Lee's Officers

[bill_torrens]

I have previously mentioned that I am engaged in compiling biographical information on all officers of the Army of Northern Virginia below the rank of brigadier general.

I've got about 2,000 pages of text at present, and hope to publish a CD-ROM about three years from now. At some point I'd like to pick someone's brains about American copyright issues. But in the meantime I thought I'd post some entries which I hope will be of general interest. Starting with:

ALLEN, Lawrence M. Born in c.1833. Resident of Madison Co., N.C. Musician, Co.B, 16th N.C. Inf.: 29th April 1861. Captain, Co.H, 2nd N.C. Inf. Bn.: 4th July 1861. Captured and exchanged by 27th August 1862. By January 1863 he had been appointed Colonel of the 64th N.C. Inf. Glenn Tucker:- "Allen was known to be fearless; many who did not admire him had confidence in his leadership if they reached the battlefield, though it was said he could put away a goodly amount of liquor." The official historian of the regiment wrote of him in 1901: "Colonel Allen was not an attractive man - rather otherwise". He was implicated in the killing of a number of North Carolinian Unionists at Laurel Creek in February 1863: "Colonel Allen was not in command - according to [one] account he had been suspended for six months for drunkenness - but he appeared and told the prisoners they would be taken to Tennessee for trial." Instead, they were shot. Allen was also alleged to have been engaged in a $20,000 recruiting fraud by "selling substitutes". His resignation was accepted on 3rd June 1864 - he having been in limbo since the killings, out of command and unassigned. In 1866 he was charged with murder by the grand jury of Madison County and fled to Arkansas, where he settled in Round Prairie Township. He worked as a farmer and teacher, and died on 11th December 1903 at his farm near Decatur, Ark. [Tucker, Zeb Vance: Champion of Personal Freedom, pp.306-308; civilwardata.com]

[bill_torrens]

BALDWIN, Briscoe Gerard Born in Staunton, Va., on 12th August 1828. Graduated from V.M.I. in 1848. Captain & O.O., U.S. Army: 1851-61. Lieut. & O.O., C.S.A.: 16th March 1861, and assigned to duty at the Ordnance Bureau in Richmond. Commander of the Richmond Arsenal: 1st September 1861. Captain & O.O.: 1st January 1862. Captain & A.A.A.G. to R.E. Rodes: 16th April 1862. Major & O.O.: 12th June 1862. Acting Lt-Colonel of the 6th Ala. Inf. during the Seven Days, and was badly wounded in the lung at Malvern Hill on 1st July 1862. Lt-Col. & Chief of Ordnance to R.E.Lee: 29th November 1862. In his diary for 4th February 1863 John Esten Cooke wrote: “Day before yesterday galloped over to Col. Baldwin’s and chatted with him. Man after my own heart – likes to take long in dressing, and to do it lazily. Puts one boot half on, and then lights his pipe and studies the fire!” On 15th June 1864 Walter H. Taylor wrote: “One of our staff and a friend of mine – Col Baldwin – chief of ordnance is quite sick. He bitterly objects to going to a hospital, & is really endangering his life by remaining in camp…He is a nice fellow & a thorough gentn. His home is in Staunton.” By 3rd July Taylor thought him unlikely to survive. Was appointed at the recommendation of E.P. Alexander, who described him thus:- “A broad shouldered handsome six footer, with brown hair & eyes & a presence & bearing which inspired liking & confidence, Gen. Lee never changed him, & he was chief of ordnance to the close at Appomattox. And the friendship which he & I had declared in our correspondence, before we ever met, was a pleasure all through the war. His fate afterward, alas, was one of the tragedies which closed over many of those who in the war were excellent & devoted soldiers, & whose lives had we been successful had every promise of prosperity. I have never known the details but only heard that insanity & suicide finally ended poor Baldwin’s life…” He moved to Texas in 1870, where he was a cattle rancher on the Brazos River and school superintendent at Bryan. Died on 28th September 1898. Buried in Bryan City Cemetery. [Alexander, Fighting For The Confederacy, p.160; Krick, Staff Officers In Gray, p.66; Tower, Lee’s Adjutant: The Wartime Letters Of Colonel Walter Herron Taylor, 1862-1865, pp.167-8, 172; see C.V., 8, p.370, for an obituary.]

