I was delighted to find an excerpt from David Powell's upcoming book Failure in the Saddle in the Fall 2010 edition of CWPT's Hallowed Ground. Powell is one of the two or three most knowledgeable people I am aware of on the Chickamauga campaign, and I've really been looking forward to the release of his book. We're inside my household's holiday book-purchasing moratorium window, so I'll have to wait a few more weeks, but the excerpt provided an excellent preview.
Powell's article focuses on the fight at Reed's Bridge near the outset of the battle. Elements of Minty's and Wilder's cavalry brigades held off advancing Confederate infantry at critical fords, providing important time for Union forces to react to the enemy advance. This has long been one of the most interesting parts of the battle to me, as there were several conflicting reports of just what happened in this fight by eyewitnesses after the war. There was quite a debate in the National Tribune across several issues. Some I've been able to locate, some I'm still looking for. A very romanticized version of the 4th U.S. Cavalry's participation in the fight can be found in James Larson's Sergeant Larson, 4th Cav., but the accuracy of this account has ben questioned.
If the quality of this article is indicative of the book itself, readers are in for a treat. Powell successfully weaves numerous (sometimes conflicting) firsthand accounts of a confusing series of skirmishes into a cohesive story that is as informative as it is entertaining.
The article can be found online here, and the book itself can be purchased from Savas-Beatie online here. David Powell's excelent Chickamauga blog can be found here, and in the blog list to the left side of this page.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Finally!
After a great deal of time, trouble and tribulation, i am once again back to the blogosphere. A number of work and family issues seriously affected my ability to post the last couple of months, but that should all be behind me now, and I'm looking forward to a bit of writing therapy here on the blog.
Fortunately work has continued on the 6th Cav manuscript during my absence, so we hope to have it before a publisher very soon. I still need to finish the Fairfield Dead series, and was inspired to compile a biographical sketch of the 4th Cavalry's Wirt Davis by a recent magazine article/ book excerpt to be discussed in the near future. A review of Eric Wittenberg's book on Brandy Station (see interview here)and David Powell's Failure in the Saddle will also be appearing before long.
Something happened to the link for Mike Block's Today at Brandy Station blog, but that has now been fixed.
It's very good to be back, I'm looking forward to posting.
Fortunately work has continued on the 6th Cav manuscript during my absence, so we hope to have it before a publisher very soon. I still need to finish the Fairfield Dead series, and was inspired to compile a biographical sketch of the 4th Cavalry's Wirt Davis by a recent magazine article/ book excerpt to be discussed in the near future. A review of Eric Wittenberg's book on Brandy Station (see interview here)and David Powell's Failure in the Saddle will also be appearing before long.
Something happened to the link for Mike Block's Today at Brandy Station blog, but that has now been fixed.
It's very good to be back, I'm looking forward to posting.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Fairfield Dead - Edson S. Cook
Edson Cook was born in Circleville, Pickaway county, Ohio in 1845. Something happened to his father when he was a young child. According to the 1850 census, he was living with his mother at a cabinetmaker’s in Circleville. In 1860, he was working as a confectioner for R. Ball in Troy township, Richland county, Ohio and attending school.
Despite his youth, Edson hurried to enlist at the outbreak of the war. He was enlisted into the 6th U.S. Cavalry by Lieutenant James Wade in Columbus, Ohio on July 22, 1861. His enlistment documents describe him as 16 years old, 5’ 1 ¾” tall, with brown hair, hazel eyes, and a ruddy complexion. Wade enlisted most of the regiment's buglers, several younger than Edson.
Edson was eventually assigned to Company I as a bugler, probably because of his age and size. He served there throughout the Peninsula and Antietam campaigns, and served with the regiment during a long cold winter of picket duty along the Rappahannock in 1863. The regimental rolls also show him as present for Stoneman’s Raid, Brandy Station, and the several cavalry fights on the march north to Pennsylvania.
