Remarkable Photographs and Sketches of Camp Griffin on the Library of Congress Website

Over the last few years, I have devoted considerable attention to the Union Army encampments in the vicinity of present-day McLean, Virginia. Gen. William F. "Baldy" Smith's division established Camp Griffin in October 1861 on property near the villages of Langley and Lewinsville. (The Pennsylvania Reserves, meanwhile, settled down at Camp Pierpont, which stretched along the Georgetown-Leesburg Turnpike and passed through Langley.) Whenever possible, I've tried to publish illustrations related to the camps, including some of George Houghton's fascinating photographs of the Vermont Brigade at Camp Griffin.

Thanks to a fellow blogger at Chooeubhaokhaossian the Great's Temple of History, I recently discovered a treasure trove of photographs and sketches of Camp Griffin on the Library of Congress's Prints & Photographs Online Catalog.  (Click here for the set of images.) The LoC's online collection appears to have expanded. I previously located a few Houghton photographs on the site, and in particular a set showing the separate companies of the 6th Vermont. Now several images (including a few photographs that are entirely new to me) are available for study and exploration. Moreover, the site offers some sketches by Larkin Goldsmith Mead, who was an artist for Harper's Weekly assigned to the Army of the Potomac. According to the LoC, Mead also made topographical drawings for Baldy Smith. I hope to return to some of these remarkable images in the future. For now, head over to the LoC website and take a look at life in camp around Washington during the first fall and winter of the war.

Here is just a sampling of the images:

"Union soldiers in front of tents, probably at Camp Griffin, Langley, Virginia," by George Houghton (courtesy of Library of Congress).

"Second Vermont Camp Griffin 1861," by George Houghton (courtesy of Library of Congress).

"Photographers on the Potomac. Camp Griffin, Virginia," by Larkin G, Mead (courtesy of Library of Congress).

A London Paper Features Some Local Sites

Last year I began to collect Civil War-era newspapers.  Not surprisingly, I have focused on papers that cover events in and around Northern Virginia and Washington.  I am particularly interested in newspapers that feature lesser-known aspects of the conflict in my neck of the woods.  These editions also tend to be cheaper than the papers that discuss the larger battles, like Second Manassas or Gettysburg.  Given the presence of on-line sellers such as eBay and Timothy Hughes, collecting old newspapers has never been easier.

I had my eye for quite some time on an October 12, 1861 edition of The Illustrated London News that contains one of the few, if only, contemporary engravings related to the September 11, 1861 Battle of Lewinsville.  Imagine my delight when I finally located an original copy on the eBay store, librariavitae.   The price also suited my fancy, and I quickly placed my order.

An entire page is dedicated to the engraving, which is entitled, The War in America: Bringing in the Federal Wounded After the Skirmish at Lewinsville, Virginia.  Based on commentary from the paper's special artist dated September 23, 1861, I've confirmed that the Lewinsville engraving depicts a scene following the September 11 engagement, and not the September 25 skirmish at the same location.

The text accompanying the illustration states:

Just as the wounded were being brought in General [George B.] M'Clellan reached the ground with an Aide-de-Camp and an escort of dragoons. He raised his hat as each poor fellow was borne from the ambulance to the hospital; and many whose eyes were fast glazing in death raised themselves in the arms of those who bore them and smiled a last smile at their young and beloved General.

As I've learned during the course of my research on Lewinsville, McClellan indeed greeted the Federal column returning from the skirmish.  (See, e.g., Hazard Stevens, The Life of Isaac Ingalls Stevens, Vol. II, p. 332 (1900)). However, The Illustrated London News added a touch of melodrama.  Only three Union soldiers died in the engagement, and they appear to have been killed on the spot.  (OR, 1:5, 173, 177, 180.)  The wounded were brought back to camp, but they were not on the verge of death as the paper wanted readers to believe. 

Presumably the scene was sketched close to Camp Advance, where the Union force returned from Lewinsville following the engagement.  Tents are clearly visible to center of the engraving, above Little Mac's head.  A defensive work appears to crown the hilltop to the upper left.  Ft. Marcy dominated the area around Camp Advance, but would have sat to the south of the road from Lewinsville, or to the right of the engraving.  The picture may depict Ft. Ethan Allen, which sat to the left of a road leading away from Ft. Marcy and Lewinsville.  (See map here.)  A few of the regiments involved at Lewinsville, including the 2nd Vermont, 19th Indiana, and 79th New York, helped to build Ft. Ethan Allen and were stationed nearby.  (See Benjamin Franklin Cooling III & Walton H. Owen II, Mr. Lincoln's Forts: A Guide to the Civil War Defenses of Washington (2010 ed.)).

