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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.

Monday, February 6, 2012

West Pointers at Army Headquarters

McClellan and members of his staff
There are a couple of reasons why I have not been posting lately.  One is that I accepted the position of Chief Guide at Antietam National Battlefield back in October.  That has taken up a great deal of my time and though rewarding, has taken me away from my Maryland Campaign studies.

The other reason is that I have become increasingly fascinated with something that I first posted about here back in December.

That is I have undertaken a study of all the West Point graduates who served at the Battle of Antietam.  Studying Cullem's Register and with some help from the library staff at West Point, I have amassed what I think is a pretty complete list of all the graduates.  They range from Joseph Mansfield in the Class of 1822 to the fifteen second lieutenants of the Class of 1862 who served with the Army of the Potomac.  One of these young officers was Mansfield's son Samuel who was on his way to western Maryland to serve with his father.

In between the Mansfields, father and son are about 194 officers.  I say 'about' because there are several who I suspect served in the Maryland Campaign but I don't have absolute confirmation of their presence.  Circumstantial evidence indicates yes but I am still working on them.  And then there is John Pelham and Tom Rosser.  Members of the June 1861 class, they stayed at the Academy long after their states (Alabama and Texas) seceded hoping to receive their diploma.  However with the firing of Fort Sumter, they had no choice to resign doing so just a few short weeks from their graduation.  Pelham later said that not receiving his diploma was the greatest regret of his life. 

Of these 194, only 30 served with Lee in the Army of Northern Virginia.  The remainder, 164 are with McClellan but this number also includes Dixon Miles and Jesse Reno who were killed before the battle, and John Reynolds, unhappily serving back in Pennsylvania.  The Union to Confederate ratio of 5.4:1  really surprised me.  I thought there were many more Confederates than that.  On closer examination however, the ratio is much closer if you just include general officers.  There are a total of 63 generals with 42 Federals and 21 Confederates.  This is exactly a 2:1 ratio which seems closer to what we feel seems right. 

The numbers are very startling when you just look at the Army headquarters which we will do here.  The Army of the Potomac headquarters with 36 West Pointers including McClellan had more West Point officers total than Lee had in his entire Army.  Lee had only four officers who graduated from the Military Academy who can be said to have worked on his staff.  The numbers are below starting with Lee:


Position
Name
Rank
Year of Graduation
Class Rank
Commander
Robert E. Lee
General, CSA
1829
2 of 46
Chief of Staff
Robert H. Chilton
Colonel, C.S.A.
1837
48 of 50
Military Secretary
Armistead Long
Colonel, C.S.A.
1850
17 of 44
Ordnance Officer
Edward P. Alexander
Lieutenant Colonel, C.S.A
1857
3 of 38
Chief of Artillery
William Pendleton
Brigadier General C.S.A.
1830
5 0f 42


And here is McClellan's staff


Position
Name
Rank
Year of Graduation
Class Rank
Commander
George B. McClellan
Major General U.S. Army
1846
2 of 59
Chief of Staff
Randolph Marcy
Brigadier General U.S.V.
1832
28 of 44
Aide-de-Camp
Bowman N. Sweitzer
Lieutenant Colonel-Staff
1853
24 of 52
Aide-de-Camp
Edward M. Hudson
Lieutenant Colonel-Staff
1849
22 of 43
Aide-de-Camp
George A. Custer
Captain-Staff
June 1861
34 of 34
Aide-de-Camp
James P. Martin
First Lieutenant 7th Infantry
1860
23 of 41
Escort
James B. McIntyre
Captain, 4th Cavalry
1853
49 of 52
Chief of Cavalry
Chief of Cavalry
John Buford
Brigadier General U.S.V.
1848
16 of 38
Chief of Artillery
Chief of Artillery
Henry J. Hunt
Brigadier General U.S.V.
1839
19 of 31
Ammunition Reserve Train
William D. Fuller
First Lieutenant 3rd Artillery
June 1861
25 of 34
Regular Engineer Battalion
Chief Engineer
James C. Duane
Captain, Engineers
1848
3 of 38
Engineer Battalion
Cyrus B. Comstock
First Lieutenant Engineers
1855
1 of 34
Engineer Officer
Miles D. McAlester
First Lieutenant Engineers
1856
3 of 49
Engineer Battalion
Charles Cross
First Lieutenant Engineers
May 1861
2 of 45
Engineer Company
George L. Gillespie
Second Lieutenant Engineers
1862
2 of 28
Topographical Engineers
Senior Topographical Engineer
Nicolas Bowen
First Lieutenant, Topographical Engineers
1860
4 of 41
Assistant Topographical Engineer
John M. Wilson
First Lieutenant, Topographical Engineers
1860
12 of 41
Assistant Topographical Engineer
Alonzo H. Cushing
First Lieutenant, 4th Artillery
June 1861
12 of 34





