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| Ft Kent Maine, D.H. Hill's first duty assignment |
The Army was extremely stretched in 1838 when these
troubles began. A significant
amount of the combat force was in Florida fighting the fiercely resistant
Seminoles. Other troops manned the
western frontier of posts along the Mississippi River. For many, their mission was disagreeable
and consisted of moving the Cherokees and other eastern tribes from ancient
homelands into the barren Indian Territories west of the Mississippi. With a new crisis along the Canadian
border, where would the forces that were needed for this new mission come
from?
The Army’s only true mobile forces in 1838 were the First
and Second Regiments of Dragoons.
The First was stationed at Fort Leavenworth keeping an eye on the relocations
of the eastern tribes and making occasional forays deep into the wilderness
west of the Mississippi. The
Second after a brief respite at Fort Columbus NY was back in Florida. Both regiments were not available.
Florida was consuming most of the infantry
regiments in 1838. Five of the
eight infantry regiments (First, Second, Fourth, Sixth, and Seventh) were
stationed in Florida along with the Third Artillery. The Third Infantry was at nearby Ft Jesup Louisiana ready to
deploy to Florida if needed.
The Fifth Infantry had headquarters at Fort Snelling Minnesota with its
companies stationed in Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois and Nebraska. The Eighth Infantry had just been authorized
by Congress in 1838 and was organizing in upstate New York.
This left the artillery regiments. During this period, most of the
artillery when it was not stationed in a coastal fort that had heavy artillery
guns mounted fought as infantry. A
regiment was fortunate if even one company (the units were not yet referred to
batteries) was outfitted as “light” artillery and equipped with guns and
horses. The troops not in coastal
forts were used as infantry.
The Army would use three of its four artillery
regiments to meet the new emergency. The Third Artillery remained in Florida
fighting Seminoles.
In 1838 the First Artillery was sent to the northern frontier to stations in Vermont
and New York. Shortly after their
arrival, a new company was added to each of the artillery regiments. In 1840,
the regiment redeployed eastward to the Maine frontier.
In the middle of the disputed area was Hancock Barracks located
near Houlton Maine. On today’s
international border, Houlton was then a hotbed of local Maine lumberman and
the center of the disputed area.
Built in 1828, Hancock Barracks became the headquarters of the First
Artillery Regiment in 1840 and had up to four companies of the First Artillery deployed
there. Among the officers at one
time or another were 1LT Joseph Hooker
(USMA 1837) and 1LT William French
(USMA 1837).
Before heading north, both French and Hooker served
briefly in Florida after graduating from West Point in 1837. In fact with the
exception of Israel Vogdes[1],
all of the artillerymen from the Class of 1837 (French, Hooker and Sedgwick)
saw action right after graduation in Florida. They were no doubt pleased with the prospect of moving to
the northeast frontier and serving in more reasonable climes.
Also pulling duty at Hancock Barracks (among other
locations on the northern border) were newly graduated 2LTs James Ricketts (USMA 1839) and Alexander Lawton (USMA 1839). West Point classmates and regimental
comrades, Ricketts and Lawton would lead their respective infantry divisions
against each other for possession of the bloody Antietam cornfield 23 years
later. Both men would be
wounded there.
In 1842 after graduation from West Point, Brevet 2LT Daniel H. Hill’s (USMA 1842) first posting
would be at remote Fort Kent Maine, nearly the most northern point in the lower
48 states. Hill would transfer to
the Third Artillery in 1843, still as a brevet officer. He would not receive a Second
Lieutenant’s commission until an opening became available in the 4th Artillery in
1845.
In July 1838 as soon as its duties in the
Cherokee country were completed, the Second Artillery was ordered to the
Niagara frontier. A battalion went to Detroit, while the rest of the regiment
went to Buffalo, where headquarters were established. Eight companies were at regimental
headquarters during most of the time the regiment was on the Niagara frontier. Arriving
at Buffalo New York in 1839 was First Lieutenant John Sedgwick and another newly commissioned West Pointer – Henry Hunt (USMA 1839.) They were joined a year later by newly
commissioned 2LT William Hays (USMA
1840). Hunt who commanded the
Union artillery at Antietam would supervise William Hays who commanded the
Artillery Reserve at the Battle.
