Freedom is not free. Thank you to all our veterans.

"I, John Brown am now quite certain that the crimes of this guilty land will never be purged away but with blood."

John Brown was the "The meteor of the war," as author Herman Melville called him. John Brown was an abolitionist, and a religious fanatic. Some say that John Brown is a martyr. Brown believed he was an instrument of God.

Abolitionist John Brown in 1856.

Before the Civil War began, Brown’s abolitionist actions stirred and heated the boiling cauldron of events leading to the war. In May of 1856, John Brown and four of his sons shot and hacked to death five pro-slavery settlers at Pottawatomie Creek, Kansas. In 1859, Brown and a band of 21 men seized the United States Armory at Harpers Ferry, Virginia. Brown was hanged for this on December 2, 1859 at Charles Town, Virginia. John Brown’s Gallows’ site can still be toured today in Charles Town, West Virginia.

It should be noted that West Virginia became the 35th state of the Union on June 20, 1863. At the time of John Brown’s activities at Harpers Ferry, this part of West Virginia still belonged to the state of Virginia.

John Brown Quotes:

"Caution, Sir! I am eternally tired of hearing that word caution. It is nothing but the word of cowardice!"
– John Brown, discussing matters with a neighbor, after the neighbor saw a need to give warning to John Brown.

"I don’t think the people of the slave states will ever consider the subject of slavery in its true light till some other argument is resorted to other than moral persuasion."
– Abolitionist John Brown’s words of October, 1859. On December 2, 1859 John Brown was hanged for treason after seizing the United States Armory at Harpers Ferry – part of Brown’s plan to present "some other argument" to the slave states.

"When I strike, the bees will begin to swarm, and I want you to help hive them." – John Brown’s words to Frederick Douglass before Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry in October, 1859. Brown did strike, but unfortunately for him, the "bees" never did begin to swarm. The United States Marines, commanded by Robert E. Lee, did swarm and ended Brown’s siege of Harpers Ferry.   "Had I so interfered in behalf of the rich, the powerful, the intelligent, the so-called great, or in behalf of their friends…and suffered and sacrificed what I have in this interference…every man in this court would have deemed it worthy of reward rather than punishment." – John Brown, speaking on November 2, 1859 during his sentencing.

Barnes&Noble: Midnight Rising: John Brown and the Raid That Sparked the Civil War

"If it is deemed necessary that I should forfeit my life for the furtherance of the ends of justice, and mingle my blood further with the blood of my children and with the blood of millions in this slave country whose rights are disregarded by wicked, cruel, and unjust enactments-I submit; so let it be done."
– John Brown, speaking on November 2, 1859 during his sentencing. John Brown would be hanged.

"I have been whipped, as the saying is, but I am sure I can recover all the lost capital occasioned by that disaster; by only hanging a few moments by the neck; and I feel quite determined to make the utmost possible out of a defeat."
– John Brown, to his wife. On December 2, 1859 John Brown was hanged by the neck (and perhaps for more than "a few moments") for treason.

"This is a beautiful country."
– Spoken by John Brown while seated on his coffin, as he rode to his execution on the gallows.

"I, John Brown am now quite certain that the crimes of this guilty land will never be purged away but with blood."
– John Brown said nothing on the gallows, but handed a note containing these words to a guard. The outbreak of the Civil War in April, 1861 proved John Brown prophetic.

Abolitionist John Brown, with His Autograph 12 in. x 16 in. Buy This Allposters.com

John Brown Stops to Greet a Black Child on His Way to Execution, 1859 12 in. x 16 in. Buy This Allposters.com

John Brown 12 in. x 16 in. Buy This Allposters.com

Quotes about John Brown:

"So perish all such enemies of Virginia! All such enemies of the Union! All such foes of the human race!"
– Colonel Preston of the Virginia militia said these words to the crowd that had gathered to see John Brown hang. A member of the Virginia militia who was present, was an actor named John Wilkes Booth. Booth would later make tragic history in April of 1865. Also in the crowd were cadets from the Virginia Military Institute led by Thomas J. Jackson, later to be known as "Stonewall Jackson" of the Confederacy.

Hanging from the beam,
Slowly swaying (such the law),
Gaunt the shadow on your green,
     Shenandoah!
The cut is on the crown
(Lo, John Brown),
And the stabs shall heal no more.
– Herman Melville, "The Portent."

"John Brown died on a scaffold for the slave; Dark was the hour when we dug is hallowed grave; Now God avenges the life he gladly gave, Freedom reigns today!"
– This is called "The President’s Proclamation" and you should sing it using the tune from "Battle Hymn of the Republic."

"Old John Brown…agreed with us thinking slavery wrong. That cannot excuse violence, bloodshed, and treason. It could avail him nothing that he might think himself right."
– Abraham Lincoln

John Brown going to be hanged.

And Old Brown Old Osawatomie Brown, May trouble you more than ever, when you’ve nailed his coffin down! – Anderson’s "A Voice From Harpers Ferry." Earlier in his abolitionist career, John Brown was in Osawatomie, Kansas and there he murdered five pro-slavery men with help from four of his sons. This was Brown’s response to the pro-slave raid made on Lawrence, Kansas in 1856.

"Nobody was ever more justly hanged."
– Nathaniel Hawthorne on John Brown.

"You rejoiced at the occasion, and were only troubled that there were not three times as many killed in the affair. You were in evident glee-there was no sorrow for the killed nor for the peace of Virginia disturbed-you were rejoicing that by charging Republicans with this thing you might get an advantage on us."
– Abraham Lincoln, March 6, 1860. Lincoln was referring to the Democrat opinion of John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry in 1859.

"The murderer and robber & fire-raiser so notorious for these crimes in his Kansas career, & now the attempter of the thousand-fold horrors in Virginia, is, for these reasons, the present idol of the north."
– Edmund Ruffin, November of 1859. Ruffin is referring to John Brown, the fanatic abolitionist. Ruffin was a strong secessionist and is credited with firing the first shot at Fort Sumter, but this fact can be questioned. On June 15, 1865 after the Civil War had come to an end, Ruffin committed suicide by shooting himself "because he was unwilling to live under the US government."

The result proves that the plan was the attempt of a fanatic or madman."
– Lieutenant Colonel Robert E. Lee commenting on John Brown’s raid upon Harper’s Ferry.

"The meteor of the war."
– Herman Melville (Moby Dick author) on John Brown.

LearnCivilWarHistory.com presents this excellent rendition of John Brown’s Body by gloriajane1 for your enjoyment. Thank you gloriajean1 and best wishes.

John Brown’s Body

gloriajane1 | September 29, 2009 | 4:29

Back around the time that Christians, abolitionists, free blacks, anti-slavery activists and Kansas land owners first formed the Republican party, John Brown an abolitionist and baptist preacher, gave his life to put an end to slavery. During the civil war northern soldiers sang this old song as they marched off to battle. After "Julia Ward Howe" heard Union troops singing this, the original version of the song, she wrote her own words to it’s tune. Soon after, her version was published in the "Atlantic Monthly" as "The Battle Hymn Of The Republic"…gloriajane1

1861 – Secession Completes and the Bloodshed Begins
South Carolina seceded from the Union on December 20, 1860. In 1861, the Confederate States of America would gain its full roster of states. Here is a list of the seceding states and their dates of secession from the Union:

* South Carolina – December 20, 1860

* Mississippi – January 9, 1861

* Florida – January 10, 1861

* Alabama – January 11, 1861

* Georgia – January 19, 1861

* Louisiana – January 26, 1861

* Texas - February 1, 1861

* Virginia – April 17, 1861

* Arkansas – May 6, 1861

* North Carolina – May 20, 1861

* Tennessee – June 8, 1861

The Confederate States of America now exists. The blood of the Civil War starts flowing on April 12, 1861 as the Confederates fire on Fort Sumter. The Civil War begins.

Walt Whitman

To me, Whitman’s 1861 poem shows he knew the year of 1861 brought about a sea change. Before then, it was all about attempts at compromise, politicians debating and arguing, rattling of swords, and talk, talk, talk. Now the year 1861 brings about bloodshed and death with the gathering of men; "clothed in blue" and of "well-gristled body, and sunburnt face and hands," with "a knife in the belt at your side," and "bearing weapons." Whitman says there should be "No dainty rhymes or sentimental love verses" for this "terrible year," of 1861. War and all of its evil, has arrived for North and South. It is for the reader to analyze and interpret Walt Whitman’s poem titled 1861, as he or she sees fit.

1861
Walt Whitman

ARM’D year! year of the struggle!
No dainty rhymes or sentimental love verses for you, terrible year!
Not you as some pale poetling, seated at a desk, lisping cadenzas
      piano;
But as a strong man, erect, clothed in blue clothes, advancing,
      carrying a rifle on your shoulder,
With well-gristled body and sunburnt face and hands–with a knife in
      the belt at your side,
As I heard you shouting loud–your sonorous voice ringing across the
      continent;
Your masculine voice, O year, as rising amid the great cities,
Amid the men of Manhattan I saw you, as one of the workmen, the
      dwellers in Manhattan;
Or with large steps crossing the prairies out of Illinois and
      Indiana,
Rapidly crossing the West with springy gait, and descending the
      Alleghanies;
Or down from the great lakes, or in Pennsylvania, or on deck along
      the Ohio river;
Or southward along the Tennessee or Cumberland rivers, or at
      Chattanooga on the mountain top,
Saw I your gait and saw I your sinewy limbs, clothed in blue, bearing
      weapons, robust year;
Heard your determin’d voice, launch’d forth again and again;
Year that suddenly sang by the mouths of the round-lipp’d cannon,
I repeat you, hurrying, crashing, sad, distracted year.

A commentary about Walt Whitman by EnglishGuyinTexas.
EnglishGuyInTexas

Another post with information about Walt Whitman…

Jefferson Davis

Jefferson Davis was born in Kentucky on June 3, 1808. A curious fact of the year 1808 (especially when you consider what Jefferson Davis’ life would mean to the Confederacy, slavery, and the history of the United States), is that in 1808 the importation of slaves was made illegal in the United States of America.

• Jefferson Davis was a graduate of the United States Military Academy (West Point). Davis ranked 23rd in his 33 member class of 1828. Also graduating in the 1828 West Point class was Robert E. Lee.
• After West Point, Davis was posted to the Pacific Northwest, serving there in the infantry. Davis transferred to the dragoons in 1833. After spending two years with the dragoons, Davis resigned as a first lieutenant.
• Jefferson Davis married Sarah, she was the daughter of Colonel Zachary Taylor, Davis’ commander. Colonel Taylor did not approve of his daughter marrying Jefferson Davis. Sadly, a short three months after they married, she died of malarial fever. Later, Davis would marry Varina Howell.

• Jefferson Davis took part as an officer in the Black Hawk War during the 1830s. Another officer in the Black Hawk War was Abraham Lincoln.
• Davis served from 1845 to 1847 in the House of Representatives as a Democrat.
• Davis fought in the Mexican War as a colonel of the 1st Mississippi Rifles. He was wounded at Buena Vista, and he declined a commission as a brigadier general. He then served in the United States Senate until 1853 when he became Secretary of War under Franklin Pierce. After Pierce’s presidency, Davis returned to the Senate.

• While he was Secretary of War, Davis imported camels and sent them to Texas. Davis thought the camels would do well in the arid environment of Texas and could be used as beasts of burden. The camels would be used to haul supplies and equipment for the United States Army troops in Texas. The Texas camels idea did not work out as Davis had hoped.
• Jefferson Davis and his wife, Varina Howell Davis, had four children. They lost their first child in infancy and then lost a son. Five-year-old Joe Davis fell from a balcony of the Confederate White House and died. Davis had the balcony torn down.
• After the Mexican War, Ulysses S. Grant was stationed in California. He was without his wife and children, and bored in California. Grant took to excessive drinking. Grant resigned his commission in 1854 and his resignation was accepted by the United States Secretary of War. The Secretary of War accepting Grant’s resignation from the United States Army was Jefferson Davis.

• Jefferson Davis was a strong supporter of states’ rights and supported his state of Mississippi’s secession from the Union.
• Mississippi seceded from the Union on January 9, 1861. On January 21, 1861 Davis was at the Capitol in Washington. History was about to happen. The Senate chamber was filled with curious on-lookers. On this morning, five senators from states that had seceded from the Union were to say their farewells. These senators were from the states of Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi. Jefferson Davis was among them. Davis rose and gave a stirring and emotional good-bye speech. He had been ill for a week and in bed. Davis had not slept the night before and was suffering from severe migraine head-aches.
• Montgomery, Alabama was the first capital of the Confederacy. On February 4, 1861 delegates from six of the states that seceded, met in Montgomery. Meeting at Montgomery, the Confederate States of America adopted a provisional constitution and also elected Jefferson Davis as provisional president. On May 20, 1861 the Confederate capital was moved to Richmond, Virginia. Montgomery only had two hotels, one of them was not up to desirable standards. The capital building in Montgomery was a bit small for the needs of the new Confederacy. Lack of adequate and decent hotel rooms and the need for a larger building in which to conduct the business of the Confederacy were some of the reasons for the move to Richmond.

