About Me

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I am a lifelong student of military history with particular interest in the Battle of Antietam. I work for the federal government in Washington DC and have two young adult children who I love very much. I currently volunteer at Antietam and devote much time to the study of this battle and the Maryland Campaign. I enjoy collecting notable contemporary quotations by and about the men of Antietam. Since 2013 I have been conducting in depth research on the regular artillery companies of the Union Army and their leaders. I hope to turn this into a book on this subject in the future. My perspective comes from a 28-year career in the U.S. Army. Travels took me to World War II battlefields in Europe and the Pacific where American valor ended the tyranny of Nazism and Empire. But our country faced its own greatest challenge 80 years earlier during the Civil War. And it was the critical late summer of 1862, when Robert E. Lee launched the Maryland Campaign. It is an incredible story of drama, carnage, bravery, and missed opportunities that culminated around the fields and woodlots of peaceful Sharpsburg MD. So join me as I make this journey South from the North Woods.

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Foundations

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First Lieutenant Leonard Martin age 22
As I continue my research, the first objective for my book project A Severe and Damaging Fire, is to get to know the officers who fought in the U.S. regular artillery establishment during the Civil War. This foundational information will be the basis for the more detailed research on the actions of the regular artillery in the Maryland Campaign.

To identify these officers, I started with the Army Register of 1861.  The Register contains the name of every regular army officer and his regimental assignment as of September 1st. By that date, the war had begun in earnest. Many changes had occurred in the manning of the artillery regiments. Thirty-five southern officers had resigned or were dismissed. On May 4th, 1861, a new artillery regiment was organized by direction of President Lincoln. The new Fifth Artillery, with 64 officers assigned by September, was the largest in the force.  It was organized at wartime levels vs. peacetime levels.  This meant there was additional major authorized in the headquarters and one additional lieutenant in each battery.  There were also more men, horses and guns.[1]   See table 1 for a comparison of officer staffing with the other four regiments.  Three officers had already killed in action.  Lieutenant John T. Greble  2nd Artillery was the first to fall at Big Bethel on June 10th, 1861.  A month later Lieutenants Douglas Ramsay, 1st Artillery and Presley O. Craig, 2nd Artillery were killed at Bull Run on July 21st.

Also, many long serving artillery lieutenants jumped at the chance to get a captain’s appointment in the rapidly expanding staff departments of the War Department.  Positions as assistant adjutant generals, quartermasters, commissary of subsistence, ordnance officers, and paymasters were highly sought after and promised higher pay, further advancement, and better duty (sometimes).

Table 1 Officer Strengths in U.S. Artillery Regiments from Army Register 1861
Regiment
COL
LTC
MAJ
CPT
1LT
2LT
Total Present
Losses from table below
First Artillery
1
1
2
10
22
11
47
17
Second Artillery
0
1
2
12
23
7
45
14
Third Artillery
1
1
2
12
23
8
47
6
Fourth Artillery
1
1
2
11
18
6
39
18
Fifth Artillery
1
1
3
12
23
24
64

Totals
4
5
11
57
109
56
242
55

Table 2 Artillery Officer Losses from U.S. Army Register 1861
Regiment
Resigned
Commissions Vacated*
Died
Dropped
Dismissed
Total
First Artillery
7
7
1
1
1
17
Second Artillery
9
3
2
0
0
14
Third Artillery
5
0
1
0
0
6
Fourth Artillery
12
3
1
0
2
18
Totals
33
13
5
1
3
55
* Vacated commissions occur when an officer leaves the regiment to accept an appointment in a non-artillery organization like an infantry regiment or as an assistant quartermaster.  His regimental position is vacated and filled through promotion of another artillery officer or by a new appointment.

After establishing the baseline from the 1861 Army Register, the next step was identifying other officers appointed or commissioned after the start of the war.  During the entire war, an additional 197 artillery officers were appointed. With all the changes in 1861, there was suddenly, a great deal of upward mobility.  All the vacancies whether caused by artillery expansion, resignations, transfers, or battle losses had to be filled.  The Army added by far, the largest number of new officers in 1861.  In the end of that year alone, 133 new officers (or 67% of the total added during the war) were appointed or commissioned. Eighty-four more officers were added between 1862-1865.  By the end of the war, a total of 440 men had served in the ranks of the regular artillery at some point during the war. 

