Marking Two Years

Today All Not So Quiet Along the Potomac turns two.  Back in May 2010, I had no plans for how long I'd keep things going.  After all, twins were on the way, and life was about to get hectic!  Well, life is still busy, if not busier, than it was back then, yet I am still at it. 

This blog has been a fulfilling experience.  Although some professional historians may be skeptical of the blogosphere, I embrace its very existence.  Blogging has provided me with an outlet for researching and writing about the Civil War, just as it has for many others out there.  Years ago, it was hard to find a voice unless you published an article or a book.  The existence of blogging has changed all that.  Where else can a non-professional historian have a chance to reach such a wide audience and engage in an enriching dialogue with others who share the same passion?

Enjoying a cigar and Civil War history in Winchester this weekend.  I'll have a thing or two to say about the trip in a few upcoming posts.

I strive to offer my readers well-researched and interesting posts on a variety of Civil War topics.  As many of you know, I particularly enjoy exploring the lesser-known side of Northern Virginia and DC Civil War history.  I have plans to dig even deeper in the months ahead.   My list of planned posts just keeps on getting bigger and bigger.  Now if only I could find the time!  Right now I've been averaging about one post per week.  I'd love to do more, but it's hard even meeting my current schedule.

Finally, I'd like to thank my readers and fans out there.  I never could have dreamed when I first starting typing on my keyboard that so many of you would read my blog on a regular basis.  Your interest in what I write about is very satisfying to me.  Keep the questions and comments coming.  And I'll do my part to keep on posting!

Best,

Ron

Manning the Defenses of Washington: The 3rd Battalion New York Artillery (Heavy)

Over the last two years, I've dedicated quite a few posts to life in the camps near Washington during the first winter of the Civil War.  My primary focus has been the soldiers living around present-day McLean, including the Pennsylvania Reserves and the Vermont Brigade.  As part of my Sesquicentennial timeline, I've even followed the men in "real" time as they combated disease, went on foraging expeditions, fought Confederates, and celebrated the holidays.  By the spring of 1862, however, most of the Union soldiers in and around Northern Virginia had left the region and moved to points farther south.

Now seems like the perfect time to shift attention to the Union soldiers who remained behind while the rest of the army was off fighting Joe Johnston on the Peninsula.  (Or waiting impatiently to do so at Fredericksburg.)  Following the Federal defeat at First Manassas, Gen. George McClellan undertook an ambitious plan to protect Washington from possible Confederate attack.   The army erected forts, batteries, and rifle trenches in a defensive ring around the city, and various regiments were assigned the unglamorous but important job of garrison duty.  I'd like to take a closer look at the men who defended Washington while the armies were battling and campaigning elsewhere.  And what better place to start than the two forts located in my neck of the woods?

Troops under Gen. William F. "Baldy" Smith crossed the Potomac and began construction on Forts Marcy and Ethan Allen in September 1861.  These two forts guarded the approaches to the Chain Bridge across the river above Georgetown.  I've written about Forts Marcy and Ethan Allen on more than a few occasions.  (See here and here.)  During this time 150 years ago, the 3rd Battalion New York Artillery (Heavy) had the responsibility of manning the two forts.

The 3rd Battalion was raised in New York City in the fall of 1861.  The men signed up for a three-year term of service.  Most of the recruits were either German immigrants, or descendants of German immigrants, and the 3rd Battalion quickly acquired the nickname of the "German Heavy Artillery."  The regiment was placed under the overall command of Lt. Col. Adam Senges, a 38 year-old immigrant from Baden who had participated in the German Revolution of 1848.  The artillerymen were soon en route to the nation's capital.  On November 28, 1861, the New York Times reported on the "Departure of Col. Senges' Company of Artillery":

Tuesday evening a company of artillery numbering ninety men, left this City, by the New-Jersey railroad for Washington. On their arrival there they are to report to the commanding officer of Gen. [Louis] BLENKER's Division, and will form a part of his command. Cannon, caissons, horses, &c., will be furnished them at the Capital.*

The 3rd Battalion was assigned to garrison duty at Forts Marcy and Ethan Allen, not far from the divisional camps of George McCall and "Baldy" Smith at Langley and Lewinsville.  The men passed a long, cold, and damp winter in Northern Virginia.  The days were mostly filled with drilling and other routine duties of army life. 

Lt. Col. Adam Senges (courtesy of OldPictures.com, from Library of Congress).** Senges served as the commander of the 3rd Battalion until May 1863.

During the summer of 1862, the 3rd Battalion sought to fill the ranks with new enlistments.  In an August 14, 1862 article entitled, "German Recruiting," the New York Times informed readers:

[The 3rd Battalion] is now stationed at Forts Ethan Allen and Marcy, in the vicinity of Washington.  It requires about 150 men to complete its maximum regimental strength, and is now receiving recruits at No. 15 Bowery. Capt. FRANZ MATTUSCHEK is the officer in charge.

The Times had no doubts that the 3rd Battalion would meet its goal:

Lieut.-Col. SENGES, the Commandant of the corps, is much esteemed by his men, and the inducements, to join his regiment are so great that the close of the present week will probably find it filled.

As the 3rd Battalion was busy recruiting in New York, Robert E. Lee's Confederates were moving towards Northern Virginia.  Gen. John G. Barnard, the newly-appointed commander of the fortifications around Washington, was worried.  Many experienced troops had already been transferred to Gen. John Pope's Army of Virginia at the front.  Upon taking command in August 1862, Barnard counted just 5,989 men in the fortifications, including 310 in the 3rd Battalion.  (Barnard 105.)  About 2,000 of the defenders were three-month recruits whose terms expired at the end of August, and an additional 2,000 were slated for the front.  (Barnard 105.)  Barnard began to reassign his men in an effort to strengthen various points in the capital's defenses.