• In February of 1861, at Montgomery, Alabama, Jefferson Davis was inaugurated as the provisional president of the Confederacy. On February 22, 1862 in Richmond, Virginia (where the Confederate capital now had been moved), Davis was inaugurated as the president of the Confederate States of America. The Confederate president was to serve a six-year term.
• Davis did not necessarily want to be president of the Confederacy. He would have preferred instead, to serve in the military and possibly command the Confederate army. As the events of the Civil War played out, Davis’ six-year term as the Confederacy’s president would be cut short.
• The White House of the Confederacy was the executive mansion for Confederate States of America President Jefferson Davis and his family. It is located in Richmond, Virginia. The Virginia State Capitol was the Capitol of the Confederacy.

• "Dixie" was the unofficial anthem of the Confederacy. When Confederate President Jefferson Davis and Vice President Alexander Stephens rode to their inaugural, a band played "Dixie."
• Confederate postage stamps used only the portraits of President Jefferson Davis, General Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson, or Senator John C. Calhoun.
• Jefferson Davis delivered his inaugural address from the Washington statue on the grounds of the Capitol of the Confederacy.

• St. Paul’s Church in Richmond, Virginia became known as the "Cathedral of the Confederacy" because both Confederate President Jefferson Davis and General Robert E. Lee attended church services there.
• Confederate President Jefferson Davis was attending church services at the "Cathedral of the Confederacy" in Richmond on Sunday April 2, 1865. During the church service Davis was given a note informing him that General Robert E. Lee’s lines had been broken at Petersburg. It was immediately time now, for the Confederate president to evacuate Richmond.
• Union troops occupied Richmond, Virginia on April 3, 1865. The Confederate capital of Richmond had fallen. President Abraham Lincoln went to Richmond the following day and visited the White House of the Confederacy. This visit to Richmond was a moment of glory for President Lincoln. The South was very near defeat, the Union was to be preserved, and slavery was to end. Lincoln saw Jefferson Davis’ office and took the opportunity to sit in Davis’ chair.

Accompanying Lincoln in Richmond was his 12-year-old son, Tad. This was to be Lincoln’s first and last visit to Richmond. Lincoln died on April 15, 1865, the victim of an assassin’s bullet. Tad Lincoln would die of tuberculosis in 1871. After the South surrendered and the Civil War was lost for the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis was captured by Federal cavalry on May 10, 1865. He was accused of treason. On May 22, he was sent to prison at Fort Monroe, Virginia. Davis was kept there without benefit of a trial, for two years. Fort Monroe is the largest stone fort ever built in the United States. It is named for President James Monroe. Jefferson Davis died at New Orleans on December 5, 1889. Davis and his family, General J.E.B. Stuart, and General George Pickett are all buried at the Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia. Over 18,000 Confederate soldiers rest in peace at Hollywood Cemetery. The cemetery is so named because of its many holly trees.

Barnes&Noble: Jefferson Davis: The Man and His Hour by William C. Davis

Abraham Lincoln’s Second Inaugural on March 4, 1865 was held on a miserable, windy, rainy, and muddy day in Washington, D.C. The inaugural ceremonies were planned to be held outside, but were moved inside to the Senate chamber because the weather was so bad.

Note: You may read about Abraham Lincoln’s Second Inaugural in this post.

Andrew Johnson

Vice President Hannibal Hamlin was retiring, and Tennessee Democrat Andrew Johnson would now be inaugurated as Abraham Lincoln’s vice-president. The Senate chamber’s 1800s ventilation system was poor and it could not handle the added moisture from the wet and soaked clothes of the people attending the ceremony. The Senate chamber was muggy and sticky, it was a very uncomfortable place to be on this poor-weather inaugural day in Washington, D.C.

Andrew Johnson had been suffering from typhoid fever and generally was in poor health, during the weeks before the inaugural. Johnson’s travel to Washington, D.C. from Nashville did not help his physical condition, and he didn’t feel well shortly before the inauguration. He downed three glasses of "medicinal" whiskey before entering the uncomfortable Senate chamber. As Andrew Johnson walked into the Senate chamber he appeared to be unsteady, and he was leaning on Hannibal Hamlin’s arm.

Usually the vice-president’s inaugural speech is a brief formality on inauguration day. It became obvious to all that the new vice-president was three sheets to the wind as he began his vice-presidential inauguration speech. The stewed Johnson rambled on and on, speaking for seventeen minutes instead of the expected seven. Hannibal Hamlin finally gave a tug on Johnson’s coat-tail, and only then did Johnson end his alcohol-impaired inaugural speech.

Andrew Johnson’s sottish inauguration festivities and formalities were not yet complete. As he took the oath of office (which took more time than needed because Johnson drunkenly rambled with incoherent and slurred speech), Johnson put his hand on the Bible and said in a loud voice; "I kiss this Book in the face of my nation the United States."

Johnson then gave the Bible a tipsy kiss. As the now freshly inaugurated vice-president, it was Johnson’s job to swear-in the new senators. Vice President Andrew Johnson was too drunk and confused for this, so instead a Senate clerk performed swearing-in of the new senators.

1864 Republican Presidential Ticket

After the drunken Andrew Johnson had been inaugurated indoors as vice-president, the nasty weather began to clear and improve. Abraham Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address could now be given outside as was originally planned. As Lincoln witnessed the soused Andrew Johnson’s Bible kiss, he said to Senator John B. Henderson, who was the marshal for the inauguration; "Do not let Johnson speak outside."

Later, President Lincoln remarked regarding Vice President Johnson’s inaugural drunkenness;

"It has been a severe lesson for Andy, but I do not think he will do it again."

Lincoln had known Johnson for years and they were friends. To answer concerns expressed by some about Johnson, Lincoln further explained;

"I have known Andrew Johnson for many years. He made a slip the other day, but you need not be scared; Andy ain’t a drunkard."

Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain

Eighty men without ammunition. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain at Gettysburg, an example of leadership and why it is important to Learn Civil War History.

NOTE: At the beginning of his talk, Andrews is in error about the date of Chamberlain’s actions. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain and the 20th Maine performed their heroics at Gettysburg on July 2, 1863.

Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain

Ulysses S. Grant

When Grant arrived at West Point he found his appointment was in the name of Ulysses S. Grant. Grant’s parents named him Hiram Ulysses Grant. Grant never bothered to change the clerical error and was known as Ulysses S. Grant. Later, Grant was called "Unconditional Surrender Grant" after Confederate Simon Boliver Buckner surrendered Fort Donelson to him. Grant was also often called Sam Grant. While a cadet at West Point, Ulysses S. Grant was known as an exceptional horseman. Grant did not stand out as having exceptional talents in anything else while at West Point.

• Ulysses S. Grant wanted a commission in the cavalry when he finished at West Point. Instead, Grant wound up in the infantry because the cavalry had no vacancies. Grant was a horseman, and this assignment to the infantry must have been a disappointment for him.

• Ulysses S. Grant served with generals Zachary Taylor and Winfield Scott during the Mexican War.

• After the Mexican War, Ulysses S. Grant was stationed in California. He was without his wife and children, and very bored. Grant took to excessive drinking. He resigned his commission in 1854 and his resignation was accepted by the United States Secretary of War. The Secretary of War accepting Grant’s resignation from the United States Army was Jefferson Davis. Davis was the future president of the Confederate States of America.

• Grant’s favorite horse during the Civil War was Cincinnati. An admirer gave Cincinnati to Grant after the battle of Chattanooga. Cincinnati was seldom ridden by anyone other than Grant. One notable exception being President Abraham Lincoln, when Lincoln last visited City Point, Virginia. Other horses Grant had in the Civil War were; Jack, Fox, and Kangaroo. Kangaroo was left on the Shiloh battlefield by the Confederates. This horse was described as ugly and raw-boned. Grant however, having an eye for horses, knew that Kangaroo was a thoroughbred. After becoming a Yankee horse, Kangaroo got rest and care and he became a fine horse.

• Ely Samuel Parker was a Seneca Indian, a son of a famous Seneca chief, and also a Union officer. He first studied law but was refused admission to the bar because he was not a citizen. Parker graduated from Rensselaer as an engineer. In 1857, Ely Parker was working in Galena, Illinois where he became a friend of a store clerk named Sam Grant. Sam Grant, was Ulysses S. Grant and during the Civil War Ely Parker became General Ulysses S. Grant’s military secretary. Ely Parker’s penmanship was exceptional. When Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox Court House, Ely Parker transcribed the official copies of the surrender documents.

• Ulysses S. Grant never swore. His explanation for this:
  "Well, somehow or another, I never learned to swear, when a boy I seemed to have an aversion to it, and when I became a man I saw the folly of it. I have always noticed, too, that swearing helps to rouse a man’s anger; and when a man flies into a passion his adversary who keeps cool always gets the better of him. In fact, I could never see the use of swearing. I think it is the case with many people who swear excessively that it is mere habit, and that they do not mean to be profane; but, to say the least, it is a great waste of time."

• On April 14, 1865 Abraham Lincoln’s day was spent visiting with callers and attending a Cabinet meeting, which included General Grant. Lincoln explained to General Grant that he was having a recurring dream about a ship "moving with great rapidity toward a dark and indefinite shore." Now that the Civil War was over, topics of discussion during the Cabinet meeting included the problems of reconstruction, and the treatment of Confederate leaders. That evening, the Lincolns went to Ford’s Theater to see the play "Our American Cousin." While enjoying the play at Ford’s Theater Lincoln was shot by assassin John Wilkes Booth.

After the Civil War, Ulysses S. Grant became an author, Secretary of War under President Johnson, and in 1868 became President of the United States. Grant served two terms as president. Ulysses S. Grant finished his two-volume autobiography, Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant, only days before he died of throat cancer in 1885. Grant’s memoirs were published by Mark Twain’s firm and 300,000 copies were sold. These sales earned $450,000 for Grant’s widow, Julia. Grant’s autobiography is thought to be one of the best autobiographies written in the English language.

Barnes&Noble: Ulysses S. Grant: A Victor, Not a Butcher

A fine example of mule-flesh.

Mules in the Civil War provided a lot of brute muscle to get the tough, backbreaking work done for both the North and the South. Their specialty was pulling wagons. It’s worth noting that a mule is a cross between a male donkey and a female horse. Mules are sterile and cannot reproduce, although there are exceptions. A hinny is the result of crossing a male horse with a female donkey. Mules are easier to produce.

In the 1800s United States, mules were very commonly used on the many farms of the country’s agricultural based society. Mules are sturdy, hearty, and durable, they can perform hard work under severe conditions that might injure or kill a horse. They can survive on the poorest of food. Before America become mechanized, the mule was a much needed draft animal. At the start of the Civil War it is estimated there were more than a million mules in the country, and most of them were found in the South. The states producing the most mules were Kentucky, Missouri, and Tennessee. Kentucky in particular, was known for having the best quality and largest size of mules.

During the Civil War, mules would often be used to pull wagons full of supplies, forage, or ammunition. Mules would be worked in teams of six and hitched to a wagon in tandem. The mule driver would ride on the back of the mule nearest to the wagon and on the right side. The mule driver kept his authority over the mules, no small task as mules are often very uncooperative, with a whip called a "black snake." The black snake would be cracked near or on the ears of a mule to gain its attention and cooperation. The mule driver was often an expert at using oaths and streams of profanity to communicate his desires to his mules. A good mule driver was very valuable, as he would know all the tricks needed to get his mules to obey. Mule drivers had to be as tough as their mules. Mules were also used as pack animals, beasts of burden, and would carry regimental baggage, rations, and boxes of small arms ammunition with specially designed pack saddles strapped on their backs.

Mules are not as workable and as cooperative as horses (As an aside, your BlogMaster has dealt with some very mean and nasty horses in his day, and finds it very scary to think that a mule could be worse than a bad horse!) and are known for having their own mind. Mules have the astonishing ability to kick very forcefully, accurately, and effectively. Mules were very nervous and skittish under the fire of a battlefield and could not be used for cavalry, artillery, or ambulance corps work. Mules could not be trusted with this work. Horses were used for these duties in the Civil War because they were more cooperative and easier to work with than mules.

Pulling supply wagons and working as a pack animal, is what mules were best at. Mules were used to get ammunition as close to the front lines of a battle as possible, but there was a limit as to how close, because they could not be trusted. It was just too dangerous to get mules too close to battle. Under battle fire, mules would probably become uncontrollable, would panic, and might even bolt towards enemy lines!