The newspaper also contains an engraving entitled, The War in America: The Chain-Bridge Across the Potomac Above Georgetown, Looking Towards the Virginian Shore. 

The accompanying commentary notes:

The two great armies still stand at bay on the lines of the Potomac, and the chain-bridge across that river, above Georgetown, of which an Illustration by our Special Artist is given below, is a position of great interest just now, as the Confederates are continually making threatening movements in the neighbourhood, either with the intention of destroying the bridge or of crossing by it into Maryland. On the heights on the Virginian shore are seen the tents of the Federal advance, which throws out pickets to a distance of two miles beyond. The Maryland end of the bridge is commanded by an upper and a lower battery, both of them very strong positions.

I really like this engraving, which offers a spectacular view of Chain Bridge and the Virginia side of the river. The tents apparently mark the location of Camp Advance, which was established at the start of September 1861 by men under Union Gen. William F. "Baldy" Smith.  I am continually looking for information on the exact location of Camp Advance, and this engraving sheds further light on where Smith's men gained a toehold in the Old Dominion.  The accompanying text also references Confederate actions around Chain Bridge.  I've read about encounters between Confederate and Union pickets in the vicinity of the bridge during the fall of 1861, but am not familiar with Confederate plans to destroy the bridge or attempt a crossing in front of two batteries and countless Federal infantrymen.  I'll need to dig a little deeper on these early picket wars.

I really treasure owning this newspaper given its connections to local Civil War history.  I am reminded that what was happening in the present-day suburbs of DC once captured the world's attention.  Even a small engagement like Lewinsville made the London papers in the days before bigger battles like Antietam and Shiloh.  And a simple wooden bridge to Virginia held strategic significance that foreign editors could not deny.  

Union Soldiers in Northern Virginia Welcome Victories From Far Afield

Although the military situation in Northern Virginia was relatively calm in February 1862, elsewhere in the Confederacy the Union Army was on the move and scoring important victories.  Ft. Henry fell to Brig. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant on February 6, followed by Ft. Donelson on February 16.  The Union capture of the two forts opened the path for an advance into the state of Tennessee along the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers.  Meanwhile, the Union secured a key foothold on the North Carolina coast when Brig. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside and Flag Officer Louis Goldsborough beat an inferior Confederate force at Roanoke Island on February 7-8.   The news of the distant victories reached the Union Army's winter camps in Virginia and boosted the men's confidence in their cause.  Perhaps the defeat of the Rebellion would come sooner rather than later.

"Capture of Roanoke Island, Feby. 8th 1862: By the federal forces, under Command of Genl. Ambrose E. Burnside, and gunboats under Commodore L.M. Goldsborough," Currier & Ives (courtesy of Wikipedia)

Brig. Gen. George G. Meade, a brigade commander with the Pennsylvania Reserves at Camp Pierpont in Langley, wrote to his wife on February 9 about the capture of Ft. Henry.  He asked her enthusiastically, "Is not the news from Tennessee glorious?"  (Meade 245.)  Meade felt that Ft. Henry, along with the victories at Dranesville and Mill Springs, Kentucky "prove most conclusively that [the Confederates] are not invincible, and will run just as soon, if not sooner, than we will."  (Meade 245.)  He reported that these wins "have had a most beneficial effect on our morale, and I think all hands are now here looking forward to the period when we can do something."  (Meade 245.)  A few days later, on February 11, Meade told his wife:

To-night we have the good news that Roanoke Island has been taken by the Burnside fleet, and while I write the camp is cheering all around me. There are no particulars, so that our cheers are unmingled with mourning.  (Meade 245.)

All told, however, Meade was still a bit measured in his enthusiasm.  In a February 16 letter, he warned:

Foolish people consider the war over because we have had a few victories, but I consider it just begun. I believe, though, if we continue to be as fortunate as we have recently been, that it will not be long before the other side will have enough of it.  (Meade 246-47.)

Enlisted men in Northern Virginia rejoiced at the news of the recent wins.  Elijah Brown, a private from Co. F, 2nd Vermont at Camp Griffin in Lewinsville, wrote to his sister on February 14 about the capture of Roanoke Island:

The Burnside Expedition has gained [] A great Victory . . . .  Sissy we shall have them well cornered soon they will have to give up soon and surrender to the Gallant Banner of stars and stripes . . . .*

A.F. Hill of the 8th Pennsylvania Reserves described with perhaps a bit of embellishment his regiment's reaction as a mounted messenger rode into Camp Pierpont with news of Ft. Donelson's surrender:

A soul-stirring cheer went up; every man in the regiment shouted with gladness on hearing the welcome news. Other regiments took up the cheer, and ere long fifteen thousand men were yelling at the top of their voices; and they continued to do so until they were hoarse.