On July 3rd, the regiment was sent on a mission behind enemy lines to Fairfield, Pennsylvania to capture a Confederate supply train. When the command reached the town without encountering the train, Edson’s squadron was detached under Captain George C. Cram to search for it while the remainder of the regiment moved toward Orrtanna.
A short time later, the squadron heard the sounds of gunfire. Judging from its volume that the regiment was engaged, Captain Cram turned his command and rode to the sound of the guns. They arrived to see the Confederates overrunning the regiment, and the two companies charged to the aid of their comrades. Vastly outnumbered, they were driven off with heavy losses. Riding at the head of the company, Captain Cram and his two buglers were very exposed. Captain Cram and Bugler Andrew J. Orm were both captured. Bugler Cook was killed, though initially listed as missing in the regimental rolls.
Edson S. Cook is believed to be buried in Gettysburg National Cemetery, in one of several graves marked for unknown members of the regiment killed there. His pension was claimed after the war by his mother, Ellen.
Note: Cook is sometimes identified in records as Edwin S. Cook.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Fairfield Dead - William R. Reynolds
William R. Reynolds was born in Laporte, Indiana in 1838. He spent his teenage years working on the farm of James Greenwood in Springfield township, Laporte County, according to census records. He was probably still working here at the outbreak of the Civil War, though he does not appear in the 1860 census.
On June 19, 1861, William enlisted as a private in Company D, 8th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. The company was organized in nearby Norwalk, Ohio. He served with this unit for over a year, including the Peninsula campaign.
During the battle of Antietam in September 1862, William was wounded. His regiment saw some of the heaviest fighting in the battle, suffering nearly 50% casualties. This was apparently enough of infantry life for William and many others. The following month, recovered from his wound, he transferred to the cavalry.
Reynolds enlisted as a private in Company C, 6th U.S. Cavalry on October 23, 1862. He was sworn in by Lieutenant Albert Coats at Knoxville, Maryland, while his regiment was stationed at nearby Harpers Ferry. His enlistment documents describe him as 5'7" tall, with light hair, gray eyes, and a light complexion.
Private Reynolds survived the battle of Brandy Station unscathed, but was not so lucky the following month. He was part of Lieutenant Joseph Bould's squadron at the battle of Fairfield, which served as the regimental reserve. Seeing the regiment being overrun by a charge of the 6th Virginia Cavalry, Bould charged with his squadron in an attempt to stem the tide. Unsuccessful, the squadron was routed and pursued. Reynolds was most likely killed in the charge or the ensuing pursuit.
William Reynolds is buried in Gettysburg National Cemetery.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
"New" Blog - Today at Brandy Station
While I was sleeping, another new blog started up, this one focused on Brandy Station and Culpeper County, VA. The link for Today at Brandy Station can be found here. I met Mike Block several years ago when doing some research on Kelly's Ford, and found him to be very personable and extremely knowledgeable about the Brandy Station area, particularly the winter encampment of 1864. I'll be adding this one to my blogroll shortly. A belated welcome to the blogosphere, Mike!
Fairfield dead - John Pattinson
I've decided to do a brief series on the soldiers of the 6th U.S. Cavalry who were killed at the battle of Fairfield, PA on July 3, 1863. The first of these is Sergeant John Pattinson of Company M.
John Pattinson was born in Westmoreland County, England. He immigrated to the United States with his family, settling on a farm in Pennsylvania. He was working on the family farm in Carbon creek, Erie County, Pennsylvania according to the 1860 census.
He was enlisted into Company M by Captain Hays in Pittsburgh, PA on September 23, 1861. His enlistment documents describe him as 22 years old, 5’ 7 ½ “ tall, with brown hair, grey eyes, and a florid complexion. Pattinson earned promotion to Sergeant prior to the fight at Fairfield. He was wounded during the battle and later died of his wounds.
Sergeant Pattinson is buried in the National Cemetery at Gettysburg.
John Pattinson was born in Westmoreland County, England. He immigrated to the United States with his family, settling on a farm in Pennsylvania. He was working on the family farm in Carbon creek, Erie County, Pennsylvania according to the 1860 census.
