The Battle of Glendale
Page 12
However, this wasn’t the end of the flag’s story. Just three days later, it was present in another desperate struggle at Frayser’s Farm. Charlie McNeill was the flag bearer. As the 11th stormed Alanson Randol’s guns, McNeill carried the flag into the fray and was mortally wounded. His nephew Billy came to his rescue (and the flag’s) and was killed. After the battle, members of the 11th found Charlie’s body, which had been bayoneted through the heart. The 11th’s colors were gone.
In 1906, the flag was given to the Museum of the Confederacy in Richmond, where it has been conserved and is now part of its amazing flag collection. The story of the flag can be found online at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MomD5mf-rug, or more simply, go to YouTube and enter “Battle of Glendale.”
Appendix II
GLENDALE TODAY
It had been so frustrating. Until the late 1990s, one could drive by the Glendale battlefield but couldn’t visit it. Nearly all the land was in private hands. The National Park Service had 1 acre total, more or less, across from the national cemetery, but otherwise the site appeared to be gone forever. It seemed tragic that such an important place could be so irretrievably lost. All that began to change during the 1990s when the Association for the Preservation of Civil War Sites (the precursor to the Civil War Trust) was able to purchase the southern tip of the battlefield. Amazingly, in the next few years, the trust saved 619 acres (most of the battlefield). By 2013, 394 acres had been turned over to the park. This was unprecedented in Civil War preservation. Robert E.L. Krick, historian for the Richmond National Battlefield Park, said that “there has been nothing like it before in Virginia… never before in modern times has anyone preserved a battlefield virtually from scratch.” This was the intriguing thing about studying this battle. Heavily wooded, the land is pristine, with few signs or markers. It is nearly a virgin site.
In its August 12, 2013 press release, the Civil War Trust remarked, “Several generations of local families were responsible stewards of a large part of the battlefield. Their commitment to the integrity of the landscape made the land still worth saving.” One of those landowners, Dr. Len Morrow, told the trust, “When you think of all the folks who died there, some at the point of a bayonet…that’s a sobering experience to contemplate.” Landowners worked with the trust, and with the contributions of its fifty thousand members, funds were raised and an endangered battlefield has been saved. Much of the land is now in the possession of the National Park Service. Within a few years, walking trails should be in place, and people will be able to understand and appreciate what happened on this hallowed ground.182
View from the Glendale Visitor Center. Courtesy of Ashley Luskey.
It bears mentioning that the Civil War Trust, and its local colleagues in the Richmond Battlefields Association, have been very active throughout the Richmond area. In addition to the acquisitions made at Glendale, almost all of nearby Malvern Hill has been saved. Land has been purchased at Cold Harbor, and a very large tract, along with some smaller parcels, has been acquired at Gaines’s Mill. A significant portion of the North Anna battlefield was saved. Future generations will owe a great deal to these organizations and their members.
Appendix III
AFTER THE BATTLE
The Leaders
CONFEDERATE
Joseph Reid Anderson
While Anderson returned to active duty following his wounding, he promptly resigned and was soon back at work directing the operations at the Tredegar Iron Works. The factory was the most important producer of cannons and munitions for the Southern war effort, and Anderson’s leadership was invaluable. He helped the operation survive the war, continued to manage it during the postwar years and was followed by his son Archer. Anderson died on September 7, 1892, and is buried at Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia.183
Lawrence O’Bryan Branch
Following the Peninsula Campaign, Branch was with A.P. Hill’s division at Cedar Mountain and contributed to the Confederate victory. He was on the Confederate far left at Second Manassas and was a brigade commander with Hill as the latter’s division saved the day for the Southerners at Antietam (Sharpsburg). At the southern end of that field, Branch was hit in the cheek by a bullet and died instantly. He is buried at Old City Cemetery in Raleigh, North Carolina.184
Ambrose Powell Hill
