ColorizedPast
Corporal
- Joined
- Aug 27, 2016
- Location
- Hangzhou, China (Wisconsin, USA)
Major General Irvin McDowell (USA)
McDowell was born in Columbus, Ohio on 15 October 1818. He attended the College de Troyes in France before graduating from the United States Military Academy in 1838, where one of his classmates was P.G.T. Beauregard, his future adversary at Bull Run. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the 1st U.S. Artillery. He served as a tactics instructor at West Point, before serving as aide-de-camp to General John E. Wool during the Mexican-American War. He was brevetted captain at Buena Vista and serve in the Adjutant General's department after the war earning promotion to major on 31 May 1856. Between 1848 and 1861, McDowell served as a staff officer to higher-ranking military leaders developing experience in logistics and supply. He developed a close friendship with General Winfield Scott and also served under future Confederate general Joseph E. Johnston.
On 14 May 1861, he was promoted to brigadier general and given command of the Army of Northeastern Virginia, despite no experience commanding troops in combat, partly influenced by his mentor, Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase. He protested that his troops were inexperienced and unready, and he himself was only a supply officer, not a field commander, but pressure from Washington politicians forced him to launch an offensive against Confederate forces in Northern Virginia. His strategy for the First Battle of Bull Run was imaginative but ambitiously complex, and his troops were not experienced enough to carry it out effectively, resulting in a disastrous and embarrassing rout.
Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan was placed in commanded of the new Army of the Potomac and McDowell was given command of the I Corps in the spring of 1862. His corps stayed behind to defend Washington, and was eventually supposed to march to McClellan's support while the latter fought in the Peninsula Campaign. However, nervous politicians who feared General Stonewall Jackson's Valley Campaign would eventually include an attack on Washington kept McDowell's 40,000 soldiers behind.
Eventually, the three independent commands of Generals McDowell, John C. Fremont, and Nathaniel P. Banks were combined into Maj. Gen. John Pope's Army of Virginia and McDowell led the III Corps of that army. McDowell was brevetted major general in the regular army for his actions at Cedar Mountain but was blamed for the subsequent disaster at Second Bull Run. He escaped culpability by testifying against Maj. Gen. Fitz John Porter, whom Pope court-martialed for alleged insubordination during the battle. Despite his formal escape, McDowell spent the next two years in effect exile from leadership in the U.S. Army.
In July 1864, he was given command of the Department of the Pacific and commanded the Department of California from 27 July 1865 to 31 March 1868. After briefly commanding the Fourth Military Department, he commanded the Department of the East from 16 July 1868 to 16 December 1872. On 25 November 1872, he was promoted to major general. On 16 December 1872, he succeeded General George G. Meade as commander of the Military Division of the South and remained until 30 June 1876. From 1 July 1876 to his retirement on 15 October 1882, he was commander of the Division of the Pacific.
In 1879, when a Board of Review commissioned by President Rutherford B. Hayes issued its report recommending a pardon for Fitz John Porter, it attributed much of the loss of the Second Battle of Bull Run to McDowell. The report depicted him as indecisive, uncommunicative, and inept, repeatedly failing to answer Porter's requests for information, failing to forward intelligence of Longstreet's positioning to Pope, and neglecting to take command of the left wing of the Union Army as was his duty under the Articles of War.
Following his retirement, McDowell exercised his fondness for landscape gardening, serving as Park Commissioner of San Francisco, California until his death on 4 May 1885. In this capacity he constructed a park in the neglected reservation of the Presidio, laying out drives that commanded views of the Golden Gate. He is buried in San Francisco National Cemetery in the Presidio of San Francisco.
I really want to color all the generals of the war that I can find good photos of, and I'm going to go through them in order of appearance in the war, if I can. So, first, Irvin McDowell commanding the Union Army of Northeastern Virginia at the First Battle of Bull Run.
McDowell was born in Columbus, Ohio on 15 October 1818. He attended the College de Troyes in France before graduating from the United States Military Academy in 1838, where one of his classmates was P.G.T. Beauregard, his future adversary at Bull Run. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the 1st U.S. Artillery. He served as a tactics instructor at West Point, before serving as aide-de-camp to General John E. Wool during the Mexican-American War. He was brevetted captain at Buena Vista and serve in the Adjutant General's department after the war earning promotion to major on 31 May 1856. Between 1848 and 1861, McDowell served as a staff officer to higher-ranking military leaders developing experience in logistics and supply. He developed a close friendship with General Winfield Scott and also served under future Confederate general Joseph E. Johnston.
On 14 May 1861, he was promoted to brigadier general and given command of the Army of Northeastern Virginia, despite no experience commanding troops in combat, partly influenced by his mentor, Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase. He protested that his troops were inexperienced and unready, and he himself was only a supply officer, not a field commander, but pressure from Washington politicians forced him to launch an offensive against Confederate forces in Northern Virginia. His strategy for the First Battle of Bull Run was imaginative but ambitiously complex, and his troops were not experienced enough to carry it out effectively, resulting in a disastrous and embarrassing rout.
Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan was placed in commanded of the new Army of the Potomac and McDowell was given command of the I Corps in the spring of 1862. His corps stayed behind to defend Washington, and was eventually supposed to march to McClellan's support while the latter fought in the Peninsula Campaign. However, nervous politicians who feared General Stonewall Jackson's Valley Campaign would eventually include an attack on Washington kept McDowell's 40,000 soldiers behind.
Eventually, the three independent commands of Generals McDowell, John C. Fremont, and Nathaniel P. Banks were combined into Maj. Gen. John Pope's Army of Virginia and McDowell led the III Corps of that army. McDowell was brevetted major general in the regular army for his actions at Cedar Mountain but was blamed for the subsequent disaster at Second Bull Run. He escaped culpability by testifying against Maj. Gen. Fitz John Porter, whom Pope court-martialed for alleged insubordination during the battle. Despite his formal escape, McDowell spent the next two years in effect exile from leadership in the U.S. Army.
In July 1864, he was given command of the Department of the Pacific and commanded the Department of California from 27 July 1865 to 31 March 1868. After briefly commanding the Fourth Military Department, he commanded the Department of the East from 16 July 1868 to 16 December 1872. On 25 November 1872, he was promoted to major general. On 16 December 1872, he succeeded General George G. Meade as commander of the Military Division of the South and remained until 30 June 1876. From 1 July 1876 to his retirement on 15 October 1882, he was commander of the Division of the Pacific.
In 1879, when a Board of Review commissioned by President Rutherford B. Hayes issued its report recommending a pardon for Fitz John Porter, it attributed much of the loss of the Second Battle of Bull Run to McDowell. The report depicted him as indecisive, uncommunicative, and inept, repeatedly failing to answer Porter's requests for information, failing to forward intelligence of Longstreet's positioning to Pope, and neglecting to take command of the left wing of the Union Army as was his duty under the Articles of War.
Following his retirement, McDowell exercised his fondness for landscape gardening, serving as Park Commissioner of San Francisco, California until his death on 4 May 1885. In this capacity he constructed a park in the neglected reservation of the Presidio, laying out drives that commanded views of the Golden Gate. He is buried in San Francisco National Cemetery in the Presidio of San Francisco.
I really want to color all the generals of the war that I can find good photos of, and I'm going to go through them in order of appearance in the war, if I can. So, first, Irvin McDowell commanding the Union Army of Northeastern Virginia at the First Battle of Bull Run.
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