Our brass band now came forth, took its position on the most elevated spot in our regimental street, and played all the national airs they could think of; beginning with "Hail Columbia," and winding up with "Yankee Doodle." The whole regiment gathered around, cheering at intervals in a deafening manner.  (Hill 198.)

Hill noted that most men felt that the victory spelled the end of the war, although one soldier dared to shout, "Ah boys, the war is not over yet."  (Hill 199.)  This young man was more realistic in his assessment than many would have cared to admit. 
 
Dan Mason, a corporal with Co. D, 6th Vermont at Camp Griffin, summed up the impact of February's victories in a letter to his fiancee on February 22:

One month has wrought a great change.  our army has been successful at every point. many Forts & important places with thousands of rebel prisoners have been taken by our gallant troops. As you will get the news in the papers long before this reaches you I will not give the particulars here. The daily newspapers (which are brought from Washington every day by little news boys) are filled with cheering news. Our arms are crowned with successs at every point. Camp Griffin is often made wild with joy on receiving the glorious news loud hurahs rend the air. it is deafening to hear the shouts of the excited soldiers. the wildest enthusiasm prevails.*

Mason, however, also doubted the prospects for an advance in Northern Virginia anytime soon.  He told his fiancee that "it is so very muddy now (& has been for the last 6 or 8 weeks) that it is impossible to move heavy artillery & the baggage waggons which must nessessarily attend the advance of an army." 

Mason was on to something.  The Army of the Potomac would have to wait a bit longer before Gen. George McClellan would make a move, and even longer before a major victory on the battlefield.  Until that time, the soldiers around the nation's capital would have to draw inspiration from Union victories elsewhere.

Note
*The spelling and grammar in the soldiers' letters are as in the original.

Sources
A.F. Hill, Our Boys: The Personal Experiences of a Soldier with the Army of the Potomac (1864); Letters of Elijah Brown, On-Line Collection, Vermont Historical Society; Letters of Dan Mason, On-Line Collection, Vermont Historical Society; George G. Meade, The Life and Letters of George Gordon Meade, Vol. 1 (1913).

Thanksgiving 1861 in Washington and the Camps Across the Potomac

At the start of the Civil War, Thanksgiving had not yet become a national holiday.  Earlier Presidents issued Thanksgiving proclamations, but this trend did not continue after James Monroe's Administration.  Instead, each state set aside a day to give thanks.  In 1861, the majority of states, including New York, Pennsylvania, and Vermont, fixed Thursday, November 28, as Thanksgiving.  Massachusetts and Maine established a date of Thursday, November 21.

The governors' Thanksgiving proclamations were inevitably marked by talk of war.  In Pennsylvania, Governor Andrew Curtin beseeched God that "our beloved country may have deliverance from those great and apparent dangers wherewith she is compassed, and that the brave and loyal men now battling in the field for her life may have their arms made strong and their blows heavy."  Curtin also prayed that the "rebellious people" would "see the error in their ways" and "obediently walk in His holy commandments, and in submission to the just and manifest authority of the Republic."  (Phila. Press, Oct. 25, 1861.)  Governor Edwin Morgan of New York began his proclamation by recalling that "[a]mid the tramp of armies, the sound of fratricidal strife and lamentation for the fallen, we still behold the merciful arm of the Ruler of the Universe made bare for our protection."  The governor reminded his fellow New Yorkers:

We believe that, in the wondrous plan of God, if we but humbly bow before Him and acknowledge our National sins, Infinite Wisdom will work out from this great tribulation a marked and permanent good . . . that this noble Union, the work of men inspired by the loftiest patriotism, the wonder of the world and the glory of this nation, will be preserved.

The government workers in Washington may have had less lofty thoughts in mind as the holiday approached.  According to the November 21, 1861 edition of the Philadelphia Press, although the "City Councils" had selected November 28 as a day of thanksgiving in the District of Columbia,"the Departments will not be closed."  The paper noted, however, that "mercantile business generally throughout the city will, it is said, be suspended after noonday."  President Lincoln soon came to the rescue of government employees.  On November 27, he issued the following order:

The Municipal authorities of Washington and Georgetown in this District, have appointed tomorrow, the 28th. instant, as a day of thanksgiving, the several Departments will on that occasion be closed, in order that the officers of the government may partake in the ceremonies.

