February 2013: A Month of Acquisitions

Last month I made a few welcome additions to my ever-growing collection of antique books and newspapers related to the Civil War.  I am always on the lookout for intriguing acquisitions at a reasonable price, and February was a month of particularly notable discoveries.  I tend to gravitate towards publications with a Northern Virginia or Washington connection, although I am always open to purchasing books or papers on other interesting topics.

The on-line auction site eBay is an excellent starting point for finding original Civil War-era newspapers.  A few weeks ago I bid on, and won, a May 25, 1861 edition of Harper's Weekly.  This issue focuses heavily on the early days of the war in Washington.  In fact, I illustrated a two-part series on Union volunteers arriving in the nation's capital with prints from this edition of Harper's Weekly.  (See here and here.)   The front page features a dramatic engraving of the 11th New York Fire Zouaves fighting to extinguish flames that threatened to engulf the famed Willard's Hotel.  (The complete story can be found here.)  A few other prints depict the quartering of Federal troops in the U.S. Capitol and at the Treasury Department.  I also was drawn to a full-page illustration of the 79th New York on parade by Winslow Homer.  This regiment, which fought at Bull Run, was later commanded by Isaac Stevens and played at key role at Lewinsville, a local engagement near and dear to my heart.

Front cover of the May 25, 1861 issue of Harper's Weekly, showing "Willard's Hotel, Washington, Saved by the New York Fire Zouaves."  The paper noted that the soldiers "worked like heroes, performing wonderful feats of agility and bravery."  Their leader, Col. Elmer Ellsworth, was shot dead in Alexandria, Virginia by a secessionist the day before this issue appeared.

"The Seventy-Ninth Regiment (Highlanders) New York State Militia," Harper's Weekly, May 25, 1861.  The parade depicted here likely took place in New York City prior to the regiment's departure for Washington.

"Galleries Under the Senate Chamber, Converted into Granaries," Harper's Weekly, May 25, 1861.  

One evening last month I also spent some time browsing AbeBooks and ended up purchasing an 1881 first edition of John C. Ropes' The Army Under Pope for less than twenty dollars.  This slim book was part of a multi-volume series, Campaigns of the Civil War, published by Charles Scribner's Sons.  My copy, including a fold-out map, is in very good condition, with the exception of some minor shelf and edge wear.  Ropes, a lawyer and historian, founded the Military Historical Society of Massachusetts.  Incidentally, he was also a co-founder of the Boston law firm Ropes & Gray.  Ropes dedicated the book to his youngest brother Henry, a lieutenant in the 20th Massachusetts who fell at Gettysburg.

The Army Under Pope, which appeared less than 20 years after Second Manassas, offers a critical examination of John Pope's performance as commander of the short-lived Army of Virginia.  Ropes made use of official battle reports that were appearing in print for the first time.  The author defends Gen. Fitz John Porter, who was court-martialed and dismissed from the Union Army for his alleged failures at Second Bull Run.  In other passages that I've read, Ropes tackles the popular argument that Gen. George B. McClellan intentionally contributed to Pope's defeat. 

Of course, I don't purchase all of my books on-line.  One day in February I was browsing the shelves at my favorite bookstore, The Old Book Co. of McLean, when the owner alerted me to an 1860 first edition of Ezra B. Chase's Teachings of Patriots and Statesmen; or, the "Founders of the Republic" on Slavery.  I took one look and knew that I couldn't let this one get away.

The front cover of Teachings of Patriots and Statesmen, first edition, J.W. Bradley (publishers), Philadelphia, 1860.  I was particularly drawn to the gilt-embossed American eagle design.

At the outset, Chase informed readers that the was taking a non-controversial approach:

In compiling the following pages, I have not been influenced by partisan purposes; neither have I compiled them for the notoriety of having my name appended to a book. The country is sufficiently flooded already with partisan literature—books written for political advantage, or pecuniary gain, or both. To such authorship I do not aspire. If I have cherished an ambition in reference to this work, it has been an ambition to place before the people information upon the subject that is now agitating the country, upon which they can rely,—the views and opinions of those distinguished patriots and statesmen who formed the government, and whose intentions and principles should be heeded and carried out, if we would preserve it from disruption and decay. 

The book contains the text of various speeches and writings related to slavery, from the time of the Articles of Confederation through the 1860 election.  Chase covers such controversial issues as the Compromise of 1850, the Kansas-Nebraska Act, and the Dred Scott decision.  He also quotes liberally from the Founding Fathers, including George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison.  Chase's book is a piece of history from a time when the nation was on the brink of war over slavery.  The copy at the Old Book Co. was in good condition, and the price was right, so I walked out the owner of this unique work.

