General Nathaniel McLean-- Part 2: Not One of Gen. Howard's Favorites

He was the brother of Eveline  Aurilla McLean Taylor, wife of  Joseph Taylor, brother of President Zachary Taylor (not that all this genealogy gets confusing or anything).

With the Army of the Potomac, he commanded  the 2nd Brigade, 1st Division of XI Corps during the Battle of Chancellorsville where he fell into disfavor with Corps commander General Oliver  O. Howard, because of his inability to  organize his troops after Stonewall Jackson's flank attack during the battle and was relieved of his command.

Transferred to the Ohio Valley, he became Provost Marshall of the Department of Ohio.

The following year, he was put in command of a brigade of the 1st Division of the XIII Corps during the Atlanta Campaign.  After the Battle of New Hope Church he again faced the displeasure of General Howard again and was relieved of command a second time.

He was transferred to General Sherman's command to lead the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Division of the XXIII Corps for the Carolinas Campaign.

He resigned on April 20, 1865, and returned to Cincinnati and his law business and later moved to Minnesota and became a farmer.

--Old Secesh

Becoming Federal Law: National Vietnam War Veterans Day

On March 29, 2012, President Barack Obama proclaimed March 29, 2012, as Vietnam Veterans Day.  The proclamation  called "upon all Americans to observe this day with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities that commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War."

On December 26, 2016,  the Vietnam Veterans Day Coalition of State  Council presented a letter to President-elect Donald Trump and Congressional leadership outlining the history and timeline of cause to  establish March 29 as Vietnam War Veterans Day and requesting that it be one of the first legislations passed and signed into law during the 115th Congress.

On March 28, 2017,  President Trump  signed the Vietnam  War Veterans Recognition Act of 2017.  This act officially recognizes March 29 as National Vietnam War Veterans Day.  The Act also includes the day among days on which the U.S. flag should be officially displayed.

Joseph Pannell Taylor's Wife's Brother Was a Union Army General-- Part 1: Nathaniel McLean

From Find-A-Grave.

Remember, Joseph Taylor was the brother of President Zachary Taylor.

NATHANIEL COLLINS McLEAN

BORN:  2 February 1815 in Ridgeville, Ohio

DIED: 4 January 1905 in Bellport, New York

BURIED:  Woodland Cemetery Bellport, New York

Law degree from Harvard.  Practiced law in Cincinnati, Ohio, and organized the 75th Ohio Infantry when the war started.  Commissioned colonel on September 18, 1861.  Led regiment during operations in western Virginia and a brigade at the Battle of Cross Keys June 8, 1862.

At Second Battle of Bull Run and promoted to brigadier general in November 29, 1862.

More.  --Old Secesh

President Taylor's Union General Brother-- Part 2: Joseph Pannell Taylor

Civil War brigadier general.  Born in Louisville, Kentucky, he was a U.S. Army officer and brother of  President Zachary Taylor.  With the outbreak of the War of 1812, he enlisted in the U.S. Army and rose to the rank of 1st lieutenant.

Remaining in the army after the war, he was promoted to captain in 1825 and was appointed  Assistant Commissary General of Subsistence in 1829.  Promoted to major in  1838, he was again promoted to lieutenant colonel and Assistant Commissary of Subsistence  on November 30, 1841.

At the beginning of the Civil War, he was promoted to colonel of the 9th U.S. Infantry in September 1861 and commissioned Brigadier Commissary General of Subsistence on February 9, 1863.

He was also the uncle to Confederate Lieutenant General Richard Taylor.

Joseph Taylor died of diarrhea and partial paralysis at age 68 in Washington, D.C..  His son, Joseph Hancock Taylor also served in the Union Army as a colonel.

--Old Secesh

President Zachary Taylor's Brother Fought for the Union: Joseph Pannell Taylor

 From Find-A-Grave.

