Frederick W. Lander

[General Butterfield]

I've recently been interested in the figure of Frederick W. Lander. He seems to have been the only person who could go head to head with Jackson in the valley and come out intact. He was personally a very brave man and an aggressive commander, reminds me a bit of A.S. Johnston. Sadly his career and life was cut short in March, 1862 due to some sort of cold. Had he lived I think he would have been much better choice then Gen. Banks to lead the Department of the Shenandoah.

I have found a biography on him its a little pricey at the moment but I plan on picking it up at some point:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0807125806/?tag=civilwartalkc-20

Anyone have any more info or opinions on Lander feel free to post, thanks.

 

[OldReliable1862]

I found it interesting how I knew so little about Lander; I only learned he existed until a few months ago.

 

[amweiner]

One of my favorite things about Frederick Lander is that he wrote a pretty darn good poem after Ball's Bluff, titled (rather uninterestingly) Ball's Bluff. Not many people know that about him, and not many generals wrote poetry during the War, that I know of. It was a poetic response to a supposed Confederate statement that fewer Massachusetts officers would've been killed had they not been too proud to surrender.

BALLS BLUFF
By Brigadier General Frederick Lander
(1821-1862)

Aye, deem us proud, for we are more
Than proud of all our mighty dead;
Proud of the bleak and rock-bound shore,
A crowned oppressor cannot tread.

Proud of each rock, and wood, and glen;
Of every river, lake and plain;
Proud of the calm and earnest men
Who claim the right and the will to reign.

Proud of the men who gave us birth,
Who battled with the stormy wave
To sweep the red man from the earth,
And build their homes upon their grave.

Proud of the holy summer morn
They traced in blood upon its sod;
The rights of freemen yet unborn;
Proud of their language and their God.

Proud that beneath our proudest dome
And round the cottage-cradled hearth
There is a welcome and a home
For every stricken race on earth.

Proud that yon slowly sinking sun
Saw drowning lips grow white in prayer,
O'er such brief acts of duty done,
As honor gathers from despair.

Pride, it is our watchword; "clear the boats"
"Holmes, Putnam, Bartlett, Peirson-Here"
And while this crazy wherry floats
"Let's save our wounded", cries Revere.

Old State -- some souls are rudely sped --
This record for thy Twentieth Corps --
Imprisoned, wounded, dying, dead,
It only asks, "Has Sparta more?"

 

[OldReliable1862]

Excellent poem, heartfelt and prideful. Reminds me of "In the Land Where We Were Dreaming."

 

[jackt62]

Great poem. Am not familiar with Frederick Lander but he seems to fit the image of the warrior-scholar.

 

[NedBaldwin]

He seems to have been the only person who could go head to head with Jackson in the valley and come out intact.

When did he go head to head against Jackson in the Valley?

Had he lived I think he would have been much better choice then Gen. Banks to lead the Department of the Shenandoah.

Why do you think he would have been a much better choice? What would he have done differently or better?

 

[Randolphcountybuff]

In the early campaign of western Virginia, Lander was somewhat of a local legend. In one of the first organized land battles of the civil war, the Battle of Phillipi, he made a darying ride towards the Confederate position.

"Colonel Lander remained near the battery on the hill so long as his impetuous nature would permit, but as his first regiment reached the bridge, he could stay no longer, and without attempting to go by the road, dashed down through the heavy underbrush of the steep hillside in a feat of horsemanship so spectacular that Leslie's Weekly gave an illustrated account of it shortly afterward. Colonel Kelley, who was to command after the columns united, was eager to be in the midst of the action, and riding in advance of his column, entered the town at the moment Colonel Lander came through the bridge. "

Some local info:
During a reconnaissance mission to determine enemy strength at Camp Garnett, near Rich Mountain, WV, a fellow officer was in awe as he casually strolled up the road, bullets whizing by, and topped his hat and bowed to the Confederates in their position.
During the actual Battle of Rich Mountain, his horse was shot from underneath of him. He jumped up, hopped on top of a boulder and yelled "Fire away You scoundrels!".

 

[Yankeedave]

A shame he died so quick. There is not a lot on him but he seemed energetic. Jackson and he parried a bit without either butchering each other. Kind of classy.

 

[Randolphcountybuff]

I was actually just researching him for my site. More his activities around here at that time period. I was reading that he asked for leave several times because he was sick, but continued working until the end. His requests unanswered.


Frederick William Lander
BIRTH 17 Dec 1821
Salem, Essex County, Massachusetts, USA
DEATH 2 Mar 1862 (aged 40)
Paw Paw, Marion County, West Virginia, USA
BURIAL
Broad Street Cemetery
Salem, Essex County, Massachusetts, USA

General Frederick Lander was a crass, angry, and largely unlikable man who, even immediately following word of his death, would have few pleasant things said about him. Personally, he would be little missed, but it was he who had a firm grasp of the roads, terrain and abilities of the forces, Union and Confederate, arrayed in the lower Shenandoah Valley.1

Tall and handsome, vigorous and hot-tempered, fearless to a fault, Frederick W. Lander (1821-1862) became one of the most name-recognized Americans in the years 1854 to 1862.

Stonewall was born in Clarksburg, WV, coincidentally.