I have no idea how many copies of Teachings of Patriots and Statesmen sold in 1860.  Presumably interest in such publications ran high as sectional tensions over slavery mounted.  Chase, a Democratic lawyer and former Speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, became embroiled in controversy during the Civil War.  After losing an 1861 election for district attorney by a narrow margin attributable to the absentee soldiers' vote, Chase challenged the Pennsylvania law allowing for military voting before the state supreme court and won.  (See here.)  Chase was also arrested in 1862 for encouraging men to abstain from enlisting in the Union Army.  (See here.) 

All told, February was a better than expected month for acquisitions.  The discoveries that I made remind me why I enjoy the hobby of collecting antique books and newspapers.  Owning a tangible, written connection to the Civil War era brings the past alive on the paper before me in a way that a modern publication cannot do.  My only hope now is that I find a way to get more space, but I don't think a new home library is yet on the horizon!

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.  

The Battle of Lewinsville Gets a Marker!

Last month I wrote about the upcoming installation of a Civil War Trails marker on the 1861 Battle of Lewinsville.  Thanks to the Fairfax Civil War Facebook page, I learned on Wednesday night that the historical marker was being installed on Thursday.  So I grabbed my camera on the way out the door the next morning and stopped by Lewinsville Park after work to check out the new marker.  Call me crazy, but as readers know, I have written extensively about Lewinsville and have waited a long time to see the marker come to fruition.  The installation pre-dates the actual dedication ceremony by over a week.  Details of that event on July 1 can be found here.  Unfortunately, I have a prior commitment and will not be able to attend the ceremony.

Civil War Trails sign at entrance to Lewinsville Park, 1659 Chain Bridge Rd., McLean, Virginia.  On September 11, 1861, a reconnaissance force under Col. Isaac Stevens proceeded down this road to the left, towards Lewinsville.  Around two in the afternoon, recall was sounded.   As the Union troops prepared for the return to camp, a much smaller Confederate force under Col. Jeb Stuart attacked from the area around today's Lewinsville Park.

The marker was installed inside Lewinsville Park, not far from a house in existence at the time of the engagement.  The well-researched text does a commendable job of explaining the battle in the limited space available, including mention of the famed 79th New York Highlanders and Thomas Rosser's Washington Artillery.  The accompanying maps, however, are a bit confusing.  Rather than showing the engagement from the vantage point of the viewer, facing south, the maps are drawn with the north at the top.

The new marker at Lewinsville Park

Photograph showing marker at edge of the parking lot at Lewinsville Park.  The marker looks south towards the location of the Gilbert House (now Meadowbrook), beyond the baseball field.  During the battle, Confederate artillery positioned to the southwest of the Gilbert House opened fire on the retiring Union soldiers. 

The community owes a debt of gratitude to Fairfax History Commissioner Carole Herrick and all those involved in the effort to erect this marker.  The Battle of Lewinsville has finally received the recognition that was missing for far too long.  And someday I hope that a couple more such markers dedicated to Camp Pierpont and Camp Griffin will join the Civil War Trails in McLean!

The 150th Anniversary of the Battle of Lewinsville

This upcoming Sunday marks the 150th anniversary of the so-called "Battle of Lewinsville." Living right down the street from Lewinsville, which is now a part of McLean, Virginia, I have taken a particular interest in the minor fight that occurred there on September 11, 1861. Not long after starting this blog, I began to research the Battle of Lewinsville and wrote a few posts about some interesting aspects of the engagement.

As a quick recap, on September 11, Union Brig. Gen. William F. "Baldy" Smith sent a force of about 1,800 men, accompanied by four guns, to conduct reconnaissance at Lewinsville. The soldiers, under the immediate command of Col. Isaac Stevens, left Camp Advance around 7:30 a.m. and arrived in the village about two and a half hours later. Around 2 p.m., the mission was complete, and recall was sounded. As the Union soldiers prepared for their return to camp, over 300 Confederates under the command of Col. J.E.B. Stuart launched an attack from the direction of Falls Church. Heavy artillery dueling ensued as the Union force fell back towards Washington.  Smith himself arrived on the scene with two additional artillery pieces. Both sides claimed victory, and casualties were light.