The workers in Washington took full advantage of the day off. As the Press reported, "the stores are closed, the churches are filled, and the streets present a holiday appearance." Then, as now, the inhabitants of the nation's capital did not pass up the opportunity to imbibe. The Press noted that "[t]he saloons and barrooms [were] well patronized."

Even with all the festivities, the war was never too far away.  Rumors abounded that Thanksgiving Day.  According to the Press, some people believed that "our advanced guard has taken up the line of march towards Fairfax and Centreville."  Others spoke of the flight of Confederate sympathizers from Alexandria.  The Press rightfully considered all of these tales "absurd."



"Thanksgiving-Day in the Army.  After Dinner: The Wish-Bone," by Winslow Homer (courtesy of sonofthesouth.net)


Across the Potomac River, the Union soldiers in the camps around Lewinsville and Langley, near present-day McLean, observed the holiday as best they could.  Some men made out pretty well given the normal state of affairs in camp. According to a private from the 2nd Vermont at Camp Griffin,  "in most companies enough extra rations had been disposed of to buy potatoes, fresh pork, chickens, turkeys, and other such luxuries as could be got, and all ate their fill."  (in Zeller 50.)  The men assembled later in the evening and "cooked their oysters, drank cider, and smoked a 'mild Havana,'" while reminiscing and telling stories.  (in Zeller 50.)  All told, this soldier considered that "it was a day of joy, and thanksgiving to us Vermonters."  (in Zeller 50.)  Others, who spent the day on picket duty, or whose regiments were less well supplied with victuals, may have taken exception.

The famed Bucktail Regiment (1st Pennsyvalnia Rifles) of the Pennsylvania Reserves passed a fun Thanksgiving at Camp Pierpont.  According to an officer's account in the December 11, 1861 Philadelphia Press, "the soldiers enjoyed themselves eating oysters and shooting at a target."  As might be expected, the crack marksmen held a contest to show off their skills with a gun. The prizes consisted of "a turkey, two bbls. of apples, and twelve pairs of socks, which had been presented to Colonel [Thomas] Kane by an old lady ninety years old."   The winners of the apples split their bounty with other men from their companies.  The socks got divided among three privates.  According to the prideful officer, "many of the shots would have plunked a rebel's eye at one hundred yards."

The next day would bring a return to the normal routine of camp life.  At least for a little while, the soldiers from Pennsylvania, Vermont, and other states had enjoyed the holiday and perhaps gotten a break from the everyday diet of hardtack and salt pork.  Surely they would rather have been at home with loved ones, and many men must have fervently hoped that they would be back with family in a year's time.  Meanwhile, the business of war, both in the nation's capital, and in the hills and fields across Northern Virginia, would continue.

Sources:

Graz Historical Society, Graz, Pennsylvania, "Thanksgiving 1861--Preparation," Civil War Blog; Abraham Lincoln, Order for Day of Thanksgiving, Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln, Vol. 5 (1953),  Plimouth Plantation, "Thanksgiving History;" "Thanksgiving Day; Proclamation," New York Times, Oct. 3, 1861; Paul G. Zeller, The Second Vermont Volunteer Infantry Regiment, 1861-1865 (2002).

All Pennsylvania news articles can be found on the extensive Pennsylvania Civil War Era Newspaper Collection maintained by the Libraries of Penn State University.

The Sickliest Soldiers in the Army: The Vermont Brigade at Camp Griffin

Fall colors dot the landscape this time of year across Northern Virginia.  But feeling a little scratch in my throat, and hearing co-workers cough and sniffle, I am reminded that fall also brings colds and flu.  Our contemporary sickness, however, is nothing compared to what young soldiers experienced during the first autumn and winter of the Civil War.  The Union Army camps around Washington were breeding grounds for disease, which spread rapidly from one person to the next in unsanitary and crowded conditions. 

The Vermont Brigade suffered from a relatively high rate of illness during its stay at Camp Griffin near Lewsinville, Virginia from October 1861 to March 1862.  The outbreak of diseases became noticeable starting in November 1861, as typhoid and other fevers, measles, pneumonia, and diarrhea spread through Camp Griffin.  State authorities in Vermont soon became aware of the epidemic, and the governor dispatched Dr. Edward E. Phelps to investigate.  In December, he observed:

. . . of the men of the five regiments, numbering 4,939 on the ground, no less than 1,086, or about one-fourth, were excused from duty in consequence of sickness. Of these, 201 were sick in hospital, 245 sick in their tents, and 550 able to be up and about though unfit for duty. (Benedict 237.) 

