Honor guard at an in-camp Civil War wedding?

Capt. Daniel Hart, or 'D. Hart'. Company E. Only Harpers seems to give it as "De Hart". Post-war he transferred to the regular army was Capt. of Colored troops. Died Ft. Stockton, Tx, 1878.

There is a long account of the wedding, with some background, here:
https://www.oldbaldycwrt.org/newsletters/2006/October2006Newsletter.pdf
WOW! Exceptional sleuthing! Gold researcher of the year award to you, John Hartwell!
So one might presume that this wedding was a perfect storm of very popular Captain, presumed to be wealthy/important lady, desperate need to lift morale, and Hooker's fondness for an old familiar regiment. If the entire regiment was there, that would be... what... 800 to 1,000 men in that square around the canopy????? Whew. Wonder who did the fireworks afterwards... artillarymen?
Such fun!
 
Hooker was at the top of his popularity. He had just taken comand of the Army of the Potomac, and was busy building up morale, with some really ostentatious displays, grand reviews, parades, etc. Lots of 'big talk,' boasting, boisterous goings-on. So this event fit right in with "the times." And the men loved it.

Of course, a month and a half later, all Hooker's bravado deserted him, and, as he said, "I lost confidence in Joe Hooker," and the army suffered one of its worst defeats of the war at Chancellorsville.
 
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Hooker was at the top of his popularity. He had just taken comand of the Army of the Potomac, and was busy building up morale, with some really ostentatious displays, grand reviews, parades, etc. Lots of 'big talk,' boasting, boisterous goings-on. So this event fit right in with "the times." And the men loved it.

Of course, a month and a half later, all Hooker's bravado deserted him, and, as he said, "I lost confidence in Joe Hooker," and the army suffered one of its worst defeats of the war at Chancellorsville.
Oh, the ups and downs. A War-ller-coaster.

The wedding I am manufacturing takes place a little north of Lake Providence, where Maj Gen Logan has his division stationed. It is a very low point in the war for the North, Grant struggling to take Vicksburg, the men dying of dysentary, Grant digging canal after canal with no sucess in getting any closer to the Southern stronghold. Grant is highly unpopular at the moment, slandered in the press, accused of drunkeness etc. The regiment in question for the wedding is the 31st Illinois, first mustered by John Logan himself and led by him for a big part of the war so far. He is now Maj Gen Logan of McPherson's Third Division. So... I have the first two elements needed for an "exceptional wedding": the desperate need to lift morale, and a powerful man with an especial love for/attachment to a particular regiment.

I also have some other possible good winds in this perfect storm: Theodore R. Davis, the war reporter for Harper's Weekly, was traveling with Grant's army at the time (true fact) and I place him at Lake Providence, visiting his brilliant friend, Logan's Irish engineer Stewart R. Tresilian. Davis could potentially provide good national press about the wedding, casting a kind light on Grant's activities in the west, something that the army badly needs. Furthermore, the groom, though he is a private, is a very clever inventor, about to be tapped by Stewart Tresilian to work in the "Pioneers" and help with Logan's engineering problems. And... the bride is related to one of the most powerful families in New York, a family that has donated heaps of money to the Sanitary Commission. Mrs. Mary Livermore of the Sanitary Commission (a forceful wind in her own right) was also at Lake Providence around that time (true fact), distributing supplies and reviewing the medical situation. She stands firmly beside the bride.

So... do I have enough to convince the skeptics? What do you think? Could I bring Logan and his staff to this wedding, involve the entire regiment, make it a grand gala, or is it still too far-fetched, even for fiction?
 
Personally, inaccuracies in fiction don't much bother me ... fiction being, after all, fiction. Many others are strongly put-off by it. And, this idea remains very far-fetched, indeed. The biggest problems, as I see it:

1. the army is on active campaign, "in the presence of the enemy." It just would not be allowed. There's too much other important stuff going on. Any women viiting the army would have long-since been sent packing. The Hart wedding took place while the army was inactive, in secure Winter Quarters, when some leisure was possible. And officers' ladies might, in rare instances, visit. Enlisted men's ladies, if present, probably would have been employed as washer-women.

2.Your hero is a private. That really is a deal-breaker.

As always, exceptions might possibly exist.The 'far-fetched' can happen. Your problem is making it believeable on the page.

Good luck with your story, however it turns out.

jno
 
Personally, inaccuracies in fiction don't much bother me ... fiction being, after all, fiction. Many others are strongly put-off by it. And, this idea remains very far-fetched, indeed. The biggest problems, as I see it:

1. the army is on active campaign, "in the presence of the enemy." It just would not be allowed. There's too much other important stuff going on. Any women viiting the army would have long-since been sent packing. The Hart wedding took place while the army was inactive, in secure Winter Quarters, when some leisure was possible. And officers' ladies might, in rare instances, visit. Enlisted men's ladies, if present, probably would have been employed as washer-women.

2.Your hero is a private. That really is a deal-breaker.

As always, exceptions might possibly exist.The 'far-fetched' can happen. Your problem is making it believeable on the page.

Good luck with your story, however it turns out.

jno
Will do my level best to make it believable, or at least in the "suspend disbelief" realm.

The "on campaign" prehaps is not an issue, as the D. Hart wedding apparently took place on a day where attack was expected imminently. So perhaps I'm ok there...?

" ... To add to the dramatic force of the scene, the rest of the brigade and other troops were drawn up in line of battle not more than a mile away to repel an expected attack from Fredericksburg. ..." (Harper's Weekly)

Facts stranger than fiction...

Thank you thank you for all your help and comments. Quite excited now to get this written.
 
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