[unionblue]

Bill,

I would like to compliment you on your research and work here, a work that will definately contribute to history and the research of others.

I very much appreciate the fact that you have made each entry as complete as possible, to include 'warts and all.' Good luck with your efforts to put this on a CD and make it generally available to all and I thank you for sharing this with us here on the board.

Sincerely,
Unionblue

[bill_torrens]

MORGAN, Thomas Gibbes jr. Born in Baton Rouge, La., in c.1837. Son of Judge Thomas Gibbes Morgan. Farmer. Married Lydia Carter. Captain, Co.F, 7th La. Inf.: 18th September 1861. Wounded at Sharpsburg on 17th September 1862. On 4th October 1862 his sister wrote:- ""I have just come from seeing Gibbes's wound dressed. If that is a scratch, Heaven defend me from wounds! A minie ball struck his left shoulder strap, which caused it to glance, thereby saving the bone. Just above, in the fleshy part, it tore the flesh off in a strip three inches and a half by two. Such a great raw, green, pulpy wound, bound around by a heavy red ridge of flesh! He talked all the time, ridiculing the groans of sympathy over a 'scratch', and, oh, how I loved him for his fortitude!" He convalesced in Louisiana until February 1863. Was captured at Rappahannock Station on 7th November 1863. P.O.W. on Johnson's Island, where he died on 21st January 1864. He had been ill for some days with a headache and sore throat. His sister wrote:- "Captain Steadman, sick in the next bed, and those around him, said he had been talking pleasantly with them, when he sat up to reach for his cup of water on the table. As soon as he drank it he seemed to suffocate; and after tossing his arms wildly in the air, and making several fearful efforts to breathe, he died." [Dawson, A Confederate Girl’s Diary, pp.253 & 429.]

[bill_torrens]

FAUNTLEROY, Charles Magill Born on 21st August 1822. Son of Thomas T. Fauntleroy. Brother of Thomas Turner Fauntleroy [q.v.] Lieut., U.S.N. Colonel of the 1st U.S. Dragoons. Mexican War veteran. Acting A.D.C. to J.E. Johnston: July 1861. Was serving with the Navy by November 1861 (as 1st Lieut. on the C.S.S. Nashville). A.A.A.I.G. to Johnston: 30th September 1862. John Haskell:- "Colonel Charles M. Fauntleroy, a naval officer, who for a long time served on General Johnston's staff...was a very clever man with an inveterate passion for practical joking. He made it a rule, even on the march, to shave and to cut his hair every morning, the latter being done by clipping every lock long enough to be caught between his fingers. He was a remarkably well read man, as a naval officer had seen much of the world, and was a most interesting talker. He was an excessively ugly man and rather vain. He bitterly resented his nickname of Figurehead Fauntleroy, which stuck to him and was unmercifully pushed because he never missed a chance to play practical jokes, and seemed to enjoy them most when they were most painful to the victim." Went to France with the C.S.N. in September 1863. Married three times. Died on 28th July 1889. Buried in Leesburg Presbyterian Church Cemetery. [Krick, Staff Officers In Gray, p.126; Haskell, The Haskell Memoirs, pp.15-16.]

FEAGIN, Isaac Ball Born in Jones Co., Ga., on 17 July 1833. Merchant in Midway, Ala. Deputy Sheriff of Barbour Co., Ala. Captain, Co.B, 15th Ala. Inf.: 26 July 1861. Wounded at Shepherdstown on 19 September 1862. Lt-Colonel: 28 April 1863. Lost leg and was captured at Gettysburg. Exchanged on 10 March 1864. Retired to Invalid Corps on 7 December 1864. Post-war Sheriff & Judge in Barbour Co. Died on 2 May 1900. William C. Oates wrote of Feagin that he “made a good officer. He was courageous and faithful, and commanded his company in every engagement of the regiment, up to a short time preceding the second battle of Manassas, when, being senior captain present, he commanded the regiment through the fighting at Manassas Junction, on the Plains, at Chantilly Farm, at Sharpsburg, and at Shepherdstown. At the latter place…he received a painful wound from a fragment of shell, which disabled him for several months. While at home on furlough he was married to a handsome young lady whose tender care contributed to his early restoration. When he returned to duty in the early part of the next year he found himself court-martialled by Gen. D.H. Hill. He was charged by the General with improper and unofficer-like conduct at the battle of Sharpsburg. General Hill rode up to him in the heat of battle, stayed but a minute, and did not understand the situation. He inquired for the regimental commander. He was told, and found him a short distance away behind some hay stacks, whither he had gone to hurry up a detail in getting cartridges out of the boxes of wounded men who had sought shelter there. Hill supposed that he was hiding there through fear, and did not seek any explanation. Feagin was a brave officer. The writer was the judge-advocate of the court-martial which tried him. As soon as the facts were laid before the court, Feagin was honorably acquitted, and there being no field officer present he again took command of the regiment, and thus remained until promoted lieutenant-colonel about the 1st of May, 1863.”

