Crucible of Command

by William C. Davis

  52Benjamin to REL, February 24, 1862, ibid., p. 398, REL to Benjamin, March 1, 1862, p. 400.

  53REL to MCL, February 8, 1862, Wartime Papers, pp. 111–12.

  54REL to Ripley, February 15, 1862, OR, I, 6, p. 386, REL to John C. Pemberton, February 20, 1862, p. 395, REL to Lt. Col. Gill, February 15, 1862, pp. 384–85; REL to Brown, February 22, 1862, Wartime Papers, pp. 117–18.

  55REL to Annie Lee, March 2, 1862, Wartime Papers, pp. 121–22.

  56For illuminating reflections on this posture, hardly unique to Lee, see James M. McPherson, For Cause and Comrades, 62–67, and Gerald F. Linderman, Embattled Courage: The Experience of Combat in the American Civil War (New York: The Free Press, 1987), 102–10.

  57REL to MCL, February 23, 1862, Wartime Papers, p. 118.

  58Carter to wife, March 1, 1862, Carter Letters, VHS

  59Davis to REL, March 2, 1862, OR, I, 6, p. 400; REL to Davis, March 2, 1862 telegram, Wartime Papers, p. 123.

  60REL to Annie Lee, March 2, 1862, Wartime Papers, pp. 121–22.

  61New York, Evening Post, November 11, 1861.

  62Columbus, OH, Crisis, November 21, 1861.

  63USG to Williams, November 20, 1861, PUSG, 3, p. 192, USG to Washburne, November 20, 1861, pp. 204–205.

  64USG to Polk, November 8, 1861, ibid., p. 131.

  65OR, I, 3, p. 310.

  66Boston Evening Transcript, December 6, 1861.

  67Nashville, Union and American, November 19, 1861; Charleston, Courier, November 25, 1861.

  68Leonidas Polk to Fanny Polk, November 15, 1861, Leonidas Polk Papers, University of the South, Sewanee, Tennessee.

  69USG to Joseph P. Taylor, November 10, 1861, PUSG, 3, p. 157, USG to McClellan, November 13, 1861, p. 161.

  70Testimony, October 31, 1861, ibid., p. 95, USG to Hatch, January 4, 1862, pp. 371–72.

  71USG to Kelton, December 22, 1861, ibid., pp. 324–28, USG to Montgomery Meigs, December 29, 1861, pp. 351–52.

  72USG to P. Casey, December 31, 1861, PUSG, 32, p. 27, USG to Meigs, January 2, 1862, PUSG, 3, pp. 361–62.

  73USG to Thomas J. Haines, December 17, 1861, PUSG, 3, p. 299, USG to William Leland, January 1, 1862, pp. 359–61.

  74USG to Jesse Grant, November 27, 1861, ibid., p. 227.

  75USG to Kelton, January 2, 1862, ibid., pp. 363–64, USG to Robert Allen, January 3, 1862, p. 370–71.

  76USG to Washburne, November 20, 1861, ibid., pp. 204–207. There is no explicit statement by Grant or the others as to this suggestion, but it is the most logical scenario to fit the details in Grant’s November 20 letter, and it makes sense of his comment that he knew that “the plan proposed by Gen. McClernand and myself” would come to nothing when he saw in the press “the new assignment of Military Departments.”

  77New York, Tribune, November 13, 1861.

  78USG to Henry W. Halleck, November 20, 1861, PUSG, 3, p. 202.

  79November 27, 1861, ibid., pp. 227–28.

  80General Orders 22, December 23, 1861, ibid., pp. 330–31.

  81USG to Kelton, November 22, 1861, ibid., p. 212.

  82Portsmouth, OH, Times, November 23, 1861.

  83USG to Jesse Grant, November 29, 1861, PUSG, 3, pp. 238–39.

  84USG to Samuel P. Curtis, November 16, 1861, ibid., p. 177

  85USG to John Cook, December 23, 1861, ibid., pp. 334–35, General Orders 26, December 28, 1861, p. 349, USG to Polk, December 5, 1861, p. 259, Rawlins to Ross, January 5, 1862, pp. 372–73.

  86USG to John Cook, December 25, 1861, ibid., pp. 342–43.

  87USG to Jesse Grant, November 27, 1861, ibid., pp. 226–27.

  88USG to Mary Grant December 18, 1861, ibid., p. 307–308.

