(I copied this from Eric Wittenberg on the earlier 2013 Ohio generals post about Gen. Ripley)
This is a profile of Ripley that I wrote for one of my book projects (still incomplete). I have deleted the footnotes for these purposes:
Roswell Sabine Ripley was born in Worthington, Ohio on March 14, 1823. He was educated in the schools of Franklin County, Ohio until sometime in the 1830's, when the family moved to St. Lawrence County, New York, which is where his parents were born and raised. In 1839, at the precocious age of 16, Ripley enrolled at West Point. Although younger than nearly all of his classmates, he was a good student, graduating seventh in the class of 1843. He was a classmate of fellow Ohioan Ulysses S. Grant. He was also a nephew of General James W. Ripley, the chief of ordnance for the United States Army from 1861-1863.
Because of his fine academic performance, Ripley was commissioned a brevet second lieutenant in the 3rd Artillery. After performing garrison duty, he was promoted to second lieutenant and was transferred to the 2nd Artillery on March 26, 1846. He was then ordered to West Point, where he became an assistant professor of mathematics for the balance of that academic year.
At the end of the academic year, he was ordered to report to his unit for the war with Mexico. He served with great distinction throughout the war, earning two brevets (to captain and major). He served on Gen. Zachary Taylor's staff during the fighting at the Battle of Monterey> He was then assigned to serve as an aide-de-camp of Gen. Gideon Pillow (August 6, 1847-July 20, 1848), participating in the siege of Vera Cruz, the Battle of Cerro Gordo, the Battle of Churubusco, the Battle of Molino del Rey, the storming of Chapultepec, and in the capture of Mexico City. He was promoted to first lieutenant along the way.
He took a leave from the army in 1848 to write a history of the war with Mexico (published in 1849), and then returned to duty for the Second Seminole War in 1849-1850. He then served garrison duty at Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Maryland in 1850-1851, and at Fortress Monroe in Virginia in 1851. From 1852 until he resigned his commission on March 2, 1853, he served at Fort Moultrie in Charleston, South Carolina. While stationed at Fort Moultrie, he met and married the daughter of a prominent Charleston family, which prompted him to resign his commission to engage in business there. He spent most of the next seven years in England in the weapons industry.
He joined the South Carolina militia, and in 1860, while a lieutenant colonel in the militia, he and his troops occupied Fort Moultrie after Maj. Robert Anderson evacuated it and took up a position in Fort Sumter. Then, after Fort Sumter fell, Ripley and his troops occupied Fort Sumter. On August 15, 1861, he was commissioned a brigadier general in the Confederate service. In that capacity, he commanded the Department of South Carolina and the state's coastal defenses until his relief at his own request a year later. His tenure in command was filled with strife and controversy, but he also greatly strengthened and enlarged the coastal defenses. On May 24, 1862, he was ordered to report to the Army of Northern Virginia, where he assumed command of South Carolina and Georgia troops, prompting one of his Georgians to describe Ripley as "a big fat whiskey drinking loving man."
Lt. Col. Sir Arthur Fremantle of Her Majesty's Coldstream Guards, a British observer of the American Civil War, met Ripley in Charleston. He described Ripley as "a jovial character, very fond of the good things of this life, but it is said that he never allows this pro- propensity to interfere with his military duties, in the performance of which he displays both zeal and talent. He has the reputation of being and excellent artillery officer, and although by birth a Northerner, he is a red-hot and indefatigable Rebel. . . . Nearly all the credit of the Charleston fortifications is due to him . . . notwithstanding his northern birth and occasional rollicking habits, he is generally popular." While Ripley's contributions to the defense of Charleston were undeniable, not all remembered him as being popular.
"He has throughout labored devotedly and intelligently for our security. Night and day his office has been open, and his zeal and energy have never flagged. With great fertility of resource and courage in undertaking, his military knowledge is high and his judgment excellent. Although brusque in manners and unpopular with some, he has inspired the utmost confidence and respect in all those associated with him in military matters," noted the Charleston Mercury when Ripley's transfer to Virginia came through. "Whatever ignorance and prejudice may conceive — in our opinion, Gen. Ripley is an officer of great skill and energy. Whatever the loss to Charleston, it will be gain to the army of Virginia."
"Ripley was a skillful and competent field officer but forever at odds with both his superiors and subordinates," correctly noted historian Ezra J. Warner in 1959. He received command of a brigade in D. H. Hill's division, and fought throughout the Seven Days. He did not do well during the Battle of Mechanicsville.
Ripley performed poorly at the Battle of South Mountain. Hill assigned Ripley to command the action at Fox's Gap. When the Federal attacks there pierced the Confederate line and began driving them from the gray clad infantry from the field, Ripley's brigade became disoriented in the heavy woods and headed away from the combat instead of toward it. The dyspeptic Hill declared that Ripley "was a coward and did nothing" at Fox 's Gap, blaming him for the Confederate defeat at Fox's Gap. A Georgia colonel agreed. "Ripley gave himself but little concern about what was going on," he said.
Then, while leading his troops in battle at Antietam, Ripley's brigade passed the Samuel Mumma farm and into the Cornfield. Early in the engagement, Ripley was shot in the throat and was carried from the field. Only his cravat prevented the wound from being fatal. Although badly injured, he had the wound dressed and returned to the field, but he eventually had to give up command of his troops as a result of weakness brought on by loss of blood. Although Hill praised him for returning to the field after being wounded, others questioned Ripley's personal courage.
It took him a number of months to recover from his severe wound, and the combination of his abrasive personality and his poor performance at South Mountain, Ripley never commanded troops in the Army of Northern Virginia again. He commanded garrison troops at Charleston during 1863 and 1864. He often clashed with Gen. P. G. T. Beauregard, who commanded the Department. In January 1865, Ripley requested a transfer. Beauregard endorsed the application, declaring, "Ripley is active, energetic, intelligent, ambitious, cunning,, and fault-finding. He complains of every commanding officer he has served under, and has quarreled (or had difficulties) with almost every one of his immediate subordinate commanders since his promotion to his present rank in 1861." Beauregard also preferred court-martial charges against Ripley and stated, "After his trial and acquittal, if acquitted, I will readily approve his application to be transferred…for I will consider myself fortunate to be rid of such an element of discord." Ripley was ultimately relieved of command and received orders to report to Gen. Joseph E. Johnston's army in the spring of 1865. He and his troops arrived just in time to fight in the March 19-21, 1865 Battle of Bentonville.
After the surrender of Johnston's army, Ripley immigrated to England and engaged in an unsuccessful manufacturing venture, leaving him buried in debt. After 20 years in England, he returned to Charleston, but spent much of his time in New York City. There is no record of him ever seeing his wife or daughter again. "He was well known and generally liked by the by the Southern colony in the city and by the many Southern men who stay at the hotel." On March 29, 1887, former Union Gen. John Newton called on Ripley at his hotel, and the two went downstairs for breakfast. Ripley suffered a massive stroke during breakfast, never regained consciousness, and died that night. Pursuant to his wishes, Ripley was buried in Magnolia Cemetery in his adopted hometown of Charleston, South Carolina. Although his daughter attended the funeral, his wife did not.
His former soldiers erected a monument on his grave in recognition of his protracted and gallant defense of Charleston; he was known as "Charleston's Staunch Defender." The chapter of the Sons of Confederate Veterans based in Columbus, Ohio is named in Ripley's honor.
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