Disabled soldiers and commanders

KeithA

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Cedar Rapids IA
I know there were generals who remained in command after being badly injured in battle; for example John Bell Hood of Texas. He lost the use of his left arm at Gettysburg and his right leg was amputated after Chickamauga, but he stayed in command.
I know there are other examples too but I've never heard if there was a policy as to how badly disabled a commander could be before he was relieved of command? Also, were there examples of junior officers or enlisted men that continued to serve after being disabled in battle?
 
I can't say much from certainty, but I would imagine it would be hard for anyone expected to be in combat to continue to serve without an arm or a leg. Generals had horses and didn't (normally) personally fight, so they could stay while short a limb.
 
Oliver Howard USA lost his right arm early in the war and went on to be a corps and then army commander. He served in both the East and the West.
 
I think some were left on duty, like Gabriel Paul, who was wounded in the left eye, at Gettysburg which left him totally blind, I don't think he had any real command responsibilities, but he was left on the rolls, although he could only do some administrative duties until Feb. 1865, when he officially retired from the service.
 
A lot of officers and men who were disabled from wounds still continued to serve as non-combatants in support roles, as staff officers, etc. For example, Color Sgt. George A. Branard of the 1st Texas Infantry lost his arm in the Knoxville Campaign in 1863 but continued to serve in the ambulance corps until the end of the war.

I recall reading of several enlisted men in Cockrell's Missouri Brigade who continued to serve with the brigade even after the loss of their arm, albeit in support roles. And Colonel Elijah Gates of the brigade had his left arm amputated after Franklin but returned to his regiment and was captured at Fort Blakely.

Also many who were discharged for wounds but later reenlisted in other commands.
 
The best example that comes to mind is William F. Bartlett who lost his leg during the siege of Yorktown and would be again wounded at Port Hudson and again in The Wilderness. Bartlett was captured during The Crater when his prosthetic leg was shot away and he couldn't escape the pit.

Bartlett was the subject of one of our Trivia game questions back in April, 2017. Take a look at the clever way the Trivia question was posed by @amweiner
 
Also, were there examples of junior officers or enlisted men that continued to serve after being disabled in battle?

When the Rebs marched on DC and Meigs had to throw every man into the trenches, I'm vaguely recollecting this included Invalid Corps/VRC companies.

The Veteran Reserve Corps (originally the Invalid Corps) was a military reserve organization created within the Union Army during the American Civil War to allow partially disabled or otherwise infirmed soldiers (or former soldiers) to perform light duty, freeing able-bodied soldiers to serve on the front lines. It existed from 1863 to 1869.


See also https://civilwartalk.com/threads/company-d-10th-u-s-veteran-reserve-corps.88488/
 
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Thomas Sweeny wounded at Churubusco and his right arm was amputated. After recovery he returned to a command in the 2nd US Infantry, and served until the outbreak of the War. He was in command at the St. Louis Arsenal. Wounded at Wilson's Creek, on he went to command the 52nd Ill. a regiment at Fort Donelson, Shiloh a brigade, where he was wounded again. He moved back to a brigade after Corinth. He commanded the Second Division of the 16th Corps during the Atlanta Campaign. He got into a fist fight with his corps commander General Dodge. He was court - martialed and mustered out after the end of the war. He was dismissed from the Army after going AWOL, He led the Fenian Invasion of Canada. After this he was reinstated as a Major in the Army, and retired as a BG in 1870. The loss of the arm never seemed to stop him.
 
I know there were generals who remained in command after being badly injured in battle; for example John Bell Hood of Texas. He lost the use of his left arm at Gettysburg and his right leg was amputated after Chickamauga, but he stayed in command.
I know there are other examples too but I've never heard if there was a policy as to how badly disabled a commander could be before he was relieved of command? Also, were there examples of junior officers or enlisted men that continued to serve after being disabled in battle?

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George Nelson Macy: Residence Nantucket MA; a 23 year-old Clerk.
Enlisted on 7/10/1861 as a 1st Lieutenant. On 8/8/1861 he was commissioned into "I" Co. MA 20th Infantry. Wounded 7/3/1863 Gettysburg, PA (Severe wound in left forearm, amputated). Wounded 5/6/1864 Wilderness, VA. Wounded 8/14/1864 Deep Bottom Run, VA. Promotions: Capt 11/8/1861
* Major 12/18/1862
* Lt Colonel 5/1/1863
* Colonel 7/5/1863
* Brig-General 8/14/1864 by Brevet
* Major-Gen 4/9/1865 by Brevet
He was Mustered Out on 7/27/1865
born 9/24/1837 in Nantucket, MA
died 2/13/1875 in Boston, MA

Source : Massachusetts Soldiers, Sailors and Marines in the Civil War.