In the autumn of 1839, the Fourth Artillery was ordered to the Lake
Frontier. Regimental headquarters
and seven companies took station at Detroit. The regiment protected
the border along the Michigan boundary with Canada. Companies
A and K moved to Fort Gratiot, Company G, was at Cleveland, Ohio and Company H was
sent to Fort Mackinac. Two graduates of the class of 1840 were immediately
dispatched to Detroit as officers of this regiment. George Getty
(USMA 1840) went to Dearbornville Michigan. Francis N. Clarke
(USMA 1840) was at Detroit. Albion Howe
(USMA 1841) joined the regiment in the summer of 1841 after his graduation from
the academy.
With the exception of the First Artillery, which largely
remained on the Maine-New Brunswick border until the beginning of the Mexican
War, the other regiments gradually moved back to their former posts as the
crisis subsided.
In the First Artillery Regiment, Hooker left the frontier
and briefly served as adjutant at West Point in 1841 before being posted to
Fort Columbus NY as regimental adjutant.
French would stay on the frontier a while longer. In 1843 he lead a detachment
of sappers assigned to escort the Northeast Boundary Survey on their
rounds. Ricketts would remain in
Maine until 1846 when the regiment was sent to Texas for the Mexican War. For Alexander Lawton, this would be his
only assignment as an officer of the United States Army. On December 31, 1840,
he resigned his commission and return to Georgia.
The Second Artillery’s stint on the border was somewhat
shorter. In August 1841, the regiment left Buffalo by
canal. Regimental headquarters and
companies B, D and G went to Fort Columbus in New York harbor. Company A was across the Narrows at Fort
Hamilton with company E at Fort Lafayette, also in the New York harbor. Companies F and I went to Fort Adams,
Rhode Island and companies C, H and K moved to Fort Monroe. Sedgwick’s
company was assigned at Fort Monroe Virginia. William Hays soon followed him there in 1842. 2LT Hunt was reassigned in 1841 to Fort
Adams.
The Fourth Artillery’s headquarters moved to Buffalo in
1841 displacing the Second Artillery.
George Getty moved with it to the Niagara Frontier. Francis Clarke served only briefly with
the regiment in Michigan and as it took up new stations in western New York,
Clarke joined Joe Hooker at West Point as an
Assistant Professor of Mathematics.
Clarke who served at Antietam as Sumner’s Chief of Artillery would teach
at West Point until 1852 later teaching Chemistry, Mineralogy, and Geology
until 1852. In May 1842, the regiment was ordered from the northern frontier to
the seaboard. Headquarters and all the companies, excepting B, arrived at Fort
Columbus in June and July. It was again transferred with eight companies at
Fortress Monroe, one at Fort McHenry, and one at Fort Severn. Getty was at Fort
Monroe and Howe at Fort Severn.
For a brief period in 1840, a significant part
of the military might of the United States Army was positioned on the Canadian
border. Even when tensions were
highest, there was probably little prospect for a hot war. Nevertheless, for soldiers like Hooker,
French, Hunt, D.H. Hill, Ricketts, Lawton, Getty, Howe, and Clarke, the
experiences and relationships formed along the frontiers of Maine, New York and
Michigan would form life long impressions. They could hardly know as young lieutenants where history
would take them. For Hooker and
Ricketts it would be fighting in the Cornfield against Lawton. French’s division would attempt to
wrest the Sunken Road from D.H. Hill.
The others would adhere to
their roots in the artillery and lead important elements of the Army of the
Potomac’s artillery commands.
Henry Hunt commanded all the artillery; William Hays the Artillery
Reserve; and Clarke and Getty, were artillery commanders for the Second and
Ninth Corps respectively.
[1] Second
Lieutenant Israel Vogdes (USMA 1837) spent the first twelve years of his career
as an Assistant Professor of Mathematics at the Military Academy. It wasn’t until 1849 that he left West
Point for assignment with his regiment that was back in Florida. Vogdes may not be among those usually
recognized as a participant in the Maryland Campaign. However he served on the staff of Major-General John
Reynolds on the Pennsylvania assisting in the mobilization of the Pennsylvania
Emergency Militia. Most of his
subsequent duty however was in South Carolina and tidewater Virginia
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