As we approach the anniversary of the Battle of Lewinsville, I thought I would direct readers to a few posts that I have done on the subject:

*Last summer, I looked at the role the 79th New York "Highlanders" played at Lewinsville. The regiment's story is one of redemption following a disgraceful mutiny in August 1861. See here for a post on how the 79th lost its colors, and see here for a detailed account of the 79th in action at Lewinsville. 

*Jeb Stuart won accolades for his performance at Lewinsville, where he led a small force of the 1st Virgina Cavalry, 13th Virginia Infantry, and two guns of the Washington Artillery of New Orleans against far superior Union numbers.  Stuart apparently lost no men.  Check out this post on how Stuart was promoted to brigadier general in part because of his bold (and some may say reckless) leadership at Lewinsville.

*Gen. George McClellan, commander of the Army of the Potomac, reacted very favorably to the Union Army's performance at Lewinsville.  In June of last year, I discussed McClellan's boast to President Lincoln on the day of the skirmish.

A few books discuss the Battle of Lewinsville, but I have found some inaccuracies. One book, for example, places the engagement in Vienna, Virginia at the same site as the Confederate attack on the 1st Ohio in June 1861! (See Russel H. Beatie, Army of the Potomac: McClellan Takes Command: September 1861-February 1862, p. 7 (2002)). The best and most accurate account I have read so far is "A Civil War Action in Lewinsville, Virginia, 11 September 1861," by Edgar R. Hon in the Yearbook of the Historical Society of Fairfax County, Vol. 29 (2003-04). 

Unfortunately, current visitors to Lewinsville have little way of knowing what occurred there 150 years ago. I understand that a Civil War Trails marker or a Fairfax County historical marker commemorating the Battle of Lewinsville is going to be installed in McLean. I will let readers know when I find out more, but such a marker would be a welcome sight. 


A current view of  the Gilbert house, where the Confederate attack on pickets of the 79th New York unfolded at Lewinsville.  Jeb Stuart placed his guns to the right of the house and opened fire on the retiring Union soldiers.  Known today as "Meadowbrook," the home is located in Lewinsville Park off Chain Bridge Road in McLean. The Fairfax County Inventory of Historic Sites lists the date of construction as circa 1860, although according to Carole Herrick's history of McLean, the farmhouse dates to 1847.  The house was damaged during the Civil War, and in 1941, the owners made  numerous additions. Fairfax Country acquired the property in 1973. 


A Word About 9/11

The Battle of Lewinsville, which has always lived in the shadows of the larger engagements of the Civil War, now shares an anniversary date with the tragedy of 9/11.  It is sometimes difficult for us to imagine a battle occurring in a place that has been so transformed since the mid-19th century.  But think how hard it would have been for a soldier at Lewinsville to grasp that in 140 years to the day, a united America would experience one of the most violent and traumatic attacks in the nation's history.  That horrible day ten years ago is still very much with us, both individually and collectively as a country.  I remember distinctly standing on the top floor of my law firm in downtown DC, looking out at the smoking Pentagon across the Potomac.  I remember too not knowing whether the White House, right next door, would be a target for the terrorists.  The fear gripped me, and like hundreds, if not thousands, of others in Washington, I joined the exodus out of town by foot.  I still get choked up just thinking about it all.  As I conclude this post, I'd like to remember all those who lost their lives in the terrorist attacks of a decade ago.  You are in our thoughts and prayers.  America, and the world, will never forget.

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).

McDowell and Civilians in Northern Virginia: Trying to Do the Right Thing (Part II)

As I discussed earlier this week, by the middle of July 1861 Federal commander Irvin McDowell had already taken several measures to protect civilians in Northern Virginia from the impact of war.  McDowell's orders reflected a conciliationist approach towards non-combatants, but not all men in the ranks shared his view.  As the Union Army prepared to move on the Confederate position near Manassas, the raw, undisciplined recruits would put McDowell's policy to the test.

The Union Army left camp in and around Washington on July 16, 1861 and headed into the heart of Northern Virginia.  During their march over the next couple of days, the Union soldiers grew increasingly unrestrained.  Colonel William T. Sherman commanded the men in his brigade to respect private property and refrain from foraging, but to no avail.  Volunteers ignored his orders, questioned his authority, and took whatever they pleased.  According to one account, Sherman reprimanded a Wisconsin solider for stealing mutton.  The solider countered that he was hungry and asserted that "it was rebel mutton, anyhow."  Sherman arrested the soldier; the mutton, however, was cooked and served to Sherman's staff at mealtime.  (William C. Davis, Battle at Bull Run: A History of the First Major Campaign of the Civil War, p. 96 (1981 ed.); Ethan S. Rafuse, A Single Grand Victory: The First Campaign and Battle of Manassas, p. 85 (2002).)