JOSEPH PANNELL TAYLOR

BIRTH:  4 May 1796, Louisville, Kentucky

DEATH:  29 June 1864, Washington, D.C.  (aged 68)

BURIAL:  Oak Hill Cemetery, Washington, D.C.

He had three brothers, one of whom was Zachary Taylor, and two sisters.  All were dead by the time of the Civil War except Joseph.

Joseph was on the Union side.  One of Zachary Taylor's sons was a general in the Confederate Army, a grandson was an officer in that army and another grandson was in the Confederate Navy.

I have to wonder whose side Zachary Taylor would have been on had he not died in 1850?

What You Call a Divided Family.--Old Secesh

MCCWRT Discussion Meeting This Saturday: Artillery in the Civil War

The McHenry County Civil War Round Table will be having its discussion group meeting this Saturday, March 26 at the Panera Bread in Crystal Lake (Route 14 and Main Street) at 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

This month's topic is Artillery in the Civil War.  It will be in person and via Zoom.

All are invited (not just members).  So, if you have an interest in the Civil War or any history for that matter (we are often off-topic), come on by.

Promises to be a real Bang-Up affair.

--Old Secesh

President Taylor's Grandsons Fought for the Confederacy-- Part 3: John Taylor Wood

Zachary Taylor's daughter, Ann Mackall Taylor Wood, married Robert Crooke Wood, who remained with the Union during the war.  They had two sons and a daughter, Robert Crooke Wood Jr, who I wrote about in the last two posts.  Also there was a daughter, Sarah Knox  Wood (1835-1915).

John Taylor Wood led quite a life and compiled a remarkable record as a Confederate Navy officer during the Civil War.  I will write more about his service in my Running the Blockade:  Civil War Navy blog.

A  short synopsis is here.

Served in U.S. Navy after graduating from the USNA in 1853.  Resigned his commission, but U.S. Navy dismissed him.  His family relationship with Jefferson Davis (his aunt was the first wife of Davis and the fact he was the grandson of a former president) gave him great influence in the Confederacy.

Was a second lieutenant on the CSS Virginia in the Battle of Hampton Roads and fight against the USS Monitor.  Led surprise attacks on Union ships in the Chesapeake Bay area.  Commanded the CSS Tallahassee on a commerce raiding expedition along the American coast and captured and destroyed 31 union ships, captured the Union warship USS Underwriter at New Bern, N.C..

He was also with Jefferson Davis at his capture in Georgia.  Escaping to Cuba, he then went to Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada and lived there the remainder of his life.

--Old Secesh

President Taylor's Grandsons Fought for the Confederacy-- Part 2: Col. Robert Cooke Wood

Service in the Confederate Army:

1861

Captain in the Confederate States Regular Army

Assistant Adjutant General to Gen. Braxton Bragg  in Pensacola

Resigned his rank as captain on October 15, 1861

*******************

1861-1863

Lt. Col. of Adam's Mississippi Cavalry Regiment

*******************

1862

Captured at Lebanon, Tennessee, on May 5, 1862

Prisoner of War held at Johnson's Island Prison in Ohio

Exchanged in prisoner exchange in September of 1862

*******************

1863-1865

Colonel of Wood's Mississippi Cavalry Regiment

1864-1865

Acted as  Brigade Commander Mississippi Cavalry

1864

Acted as commander of Central Sub-District of Mississippi

1865

Paroled in Jackson, Mississippi, on May 17, 1865

--Old Secesh

President Zachary Taylor's Grandsons Fought for the Confederacy: Robert Crooke Wood, Jr.-- Part 1

Their mother was Ann Mackall Taylor Wood, daughter of Zachary Taylor, president of the United States.  She married Robert Crooke Wood, who was an officer in the United States Army who continued to serve the Union forces in the Civil War.

Their two sons, however, joined the Confederacy, one in the Army and the other in the Navy.

From Find-A-Grave.

COLONEL ROBERT CROOKE WOOD, JR.

