Roommates

Assistant Marshall Peter Cannon was responsible for enumerating the 1850 census in the village of Cornwall, Orange County New York.  On October 22, 1850, he arrived at a dwelling he listed as number 538 in his record.  Seven young army officers live there ranging in age from 23 to 29.  They were all junior members of the faculty of the United States Military at West Point. Cannon started a new page in his census book and added the following names:

1850 Census Record for Cornwall Village

Fitz-John Porter, age 26 was born in New Hampshire.  Porter is a first lieutenant in the 4^th Artillery. He was twice brevetted for gallantry (to Major) in Mexico at Molino del Rey and Chapultepec. His assignment at the Military Academy is Assistant Instructor of Artillery. He graduated from West Point five years ago in 1845.

George B. McClellan, age 23 was born in Pennsylvania.  McClellan is a second lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers.  He was twice brevetted for gallantry (to Captain) in Mexico at Contreras and Chapultepec.  McClellan commands the company of engineer troops at West Point.  He graduated from the Academy four years ago in 1846. 

Francis Clarke, age 29 born was born in New York.  Clarke is a first lieutenant in the 4^th Artillery.  The longest serving officer in this dwelling, Clarke graduated from the Academy in 1840. He has spent nine of the next ten years as an instructor there.  At the time of the 1850 census, Clarke has risen to be Principal Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Mineralogy, and Geology. 

James Duane, age 26 was also born in New York.  Duane is a brevet second lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers.  Graduated just two years earlier in 1848, Duane never left the Academy and at the time of the census serves in the elite company of Sappers, Miners, and Pontoniers possibly under McClellan’s command.

Charles T. Baker, age 29 was born in Connecticut.  Baker is a first lieutenant in the 6^th Infantry.  An 1842 graduate, Baker initially served in Florida and on the western frontier but has been stationed at the Military Academy since 1845. He did not see action in Mexico.  Baker’s assignment at the Military Academy is Assistant Instructor of Infantry Tactics. 

Truman Seymour, age 26 was born in Vermont.  Seymour is a first lieutenant in the 1^st Artillery.  He was another Mexican War veteran twice brevetted (to Captain) for gallantry at Cerro Gordo and Contreras.  Seymour is a classmate of McClellan also graduating from West Point in 1846.  A talented artist, Seymour serves at West Point as the Assistant Professor of Drawing.

The last man enumerated and the only southerner in the house is Edmund K. Smith.  Smith was 26 years old and born in Florida.  Known as “Kirby,” he was a first lieutenant in the 7^th Infantry.  Smith graduated from West Point in 1845 with Porter and was immediately dispatched to Zachary Taylor’s Army of Occupation.  He earned two brevets for gallantry (to Captain) under Winfield Scott at Cerro Gordo and Contreras. Smith is an Assistant Professor of Mathematics at West Point.    

Also living at this dwelling is Joshua Holmes and his wife Jane.  The couple, both 39 years of age, were born in England.  They have two sons and two daughters Jane (age 14), James (age 11), Emma (age 8) and Alfred. (age 6).  The children were all born in New York.  (There is some evidence that one if not both of the boys enlisted in the Union Army during the Civil War.)[1]  Mr. Holmes identifies himself as a laborer.  Perhaps he worked at the Academy while his wife rears four children and keeps house for seven young officers.

We don’t remember these men as young bachelors living together under one roof.  We don’t think of them indulging in all the things that young men in their 20s indulge in. We may not think to regard four of them as very young combat veterans of the Mexican War - exactly the same age as the young American soldiers whom today return from the wars of the 21st century.   We probably don’t envision them playing with the Holmes children after a day in the classroom or on the drill field.

Our view of them is based not on who they were in 1850 but on who they were in the next war some eleven years in the future. In 1850 they were all still relatively unknown.  Who of them could envision that in twelve years the youngest of their group would stand at the center stage of American military and political affairs commanding the nation's most important army, in the bloodiest conflict in our history?[2]  This would not be a foreign war like the one just completed in Mexico.  It would be a civil war that would tear north and south apart.  Another of the roommates would emerge as the trusted lieutenant of that future army commander. This man would ably lead a corps in the terrible battles of the summer and autumn of 1862.   From those heights of military accomplishment, he would descend just weeks later to become the defendant in a politically orchestrated court martial that would destroy his army career and set him on a lifelong path to seek redemption. [3]   

Who would know then that another roommate would be hailed as a hero of the first battle in that terrible future war at an unfinished fort in the harbor of Charleston South Carolina? This man would also fight with the first two as a brigade commander at a bloody battle in Maryland twelve years later.[4]