  89USG to Jesse Grant, November 27, 1861, ibid., p. 227.

  90USG to Halleck, December 20, 1861, ibid., pp. 316–18.

  91Cleveland, Leader, June 28, 1875. In 1864 Kountz was nominated for a seat in Congress from Pennsylvania. Cincinnati, Daily Enquirer, October 3, 1864.

  92USG to William J. Kountz, December 21, 1861, PUSG, 3, pp. 320–22.

  93USG to Kelton, November 29, 1861, ibid., p. 234.

  94USG to Kelton, December 29, 1861, ibid., pp. 353–54.

  95USG to Kelton, January 6, 1862, ibid., p. 375.

  96USG to Kelton, January 3, 1862, ibid., p. 368.

  97USG to Kelton, January 6, 1862, ibid., pp. 375–76.

  98Halleck to Grant, January 6, 1862, OR, I, 7, pp. 533–34.

  99Halleck to Buell, January 10, 1862, ibid., p. 543.

  100Grant to Halleck, January 8, 1862, ibid., pp. 537–38.

  101USG to McClernand, January 14, 1862, PUSG, 4, p. 56.

  102USG to Kelton, January 14, 1862, ibid., pp. 53–54. See also pp. 110–11n.

  103Springfield, Daily Illinois Journal, March 8, 1862.

  104USG to Hatch, January 12, 1862, PUSG, 4, p. 44.

  105USG to Lincoln, February 8, 1863, PUSG, 7, pp. 297–98.

  106Halleck to Grant, January 10, 1862, OR, I, 7, p. 543, January 11, 1862, p. 544.

  107USG to McClernand, January 18, 1862, ibid., p. 560.

  108USG to Mary Grant, January 23, 1862, PUSG, 4, p. 96.

  109USG to Washburne, March 22, 1862, ibid., p. 409.

  110USG to Halleck, January 28, 1862, ibid., p. 99 and n.

  111USG to Halleck, January 29, 1862, ibid., pp. 103–104.

  112McClellan to Halleck, January 29, 1862, OR, I, 7, p. 571, Halleck to McClellan, January 30, 1862, pp. 571–72.

  113Halleck to Grant, January 30, 1862, PUSG, 4, pp. 121–22.

  114Ibid.

  115Ibid., pp. 110–14n.

  116USG to Julia, February 4, 1862, ibid., p. 149.

  117Field Orders 1, February 5, 1862, ibid., pp. 150–51.

  118USG to Julia, February 5, 1862, ibid., p. 153.

  119USG to Kelton, February 6, 1862, ibid., p. 157.

  120USG to Julia, February 6, 1862, ibid., p. 163.

  121USG to George W. Cullum, February 8, 1862, ibid., pp. 171–72.

  122USG to Mary Grant, February 9, 1862, ibid., pp. 179–80.

  123Halleck to McClellan, February 6, 1862, OR, I, 7, pp. 586, 587, Halleck to Buell, February 6, 1862, p. 588.

  124McClellan to Halleck, January 29, 1862, ibid., 930.

  125McClellan to Halleck, February 6, 1862, ibid., p. 587. Halleck’s exact proposal to McClellan has not been found, but in this telegram McClellan responds that “I will push Hitchcock’s case.”

  126Halleck to Secretary of War, February 8, 1862, ibid., p. 594.

  127Halleck to McClellan, February 8, 1862, ibid., p. 595.

  128USG to Foote, February 10, 1862, PUSG, 4, p. 182.

  129Hillyer to McClernand, February 10, 1862, ibid., pp. 183–85.

  130General Field Orders 11, February 11, 1862, OR, I, 7, p. 605.

  131USG to Julia, February 10, 1862, PUSG, 4, p. 188.

  132Grant is virtually silent on his personal movements in PMUSG.

  133PMUSG, 1, p. 300.

  134USG to Walke, February 13, 1862, PUSG, 4, pp. 202–203.

  135USG to Julia, February 13, 1862, ibid., p. 203.

  136USG to Halleck, February 14, 1862, ibid., pp. 206–207.

  137USG to Cullum, February 14, 1862, ibid., p. 209.

  138USG to Foote, February 14, 1862, PUSG, 32, p. 29.

  139PMUSG, 1, pp. 302–304.

  140USG to Julia, February 14, 1862, PUSG, 4, p. 211.

  141USG to Foote, February 15, 1862, ibid., p. 214.