On August 22, the 3rd Battalion was ordered to leave Forts Marcy and Ethan Allen.  Six days later, as Pope engaged Lee near Manassas, Barnard reported to Gen. McClellan:

The Third Battalion New York Artillery, about 300 strong, was distributed as follows: Fort Barnard, one company; Richardson, one platoon; Scott, one platoon; Blenker, one platoon; Ward, one company; Worth, one platoon; Ellsworth, one platoon.  (OR, 1:12:3, 711.)***

The next day, McClellan directed the 3rd Battalion to concentrate at Ft. Lyon to the west of Alexandria, with the exception of one platoon, which was retained at Ft. Ellsworth.  The immediate threat to Washington was averted when Lee's Confederates trounced Pope and headed to Maryland. 

The 3rd Battalion remained on duty at Ft. Lyon.  (OR, 1:12:3, 782, 803; 1:12:3, 1:25:2, 181.)  According to historians Benjamin Cooling and Walton Owen, during its time at Ft. Lyon, "[t]he battalion was known for its singing, lager beer, and numerous pet dogs."  (Cooling & Owen 69.)  One solider observed:

If you wish any dogs, there are plenty of them at Fort Lyon as the Dutchman have thee dogs to every man and peck of fleas in the bargain.  (in Cooling & Owen 69-70.)

On June 9, 1863, twenty-six men from the battalion were busy re-filling shells outside of Ft. Lyon's north powder magazine.  The men first had to remove powder that was caked on the inside of the shells due to moisture damage.  The lieutenant in charge grew frustrated with the ineffectiveness of the wooden spoons being used for the task and distributed priming wires to some of the men to dig out the powder.  A spark caused by a priming wire triggered a massive explosion of around 28,00 pounds of powder.  The powerful blast destroyed the north magazine and sent debris and bodies flying through the air.  As Gen. John Slough, military governor of Alexandria, reported to headquarters, "[e]verything in the vicinity is a wreck," although "[n]o serious damage was done . . . to the guns or guncarriages."  (OR, 1:27:2, 871.)  Incredibly, most of the men were huddled in the bombproof at the time of the explosion and escaped unharmed.  In all, twenty-one lost their lives, and ten were injured.  The "severely wounded" were transported to the hospital in Alexandria. (OR, 1:27:2, 871.)  The following day, President Abraham Lincoln, accompanied by Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, inspected the damage. 

The 3rd Battalion underwent organizational changes in September 1863, when the men were transferred to the newly-formed 15th New York Heavy Artillery.  The 3rd Battalion comprised Companies A through E of the regiment.  The 15th New York Heavy Artillery was initially based at Ft. Lyon, and other companies joined the old 3rd Battalion there. 

The 15th New York Heavy Artillery left the defenses of Washington and headed to the field in March 1864.  The regiment fought with the Fifth Corps of the Army of the Potomac throughout the Overland Campaign and before Petersburg.  After Appomattox, the men returned to the defenses of Washington and were mustered out of Federal service in August 1865. 

The 3rd Battalion never saw combat as a unit.  Its biggest enemies were disease and boredom.  The time spent in the defenses around Washington was generally considered "soft" duty by the hardened soldiers in the field.  However, without units like the 3rd Battalion, the forts were worthless as a deterrent.  And the terrible tragedy at Ft. Lyon in 1863 reminds us that garrison duty was not always a risk-free adventure.  The history of the 3rd Battalion also highlights the contributions that German immigrants made to the Union war effort.  Senges and others like him endured the hardships of army life and war for their adopted homeland.  Their story helps us to put a human face on the defenses of Washington.

Notes

*Some sources report that the 3rd Battalion left for Washington on December 19, 1861. It appears that a company under Senges left at the end of November 1861, and that the remainder of the 3rd Batallion may have joined them in Washington in December.

**Nearly all captions I have seen, including on the Library of Congress website, indicate that the officer pictured above is "Lt. Col. A. Senger" of the 15th New York Heavy Artillery (a later iteration of the 3rd Battalion). However, "Lt. Col. A. Senger" does not appear on the rolls of either the 3rd Battalion or the 15th New York Heavy Artillery. Moreover, a military service record for Senges on ancestry.com includes this photograph. I am convinced that this photograph has been misidentified in most captions, and that it actually shows Senges.

***All of these forts were located to the north and west of Alexandria, Virginia.  For a map of the defenses of Washington from the OR, see here.

Sources

John Gross Barnard, A Report on the Defenses of Washington to the Chief of Engineers, U.S. Army (1871); Benjamin Franklin Cooling III & Walton H. Owen II, Mr. Lincoln's Forts: A Guide to the Civil War Defenses of Washington (2010 ed.); Wolfgang Hochbruck, "Forty-Eighters" in the Union Armies: A Preliminary Checklist, on RootsWeb; George B. McClellan, Report of Major-General George B. McClellan Upon the Organization of the Army of the Potomac and Its Campaigns in Virginia and Maryland (1864); Military and Naturalization Records of Adam Senges, available on ancestry.com (subscription service); William J. Miller, The Men of Fort Ward: Defenders of Washington (1989); National Park Service, A Historic Resources Study: The Civil War Defenses of Washington, Parts I & II (2004); New York State Military Museum and Veterans Research Center, 3d Battalion of Artillery (Heavy); New York State Military Museum and Veterans Research Center, 15th Artillery Regiment (Heavy); New York Times, Nov. 28, 1861; New York Times, Aug. 14, 1862; New York Times, June 10, 1863; Frederick Phisterer, New York in the War of the Rebellion, 1861 to 1865 (1890); Adolf Eduard Zucker, The Forty-Eighters: Political Refugees of the German Revolution of 1848 (1950).

Updates on the Battle of Lewinsville

If you are a frequent reader of this blog, then you are probably aware of my near-obsession with the "Battle of Lewinsville."  This engagement, which occurred on September 11, 1861, pitted a mixed Confederate force of infantry, cavalry, and artillery under Col. Jeb Stuart against a much larger group of Federals under the command of Col. Isaac Stevens.  Although the skirmish was tactically a draw, both sides boasted of victory.  I live down the street from the site of Lewinsville, which is now part of McLean, Virginia.  A portion of the skirmish took place on ground that today belongs to Lewinsville Park.

