh

Gettysburg Address Is Back (Well, Was)

From the November 19, 2021, Chicago Tribune.

A picture and caption about this important document:

"Exhibits fabricator Tom Conway and registrar Carla Smith lift a copy of the Gettysburg Address into the public display case Thursday at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Illinois.

"One of five known existing copies in Lincoln's own handwriting, this one s known as the Everett Copy, as Lincoln prepared it for Edward Everett, another speaker on the day that he gave the Gettysburg Address.

"It is installed each year for the anniversary of the November 19, 1863, Gettysburg Address and will remain on public display for the next two weeks.  The Everett Copy was acquired by the state of Illinois in 1944 and is kept in a vault the rest of the year to preserve it."

Something I definitely would like to see, but reckon I'll have to wait until next year to do it.

Oh, Well.  --Old Secesh

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