  142USG to Buckner, February 16, 1862, ibid., p. 218.

  CHAPTER 8: SHILOH AND SEVENS

  1REL to CCL, March 14, 1862, R. E. Lee Collection, Leyburn Library, Washington and Lee. Contrary to Lee, 2, p. 254, which says Lee did not see Mary until June 10, Lee’s letter to his brother establishes that he saw Mary on Sunday March 9.

  2REL to CCL, March 14, 1862, Lee Collection, Washington and Lee. The Richmond, Examiner of March 7, 1862 stated that Lee was expected to arrive the day before. MacDonald, Mrs. Robert E. Lee,
p. 164, says Lee found Mary in worse health than he expected, so crippled by her arthritis that she could barely walk. Lee’s letter to his brother refutes this. Freeman relies on the MacDonald account without citing it (Lee, 2, p. 254).

  3General Orders No. 14, March 13, 1862, Wartime Papers, p. 127.

  4Richmond, Whig, March 14, 21, 1862.

  5Charleston, Mercury, March 10, 1862; Augusta, GA, Chronicle, March 2, 1862.

  6Richmond, Examiner, March 13, 1862.

  7REL to MCL, March 14, 1862, Wartime Papers, pp. 127–28.

  8REL to John Milton, April 25, 1862, Profiles in History Catalog, December 2007, p. 22, item #25; REL to Joseph Brown, May 13, 1862, Alexander Autographs Catalog sale November 6, 2008, p. 55, item #209.

  9REL to Nathan G. Evans, early 1862, Jason Silverman, Samuel N. Thomas Jr., and Beverly D. Evans, IV, Shanks: The Life and Wars of General Nathan George Evans, C.S.A. (New York: Da Capo Press, 2002), pp. 100–101.

  10REL to Theophilus H. Holmes, March 16, 1862, Wartime Papers, pp. 130–31.

  11REL to Johnston, March 17, 1862, ibid., pp. 131–32.

  12REL to MCL, March 15, 1862, ibid., p. 129.

  13REL to Johnston, March 25, 1862, Gilder Lehrman Collection; REL to Johnston, March 28, 1862, Wartime Papers, pp. 138–39.

  14REL to Huger, March 25, 1862, Wartime Papers, pp. 135–36, REL to Magruder, March 26, 1862, pp. 136–37.

  15REL to MCL, March 15, 1862, ibid., p. 129.

  16REL to MCL, April 4, 1862, ibid., p. 142.

  17REL to Magruder, March 26, 1862, ibid., pp. 136–37, April 9, 1862, p. 144.

  18Richmond, Whig, March 3, 1874.

  19REL to Johnston, April 21, 1862, Wartime Papers, p. 152, April 23, 1862, p. 155, May 17, 1862, p. 175.

  20REL to Johnston, May 8, 1862, ibid., p. 166, May 10, 1862, p. 169, May 12, 1862, p. 171.

  21REL to Johnston, May 17, 1862, ibid., p. 175.

  22OR, IV, 1, p. 1095 ff; Albert Burton Moore, Conscription and Conflict in the Confederacy (New York: Macmillan, 1924), pp. 12–14; Lee, 2, p. 28.

  23REL to Albert Sidney Johnston, March 26, 1862, The Rhode Scholar Catalog, Upper Marlboro, MD, September 1998, p. 25, item #84.

  24USG to Polk, October 14, 1861, PUSG, 3, p. 39.

  25Boston Evening Transcript, December 6, 1861.

  26USG to Julia, February 16, 1862, PUSG, 4, p. 229.

  27Ibid., pp. 113–16n, 222n.

  28Halleck to Buell, February 13, 1862, OR, I, 7, p. 609.

  29PUSG, 4, pp. 272–73n.

  30USG to Julia, February 22, 1862, ibid., p. 271.

  31Halleck to McClellan, February 16, 1862, OR, I, 7, pp. 624–25; USG to Halleck, February 13, 1862, PUSG, 4, pp. 200–201, February 14, 1862, pp. 206–208, February 16, 1862, p. 226n, USG to Cullum, February 14, 1862, p. 209, February 15, 1862, pp. 212–13.

  32Halleck to Lincoln, February 17, 1862, OR, I, 7, p. 628.

  33Halleck to Buell, February 18, 1862, ibid., p. 632, Halleck to McClellan, February 19, 1862, p. 637.