I found the other 217 names by reviewing the War Department General Orders (WDGOs). The WDGOs are a virtual human resources record of the regular army and contain all appointments, promotions, transfers, casualties, resignations, and retirements for all regular artillery officers.  They are listed by regiment.  The orders list the personnel action, officer’s name, and the effective date. If the action is caused by the loss of another officer, that officer’s name unit of assignment, and the the reason for his departure is listed.

--> Here is an example.  War Department General Order Number 8, dated April 3, 1861, announced the resignation of First Lieutenant Ambrose Powell Hill of Virginia from the First Artillery. The effective date of the action is March 1, 1861.  Subsequently General Order Number 24 dated May
General Order #24 May 22, 1861
22, 1861, announced the promotion of Second Lieutenant William M. Graham to First Lieutenant in Company D, First Artillery. Lieutenant Graham as the order announces is replacing Lieutenant Hill.  The effective date of Lieutenant Graham’s promotion is March 1, 1861.  In that same general order, William Maynadier is appointed a second lieutenant to fill the vacancy created by Graham’s promotion. The effective date of Maynadier’s appointment is May 1, 1861.  Maynadier is only a second lieutenant for 13 days before he is promoted to first lieutenant on May 14, 1861. That promotion is announced in General Order 64 dated August 2, 1861.  Maynadier fills a vacancy created by the dismissal of First Lieutenant James Slaughter another Virginian, from his slot in Light Battery K, First Artillery.  Graham would be promoted later in 1861 to captain of Light Battery K, First Artillery. He subsequently lead it at Antietam supporting Israel Richardson’s attack in the Sunken Road.  In the WDGOs, there are 930 such personnel actions like these for just artillery officers.  All these personnel actions are in my database.


I now have a nearly complete list that contains the names of 440 regular artillery officers.  The next step is to flesh out their biographies.  Francis Heitman’s  Historical Register and Dictionary of the United States Army From Its Organization, September 29, 1789 to March 2, 1903 contains a biographical sketch of each officer. For West Pointers, the definitive biography database is the work found in George Cullem’s  Biographical Register of the Officers and Graduates of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point N.Y.  Every West Point graduate has a “Cullem Number” and the register is invaluable in filling in the blanks on these officer’s careers.  Finally, the obituaries of many West Pointers can be found in the Annual Reunion of the Association of Graduates of the United States Military Academy at West Point New York.  These annual reports published for many years in the late 19th and early 20th centuries contain the obituaries for those officers that died in the preceding year.  These obituaries can often include further personnel information.  I also am obtaining the cadet photographs from the West Point Library of all graduates in the classes of 1857 (when photographs began) thru 1864 who were commissioned in the artillery.

Only about half (223) of the artillery officers however are West Point graduates.  The rest were either appointed from civilian life or were enlisted soldiers who received commissions. Another biographical source is Major William H. Powell’s Record of Living Officers of the United States Army. His information comes from officers replying to a questionnaire that he sent to them and often contains a lot more personal information than Heitman. Powell reports on officers still alive in 1890 both retired and on active duty. Because he does not distinguish between West Pointers and non-graduates this resource sometimes serves to  fill in gaps for non West Pointers if they were still serving after the war or were retired. However Powell’s work only carries us to 1890.   

I use a powerful database called Filemaker Pro (FM) to compile all this information.  I now have a database record on each officer.  Using FM, I can find, sort, and report at an astonishing level of detail.  I plan to include an appendix that contains an abbreviated biography on every officer.

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Lieutenant Colonel Hays surrounded by the officers of the Horse Artillery
This research is allowing me to accomplish an important goal of this project.  As my work continues, a picture emerges for every man.  I feel at some level that I know him. They were the core of the artillery establishment. Most of them are lieutenants like Leonard Martin (USMA 1861) pictured above.  They are in their early twenties and were commissioned in that first big expansion of the regular army in 1861.  The youngster’s ranks are leavened with few “senior” captains.  Experienced artillerists like Tidball, Gibson, Ransom, Benson, Robertson, Best, and Terrill chose not to advance their careers by accepting a colonelcy in a volunteer regiment or a brigadier general’s commission.   This small cadre of 400 men lead by career artillerists like William Barry, Henry Hunt, and William Hays (pictured here), made Union artillery an awesome instrument of war feared and respected by friend and foe alike. 


[1] The “peace” organization of a 6-pound battery consisted of four officers, 76 enlisted men, 44 horses, and four guns.  The “war” organization had five officers, 150 enlisted men, 110 horses and six guns.  The other four artillery regiments would soon be brought on a war footing as well. This information comes from The 1864 Field Artillery Tactics authored by Captains William H. French, William F. Barry, and Henry J. Hunt.