When I first started writing about local Civil War history, I noticed the lack of any markers in McLean commemorating what had happened at Lewinsville.  I started to think about the possibilities of getting a new marker installed.  However, in October 2010, while attending a marker dedication for Salona, I learned from Fairfax County History Commissioner Carole Herrick that a Civil War Trails marker for the Battle of Lewinsville was already in the works.  I am happy to announce that the marker is finally going to be installed at Lewinsville Park this summer.  An unveiling is planned at the park for Sunday, July 1, at 4 p.m.  The marker was paid for with county funds and is sponsored in part by the group "McLean & Great Falls Celebrate Virginia."  (Click here for a map and driving directions.)  I'll be sure to post any other information as it becomes available.  I also understand that Fairfax will be unveiling around five other Civil War Trails markers in the near future.

On a related note, the McLean Historical Society has started filming its monthly meetings and downloading the videos to Vimeo.  Herrick's February 2012 lecture on Battle of Lewinsville is now available for viewing.  Click here to access the video and see what this noted local historian has to say about this small but interesting early engagement.  As you might imagine, I am thrilled to see that the "Battle of Lewinsville" is finally getting some love!

The U.S. Department of Agriculture Turns 150

As part of my "day" job, I work with my counterparts at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on a variety of agricultural trade issues.  A couple weeks ago when sitting in a conference room over at USDA's Whitten Building, I noticed a poster proclaiming the 150th anniversary of the department.  This is one of those rare times where my full-time career intersects with my interest in the Civil War era, and I felt compelled to dig a little deeper.

President Abraham Lincoln, who grew up on family farms in Kentucky and Indiana, was no stranger to agriculture.  In a speech given to the Wisconsin State Agricultural Society the year before he was elected President, Lincoln called for increased productivity on small farms and extolled the virtues of agricultural technology.  He also stressed the value of education to farmers.  As Lincoln told the Society, "no other human occupation opens so wide a field for the profitable and agreeable combination of labor with cultivated thought, as agriculture."  The Republican Party at the time favored several measures to promote agriculture, including the adoption of a homestead act to encourage the settlement and farming of western lands.  These ideas reflected the free labor and free land policies of Lincoln's party.

In his annual message to Congress on December 3, 1861, Lincoln advocated the creation of a bureau or department of agriculture within the government.  As he told Congress, with a bit of humor thrown in for good measure:

Agriculture, confessedly the largest interest of the nation, has not a department nor a bureau, but a clerkship only, assigned to it in the Government. While it is fortunate that this great interest is so independent in its nature as to not have demanded and extorted more from the Government, I respectfully ask Congress to consider whether something more can not be given voluntarily with general advantage.  (in Rasmussen.)

In response to Lincoln's call, Congress passed passed "An Act to Establish a Department of Agriculture."  Lincoln signed the bill into law on May 15, 1862.  The new department had a broad mandate "to acquire and to diffuse among the people of the United States useful information on subjects connected with agriculture in the most general and comprehensive sense of that word, and to procure, propagate, and distribute among the people new and valuable seeds and plants."  Congress designated a Commissioner of Agriculture to serve as the "chief executive officer" of the department.  The Commissioner was to be appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate.  Lincoln selected Isaac Newton as the first Commissioner of Agriculture.

Isaac Newton, first Commissioner of Agriculture (courtesy of Abraham Lincoln's White House).  Newton, a farmer originally from New Jersey, was serving as the chief clerk of the Bureau of Agriculture in the Patent Office when Lincoln appointed him to the new post.  Newton was instrumental in establishing a national agricultural library.  

In the coming days and weeks, Congress adopted other agriculture-related legislation.  Southern states had defeated previous attempts to pass a homestead law in the 1850s out of fears that such legislation would favor western settlement by small farmers without slaves. The secession of the Southern states changed the political dynamic and paved the way for the passage of homesteading legislation by Congress.  Lincoln signed the Homestead Act on May 20, 1862.  The law provided for the grant of 160 acres of public land to eligible heads of household or individuals who were at least 21 years of age.  The recipients could gain title after five years on the condition that they made improvements to the land.  The law also established a purchase option for those who resided on the land for six months and made improvements.  Moreover, only U.S. citizens, or intended citizens, who had "never borne arms against the United States Government or given aid and comfort to its enemies" were eligible.

The Homestead Act entered into effect on January 1, 1863.  By the middle of 1864, the government had distributed over 1.2 million acres west of the Mississippi River.  (Wagner, Gallagher & Finkelman 678.)  These newly-settled lands contributed to expanded agricultural production in the North.  Unfortunately, the implementation of the act was marked by fraud and speculation, and only 80 million of 500 million acres distributed by the Federal government between 1862 and 1904 actually went to homesteaders.  ("Homestead Act (1862)," http://www.ourdocuments.gov/.)

Lincoln also signed the Morrill Land Grant College Act into law on July 2, 1862.  Sponsored by Rep. Justin Morrill of Vermont, the new law embodied the notion that higher education should be available to the masses.  Each state received a grant of 30,000 acres of federal land for each Representative and Senator.  The states were required to use the proceeds from the sale of this land to create and finance colleges for agriculture and engineering.  Section 6 provided that "[n]o State while in a condition of rebellion or insurrection against the government" could benefit from the act. 

The flurry of agriculture-related legislative activity in spring and summer of 1862 shows that even in the midst of Civil War, Lincoln and Congress carried on the normal business of government and took steps to implement their vision for the country's future.  In fact, the three acts had long-ranging consequences.  The Department of Agriculture was eventually designated as a cabinet-level department in 1889 and today has sweeping responsibilities in a large number of areas, including nutrition, food safety, plant and animal health, international trade, and assistance for farmers.  Although far from an unmitigated success, the Homestead Act helped to stimulate the continued settlement of the West.  The Morrill Act is probably one of the most important pieces of educational legislation in U.S. history.   The law led to the current-day system of state universities and colleges.  Many institutions of higher education, such as Iowa State University, Michigan State University, and Cornell University, represent the living legacy of the 1862 law.