Two other roommates would be on that field as well.  One, an accomplished gunner would lead seven batteries of light artillery in some of the toughest and bloodiest fighting of the day.[5]  The other, one of the finest engineers in the army, would receive the key assignment to find a ford on a creek around the flank of formidable enemy defenses.  The ford he selected and his subsequent actions would significantly affect the outcome of the day’s fighting and remain controversial till the present day.[6] 

Surprisingly, one of the two officers with the longest length of service would play no role in the upcoming Civil War.  His resignation from the army a little over a year later would begin his a career as a farmer in Connecticut.[7] 

Maybe most unlikely was the idea at the time that one of these roommates would violate his sacred oath of appointment and take up arms against the United States.  This man twelve years later, would be one of the first two officers elevated to the rank of lieutenant general in the Confederate Army and the last to surrender a major command of that same army at Galveston Texas, six weeks after Lee surrendered at Appomattox.[8]  

That is in the future.  Those men just described are older, more serious versions of the seven men now living with the Holmes family in the village of Cornwall in Orange County New York.  For now, they are simply seven young army officer’s serving as junior faculty members or staff at the United States Military Academy.  All have promising futures.  None of them know what lies in store. It is October 22, 1850 and Assistant Marshal Peter Cannon is at the door.  

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[1] According to the Civil War Database, there is only one Alfred Holmes from New York in the entire database.  His age is off by two years.  He enlisted in 1864 in Company G, 15^th NY Heavy Artillery.  He shortly thereafter transferred into the Navy.  While there are 28 “James Holmes” entries from New York who served in New York outfits, there is one intriguing possibility.  James Holmes enlisted on May 9, 1861 in Company A, 15^th Engineers.  This was a specialized unit specifically recruited and trained as engineers.  Given the Holme’s family proximity to West Point and its renown as an engineer school, is it possible that one of the engineer officers who lived with the Holmes family assisted young James in enlisting in this very elite engineer unit?  

[2] George B. McClellan (1826-1885) commanded the Army of the Potomac from July 1861 to November 1862. On November 1, 1861 he succeeded Winfield Scott as commander in chief of the United States Army. He held that post until relieved by President Lincoln on March 11, 1862.  He was the 1864 candidate of the Democratic party for President of the United States. 

[3] Fitz-John Porter (1822-1901) commanded the Fifth Corps, Army of the Potomac at Antietam.  He was relieved of corps command and arrested on November 25, 1862.  Tried by general court martial for disobedience and misconduct at Second Bull Run, Porter was dismissed from the Army on January 21 1863.  He spent the next 14 years fighting to vindicate himself.  In 1878 the Schofield Commission exonerated Porter of the charges but it took an additional eight years for President Arthur to commute Porter’s sentence and restore him to the rank of Colonel in the United States Army.

[4] Truman Seymour (1824-1891) commanded Company H, 1^st US Artillery during the battle at Fort Sumter in April 1861.  After the garrison surrendered, he returned to a hero’s welcome in New York.  At Antietam, Seymour commanded a brigade of the Pennsylvania Reserves that started the fighting in the East Woods on September 16.  Seymour retired from the Army in 1876 and eventually moved to Florence Italy where he took up painting.  He died and was buried there in 1891.

[5] Francis Clarke (1820-1866) was the Chief of Artillery of the Second Corps at Antietam.  He died shortly after the end of the war.

[6] James Duane (1824-1897) commanded the regular army engineer battalion at Antietam.  He was ordered to find a ford on the Antietam Creek along the Union Army’s left flank that the Ninth Corps could advance across to outflank the Confederate defenses. He ended his career in the United States Army as a brigadier general and Chief of Engineers. 

[7] Charles T. Baker (1822-1881) served an additional year at West Point only to resign from the Army on December 31 1851.  He returned to his hometown at Windham CT and took  up farming there. While I could not find a record of subsequent service in the Civil War, there is a GAR placard on his grave at Windham Center Cemetery.

[8] Edmund Kirby Smith (1824-1893) resigned from the U.S. Army on April 6, 1861.  While five of his former roommates confronted Robert E. Lee’s army in the Maryland, Smith lead another army into Kentucky in the fall of 1862. He defeated a federal force at Richmond Kentucky on August 30 1862.  On October 9, 1862 he along with James Longstreet became the first two officers promoted to the newly created rank of lieutenant general in the Confederate Army.  (Thomas Jackson’s effective date of promotion was not until October 10, 1862.)  Smith commanded Confederate forces in the Trans-Mississippi for the second half of the war and surrendered the Confederacy’s last army-level command at Galveston Texas on May 26 1865.