He was enlisted into Company M by Captain Hays in Pittsburgh, PA on September 23, 1861. His enlistment documents describe him as 22 years old, 5’ 7 ½ “ tall, with brown hair, grey eyes, and a florid complexion. Pattinson earned promotion to Sergeant prior to the fight at Fairfield. He was wounded during the battle and later died of his wounds.
Sergeant Pattinson is buried in the National Cemetery at Gettysburg.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Gettysburg Weekend
My father-in-law and I had a fantastic visit to Gettysburg this past weekend. Since he had never been there, my wife and I decided a couple of years ago that it would make a good 70th birthday present, so off we went. The fact that my birthday last week as well of course had absolutely nothing to do with it....
We arrived Thursday evening, and turned in early after dinner at Gettysburg Eddie's and a quick visit to a deserted Reliance Mine Saloon.
Knowing how overwhelming the battlefield can be to the uninitiated, I'd reserved a tour through the Association of Licensed Battlefield Guides to provide an orientation to the field and overview of the battle. I've visited enough times to cover the basics pretty well, but not nearly as well as they do. Our guide, Paul Bauserman, did an excellent job with the tour, the best of the three times I've used the service, which says quite a lot.
On my previous visits to the area, I hadn't visited the site of the battle of Fairfield, so armed with our trusty Complete Gettysburg Guide and a draft driving tour that Eric Wittenburg was kind enough to provide for proofing, we headed for Fairfield.
We had lunch at the historic Fairfield Inn, then moved out to the battlefield. I took pictures of the inn and a couple of other buildings significant to the battle or its aftermath, but due to an oversight managed to miss the building where Lieutenant Balder of the 6th U.S. Cavalry reportedly died. Despite Eric providing the street address. Argh. Thanks to the directions, it was quite easy to find this time, and I was able to gain a much better mental picture of how the battle progressed.
Afterward, we returned to Gettysburg and stopped by the national cemetery to pay our respects to the troopers from the regular cavalry regiments (primarily the 6th) who are buried there.
After a few more stops along the sites of some Day 1 fighting, we did some tourist treasure-hunting and called it a day. We had dinner at O'Rorke's, where I'm not sure I've ever seen more food on a single plate in my life, and stopped by the Mine on our way back to the hotel.
I'd corresponded with Craig and Harry since they were in the area during the weekend to attempt a link up. Harry was busy doing productive things with the Saving Historic Antietam Foundation, but Craig emailed that he'd be up on Saturday. We coordinated to meet for lunch.
We began our second day on the field with a drive through Day 2's fighting on the southern side of the field. Moving up toward the Pennsylvania monument, I rediscovered (oxymoron?) the Regulars Monument, which I hadn't photographed before. Probably because Jenny Goellnitz' website always has better pictures than mine anyway. We stopped for a couple of pictures and drove on.
It's fortunate that we did, for who did we chance upon 200 yards further down the road, but Craig himself, spotted appropriately enough near some cannon. Remembering the picture-taking failure of the Longwood trip, we quickly remedied the situation. There really isn't an informally designated photo place at Gettysburg like there is at the cannon in front of the visitor's center at Antietam, so we just picked one and handed the camera to my father-in-law.
Craig had completed his work recording markers in town, and we decided to take a look at the markers near South Cavalry Field. Most I had visited before, but I hadn't seen the marker denoting the detachment of the 1st and 2nd US Cavalry on Merritt's left flank, which Craig was able to point out for us. I was able to get pictures of all 3 of my own 2nd US Cavalry's markers on the field.
Craig also offered a good perspective on the fight itself, but that's a post for another time. After an obligatory tromp along Pickett's Charge and lunch at the Appalachian Brewing Company, Craig headed for York County. Tony and I headed back to Little Round Top and the Pennsylvania Monument, which for some reason I had never been up in before. Coming down, we took this picture that appears to belie 1864 claims by the Cavalry Bureau that cavalry horses didn't grow on trees, also known as the monument to the 8th Pennsylvania Cavalry, one of my favorites.