Meanwhile, some soldiers resorted to more drastic forms of pillage.  In Vienna, Federal troops in Brigadier General Daniel Tyler's division ransacked a grocery store that belonged to an alleged secessionist.  The ringleaders were Ohio boys who may have been motivated by a desire to avenge the Confederate attack on their fellow Ohioans in Vienna the month before.  Sergeant Dan Littlefield of the 3rd Michigan "did not think it was right to steal and destroy private property in that manner."  He worried that "if we go through the country that way, many would join the southern [sic] army that otherwise would not."  (excerpted in Steve Soper, The "Glorious Old Third": A History of the Third Michigan Infantry, 1855 to 1927, Ch. 9 (2007).)  McDowell would have agreed.

General William T. Sherman, later in the Civil War (courtesy of Library of Congress).  On the march to Manassas, Sherman tried in vain to keep his soldiers under control.

Around midday on July 17, Colonel David Hunter's division entered Fairfax Court House without a fight.  The soldiers found that the Confederates had abandoned the town and put a torch to a few buildings before retreating.  Some Union troops raised a flag over the courthouse, and then things rapidly deteriorated.  As an ashamed regimental chaplain wrote the following year:

I am sorry to say, that the occupation of Fairfax by our troops was marked, in some instances, by pillage and destruction. Several unoccupied houses were forcibly entered, their furniture injured or smashed to pieces, and many articles stolen and carried away. There was no reason for such wilful destruction of property, and there was no excuse for it. It left enemies behind us, when we might have secured friends. Men, who would have scorned to do such a thing at home, seemed eager and more than ready to lay their hands upon what was not their own. Many things were taken which could not possibly be carried upon the march, and which were thrown aside the next morning, and left upon the road. There was such an element of meanness and of cowardice in all this, that I could not help condemning it then, and I condemn it now. There is some glory in winning a trophy in a fair fight. But the appropriation of private property in a defenceless town, is nothing better than theft. It does not rise even to the dignity of burglary, for that requires a certain amount of courage. (Augustus Woodbury, A Narrative of the Campaign of the First Rhode Island Regiment, in the Spring and Summer of 1861, p. 82 (1862).)

Wartime photo of Fairfax Court House (courtesy of Library of Congress).  Advancing Union troops looted the county seat on July 17, 1861.

Around the same time, Federal soldiers under General Tyler, including Sherman's men, marched into the hamlet of Germantown.  As William Lusk of the 79th New York wrote to his mother, "soon the soldiers were ransacking the houses for food, destroying and burning what they could not use themselves."  However, he was "happy to say the boys in my company had little hand in these doings, as such paltry work finds little countenance from its officers." (William Thompson Lusk, War Letters of William Thompson Lusk, p. 52 (1911).)  A few bad seeds decided to burn down the village, and before long, Germantown was in flames.  

The 69th New York came upon one of the burning houses.  Major Thomas F. Meagher of the 69th, future leader of the Irish Brigade, disavowed any involvement by his men and condemned this spiteful act.  He wrote:

Whose was the scurvy and malignant hand that fired the deserted homestead? It is for the regiments of the Brigade, in advance of the 69th to answer. With them rests the responsibility of this savage riotousness and mischief. The house was doomed irrevocably when the 69th came up. The Irish regiment swept by the blazing ruin, cursing the ruffians who had played the barbarous prank, and maddened with the thought of the disgrace it would bring on the Federal Flag. (Thomas F. Meagher, "The Last Days of the 69th in Virginia," in Michael Cavanaugh, Memoirs of Gen. Thomas Francis Meagher, p. 393 (1892).)

McDowell witnessed what his men had done at Fairfax Court House.  He was angered by the behavior of his men and their blatant disregard for his orders to respect civilian property in Northern Virginia. On July 18, McDowell dashed off General Orders No. 18 (OR, Series 1, Vol. 2, Part 1, pp, 743-44), in which he began:

It is with the deepest mortification the general commanding finds it necessary to reiterate his orders for the preservation of the property of the inhabitant of the district occupied by the troops under his command.

Hardly had we arrived at this place when, to the horror of every right-minded person, several houses were broken open and others were in flames by the act of some of those who, it has been the boast of the loyal, came here to protect the oppressed and free the country from the domination of a hated party.

