Federal Brigadier General William Haines Lytle

Buckeye Bill

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William Haines Lytle (November 2, 1826 - September 20, 1863) was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, the son of a leading area family, the Lytle family. He graduated from Cincinnati College (Modern University of Cincinnati) and studied law. After passing the bar exam, he established a law firm in Cincinnati, but soon enlisted in the 2nd Ohio Volunteer Infantry and served as a captain in the Mexican-American War. After returning from Mexico, Lytle resumed and expanded his legal practice. He was elected to the Ohio state legislature as a Democrat. He unsuccessfully ran for Lieutenant Governor in 1857, losing the election by just a few hundred votes. He was a celebrated American poet before the Civil War. Lytle's most famous poem, "Antony and Cleopatra" (published in 1857), was beloved by both North and South in antebellum America. Lytle was appointed as a major general in the Ohio state militia. In 1860, he unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination for his district's seat in the United States House of Representatives. He campaigned in Ohio for the candidacy of Stephen A. Douglas in the 1860 Presidential Election.

When the Civil War erupted in 1861, through his political and military connections, Lytle was commissioned as colonel of the 10th Ohio Infantry. He and his brigade were assigned to the western Virginia (now West Virginia), where they engaged in a series of small engagements in a campaign that led to the withdrawal of Confederate forces in that region, helping pave the way for statehood. Lytle was given command of a brigade of infantry. He was severely wounded in his left calf muscle in a fight at Carnifex Ferry on September 10, 1861, and was sent home to recover. After a four-month recuperation, Lytle was assigned commander of the Bardstown, Kentucky military training camp. Returning to field duty, he led a brigade in Maj. Gen. Ormsby M. Mitchel's division. He participated in Mitchel's operations along the Memphis and Chattanooga Railroad. Lytle was again wounded and taken prisoner at the Battle of Perryville in Kentucky on October 8, 1862. He was soon exchanged and rejoined the army. On November 29, Lytle was promoted to brigadier general of volunteers, and led his brigade in numerous engagements in the army of William S. Rosecrans. Admiring officers from his old 10th OVI presented him with a jeweled Maltese cross in September 1863, just eleven days before his death.

Lytle was mortally wounded at the Battle of Chickamauga in Georgia while leading a counterattack on horseback. Once his identity was known, respectful Confederates placed a guard around his body, and many recited his poetry over their evening campfires. The hill where he died is now known as "Lytle Hill" in the Chickamauga National Military Park.

His funeral was held in the early afternoon at Christ Church on Fourth Street in Cincinnati. So many people lined the streets that the funeral cortege did not reach Spring Grove Cemetery until dusk. Lytle's monument, one of the most impressive ones there, is near the entrance to the cemetery.

* William Haines Lytle

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* The Lytle Homestead (Modern Lytle Park - Cincinnati, Ohio).

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* Statue of President Abraham Lincoln near the spot of the Lytle Family Homestead.

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* William H. Lytle wounded at the Battle of Carnifex Ferry, Virginia (Modern West Virginia)

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* William H. Lytle at the Battle of Chaplin Hills (Perryville, Kentucky).

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* William H. Lytle mortally wounded at the Battle of Chickamauga Creek, Georgia (Death Site Monument).

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* William H. Lytle Death Site Monument Plaque.

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* Federal Brigadier General William H. Lytle grave site at the Spring Grove Cemetery in Cincinnati, Ohio.

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* Federal Brigadier General William H. Lytle in battle at Chickamauga Creek, Georgia Monument Plaque.

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* Photos courtesy of William Bechmann (2013 - 2015).
 
My pleasure, rickvox79!

Many individuals visit American Civil War battlefields and observe a ton of monuments. I am just attempting to place a face and a story attached to these monuments.

Bill
 
Opening lines of Lytle's most famous Poem.

I am dying, Egypt, dying!
Ebbs the crimson life-tide fast,
And the dark Plutonian shadows
Gather on the evening blast;
Let thine arm, O Queen, enfold me,
Hush thy sobs and bow thine ear,
Listen to the great heart secrets
Thou, and thou alone, must hear.

Poems Of William Haines Lytle - edited by William Henry Venable with a brief bio introduction.
https://archive.org/details/poemsofwilliamha01lytl
 
I am reading Dave Powell's Chickamauga Campaign Volume 2 currently and while all the deaths mentioned are sad, Lytle's is especially sad. A brave man surrounded by many other equally brave men on both sides.
 
I wonder if there is any truth to this story I'm finding about Lytle being shot by a sharpshooter in the 16th Alabama. Saying that Bragg gave him a reward? Seems a little too mythical to me.

In Peter Cozzens book entitled, "The Terrible Sound," he states soldiers from Confederate Brigadier General Zach Deas's Alabamians shot Lytle on the ridge of the hill. Lytle was first shot in his spine. Then Lytle was giving commands to Captain Howard Green when a minie ball entered his left cheek.
 
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Per Lytle's Wikipedia page......

The alleged shooter of Lytle was never discovered, and to this day has never been discovered, all that is known is that the shooter was a Confederate sniper using a Whitworth .45 caliber percussion rifle.

However, according to history presented to The Daughters of The Confederacy, the shooter was Hillary Garrison Waldrep of Company B of the 16th Alabama Regiment of Infantry. In order to make the shot that was purportedly approved personally by General Bragg, Waldrep had to adjust the sights on his rifle for 200 yards beyond where they usually were. According to the account, once General Lytle fell to the ground, his horse was spooked and ran toward the Confederate soldiers. Bragg gave Hillary Garrison Waldrep General Lytle's horse, bed-roll and equipment. Waldrep later sold the horse for $100.

* I need to do more research on the Confederate shooter......
 
Per Lytle's Wikipedia page......

The alleged shooter of Lytle was never discovered, and to this day has never been discovered, all that is known is that the shooter was a Confederate sniper using a Whitworth .45 caliber percussion rifle.

However, according to history presented to The Daughters of The Confederacy, the shooter was Hillary Garrison Waldrep of Company B of the 16th Alabama Regiment of Infantry. In order to make the shot that was purportedly approved personally by General Bragg, Waldrep had to adjust the sights on his rifle for 200 yards beyond where they usually were. According to the account, once General Lytle fell to the ground, his horse was spooked and ran toward the Confederate soldiers. Bragg gave Hillary Garrison Waldrep General Lytle's horse, bed-roll and equipment. Waldrep later sold the horse for $100.

* I need to do more research on the Confederate shooter......

Yeah, I don't remember Dave Powell mentioning that in his second volume on the Chickamauga Campaign. My guess is it is an unsubstantiated story with not enough proof to mention it. I just wonder if Bragg would have been close enough too make his "personal approval" per that story. Doesn't sound realistic to me. Interesting story if true, but I have my doubts.
 
William Haines Lytle was mortally wounded on this day in 1863 during the Battle of Chickamauga, Georgia.
 
Bill have you done any more research on the shooter. I will check into it also.

No, Ma'am....

I asked a couple of NPS Rangers about the identity of the Confederate sharpshooter during my visit in 2018. Nothing new besides the exert from Cozzens' book.

Bill
 
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