Stonewall Jackson’s Pet Lambs

[NH Civil War Gal]

The Romney Expedition: "Jackson's Pet Lambs" and Loring's Protests - Emerging Civil War

Part 3 of a series “General Jackson now proceeded to place the command of General Loring in winter quarters, near Romney, and to canton Boggs’ brigade of militia along the south branch, from that town to Moorefield, with three companies of cavalry for duty upon the outposts. The remainder of the...

emergingcivilwar.com

"One of the chief leaders in the dissenting choir against Jackson was General William Loring. Born in 1818, Loring grew up in Florida and commissioned in the U.S. Army in 1846 as a captain in the Regiment of Mounted Riflemen. He fought in the Mexican-American War, lost an arm at the Battle of Chapultepec, and won brevets for major and lieutenant colonel. Continuing his military career, Loring promoted to colonel of his regiment on December 30, 1856, becoming the youngest commander of a line regiment in the antebellum U.S. Army. He resigned his commission on May 13, 1861, offered his services to the Confederacy, and became a brigadier general on May 20. Nicknamed "Old Blizzard," Loring disputed Jackson's choices and orders throughout the Romney Expedition.[iii]

Loring was not wrong in his early protests. Campaigning in winter was risky. Perhaps Jackson should have called off the expedition when the weather turned and then continued to worsen. Jackson's failure to explain his plans and objectives to his officers showed a lack of trust and poor communication — a feature of Jackson's leadership throughout the war. While Jackson saw his secretiveness as a hallmark of his success, it infuriated many of his generals and other subordinates; Loring was no exception.

At one point during the Romney Expedition, Loring countermanded one of Jackson's orders, directing a unit into bivouac when Jackson had wanted to press forward at enter the village of Bath. Stonewall confronted Old Blizzard, and the exchange grew icy. Loring claimed he had countermanded the order because he did not understand the objectives. Angrily, he told Jackson, "If you should be killed, I would find myself in command of an army of the object of whose movement I know nothing!"[iv] Predictably, shouting at Jackson did not give him reason to open up, and Jackson rode away, continuing to stall communications and doing little to build confidence between the two generals."

 

[James N.]

Loring remained a "difficult subordinate" as John C. Pemberton also discovered during the Vicksburg Campaign!