He followed with a dose of guilt and shame:

The property of this people is at the mercy of troops who we right-fully say are the most intelligent, best-educated, and most law-abiding of any that were ever under arms. But do not, therefore, the acts of yesterday cast the deeper stain upon them? 

It has been claimed by some that their particular corps were not disgraced. This is of but little moment; since the individuals are not found out, we are all alike disgraced.

McDowell adopted measures to stop further acts of plunder and destruction, and reiterated his previous order to protect the civil liberties of the local inhabitants:

Commanders of regiments will select a commissioned officer as regimental provost-marshal, and ten men as a permanent police force under him whose special and sole duty it shall be to preserve the property from depredation, and arrest all wag-doers, of whatever regiment or corps they may be. Any one found committing the slightest depredations, killing pigs or poultry, or trespassing on the property of the inhabitants, will be reported to headquarters, and the least that will be done to them will be to send them to the Alexandria jail. 

It is again ordered that no one shall arrest or attempt to arrest any citizen not in arms at this time, or search or attempt to search any house, or even to enter the same, without permission.

McDowell concluded:

The troops must behave themselves with as much forebearance and propriety as if they were at their own homes.  They are here to fight the enemies of the country, not to judge and punish the unarmed and helpless, however guilty they may be.  When necessary, that will be done by the proper persons.

The commander once again proved his commitment to a policy of conciliation, and we know that at least some Federal volunteers like Lusk, Meagher, and Woodbury were more than likely pleased with the renewed effort to impose discipline.  In any event, the army was soon on the march again, and within a few days it engaged the Confederates on the battlefield of Bull Run.  The war was going to be a long one after all, and as the months turned into years, McDowell's early attempts to restrain his troops and protect civilian property looked almost quaint. Unfortunately for the residents of Northern Virginia, the war and Union occupation would mar the countryside and transform everyday life, and the Bull Run Campaign was just the beginning.

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.



Music of the 79th New York

A couple of months ago I wrote a few posts on the story of the 79th New York Volunteer Infantry in the skirmish at Lewinsville.  (See here and here.)  Imagine my surprise when reading the December edition of Civil War Times I came across a review of Kilted Warriors, a recording of music of the 79th New York.  I immediately ordered the CD on Amazon, which came with an informative 22-page booklet.

Caywood Jones, Andy Redmond, Robert Philbin and a host of others perform music of the 79th on authentic period instruments.  They cover a wide variety of tunes, including regulation field music, popular songs of the Civil War era, Scottish military marches, and traditional Celtic airs.  The CD is certainly unique.  It is not everyday that modern listeners can hear martial bagpipe music associated with a Civil War regiment which itself was so unique. (Incidentally, the booklet notes that "there is, of yet, no evidence to link the pipers with the official muster rolls," although pipers were likely used in parades by the pre-war 79th militia unit.)  Particularly stirring is the lyric poem written for the 79th that leads off the CD.  "Field Music Under Fire" replicates what drum and bugle sounded like in battle, complete with musket and canon fire.  And the musicians perform an interesting rendition of the 19th-century favorite "Old Dan Tucker" on fife and drum.

This recording may not suit all musical tastes.  But I certainly find it a rousing, and sometimes reflective, way to start my morning commute.  Not more than a few times have I felt a chill as I listened and drove down the very road that the 79th once marched over on the way to battle.

149 Years Ago Today in Lewinsville

Today marks the 149th anniversary of a skirmish in Lewinsville, Virginia.  Although not written about nearly as much as the September 11, 1861 skirmish, this encounter actually involved larger numbers than the earlier one.  (See here.)  Around 9 a.m. on Wednesday, September 25, Union General William "Baldy" Smith deployed about 5,100 infantry, 16 pieces of artillery, and 150 cavalry in positions running from Langley, down Chain Bridge Road towards Lewinsville.  Many of the soldiers doing duty that day were involved in the fight on the 11th, including Captain Charles Griffin's battery, the 19th Indiana, and the 79th New York Highlanders.