BORN:  4 April 1832, Fort Snelling, Minnesota

DIED:  4 December  1900  (aged 68)  , Orleans Parish, Louisiana

BURIED:  Metarie Cemetery, New Orleans, Louisiana.

His grandfather was President Zachary Taylor,  His uncle by marriage was Jefferson Davis, Confederate president.

Education:  Kentucky Military Institute.  Attended St, Mary's College.  1850-1853 attended USMA, West Point.

1855-1858 served as lieutenant in 2nd U.S. Cavalry.

--Old Secesh

President Zachary Taylor's Children-- Part 2: Ann Mackall Taylor Wood

Find-A-Grave.

ANN MACKALL TAYLOR WOOD

Daughter of Zachary Taylor.

BIRTH:   9 April 1811,  Louisville, Kentucky

DEATH:  27 December 1875, Germany

BURIAL:  Cold Springs Cemetery, Lockport, New York  (Maybe.  Might still be buried in Germany)

Married  Dr, Robert Crooke Wood on September 20, 1829, at Fort Crawford, Prairie du Chien County, Wisconsin.

Her husband was from Rhode Island and eventually became  brigadier general in the Union Army.  The couple had two sons: John Taylor Wood and Robert Crooke Wood Jr. who were officers in the Confederate Navy and Army.

A Family Split by the War.  --Old Secesh

President Zachary Taylor's Children-- Part 1

From Find-A-Grave.

ZACHARY TAYLOR

BIRTH:  24 November 1784  Orange, Virginia

DEATH:  9 July 1850 (age 65)

BURIAL: Zachary Taylor National Cemetery, Louisville, Kentucky

He was the last U.S. President to own slaves while in office.

His youngest child and only son, Richard Taylor, was a Confederate general during the Civil War and his second child, Sarah Knox  Taylor, married future Confederate President Jefferson Davis in 1835, but died of malaria shortly after their marriage.

--Old Secesh

U.S. Presidents with Union Ties

Same source as the presidents with Confederate ties.

Some of the ex-presidents still alive during the Civil War, including Martin Van Buren and James Buchanan, were vocal supporters of Lincoln and the Union cause.

Charles Francis Adams was the son of one president and grandson of another and was minister of Great Britain under Lincoln.  (John Quincy Adams and John Adams)

Lincoln's second vice president, Andrew Johnson, was a Tennessee senator who had remained loyal to the Union.  This helped present a united ticket in the 1864 election.  Johnson became president after Lincoln's assassination.

Five future U.S. presidents:  Grant, Hayes, Garfield, Harrison and McKinley, all fought for the Union.

*************************************

Not a Union Tie

Robert E. Lee's wife Mary was the granddaughter of George Washington's stepson.

--Old Secesh

U.S. Presidents with Confederate Ties-- Part 4: John Tyler's Children

John Tyler was busy having children of his own and, plenty of them.  His first wife died during his administration in September 1842, and he remarried a woman thirty years his junior in 1844.  In all, he fathered 15 children in his life, some at the age of 70.

One of his sons was  an assistant secretary of war for the Confederacy.  Another was the register of the Confederate Treasury.  At least three other sons served in the Confederate Army.

From Find a Grave

Robert Tyler--  Register of Treasury

John Tyler, Jr.  Colonel in Confederate Army and Assistant Secretary of War

Tazewell Tyler served as a Confederate surgeon

David Gardiner Tyler was a private in the Confederate Army

--Old Secesh

Civil War Events in March: Averasboro, Bentonville, Glorieta Pass and White Oak Road

From the March 2022 American Battlefield Trust calendar.