In July 1862, Hill was assigned to Jackson’s command and played a key role in the battle at Cedar Mountain. He ran afoul of Jackson, who placed him under arrest before the army crossed into Maryland. However, Lee ensured that he was reinstated for the coming fight, and it was the arrival of Hill’s division at Antietam that saved the day for the Confederates. He was slightly wounded by friendly fire at Chancellorsville and was given command of the newly created Third Corps before Gettysburg. Hill, a fine division commander, could not seem to adapt to the new position, although his declining health might have been partly to blame. In October, he launched an unfortunate attack at Bristoe Station and suffered significant casualties. He fought at the Wilderness, but owing to his declining health, he had to relinquish his command at Spotsylvania. Hill returned at Cold Harbor and did solid work, leading his diminished corps in the Petersburg Campaign. As Grant launched his final assault at Petersburg on April 2, 1865, Hill was shot and killed. He is buried under his statue on Laburnum Avenue in Richmond, Virginia.185
Theophilus Hunter Holmes
Unsatisfied with Holmes’s performance during the Peninsula Campaign, Lee had him transferred to the Trans-Mississippi Department. According to accounts, he was disagreeable and would “cuss and roar” and “bawl out” his staff. Despite this, he was promoted to lieutenant general in October 1862. He seemed focused on only his area, not helping others in need, and did not add anything of value to his assignment. In March 1863, he was relieved of command and sent to Arkansas. By early 1864, Kirby Smith and the governors of Arkansas and Missouri, as well as the Arkansas Congressional delegation, were petitioning Richmond for his removal. Rather than be discharged, Holmes resigned on March 16. He was then assigned command of the reserves in North Carolina. Following the war, he farmed in North Carolina and died on January 21, 1880. He is buried in Fayetteville.186
Benjamin Huger
Huger was another officer whose performance during the campaign led to his reassignment. On August 26, he was appointed inspector of artillery and ordnance for the army, but the head of ordnance, Josiah Gorgas, ignored him. In March 1863, he was sent to the Trans-Mississippi to inspect ordnance and was to report to Kirby Smith. After the war, he lived in Fauquier County, Virginia, before returning to Charleston, South Carolina, where he died on December 7, 1877. He is buried at Green Mount Cemetery in Baltimore.187
Thomas Jonathan Jackson
Sent to deal with the other major Federal army in Virginia under John Pope, Jackson scored a victory on August 9 at Cedar Mountain. He next moved around Pope’s flank and into the Union rear, setting the stage for the spectacular Confederate victory at Second Manassas. During the invasion of Maryland, he captured some twelve thousand Federal soldiers, as well as artillery and supplies, at Harper’s Ferry. Jackson then rushed to Sharpsburg and played a major role in holding off the Federal attacks. He was promoted to lieutenant general on October 11 and assigned command of the newly formed Second Corps. In December, he commanded the right wing of the Confederate army at Fredericksburg, and at Chancellorsville, he executed his legendary flank march and crushed the Union right. As darkness fell on that battlefield, he continued to search for opportunities to further damage the enemy; hearing horsemen and unable to see clearly, Jackson’s own men shot him. His left arm was amputated, but pneumonia set in. Jackson died on May 10, 1863. He is buried in Lexington, Virginia.188
Micah Jenkins
When Lee organized the army into two wings, Jenkins was promoted to brigadier general, effective July 22. In Longstreet’s corps, he participated at Second Manassas, where he was severely wounded. He returned to action in November and served in Pickett’
s division. Jenkins was involved in the Suffolk, Virginia campaign, and when Longstreet departed for the northern invasion, Jenkins and his South Carolinians were left in the Suffolk area. His brigade later accompanied Longstreet to northern Georgia. Jenkins’s unit arrived too late to participate in the Battle of Chickamauga, but he assumed command of Hood’s division following the latter’s wounding. He participated throughout Longstreet’s Tennessee Campaign. In March 1864, he resumed command of his South Carolina brigade, and the entire corps returned to the Army of Northern Virginia on May 2. At the Battle of the Wilderness, Jenkins was scouting forward in preparation for an attack but was mortally wounded by friendly fire as he and Longstreet rode through the woods. He died soon after and is buried in Charleston, South Carolina.189
Robert E. Lee