  34USG to Cullum, February 19, 1862, ibid., p. 636.

  35Halleck to Thomas A. Scott, February 20, 1862, ibid., p. 643.

  36Halleck to McClellan, February 19, 1862, ibid., p. 636.

  37USG to Julia, February 16, 1862, PUSG, 4, pp. 229–31.

  38USG to Hempstead Washburne, December 11, 1864, PUSG, 32, p. 70. Grant carried the pistol with him until the end of 1864 when he gave it to Washburne.

  39USG to Washburne, February 21, 1862, ibid., p. 264.

  40USG to Sherman, February 25, 1862, OR, I, 7, p. 667, USG to Cullum, February 25, 1862, p. 666.

  41USG to Julia, February 24, 1862, PUSG, 4, p. 284.

  42USG to Buell, February 27, 1862, OR, I, 7, p. 671.

  43USG to Julia, February 28, 1862, PUSG, 4, p. 292.

  44USG to Julia, March 1, 1862, ibid., p. 306.

  45Halleck to USG, March 1, 1862, OR, I, 7, p. 674.

  46McClellan to Halleck, March 3, 1862, ibid., p. 680.

  47C. F. Smith to?, March 17, 1862, Philadelphia, Inquirer, August 12, 1885.

  48USG to Halleck, March 5, 1862, PUSG, 4, p. 318.

  49Ibid., p. 320n.

  50Springfield, Daily Illinois State Journal, March 8, 1862.

  51USG to Julia, March 5, 1862, PUSG, 4, pp. 326–27.

  52USG to Foote, March 3, 1862, ibid., p. 313.

  53USG to Halleck, March 7, 1862, ibid., p. 331.

  54See, for instance, Boston, Evening Transcript, February 18, 1862.

  55Springfield, Daily Illinois State Register, March 3, 1862.

  56New York, Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, March 8, 15, 1862; New York, Tribune, March 15, 1862.

  57Boston, Evening Transcript, March 17, 1862.

  58Halleck to USG, March 10, 1862, PUSG, 4, p. 342n.

  59USG to Smith, March 11, 1862, ibid., p. 343.

  60On that same March 11 Grant wrote that “I will not probably be here” in speaking of the return of a cavalry unit he that day ordered out to protect loyal citizens in the area. USG to William W. Lowe, March 11, 1862, ibid., p. 346.

  61USG to Julia, March 11, 1862, ibid., p. 348.

  62Ibid., p. 349.

  63USG to Halleck, March 13, 1862, ibid., pp. 353–54.

  64Halleck to USG, March 13, 1862, ibid., pp. 354–55n.

  65USG to Julia, March 15, 1862, ibid., p. 375.

  66Halleck to USG, March 16, 1862, OR, I, 10, pt. 2, p. 41.

  67USG to Halleck, March 14, 1862, ibid., p. 35.

  68USG to Halleck, March 18, 1862, PUSG, 4, pp. 386–87, USG to Nathaniel H. McLean, March 19, 1862, p. 393.

  69USG to Julia, March 18, 1862, ibid., p. 389.

  70General Orders No. 24, March 19, 1862, ibid., pp. 390–91.

  71USG to McLean, March 20, 1862, ibid., pp. 396–97.

  72USG to Halleck, March 21, 1862, ibid., p. 400, USG to Washburne, March 22, 1862, p. 408, USG to Smith, March 23, 1862, p. 411.

  73USG to Julia, March 23, 1862, ibid., p. 413.

  74USG to Halleck, March 25, 1862, ibid., p. 421.

  75USG to Ellen Ewing Sherman, July 7, 1862, PUSG, 5, p. 201.

  76See PUSG, 4, pp. 190–91.

  77USG to Julia, March 29, 1862, ibid., p. 443–44.

  78Buell to Halleck, April 1, 1862, OR, I, 10, pt. 2, p. 85.

  79USG to Alexander M. McCook, March 31, 1862, PUSG 4, p. 455; OR, I, 10, pt. 2, p. 84.

  80USG to Sherman, April 4, 1862, OR, I, 10, pt. 2, p. 91.

  81USG to Buell, April 3, 1862, ibid., p. 89.

  82USG to Sherman, April 4, 1862, ibid., p. 91.

  83Buell to Grant, April 4, 1862, ibid., p. 91.