MARCH 16, 1865

**  Battle of Averasboro, North Carolina

MARCH 17, 1863

**  Battle of Kelly's Ford, Virginia

MARCH 19, 1865

Battle of Bentonville, North Carolina, begins

MARCH 23, 1862

**  First Battle of Kernstown, Virginia; opening fight of the Shenandoah Valley Campaign.

MARCH 25   Medal of Honor Day

MARCH 26, 1862

**  Battle of Glorieta Pass, New Mexico Territory

MARCH 31, 1863

**  Battle of White Oak Road, Virginia

--Old Secesh

U.S. Presidents with Confederate Ties-- Part 3: Zachary Taylor's Children

Some of the Civil War split between North and South involved the children of U.S. presidents.

One of President Zachary Taylor's sons, Richard, rose to the rank of lieutenant general in the Confederate Army and was a top figure in the Trans-Mississippi theater of the war.  He surrendered his army on May 4, 1865, four weeks after Robert E. Lee.

Another of Taylor's children, Sarah, married future Confederate president Jefferson Davis in 1835 at the age of 21.  At the time, Davis was serving in the U.S. Army under Taylor and Taylor  forbade the relationship, saying, "I will be damned if another daughter of mine will marry into the Army."

Sarah came down with malaria later in 1835 and died.  Taylor, who did in office in 1850, reportedly never forgave Davis for her loss.

In addition, one of Taylor's grandsons, John Taylor Wood,  served on the Confederate ironclad CSS Virginia in its famed battle with the USS Monitor in Hampton Roads in March, 1862.  He was the son of Taylor's eldest daughter Ann.  He also commanded the CSS Tallahassee in a very successful commerce raid along the U.S. coast.  That ship left out of Wilmington, North Carolina.

He also had a brother who served in the Confederate Army named Robert Crooke Wood, Jr.

--Old Secesh

U.S. Presidents with Confederate Ties-- Part 2: Franklin Pierce

Though he was from New Hampshire,  Democrat Franklin Pierce, who served from 1853-57,  was also a critic of both Abraham Lincoln and the war.  

A vocal Southern sympathizer, Pierce spoke on July 4, 1863, the day after the end of the Battle of Gettysburg and the day of the surrender of Vicksburg, of the  "fearful, fruitless, fatal Civil War ... and upon the theory of emancipation, devastation, subjugation."

Pierce added that "how futile are all our efforts to maintain the Union by force of arms."

--Old Secesh

U.S. Presidents with Confederate Ties-- Part 1: John Tyler

From the February 21, 2022, Monroe News "Tom Emery:  "Several U.S. presidents had Confederate ties" by Tom Emery.

Several former U.S. presidents had strong Confederate ties.

John Tyler, a Virginian, became president after William Henry Harrison died after just a month in office in 1841.  Two decades later, he was a secession advocate  and was elected to the Provisional Congress of the Confederacy.

In November 1861, he won election to the Confederate  House of Representatives, but died the following January 8, 1862, before he could be seated.

After John Brown's Raid on Harpers Ferry, Tyler was elected commander of his community's home town guard with the rank of captain.  he was presiding officer of the Virginia Peace Conference in an effort to prevent war in 1861.

--Old Secesh

McHenry County Civil War Round Table (MCCWRT): Forts Discussion

Robert Anderson raised the same flag he lowered in surrender that flew over Fort Sumter on April 14, 1865.

FORT McALLISTER on the Ogeechee River in Georgia.  Built to prevent Union troops from landing on dry land and marching to Savannah.

An earthen fort which was attacked by ironclads several times but no damage to the earthen walls and none to the ironclads.

The Confederate privateer Rattlesnake, formerly CSS Nashville (commerce raider),  ran aground in the Ogeechee River on 5 November 1862 and was destroyed by the monitor USS Montauk.

The discussion topic for the April 23 discussion group will be artillery.

That is, of I can afford the gas to drive there.

--Old Secesh

MCCWRT: Sherman's March-- Part 2: Joseph Wheeler's Cavalry and the Howell Cobb Plantation

**  Macon, Georgia, was a major manufacturing center for the Confederacy.

**  Sherman did not burn Savannah.  He got cotton as tribute.

**  The cavalry of Joseph Wheeler were the only real resistance Sherman faced on his way to Savannah.

**  Confederates had placed torpedoes (artillery shells) on the roads into Savannah rigged to blow up is stepped upon.  Confederate prisoners were sent ahead of Union troops to explode them one way or another.

