Lesser Known Heroes?

[Johnny Shafto]

We all have our heroes. For many this might start with our parents. For some, especially here, it would include women and men who's lives became a part of the Civil War. Lincoln, Grant, Lee, Bickerdyke, Jackson, Reynolds, the list is long of those garnering our respect and admiration. It was while reading Guelzo's Gettysburg that I first stumbled across the name Lt. John Calef. He served in Battery A, 2nd U.S. Artillery where under his command they supported General Buford that first morning at Gettysburg. Since my introduction to Lt. Calef I have watched for mentions, associations, even possible sightings! Today, motivated to follow up on a post from our current Member of the Year regarding Major General John Sedgwick, I was delighted to come across a photo of Lt. Calef that I had never seen. He was looking back at me over the decades while in the presence of Sedgwick, Meade, and others.

Question: Who are some of your lesser known heroes? Someone that has received your admiration that many of us would love to learn more about.

 

[Fairfield]

I've always been partial to Abner R. Small of Oakland, Maine.

Small enlisted as a private in the 3rd Maine infantry and mustered out as a major in the 16th Maine infantry. He had a marvelous sense of humor (almost always at his own expense) and a deep compassion for his fellow soldiers on both sides (one of the most stirring accounts I've read was his minutes with a dying Confederate soldier). Although he later spent time in a prison camp, he was one of the few members of the 16th left standing after Gettysburg. After the war, he came right back to central Maine where he was a strong supporter of both ACW veterans and of the general community.

 

[Fairfield]

Two more Mainers, both of whom were to gain prominence after the war: Selden Connor (later governor of Maine) and Thomas Hyde (established Bath Iron Works). At the war's start, they were two young officers who became fast friends. One evening, out on a ride in safe territory, they came upon an abandoned plantation. While others might have raided the silver or depleted the liquor supply, these two shared a bottle of port in the library, reading.

Selden Connor on left, Tom Hyde on right

 

[J. D. Stevens]

It's my privilege to add Brig. Gen. Thomas Green to the list of lesser know heroes (unless you are from Texas).

Thomas Green (June 8, 1814 – April 12, 1864) was born in Virginia, but the family moved to Tennessee in 1817. He received a degree from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville in 1834 and then studied law with his father. When the Texas Revolution began in 1835, he left for Texas. During the April 21, 1836 Battle of San Jacinto, Green helped operate the famed "Twin Sisters" cannons, the only artillery present in Sam Houston's army.

In the Mexican–American War, Green recruited a company of Texas Rangers and served as their captain during the 1846 U.S. capture of Monterrey.

After Texas seceded in early 1861, Green was elected colonel of the 5th Texas Cavalry Regiment, which joined the invasion of New Mexico Territory in 1862. Green led the Confederate victory at the Battle of Val Verde in February. Back in Texas, he and volunteers from his regiment served aboard the river steamer converted into a cotton clad, Bayou City as sharpshooters and boarding party. Green and his "Horse Marines" assisted in the recapture of Galveston on January 1, 1863 by helping to seize the Union steamer Harriet Lane.

During the Bayou Teche Campaign in the spring of 1863, Green commanded the First Cavalry Brigade in Gen. Richard Taylor's division in the fighting along Bayou Teche in Louisiana. He was promoted to brigadier general, May 20, 1863. In June, he captured a Union garrison at Brashear City, but failed to seize Fort Butler on the Mississippi River. Green's cavalry routed advancing Union troops under Godfrey Weitzel and Cuvier Grover at Koch's Plantation on July 13. In September, the First Cavalry Brigade captured another Union detachment at Sterling's Plantation. A similar success followed in November at the Battle of Bayou Bourbeux. In four victories, Green's men inflicted about 3,000 casualties and suffered only 600 losses. Green was subsequently assigned command of the cavalry division of the Trans-Mississippi Department and returned to Texas.

General Green led his division of cavalry back from Texas to reinforce Taylor in Louisiana during the Red River Campaign. He participated in the Battle of Mansfield and the Battle of Pleasant Hill on April 8 and 9, ending Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks drive to Shreveport. A few days later, on April 12, 1864, Green was leading the attack against Federal gunboats at Blair's Landing on the Red River when he was mortally wounded by a shell from the Osage. The loss of Green was a blow to Gen. Richard Taylor who placed more confidence him than anyone else.

General Thomas Green is buried in the family plot at Oakwood Cemetery in Austin, Texas.

 

[Johnny Shafto]

Two more Mainers, both of whom were to gain prominence after the war: Selden Connor (later governor of Maine) and Thomas Hyde (established Bath Iron Works). At the war's start, they were two young officers who became fast friends. One evening, out on a ride in safe territory, they came upon an abandoned plantation. While others might have raided the silver or depleted the liquor supply, these two shared a bottle of port in the library, reading.