John D. Billings served in the Army of the Potomac. In his 1888 book Hard Tack and Coffee, he has a chapter devoted to the army mule. Billings’ words best describe what Civil War mules, and working with them, was like. Below are some chosen informative and entertaining excerpts about mules from Hard Tack and Coffee by John D. Billings:

Barnes&Noble: Hardtack and Coffee: The Unwritten Story of Army Life

Advantages of Mules
"Aside from this nervousness under fire, mules have a great advantage over horses in being better able to stand hard usage, bad feed, or no feed, and neglect generally. They can travel over rough ground unharmed where horses would be lamed or injured in some way. They will eat brush, and not be very hungry to do it, either. When forage was short, the drivers were wont to cut branches and throw before them for their refreshment. One m.d. (mule driver) tells of having his army overcoat partly eaten by one of his team — actually chewed and swallowed. The operation made the driver blue, if the diet did not thus affect the mule."

Six-Mule Team
"In organizing a six-mule team, a large pair of heavy animals were selected for the pole, a smaller size for the swing, and a still smaller pair for leaders. There were advantages in this arrangement; in the first place, in going through a miry spot the small leaders soon place themselves, by their quick movements, on firm footing, where they can take hold and pull the pole mules out of the wallow. Again, with a good heavy steady pair of wheel mules, the driver can restrain the smaller ones that are more apt to be frisky and reckless at times, and, assisted by the brake, hold back his loaded wagon in descending a hill. Then, there was more elasticity in such a team when well trained, and a good driver could handle them more gracefully and dexterously than he could the same number of horses."

Mule Driver and Mule Driving
"It was really wonderful to see some of the experts drive these teams. The driver rides near the pole mule, holding in his left hand a single rein. This connects with the bits of the near lead mule. By pulling this rein, of course the brutes would go to the left. To direct them to the right one or more short jerks of it were given, accompanied by a sort of gibberish which the mule drivers acquired in the business. The bits of the lead mules being connected by an iron bar, whatever movement was made by the near one directed the movements of the off one. The pole mules were controlled by short reins which hung over their necks. The driver carried in his right hand his black snake, that is, his black leather whip, which was used with much effect on occasion."

The Black Snake
"[...] I have referred to the Black Snake. It was the badge of authority with which the mule-driver enforced his orders. It was the panacea for all the ills to which mule-flesh was heir. It was a common sight to see a six-mule team, when left to itself, get into an entanglement, seemingly inextricably mixed, unless it was unharnessed; but the appearance of the driver with his black wand would change the scene as if by magic. As the heel-cord of Achilles was his only vulnerable part, so the ears of the mule seemed to be the development through which his reasoning faculties could be the most quickly and surely reached, and one or two cracks of the whip on or near these little monuments, accompanied by the driver’s very expressive ejaculation in the mule tongue, which I can only describe as a kind of cross between an unearthly screech and a groan, had the effect to disentangle them unaided, and make them stand as if at a "present" to their master. When off duty in camp, they were usually hitched to the pole of their wagon, three on either side, and here, between meals, they were often as antic as kittens or puppies at play, leaping from one side of the pole to the other, lying down, tumbling over, and biting each other, until perhaps all six would be an apparently confused heap of mule. If the driver appeared at such a crisis with his black "ear-trumpet," one second was long enough to dissolve the pile into its original mule atoms, and arrange them again on either side of the pole, looking as orderly and innocent as if on inspection."

Unexpected, Instantaneous Mule Kicks
"I have stated that the mule was uncertain; I mean as to his intentions. He cannot be trusted even when appearing honest and affectionate. His reputation as a kicker is worldwide. He was the Mugwump of the service. The mule that will not kick is a curiosity. A veteran relates how, after the battle of Antietam, he saw a colored mule-driver approach his mules that were standing unhitched from the wagons, when, presto! one of them knocked him to the ground in a twinkling with one of those unexpected instantaneous kicks, for which the mule is peerless. Slowly picking himself up, the negro walked deliberately to his wagon, took out a long stake the size of his arm, returned with the same moderate pace to his muleship, dealt him a stunning blow on the head with the stake, which felled him to the ground. The stake was returned with the same deliberation. The mule lay quiet for a moment, then arose, shook his head, a truce was declared, and driver and mule were at peace and understood each other."

All of the above quoted mule excerpts are from Hard Tack and Coffee by John D. Billings.

Jeff Davis rode a dapple gray, Lincoln rode a mule, Jeff Davis is a gentleman, And Lincoln is a fool. — A verse from a Confederate song.

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If you don’t have my army supplied, and keep it supplied, we’ll eat your mules up, sir.
— William Tecumseh Sherman’s warning to an army quartermaster before the departure of Sherman’s army from Chattanooga toward Atlanta.

During the Civil War, the young Yankee and Rebel soldiers most likely were far away from home for the first time in their lives. It was common before the war, for these young soldiers never to have traveled more than 25 miles away from their homes. Now, they could find themselves hundreds of miles away from their loved ones and homes. Understandingly, these young men often suffered from homesickness.

To keep in touch with their loved ones, the soldiers, and their families wrote letters back and forth. Pen and ink were often not available, so most of the handwritten letters were in pencil. Rough handwriting and phonetic spelling are common in these letters. For the Union, 90,000 letters went through Washington, D.C. daily. In Louisville, Kentucky 180,000 Union letters passed through daily.

Major Sullivan Ballou of the 2nd Rhode Island Volunteers was 32-years-old at the beginning of the Civil War. He was born in Smithfield, Rhode Island and after attending the National Law School in Ballston, New York he was admitted to the Rhode Island Bar. Ballou married Sarah on October 15, 1855 and they had two sons, Edgar and William. Ballou was a Republican and a strong supporter of President Abraham Lincoln. He volunteered the spring of 1861. He and his men left Providence, Rhode Island for Washington, D.C. on June 19.

Major Sullivan Ballou

As what would become known as the First Battle of Bull Run (the Confederates called the same battle the First Battle of Manassas) approached, Sullivan Ballou wrote a letter to his wife back home in Smithfield. On July 14, 1861 Ballou wrote to Sarah as he sat alone in a tent at Camp Clarke in Washington, D.C., Ballou knew that the army would soon be moving southward against the Confederates, and that he would soon see battle. We’ll never know for sure, but perhaps he had a premonition of death, because he now took the opportunity to write a touching letter to his wife. In the letter, Ballou writes of his love for Sarah, and of his duty to his country.

Many are familiar with the Sullivan Ballou letter from hearing it during Ken Burns’ documentary The Civil War which aired in 1990. The letter was introduced by narrator David McCullough, and read by Paul Roebling with Jay Ungar’s Ashokan Farewell playing in the background. It only caught the hearts of everyone who heard it. The Sullivan Ballou letter is perhaps the most emotional and memorable letter written by a soldier in the Civil War.

The version of the Sullivan Ballou letter heard in The Civil War documentary was a shortened one. Some of Ballou’s words about his family and childhood are missing from the television presentation of the letter. In fact, the original Sullivan Ballou letter apparently did not survive, and has been lost to history. There are versions of the letter available today, but it is unknown which is most similar to the original written by Ballou.

Here is the Sullivan Ballou letter as it was heard in The Civil War by Ken Burns:

I have no misgivings about, or lack of confidence in the cause in which I am engaged, and my courage does not halt or falter. I know how American Civilization now leans upon the triumph of the government and how great a debt we owe to those who went before us through the blood and suffering of the Revolution. And I am willing – perfectly willing – to lay down all my joys in this life, to help maintain this government, and to pay that debt.

Sarah, my love for you is deathless, it seems to bind me with mighty cables that nothing but omnipotence can break; and yet my love of Country comes over me like a strong wind and bears me irresistibly with all those chains to the battlefield. The memory of all the blissful moments I have enjoyed with you come crowding over me, and I feel most deeply grateful to God and you, that I have enjoyed them for so long. And how hard it is for me to give them up and burn to ashes the hopes and future years, when, God willing, we might still have lived and loved together, and see our boys grown up to honorable manhood around us.

If I do not return, my dear Sarah, never forget how much I loved you, nor that when my last breath escapes me on the battle field, it will whisper your name…

Forgive my many faults, and the many pains I have caused you. How thoughtless, how foolish I have sometimes been!…

But, 0 Sarah, if the dead can come back to this earth and flit unseen around those they love, I shall always be with you, in the brightest day and in the darkest night… always, always. And when the soft breeze fans your cheek, it shall be my breath, or the cool air your throbbing temple, it shall be my spirit passing by.

Sarah, do not mourn me dead; think I am gone and wait for me, for we shall meet again…

Sullivan

Here is a longer version of the Sullivan Ballou letter:

July the 14th, 1861

Washington D.C.

My very dear Sarah:

The indications are very strong that we shall move in a few days—perhaps tomorrow. Lest I should not be able to write you again, I feel impelled to write lines that may fall under your eye when I shall be no more.

Our movement may be one of a few days duration and full of pleasure—and it may be one of severe conflict and death to me. Not my will, but thine O God, be done. If it is necessary that I should fall on the battlefield for my country, I am ready. I have no misgivings about, or lack of confidence in, the cause in which I am engaged, and my courage does not halt or falter. I know how strongly American Civilization now leans upon the triumph of the Government, and how great a debt we owe to those who went before us through the blood and suffering of the Revolution. And I am willing—perfectly willing—to lay down all my joys in this life, to help maintain this Government, and to pay that debt.

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But, my dear wife, when I know that with my own joys I lay down nearly all of yours, and replace them in this life with cares and sorrows—when, after having eaten for long years the bitter fruit of orphanage myself, I must offer it as their only sustenance to my dear little children—is it weak or dishonorable, while the banner of my purpose floats calmly and proudly in the breeze, that my unbounded love for you, my darling wife and children, should struggle in fierce, though useless, contest with my love of country?

I cannot describe to you my feelings on this calm summer night, when two thousand men are sleeping around me, many of them enjoying the last, perhaps, before that of death—and I, suspicious that Death is creeping behind me with his fatal dart, am communing with God, my country, and thee.

I have sought most closely and diligently, and often in my breast, for a wrong motive in thus hazarding the happiness of those I loved and I could not find one. A pure love of my country and of the principles have often advocated before the people and "the name of honor that I love more than I fear death" have called upon me, and I have obeyed.

Sarah, my love for you is deathless, it seems to bind me to you with mighty cables that nothing but Omnipotence could break; and yet my love of Country comes over me like a strong wind and bears me irresistibly on with all these chains to the battlefield.

The memories of the blissful moments I have spent with you come creeping over me, and I feel most gratified to God and to you that I have enjoyed them so long. And hard it is for me to give them up and burn to ashes the hopes of future years, when God willing, we might still have lived and loved together and seen our sons grow up to honorable manhood around us. I have, I know, but few and small claims upon Divine Providence, but something whispers to me—perhaps it is the wafted prayer of my little Edgar—that I shall return to my loved ones unharmed. If I do not, my dear Sarah, never forget how much I love you, and when my last breath escapes me on the battlefield, it will whisper your name.

Forgive my many faults, and the many pains I have caused you. How thoughtless and foolish I have often been! How gladly would I wash out with my tears every little spot upon your happiness, and struggle with all the misfortune of this world, to shield you and my children from harm. But I cannot. I must watch you from the spirit land and hover near you, while you buffet the storms with your precious little freight, and wait with sad patience till we meet to part no more.

But, O Sarah! If the dead can come back to this earth and flit unseen around those they loved, I shall always be near you; in the garish day and in the darkest night—amidst your happiest scenes and gloomiest hours—always, always; and if there be a soft breeze upon your cheek, it shall be my breath; or the cool air fans your throbbing temple, it shall be my spirit passing by.

Sarah, do not mourn me dead; think I am gone and wait for thee, for we shall meet again.

As for my little boys, they will grow as I have done, and never know a father’s love and care. Little Willie is too young to remember me long, and my blue-eyed Edgar will keep my frolics with him among the dimmest memories of his childhood. Sarah, I have unlimited confidence in your maternal care and your development of their characters. Tell my two mothers his and hers I call God’s blessing upon them. O Sarah, I wait for you there! Come to me, and lead thither my children.

Sullivan

Major Sullivan Ballou suffered a mortal injury on July 21, 1861 at the First Battle of Bull Run. Ballou lost his right leg when a Confederate six-pounder artillery shell slammed into him and his horse as he was riding at the front of his regiment. The horse was killed instantly, and the very severely injured Major Ballou was taken off the battlefield. What was left of his leg, had to be amputated. Major Sullivan Ballou died of his battle injury on July 28, and was buried in a yard very close to Sudley Church.