We stopped by the new visitor's center late in the afternoon before driving back to Baltimore. I miss the old one, but I haven't made up my mind whether I'm for or against the new one. Our intent was to spend as much time as possible on the field, so it was largely irrelevant to our trip.
All in all, we had a great time. Thanks again to Craig for his generosity in spending hours tooling around the battlefield and educating us about Civil War artillery.
We arrived Thursday evening, and turned in early after dinner at Gettysburg Eddie's and a quick visit to a deserted Reliance Mine Saloon.
Knowing how overwhelming the battlefield can be to the uninitiated, I'd reserved a tour through the Association of Licensed Battlefield Guides to provide an orientation to the field and overview of the battle. I've visited enough times to cover the basics pretty well, but not nearly as well as they do. Our guide, Paul Bauserman, did an excellent job with the tour, the best of the three times I've used the service, which says quite a lot.
On my previous visits to the area, I hadn't visited the site of the battle of Fairfield, so armed with our trusty Complete Gettysburg Guide and a draft driving tour that Eric Wittenburg was kind enough to provide for proofing, we headed for Fairfield.
We had lunch at the historic Fairfield Inn, then moved out to the battlefield. I took pictures of the inn and a couple of other buildings significant to the battle or its aftermath, but due to an oversight managed to miss the building where Lieutenant Balder of the 6th U.S. Cavalry reportedly died. Despite Eric providing the street address. Argh. Thanks to the directions, it was quite easy to find this time, and I was able to gain a much better mental picture of how the battle progressed.
Afterward, we returned to Gettysburg and stopped by the national cemetery to pay our respects to the troopers from the regular cavalry regiments (primarily the 6th) who are buried there.
After a few more stops along the sites of some Day 1 fighting, we did some tourist treasure-hunting and called it a day. We had dinner at O'Rorke's, where I'm not sure I've ever seen more food on a single plate in my life, and stopped by the Mine on our way back to the hotel.
I'd corresponded with Craig and Harry since they were in the area during the weekend to attempt a link up. Harry was busy doing productive things with the Saving Historic Antietam Foundation, but Craig emailed that he'd be up on Saturday. We coordinated to meet for lunch.
We began our second day on the field with a drive through Day 2's fighting on the southern side of the field. Moving up toward the Pennsylvania monument, I rediscovered (oxymoron?) the Regulars Monument, which I hadn't photographed before. Probably because Jenny Goellnitz' website always has better pictures than mine anyway. We stopped for a couple of pictures and drove on.
It's fortunate that we did, for who did we chance upon 200 yards further down the road, but Craig himself, spotted appropriately enough near some cannon. Remembering the picture-taking failure of the Longwood trip, we quickly remedied the situation. There really isn't an informally designated photo place at Gettysburg like there is at the cannon in front of the visitor's center at Antietam, so we just picked one and handed the camera to my father-in-law.
Craig had completed his work recording markers in town, and we decided to take a look at the markers near South Cavalry Field. Most I had visited before, but I hadn't seen the marker denoting the detachment of the 1st and 2nd US Cavalry on Merritt's left flank, which Craig was able to point out for us. I was able to get pictures of all 3 of my own 2nd US Cavalry's markers on the field.
Craig also offered a good perspective on the fight itself, but that's a post for another time. After an obligatory tromp along Pickett's Charge and lunch at the Appalachian Brewing Company, Craig headed for York County. Tony and I headed back to Little Round Top and the Pennsylvania Monument, which for some reason I had never been up in before. Coming down, we took this picture that appears to belie 1864 claims by the Cavalry Bureau that cavalry horses didn't grow on trees, also known as the monument to the 8th Pennsylvania Cavalry, one of my favorites.
We stopped by the new visitor's center late in the afternoon before driving back to Baltimore. I miss the old one, but I haven't made up my mind whether I'm for or against the new one. Our intent was to spend as much time as possible on the field, so it was largely irrelevant to our trip.
All in all, we had a great time. Thanks again to Craig for his generosity in spending hours tooling around the battlefield and educating us about Civil War artillery.
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