Dr. Phelps considered that the rate of illness was possibly due to the fact that "the regiments had been too long stationary in their camps, on soil which had became saturated with noxious elements."  (Benedict 238.)

By January 1862, the Army of the Potomac's medical director, Charles S. Tripler, reported:

[T]he Vermont regiments in [Gen. W.T.H.] Brooks's brigade give us the largest ratio of sick, of all the troops in this army, and that ratio has not essentially varied for the last three months. They suffered in the first place from measles. Since then they have been and are the subjects of fevers, remittent and typhoid. (in Benedict 238-39.)

The reasons provided by doctors for this high ratio is laughable by 21st century standards.  Because food and clothing were allegedly adequate at the time, Tripler attributed the disease among the Vermonters to some ill-defined "nostalgic element" that affected them "unfavorably."  (in Benedict 239.)  The confidence of the Union Army's doctors in the Vermonters' constitution never rose very high.  In an 1863 report on conditions during his time as medical director, Tripler noted that "[t]he frequent alarms in some portions of our lines were considered by some of the medical officers as a cause of disease. This was particularly the case in front of some of the Vermont troops in Brooks' brigade."  (OR, 1:5, 83.)  So much for Yankee toughness.

Disease affected the various regiments of the Vermont Brigade differently.  Benedict's account of Vermont in the Civil War records that before the end of November 1861, the 6th Vermont had around one-third unfit for duty due to disease, with forty felled by sickness each day.  (Benedict 211.)  Tripler reported that in January 1862, "the Fifth Vermont, 1,000 strong, had 271 sick; the Fourth, 1,047 strong, had 244 sick; while the Second, 1,021 strong, had but 87, and the Third, 900 strong, had but 84."  (OR, 1:5, 92.) 

The exact cause of the variation in rates of disease within the same brigade is the subject of speculation.  The 4th Vermont, which suffered from a great proportion of sick, was encamped near a brook that received runoff from ground where the cavalry had kept about one thousand horses.  (Benedict 160-61.)  When the 4th Vermont moved to a better spot in December, the disease rate began to drop.  Benedict attributed the lower overall rate of illness in the 2nd Vermont to the "more healthful location" of its camp and the "excellent care taken of the men by its colonel and his medical staff."  (Benedict 100.) 

Hospital tents in the vicinity of Washington, DC (courtesy of Library of Congress)

The dreadful conditions in camp had a profound impact on the men.  They never quite knew whether they would be next to fall ill.  As one soldier of the 2nd Vermont remarked upon the appearance of smallpox, "I hope and pray that we shall not be visited by this awful disease." (in Zeller 52.)  And pray some of the men did.  The 6th Vermont, surrounded by the death and suffering associated with disease, held well-attended prayer meetings every evening.

The state and federal authorities took various steps to remedy the dire situation faced by the Vermont Brigade.  Tripler felt that removing the sick Vermonters from the view of their fellow soldiers would boost morale and lessen susceptibility to illness.  The medical director therefore sent convalescents to Philadelphia to free up room for the Vermont Brigade in the general hospitals around Washington.  Five additional surgeons were sent to the brigade, log cabins were built to replace hospital tents, and soldiers were supplied with adequate clothing.  Officers also worked to improve camp sanitation.  In all, these palliative measures helped to decrease the sick rate by the time the Vermonters moved out of Camp Griffin in March 1862. 

Sources
Aside from the OR, the following sources were helpful in compiling this post: George Grenville Benedict, Vermont in the Civil War, Vol. 1 (1886); C. Keith Wilbur, M.D., Civil War Medicine (1998); Paul G. Zeller, The Second Vermont Volunteer Infantry Regiment, 1861-1865 (2002).

General "Baldy" Smith's Soldiers Enter the Old Dominion State

Long-time readers of this blog may recall that I have devoted considerable attention to the Civil War history of present-day McLean, Virginia.  During the first winter of the war, two Union divisions encamped on the farmlands around Langley and Lewinsville.  As we near the 150th anniversary of various happenings in and around my adopted hometown, I thought readers might be interested in the origins of the Union Army's presence around here.

In some recent posts, I've discussed how the Confederates moved ever closer to the nation's capital during August 1861.  By the end of the month, Confederates were entrenched on the hills near Falls Church, where they could look across the river to Washington and the unfinished Capitol dome.  The Union commander of the Army of the Potomac, Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan, was well aware of the Confederates in his midst.  He had already started strengthening the initial defenses of Washington not long after taking charge of the army, but the Virginia side of the Chain Bridge -- around 10 miles from Falls Church and the Confederate line -- was not yet heavily fortified as September got underway.