After the First Battle of Bull Run, the Confederates held the ground where Ballou was buried. According to witnesses, gruesome treatment of Ballou’s body followed. Confederate soldiers (supposedly, members of the 21st Georgia Infantry, but there is some uncertainty regarding this) dug up Ballou’s body, chopped off his head, and performed further insults and profanations to his remains. With these events, Sullivan Ballou’s body was never recovered. What was thought to be the charred ash and bone of Sullivan Ballou was later put to rest at Swan Point Cemetery, Providence, Rhode Island.

Barnes&Noble: People of Rhode Island in the American Civil War: Ambrose Burnside, George S. Greene, Frank Wheaton, Kate Chase, Sullivan Ballou

The now famous Sullivan Ballou letter may never have been mailed to Sarah. Rhode Island Governor William Sprague went to Virginia to gather the effects of soldiers from Rhode Island who had fallen at Bull Run. Sullivan’s letter to Sarah was among his personal effects, and Governor Sprague delivered the letter to Sarah Ballou.

Sarah was only 24-years-old when her husband Sullivan Ballou died. Eventually, she lived out her life with her son William in New Jersey. She died in 1917 at the age of 80 and was buried next to her husband’s remains at Swan Point Cemetery.

Sarah never re-married.

Winfield Scott

On May 3, 1861 General-in-Chief Winfield Scott writes to General George B. McClellan describing his strategy for subduing the rebellion. Later, Scott’s strategy was derisively referred to as The Anaconda Plan:

HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY,
Washington, May 3, 1861.
Maj. Gen. GEORGE B. MCCLELLAN,
Commanding Ohio Volunteers, Cincinnati, Ohio:

SIR: I have read and carefully considered your plan for a campaign, and now send you confidentially my own views, supported by certain facts of which you should be advised.

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First. It is the design of the Government to raise 25,000 additional regular troops, and 60,000 volunteers for three years. It will be inexpedient either to rely on the three-months’ volunteers for extensive operations or to put in their hands the best class of arms we have in store. The term of service would expire by the commencement of a regular campaign, and the arms not lost be returned mostly in a damaged condition. Hence I must strongly urge upon you to confine yourself strictly to the quota of three-months’ men called for by the War Department.

Third. A word now as to the greatest obstacle in the way of this plan–the great danger now pressing upon us–the impatience of our patriotic and loyal Union friends. They will urge instant and vigorous action, regardless, I fear, of consequences–that is, unwilling to wait for the slow instruction of (say) twelve or fifteen camps, for the rise of rivers, and the return of frosts to kill the virus of malignant fevers below Memphis. I fear this; but impress right views, on every proper occasion, upon the brave men who are hastening to the support of their Government. Lose no time, while necessary preparations for the great expedition are in progress, in organizing, drilling, and disciplining your three-months’ men, many of whom, it is hoped, will be ultimately found enrolled under the call for three-years’ volunteers. Should an urgent and immediate occasion arise meantime for their services, they will be the more effective. I commend these views to your consideration, and shall be happy to hear the result.

With great respect, yours, truly,

WINFIELD SCOTT.

Source:
Union Correspondence, Orders, And Returns Relating To Operations In Maryland, Eastern North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia (Except Southwestern), And West Virginia, From January 1, 1861, To June 30, 1865.–#3 O.R.–SERIES I–VOLUME LI/1 [S# 107]

At the beginning of the Civil War, General-in-Chief Winfield Scott was seventy-four-years-old, so overweight he could not mount or ride a horse, and suffered from painful gout. Scott’s best days were behind him.

The Anaconda Plan

Since the War of 1812, Scott had participated in all of America’s military actions. He was a genuine hero. There was no doubt about Scott’s leadership ability, in the War of 1812 he was once captured, and during the Mexican War he led the campaign that captured Mexico City.

His nickname was Old Fuss and Feathers, because of his reputation for strict adherence to regulations, and a propensity for fancy uniforms. Winfield Scott was born a Virginian in 1786, but was loyal to the Union. He did not understand Robert E. Lee’s choice to side with the Confederacy, and had even asked Lee to lead the United States Army.

President Abraham Lincoln sought Scott’s advice, however as the Civil War began, it was evident the aging Winfield Scott was not up to the demands of leading the army. At times, Scott would doze off during meetings. Scott voluntarily retired on November 1, 1861 and was replaced by George B. McClellan as general in chief.

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Winfield Scott’s Anaconda Plan was criticized as too slow and gained its “Anaconda” name when the press mockingly compared it to a snake slowly constricting its prey to death. As Scott’s plan was being considered, the clamor in the North was for an invasion that would quickly crush the Confederate army presently found at a railroad junction in northern Virginia named Manassas. Taking Manassas would hurt the Rebels significantly as the railroad lines there were major ones that connected to the Shenandoah Valley, and the thus to the heart of the South.

Richmond, Virginia had become the Confederate capital, and the southern Congress planned a session there on July 20, 1861. The New York Tribune (published by Horace Greeley) responded with this headline:

After this, other newspapers throughout the Union followed suit with the FORWARD TO RICHMOND! thought and the public soon caught on to the fever. In light of this, even though Southern seaports were beginning to be blockaded, Scott’s plan faltered as public and political pressure demanded quick military action. President Lincoln saw merit in attacking the Confederates at Manassas. On July 21, 1861 the Battle of First Bull Run (called First Manassas by the Confederates) took place. It was a Union loss, no Union troops went on to Richmond, and most skedaddled back to Washington. Soon the idea faded away that a quick, strong, and superior military action along with a compromising attitude, might end the Confederate rebellion fast. The Union would have to win the Civil War by destroying the Confederate armies on the field. Much time, many resources, and many, many lives would have to be spent to accomplish the Northern victory.

Barnes&Noble: Agent of Destiny: The Life and Times of General Winfield Scott Agent of Destiny: The Life and Times of General Winfield Scott

Winfield Scott’s Anaconda Plan was worthy. Blockading the South’s seaports and gaining control of the Mississippi River were major factors in crippling the Rebel economy and military. As the Civil War progressed, the basic strategy of the Anaconda Plan contributed ultimately to the defeat of the Confederacy. Old Winfield Scott lived to see the end of the Civil War. He died in 1866.

While Vermont’s contribution to the Union during the Civil War is significant, Civil War events in Vermont are not significant. Nevertheless, your BlogMaster will discuss an interesting Vermont Civil War event.

Vermont and the Civil War
In 1777, Vermont proclaims itself as an independent state. The second article of the Vermont Constitution abolishes slavery, making Vermont the first state to abolish slavery. In the 1860 presidential election, Abraham Lincoln won a decisive victory in Vermont with voting results as follows:

• Abraham Lincoln – 33,808
• Stephen Douglas – 8,649
• John C. Breckenridge – 1,866
• John Bell – 217

“Vermont will do its Full Duty.”
Vermont had three governors during the Civil War, they were Erastus Fairbanks (1860-1861), Frederick Holbrook (1861-1863), and J. Gregory Smith (1863-1865). All were Republicans.

When the Federal Government called for troops, Governor Fairbanks stated “Vermont will do its Full Duty” and Vermont did so by providing the Union with six infantry regiments, one cavalry regiment, two light artillery batteries, and three sharpshooter companies. Vermont also built three military hospitals.

During the Civil War Vermont provided to the Union:

• Over 28,100 men who served in volunteer units
• 17 infantry regiments
• 1 cavalry regiment
• 3 light artillery batteries
• 1 heavy artillery company
• 3 sharpshooter companies
• 2 frontier cavalry companies

Green Mountain State men in the Civil War also suffered during their service:

• During battle, 1,832 were killed or mortally wounded
• Disease claimed 3,362 men, either in prison or otherwise
• Over 2,200 Vermont men were taken prisoner
• Vermont men who died while prisoners of war totaled 615

Vermont provided the Union with men who carried with them to Civil War battlefields the reputation and pride of the Revolutionary War Green Mountain Boys. During the Civil War, the youngest to ever to win the Medal of Honor was Vermonter Willie Johnston. Sixty-three other men from Vermont also won the Medal of Honor.

St. Albans Raid

Despite the fury and carnage of the Civil War occurring in other parts of the country, the people of Vermont led a peaceful life during the war years. St. Albans Raid however, muddied the water somewhat for the quiet village of St. Albans. St. Albans is located on the shore of Lake Champlain, only fifteen miles from the Canadian Border.

On October 10, 1864 three young men check in at a hotel in St. Albans. They explain they are from St. John’s Canada (Canada at this time, was the Province of Canada, and part of the British Empire) and are on a sporting vacation. Their leader signs the hotel register as Bennet Young, another signs in as George Sanders. More men from St. John’s regularly arrive at the hotel in groups of two or three every day or so, their sporting vacation in the small St. Albans village is shaping up to be a big affair. Finally, a total of twenty-one young men (they averaged 23 years of age), arrived over nine days. They seemed to be a friendly bunch of young men.

At 3:00 P.M. on October 19, 1864 the Canadian sporting vacation to St. Albans gives way to the real reason and mission for the young men gathering in St. Albans. The friendly young men are actually Confederate cavalrymen who were taken prisoner by Union troops, but had escaped to Canada. They were at St. Albans on authority of the Confederate government to steal money for the Confederate Treasury and to distract Federal troops away from their lines. They were not friendly.

Barnes&Noble: A War of the People: Vermont Civil War Letters A War of the People: Vermont Civil War Letters

The raiding Confederates divide into three groups and simultaneously enter the three banks of St. Albans. Confederate agent George Sanders has drawn his gun as he climbs the steps of the hotel and shouts: “This city is now in the possession of the Confederate States of America!” The Civil War has come to St. Albans, Vermont with Confederates soldiers taking over the town, galloping about and threatening the Vermont Yankees with guns. The Confederates rob the St. Albans banks of $208,000. While the bank robbing is going on, eight or nine other Confederates gather townspeople to the town common, threatening them with drawn guns and stealing their horses. Confederate Lieutenant Bennett Young orders his men to set St. Albans aflame using bottles of “Greek Fire,” an incendiary chemical that would burst to flame when exposed to air. Fortunately for St. Albans, the bottles of Greek Fire turn out to be duds. Only a woodshed was set afire.

The citizens of St. Albans fight back and one townsman is killed, another is injured. A lone raider is wounded, and he dies afterwards. Confusion and mayhem control the scene for both the townspeople and the Confederate raiders. During their escape to Canada the Confederates clumsily drop some of the bank money in the town, but still make off with over $200,000. Canadian authorities arrest them in Montreal after the raiders have crossed back into Canada.

The St. Albans Raiders are tried In Montreal. The United States government considers the Confederates to be criminals and requests their extradition. Canada however, has a trick up her sleeve, saying the Confederates are soldiers under military orders. With this stance, and desiring to remain neutral in the American Civil War, Canada does not convict the Confederate raiders of a crime and sets them free. Canada does return $88,000 that was found with the raiders to St. Albans banks.

St. Albans Raid The Raiders Take Over

It has been interpreted that the ruling of the Canadian court in the St. Albans Raid was in fact recognition of the Confederate States of America by the British, since Canada was then the Province of Canada and part of the British Empire. This is debatable.

The raider Lieutenant Bennett Young, later becomes a Confederate general.

Young, attractive Belle Boyd was a Confederate spy. Belle was born in Martinsburg, Virginia (Martinsburg is now part of West Virginia) and was only seventeen when the Civil War started. She had a knack for listening in on the conversations of Union officers who patronized her father’s Front Royal hotel. Her familiarity with the countryside of the Shenandoah Valley provided the Confederates with valuable information in the spring of 1862.

Belle Boyd

Young Belle was an enthusiastic Confederate. The year before her spying activity began, Belle shot to death an intoxicated Yankee soldier who was attempting to raise the Stars and Stripes over her Martinsburg home. She was arrested and put on trial for murder. Belle’s defense was justifiable homicide and she was acquitted, free to go on her way. Belle Boyd provided General Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson and General Ashby Turner with important information during Stonewall’s Shenandoah Valley Campaign, that helped with the capture of Front Royal, Virginia on May 23, 1862. Belle warned the Confederates they should move fast so they could cross bridges before Yankee soldiers destroyed them.

In appreciation for her information and spy service regarding Union troop movement during the Valley Campaign, Stonewall Jackson gave Belle Boyd the rank of captain and made her an honorary member of his staff as an aide-de-camp. Jackson wrote to the young Belle (the "La Belle Rebelle" as a French war correspondent called her); "I thank you, for myself and for the army, for the immense service that you have rendered your country today." Boyd was a brave young lady, she served Colonel John S. Mosby and his guerillas as a scout and courier. Once while on a mission, Yankees shot bullet holes through her skirt.

Belle’s lover gave her away as a spy. On July 29, 1862 she was arrested on order of United States Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton. She spent a month in Old Capital Prison in Washington before being released in a prisoner exchange.