View attachment 426826View attachment 426827 Selden Connor on left, Tom Hyde on right

Great story.

 

[Johnny Shafto]

"I NEVER SAW A BATTERY SO WELL SERVED IN MY LIFE"
These words of unusual praise were spoken by Brig. General John Buford to a 22-year-old West Point Class of 1862 graduate, Lt. JOHN HASKELL CALEF, and his members of Battery A of the Second Artillery on the evening of Day One of the Battle of Gettysburg. The horse artillery which accompanied Buford on July 1, 1863 was commanded by baby-faced Lt. Calef whose battery "was fiercely engaged the entire day [losing] twelve men badly wounded and thirteen horses killed." Calef's skill in delaying the Confederate advance upon Gettysburg was one of the several key reasons that Reynold's First Corps was able to come up and establish a position on Cemetery Hill by the day's end.
"[Early on the morning of July 1st,] it was Buford's plan to cover as large of a front as possible with Battery A, his only artillery, for the purpose of deceiving the enemy as to his strength. He instructed Calef to post two guns on the right of the [Chambersburg] pike, two on the left, and the remaining two still farther to the left." Calef's battery of six guns soon succeeded in drawing fire from about 30 Confederate guns.
Calef wrote: "Seeing the battery so greatly outnumbered, I directed the firing be made slowly and deliberately and reported to Buford what was in my front ... While riding to the guns on the left I met General Buford, accompanied by a bugler only, and calmly smoking his pipe ... [He said] 'Our men are in a pretty hot pocket, but, my boy, we must hold this position until the infantry come up; then you withdraw your guns in each section by piece ...' Just as he finished speaking a shell burst so near to us that both of our horses reared with fright, but all escaped injury."
Captain John C. Tidball wrote: "At one time the enemy had concentrated fire upon this battery from twelve guns, all at short range. Calef held his own gloriously, worked his guns deliberately, with great judgment and skill, and with wonderful effect upon the enemy."
Despite all of this effusive praise, late in the day, General Wadsworth ordered Calef to the rear to be arrested for refusing his order to move the battery to a spot which Calef knew to be an unfavorable position. Fortunately, at this point, Buford ordered Calef's battery relieved and "evidently Calef was forthwith liberated from his detention." -- Eugene C. Tidball, "No Disgrace to My Country: The Life of John C. Tidball (2002), pp. 305-306.
By Craig Heberton IV

 

[rbasin]

My favs of the lesser knowns would be canby, Stanley, and both palmers

 

[Johnny Shafto]

My favs if the lesser knowns would be canby, Stanley, and both palmers

Outstanding! Now in the process of learning more about Edward Richard Sprigg Canby of Piatt's Landing Kentucky. Thank you.

 

[rbasin]

Outstanding! I'm now on the process of learning more about Edward Richard Sprigg Canby of Piatt's Landing Kentucky. Thank you for the reference.

View attachment 426887

I don't know why I like him. I just always have.

 

[rbasin]

So, on the confederate side, I'm thinking Wilcox, Cheatham, and GW Smith

 

[Johnny Shafto]

RE: E.R.S. Canby….This link provides both humor and insight…

The Awkward Meeting of Richard Taylor, Edward Canby and Peter Osterhaus - Emerging Civil War

Today, we are pleased to welcome back guest author Sean Michael Chick In considering the ways Americans have debated the American Civil War, its meaning and influence, one particular illustrative episode can be found in Richard Taylor’s eloquent memoir Destruction and Reconstruction. Taylor was...

emergingcivilwar.com

 

[Johnny Shafto]

I don't know why I like him. I just always have.

Reason enough.

 

[Johnny Shafto]

So, on the confederate beside, I'm thinking Wilcox, Cheatham, and GW Smith

More homework. I love it.

 

[Cavalier]

Israel B. Richardson, Alexander Hays, George Lamb Willard, Clinton D. McDougal, Patrick O'Rourke, all of them from the AOP. Not from the AOP, Tom Sweeny, and a new one for me, Robert Minty, even though his love life is right out of a modern soap opera.

John

 

[lelliott19]

I submit the following for your consideration:

Sidney Allen Speed (25 June 1846 - 12 July 1923) of the 18th Indiana Eli Lilly's battery. At the Battle of Chickamauga, Speed calmly picked up a shell, while the fuse was still burning and "heaved it over" the Alexander cabin where the shell exploded, saving the lives of some of the artillerymen of Captain Eli Lilly's battery. After the war, some of his comrades, including Eli Lilly's grandson, attempted to get him the Medal of Honor. Apparently, Speed was not very fond of the idea, stating he "didn't give two hoots" about the medal. After it was explained that he would be entitled to more money in his pension, he had a change of heart. He said he was, "willing to have the medal forced on me." Unfortunately Speed never received the medal for his heroic action at Chickamauga.