(Message edited by Bill_torrens on February 01, 2005)

Bill,
These are stupendous.
tommy

[bill_torrens]

Tommy,

Thanks to you & Neil for the positive comments.

Just for you, here is one of A.P. Hill's staff officers who does not yet have a sketch on the excellent "Then Hill Came Up" website.

FRASER, Henry DeSaussure [“Hal”] Born on 4th April 1828. Son of Frederick Grimke Fraser & Isabel Elliott Screven. Educated at Columbia College, Charleston Medical College and in Paris & Germany. Returned to Charleston late in 1852. There he practiced medicine until the war. In 1859 he married his cousin, Jane E. Ladson. Mary Chesnut knew him, and in her diary for 30th March 1861 she wrote: “Mr. Manning took me to Quinby’s – where I met Gov. Richardson & Col. Beaufort Watts & Hal Frasier. Had a good time.” Assistant-Surgeon, C.S.A.: 1861. Spent much of the war in charge of the Third Corps field hospital. Captured at Gettysburg on 5th July 1863: “to care for the many wounded who fell at Gettysburg, he remained with them a captive, when we had to withdraw our lines once more to the soil of old Virginia. He did it to share captivity in northern prisons, which he knew was no bed of roses.” Exchanged five months later. At Appomattox. Resumed his medical practice in Charleston after the war. Elected secretary of the S.C. Medical Association in 1873. Appointed Secretary of the State Board of Health in 1878. Died in Charleston on 8th February 1895. Buried in Magnolia Cemetery. His regulation S.C. Surgeon’s Chapeau de Bras - “the rarest piece of Confederate headgear known to exist” – was offered for sale at a price of $35,000 in 2002. [Woodward & Muhlenfeld, The Private Mary Chesnut, p.51.] A photo of the Chapeau de Bras can be seen at http://www.garyhendershott.com/hats.html A tribute to him which appeared in the July 1895 Confederate Veteran can be seen at http://members.cox.net/confed/1895/article15.html Details of his papers held at the University of South Carolina are listed at http://www.sc.edu/library/socar/uscs/2001/fraser.html A wartime envelope addressed by him to his wife can be seen at http://www.jlkstamps.com/covers/army/af113.htm

[ole]

Bill:

I appreciate the work you've put into the study and publication of real scholarship. I've enjoyed reading what you've posted and look forward to more.

Thanks, Ole.

[bill_torrens]

Ole,

Thanks. I'm glad you're enjoying reading these little sketches. I can't tell you how much pleasure I have had compiling them since I started in 1980.

