Robert E. Lee-- Part 5: Winfield Scott and Lincoln

Both Winfield Scott and General Wool were quite elderly when the war began.  Winfield Scott had been in the War of 1812.

Lee had been in command of troops at Harpers Ferry when John Brown attacked because he was senior officer present.  JEB Stuart also there.

One task Lincoln gave Scott was to escort Mary Todd Lincoln to New York City to prevent her from spending too much money.

Scott recommended Lee to be commander of U.S. forces.  Lincoln accepted the recommendation and made Lee an offer which Lee turned down because of loyalty to his state, Virginia.

Scott  came up with the Anaconda Plan to defeat the South by carving it up and setting a blockade off its coasts.

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Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis.  Davis had an extensive military background and Lincoln didn't.  Davis backed his commanding generals regardless of performance.  Lincoln did not.  They had different perspectives on their generals.

--Old Secesh

Civil War Days in Hainesville, Illinois, This Weekend

This weekend, a Civil War Encampment and Battle will be held at the Northbrook Sports Club in Hainesville, Illinois.

It will be Saturday, Oct. 15 from 10 am to 4 pm and Sunday, Oct. 16, from 9 am to 3 pm.

Admission and on-site parking is free.

Event highlights include:

**  Narrated military battles with infantry, cavalry and artillery  (They will be doing the Battle of Shiloh.)

**  Military and civilian bivoaucs and encampments

**  Period-dressed military, civilian & presenters

**  Special guests:  Mr. and Mrs. Abraham Lincoln,  Elijah Haines (founder of Hainesville), General Grant,  William Irving Kirk & Thomas Morris Chester.

**  There will be food and souvenir vendors on site.

See You at the War.  --Old Secesh

MCCWRT Discussion Group of 10/23/21:The Kentucky Campaign Aug-Oct 1862 & the Battle of Perryville

The McHenry County Civil War Round Table (MCCWRT) held its October 2021 discussion group meeting at Panera Bread Co.in Crystal Lake, Illinois.

As usual, we opened with a quiz.  As always, these quizzes pertain to the day's subject.

1.  The Battle of Perryville is also known as the _______ __ _________ ____.

2.  On what date was it fought?

3.  This was a campaign and battle fought over what strategic state?

4.  What famous Northern woman came from the Lexington, Kentucky, area?

5.  Strangely or not strangely enough, many of this woman's relatives were what during the war?

ANSWERS BELOW

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1.  Battle of Champlin Hill

2.  October 8, 1862

3.  Kentucky

4.  Mary Todd Lincoln

5.  They were Confederate officers

--Old Secesh

Gen. Grant Speaks-- Part 4: The Civil War and Afterwards

When the Civil War began, Grant eventually received the command of the 21st Illinois Infantry and he saw his first action at the Battle of Belmont (Missouri)  in November 7, 1861.

At Appomattox, when he met Lee for the first time since the Mexican War, he tried to break the awkwardness by asking the Confederate general how things were going on the home front and wished he hadn't because Lee had lost his home at Arlington, Virginia,  which had been taken by the federal government and turned into a cemetery.

A few days later, he had been invited by the Lincolns to attend that play at Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C., but his wife absolutely refused to go as she hated Mary Todd Lincoln.  Their excuse was that they were going elsewhere.  They were on a train and got to Burlington when they heard that Lincoln had been shot.

After the war,  He was, however, still in the Army and when people wanted him to run for president he had to make the decision of whether to give up his rank of General of the Army with its $40,000 a year salary or the president's salary of $25,000.

What Did He Do.  --Old Secesh

Schedule of Events at the Hainesville (Illinois) Civil War Event Saturday, October 16

Public entry begins at 10 am.