The strategic situation would soon change.  As McClellan wrote in his memoirs:

On the 3d of Sept., while reviewing troops east of the Capitol, I received dispatches to the effect that the enemy had appeared in force opposite the Chain Bridge and towards Great Falls; also that they were probably on the point of advancing along their whole line. After giving the necessary orders at other points I rode to Gen. [William F. "Baldy"] Smith's headquarters at the Chain Bridge, and determined to move his brigade across the river during the night and to entrench a position on the Virginia side as the surest method of saving the bridge. (McClellan, 95.)

Smith prepared his men for the march to the Old Dominion State.  Starting late at night on September 3, and continuing into September 4, the Union soldiers slipped across the Chain Bridge and climbed the steep incline of the Leesburg & Georgetown Turnpike.  The regiments included the 2nd and 3rd Vermont, 19th Indiana, 33rd and 79th New York, and the 2nd and 5th Wisconsin.  Smith's men stopped a mile or so past Chain Bridge and encamped on high ground not far from Langley, Virginia.

Brig. Gen. William F. "Baldy" Smith (courtesy of Wikipedia).  Smith was born in St. Albans, Vermont in 1824 and graduated from West Point in 1845.  He was instrumental in organizing the famed Vermont Brigade of the Army of the Potomac in 1861.  Smith rose to become a division and corps commander. 

Some of the soldiers thought that McClellan was moving to pounce on the Confederates at Falls Church, but they soon learned that they would be clearing the land and building earthworks and forts.  The men immediately got to work constructing what were to become known as Ft. Marcy, northwest of Chain Bridge, and Ft. Ethan Allen, to the south.*  Both of these strongholds were built on the property of Gilbert Vanderwerken, who owned an omnibus line in Washington and had purchased over 1,300 acres of pastureland in Virginia for his horses.

The men called their new home, "Camp Advance." The name likely originated from the fact that the brigade had moved so far forward into Virginia. (Zeller, 43.)  However, according to another account, "the somewhat formidable title of 'Camp Advance' was given, under the impression that the movement meant a speedy advance upon Richmond." (Benedict, 91-92.)

Smith's men suffered from the endless rain at the start of September. As Alexander Campbell of the 79th New York wrote to his wife on September 6, "[i]t has been damp and dissegreable [sic] weather." (Johnston, 39.) The misery for some soldiers was compounded by the lack of adequate shelter. Both the 2nd Vermont and 5th Wisconsin, and perhaps other regiments, waited about two weeks until they received tents.   

"Gen. Smith's Brigade--from Fort Marcy. Chain Bridge, Va.," by Arthur Lumley, Sept. 1861, sketch for Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper (courtesy of New York Public Library Digital Gallery).  Based on the caption and date, this sketch appears to depict Camp Advance, or a portion of it.  Smith was a brigade commander in September and was still encamped close to Ft. Marcy.  In October 1861, as a division commander, Smith pushed his soldiers to a position that would likely have been farther west than is seen in this sketch.  This view from Ft. Marcy to the encampments beyond is from the western side of the fort.  The Potomac River and Leesburg & Georgetown Turnpike are visible to the right of the sketch.

Close up of above sketch, showing wagons moving down the turnpike with the Potomac River beyond the tents to the right.  This part of the pike is today's VA-123.

Aside from digging entrenchments and felling trees, the men at Camp Advance spent their days on picket duty or on scouting missions in the surrounding countryside.  Occasionally, the soldiers on reconnaissance brought back Confederate prisoners, horses, and contraband.  The men assigned to picket duty also confronted possible dangers, as the Confederates were equally as curious about the Union men who had encamped just over the Chain Bridge and also sent scouting parties to the area.

Detail from an 1862 Union Army map showing the area around Chain Bridge, Ft. Marcy, Ft. Ethan Allen, and Langley (courtesy of Library of Congress).  The encircled portion of the map represents the approximate position of Camp Advance based on the sketch above and first-hand accounts of soldiers from the regiments encamped there.  Today, the area around the camp and Ft. Marcy is bisected by the GW Parkway.

On September 10, President Lincoln, General McClellan, Secretary of War Simon Cameron, and Pennsylvania Governor Andrew Curtin rode out from Washington to pay a visit to the soldiers at Camp Advance.  The men were thrilled to see Old Abe and McClellan, and many soldiers rushed to shake hands with the dignitaries in their presence.  The very next day, some of the men would be tested in battle for the first time.  But for now, they were just happy to have the monotony of camp life broken by a visit from such esteemed guests.