**  Sherman burned the Howell Cobb plantation near Milledgeville, Georgia.  On the night of November 22, 1864,  on his March to the Sea, Gen. Sherman camped there.  Upon learning it was owned by Howell Cobb, former U.S. cabinet member, Congressman and now an important man in the Confederacy, he ordered its total destruction except for the slave quarters.

**  Runaway slaves following Sherman's army were often used as pioneers in road construction.

**  There is a double-barreled cannon in Athens, Georgia.

--Old Secesh

MCCWRT Discussion Group: Sherman's March to the Sea and Through the Carolinas-- Part 1

In February 2, the discussion group met at Panera Bread in Crystal Lake, Illinois and discussed the above topic.

Of course, as always, there were a fair number of off-topic discussions that took place.  But. what would a discussion be without off-topic.

Some of the things said:

**  The two Army Corps that were with Sherman with the most Eastern Regiments were the X and the XX Corps.

**  Sherman did not follow Hood on his westward move from Atlanta and instead marched through Georgia  where he was able to subsist his army despite the "Starving Confederacy".  This was in large par because of the degree of procuring that his foragers "bummers" were able to achieve.

**  The only major resistance to his March to the Sea took place at the Battle of Griswoldville.  This was a battle where a lot of the Confederates were militia.

**  Sherman's March to the Sea was easier than the March Through the Carolinas because in Georgia, the Union forces were able to follow rivers and in the Carolina's they had to cross them.

--Old Secesh

So, Should Sherman's Army Have Been Called the Army of the Illinois?

From the McHenry County Civil War Round Table (Illinois) discussion group for February 26, 2022.

I went through Sherman's Union Order of Battle for his march through the Carolinas and counted the number of Illinois units.  I came up with 41.  That is a huge number of regiments and one battalion.  Now, granted, that late in the war, none or very few of these had the predetermined 1,000 soldiers considered a regiment at full strength.  But, even so, that was a lot of troops.

Here are the Illinois regiments:

7, 10, 12, 16, 20, 26, 30, 31, 32, 34, 40, 45, 48, 50, 52, 53, 55, 56, 57, 60, 63, 64, 65, 78, 82, 85, 86, 90, 93, 101, 102, 104,  105, 111, 112, 116, 125, 127, 129

Also, there was a 14/15 Battalion.

That's sure a lot of Illinois boys.

Army of the Illinois since Union Armies named after rivers.

--Old Secesh

MCCWRT Meeting Tuesday, March 8, 'Nathan Forrest's Railroad Raid'

 On Tuesday, March 8, the McHenry County Civil War Round Table will have a presentation by Gene Salecker on "Nathan Bedford Forrest's  Railroad Raid" from  7 to 8:30 pm at the Woodstock Public Library in Woodstock, Illinois, at 414 West Judd Street

It will be both in person and via Zoom.  Facemasks are optional.

This is our first meeting of 2022 (as there are no meetings in January and February).

Good to be back.

--Old Secesh

McHenry County Civil War Round Table Answers

These are the answers to yesterday's quiz regarding the MCCWRT's discussion group's questions:

1.  Capital of Georgia was Milledgeville

2.  Last major battle in Carolinas was the Battle of Bentonville.

3.  Sherman's first objective in N.C. was Fayetteville (and especially its arsenal).

4.  Sherman enabled Johnston to attack him at Bentonville because he had divided his army into two columns.

5.  After Savannah was captured Grant wanted Sherman to come directly to Virginia to crush Lee.

6.  How many Illinois regiments were with Sherman in the Carolinas?  41

--Old Secsh

MCCWRT Discussion Group Meeting, 2/26/22: Sherman's March to the Sea and the Carolinas

The McHenry County Civil War Round Table )MCCWRT) discussion group met at the Crystal Lake, Illinois, Panera Bread on US-14 (Northwest Highway) from 10 a.m. to 11:30 on Saturday, Feb. 25, and was both in person and via Zoom.  One of the folks was watching and talking from Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.

