Reveille in Washington

by Margaret Leech

  LOGAN, JOHN ALEXANDER 1826–1886 Democratic congressman from southern Illinois at the outbreak of war, he became one of the ablest officers who entered the army without training. Logan was actively engaged in the western campaigns, being made a brigadier after Fort Donelson, and a major-general after Vicksburg. In November, 1863, he took command of Sherman’s corps, the Fifteenth. He fought in the Georgia campaign, and after General McPherson’s fall in the fighting before Atlanta, commanded the Army of the Tennessee. He was disappointed at not retaining the command, and ascribed Sherman’s recommendation of O. O. Howard to West Point prejudice. He took an active part in the presidential canvass of 1864, but again commanded the Fifteenth Corps in the campaign of the Carolinas. After Howard was called to Washington in the spring of 1865, Logan was placed in command of the Army of the Tennessee, and served until it was disbanded. He then returned to politics, serving as congressman and later as senator. Logan had become a violent Republican radical, and was one of the managers of Johnson’s impeachment trial. He was three times president of the Grand Army of the Republic, and was responsible for the observance of Decoration Day. In 1884, he was nominated for Vice-President on the Republican ticket with James G. Blaine.

  McCLELLAN, GEORGE BRINTON 1826–1885 Born Philadelphia; West Point, '46. He was one of the few Northern officers who saw active service in Mexico, where he was twice brevetted. In 1857, he resigned his captain’s commission to become chief engineer of the Illinois Central Railroad, of which he became vice-president the following year. At the outbreak of civil war, he was president of the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad, residing in Cincinnati. Governor Dennison of Ohio appointed him major-general of the forces of that State. In May, 1861, he was appointed major-general in the United States Army, and given the command of the Department of the Ohio. The successful advance of his troops into western Virginia was responsible for McClellan’s appointment, after First Bull Run, to command the forces which he soon organized as the Army of the Potomac. After finally being relieved of his command in November, 1862, he gained increasing ascendancy in the Democratic party. His nomination for the presidency in 1864 brought him much embarrassment because of the large Copperhead element in his party. He carried New Jersey, Delaware and Kentucky. The only elective office which he ever held was the governorship of New Jersey, 1878–1881. His son, George Brinton McClellan, Junior (1865–1940), was a Tammany politician, who was elected congressman, and mayor of New York City. He later lectured on public affairs at Princeton University, and was professor of economic history from 1912 until his retirement in 1931.

  McCOOK, ALEXANDER McDOWELL 1831–1903 Born Lisbon, Ohio; West Point, '52. He was the best known of the clan of “Fighting McCooks,” which included his father, Daniel McCook, his seven brothers, his uncle and five cousins. He fought at Shiloh, and in July, 1862, was promoted major-general and placed in command of the Twentieth Army Corps, serving in the campaigns in Kentucky and Tennessee. Blamed for the Union defeat at Chickamauga, McCook was relieved of command, but was exonerated by a court of inquiry. After his service in the Washington defenses in 1864, he commanded in Arkansas, receiving the brevets of brigadier-general and major-general in the regular Army the following year. As a lieutenant-colonel of infantry, he remained in the Army after the close of the war, rising to the grade of major-general before his retirement for age in 1895. From 1875 until 1881, he was aide-de-camp to General Sherman.

  McDOWELL, IRVIN 1818–1885 Born Ohio; West Point, '38; acting adjutant-general of Wool’s column in Mexico. While the criticisms of McDowell after Second Bull Run made it unwise to give him another command in the field, he was entrusted with important administrative work. In 1864, he commanded on the Pacific coast, subsequently heading departments in the East and South, before returning to the Pacific. In 1872, McDowell was made major-general in the regular Army. In his last years, he served as a park commissioner of San Francisco, bringing to the development of the Presidio reservation his interest in landscape gardening.