10:15 to 10:45:  Military Drill

10:50 to 11:20:  Elijah Haines  (Hainesville Founder)

11:25 to 11:55:  Mary Todd Lincoln  (A Day in the Lincoln White House)

12:00 to 12:30:  William Irving Kirk  (A Southern Abolitionist Clergy)

12:40 to 1:10:  General Grant  (The Final Days)

1:15 to 2:00:  President Lincoln  (Finishing the Work)

2:10 to 2:40:  Thomas Morris Chester  (Battle of New Market Heights)  Thomas Morris Chester  was te only black reporter for a major newspaper during the war.

2:10:  Officers Call

2:45 to 3:15:  Battlefield Surgery 

3:15 to 3:30:  Assembly of Troops

3:30 to 4:00:  Narrated Battle featuring the Battle of Bentonville, North Carolina.  The last major battle of the war.

4:00:  The event closes to the public

SUNDAY follows the same schedule, but one hour earlier in all times.

Looking forward to being there.

--Old Secesh

Robert Barr Todd

From Find A Grave.

Born: 17 January 1826 in Lexington, Ky.

Died:  6 February 1901 in New York City

Buried:  Green-Wood Cemetery,  Brooklyn, NY.

Find a grave has him listed as a Confederate general but I am unable to find anything about that.

He moved to Missouri with his father David Todd, brother of Mary Todd Lincoln''s father, Robert Todd Smith.  Graduated in the first class at the University of Missouri  in 1843 and eventually ended up in Louisiana where he was  a member of both Louisiana houses as well as a Louisiana Supreme Court justice.

According to the Green-Wood Cemetery Civil War biographies, he also was a delegate to the Louisiana Secession  Convention and voted in favor of it.  (So, he was definitely a Confederate.)

Served as a justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court from 1880 to 1888.

He last resided with his daughter  at 347 Greene Avenue, Brooklyn, New York.  This is why he was buried in New York.

--Old Secesh

Robert Barr Todd and Robert Levi Todd

Robert Barr Todd was the son of David Todd, Mary Todd Lincoln's uncle and brother of her father Robert Smith Todd.  After graduating from the University of Missouri, he eventually got to Louisiana

Robert Levi Todd was the son of Roger North Todd, another brother of Robert Smith Todd. He remained in Columbia for his whole life.

Robert Barr Todd's mother, Elizabeth "Eliza" Barr Todd, married David Todd.  One of his sisters, Rebekah Todd Samuel,  married George Warren Samuel.

--Old Secesh

About the First Commencement at the University of Missouri in 1843 Had Just Two Graduates, Both Cousins of Mary Todd Lincoln

The first commencement ceremony for the University of Missouri at Columbia was held in November 1843, and had just two graduates.  It lasted for three hours.

The two graduates were both cousins and also cousins of Mary Todd Lincoln.

Their names were Robert B.Todd and Robert L. Todd.

Robert Barr Todd, as salutatorian spoke at the beginning and end of the ceremony.  He gave the salutatorian oration in Latin.  He closed the ceremony with the speech "Political Experience of the Past, Important to the American Citizen."

There were  nine other speakers.

Of interest, Thomas J. Hardin gave a Disputation;  "The Dissolution of the Union."

But, THREE HOURS!!!  Come On.  --Old Secesh

Not All of Mary Todd Lincoln's Relatives Were Confederate: Edward Lewis Baker

From Find-A-Grave.

EDWARD LEWIS BAKER

Born:  3 June 1829

Died:  8 July 1897 in Buenos Aires, Argentina

Buried:  Oak Ridge Cemetery, Springfield, Illinois

Lawyer, journalist, diplomat.  Married Julia Edwards, daughter of Ninian Wirt Edwards and Elizabeth Porter Todd Edwards.  She was the sister of Mary Todd Lincoln.

Attended Harvard Law School and admitted to the bar in Springfield, Illinois.    Owner and editor of the Illinois State Journal and played an important role in his friend Abraham Lincoln's presidential campaign in 1860.

Married Julia Cook Edwards, niece of Mary Todd Lincoln.

He was appointed to US Consul in Buenos Aires, Argentina and began serving on March 17, 1874, and served there until he died in a train accident.

--Old Secesh

Not All of Mary Todd Lincoln's Relatives Were Confederate: Charles Edwards

From Find-A-Grave.