Note

*In his A Report on the Defenses of Washington to the Chief of Engineers, U.S. Army, Brevet Major General John Gross Barnard notes that Smith crossed Chain Bridge on September 24, 1861 and began building the two forts.  (p. 14.) The reference to the 24th shows up in several sources, including the well-known work on the defenses of Washington, Mr. Lincoln's Forts.  However, this date is contradicted by numerous primary and secondary sources, which indicate that Smith entered Virginia on September 3-4 and set to work on the forts shortly thereafter.  Perhaps Barnard slipped a "2" before the "4," accidentally, and the mistake stuck!

Sources

Annual Report of the Adjutant General of the State of Wisconsin for the Year Ending September 30th, 1863 (1863); John G. Barnard, A Report on the Defenses of Washington to the Chief of Engineers, U.S. Army (1871); George Grenville Benedict, Vermont in the Civil War, Vol. 1 (1886); Civil War in the East (website with army and unit information); The Civil War Letters of Forrest Little (website); Benjamin Franklin Cooling III & Walton H. Owen II, Mr. Lincoln's Forts: A Guide to the Civil War Defenses of Washington (2010 ed.); Terry A. Johnston, Jr., "Him on the One Side and Me on the Other" (1999) (collection of soldiers' letters);George B. McClellan, McClellan's Own Story (1887); NRHP Nomination Form for Ft. Ethan Allen;  Second Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry (website with soldiers' letters); Kerry A. Trask, Fire Within: A Civil War Narrative from Wisconsin (1995); Vermont in the Civil War (website with unit information); Paul G. Zeller, The Second Vermont Volunteer Infantry Regiment, 1861-1865 (2002).

Civil War Forts of Arlington Tour, Part I: Fort Ethan Allen

This past Saturday my friend and I joined a small group led by David Farner, Park Manager of Fort C.F. Smith Park, for an excellent tour of some of the Civil War forts of Arlington.  (We also visited Ft. Marcy, which is technically in Fairfax County, right across the county line from Arlington.)  Readers may remember that I have blogged a few times now about the Civil War defenses of Washington, so I won't go over all of the background.  By the end of the Civil War, around 68 forts, 90 batteries, and 20 miles of rifle trenches had been constructed to defend the nation's capital. The line came under a major Confederate attack just once, during the Battle of Ft. Stevens in July 1864.  Following the war, many of the forts, in Arlington and elsewhere, were dismantled and eventually swallowed up by development.  Arlington County has made an effort to preserve at least a few of these forts.

Ft. Ethan Allen

Our first stop was Ft. Ethan Allen Park (3829 N. Stafford St., Arlington, VA 22207).  In September 1861, Federal troops under Brigadier General William "Baldy" Smith began construction of Ft. Ethan Allen on land belonging to Gilbert Vanderwerken, a New York transplant who owned and operated Washington's omnibus line.  This fort, along with Ft. Marcy, protected the approaches to Washington across Chain Bridge.  The fort's perimeter was 736 yards, with 36 gun emplacements.  Many famous units were involved with the construction of Ft. Ethan Allen, including the 19th Indiana that was eventually assigned to what became known as the "Iron Brigade"; the "Cameron Highlanders" of the 79th New York, which had seen action at Bull Run and Lewinsville; and the 2nd and 3rd Vermont that wintered at Camp Griffin as part of the Vermont Brigade.  Throughout the remainder of the war, heavy artillery units from Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, and other northeastern states garrisoned the fort.

The Vermont soldiers who helped to build the fort named it after Ethan Allen (1738-89), Revolutionary War hero from that state. Here, Allen is seen demanding the surrender of Ft. Ticonderoga in 1775 (courtesy of Wikipedia).




Historical marker at the entrance to the park.  The southern exterior wall of the fort is visible in the background, behind the treeline.



View along the southern wall of the fort (right), with the ditch clearly visible in the middle of the photograph.  The ditch helped to impede access to the fort's walls.



Looking towards the remnant of a gun platform along the southern wall of the fort.  The faint outline of the embrasure, through which the gun was fired, is visible in the center of the photograph. An engineering drawing indicates that a 20-pounder Parrott was placed at this spot.

   

The mound of earth around tree #9 is the remains of a magazine, where ammunition and powder were stored.  This magazine was located just behind the fort's southern wall.



Remains of another magazine, close to the eastern side of the fort.

Remains of the guardhouse, close to the entrance at the northern end of the fort, are indicated by a mound of dirt in the center of the photograph.

The mound of dirt hidden among the trees is part of the magazine at northern end of the fort, to the left of the guardhouse.