  MAGRUDER, JOHN BANKHEAD 1810–1871 Born Winchester, Va.; West Point, '30; captain of artillery in Mexico, twice brevetted for gallantry, and severely wounded at Chapultepec. “Prince John” made his reputation for elegance and social grace during his command at Fort Adams, Newport, R. I., where he gave many fashionable parties. In April, 1861, he was placed in command of the insurgent forces on the Virginia Peninsula. He was promoted brigadier-general after the engagement at Big Bethel in June, and became major-general in the autumn. The following April, Magruder succeeded in stopping the Army of the Potomac before Yorktown with a small force. In the battles of the Seven Days, he was censured by Lee for tardiness and inefficiency. He was transferred to Texas in the autumn of 1862, and on January 1, 1863, recaptured Galveston and succeeded in temporarily dispersing the blockading squadron. At the close of the war, Magruder refused to ask for a parole, and went to Mexico, where he served as a major-general under Maximilian. After the emperor’s execution, he returned to the United States and lectured on his experiences in Mexico.

  MEADE, GEORGE GORDON 1815–1872 Born Cadiz, Spain; West Point, '35. Meade resigned, but re-entered the Army in 1842, with the grade of second lieutenant of topographical engineers; served in the Mexican War, and was brevetted for gallantry. In 1861, he was a captain mainly experienced in lighthouse construction and geodetic surveys, but he was soon promoted brigadier, and commanded on the Peninsula, where he was severely wounded during the Seven Days. He recovered in time to join his brigade at Second Bull Run, and did such good service at Antietam that he was placed in command of the First Corps, after Hooker was wounded. He distinguished himself at Fredericksburg, was made a major-general and given command of the Fifth Corps, which he led at Chancellorsville. His relations with his superior officer, Hooker, had become so strained that Meade anticipated his own removal and arrest, when he was handed the order appointing him to the command of the Army of the Potomac. After Gettysburg, he was made a brigadier-general in the U.S. Army, but his dilatoriness in pursuing the enemy and his inactivity in the succeeding autumn and winter detracted from the reputation he had earned by his great victory. After the spring of 1864, Grant’s presence with the Army of the Potomac curtailed Meade’s authority as a commander, and he received little mention in the press, with whose representatives he was unpopular. Promoted major-general in the U.S. Army in 1864, Meade was later disappointed at not winning the highest military honors, which Grant reserved for his favorite officers, Sherman and Sheridan. After the war, he commanded departments in the East and South.

  MOSBY, JOHN SINGLETON 1833–1916 The guerrilla leader disbanded his men on April 21, 1865. After surrendering himself in June, he opened a law office in Warrenton, Va. He had great admiration for Grant, and in 1872 publicly supported his candidacy for President—a surprising course which reduced Mosby’s popularity in the South. Faithful in his new allegiance to the Republican party, Mosby supported Hayes in 1876, and was rewarded by being appointed consul at Hong Kong. He was removed by President Cleveland.

  MUDD, SAMUEL 1833–1883 The military commission sentenced Dr. Mudd to life imprisonment for his alleged participation in the Lincoln conspiracy. On July 5, 1865, President Johnson directed that, with the other prisoners whose lives had been spared—Arnold, Spangler and O’Laughlin—he should be sent to the Albany penitentiary. On the fifteenth, however, the order was changed in accordance with Stanton’s wishes to the military prison at the Dry Tortugas, off the coast of Florida. On a report from L. C. Baker that an attempt would be made to rescue the prisoners, they were treated with increased severity. In August, 1867, yellow fever broke out on the barren island. After the surgeons of the garrison had succumbed to the epidemic, Mudd offered his services, and did heroic work in caring for both soldiers and prisoners. O’Laughlin caught the fever and died. The officers of the post sent an appeal for Mudd’s pardon to the President, and in February, 1869, Johnson signed the papers which freed the doctor. Arnold, also sentenced to life imprisonment, and Spa
ngler, who had been given six years for aiding Booth in his escape, were likewise pardoned. Dr. Mudd returned to his home in Maryland, and gave refuge to Spangler, who lived but a short time after his release. Mudd himself was buried in the cemetery at Bryantown Church, where he had made a casual acquaintance with Booth in the autumn of 1864.

  NICOLAY, JOHN GEORGE 1832–1901 After Lincoln’s death, his secretary served as United States consul at Paris for four years. From 1872 until 1887, he was marshal of the Supreme Court, collaborating meanwhile with John Hay on their ten-volume biography of Lincoln. The two secretaries also edited Lincoln’s writings. Nicolay wrote two books on the civil war, The Outbreak of Rebellion and Campaigns of the Civil War.