USDA has put together a stellar collection of documents for its 150th anniversary.  The department's main gateway page can be found here, but the best resources are available on the National Agricultural Library page entitled "Abraham Lincoln and Agriculture."  This site has a remarkable collection of materials about Lincoln and his views on agriculture and farming.  Visitors to the site can find a myriad of interesting documents, including Lincoln's 1859 speech to the Wisconsin Agricultural Society and copies of yearly agricultural reports from 1862-65.

Sources

This post is in part based on the documents available at the "Abraham Lincoln and Agriculture" website, including "Lincoln's Agricultural Legacy" by Wayne D. Rasmussen.  Other useful sources include:

"Homestead Act (1862)," http://www.ourdocuments.gov/ (on-line initiative of National History Day, National Archives, & USA Freedom Corps); "Morrill Act (1862)," http://www.ourdocuments.gov/; National Archives, "Teaching With Documents: The Homestead Act of 1862," National Park Service, Homestead National Monument of America, "About the Homestead Act;" USDA, Map of 1862 Land Grant Universities and Colleges; Margaret E. Wagner, Gary W. Gallagher, & Paul Finkelman (eds.), The Library of Congress Civil War Desk Reference (2002).

Living History at Ft. Ward: The Union Army's Balloon Corps

This past weekend my parents were visiting and helping me with the boys while my wife was out of town.  I was looking for a family-friendly activity to fill Saturday morning.  (Believe me, with 22 month-old twins, it's best to get out and about.)  Lucky for us, the Ft. Ward Museum and Historic Site in Alexandria was holding a "Civil War Balloon Corps Living History Event."  So we packed into the SUV and headed to one of my favorite Civil War sites in the Washington area.

The event featured a reenactor portraying Thaddeus S.C. Lowe, the head of the Union Army's Balloon Corps.  Kevin Knapp, a retired Army officer and professional balloonist, has established a name for himself as an expert on Lowe and the military use of balloons during the Civil War.  He set up a balloon on the grounds of Ft. Ward, complete with replica gas generators and a basket draped in patriotic bunting.  The balloon is actually a 1941 Navy trainer, but bears a resemblance to the type of netted gas balloons used by Lowe and other period aeronauts.  Incidentally, Knapp is the same reenactor who made a widely-publicized appearance on the the National Mall last summer as part of a reenactmet of Lowe's June 1861 balloon demonstration for President Abraham Lincoln. 

Thaddeus S.C. Lowe (Kevin Knapp) poses in front of his balloon.  Knapp, a professional balloon pilot, brings first-hand flying experience to his interpretation of Civil War aviation.

View of the balloon attached to replica gas generators on the grounds of Ft. Ward.  Knapp explained to me that the actual balloon was used by the Navy to transition pilots from light-than-air flight to airships.  The Genesee County Village & Museum in Mumford, New York is currently building an exact replica of one of Lowe's balloons and will offer rides to visitors.

Lowe inflating his balloon Intrepid at Fair Oaks, Virginia.  Note the gas generators mounted on wagons.  The event at Ft. Ward replicated a wartime scene like the one above (courtesy of Smithsonian Air & Space Museum).

Knapp could not fully inflate the balloon due in part to the airspace restrictions around the nation's capital. That's too bad, because many spectators surely had come to see the balloon floating high above the fort and museum.  On the other hand, Knapp was on the ground and available to answer questions.  I spoke with the reenactor for a few minutes and learned quite a bit about the Balloon Corps in such a short amount of time.  I am not too familiar with the subject, and Knapp whetted my appetite to learn more.  His enthusiasm for the topic was contagious.

View of a replica gas generator used to inflate balloons in the field.  Balloonists mixed sulfuric acid and iron filings to produce hydrogen gas.  The gas flowed from the generator to the balloon.  Of course, authenticity only goes so far, and Knapp uses a cold air fan to inflate his balloon.  The two replica generators at the event were somewhat smaller than the originals because Knapp built them to fit on wagons provided to him for last year's reenactment on the Mall.

The event featured a miniature replica of a Civil War balloon, which floated above the trees at Ft. Ward.  At least spectators were able to see something in the air without Knapp and museum staff drawing the ire of the Federal authorities.

The West End of Alexandria, where Ft. Ward is located, was no stranger to military ballooning during the Civil War.  In the fall of 1861, John LaMountain, one of Lowe's rivals, obtained a job with Gen. William B. Franklin's division at Cloud's Mill, not far from Ft. Ward.  Earlier in 1861, La Mountain had served with Gen. Benjamin Butler at Ft. Monroe, but a new Federal commander there had little appreciation for aerial technology and sent LaMountain to Washington. 

John LaMountain, period engraving (courtesy of U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission)

Unlike Lowe, who tethered his balloons to the ground, La Mountain believed in free flight reconnaissance.  LaMountain may have possessed an on-site gas generator, but he also filled his balloons at a lighting gas plant in Alexandria.  LaMountain ascended at least seven times while based in Alexandria.  As he floated over Northern Virginia, LaMountain was able to observe the Confederate lines around Centreville, Manassas, and other spots.  LaMountain never fully accepted Lowe's appointment as head of the Balloon Corps and incessantly criticized his rival.  Gen. George B. McClellan eventually dismissed LaMountain for insubordination in February 1862.  (I'd like to take a closer look at La Mountain's activities in future posts.)

The fact that there is a reenactor portraying Lowe, and not LaMountain, says a lot about how we've come to remember the wartime balloonists.  I discussed with Knapp why Lowe still captures the public's imagination, while other aeronauts, like LaMountain, have drifted into obscurity. (No pun intended.)  The fact that Lowe had correspondents following his every move, and that he had friends in high places may have had something to do with ensuring Lowe's place in history.  Wartime photographers also seemed obsessed with Lowe's military operations and left a remarkable visual record for future generations.  In any event, it's refreshing to see living history events aside from battle reenactments, and Knapp's impression of Lowe helps to focus public attention on an interesting aspect of the Civil War and technology. 