5561_macy_work_ref.jpg
 
The best example that comes to mind is William F. Bartlett who lost his leg during the siege of Yorktown and would be again wounded at Port Hudson and again in The Wilderness. Bartlett was captured during The Crater when his prosthetic leg was shot away and he couldn't escape the pit.

Bartlett is one of the principle characters in Ralph Peters' book "The Dammed Of Petersburg".
 
Don't forget Lt. Gen. Richard Ewell. The loss of his leg did not impair him much at Gettysburg; in fact, it actually conveyed an advantage in sparing him from a wound. Among the first-hand accounts I have collected that mention Ewell during that battle, the only instance of his disability being a limitation was his inability to climb to the cupola of a church to personally observe the field. On the field he rode a horse, but on the march he was known to ride in a carriage:

- General Ewell, with several of his staff officers, came up to the gallery of the Catholic Church on High Street, for observation from the cupola. As the General was unable to go up, he sat down on a bench not three feet from me up the ladder to the roof and so had to get reports of the battle from aides who called down to the General from time to time. “Things are going splendidly, we are driving them back and gaining everywhere.” [Charles F. McKenna, 150th Pennsylvania, Battle Reminiscences]

- General Ewell has just passed from the R. C. [Roman Catholic?] Church in a carriage – but has driven so rapidly that we had only a glimpse of him. [Diary of Miss Lutie Kealhofer of Hagerstown, Maryland, June 21]

- Ewell is riding around town with his one leg, being followed by an attendant carrying his crutches. [Justus Silliman, 17th Connecticut, at the German Dutch Reformed Church in the southeast end of town]

- During the day, Gen. Ewell, accompanied by Capt. H. B. Richardson, his Chief of Engineers, rode past our brigade and started on a little reconnoitering tour on a road that entered the town where our left rested. We told him it was dangerous. The old General declared that they were fully 1,500 yards distant. He had not proceeded 20 paces when a ball perforated his wooden leg and Richardson was shot through the body. [Civil War Memoirs of Capt. Wm. J. Seymour, Louisiana Tigers, p. 79]

I recollect a few instances in the same battle where partially disabled soldiers still served, especially in a support capacity. Indeed, with dwindling Confederate manpower in the latter part of the war, disabled soldiers were encouraged to take on support roles to free up able-bodied men for the ranks:

- 10 August 1863, order read on dress parade yesterday evening that all men on detached service, as Commissary and Quarter Masters, Sergeants, clerks, etc. must return to their companies and their places filled by disabled soldiers.
[Voices from Company D - a book on the 5th Alabama Infantry]
 
Pictured to the left, with shotgun & revolver in his belt is my g grandfather, John Stout. he was a pvt. in Co. F, 9th Texas Infantry. Wounded at Shiloh which permantly dislocated his ankle his foot to the side continued in service until the surrender in non combat rolls as a teamster and nurse/medic at the Texas Hospital in Meridian, Ms. He lived for 70+ years with his foot in that condition.
Pictured also is his brother, Benjamin Franklin Stout (same unit) who was captured & paroled at Perryville, Ky and captured at the end at Spanish Point (Mobile, Ala).
 
According to Medical Histories of Confederate Generals by Jack D. Welsh, Brig. Gen. Francis R. T. Nicholls commanding the 2nd Louisiana Brigade in the ANV suffered a couple disabling wounds yet continued to serve. He had his arm amputated due to wounds in Jackson's Valley Campaign, was promoted to brigadier general in October 1862, losing his left foot to a shell fragment at Chancellorsville. After recovery from his last wound Nicholls was placed in command of a post at Lynchburg, Va., and later took charge of the Bureau of Conscription in the Trans-Mississippi Department. He lived until 1912.

Photo of Nicholls after his promotion to brigadier general. Notice the empty sleeve.

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Unless I missed it above, you could write a book about Dan sickles, especially if it were an autobiography. He worked tirelessly to take credit for Gettysburg and constantly tried to throw Meade under the bus. I think there is no doubt Meade disliked him from the get-go, and perhaps that is why Sickles felt marginalized at Gettysburg, yet, post battle he felt he was more responsible then any other union soldier for the victory.

His leg i believe is still at the Army Medical Museum in Washington. I dont know if he did much post gettysburg in the ACW but he did serve, one leg and all, did serve in South America but more as a diplomat. When it comes to Sickles you either love him or hate him, in most instances
 
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