  OLMSTED, FREDERICK LAW 1822–1903 His first travels, made largely on horseback, in the South occurred in 1852, when he was commissioned by the New York Times to write his impressions of conditions in the slave States. His letters were published as A Journey in the Seaboard Slave States, and later trips resulted in A Journey Through Texas and A Journey in the Back Country. After his resignation as secretary of the Sanitary Commission, he returned to his work as landscape architect, a profession in which he was a pioneer, and took a prominent part in developing parks and parkways in New York, Brooklyn, Chicago, Washington, Boston and many other cities. In 1872, he became president of the department of parks in New York. During the reconstruction period, Olmsted aided in distributing food in the South. He was active in organizing the New York State Charities Aid Association, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the American Museum of Natural History.

  PINKERTON, ALLAN 1819–1884 He resigned after McClellan’s removal from the command of the Army of the Potomac, and was afterward employed by the Government in examining claims. In the spring of 1864, he was transferred to New Orleans for the purpose of investigating cotton claims. After the war, he returned to his detective work in Chicago, establishing branches of his agency in Philadelphia and New York. His agency was responsible for securing the evidence which led to the disbandment of the Molly Maguires, a secret organization of Pennsylvania coal miners. After 1869, when Pinkerton was enfeebled by a stroke of paralysis, he left the management of his business largely to his two sons.

  PRYOR, ROGER ATKINSON 1828–1919 Soon after the close of the war, the fire-eating Virginian moved to New York. Before entering Congress, he had been admitted to the bar, and had had newspaper experience in Washington and Richmond. He supported himself by working on the New York Daily News, while he prepared for the practice of law in his adopted State. In this he was eminently successful. Pryor was appointed judge of the court of common pleas in 1890, and six years later became a justice of the supreme court of New York.

  SCHURZ, CARL 1829–1906 Promoted major-general, he was criticized after Chancellorsville, where the German regiments of the Eleventh Corps bore the brunt of Stonewall Jackson’s attack and were routed. Schurz defended his compatriots against violent abuse and charges of cowardice in the press, and engaged in a controversy with General O. O. Howard, whom he succeeded in command of the Eleventh Corps. After Gettysburg, the Germans were again criticized. The corps was sent to Chattanooga, where Schurz failed to agree with General Hooker. He was appointed to a corps of instruction, but asked to be relieved, and campaigned for Lincoln’s re-election in 1864. After the war, he engaged in journalism. He was United States Senator from Missouri from 1869 until 1875, the first German-born member of that body. Breaking with Grant’s administration, he started the Liberal Republican movement in 1870, and presided over the convention which nominated Horace Greeley for the Presidency in 1872. He supported Hayes in 1876, became his Secretary of the Interior, and did much for civil service reform. During the last two decades of his life, Schurz was celebrated as an independent in politics, a forceful orator and an able editorial writer.

  SCOTT, THOMAS ALEXANDER 1823–1881 Appointed Assistant Secretary of War in August, 1861, he was the first ever to hold that office. Early in 1862, he was engaged in organizing transportation in the West, resigning in June to return to his duties as vice-president of the Pennsylvania Railroad. In the autumn of 1863, he was called by Stanton to Washington to superintend the transportation of the two corps of the Army of the Potomac, sent under Hooker to Chattanooga. Halleck had estimated that the movement would take three months. Scott carried it out in eleven and a half days, and his accomplishment was regarded as a brilliant feat. He became president of the Union Pacific Railroad, and subsequently of the Pennsylvania.

  SCOTT, WINFIELD 1786–1866 Entering the War of 1812 as a lieutenant-colonel of artillery, he rose to the rank of brigadier-general, and was presented with a gold medal by Congress for his services. He was the most admired military figure in the United States, and in 1841 was placed in command of the Army. His achievements in the Mexican campaign added to his laurels, another gold medal was struck for him by order of Congress, and in 1852 the brevet rank of lieutenant-general was created for him. A feeble old man when he retired from the chief command in the autumn of 1861, he lived to see the rise and fall of many military heroes, the capitulation of the Confederacy and the assassination of Lincoln. For a time, he lived at Delmonico’s in New York, but later removed to West Point. In 1865, he inscribed a gift to Grant, “from the oldest to the greatest general.”