Sources

Timothy J. Dennee, "John LaMountain and the Alexandria Balloon Ascensions," Historic Alexandria Quarterly, Vol. 2, No. 3, Fall 1997; U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission, "Balloons in the American Civil War;" Brett Zongker, Associated Press, "Smithsonian Recounts Balloon Flights of Civil War," June 10, 2011. 

Camp Griffin and the 5th Vermont: Yesterday and Today

A few months ago I reviewed an excellent book on George Houghton's Civil War photography. Published by the Vermont Historical Society, "A Very Fine Appearance" covers Vermont soldiers in camp and on campaign in Virginia from 1861-63. The book contains many priceless photographs of the Vermont Brigade at Camp Griffin near present-day McLean, Virginia. As readers are well aware, I've written extensively on Camp Griffin, which was home to Gen. William F. "Baldy" Smith's division during the first winter of the war.  

One of Houghton's photographs has won a degree of fame as the cover illustration for the companion book to Ken Burns' acclaimed public television documentary on the Civil War. The photograph, reproduced below, shows soldiers of the 5th Vermont Infantry during a review in the fall of 1861. The troops stand at attention before a mounted officer. Local historian Carole Herrick has identified this officer as "Col. L.A. Grant." (Herrick 41.)*

5th Vermont at Camp Griffin (courtesy of Vermont Historical Society)

The most distinctive natural feature in the photograph is the large rock outcropping visible to the right of Grant.  This landmark remained undisturbed when the area underwent residential development at the start of the 1950s and survives today.  Local historians have used the outcropping to identify the precise location of the Houghton photograph along Kurtz Road in McLean.  (Hatch 89-91; Herrick 41.)  Many local residents are well aware of the existence of this rock and have mentioned it to me in casual conversation or on this blog.  The actual site of the 5th Vermont's camp was not far from Baldy Smith's headquarters at Salona.

Close-up view of the rock outcropping

This past weekend I took my twin boys for a walk in search of the rock outcropping.  A helpful local pointed me in the right direction, and I finally located the outcropping in the front yard of a private residence along Kurtz Road.  A map of the location at the intersection of Kurtz and Maugh Roads can be found here.  The outcropping is now embedded in a hillside and covered with ivy, but the feature is unmistakable.  I snapped a few quick shots on my iPhone to share with readers.  (My digital Nikon would have worked better, but sometimes it's best not to run around suburban neighborhoods toting a large camera!)

Current view of the rock outcropping along Kurtz Road 

Present-day view of the site of Houghton's photograph of the 5th Vermont.  The arrow indicates the location of the rock outcropping.  Today this area is part of a residential subdivision in the Northern Virginia community of McLean. The Google map linked to above contains a street-level view that allows readers to examine this spot in more detail.

Finding the location of Houghton's well-known photograph of the 5th Vermont is a piece of cake thanks to that rock outcropping.  We are not so lucky with many of the other photographs that Houghton took of the Vermont Brigade at Camp Griffin.  The landscape around here has dramatically changed since the Civil War, and many of the pictures hold few clues as to the precise location where Houghton took them.  That being said, I will continue my search for the campgrounds of the Vermont Brigade and other units that occupied the countryside near Lewinsville and Langley.  The closer I get to understanding where those camps were, the closer I may be to figuring out where Houghton may have taken his photos.  As always, I'll be sure to report my findings on this blog.

Notes
*According to the Vermont in the Civil War website, "L.A. Grant" is Lewis Addison Grant, who was a Lt. Col. when this picture was taken in the fall of 1861.

Sources
Winslow R. Hatch, Old Roads and New Insights: Adventures in Discovery (1985); Carole Herrick, Images of America: McLean (2011); Vermont in the Civil War (website).

Ok, So Now What?

When I started this blog in 2010, I never intended to adopt a strict timeline-style format.  Instead, the posts would go wherever my interests in Northern Virginia Civil War history took me.  Of course, as 2011 got underway, how could I resist the siren song of the Sesquicentennial, luring me in with all the temptations of following the events of 1861-65 in "real time"?

As readers know, for the past year or so I have largely adhered to a timeline for 1861-62.  This period was a fascinating one for Northern Virginia.  The region went through the secession debate, the Union occupation of Alexandria, the concentration of the volunteer armies, the march to Manassas, and the Battle of Bull Run.  And that was just in the first half of 1861.  The second half brought the Confederates to within sight of the Capitol.  By October 1861, the two armies had settled in for the winter and stared at each other across a vast no-man's land.  The McLean area, where I live, played host to thousands of boys in blue.  Civilians suffered many hardships.  And don't forget my own particular obsessions, the "Battles" of Lewinsville and Dranesville.  As I wrote on Robert Moore's blog recently, there is just something so captivating about this time in local Civil War history.  Tensions and passions ran high, and no one was sure what would come next and how far away or achievable victory was.  A little engagement like Dranesville loomed large.

Alas, now the armies have largely moved to points farther south.  This naturally raises the question of what to do next.  I could stick to a weekly timeline, but without the activity of two major armies in Northern Virginia to sustain me, I may run out of topics really quickly.  There will be times when a return to the timeline will make perfect sense, as during the Second Manassas Campaign or Jubal Early's raid.  However, by and large, I am not looking to do a play-by-play on a weekly or daily basis of what was happening in my neck of the woods.

I also prefer to have a bit more freedom.  A timeline is often confining, and quite frankly, can become exhausting really, really fast.  (In March, I could barely keep up with the armies moving across Northern Virginia.  Given everything else going on right now in my life, it's pressure that I don't need!)  I'd like to do more posts on thematic elements that I shelved to stick to the timeline.  For example, I've long wanted to uncover the lives of local secessionists and Unionists caught in the war's cross-fire.  And that is just for starters.  There are also many more aspects of 1861-62 left to explore.  I didn't have the time to cover these topics the first time around, and I can't figure out why I shouldn't write about them even if the broader trend is to stick with the 150th timeline.  I'd also like to blog more about my hobby of collecting antique Civil War books and to offer readers more in the way of touring local sites in DC, Arlington, Fairfax, Alexandria, and beyond. 

