William Ennis USMA 1864 |
The following story underscores how little things have
changed over the years when it comes to the bureaucracies under which we
live. This is the story of the
travails young Second Lieutenant William Ennis of the 4th
Artillery. Lieutenant Ennis was a
member of the West Point Class of 1864.
He was the first of three generations of the Ennis family who would
serve in the ranks of the artillery and reach general officer rank[1].
Ennis Letter Page 1 |
After receiving his commission in June of 1864, Bill Ennis was
assigned to Battery M, 4th Artillery. This unit was one of the relatively small number of regular
artillery batteries assigned to one of the western armies during the Civil War. First Lieutenant Samuel Canby commanded
Battery M at the time that Ennis served there. The twenty-five year old Canby was not a West Pointer. He
started the war as a sergeant in the 4th New Jersey Volunteers. Canby received a regular commission in
the 4th Artillery in 1861 and saw action at Shiloh and Gettysburg[2].
The newly minted lieutenant earned his spurs and
was twice brevetted for gallantry at the Battle of Franklin on November 30, 1864 and
at the Battle of Nashville on December 15 and 16, 1864.
Ten months passed and the war was over. In October 1865, the War Department was
downsizing the Army and converting most of the field and horse (or light)
artillery batteries back into foot artillery. That meant no horses and no guns. In the 4th Artillery Regiment, only Batteries B
and G kept their designation as Light Batteries. The Department set about to fill up all the light battery
officer slots. At the same time,
it ordered Battery G from Burton Barracks near St. Louis to Fort Wayne, Detroit Michigan.
Page 2 |
Lieutenant Ennis was now assigned on paper to Company F, but
actually served with Company D at Brownsville Texas. In late November or early
December, he received orders to report to Light Battery G. As he scanned his orders, he
observed that they did not identify the location of his new assignment. All he knew was that the battery
had some time earlier been ordered by General Grant to report to
Lieutenant General Sherman’s Military Division of the Mississippi at Saint
Louis. Ennis settled his affairs
at Brownsville, booked a passage to New Orleans and then journeyed up the Mississippi
to Saint Louis. When he arrived
and reported to Sherman’s headquarters, he was told by a staff officer that he believed that the battery was located at
Little Rock Arkansas but that the young officer should go over to General Popes
headquarters of the Military Department of the Missouri, also located in St.
Louis and find out for certain.
At Pope's headquarters, he was told, yes, the unit was located in Little Rock. Ennis travelled to Little Rock, 350
miles away only to learn that the company was actually located at Fort Wayne outside of Detroit
Michigan. Apparently, neither
Sherman or Pope’s headquarters had any idea where one of their artillery
companies was located. At least the staff officer who directed Ennis to Little
Rock certainly did not know. Bill
packed his bags, proceeded to Detroit by way of Cairo Illinois and at long last
found his new assignment.
The lieutenant was entitled to reimbursement for his transportation cost
and accordingly submitted his travel voucher. Those of us who work for the government know how that
process works. In those days, the Quartermaster
Department settled travel vouchers. Ennis received $66 for travel from New Orleans to Detroit but was not reimbursed
for his detour to Saint Louis and then Little Rock.
Page 3 |
Bill’s only recourse was to write a letter to the Adjutant
General in Washington DC requesting that the additional sum of $72 be
reimbursed to him for his “good faith” travel to Little Rock. On February 16,
1867 nearly a year after making the journey he penned his letter (see it at the right) and provided
copies of all his documentation. By now, Ennis was a first lieutenant and
served as aide-de-camp to Major General Schofield in Richmond. Would the War
Department take note of an unknown lieutenant’s claim or had his mentor General
Schofield maybe gotten involved on in the case. Apparently the communication was routed to the Quartermaster
General’s office, which on March 20th penned a 2-page memorandum
back to the Adjutant General recommending that the lieutenant be
reimbursed. On March 26th,
the Adjutant General wrote a three page memorandum agreeing that the lieutenant
be reimbursed $72 for his expenses.
Presumably Bill Ennis got his money some time thereafter.
Lieutenant Ennis’s 2,600 mile journey[3]
with detours to Detroit Michigan ultimately cost the government $138.00 and
five pages of memoranda by the Quartermaster General and Adjutant General’s
offices. That is about 5 cents a
mile.
William"Bull" Ennis USMA 1901 |
Lieutenant Ennis had a long and distinguished career as an
artilleryman in the United States Army.
A first lieutenant for twenty-one years, and captain for ten more, he
thereafter moved more rapidly up the ranks. During the Spanish-American War, among other duties, he
commanded a battalion of siege artillery in Cuba. Ennis retired as a brigadier
general on November 7, 1905.
While on active duty, his son the legendary William Peirce
“Bull” Ennis graduated from West Point in 1901 and followed his father into the
artillery.[4] He too reached the rank of brigadier
general and became known in the artillery community as a foremost trainer and
is acknowledged for his role in getting the artillery in shape for World War
Two.
William P. Ennis USMA 1926 |
William Ennis was alive when his grandson William Peirce
Ennis Jr. graduated from West Point in 1926. Perhaps the most well known of the Ennis line, he saw action
in North Africa and Europe during World War Two. In the Korean War, he commanded
the X Corps Artillery. The youngest Ennis eventually reached the rank of
Lieutenant General and served for a time as President of the Army War College
at Carlisle.[5]
When the first Bill Ennis, a veteran of the bloody battles of Franklin
and Nashville died at the age of 96 on September 30, 1938. He was the oldest surviving graduate of
the Military Academy. One wonders
if he ever told his son and grandson about the $72 travel voucher.
[1] Father
of Brigadier General William Ennis Jr. 1878-1968; Grandfather of Lieutenant
General William Ennis
1904-1989. All three were
artilleryman and West Point graduates.
I also discovered a William Waggaman Ennis (1921-1999), a 1942 graduate
of the Naval Academy and highly decorated submarine officer in World War Two.
[2] Samuel Canby was from
Delaware. He entered the Army on
April 25, 1861 as a sergeant and was later promoted to First Sergeant of the 4th
New Jersey Infantry. He
was appointed a first lieutenant and served as adjutant of the 2nd
Delaware Infantry until November 1861.
Canby was commissioned a second lieutenant in the 4th U.S.
Artillery Regiment on October 21, 1861 and assigned initially to Company H
where he received a brevet for gallantry at Shiloh. Promoted to first lieutenant
and transferred to Company A on August 5 1862, he received a brevet at
Gettysburg. Canby returned to the
west to Company M where he served for the remainder of the war. He received a third brevet to major for
his actions at Franklin Tennessee.
Canby resigned
from the Army on July 1, 1868 and died on July 24, 1897. [Source Heitman]
[3] Brownsville to New
Orleans 700 miles; New Orleans to
St Louis 675 miles; St Louis to Little Rock 350 miles; Little Rock to Cairo Ill
285 miles; Cairo Ill to Detroit 590 miles; Total 2600 miles
[4] See this link for more
information on “Bull” Ennis.
http://apps.westpointaog.org/Memorials/Article/4013/
[5] The information on
Lieutenant General Ennis was found in his December 14, 1962 obitiuary in the
New York Times.
http://www.nytimes.com/1989/12/14/obituaries/william-p-ennis-85-headed-war-college.html