  SEWARD, WILLIAM HENRY 1801–1872 In May, 1865, he was able to leave his bed—a shattered old man, his head covered with a close-fitting cap and his jaw supported with wire appliances, fastened inside his mouth. In June, he had recovered sufficiently to take his place in the Cabinet, in which he remained until the close of Johnson’s administration, thus completing eight years as Secretary of State. He supported Johnson in his contest with Congress over reconstruction. The most important act of his later years was the purchase of Alaska from Russia in 1867. His son, Frederick (1830–1915), after a long illness, resumed his duties as Assistant Secretary of State, and served in the same capacity from 1877 until 1881.

  SHERIDAN, PHILIP HENRY 1831–1888 Born Albany, N. Y.; West Point, '53. During the first year of the war, when Sheridan was an infantry captain and quartermaster in Missouri, there was no indication of the rapid advancement which awaited him. In the Corinth campaign, he was given the colonelcy of a cavalry regiment, and his skillful maneuvers and bold attacks soon won him the command of a brigade. Sheridan successively commanded divisions in the Army of the Ohio and the Army of the Cumberland, and was made a major-general after Murfreesboro'. He distinguished himself at Chickamauga, and his exploits at Chattanooga so impressed Grant that he placed Sheridan in charge of the cavalry corps of the Army of the Potomac. He was engaged in constant raids on the enemy forces and communications during the Wilderness campaign, and inflicted a crushing defeat on the Confederate cavalry at Yellow Tavern. His brilliant successes as commander of the Army of the Shenandoah confirmed Grant’s great belief in Sheridan’s ability. He was made a major-general in the U.S. Army after Cedar Creek. Sweeping south in a great raid, Sheridan joined Grant before Petersburg in late March, 1865, and took a leading part in the final assaults on the Confederate lines, and in the pursuit of Lee’s army. In the reconstruction period, Sheridan commanded with severity at New Orleans, and was recalled by President Johnson, and assigned to the West. When Grant became President, Sheridan was promoted to the grade of lieutenant-general. On Sherman’s retirement, he became general-in-chief of the Army. In middle age, Sheridan married the daughter of General Daniel H. Rucker, Assistant Quartermaster General during the war.

  SHERMAN, JOHN 1823–1900 In 1867, he succeeded Fessenden as chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. Opposed to the drastic program of congressional reconstruction and to the impeachment of President Johnson, he submitted on both points to the discipline of the radical faction which controlled the Republican party. During Grant’s administrations, Sherman led in shaping the financial policy of the country, and Hayes, in 1877, appointed him Secretary of the Treasury. He discharged the duties of this office with high ability at a time when the country
was suffering from a reaction to wartime inflation. Sherman again served in the Senate from 1881 until 1897. His name was associated with the anti-trust and silver purchase acts. He was made Secretary of State by McKinley, but resigned his office in 1898.

  SHERMAN, WILLIAM TECUMSEH 1820–1891 Born Lancaster, Ohio; West Point, '40; resigned, 1853. After First Bull Run, he was chosen by General Robert Anderson to accompany him to Kentucky, and succeeded to the command in October, when Anderson’s health broke down. The position was uncongenial to Sherman, who believed that a large force would be needed to drive the rebel forces from Kentucky, and he was relieved in November at his own request. Sherman’s nervous temperament, his prophecies of the magnitude of the struggle and his hostility to newspaper reporters gave rise to widely circulated stories that he was insane. The turning point in his career came the following spring when his brilliant service at Shiloh won great praise from Grant and Halleck. He was made a major-general and distinguished himself in the Vicksburg campaign and at Chattanooga. When Grant became commander-in-chief in 1864, he placed Sherman at the head of the Western armies. From May until September, Sherman skillfully conducted the fierce campaign which ended in the fall of Atlanta. He had become a military hero, second in popularity only to Grant, before his march to the sea forced the surrender of Savannah, and his armies plowed their way triumphantly through the Carolinas. Unlike Grant, Sherman positively declined to permit a movement for his nomination for the presidency at the Republican convention in 1884. When Grant was appointed full general in 1866, Sherman was promoted lieutenant-general, and he succeeded Grant as general when the latter became president. He was placed on the retired list in 1883.