By no means am I saying I will abandon the Sesquicentennial timeline altogether.  The siren song is much too alluring.  But I hope readers will indulge me as I wander and explore without being wedded to a strict timeline.   This "alteration" in blog policy isn't much of a change at all.  I just see it as a return to what I set out to do in establishing  my blog nearly two years ago.  As always, thanks for reading!

Visualizing Emancipation: Contributing to a New Project

The University of Richmond's Digital Scholarship Lab has just launched a project entitled Visualizing Emancipation.  Hat tip to Kevin Levin of Civil War Memory for bringing the story to my attention.  This fascinating website traces the story of emancipation over the course of the Civil War in a unique and informative way.  The team at U of R has placed individual "events" related to emancipation and slavery on a map of the United States.  Click on a given marker and a pop-up box explains what happened at that location and even includes a link to the primary source documenting the episode.  I was also pleased to learn that the public may submit emancipation events to the website for inclusion on the map.  You really could spend quite a bit of time just playing around with the numerous map settings and exploring what happened in various areas of the country.

I immediately zoomed in on the Northern Virginia area to see what has been included.  Just last month I briefly discussed a story of contrabands fleeing to Union Army camps in the Hunter's Mills area in March 1862, but I didn't find the event on the map.  So I registered as a user and submitted the event by filling out a form on the website.  Within a day, following verification by a researcher, my event was approved for inclusion on the map.  (See here.)  I hope to submit other events that I come across during research for my blog, and would encourage readers to likewise participate in this valuable project.  However, whatever you do, don't miss checking out this site.

The Pennsylvania Reserves at Manassas: A Drunken State of Mind

As I discussed last week, the Pennsylvania Reserves left the outskirts of Alexandria during the second week of April 1862 and established camp near Manassas Junction.  The division was on the move along with the rest of Gen. Irvin McDowell's command, which President Lincoln had recently detached from the Army of the Potomac.  Although their stay at Manassas was a short one, the Pennsylvanians found plenty of ways to pass the time. 

Consumption of intoxicating beverages apparently ranked near the top of the list.  The more I read regimental histories, memoirs, and newspapers accounts, the more I am convinced that if the soldiers weren't fighting and marching, they were drinking.  And nothing stood in the way of the men procuring their own supply of liquor at Manassas.  As Archibald Hill of the 8th Pennsylvania Reserves recalled:

[F]rom some source, a considerable quantity of spirits had made its way among the boys. Upon inquiring "whence such great good-fortune," I was informed that a train of cars laden with whiskey, bound for [Nathaniel] Banks' Division, via Manassas Gap, had broken down just beyond the junction, and that OUR BOYS had flocked over, and unhesitatingly appropriated said whiskey to their own use. (Hill 226-27.)

The men of Hill's regiment took full advantage of their discovery:

Scarcely a man was there who had not his canteen full; the most of the boys had already become inebriated, and were making an unwarrantable amount of noise. . . .  Before the close of that eventful day there may possibly have been ten sober men remaining in the regiment; but I doubt it.   (Hill 227-28.) 

Likewise, a few Bucktails pried open a boxcar and discovered about a dozen bottles of whiskey that were intended for use by the Pennsylvania Reserves' medical director.  The story, unfortunately, had a less than happy ending.  The Bucktails began to drink from other bottles in the stash.  A soldier tried to warn his companions that what they were drinking was "no bitters at all," but they continued to imbibe.  (Thomson & Rauch 92.)  The bottles actually contained laudanum, and two men died the next day from ingesting the bitter-tasting narcotic.

"Drunken Soldier" by A.R. Waud (courtesy of Library of Congress).  The sketch is a bit light, but I couldn't resist using the image.

A New York Times reporter visiting the Pennsylvania Reserves was appalled by the soliders' bad behavior:

It is to be regretted that at Manassas Junction the most lamentable misrule prevails. Stragglers or drunken soldiers are the only objects of interest to be seen in the vicinity. . . .  (N.Y. Times, Apr. 11, 1862.)

He singled out the 5th Pennsylvania Reserves for particular scorn:

Your correspondent, passing through the place this morning, saw a First Lieutenant and Sergeant of the Fifth Pennsylvania Reserve arm in arm, staggering together over the rail track, in a state of disgraceful inebriety. It is stated that the Colonel of the Fifth Pennsylvania Reserve serves out whisky to his men twice daily and that this morning the Conductor of a train opened six barrels of the beverage, and gave the soldiers free access thereto. . . .  It is certain that over a hundred drunken gorillas, with the number of that regiment on their caps, were occupying the place, threatening to shoot peaceful contrabands as being prime causes of the war -- insulting peaceful travelers -- subject to no rule whatever. It is to be hoped that a speedy stop will be put to such disgraceful proceedings.  (N.Y. Times, Apr. 11, 1862.)

Maj. George Dare from the 5th Pennsylvania Reserves rushed to defend his regiment's honor in a letter submitted to the Philadelphia Press.  He admitted that upon arriving at Manassas on April 10, "some of the men found there a lot of whiskey in some of the open cars."  (Phila. Press, Apr. 25, 1862.)  However, Dare denied the allegations of drunkenness and misbehavior.  He rebuked the Times for publishing an article which "vilifies a thousand of Pennsylvania's best young men, and a colonel who has occupied various positions in our regular army for the past twenty-five years. . . ."  (Phila. Press, Apr. 25, 1862.) 

The Columbia (Pa.) Spy also entered the fray.  In an article published on April 26, 1862, the Spy explained:

We have not seen the paper, and only learn the charge through Lieut. [Sam] Evans, Quartermaster of the Fifth, who authorizes us to deny it as altogether false.  (Columbia Spy, Apr. 26, 1862.)