Adjutant General
Adjutant General
Seth Williams
Brigadier General U.S.V.
1842
23 of 56
Assistant Adjutant General
George Ruggles
Colonel-Staff
1855
19 of 34
Assistant Adjutant General
Albert V. Coburn
Lieutenant Colonel-Staff
1855
17 of 34
Assistant Adjutant General
James A. Hardie
Lieutenant Colonel-Staff
1843
11 of 39
Inspector General
Inspector General
Delos B. Sackett
Colonel-Staff
1845
32 of 41
Assistant Inspector General
Nelson Davis
Major-Staff
1846
49 of 59
Provost Guard
Assistant Provost Marshal
William D. Wood
Major, 17th Infantry
1845
37 of 41
Aide de Camp
James J. Van Horn
Captain, 8th Infantry
1858
14 of 27
Provost Guard
George A. Gordon
Captain, 2nd Cavalry
1854
30 of 46
Provost Guard
Royal T. Frank
Captain 8th Infantry
1858
18 of 27



Commissariat
Chief of Commissariat
Henry F. Clarke
Colonel-Staff
1843
12 of 39
Assistant Commissary of Subsistence
Porter A. Parker
Lieutenant Colonel-Staff
1856
9 of 49
Commissary of Subsistence
Thomas Wilson
Captain-Staff
1853
29 of 52
Quartermaster
Chief Quartermaster
Rufus Ingalls
Lieutenant Colonel-Staff
1843
32 of 39
Assistant Quartermaster
Charles G. Sawtelle
Captain-Staff
1854
38 of 46
Quartermaster Guard
Marcus Reno
Captain, 1st Cavalry
1857
20 of 38
Ordnance
Assistant Ordnance Officer
William H. Harris
First Lieutenant, Ordnance
June 1861
8 of 34
Assistant Ordnance Officer
Francis H. Parker
Second Lieutenant, Ordnance
June 1861
20 of 34

Here is the breakout of McClellan's staff by West Point year-group.


Class
Names
1832 (1)
Marcy, R.
1839 (1)
Hunt, H.
1842 (1)
Williams, S.
1843 (3)
Hardie, J. Clarke, H. Ingalls, R.
1845 (2)
Sacket, D. Wood, W.
1846 (2)
McClellan, G. Davis, N.
1848 (2)
Duane, J. Buford, J.
1849 (1)
Hudson, E.
1853 (3)
Sweitzer, N. Wilson, T. McIntyre, J.
1854 (2)
Gordon, G. Sawtelle, C.
1855 (3)
Comstock, C. Colburn, A. Ruggles, G.
1856 (2)
McAlester, M. Porter, A.P.
1857 (1)
Reno, M.
1858 (2)
Van Horn, J.  Frank, R.
1860 (3)
Bowen, N. Wilson, J. Martin, J.
May 1861 (1)
Cross, C.
June 1861 (5)
Harris, W. Cushing, A. Parker, F. Fuller, W. Custer, G.
1862 (1)
Gillespie, G.

What conclusions can we draw from this?

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