According to Capt. H. H. Carlton, commander of the Troup Artillery, these next two constituted the bravest acts he witnessed. If Capt. Carlton considered them heroes, that's good enough for me.
Richard Wilson Saye (15 Oct 1824 - 20 Oct 1903) of the Troup (GA) Artillery. At the battle of Fredericksburg, December 13,1862, an exploding shell fired from across the Rappahannock landed inside the breastworks with a gun of the Troup Artillery. The shell ricocheted around and landed with its fuse burning. Saye was serving as No. 2 on that gun. Seeing the position of himself and others serving that cannon, Saye walked deliberately and cooly up to the shell, picked it up, and hurled it into the ditch, just beyond and at the bottom of the breastworks, where it exploded. According to Capt Carlton, "Had the shell exploded where it first lay, it doubtless would have killed and wounded a number of men who were thick around the guns and in the works." [The Athens Banner. (Athens, Ga.), April 26, 1912, page 5.]

Judson Porter (unknown - 10 May 1864) of the Troup (GA) Artillery. At the "second battle of Fredericksburg" on May 3, 1863, Porter was ordered to assume the No. 3 position in place of Pvt. Thomas Dillard who had just been killed by a shell through the body. Manning the vent through the rest of the ordeal, without benefit of a thumbstall, Porter's thumb was literally burned off - down to the bone. What remained of it had to be amputated. He was slightly wounded in the leg at Gettysburg. About a month after losing his thumb, he was killed May 10, 1864 when a piece of a shell took off his head at Spotsylvania. [The Athens Banner. (Athens, Ga.), April 26, 1912, page 5.]

 

[Scott1967]

Anyone who served is a hero on both sides.

Even some deserters who had seen battle after battle should not be forgotten one battle would be enough for me I don't how they kept going in the face of such carnage.

 

[Sheltowee]

So, on the confederate side, I'm thinking Wilcox, Cheatham, and GW Smith

I live in Smith's hometown, and really must read up on him. Seems a bit of an enigma to me?

 

[rbasin]

I live in Smith's hometown, and really must read up on him. Seems a bit of an enigma to me?

I get that. His strange behavior in Virgina.

 

[Johnny Shafto]

Anyone who served is a hero on both sides.

Even some deserters who had seen battle after battle should not be forgotten one battle would be enough for me I don't how they kept going in the face of such carnage.

True enough

 

[Johnny Shafto]

your admiration that many of us would love to learn more about.

I submit the following for your consideration:

Sidney Allen Speed (25 June 1846 - 12 July 1923) of the 18th Indiana Eli Lilly's battery. At the Battle of Chickamauga, Speed calmly picked up a shell, while the fuse was still burning and "heaved it over" the Alexander cabin where the shell exploded, saving the lives of some of the artillerymen of Captain Eli Lilly's battery. After the war, some of his comrades, including Eli Lilly's grandson, attempted to get him the Medal of Honor. Apparently, Speed was not very fond of the idea, stating he "didn't give two hoots" about the medal. After it was explained that he would be entitled to more money in his pension, he had a change of heart. He said he was, "willing to have the medal forced on me." Unfortunately Speed never received the medal for his heroic action at Chickamauga.

According to Capt. H. H. Carlton, commander of the Troup Artillery, these next two constituted the bravest acts he witnessed. If Capt. Carlton considered them heroes, that's good enough for me.
Richard Wilson Saye (15 Oct 1824 - 20 Oct 1903) of the Troup (GA) Artillery. At the battle of Fredericksburg, December 13,1862, an exploding shell fired from across the Rappahannock landed inside the breastworks with a gun of the Troup Artillery. The shell ricocheted around and landed with its fuse burning. Saye was serving as No. 2 on that gun. Seeing the position of himself and others serving that cannon, Saye walked deliberately and cooly up to the shell, picked it up, and hurled it into the ditch, just beyond and at the bottom of the breastworks, where it exploded. According to Capt Carlton, "Had the shell exploded where it first lay, it doubtless would have killed and wounded a number of men who were thick around the guns and in the works." [The Athens Banner. (Athens, Ga.), April 26, 1912, page 5.]

Judson Porter (unknown - 10 May 1864) of the Troup (GA) Artillery. At the "second battle of Fredericksburg" on May 3, 1863, Porter was ordered to assume the No. 3 position in place of Pvt. Thomas Dillard who had just been killed by a shell through the body. Manning the vent through the rest of the ordeal, without benefit of a thumbstall, Porter's thumb was literally burned off - down to the bone. What remained of it had to be amputated. He was slightly wounded in the leg at Gettysburg. About a month after losing his thumb, he was killed May 10, 1864 when a piece of a shell took off his head at Spotsylvania. [The Athens Banner. (Athens, Ga.), April 26, 1912, page 5.]

This is so great!