Belle was arrested for a third time in June, 1863 and remained in jail until being released the following December. She had contracted typhoid, so she sailed to Europe to improve her health and also to deliver some letters for Confederate President Jefferson Davis. Belle then returned from Europe on a blockade runner, but this ship was captured by a Union warship.

Learn More Civil War History… Belle Boyd

With her capture, things may have been looking grim for the young, attractive Confederate spy La Belle Rebelle. Maybe she would be imprisoned, or even executed, but her luck had not run out. Union Captain Samuel Hardinge was put in command of Belle’s blockade runner, his duty being to take the ship to the North.

Learn More Civil War History… Belle Boyd in Camp and Prison

Quickly, Captain Hardinge fell under the charms and spell of beautiful Belle. Hardinge let Belle and the blockade runner’s captain, escape to Canada, they then made their way to England.

Captain Hardinge, lost in love as he was for spy La Belle Rebelle, was court-martialed and discharged from the Union navy. He followed Boyd to England and the two love-birds were married in August, 1864. Belle Boyd had won a romantic victory by marrying her Yankee captor.

In England, Belle Boyd wrote an account of her spy activities entitled, Belle Boyd in Camp and Prison and she began a stage career. Sadly, the love story of the Confederate La Belle Rebelle and the Union captain would soon end abruptly with Samuel Hardinge’s death in 1865. Belle Boyd made her way back to the United States in 1868 and continued her career as an actress, but also gave lectures about her exciting life.

Belle Boyd died in 1900 while on a lecture tour in Wisconsin.

In June 1861, a small lad in Newark, Ohio gazed at Union troops marching through his town and despite his too young age, he wanted to join up and fight in the Civil War. The boy’s name was John Joseph Klem.

Earlier, Klem tried to enlist in the 3rd Ohio Infantry, but because of his age and small size, young Klem was turned away. Johnny Clem (he would be known by this name and spelling, later he would be called Johnny Shiloh, and officially he changed his name to John Lincoln Clem) was persistent with his desire to join the army, so he trailed along with the 22nd Massachusetts as it marched through Newark.

Johnny Clem

The 22nd Massachusetts made Clem its mascot and drummer boy. A sawed-off rifle and a small uniform were provided him, and officers of the Massachusetts unit pooled together to pay Johnny the regular soldier’s pay of thirteen dollars a month. Johnny was not yet even 10-years-old, but now he was a drummer (but, not necessarily a good one!), unofficially fighting for the Union. Two years later, Johnny Clem would be allowed to enlist. On May 1, 1863 Johnny officially became a musician in Company C, 22nd Michigan. A nurse describes Johnny Clem; "was a fair and beautiful child…about twelve years old, but very small for his age. He was only about thirty inches high and weighed about sixty pounds." Johnny Clem was one of the youngest soldiers for either the Union or Confederate armies, to fight in the Civil War. Johnny would go on to fame in the Civil War, and make the army his career.

It has been common for Johnny Clem to also be known as "Johnny Shiloh." A story goes that young Clem was at the 1862 Shiloh battle and his drum was broken by an artillery projectile, and then he picked up a gun for the fight. This story was very popular and eventually a poem, a play, and a song were all named "The Drummer Boy of Shiloh." Clem at Shiloh however, is questionable history.

There were others who claimed to be the actual "The Drummer Boy of Shiloh," but a study by the National Park Service showed Clem to be the most likely one. Clem’s service indicates he was with the 3rd Ohio, the 22nd Michigan, and the 22nd Wisconsin. The trouble is, is that the 3rd Ohio was not at Shiloh, and the 22nd Michigan, and the 22nd Wisconsin were not organized until after Shiloh. At this time, Johnny Clem was not yet officially a soldier, he was a young boy dressed up as a soldier trying to play the drum. He would not have been reassigned to any units that were at Shiloh. This BlogMaster will leave it up to the reader to decide if Johnny Clem is also Johnny Shiloh. We will see that there is no reason to doubt Johnny Clem’s bravery.

At Chickamauga on September 20, 1863 Johnny Clem rode to the front of the battle on an artillery caisson, carrying along his cut-down rifle. As the course of the battle played out, the Union troops had to retreat and during this a Confederate colonel encountered young Clem and demanded his surrender. Johnny Clem halted as if to comply, but then raised his cut-down rifle at the enemy officer and fired, wounding him.

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On learning of Johnny’s exploits, General George H. Thomas promoted Johnny to the rank of lance corporal. Newspapers told Johnny Clem’s story and he gained celebrity status, becoming known as "The Drummer Boy of Chickamauga."

In October, 1863 Johnny Clem was detailed as a train guard in Georgia when Confederate cavalry captured him. Johnny was freed two months later during a prisoner exchange, but the Confederate newspapers used his capture to ridicule the Union with this barb; "what sore straits the Yankees are driven, when they have to send their babies to fight us."

Johnny Clem was assigned to General Thomas’s staff as a mounted orderly in January, 1864. During the Atlanta Campaign, young Johnny was twice wounded. On September 19, 1864 he was discharged from the army. President Grant gave Johnny Clem an appointment to West Point, but Johnny had spent his youth and times as a soldier. His lack of formal education prevented him from passing the West Point entrance exam.

President Grant came through for Johnny Clem again by making him a second lieutenant of the 24th Infantry, a unit of black soldiers, in 1871. Johnny thus began his second army term. He advanced to the rank of colonel in the Quartermaster Corps. Clem was able to remain on active duty long enough to become the last Civil War veteran still on duty in the Armed Forces.

John Lincoln Clem completed his military career when he retired in 1916. At his retirement, a special act of Congress made him Major General John Clem. He passed away at age 85, and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

A history of the Civil War is incomplete, unless it includes Johnny Clem’s story.

"A little, slim, pale-faced consumptive man just concluded the very best speech of an hour’s length I ever heard."
–Illinois Congressman Abraham Lincoln describing Alexander Hamilton Stephens of Georgia after Stephens completed a speech to Congress. Lincoln and Stephens became friends while they served in Congress before the Civil War, but later slavery ended their friendship. During the Civil War, Stephens was the vice president of the Confederacy.

Alexander Stephens was never a picture of health. He was 5′ 7", a height in line with the norms of the 19th century, but only carried about ninety-pounds on his frame, he was pale and sickly. From birth, he was small, and during his childhood was given the nickname of "Little Aleck." Stephens suffered many maladies including angina, bladder stones, colitis, migraine headaches, pneumonia, pruritus, arthritis, and sciatica. The word cadaverous would come to mind when seeing Alexander Stephens. He clothed himself layer upon layer trying to stay warm, and once defined his idea of happiness as; "To be warm."

Alexander Hamilton Stephens

Despite Stephens’s sickly body, behind his dark eyes he was blessed with a brilliant mind. His childhood was a difficult one, Stephens’s mother died soon after he was born, then his farmer and schoolteacher father died when Little Aleck was 14-years-old. Fortunately, a few benevolent mentors realized the potential of the highly intelligent young Stephens and funded his education at Franklin College (later to become the University of Georgia). Alexander Stephens finished at the top of his class at Franklin College.

Stephens became a lawyer and owned a plantation named Liberty Hall. If there can be such as thing as a good master, then perhaps Stephens was. He never beat or whipped his slaves, and he never split slave families apart. None of his slaves tried to escape, perhaps a testament of his care for them. Nonetheless, Stephens held human beings captive as slaves on his Georgia plantation and profited from their bondage.

Alexander Stephens served in the United States Congress for 17 years and became an authority on the Constitution. Though he had an odd, girl-like, high voice, his brightness brought him fame as an orator. Stephens was a moderate Unionist and voted against Georgia’s secession. When Georgia did leave the Union, out of honor Stephens chose the South.

The new Confederate Congress met in Montgomery, Alabama (later Richmond, Virginia became the Confederate Capital) in February, 1861 to establish the foundation of the Southern country. Although he at first was opposed to disunion, Alexander Stephens was a favorite to become the president, but he lost that position to Jefferson Davis. Instead, Stephens became the vice president of the Confederate States of America.

On December 22, 1860 Abraham Lincoln wrote a letter marked as "For Your Eyes Only" to Georgia Congressman Alexander Stephens. In this letter Lincoln, before taking office, is telling Confederate Vice President Stephens in a private, personal letter, that he has no plans for his Republican administration to interfere with slavery: "The South would be in no more danger in this respect, than it was in the days of Washington. I suppose, however, this does not meet the case. You think slavery is right and ought to be extended; while I think it is wrong and ought to be restricted. That I suppose is the rub."

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Stephens had been a Unionist, but he was also loyal to the South. A moderate, he was a supporter of a peaceful resolution between the North and the South, he hoped to avoid war. Seeing that it was inevitable, he became a supporter of secession.

As the South formed its government at the Montgomery Convention, Alexander Stephens contributed significantly to the creation of the Confederate Constitution. He chaired the Rules Committee and also the Committee on the Executive Departments.

Stephens gave what is known as his Cornerstone Speech on March 21, 1861 at Savannah, Georgia. This speech is probably what Stephens is best known for. In this speech, Stephens fundamentally lays out what the conflict between the North and the South is all about. One sentence (that gives the speech its name) of this extemporaneous speech stands out as the definition of the Confederate cause and what its government stood for:

"Our new government is founded upon exactly the opposite idea; its foundations are laid, its corner- stone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery subordination to the superior race is his natural and normal condition."
— Vice President of the Confederacy, Alexander Hamilton Stephens.

With these words from his Cornerstone Speech, Alexander Stephens is stating in a nutshell the reason for secession … slavery. In our modern world of today, these words by Stephens are shocking and ugly. His words are so contrary to our times, that it may be necessary to read them twice, to see if what you thought he said, is really what he said. Stephens’s words show the way it was back in Civil War times. Because of this cornerstone difference between the North and the South, a brutal war of brother against brother was fought.

Soon there was conflict between Vice President Stephens and President Jefferson Davis. As Stephens was a moderate, he disagreed with Davis over various topics. The two Confederate leaders did not get along. Stephens refused to go on several missions that Davis wanted him to make. Finally, Davis had to order Stephens to go to the still independent state of Virginia as a Confederate commissioner.

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Stephens remained a strong supporter of state sovereignty, so he disagreed with Davis over the Confederate draft and the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus. Alexander Stephens continued to support negotiated peace, this gave Davis an edge in weakening Stephens’s strength within the Confederate government. Stephens’s role in the Davis administration was minimal and he felt that Davis ignored whatever advice or council he offered. For months at a time, Little Aleck was absent from Richmond, he would be at his Liberty Hall plantation in Georgia, avoiding the problems and cares of the Confederate government.

Davis was able to get Stephens out of Georgia long enough to send him on a peace mission to Washington to meet with President Lincoln in 1863. It was Stephens’s idea that by June, 1863, with the success of Southern armies, and the "failure of Hooker and Grant," (in Stephens’s words) that the timing was right for peace negotiations. Alexander Stephens offered to meet with President Lincoln, his old pre-war friend from their days in Congress, under a flag of truce to talk about prisoner-of-war exchanges. It was hoped that this tact of approach might lead to discussion of peace. Jefferson Davis liked the idea and gave Stephens instructions that limited his powers to prisoner exchanges.

On July 3, 1863 Stephens took a boat down the James River, on his way to Washington to meet with President Abraham Lincoln and to hopefully discuss peace. Also on that July 3 day, at a town named Gettysburg, the Army of Northern Virginia led by General Robert E. Lee suffered a climatic loss to General George G. Meade’s Army of the Potomac.

President Jefferson Davis was expecting a Confederate victory at Gettysburg and thought that as the Army of Northern Virginia was approaching Washington from the north, that Vice President Stephens would be approaching from the south … and with good timing, they both might arrive at the same time. President Lincoln would then have a choice (and either way, the Union loses), discuss peace negotiations with Stephens, or suffer conquest by Robert E. Lee.

Things flip-flopped fast. The Union won at Gettysburg, President Lincoln got word at the same time of the Union battlefield victory, and that Confederate Vice President Stephens was coming to Washington on a mission. Lincoln sent word that refused a request of Stephens’s to pass through the lines under a flag of truce. Lincoln thought if the Confederacy wanted to discuss prisoner-of-war exchanges, then there were military ways for that. The fortunes of war had changed and Stephens’s mission was for naught.

Alexander Stephens met with President Lincoln in another peace attempt, at the Hampton Roads Peace Conference on February 3, 1865 as the Civil War was soon coming to an end. Confederates Stephens, Senator Robert M. T. Hunter, and Judge John A. Campbell met with Lincoln and Secretary of State William Seward on board the steamer River Queen in Hampton Roads.