General "Baldy" Smith (courtesy of Wikipedia Commons)



Wagon train and Union Army camp (Corbis)



On the morning of the twenty-fifth, Smith surveyed the countryside for Confederates, and seeing no enemy activity, ordered the quartermaster troops to begin foraging.  As the New York Times reported, the wagons were "load[ed] with hay belonging to farmers known to be Secessionists."  According to Smith, the soldiers filled 90 wagons to the brim by three in the afternoon.  Smith then sent the wagons back toward the Union lines and recalled the skirmishers.  As the Union soldiers were being pulled in, the 79th New York captured an Irishman named Burke.  The prisoner claimed to be an aide to Colonel J.E.B. Stuart and warned that the enemy was on the way to Lewinsville.  Before long, the Northern soldiers "could see advancing over the hills from the Falls Church road what seemed to be a large regiment, marching rapidly in close column and others deployed as skirmishers with the apparent intention of turning our flank." (OR, I.V.5, p. 216.)  A Southern gun opened fire, but was too far away to do any damage.  Confederate cavalry soon moved through the corn fields and woods to the Union left, and the Confederates brought up two cannon to fire on the right of the Union line.  An artillery duel ensued between Union and Confederate batteries.  Smith reports that the Northern cannoneers got off thirty rounds before the Confederates retreated to Falls Church.

Captain Charles Griffin, here in a later photo as a general (courtesy of Wikipedia Commons)

At 5:30, Smith ordered the section of a Union battery to fall back slowly to Langley, and then withdrew the Union forces, which arrived at camp near Chain Bridge by 7 o'clock.  Around dusk, Smith was informed that the Confederates had fired four or five shots into Langley, but by the time a Northern scout arrived, the Southern troops had already left the area.

In his official report of the skirmish, Smith singled out Griffin's battery, noting that "the firing [from his guns] was most excellent."  (OR, I.V.5, p. 216.)  He also praised "[t]he conduct of the troops," which "was all that I could desire, standing with perfect coolness when [the Confederate] shot was falling...." (OR, I.V.5, p. 217.)  In all, it appears that only one Union solider was wounded in this engagement.  The Official Records contain no report from the Confederate side, so Southern casualties are uncertain.  In about two weeks time, the Union would finally occupy Lewinsville and establish winter camp in the vicinity.  (See here and here.)

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.

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

The Battle of Lewinsville, more appropriately called a "skirmish," has given birth to some interesting stories about the early days of the Civil War around Washington.  The 1,800-man force sent to conduct reconnaissance at Lewinsville on September 11, 1861 consisted of soldiers from several regiments, including the 79th New York, under the command of Colonel Isaac Ingalls Stevens.  The 79th New York, formed as a militia company in 1859, was composed primarily of Scottish immigrants living on Manhattan Island.  The regiment was also known as the "Cameron Highlanders."  The original members of the 79th New York donned traditional Scottish kilts, while the newer recruits, who joined after the outbreak of hostilities, wore trews with a Cameron of Erracht tartan pattern.  These more stylized uniforms were soon replaced with standard issue uniforms.

Soldier of the 79th New York in early war uniform, by Don Troiani (courtesy of J&S DeSimone Booksellers)

The 79th New York left for Washington in June 1861 and was assigned to a brigade under then-Colonel William T. Sherman, who would later make Georgia howl during the March to the Sea. The regiment suffered heavy casualties at First Bull Run on July 21, including its commander, Colonel James Cameron, who was killed during the fight. Bitter over the Federal defeat, and agitated at the prospect of having to serve their full three-year enlistment term, the soliders became increasingly angry and restless. Tempers flared even more when their new commander, Colonel Stevens, was chosen by appointment rather than by election. 

Stevens ordered the 79th to move to a new camp on August 14, but the soldiers wanted nothing more to do with army life.  Eight companies disobeyed and refused to strike their tents.  General George McClellan, commanding the Army in and around Washington, learned of the disobedience of the 79th, and ordered General Andrew Porter, with Regular Army troops, to assist Stevens in putting down the mutiny at Camp Ewen near Meridian Hill in Washington.  Seeing the arrival of the Regulars, the rebellious troops backed down, and the 79th was marched off to the Provost Marshal's office, where it was forced to surrender the regimental colors.  Several of the ringleaders were arrested and sentenced to hard labor at the prison in the Dry Tortugas.

Taking away the colors of the 79th New York (Corbis Images)

Stevens set about disciplining and training his soldiers.  When the 79th marched through Washington toward another camp closer to Virginia in late August 1861, Stevens had the drummer beat the "dead march" to recall the regiment's disgrace and loss of the colors. At the start of September, the 79th crossed Chain Bridge to join General "Baldy' Smith's division.  It wouldn't be long before the 79th was given the chance to redeem its tarnished reputation.

Next up: The 79th New York under fire in Lewinsville.