After the campaign, Lee continued with a string of victories at Second Manassas, Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville. This victorious run was interrupted only by the standoff at Sharpsburg (Antietam). After defeating Joseph Hooker at Chancellorsville, Lee took his army north, where it was defeated at Gettysburg. Following that crushing blow, Lee’s army lost much of its ability to strike hard blows, but it managed to hold off the Union army time and time again with defensive actions. However, the war of attrition was being lost, and eventually his army was hemmed in around Petersburg and Richmond. When U.S. Grant finally stretched the Confederates to the breaking point at Five Forks, Lee was forced to abandon Richmond and Petersburg. His army was cut off at Appomattox, where he surrendered on April 9, 1865. In the years after the war, Lee served as the president of Washington College (later named Washington and Lee), where he could try to develop young men for leadership. He died at the school on October 12, 1870, and is buried there.190
James Longstreet
One of the most controversial commanders in the Army of Northern Virginia, Longstreet was also one of Lee’s most valued subordinates. He launched a devastating attack at Second Manassas and fought at Sharpsburg (Antietam) and Fredericksburg but missed the action at Chancellorsville, as he was assigned to a campaign in the Suffolk, Virginia area. At Gettysburg, he disagreed with Lee’s plan, and his controversial record began. He was sent to Tennessee and fought well at Chickamauga but not as well at Knoxville. Returning to Virginia in 1864, Longstreet was wounded by his own troops at the Wilderness in a manner strangely reminiscent of the way in which Jackson was wounded nearby a year earlier. He returned to the Army of Northern Virginia in October and remained active until Appomattox. Following the war, he became a Republican and endorsed his old friend U.S. Grant. Longstreet was appointed to a number of government posts, including minister to Turkey. These actions did not endear him to die-hard southerners, and he compounded that with his memoirs, which contained criticism of Lee. Despite all of his critics, Longstreet should be remembered as the one Lee trusted the most, especially after the loss of Jackson. He died in Gainesville, Georgia, on January 2, 1904, and is buried there at the Alta Vista Cemetery.191
John Bankhead Magruder
After hours of marching and countermarching at Glendale, things would get even worse for Magruder the following day. At Malvern Hill, he seemed to be highly agitated and not under control. Whether this was due to lack of sleep, medication, nerves or a combination of everything, it didn’t matter. The inability to control one’s composure was not something Lee could tolerate in a leader. When the Seven Days Campaign ended, Magruder was quickly transferred to the Trans-Mississippi area. By October, he was in Texas, guarding its coast. On January 1, 1863, he captured Galveston. Magruder remained in Texas until the war’s end and then ventured to Mexico to serve in Emperor Maximilian’s army. When the latter fell, Magruder returned to Texas, where he died on February 18, 1871. He is buried in Galveston.192
FEDERAL193
Samuel P. Heintzelman
At Second Manassas under Pope, Heintzelman led an attack against Jackson that was repulsed. He was later assigned to the command of part of the Washington defenses and to court-martial duty. Following the war, he served in Texas and retired in 1869 as a major general. Heintzelman died in Washington on May 1, 1880, and is buried at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Buffalo, New York.
Joseph Hooker
A solid division leader, Hooker was promoted to army command after Burnside’s disastrous Fredericksburg campaign. He led the Union army at Chancellorsville, where his army was crushed in what may have been Lee’s most spectacular victory. Following that battle, Hooker screened Washington and Baltimore against the Confederates’ northern invasion, and when he requested that reinforcements be sent to him from Harper’s Ferry, he was refused. Hooker offered his resignation from command of the Army of the Potomac, which was accepted. He was moved to the Western Theater, and at Chattanooga, he drove the Confederates from Lookout Mountain. Hooker remained in active service until his retirement in 1868. He died in Garden City, New York, on October 31, 1879, and is buried in Cincinnati.
George A. McCall
At Glendale, McCall rode into the 47th Virginia and was captured. He was released from Libby Prison in August 1862, exchanged for Confederate general Simon Bolivar Buckner. McCall remained on sick leave until he was reassigned in March 1863. He died on February 2, 1868, and is buried at Christ Church Cemetery in Philadelphia.
Philip Kearny
Kearny was promoted to major general on July 4. Following the battle at Second Manassas, he inadvertently rode into the Confederate lines at Ox Hill and was killed—a great loss to the Federal cause. He created the “Kearny Patch,” the precursor to Federal corps patches. Originally buried at Trinity Church Cemetery in New York City, his remains were later moved to Arlington.