CHARLES EDWARDS

Nephew of Mary Todd Lincoln.

Born: 1846

Died:  23 September 1912

Buried:  Oak Ridge Cemetery, Springfield, Illinois.

He was a student at Yale when the Civil War began and became an official with the commissary department  of the United States Army  a year after the war was declared.  Then, his headquarters was at Camp Douglas in Chicago.

He was the brother of Albert Stephenson Edwards from the last post.

--Old Secesh

Not All of Mary Todd Lincoln's Siblings Were Rebels: Nephew Albert Stevenson Edwards

I will get back to Mary Todd Lincoln's Confederate siblings later, but right now will write about some Unionists in her family.

One of them was the son of her sister Elizabeth Porter Todd Edwards, a nephew of Mary's.  He was Albert Stevenson Edwards.  Elizabeth was married to Ninian Wirt Edwards.

From Find-A-Grave

Born:    15 December 1839  Springfield, Illinois

Died:   20 December 1915  Springfield, Illinois

Buried:   Oak Ridge Cemetery, Springfield, Illinois

Died at the Lincoln Home.  Lived practically his whole life in Springfield except during the Civil War.

During the Civil War he was a member of the commissary department and stationed at Camp Douglas in Chicago and Cairo.

After the war he returned to Springfield where he worked as a bookkeeper.  He was deeply interested in his history and gathered many Lincoln relics and when he was appointed custodian of the Lincoln home, he took them to that place where he had been the last 19 years of his life.

--Old Secesh

Mary Todd Lincoln's "Divided Family"-- Part 3

These were half-siblings of Mary Todd Lincoln who were Confederate.

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MARTHA TODD WHITE

1833-1868

Accused of being a CSA spy and smuggler

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EMILIE TODD HELM

1836-1930

Married CSA General Benjamin Helm, KIA

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ALEXANDER HUMPHREYS TODD

1839-1864

Lieut. 1st Kentucky Cavalry, KIA

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ELODIE TODD DAWSON

1840-1877

Married Captain Nathaniel Dawson 4th Alabama CSA

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CATHERINE "KITTY" TODD

1841-1875

Married William Herr, 1st Kentucky Cavalry, CSA

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--Old Secesh

Mary Todd Lincoln's "Family Divided"-- Part 2

One whole  page of the article was devoted to Mary Todd Lincoln's "Confederate" siblings and there were eight of them who either served in Confederate armies, were married to ones serving in Confederate armies or were sympathetic to the Confederate side.

Pictures accompanied the names.

GEORGE ROGERS CLARK TODD

(1825-1902)

Confederate Army surgeon

Was a full brother to Mary

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MARGARET TODD KELLOGG

(1828-1904)

Married a southern sympathizer from Ohio

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SAMUEL TODD

(1830-1862)

Private 24th Louisiana  KIA

This one was most likely Samuel Briggs Todd, but also might have been Samuel Brown Todd.  I've seen conflicting accounts of who is who.  All say Brown or Briggs was half brother to Mary.

Killed at Battle of Shiloh.

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DAVID HUMPHREYS TODD

(1832-1871)  Lieutenant, 21st Louisiana Artillery

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--Old Secesh

Mary Todd Lincoln's "Family Divided"-- Part 1

From the February 2018 Civil War Times "I Do Not Think of Peace:  Elodie Todd loved a Confederate officer, Her half-sister married Abraham Lincoln" by Susannah J. Ural.

This is the article that got me doing the Mary Todd Lincoln Confederate connection.

""Families divided" can be an overused Civil War expression.  In the case of Mary Todd Lincoln, wife of President Abraham Lincoln, however, it is apt.

"Her father, Robert Smith Todd, had eight children by his second wife, Elizabeth Humphreys.  In addition to Elodie, all of Mary Todd's half siblings, and one full brother, George Rogers Clark Todd, expressed loyalty to the Confederacy  by service, marriage, or sympathy."