Yer Quiz:

1.  What was the capital of Georgia during the march?

2.  What was the last major battle fought in North Carolina?

3.  What was Sherman's first objective in North Carolina?

4.  What move did Sherman make that enabled Johnston to attack him at that last major battle in North Carolina?

5.  After Sherman reached Savannah, what did Grant want Sherman to do?

6.  Frank Question:  How many Illinois regiments were with Sherman in his March Through the Carolinas?

Answers in the next post.

--Old Secesh

Ephraim Dod Saunders of Philadelphia

Back on February 16 and 17, I wrote about this man, who was the father of Captain Courtland Saunders who was killed at the Battle of Shepherdstown at the end of the Antietam Campaign.

From the Famous Americans.net site.

EPHRAIM DOD SAUNDERS

Clergyman born in Brookside, Morris County, New Jersey, 30 September 1808; died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 13 September 1872.

He graduated from Yale  in 1831, and after studying theology in New Haven for a few months, went to Virginia where he was engaged in teaching.  He was licensed to preach there in 1833, ordained to the Presbyterian  ministry in 1834 and was instrumental in building three churches, but relinquished  preaching on account of throat problems and became  principal of an academy in Petersburg, Virginia.

After traveling to Europe, he engaged in missionary work in the Pennsylvania coal region, but in 1852, established, in West Philadelphia, the Saunders  Institute, a military school which attained a high reputation.

He discontinued the school in 1870, and in 1871, gave the buildings and grounds, which was valued at $100,000, to found, as a memorial to his son, Courtland, the Presbyterian Hospital, towards whose endowment he raised $100,000 more by his personal efforts.

He received a degree of D.D. from Lafayette.

During the Civil War,  Dr. Saunders was active in raising volunteers and obtaining money for bounties, and established a drill class in which he trained a lot of officers for the volunteer service.  His son Courtland was a teacher at the institute.

--Old Secesh

Civil War Events in March: Goodbye Gov. Houston, Lincoln Inaugurated, Battle of Pea Ridge and USS Monitor vs. CSS Virginia

From the American Battlefield Trust March 2022 Calendar.

MARCH 2, 1861

**  After forcing the resignation of Governor Sam Houston, Texas formally joins the Confederacy.

MARCH 4, 1861

**  Abraham Lincoln inaugurated 16th President of the United States of America.

MARCH 7, 1862

**  Battle of Pea Ridge, Arkansas, begins.

MARCH 8, 1862

**  The CSS Virginia engages and destroys the USS Congress and USS Cumberland.

MARCH 9, 1862

**  The USS Monitor and CSS Virginia battle at Hampton Roads, Virginia.

MARCH 14, 1862

**  New Bern, North Carolina captured.

--Old Secesh

Some More on the XXV Corps (A Fort Fisher and Wilmington Connection)

This unit was black war correspondent Thomas Morris Chester's beat during the war.

I should mention that it also had a Fort Fisher connection.  It was composed of three divisions.  One was under the command of August Kautz, William Birney and Charles J. Paine.

In January 1865, Paine's Division sailed  with Terry's Expedition to attack Fort Fisher in North Carolina, where it rendered effective service although it did not take part in the initial assault.  The division did not rejoin the XXV Corps after that, but remained in North Carolina and participated in the Wilmington Campaign during February.

The post I had about the USCT statue at the Cameron Art Center in Wilmington, N.C., in my Running the Blockade: Civil War Navy blog last month is dedicated to these men.  They showed their mettle at this final battle before the fall of Wilmington at the Battle of Forks Road.

--Old Secesh