The three Confederates wanted Southern independence, Lincoln and Seward refused any plan that continued slavery. For Little Aleck, this meeting proved to be a total failure. Jefferson Davis knew that this meeting would prove fruitless for Alexander Stephens, and humiliate him. Stephens had to return to Richmond for a report of the meeting’s failure to the Confederate Congress, thus proving that Stephens’s interests in a negotiated peace were impossible.

At the end of the Civil War, Stephens was imprisoned at Boston’s Fort Warren. The year after being released from prison he was elected as a United States Senator of Georgia, but was denied his seat in Washington. Afterwards, Little Aleck bought the Atlanta Southern Sun, and wrote A Constitutional View of the Late War, in this 2 volume book he was critical of Jefferson Davis. Stephens’s public service was not yet complete, he returned to the United States House of Representatives from 1873 to 1882. He was elected as governor of Georgia, but died within only a few months of taking office. Alexander Hamilton Stephens is buried at his Liberty Hall plantation near Crawfordville, Georgia.

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Some Alexander Stephens Quotes:

"We are without doubt on the verge, on the brink of an abyss into which I do not wish to look."
–Alexander Stephens, after Abraham Lincoln was elected president on November 6, 1860.

"This step, secession, once taken, can never be recalled. We and our posterity shall see our lovely South desolated by the demon of war."
–Alexander Stephens, January 18, 1861.

"It will probably end the war."
–Alexander Stephens, regarding the secession of Virginia from the Union on April 17, 1861.

"We shall be in one of the bloodiest civil wars that history has recorded."
–Alexander Stephens after Fort Sumter.

"War I look for as almost certain … Revolutions are much easier started than controlled, and the men who begin them … themselves become the victims."
–Alexander Stephens, 1861.

General John Buford held the high ground for the Union at Gettysburg on July 1, 1863.

"They will attack you in the morning and they will come booming–skirmishers three deep. You will have to fight like the devil until supports arrive."
– Words of General John Buford at Gettysburg.

The Battle of Gettysburg began when two brigades of unmounted Union cavalry led by John Buford, clashed with Confederate soldiers of General Henry Heth’s division. Buford and his cavalry were reconnoitering ahead of the army in Pennsylvania and discovered the Confederates as they were advancing on Gettysburg. Buford knew the importance of Gettysburg as a transportation junction, and the value of the high ground northwest of town. His cavalry dismounted and held McPherson Ridge for the Union. The resulting skirmish on the outskirts of Gettysburg was the beginning of the three-day Battle of Gettysburg. Without John Buford’s actions early on the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg, the Union may not have triumphed at Gettysburg. Sadly, within six-months of the Battle of Gettysburg, John Buford would die of typhoid fever.

John Buford

Buford’s clear and quick thinking allowed the Union troops to occupy the high ground of Cemetery Ridge. Part of the reason Buford was able to hold the high ground at Gettysburg is because his unmounted cavalry used Spencer carbine rifles, you may learn more in this post, General John Buford’s Spencer Carbine Rifles.

Barnes&Noble: General John Buford

Holding the high ground was a crucial advantage for the Union during the Battle of Gettysburg. There is a statue today along the Chambersburg Pike at the Gettysburg National Military Park, of General John Buford. Buford’s monument at Gettysburg depicts him standing and looking to the west, holding a pair of field glasses, wearing cavalry boots, with sheathed sword at his side … as he did on July 1, 1863. John Buford was born in Kentucky on March 4th, 1826, but early in life his family moved to Illinois. From age eight, he lived in Rock Island, Illinois. Buford’s father did not support Abraham Lincoln, as he was a politician in the Democratic Party of Illinois. The Buford family had a long history of serving in the military, both Buford’s grandfather and great uncle had fought in the Revolutionary War. Buford had a half-brother who served in the Civil War and became a major general for the Union Army, and he had a cousin who fought for the Confederates as a cavalry brigadier general.

Buford spent only one year at Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois before entering West Point (the United States Military Academy) as a member of the class of 1848. Others attending West Point while Buford was there included classmates who would eventually fight in the Civil War for the Union, such as Fitz-John Porter, George B. McClellan, George Stoneman (Buford and Stoneman would become close friends), and Ambrose Burnside. Others at West Point during Buford’s time there, would fight for the Confederacy, like Thomas Jonathan Jackson (during the Civil War he would obtain the nickname of "Stonewall"), Ambrose Powell Hill, and Henry Heth. Both Powell and Heth would meet against Buford that fateful day of July 1, 1863 at Gettysburg. John Buford graduated from West Point in 1848, and ranked 16th in his class of 38 cadets.

John Buford’s Civil War service and assignments:

• 2nd Dragoons captain from March 9, 1854.

• 2nd Cavalry captain (this was a renaming that took place on August 3, 1861 of his same role as the 2nd Dragoon’s captain).

• A major, and then promoted to Major Staff Assistant Inspector General beginning November 12, 1861.

• Performed staff duty in 1862 for the defense of Washington, D.C., then joined General Pope’s staff.

• Promoted to brigadier general, United States Volunteers, on July 27, 1862.

• From July 27 to September 12, 1862, commanding Cavalry Brigade, 2nd Corps, Army of Virginia. Buford commanded this brigade during Second Bull Run. This is when John Buford’s abilities as an exceptional cavalry commander were demonstrated. At Second Bull Run (also known as Second Manassas) Buford led a charge, and was struck in the knee by a spent bullet. Buford’s injury was certainly painful, but not life threatening. Nevertheless, some Northern newspapers reported him killed. On August 27, 1862 Buford’s brigade alone opposed the advancement of Longstreet’s corps at Thoroughfare Gap.

• From February 12 to May 22, 1863, commanded the Reserve Brigade, Cavalry Corps, Army of the Potomac. During this time, Buford’s cavalry units fought at Fredericksburg and took part in Stoneman’s Raid during the Chancellorsville Campaign.

• From May 22-27, June 9 – August 15, and September 15-November 21, 1863, Buford commanded the division. Buford commanded at Brandy Station, Aidie, Middleburg, and Upperville.

• Early on July 1, 1863 at Gettysburg, General John Buford saw the tactical importance of holding the high ground for the Union. Northwest of the town of Gettysburg, Buford’s unmounted cavalry engaged the Confederates, until his final defensive stand was made at McPherson’s Ridge. Buford’s men had stalled the Confederate’s advancement, buying valuable time for the arrival of John Reynolds’ Union infantry. The Union now held the high ground of Cemetery Ridge at Gettysburg.

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After Gettysburg, Buford served and fought until the end of the Bristoe Campaign. He became sick with typhoid fever and because of his poor health, Buford gave up his command on November 21, 1863. Buford’s illness was very serious and by the middle of December it was plain he would die. Buford was on his deathbed at the home of his good and long-time friend, General George Stoneman, in Washington. Stoneman made a proposal on December 16, that John Buford be promoted to major general. President Lincoln wrote: "I am informed that General Buford will not survive the day. It suggests itself to me that he will be made Major General for distinguished and meritorious service at the Battle of Gettysburg." When told of this, John Buford was dubious and asked "Does he mean it?" When he was told it was true, Buford replied, "It is too late, now I wish I could live." Buford died later that afternoon. Major General John Buford is buried at West Point. Next to Buford’s grave is the grave of Lieutenant Alonzo Cushing. Cushing fell at Gettysburg while fighting to hold Buford’s chosen high ground.

A few selected quotes of Major General John Buford:

"During the whole campaign, from June 27 to July 31, there has been no shirking or hesitation, to tiring on the part of a single man so far as I have seen; the brigade commanders reported none."
– John Buford

"Found everybody in a terrible state of excitement on account of the enemy’s advance upon this place."
– John Buford

"If I have any choice I would prefer Western Troops."
– John Buford

"Shortly after this, I placed my command on our extreme left, to watch and fight the enemy should he make another attack, and went to Cemetery Hill for observation."
– John Buford

"The zeal, bravery, and good behavior of the officers and men on the night of June 30, and during July 1, was commendable in the extreme."
– John Buford

"We entered Gettysburg in the afternoon, just in time to meet the enemy entering the town, and in good season to drive him back before his getting a foothold."
– John Buford

Smalls was 23-years-old when he became the pilot of a steam-powered side-wheeler named the Planter. The Planter was used to move cotton bales through the coastal waters of South Carolina. The Confederate States of America also used the Planter for missions in waters held by the Rebels.

On May 13, 1862 slave Robert Smalls dressed as the Planter’s captain, and with help from family and other slaves, he commandeered the boat. As a ship pilot, Smalls knew the necessary signals that would allow the Planter to get by the Rebel-held Fort Sumter. Smalls took the Planter out to the Yankee navy boats blockading Charleston, and turned the boat over to the Union. Smalls, and the other slaves on board, gained their freedom. The Union got the Planter, along with four cannon, the cannon’s armament, and important intelligence regarding Confederate defenses in Charleston.

Barnes&Noble: Gullah Statesman: Robert Smalls from Slavery to Congress, 1839-1915

Smalls continued to pilot boats, but now he did it for the Union. As a civilian, Robert Smalls became the Planter’s captain and the boat took part in 17 engagements during the Civil War. On April 7, 1863 Smalls was piloting an ironclad ship named Keokuk during an attack on the Rebel-held Fort Sumter. During a flotilla attack of this engagement, Smalls was injured in his eyes while piloting the Keokuk. The ironclad Keokuk Smalls piloted was hit 90 times, most of the hits were at or below the ironclad’s waterline. The Keokuk sank the next day. Robert Smalls was rewarded with fame and fortune for his heroic actions. Smalls met President Abraham Lincoln, and helped in fund-raising activities. Smalls learned how to read. President Lincoln signed a Congressional bill awarding prize money in the amount of $1500 to Smalls (Smalls’ associates also received money).

In August of 1862, Robert Smalls and a missionary named Mansfield French met with President Lincoln and Secretary of War Edwin Stanton. Smalls and Mansfield were asking Lincoln and Stanton for authorization to recruit African-American troops. Soon permission to raise the African-American troops was obtained.

Robert Smalls’ success did not end when the Civil War ended. After the Civil War, Smalls purchased the home of his former owner and master, and the slave quarters he was born in. He lived in his former master’s home the rest of his life. Smalls became a politician and served in the South Carolina house of representatives for two years, and then in the state senate for three years. His record was not without blemish however, as a state senator Smalls took a $5,000 bribe and was sentenced to three years in prison. Smalls was pardoned and served no time.

Robert Smalls was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1875 and served five terms. Later, he was the collector for the Beaufort, South Carolina port. Congress awarded Robert Smalls a $30 a month pension in 1897, then he was awarded $5,000 in 1900 for capturing the side-wheeler Planter. Smalls died in 1915. There is nothing small about Robert Smalls’ life accomplishments.

Barnes&Noble: Seven Miles to Freedom: The Robert Smalls Story

The Angel of the Battlefield A young boy named David falls from the rafters of a barn at North Oxford, Massachusetts, in 1832. He is badly injured from the fall and becomes an invalid. David will spend the next two years recovering and during this time his eleven-year-old sister stays by his bedside helping, and nursing her brother back to health.

Patients in Ward K of Armory Square Hospital in Washington, D.C.

The sister’s name was Clara, and this was the beginning of Clara Barton’s life of caring for, and helping others. Clara was born on Christmas day in 1821, and like her four older siblings Clara’s schooling was at home. At age fifteen she becomes a schoolteacher, later she starts a free public school in Bordentown, New Jersey. Clara Barton would spend her life aiding and serving. During the Civil War, Clara Barton becomes known as "The Angel of the Battlefield."

Barton was working for the United States Patent Office and living in Washington, D.C. when the Civil War began in 1861. The women who worked at the Patent Office before the Civil War were known as "government girls" as they were part of the growing Federal government. These women had jobs that were previously held only by men. When the Civil War began, these "government girls" lost their jobs.

The Baltimore Riot occurs on April 19, 1861 when militia from Massachusetts and Pennsylvania are on their way to Washington and are attacked by secessionists in Baltimore. Four militiamen and twelve citizens are killed. Clara Barton starts a relief program for the 6th Massachusetts Regiment when it arrives at Washington.

Barnes&Noble: Clara Barton Professional Angel

Barton advertised in the Worcester, Massachusetts, Spy newspaper for donations when she learned that after First Bull Run (also known as First Manassas, fought July, 1861) the injured men did not have adequate medical supplies for their needs. She started an independent organization to distribute the collected supplies. Her efforts were successful and the next year Barton was granted a general pass by United States Surgeon General William A. Hammond to travel along with the army ambulances. William’s pass said Barton’s presence with the ambulances was; "for the purpose of distributing comforts for the sick and wounded, and nursing them." Clara accepted this pass, but she was somewhat reluctant to do so, Clara was afraid she might be confused as one of the women who made it a habit of following the army – but not for the good, and higher purposes like her’s.