--Old Secesh

Mary Todd Lincoln's Confederate Connection

From Girl Power!  Mary Todd Lincoln site.

Mary Lincoln's brother, George Rogers Clark Todd and her half-brothers Alexander Todd, David Todd and  and Samuel Todd all fought for the Confederacy.

Alexander Todd was killed at the Battle of Baton Rouge.  Samuel Briggs Todd was killed at the Battle of Shiloh.  David Todd was wounded at Vicksburg.

Her half-sister Emilie Helm's husband was a Confederate brigadier general and was killed at the Battle of Chickamauga.

The husbands of half-sisters Martha White and Elodie Dawson were ardent supporters of the Confederacy as were they.

--Old Secesh

(Probably) Not Samuel Brown Todd

Geni.com has him incorrectly listed under the name Samuel Brown Todd.  It should be Samuel Briggs Todd.

Samuel Briggs Todd's grandmother's name was Jane Briggs Todd.  So Briggs is a family name.

Also, the site The Confederate Half Brothers and Brothers-In-Law, of Mary Todd Lincoln has him listed as Samuel Brown Todd.

--Old Secesh

Samuel B. Todd Killed at Shiloh While in the Confederate Army. Half Brother of Mary Todd Lincoln

From the Find-A-Grave site from an obituary at the time of his death.

SAMUEL BRIGGS TODD

Birth:  20 March 30 1830   Lexington, Ky.

Death:  5 April 1862  aged 32 at the Battle of Shiloh, Hardin County, Tn.

Buried:  Lexington Cemetery, Lexington, Ky.

Company F, Crescent Regt. CSA.

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OBITUARY

"MRS. LINCOLN'S BROTHER KILLED

"Mr. Samuel B. Todd, brother of Mrs. Lincoln,  died on the battle-field of Shiloh, of wounds received in the action of the 7th of  April.

"The New Orleans Delta says he was a gallant private in the Crescent regiment, and died in defense  of his country against  the hireling  invaders  whom the husband of his sister, Mrs. Abraham Lincoln, sent to desolate  our country and dishonor our people.

"It must be a pleasant reflection to Mrs. Abraham Lincoln, amid her vulgar attempts to ape royal  fashions, with her  balls and soirees at the federal capital, that a gallant brother should have thus fallen  by the hands of her husband's mercenaries."

Evidently, the Newspaper Was Not Too Impressed With Mary Todd Lincoln.  --Old Secesh

The Tale of a Divided Kentucky Family Named Todd-- Part 2

Children from Robert Smith Todd's second marriage.  He was the father of Mary Todd Lincoln, wife of Abraham Lincoln.  These would be her half-siblings.

ROBERT HUMPHREYS TODD  (1827-1827)  Infant son.  Buried Lexington Cemetery, Lexington, Ky.

MARGARET TODD KELLOGG  (1828-1908) Buried at Lexington Cemetery.    Married Charles Henry Kellogg   Buried Spring Grove Cemetery, Cincinnati   Would spend months as visitor with sister in the White House.  **

SAMUEL BRIGGS TODD  (1830-1862)  Killed April 5, 1862 at Battle of Shiloh.  Member of Co. F. Crescent Regt. CSA.  Buried Lexington Cemetery.  **More on him in an upcoming entry.

DAVID HUMPHREYS TODD  (1832-1871)   Captain Co. A, 21st Louisiana Infantry, CSA.  Buried Maple Hill Cemetery, Huntsville, Alabama.

MARTHA TODD WHITE  (1833-1868)   Buried Lexington Cemetery

EMILIE PARIET TODD HELM  (1836-1930)  Buried Lexington Cemetery.  Married  Benjamin Hardin Helm, West Point graduate and brigadier general in Confederate Army.  Killed at Battle of Chickamauga on 20 September 1863.  Buried at Helm Cemetery, Elizabethtown, Ky.

ALEXANDER HUMPHREYS TODD   (1839-1862)   Served 1st Kentucky Cavalry as captain.  Killed in action at the Battle of Baton Rouge.  Buried Lexington Cemetery.