CABELL, Henry Coalter Born on 14th February 1820. Son of Governor William Henry Cabell & Agnes Sarah Bell Gamble. Graduated from V.M.I. in 1842. Lawyer in Richmond. Married Jane Charity Alston. Captain, Richmond Fayette Artillery: 25th April 1861. Lt-Colonel: 12th September 1861. Colonel: 4th July 1862. Chief of Artillery of McLaws’ Division for most of the war. Took the oath at Richmond on 26th July 1865. Died there on 31st January 1889. Buried in Hollywood Cemetery. Robert Stiles wrote of him: “For eighteen months of the hottest part of the war I was the adjutant of Colonel Cabell, fighting by his side by day and sleeping by his side by night, eating and drinking often out of the same tin cup, lying upon the same oil cloth and covered with the same blanket – side by side, heart to heart, soul to soul. If ever I knew a man through and through, I knew him; and a cleaner, sweeter, more loyal soul I never knew. His essential characteristics were pure and unselfish nature, tender and affectionate heart, gentle and unfailing courtesy, single-hearted and devoted patriotism, quiet but indomitable courage. I never knew him to fail to be at the point of peril along the front of his battalion, nor there or anywhere to fail to measure up to the full standard of a battalion commander’s duty and responsibility. I never knew him to shrink from any hardship or any duty or any sacrifice for the cause to which we had devoted our lives. I never knew him to fail to treat a private soldier with a consideration which was grateful to him [sic], and yet never knew this courtesy to interfere with the maintenance of discipline. I never knew him to wound intentionally the feelings of a human being, or fail to repair the wrong if committed inadvertently. He was a man of intellect and culture, as well as character; as a friend ever faithful, as a companion always agreeable, as an officer enjoying the unqualified confidence and approval of his superiors, and the universal respect and affection of his subordinates. I am well aware that all this should have resulted in even more, but he who never did injustice to others never did full justice to himself. He lacked self-assertion and aggression; to some extent, too, he lacked the manner and bearing of a soldier, and he never maneuvered for position for himself or his battalion….he was much pleased to learn late in the war that certain of his friends, as they announced themselves, were planning to secure for him the exceptional rank of brigadier-general of artillery. He was interested and gratified until he accidentally discovered that it was involved in the plan that he should be retired to the defenses of Richmond…When this feature was developed, for once he flamed into ungovernable rage. It was the only time I heard him swear. ‘Stiles,’ said he, ‘what do these people take me for? Have I given men any reason to consider me a ****ed sneak and coward and fool?’ ” On 20th November 1863 General Pendleton wrote to R.E. Lee that “Colonel Cabell is another estimable officer whom it is best to transfer to another position. His worth as a gentleman, his patriotism as a citizen, and his gallantry as a soldier deserve honorable mention, but it is believed he could render better service in a command requiring less prompt activity than that he now holds.” [Stiles, Four Years Under Marse Robert, pp.154-5; Krick, Lee’s Colonels; Ferguson, Hollywood Cemetery, Her Forgotten Soldiers: Confederate Field Officers At Rest, p.26; Krick, Staff Officers In Gray, p.89.] His report on Chancellorsville can be read at http://www.civilwarhome.com/cabellch...orsvilleor.htm

(Message edited by Bill_torrens on February 03, 2005)

[bill_torrens]

HASKELL, John Cheves Born on 21st October 1841. Son of Charles Thomson Haskell & Sophia Lovell Cheves. Lieut., Co.A, 1st S.C. Art.: 18th May 1861. Major & C.S. to G.W. Smith: 21st December 1861. Major & C.S. to D.R. Jones: March 1862. Lost an arm at Gaines Mill on 27th June 1862: “When I got within a few feet of the guns, I marked a gunner fixing his lanyard into the friction primer. I made a run to cut him down before he could fire, but he was too quick. When I was not over ten feet from the muzzle the gun went off. The shot struck my right arm, crushing it and tearing it off at the shoulder. When it hit me, it seemed to knock me up in the air and spin me around two or three times, though I suppose that was imaginary, and then dashed me down with a force that knocked all the breath out of me.” Major & C.S. to G.W. Smith again: November 1862. Major & V.A.D.C. to Longstreet in December 1862. Major of Artillery: 13th April 1863. At the Battle of the Crater he “came dashing up the plank road with two light batteries, and from a position near the cemetery began the most effective work of the day. Exposed to the batteries and sharpshooters of the enemy, he and his men gave little heed to danger. Haskell, in his impetuous and ubiquitous gallantry, dashed and flashed about: first here, next there, like Ariel on the sinking ship. Now he darted into the covered way to seek Elliott, and implore an infantry support for his exposed guns; Elliott, responding to his appeal, was severely wounded as he attempted with a brave handful of his Carolinians to cover Haskell’s position; now Haskell cheered Lampkin, who had already opened with his eight-inch mortars; now he hurried back to Flanner, where he had left him and found him under a fire so hot that in mercy he resolved to retire all his guns but six, and call for volunteers to man them, but that was not the temper of Lee’s army: every gun detachment volunteered to remain.” Lt-Colonel of Artillery: 18th February 1865. At Appomattox. Married Sally Preston Hampton and, after her death, her cousin Lucy Hampton. Planter in Mississippi and lawyer in Columbia, S.C. Died in latter place on 26th June 1906. [Haskell, The Haskell Memoirs; Krick, Staff Officers In Gray, p.153.] Photos of his grave can be seen at http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg...John%20Haskell