A bombproof in the interior of the fort.  Only one of two bombproofs remains.  A bombproof was a structure where soldiers at the fort could take shelter during an attack.



As seen from the photographs, we had a relatively good view of the historic features because the county had recently cleared debris and overgrowth from around the remains of the fort.  David, equipped with engineering drawings and a vast knowledge of the site, was indispensable to understanding the terrain.  I also learned that Arlington plans to undertake additional work on Fort Ethan Allen; this is welcome news, as the property would benefit from greater interpretive resources and further restoration. After walking the grounds and exploring the remains of the fort, we headed next in a county van to Fort C.F. Smith Park.



The 79th New York & Lewinsville: Fight for the Colors, Part II

As we saw in my last post, the war had not gone well for the 79th New York.  The regiment, known as the "Cameron Highlanders," had experienced high losses at Bull Run and mutinied when faced with the prospect of many more years of fighting.  The soldiers had witnessed the ultimate humiliation of their colors being taken away on orders from General McClellan.  As the 79th set out with the reconnaissance force to Lewinsville on September 11, 1861, the soldiers must surely have realized that they had already lost a lot, and could lose even more.

Col. Isaac Stevens, here a Brigadier General in Beaufort, S.C. (Library of Congress)

The leader of the Union expedition that day was the 79th New York's own commander, Colonel Isaac Stevens, who would be killed at the Battle of Chantilly almost a year later.  The force consisted of the 79th, as well as four companies of the First Regiment U.S. Chasseurs, two companies of the 2nd Vermont, two companies of the 3rd Vermont, five companies of the 19th Indiana, four guns of Captain Charles Griffin's battery, and a detachment of 50 regular cavalry and 40 volunteer cavalry.

The Village of Lewinsville during the war, Harper's Weekly, December 14, 1861

Stevens set out from Camp Advance around 7:30 in the morning and arrived at Lewinsville around 10 am.  He immediately placed the troops in a defensive perimeter around the village.  The 79th New York was stopped about one-third a mile from Lewinsville, and according to Stevens, "a heavy body [of the Highlanders] were thrown out as skirmishers to cover the country towards Falls Church." 

The reconnaissance was successful and recall was sounded around 2 pm.  Southern pickets, however, had been eyeing the Union presence and sent word to the Confederate lines. Colonel J.E.B. Stuart rode to Lewinsville with a small force and unleashed an attack just as the Union soldiers were assembling and preparing to return to Camp Advance. The 79th, caught near the Gilbert family house, faced fire from both musket and cannon.  Stevens decided to continue the march back to camp, rather than engage his whole force, and ordered Griffin's battery to cover the withdrawal from Lewinsville.  The 79th New York helped to protect the retiring Union soldiers and provided support to a battery which had arrived on the field.   The entire force reached Camp Advance in relatively good order.  Overall, casualties were light, with about two Union soldiers killed, 13 wounded, and three captured.

In reports filed after the battle, commanders sung the praises of the 79th New York.  According to Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Shaler of the 65th New York, who had immediate command of the 79th during the battle:

The conduct of the officers and men of the Seventy-ninth while under my command was in the highest degree praiseworthy. They gave undoubted evidence of their bravery and resoluteness.

Captain David Ireland of the 79th explained that:

The conduct of the officers and men on this occasion was all that could be desired. They were cool and collected, behaving as well as if on parade, and more like veteran troops than volunteers. Where all did so well it would be wrong to individualize.

 To Lieutenant Samuel R. Elliott of the 79th, who was engaged around the Gilbert house:

The men throughout behaved admirably; even after it became certain that those crouching forms were the enemy's advance they showed less trepidation than perhaps I might have wished for the sake of celerity.

We may not know whether these officers were motivated by some self-interested or altruistic desire to see the 79th's reputation rehabilitated.  Or perhaps the Federal officers were so relieved that the ranks did not panic and run like at Bull Run that they were overly effusive in their praise.  Regardless, the 79th New York had performed up to par, and was congratulated after the battle by General McClellan himself.  (From various secondary accounts, it is unclear whether the commander of the Army of the Potomac met the troops in camp, or on the road around present-day McLean.)

A few days later, on September 14, no less an officer than "Little Mac" wrote to General Smith:

The colors of the New York Seventy-ninth will be sent to you to- morrow. Please return them to the regiment, with the remark that they have shown by their conduct in the reconnaissance of the 11th instant that they are worthy to carry the banner into action, and the commanding general is confident they will always in future sustain and confirm him in the favorable opinion he has formed of them.

The Battle of Lewinsville may be little remembered, but to the men of the 79th, it was a fight to re-take the colors, from the Union Army itself.