ELODIE BRECK TODD DAWSON  (1840-1877)  She was the third wife of Nathaniel Dawson who served in a Confederate regiment from Alabama.  Both buried at Live Oak Cemetery, Selma, Alabama.  She was the one I was writing about last month from her letters with fiancee Nathaniel Dawson.

CATHERINE BODLEY TODD HERR   (1841-1875)  Married William Wallace Herr, 1st Kentucky Cavalry, CSA.    Buried Lexington Cemetery.  He is buried at Hite Cemetery, Louisville, Ky.

--Old Secesh

The Tale of a Divided Kentucky Family Named Todd-- Part 1

From Find-A-Grave.

ROBERT SMITH TODD

Born 25 February 1791  Lexington, Kentucky

Died 17 July 1849 (age 58)  Liberty Heights, Kentucky

Buried   Lexington Cemetery, Lexington, Kentucky

War of 1812 veteran.  His father was an American Revolution veteran.

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SPOUSES

ELIZABETH ANN PARKER TODD   1794-1825  Married November 13, 1812.

ELIZABETH L. HUMPHREYS TODD  1800-1874  Married November 1, 1826.

Married twice.

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CHILDREN WITH FIRST WIFE:

ELIZABETH TODD  (1813-1888)  Married Ninian Edwards Jr., son of Illinois' first governor.  Buried Oak Ridge Cemetery, Springfield Illinois.  Did a lot to encourage Abraham Lincoln in politics and a member of the Long Nine with Lincoln which had the state capital moved to Springfield.

ROBERT SMITH TODD, JR.  (1814-1814)  Died in infancy.  Buried in Lexington Cemetery, Lexington, Ky.

LEVI OLDHAM TODD  (1816-1864)  Married Louise Searle and remained in Lexington until his death.  Buried Lexington Cemetery.

FRANCES JANE TODD WALLACE  (1817-1899)  Married Dr. William Smith Wallace. Buried in Oak Ridge Cemetery.   Lincoln family doctor.  Accompanied the Lincolns to Washington, D.C., in 1861, and was appointed paymaster in the Army.  Served in Missouri and later Mississippi.  Contracted dysentery from which he never fully recovered.

MARY ANN TODD (1818-1882)  Married Abraham Lincoln.  Buried Oak Ridge Cemetery.

ANNA MARIA TODD SMITH  (1820-1891) Buried Oak Ridge Cemetery.   Married Clark Moulton Smith, a successful merchant.

ROBERT PARKER TODD  (1821-1822)  Died in infancy.  Buried inLexington Cemetery.

GEORGE ROGERS CLARK TODD (1825-1900)  Confederate surgeon who served in a Confederate hospital in South Carolina.  Buried in Quaker Cemetery, Camden, South Carolina.

--Old Secesh

Who Was Elodie Todd?

From the February 2018 Civil War Times "I do not think of peace" by Susannah J. Ural.

Elodie Todd was a native Kentuckian and was stunned when Confederate officer Nathaniel Dawson proposed marriage just before his company left Selma, Alabama, for Virginia.   She was 12 years his junior and wasn't sure her family would accept, especially since she barely knew Nathaniel.  They kept up a steady stream of letters from April 1861 to April 1862.  The last two posts were taken from her letters to him.

The letters offer insights into the war and, especially her family.  Being from a border state, Kentucky, her family was split as well.  Five of her siblings supported the Union while nine, including herself, supported the Confederacy.

One of her siblings was none other than First Lady of the United States, Mary Todd Lincoln, a half sister.

The letters between Nathaniel Dawson and Elodie have been published  in "Practical Strangers:  The Courtship Correspondence of Nathaniel Dawson and Elodie Todd, Sister of Mary Todd Lincoln."

Her father, Robert Smith Todd, remarried after his first wife, and Mary Todd Lincoln's mother, Elizabeth Ann Parker Todd, died in 1825.

--Old Secesh