  84General Orders No. 33, April 2, 1862, ibid., pp. 87–88, Special Orders No. 43, April 2, 1862, p. 88.

  85USG to McLean, April 3, 1862, PUSG, 5, p. 3.

  86USG to Julia, April 3, 1862, ibid., p. 7.

  87Ibid.

  88USG to Buell, April 5, 1862, OR, I, 10, pt. 2, p. 93, Sherman to Grant, April 5, 1862, pp. 93–94; Sherman to Rawlins, April 5, 1862, PUSG, 5, p. 16n, Grant to Halleck, April 5, 1862, pp. 13–14.

  89Jacob Ammen Diary, April 5, 1862, OR, I, 10, pt. 1, pp. 330–31.

  90USG to Nelson, April 6, 1862, USG to Thomas J. Wood, April 6, 1862, OR, I, 10, pt. 2, p. 95; USG to Buell, April 6, 1862, PUSG, 5, p. 17. While Grant later said he was not quite certain where the threatened point was, the fact that he ordered Nelson to Pittsburg Landing and not Crump’s Landing would seem to conclusively establish that by the time his boat left Savannah Grant had little doubt.

  91In his memoirs Grant said he reached the battlefield at eight o’clock, which was impossible.

  92USG to Comd’g Officer, April 6, 1862, PUSG, 5, p. 18.

  93USG to Nelson, April 6, 1862, OR, I, 10, pt. 2, pp. 95–96.

  94Report of Lieut. Col. William Hall, April 9, 1862, OR, I, 10, pt. 1, pp. 130–31.

  95Report of Brig. Gen. B. M. Prentiss, November 17, 1862, ibid., pp. 278–79.

  96Report of Brig. Gen. William Nelso
n, April 10, 1862, ibid., p. 323.

  97Ammen diary, April 6, 1862, ibid., p. 333.

  98PMUSG, 1, p. 348.

  99Ibid., p. 349.

  100See USG to Buell, April 7, 1862, PUSG, 5, pp. 20–21, April 8, 1862, p. 24, April 10, 1862, pp. 38–39, for instance. PMUSG, 1, p. 355.

  101PMUSG, 1, pp. 350–51.

  102USG to Halleck, April 9, 1862, PUSG, 5, p. 31.

  103USG to Julia, April 8, 1862, ibid., p. 27.

  104USG to Julia, April 15, 1862, ibid., p. 47.

  105REL to Pemberton, April 10, 1862, OR, I, 6, p. 432, Pemberton to REL, April 10, 1862, p. 432.

  106REL to Pickens, May 29, 1862, Gilder Lehrman Collection.

  107OR, I, 11, pt. 3, pp. 530–31.

  108Jefferson Davis, Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government (New York: D. Appleton, 1881), 2, p. 120.

  109REL to Johnston, May 30, 1862, OR, I, 11, pt. 3, p. 560.

  110William Preston Johnston, “Reminiscences of General Robert E. Lee,” Belford’s Magazine, 25 (June 1890), pp. 86, 89.

  111Davis, Rise and Fall, 2, pp. 122–24, says Lee met with Smith. Gustavus W. Smith, The Battle of Seven Pines (New York: C. C. Crawford, 1891), p. 104, says tersely that “Lee gave him [Smith] no instructions.”

  112REL to Smith, June 1, 1862, Smith, Seven Pines, p. 130. Lee, 2, p. 74 gives a fanciful—and entirely invented—account of Davis telling Lee on the ride back to Richmond on May 31 that he would have to take command of the army, and to prepare to take over as soon as he reached his quarters. Yet hours later, at five in the morning June 1, Lee’s letter cited above clearly addresses Smith as “Commd Army of N. VA,” saying “you are right in calling upon me for what you want,” and expressing the hope that “you can gain a complete victory.” Lee at that moment clearly regarded Smith as being in command of the army, and his own role as one of support and succor. Moreover, if given command of the army the night before, Lee would certainly have been back with the army in person before daylight to be present for the renewed fighting, rather than waiting until the following afternoon. Davis in Rise and Fall, 2, p. 130, says he told Lee he would take the command during the ride to Richmond on May 31, but Smith, Seven Pines, p. 137, said in 1891 that Davis told him he had notified Lee “early in the morning” of June 1 that he was to take command. That sounds more likely, and perfectly fits with Lee still regarding Smith as commander at five that morning. Both sources are too many years after the fact to be regarded as conclusive.