After Second Bull Run (also known as Second Manassas, fought August 28-30, 1862) Barton was part of the volunteer nurses United States Secretary Edwin M. Stanton called for to help the troops spread along the defeated Union line of retreat. She gathered and solicited wagonloads of food and needed medical supplies, taking them to the troops on the front lines. Barton would aid the injured and sick and make soup and coffee.

"The men were brought down from the field till they covered acres. By midnight there must have been three thousand helpless men lying in that hay…. All night we made compresses and slings – and bound up and wet wounds, when we could get water, fed what we could, traveled miles in that dark over to those poor helpless wretches, in terror lest some one’s candle fall into the hay and consume them all."
— Clara Barton writing of her experiences tending to the injured men after Second Bull Run. Barton had helped spread bales of hay onto the ground for the men to lay on.

It is during the Antietam Campaign (September, 1862, also known as Sharpsburg) when Clara Barton is almost killed. While attending to an injured soldier, a bullet passes through a sleeve of her dress. The bullet completely misses Clara, but strikes and kills the injured soldier. She also digs a bullet out the cheek of another soldier using only her pocketknife. A few days after Antietam, Barton has typhoid fever.

Clara Barton was working in field hospitals of General Benjamin Butler’s Army of the James, in June, 1864. Also in 1864, Barton was part of a petition (along with notable others such as; Horace Greeley, P. T. Barnum, William Cullen Bryant, and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow) for the establishment of veteran’s homes. By 1933, fifteen such homes were built.

In February 1865, President Abraham Lincoln appointed Clara Barton to attend to correspondence to help reunite missing soldiers with their families. In July of the same year, she was at the infamous Andersonville prison in Georgia to manage the identification of unmarked graves. From hospital and burial records, Clara was able to create a list of missing prisoners.

In 1877, Clara Barton organized the American National Committee, three years later it became the American Red Cross and she served as its first president. Barton published a book in 1882, History of the Red Cross. Barton retired from the Red Cross to her home at Glen Echo, outside of Washington, D.C. in 1904. She died on April 12, 1912. "If I were to speak of war, it would not be to show you the glories of conquering armies but the mischief and misery they strew in their tracks; and how, while they marched on with tread of iron and plumes proudly tossing in the breeze, some one must follow closely in their steps, crouching to the earth, toiling in the rain and darkness, shelterless themselves, with no thought of pride or glory, fame or praise, or reward; hearts breaking with pity, faces bathed in tears and hands in blood. This is the side which history never shows." — Clara Barton

Barnes&Noble: Clara Barton and the American Red Cross

Early the next morning on April 15, 1865 Booth and David Herold, an accomplice in the assassination, had made their escape into Maryland where they called on Dr. Samuel Mudd to treat Booth’s broken leg. Mudd was an acquaintance of the well-known and popular actor Booth. Booth and Herold then stayed briefly at the Mudd house before continuing on in their escape to Virginia. John Wilkes Booth was eventually shot dead by pursuing Union soldiers in a Virginia barn.

Barnes&Noble: Union vs. Dr. Mudd

In 1865, a jury of Army officers convicted Mudd and seven others in the plot to assassinate President Abraham Lincoln. David Herold was one of the four hanged (along with Mary E. Surratt, Lewis T. Powell, and George A. Atzerodt) on July 7, 1865 for conspiracy in Abraham Lincoln’s assassination.

Dr. Samuel Mudd was found guilty of conspiracy but was spared the hangman’s noose by one jury vote. Dr. Samuel Mudd was sentenced to life imprisonment at Fort Jefferson. Fort Jefferson, with sweltering conditions of heat and humidity, was a harsh place to be imprisoned, it being approximately 70 miles west of Key West, Florida in the Dry Tortugas. President Andrew Johnson pardoned Mudd in February, 1869 and on March 8, 1869 Dr. Samuel Mudd was freed from the prison. During Dr. Mudd’s time at Fort Jefferson he helped stop the spread of a yellow fever epidemic that had ravaged through the prison.

There has been continuing controversy about whether or not Dr. Samuel Mudd was involved in the assassination conspiracy, or was only a country doctor helping a man with a broken leg. Doctor Mudd’s guilt or innocence, in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln is still debated.

In 1992 an administrative board of the Army made the recommendation that Mudd’s conviction be expunged because Mudd was a civilian. However, following Army secretaries and a federal judge, turned down this recommendation. A court decision in November, 2002 dismissed an attempt to have expunged the 1860s military commission conviction of Dr. Samuel Mudd. Thomas Mudd is the grandson of Samuel Mudd, and he plans to seek a review of the 2002 court decision by the full appeals court. If this fails, Thomas Mudd intends to ask the United States Supreme Court to intervene.

Barnes&Noble: American Experience: The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln (DVD)

Dr. Samuel Mudd was absolved by President James Earl "Jimmy" Carter in 1979 of involvement in the conspiracy to assassinate President Abraham Lincoln. It is a curiosity that the former television anchorman Roger Mudd, is related to Dr. Samuel Mudd.

Walt Whitman’s brother George Washington Whitman, fought for the Union during the Civil War and was injured at Fredericksburg in 1862. Walt went to Virginia in search of his hospitalized brother and was relieved to discover that George’s wounds were not serious. The wounded, the conditions, and the plentiful misery of a Civil War hospital, led Walt Whitman to volunteer at age forty-two to be a nursing aid, he served for over three years in this capacity.

Whitman wrote two volumes of poetry about the Civil War: Drum Taps (1865) and Sequel to Drum Taps (1866), after witnessing first-hand the suffering, bravery, wastefulness, heroism, and tragedy of war while working in hospitals during the Civil War.

Barnes&Noble: Walt Whitman’s Civil War

Observations of poet Walt Whitman, in 1865: ’’Unnamed, unknown, remain and still remain the bravest soldiers. Our manliest, our boys, our hardy darlings: no picture gives them. Likely, the typical one of them (standing, no doubt, for hundreds, thousands) crawls aside to some bush-clump or ferny tuft on receiving his death-shot; there, sheltering a little while, soaking roots, grass, and soil with red blood; the battle advances, retreats, flits from the scene, sweeps by; and there, haply with pain and suffering…the last lethargy winds like a serpent round him; the eyes glaze in death;…and there, at last the Bravest Soldier, crumbles in Mother Earth, unburied and unknown.’’ Walt Whitman is famous for two poem elegies he wrote about President Abraham Lincoln after Lincoln was assassinated, these poems are: ’’O Captain! My Captain!’’ and ’’When Lilacs Last in Dooryard Bloom’d.’’ Not even the most casual student of the Civil War should ignore these two Walt Whitman poems. Below you will find the first of these two poems.

O Captain! My Captain!

by Walt Whitman

II.

III.

My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still;

My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will;

The ship is anchor’d safe and sound, its voyage closed and done;

From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won!

Exult, O shores, and ring, O bells!

But I with mournful tread,

Walk the deck my Captain lies,

Fallen cold and dead.

Some Notes and Facts about General William Tecumseh Sherman:

* William Tecumseh Sherman was born in Lancaster, Ohio on February 8, 1820. Sherman’s middle name of "Tecumseh" was given to him at birth. The name "Tecumseh" was from a great Shawnee Indian leader and warrior who had almost defeated the United States Army.

* Sherman graduated sixth in his class of 1840 at West Point. He was highly intelligent, aggressive, and had a good imagination. These characteristics would help to make Sherman one of the great Union generals of the Civil War.

Barnes&Noble: Southern Storm

* When the Civil War broke out, Sherman was the superintendent of a military academy in Louisiana called the Alexandria Military Institute. This military academy would become the foundation of Louisiana State University. * Sherman was a West Point graduate, age 41, and a civilian when the Civil War started. He volunteered for service. Sherman took command of a brigade and led it at the Battle of First Bull Run. Sherman was lean, grizzled, and had red hair, he did not much care about his personal appearance.

* The Battle of Shiloh was fought on April 6, and 7, 1862. On the first day of battle, troops led by General Sherman came under heavy fire. Despite efforts by Sherman to rally the men, the Union troops (who were new to battle) fled to the rear. That evening, Confederates were camped on ground that in the morning had belonged to Union troops. Confederate General Beauregard spent the night sleeping in Sherman’s bed. The next day, April 7, Grant renewed the fight and pushed the Rebel troops back to their original attack position. The Billy Yanks had their camp again. Perhaps on the night of April 7, General Sherman got his bed back from General Beauregard.

* Benjamin Harrison was from Ohio and saw action in the Western Theater during the Civil War. He served in Sherman’s Army during the March to the Sea. In 1888, he became president of the United States of America.

* On May 4, 1864, General William Tecumseh Sherman begins his march to Atlanta, Georgia. His army numbered 110,000 men. Sherman’s March to the Sea will make history, and make him hated in the South.

* In 1864, when Sherman was making his way through the South, Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston won a victory at Kennesaw Mountain. At the end of the Civil War, Johnston was in command in the Carolinas. Johnson staged a defensive campaign after Lee surrendered to Grant on April 9, 1865. Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston finally surrendered to General Sherman at Durham Station, North Carolina on April 26, 1865. After the war, Sherman and Johnston became friends.

* William Tecumseh Sherman died of pneumonia in New York City on February 14, 1891. Sherman and Joseph E. Johnston (Sherman’s old Confederate adversary) had reconciled in the years since the Civil War. Johnston served as an honorary pall bearer at Sherman’s funeral on a rainy and cold day. During the funeral, Johnston removed his hat in the cold rain as other mourners did the same. He was urged to put the hat back on so he would avoid the wet and cold. Johnston said, "If I were in his place and he standing here in mine he would not put on his hat." Former Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston developed pneumonia from the rain and cold at Sherman’s funeral. Johnston died only a few weeks later. * In Washington, D.C., there is a small park at Fifteenth Street and Pennsylvania Avenue. At this park there is a statue of Union General William Tecumseh Sherman. This statue is forty-three feet high and depicts Sherman on a horse during a march. On the granite base of this statue is a Sherman quote in which he states his idea of what the purpose of war is; "War’s Legitimate Object Is More Perfect Peace."

Barnes&Noble: William Tecumseh Sherman

Some William Tecumseh Sherman Quotes:

"Oh, it is all folly, madness, a crime against civilization."
-Union Colonel William Tecumseh Sherman upon hearing of South Carolina’s secession from the Union. Sherman had lived in the South for nearly 12 years, and he had a true fondness for the South. Sherman would play a major part in winning the Civil War for the Union.

"You people of the South don’t know what you are doing. This country will be drenched in blood, and God only knows how it will end.

"The North can make a steam engine, locomotive or railway car; hardly a yard of cloth or a pair of shoes can you make. You are rushing into war with one of the most powerful, ingeniously mechanical and determined people on earth-right at your doors. You are bound to fail. Only in spirit and determination are you prepared for war. In all else you are totally unprepared, with a bad cause to start with.

"You people speak so lightly of war; you don’t know what you’re talking about. War is a terrible thing!

"You mistake, too, the people of the North. They are a peaceable people but an earnest people, and they will fight, too. They are not going to let this country be destroyed without a mighty effort to save it…Besides, where are your men and appliances of war to contend against them?

"At first you will make headway, but as your limited resources begin to fail, shut out from the markets of Europe as you will be, your cause will begin to wane. If your people will but stop and think, they must see that in the end you will surely fail."
- The prophetic words of William Tecumseh Sherman on December 24, 1860, after he learned of South Carolina’s secession. Sherman was superintendent of the Louisiana State Seminary and Military Academy at the time.

"I see every chance of a long, confused and disorganizing civil war, and I feel no desire to take a hand therein."
- In January 1861, Sherman wrote these words to his wife, Ellen.

"You might as well attempt to put out the flames of a burning house with a squirt-gun. I think this is to be a long war-very long-much longer than any politician thinks."
- William Tecumseh Sherman, assessing the war in 1861.

"I begin to regard the death and mangling of a couple thousand men as a small affair, a kind of morning dash-and it may be well that we become so hardened."
-General Sherman, from a letter to his wife written in July, 1864.

"Three years ago by a little reflection and patience they could have had a hundred years of peace and prosperity…Last year they could have saved their slaves, but now it is too late…Next year their lands will be taken…and in another year they may beg in vain for their lives."
-General Sherman in January, 1864 regarding the situation of the Rebels. Lee surrendered to Grant on April 9, 1865 and the Civil War was over. Happily, Sherman is wrong here with his time estimate of the continuation of the war.

