Bruce Allardice's Talk 'Poltroons, Patriots & Politicians: Civil War Generals'-- Part 4

A very gifted speaker, this Bruce, who has quite a few different topics he can speak on, even a website (civilwarbruce).  Also a big baseball fan and, even better, a White Sox fan.

Well, of course, the first thing he had to say was what a poltroon was.  This is not a commonly used word these days, although I would say some of our leaders might qualify for it.

A poltroon is an incompetent, lacking in morals, person.

After his talk, I would have to say it was a miracle that any generals emerged from the war as anything but a poltroon.

The U.S. Army was entirely unprepared for the Civil War.  It had only four generals and 16,000 men.  Even little Paraguay in South America had a larger army.  Furthermore, there were only 76 officers in the U.S. Army ranking major or higher.

There would be a need for at least 1,000 generals during the war.

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There were only four generals at the start of the war:

Winfield Scott   (1786-1866)

David E. Twiggs (1790-1862)

John E. Wool  (1784-1869)

William S. Harney  (1800-1889)

They were all quite old to say the least.

--Old Secesh

Fort Wool in Chesapeake Bay-- Part 4: Name Change and the Sawyer Gun

The fort was originally named after John C. Calhoun, President Monroe's Secretary of War, who was a southern secessionist.  That wouldn't do once the Civil War started and the North renamed it Fort Wool in 1862, after Major General John  Ellis Wool, a War of 1812 , Mexican War hero and now Civil War officer as commander of Fort Monroe.

The fort received its first guns now.  Initially there were 10 guns mounted.  These guns were fired at Confederate positions across Chesapeake Bay and at Confederate ships.

A long-range experimental  cannon, the Sawyer gun, was installed at Fort Calhoun in mid-1861.  The weapon was rifled and had much longer range and accuracy.  An illustration in an August 1861 newspaper  shows it mounted on a high-angle carriage.

--Old B-Runner

Fort Wool in Chesapeake Bay-- Part 1: Because of the War of 1812

I wrote about this fort in my November 14 and 16 Not So Forgotten: War of 1812 blog entries.  This fort was constructed to keep an enemy fleet out of the Chesapeake Bay after the experience with the British in that war.  It and Fort Monroe to the north would provide a crossfire to stop an enemy.

From Wikipedia.

Fort Wool is a decommissioned  island fortification now known as Rip Raps Island.  originally it was named Castle Calhoun of Fort Calhoun after  Secretary of War John C. Calhoun and later renamed for  Major General John Ellis Wool (1784-1869).

The general was a veteran of three wars:  War of 1812, Mexican War and the Civil War.  He was the oldest general on either side during the Civil War.

Fort Wool was one of 40 forts constructed after the War of 1812.  This was known as the Third System of U.S. forts.  It was constructed on a shoal of  ballast stones dumped by ships entering the Chesapeake Bay and was originally constructed to have three tiers of gun chambers as well as a barbette tier at the top, altogether mounting  216 cannons.

--Old Secesh