The Spy informed readers of Evans' version of events:

He says in explanation of the origin of the report, that Government has been supplying the men with a whiskey ration in bad weather.  The Division Commissary had brought on the cars from Alexandria several barrels of whiskey, which the "Bucktails" discovered, and knocking in the heads, they, with assistance from a New York Regiment, finished it.  Of course there was a disgraceful frolic, in which we are sorry to learn, two men from the Fifth participated, one of whom got drunk.  The only officers drunk (and there were several) were of the New York regiment.  (Columbia Spy, Apr. 26, 1862.)*

The paper took aim at war correspondents from the Empire State:

The New York dailies employ a reckless set of reporters, who, deprived of their past facilities for betraying the movements of the army to the enemy, resort to the safer and equally congenial occupation for their mischievous pens--blackening the character of Pennsylvania soldiers.  No repetition of warning will ever teach these slanderous scribblers caution. . . until a half dozen of them are shot as wholesome examples.  (Columbia Spy, Apr. 26, 1862.)

The actual version of events is probably lost to history, but the seemingly trivial debate over the behavior of the 5th Pennsylvania Reserves tells us something about moral attitudes towards alcohol consumption and drunkenness in the army.  Soldiers drank to escape the realities of war (and because it was fun), but knew that intoxication could also bring contempt from the outside world.  Such an awareness goes a long way to explaining why Hill felt a bit guilty about his own drinking at Manassas and tried to ease his conscience:

Readers, perhaps you are an advocate of the temperance cause; I hope you are—I am. But I beg you will not censure me for drinking on this occasion. You may be a civilian—a lady, perhaps—and you don't know how a man feels when exposed to the inclemency of the weather—his feet wet and cold—his clothes damp, and a chill wind penetrating them! Under circumstances like these "something," dear reader, is of inconceivable service, warming one up, and making one feel good generally.  (Hill 227.)

Wartime view of officers drinking in a sutler's tent by Arthur Lumley (courtesy of Library of Congress).

Not all liquor was taken from army trains at the railroad junction.  One sutler smuggled hard cider into camp and offered the drink at a price of ten cents a glass.  Even this supply was not safe from the Pennsylvania boys.  A few enterprising men cut a hole in the sutler's tent from behind, tapped the back side of the barrel, and sold two times the cider for half the price.  According to Evan Woodward of the 2nd Pennsylvania Reserves, these soldiers were "liberally patronized" and soon drained the barrel of cider.  (Woodward 92.)

Thankfully for the sake of military discipline and sobriety, the Pennsylvania Reserves soon resumed their march.  On April 17, John F. Reynold's brigade struck camp and moved along the Orange & Alexandria Railroad towards Catlett's Station.  (OR, 1:12:3, 80; Sypher 174.)  The brigades of George Meade and E.O.C. Ord joined the advance the next day.  (OR, 1:12:3, 85; Sypher 174.)  By the start of May, the Pennsylvania Reserves had marched to Falmouth, across the Rappahannock from Fredericksburg.  In June, the men would join the Army of the Potomac on the Peninsula. Amidst the carnage of the Seven Days, many soldiers from the Reserves would probably have given anything to be back in Manassas, enjoying a bottle of whiskey with their comrades.

Note
*The whiskey supply mentioned here was likely the same one discussed above in connection with the Bucktails episode.

Sources
Columbia Spy, Apr. 26, 1862; A.F. Hill, Our Boys: The Personal Experiences of a Soldier in the Army of the Potomac (1864); New York Times, Apr. 11, 1862; Philadelphia Press, Apr. 25, 1862; J.R. Sypher, History of the Pennsylvania Reserve Corps (1865); O.R. Howard Thomson & William H. Rauch, History of the "Bucktails" (1906); Edward Morrison Woodward, Our Campaigns (1865).

The Pennsylvania Reserves on the Move (Again): McCall's Division Heads to Manassas

The last time we visited Gen. George McCall's Pennsylvania Reserves, they had just settled into camp near Alexandria after passing several months in Langley. As part of Gen. Irvin McDowell's First Corps, the Reserves waited for orders to go to the Peninsula with the rest of the Army of the Potomac.  Instead, on April 4, 1862, the First Corps was detached from Gen. George McClellan's command and retained for the defenses of Washington as part of the newly-created Department of the Rappahannock.  McDowell, who was placed in charge of the department, wasted little time in sending his troops south along the Orange & Alexandria (O&A) Railroad.

Rufus King's division marched first on April 4.  McCall was not far behind.  On April 8, McDowell ordered McCall's division to advance to Manassas the following day.  The artillery and cavalry were to proceed "via Fairfax Court-House and Centreville," while the infantry was to move "by rail."  (OR, 1:12:3, 61.)

Gen. John F. Reynolds, commander of the First Brigade, Pennsylvania Reserve Volunteer Corps (courtesy of Wikipedia).  Reynolds would rise to lead the First Corps, Army of the Potomac.  He was killed at Gettysburg on July 1, 1863.

Gen. John F. Reynold's brigade was chosen to go first.  On the morning of April 9, his men struck camp and marched "in the midst of a furious storm of mingled rain and hail" to a point along the O&A Railroad outside of Alexandria.  (Soger Boy, Wellsboro Agitator, Apr. 23, 1862.)  As Orrin Stebbins of the Bucktail regiment (13th Pennsylvania Reserves) wrote to his local paper:

We traveled three miles [from camp] in the mud boot deep and the cold wind beating the frozen rain into our faces, and wetting our clothes to freeze during the day.  We arrived at the cars about noon--stood in the storm and mud two hours, then piled into or on them five or seven deep, sat there two hours longer, then the old engine gave a few snorts and began to move off.  (Col. Crockett, Wellsboro Agitator, Apr. 23, 1862.)*

Some of Reynold's soldiers were unlucky enough to ride in open cars, where they were exposed to the harsh weather on the way to Manassas.  Still others, including some men from the 5th and 8th Pennsylvania Reserves, were forced to spend the night waiting for additional transportation to arrive.  As Maj. George Dare of the 5th Pennsylvania Reserves recalled, the men sought "what comforts they could find in a few vacant houses, while others were without any other shelter than their blankets."  (Phila. Press, Apr. 25, 1862.)