Barnes&Noble: Sherman’s March

"If you don’t have my army supplied, and keep it supplied, we’ll eat your mules up, sir." -General Sherman’s warning to an army quartermaster before the departure of Sherman’s army from Chattanooga and heading toward Atlanta.   "Until we can repopulate Georgia, it is useless for us to occupy it; but the utter destruction of its roads, houses and people will cripple their military resources. I can make this march, and make Georgia howl." -General Sherman, from a telegram sent to General Ulysses S. Grant at Atlanta, Georgia. September 9, 1864.   "The whole army is burning with an insatiable desire to wreak violence upon South Carolina. I almost tremble for her fate." -General William T. Sherman, as he prepared to march his army into South Carolina. This was following the March to the Sea.   "We have devoured the land and our animals eat up the wheat and cornfields close. All the people retire before us and desolation is behind. To realize what war is one should follow our tracks." -General William Tecumseh Sherman.

"That devil Forrest…must be hunted down and killed if it costs ten thousand lives and bankrupts the Federal treasury."
-Sherman referring to Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest.

"After all, I think Forrest was the most remarkable man our Civil War produced on either side."
-After the Civil War, Sherman made these comments about Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest.

"Wars are not all evil, they are part of the grand machinery by which this world is governed."
-General William Tecumseh Sherman.

"War is at best barbarism…Its glory is all moonshine. It is only those who have neither fired a shot, nor heard the shrieks and groans of the wounded who cry aloud for blood, more vengeance, more desolation. War is hell."
-William Tecumseh Sherman. These words are from his June 19, 1879 address to the Michigan Military Academy.

Barnes&Nobel: Jennie Wade Story

The Battle of Gettysburg was fought on July 1, 2, and 3, 1863. July 3, was a Friday. Around 8:30 that morning, 20-year-old Miss Mary Virginia (Jennie) Wade was at home and busy baking bread for hungry Union soldiers. At the Farnsworth house, almost two blocks away from Jennie Wade’s home, a Rebel sharpshooter was perched in hiding. Thinking the Wade house was a Union headquarters and hoping to pick off a Yankee officer or soldier, the Confederate sharpshooter fired a single bullet toward the Wade home.   The sniper’s bullet passed through two doors of the Wade house before it struck Jennie Wade in the small of her back just below the left shoulder blade. Jennie died instantly as the bullet tore through her heart.

Jennie Wade began each day reading from the Bible. The passage she happened to read on July 3, was; "Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart." Death was abundant at Gettysburg in early July of 1863. The Union suffered approximately 3,155 killed and the Confederacy approximately 3,903 killed. Miss Jennie Wade was the only civilian killed at the Battle of Gettysburg.   You can visit the Jennie Wade House in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. When you visit Jennie’s home, you can see where the north side of the house is blemished with over 150 bullet and shell holes from the Gettysburg battle. On display at the Wade house, is the bullet that killed Jennie Wade, the young bread baker.

Barnes&Noble: Days of Darkness

Congress later declared that the United States flag be flown over Jennie Wade’s tomb. The United States flag still flies there now in honor and memory of Jennie Wade and of all innocent civilians killed in the Civil War.

During the night of July 1, the Confederate and Union armies continued to arrive at the crossroads town of Gettysburg. As dawn came on July 2, approximately 65,000 Rebels faced 85,000 Yankees over Gettysburg’s terrain. The Union held the high ground with a fishhook-shaped line that stretched along Cemetery Ridge. At each end of the Union line, there were hills. On the right end, there was Culp’s Hill and Cemetery Hill, on the left was Little Round Top and Big Round Top.

Confederate General Robert E. Lee wanted the high ground taken from the Federals. In a discussion with his "Old War Horse" General James Longstreet, Lee explained as he pointed towards Cemetery Hill; "The enemy is there, and I am going to attack him there."

Barnes&Noble: Gettysburg the Second Day

Longstreet had doubts about attacking the Yankees at Gettysburg. Longstreet did not think attacking the enemy on their high ground was the wisest thing, he preferred another plan. Longstreet’s idea was for the Army of Northern Virginia to turn the Union’s south flank and position itself between the Army of the Potomac and Washington. Longstreet’s plan would compel General Meade and his troops to attack on ground the Confederates had chosen. Longstreet thought the tactical defensive position was best, but General Lee preferred aggressive offensive movements, right here and now at Gettysburg. The Army of Northern Virginia would follow Lee’s plan.

It is one of the great questions of the Civil War…what if the Confederates had followed Longstreet’s plan instead of Lee’s at Gettysburg?

Lee’s strategy was for Longstreet to attack the Union’s left flank at Little Round Top and Big Round Top. Meade would have to send troops to the left flank to answer Longstreet’s attack. General Ewell would attack the Union right flank at Culp’s Hill. If this plan worked, the Confederates would overtake both of the Union flanks, gain the high ground, and win the battle…and maybe the war.

Lee wanted Longstreet to begin his attack as soon as possible on the morning of July 2. Due to various reasons (in light of Longstreet’s disagreement with Lee over the Gettysburg battle plans, some historians question Longstreet’s diligence in proceeding with his attack on the Union left flank) Longstreet did not have his troops into position until 4:00 in the afternoon. Part of the problem Longstreet had getting his men into position, was that the Yankees were not where they were supposed to be on their left flank. It was Union General Dan Sickles and the 3rd Corps who were to be in position and hold the Union left flank.

Dan Sickles is an interesting character and he deserves some attention.

Before the Civil War, Daniel Edgar Sickles was a lawyer and a legislator. From 1853 to 1855 he served as President Franklin Pierce’s London Legation (at the time, the United States did not yet have formal embassies). Sickles was elected to the New York Senate, and then served as a Democrat in the United States Congress from 1857 to 1861.

In 1859 while serving in the United States Congress, Dan Sickles shot and killed Philip Barton Key at LaFayette Park, which was located across the street from Sickles’ home and the White House. Key was having an affair with Mrs. Sickles, so Sickles killed him. By coincidence, Philip Barton Key also happened to be the son of Francis Scott Key, the composer of "The Star Spangled Banner".

Sickles chose Edwin Stanton as his defense attorney (Stanton would later serve as Abraham Lincoln’s Secretary of War). Stanton used a unique and new tactic to defend Sickles. Stanton claimed Sickles was innocent of murder because he was temporarily insane when he killed his wife’s lover. The jury agreed and Congressman Sickles was found innocent.

After killing her paramour, Sickles publicly forgave his wife and took her back. This outraged the public. It seems the public understood the business of an outraged husband shooting and killing his cheating wife’s lover (Sickles had the public’s understanding and sympathy during all this drama), but for the husband to then forgive his wife and take her back, well, that was just too much for people to stomach in 19th century America. With the loss of voter support, Sickles’ political career ended.

At the start of the Civil War, Dan Sickles saw opportunity and a fresh start for himself. After all, there is nothing like a war to help turn your life around. He raised the Excelsior Brigade of New York City, and later in June of 1861, he was commissioned as Colonel Sickles of the 20th New York. The politician Sickles new military career was now successfully underway. Perhaps the former congressman (and also formally temporarily insane) Dan Sickles went off to war humming the "The Star Spangled Banner" to himself…fighting as he was to save the Union. Nevertheless, Sickles was now back on both of his feet. Would he be able to hang onto both of the legs those feet were attached to?

On July 2, 1863, Dan Sickles found himself at Gettysburg as the General of the 3rd Corps. As fate would have it, it was Sickles who had the duty of holding the crucial left flank of the Union line. The terrain at the south end of Cemetery Ridge where the politician now turned general Sickles was positioned, concerned him. It was low and exposed ground. Without orders, General Dan Sickles took it upon himself to make an unauthorized movement of his two divisions half of a mile forward to ground that was higher and along a road running from Gettysburg. Now his troops were positioned at the Peach Orchard and in an area congested with rocks and large boulders below Little Round Top. This rocky area was Devil’s Den. Sickles unauthorized move had provided his troops and himself with better ground, it was higher and easier to defend, but now his troops were no longer connected with the rest of the Union’s line. More importantly, in terms of the grand scheme of the battle, the Union crucial positions of Little Round Top, Big Round Top, and the Union left flank, were now all completely undefended.

Barnes&Noble: American Scoudrel

General Meade was furious when he learned what Sickles had done. Meade ordered Sickles back to his original position. Sickles had no time to follow Meade’s orders, at 4:00 in the afternoon Longstreet finally (Lee had wanted Longstreet to make this attack as early as possible on the 2nd) began his attack on the Union left.

The Confederate troops advanced upon the Yankees. Confederate Colonel William C. Oates and the 15th Alabama made their way to the top of Big Round Top. From there, three hundred feet above the field of action, Oates could see that if he could move artillery to the heights of Little Round Top, he could then tear the Federal lines apart. A brigade of Alabamians advanced upon the smaller of the two Round Tops, since only a Union signal station occupied Little Round Top. General Meade had sent General Gouverneur K. Warren (Warren was the chief topographical engineer for the Army of the Potomac) and a young lieutenant named Washington Robeling to Little Round Top to scout out the situation.

Warren and Robeling quickly realized the dire circumstances for the Union at Little Round Top. Dan Sickles and his men had their hands full fighting the advancing Confederates in the Peach Orchard, and even as Warren and Robeling surveyed the situation Hood’s Rebel Texan troops were busy advancing up the rocky ravine between Little Round Top and Big Round Top. Warren called for reinforcements and four regiments were sent from the Union 5th Corps. One of these regiments was the 20th Maine, led by Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain.

These Union troops were desperately needed to hold Little Round Top secure. If Little Round Top fell to the Confederates, then the entire control of the Union lines would be lost, and probably so too, the Battle of Gettysburg.

Barnes&Noble: Through Blood and Fire at Gettysburg: General Joshua L. Chamberlain and the 20th Maine by Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain

Chamberlain was ordered to hold Little Round Top "at all hazards." The 350 men of the 20th Maine double-timed up Little Round Top and took positions behind boulders and whatever cover they could find. With no time to spare, Chamberlain sent troops from his Company B to between the two Round Tops to cover the left flank. Soon, very soon, Colonel Oates and his Alabamians came upon them and for almost two hours, the men from Maine and Alabama fought it out in deadly fighting. The Confederates made repeated assaults and finally one-third of Chamberlain’s men were either injured or killed, and the rest were completely or nearly out of ammunition. The Confederates were now preparing for another assault. Colonel Chamberlain and the 20th Maine, and the Union left flank, were in very serious trouble. With quick thinking, Chamberlain ordered part of his remaining line to drop back until it formed a right angle with the rest of the Union line.

Chamberlain had two choices, either advance or retreat. He chose to advance and ordered his men to fix bayonets. The right of the Maine regiment held its position while the left side made a running advance down the hillside of Little Round Top towards the Alabamians. The Union advance wheeled to its right during this advance, "like a great gate upon a post" according to a witness.

The Confederates were shocked and taken by surprise with this bold movement, some surrendered and others ran. As the Confederates ran they took more fire from Chamberlain’s Company B, which had taken cover behind a stone wall. The Alabamians were now caught in crossfire. Colonel Chamberlain and the 20th Maine had held Little Round Top for the Union. The left flank of the Yankee line was secure. Later, Chamberlain would receive the Congressional Medal of Honor for his actions at Gettysburg.

Barnes&Noble: In the Hands of Providence

General Sickles and his troops were still fighting the Confederates in the Peach Orchard, and they were in bad shape. The Rebels were giving them Hell. Soon Sickles himself would personally be in bad shape too. Confederate artillery was tearing into Sickles’ men and they were giving up ground as they fought in places called the Wheat Field, Devil’s Den, and the Valley of Death.

During all this, General Dan Sickles’ right leg was blown off below the knee. Sickles was carried from the field calmly smoking a cigar. He would survive his wound, but no longer would he stand on both of his own two feet. Sickles donated his amputated right leg to an army medical museum. In the years after the Civil War, Sickles would stop by the museum to visit his leg.

Union reinforcements from Cemetery Ridge had hurried to the Wheat Field and this opened a gap in the center of the Union line on Cemetery Ridge. Now an Alabama brigade saw the weakness in the center of the Union line and rushed to take advantage of it. A small regiment, the 1st Minnesota, was ordered by General Winfield Scott Hancock to meet the advancing Confederates. With only 262 men in its force, the 1st Minnesota charged down a slope toward 1,600 advancing Confederates. Of the 262 Minnesotans, only 47 of them were not hurt or killed. The 1st Minnesota had 82 percent of its men fall within the first five minutes of their fight. The casualties suffered by the 1st Minnesota was the highest taken by a Union regiment in the entire Civil War. The Minnesotans were successful despite their severe losses; they had filled the gap in the center of the Union line.

Confederate General Ewell staged an attack on the right flank of the Union line just before dark. For various reasons Ewell’s attack had been delayed, this action was supposed to be coordinated with Longstreet’s advance upon the Union left flank – which itself occurred later than planned. Ewell’s attacks on Culp’s Hill and East Cemetery Hill, were repulsed.

Night came on Gettysburg’s second day of battle.