George B. McClellan
Following the Seven Days, McClellan’s army was sent north, and as his units arrived in Alexandria, they were transferred to the command of John Pope. After Pope’s disastrous performance at Second Manassas, McClellan was again assigned command of the army in an effort to reorganize it and to restore morale. Both of these were his strong points. He fought Lee to a draw at Sharpsburg, where the latter was undermanned and in a very precarious situation. McClellan did not promptly follow Lee into Virginia and was relieved on November 11. In 1864, McClellan was nominated for president by the Democratic Party but was defeated by Lincoln. He served as governor of New Jersey from 1878 to 1881. McClellan died on October 29, 1885, and is buried at Riverview Cemetery in Trenton, New Jersey.
Israel B. Richardson
Richardson was a descendant of Revolutionary War general Israel Putnam. On July 5, 1862, he was promoted to major general, and in September, he fought savagely at the “Bloody Lane” at Sharpsburg. While directing a field battery there, Richardson was hit by a piece of shrapnel and was taken to the Pry house, where he died on November 3. He is buried in Pontiac, Michigan.
John Sedgwick
Wounded at Glendale, Sedgwick was promoted to major general on July 25. At Sharpsburg, he was wounded three more times. He commanded the left wing of Hooker’s army at Chancellorsville and led the attacks against Marye’s Heights. Sedgwick’s Sixth Corps was held in reserve at Gettysburg. He fought at Rappahannock Bridge in November 1863 and at the Wilderness the following May. Sedgwick was killed by a sharpshooter at Spotsylvania on May 9, 1864. He is buried in Cornwall Hollow, Connecticut.
Henry W. Slocum
Promoted to major general on July 25, Slocum helped to cover Pope’s retreat from Second Manassas. He fought in the Maryland Campaign but not at Fredericksburg. Slocum commanded a corps at Chancellorsville and Gettysburg. He was transferred to Chattanooga and then to Vicksburg. Slocum was assigned to the command of the Twentieth Corps and led it into Atlanta. He commanded Sherman’s left on the “March to the Sea.” Slocum resigned from the army on September 25, 1865, and later served three terms in Congress, as well as served on the Gettysburg Monument Commission. He died in Brooklyn, New York, on April 14, 1894, and is buried at Green-Wood Cemetery.
Edwin V. Sumner
Sumner was born in 1797,
the oldest of the Union field commanders, and was known as “Bull Head.” He was promoted to major general on July 16, 1862. He fought at Sharpsburg and commanded the “Left Grand Division” at Fredericksburg. Sumner asked to be relieved when Hooker was assigned command of the army and was assigned to the Department of Missouri. He died on March 21, 1863, and is buried at Oakwood Cemetery in Syracuse, New York.
George Sykes
Sykes commanded the Union “Regulars” and fought at Second Manassas but was held in reserve at Sharpsburg and Fredericksburg. He was promoted to major general on November 29, 1862. Sykes was at Chancellorsville but was not involved in Hooker’s rout. He held the Federal left at Gettysburg and participated in the Mine Run Campaign, but army commander George Meade was not satisfied with his performance; Slocum was relieved in December 1863. He was sent to Kansas in the spring of 1864. He died in Brownsville, Texas, in February 1880 and is buried at West Point.
ORDER OF BATTLE
UNION: ARMY OF THE POTOMAC MAJ. GEN. GEORGE B. MCCLELLAN194
Second Corps
Brig. Gen. Edwin V. Sumner
FIRST DIVISION SECOND DIVISION
Brig. Gen. Israel B. Richardson Brig. Gen. John Sedgwick
First Brigade First Brigade
Brig. Gen. John C. Caldwell Col. Alfred Sully
5th New Hampshire 15th Massachusetts
7th New York 1st Minnesota
61st New York
Massachusetts Sharpshooters Co. 1
81st Pennsylvania 34th New York
82nd New York
Russell’s Company Sharpshooters
Second Brigade Second Brigade
Brig. Gen. T.F. Meagher Brig. Gen. William W. Burns