The soldiers who managed to find space on the rail cars complained of the slow, arduous journey to Manassas.  Stebbins felt that the railroad was "the poorest and. . . steepest grade of any I ever saw." (Col. Crockett, Wellsboro Agitator, Apr. 23, 1862.)  Another Bucktail going by the pen name "Soger Boy" told the Wellsboro Agitator:

I have seen and been on what were considered slow coaches in the railroad line, but the Orange and Alexandria road can take my hat.  This must have been the Railroad the chap referred to when he said they had to put the cow-catcher on behind to keep the cattle from running over the train.  (Soger Boy, Wellsboro Agitator, Apr. 23, 1862.)

The bad weather continued unchecked as the train crawled towards its destination.  Snow was falling at a rapid clip.  By the time the trains arrived near Manassas late that night, the men had suffered through damp, freezing weather for hours on end.  As Stebbins recalled, "[t]his was the harshest storm I ever saw in the South."  (Col. Crockett, Wellsboro Agitator, Apr. 23, 1862.)  He was nonetheless confident that the army brass had not made the men suffer unnecessarily:

It is useless to say that there was some tall swearing at those high in command for moving an army in such a storm to lie idle in good weather, but of course they had good reasons for doing so, for I have no reason to think that they wish to expose our lives and health without an object.  (Col. Crockett, Wellsboro Agitator, Apr. 23, 1862.)

Reynold's men gladly left the train cars about two miles beyond Bull Run.  Here the soldiers discovered winter huts that the Confederates had abandoned when they left Manassas back in March.  As Evan Woodward of the 2nd Pennsylvania Reserves remembered:

We had anticipated a hard night of it, in the open fields without fires, so these proved a perfect god-send to us, as the snow was deep and the storm was raging with fury, and many of the men had been exposed through the day on platform cars, so closely huddled together that they could hardly move. We were in the cabins but a few moments before bright crackling fires were burning in the ample chimney-places and we were partaking of a bountiful supper of hot coffee, crackers and junk.  (Woodward, Our Campaigns, 90.)

The snowfall continued overnight and by the next morning, five inches coated the ground.  Reynolds men formed at 8 a.m. and marched three miles south along the O&A Railroad.  Passing through Manassas Junction, the soldiers observed the ruin that the Confederates had left behind.  Stebbins described the scene of what he perceived as a hasty retreat:

The whole country was one vast field of destruction--one barren desert, covered only with sham forts, rifle pits, barrels filled with sand, old wagons, broken down engines and cars, chimneys and walls of burnt buildings, dead horses, piles of burned cracker barrels, coffins, tomb stones and monuments of every kind and description that a panic-stricken would value less than life. . . .  (Col. Crockett, Wellsboro Agitator, Apr. 23, 1862.)

The men continued their march and finally set up camp near the edge of a pine forest outside of the railroad junction.  The units who were left behind in Alexandria boarded cars that day for Manassas and joined their fellow soldiers in camp.

Meanwhile, McCall's Second Brigade under Gen. George G. Meade and Third Brigade under Gen. E.O.C. Ord learned that they would be advancing to Manassas by foot.  Meade, seemingly pleased with the news, wrote to his wife:

The bad storm we have had has ceased, and the weather looks favorable, so that the change from being cooped up in cars to marching is agreeable.  (Meade 258.)

Considering the logistical difficulties of going by rail, the change in plans was a wise one.  On April 11, the two brigades left Alexandria and marched down the Little River Turnpike.**  That night the men encamped about three miles beyond Fairfax Court House.  The next day the two brigades moved through Centreville and prepared their dinner along Bull Run. They joined the rest of the division outside Manassas that evening.  McCall's men would remain in the area for almost a week before bidding the region good-bye. 

Up Next
My next post will look at the the Pennsylvania Reserves in camp at Manassas.  I hope readers will indulge my recent obsession with the Reserves.  I have followed their adventures and exploits while at Langley, so it was only natural that I picked up the trail once they left.  Of course, this blog is not just about the Reserves, so my next post will be the last one on McCall's men for the time being, until they move back into the geographic space covered by this blog.

Notes
*Sources indicate that Reynold's brigade set out from Alexandria some time between  three and five that afternoon.  (Col. Crockett, Wellsboro Agitator, Apr. 23, 1862; Meade 257; Phila. Press, Apr. 25, 1862; Woodward, Our Campaigns, 89.) 

**J.R. Sypher's classic history of the Pennsylvania Reserves indicates that the entire division moved to Manassas on April 9, 1862, but most sources, including letters written around the time of the advance, confirm that Meade and Ord's men marched from camp near Alexandria on April 11, 1862 and arrived in Manassas the next day.  (Hardin 23; Meade 258-59; Soger Boy, Wellsboro Agitator, Apr. 23, 1862; Sypher 172-73; Woodward, Third Reserve, 68.)

Sources
Col. Crockett, Wellsboro Agitator, Apr. 23, 1862; M.D. Hardin, History of the Twelfth Regiment Pennsylvania Reserve Volunteer Corps (1890); A.F. Hill, Our Boys: The Personal Experiences of a Soldier in the Army of the Potomac (1864); George Meade, The Life and Letters of George Gordon Meade, Vol. 1 (1913); Alan T. Nolan, The Iron Brigade: A Military History (1994 ed.); Phila. Press, Apr. 25, 1862; Stephen W. Sears, To the Gates of Richmond: The Peninsula Campaign (1992); Soger Boy, Wellsboro Agitator, Apr. 23, 1862; J.R. Sypher, History of the Pennsylvania Reserve Corps (1865); O.R. Howard Thomson & William H. Rauch, History of the "Bucktails" (1906); Edward Morrison Woodward, History of the Third Pennsylvania Reserve (1883); Edward Morrison Woodward, Our Campaigns (1865).