Quotes Now Available for Viewing

You will start to notice that my in my quote count column on the left of this blog, some of the subjects now have a link to my other blog Antietam Voices, where you can now view the actual quotes. I have started with George B. McClellan. This project is still in the earliest of stages so there will be some adjustments as I go along. But take a look at it and tell me what you think.

The Antietam Commanders: Part 2 George B. McClellan

Note: This is the second of two biographies I am posting here on the Antietam Commanders. They are part of a presentation that I have made on a number of occasions to senior federal government managers. It is part of a leadership development program that looks at the words and deeds of senior Antietam commanders and how they relate to leadership competencies that are part of today's Federal government Senior Executive Service (SES). Today is General McClellan's story. The narrative ends as the sun rises on the morning of September 17, 1862.


George Britton McClellan commanded the Union Army of the Potomac at the Battle of Antietam. McClellan was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on December 3, 1826, the son of a prominent physician. Raised in the upper classes of Philadelphia society, young McClellan received an excellent education and at the age of 15, gained admission to West Point. Graduating in 1846 and ranking second in his class, he selected the elite Corps of Engineers for his military branch. Among his classmates was Thomas Jackson, known in the Civil War as “Stonewall” Jackson. War with Mexico was underway when McClellan graduated. He was immediately sent to join the staff of General Winfield Scott in his campaign to capture Mexico City. McClellan performed dangerous scouting missions and placed siege artillery in several battles. He received two honorary promotions known as brevets up to the rank of captain for his actions. After the war, this young and upcoming officer wrote a manual for the bayonet, designed a cavalry saddle (that was used into the 20th century), and was a military observer in Europe during the Crimean War between Russia and England and France. While there, McClellan learned Russian in three months and translated a Russian army manual into English. However, he had grown bored with the slow promotions and lack of challenging assignments in the peacetime army and resigned in 1857. His last assignment was with the First Cavalry Regiment then commanded by Colonel Edwin V. Sumner. Sumner would one day work for McClellan as one of his corps commanders. McClellan was hired as chief engineer of the Illinois Central Railroad. He proved to be a successful railroad executive, and by the start of the Civil War had risen to President of the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad. When
Fort Sumter was fired on, McClellan, a soldier at heart eagerly returned to the Army. Such was his reputation that the governors of Pennsylvania, New York, and Ohio all offered him command of their troops. Accepting the offer from Ohio, McClellan led a campaign into West Virginia defeating a small Confederate Army there in June of 1861. While not present on the battlefield, McClellan nevertheless got credit for one of the earliest Union victories of the war. In the moment of great crisis following the Union defeat at Bull Run in July of 1861, Lincoln ordered McClellan to Washington and gave him command of the forces defending the capital. His promotion to Major General in the Regular Army at the tender age of 34 made him the second highest-ranking officer in the United States Army after old General Scott, his former commander in Mexico. McClellan quickly demonstrated his organizational genius by building the powerful Army of the Potomac out of the green Union troops flooding into Washington. He was the hero of the hour. His officers and men loved him. But typical of McClellan throughout his life, he could never get along with his superiors. He and Scott soon clashed on a wide range of issues. McClellan’s youth, energy, enthusiasm and a fair amount of political scheming, soon wore down the old general. Finally, Scott, America’s preeminent soldier for the last 50 years retired late in 1861 and was replaced by George McClellan, now General-in-Chief of the Armies of the United States. Through the fall and winter of 1861, the Army remained around Washington despite increasing demands for action from Congress and Lincoln’s cabinet; demands which McClellan flatly ignored. While beloved by his men, McClellan continued to be a difficult man for his superiors to deal with as General Scott could attest to. He viewed politicians in general and the President in particular as social and intellectual inferiors. He was a War Democrat, not a Republican. He opposed a “hard war” against the people of the south longing for the nation’s return to status quo ante bellum – the way things were before the civil war. McClellan disliked slavery but did not think emancipation should be government policy. His fundamental policy disagreements with the administration and Congress, penchant for secrecy, and continued refusals to take to the field made him many powerful enemies in Washington. Lincoln patiently stood by the general but counseled him in increasingly urgent terms to “strike a blow”. In the spring of 1862, McClellan was finally ready to move. Instead of advancing directly south toward Richmond and protecting Washington as the President clearly preferred, McClellan took an indirect approach. Known as the Peninsular Campaign, he transported the Army of the Potomac to the Chesapeake Bay and landed it on the peninsula between the York and James Rivers, threatening Richmond from the east. Had McClellan moved quickly, this strategy might have been successful. However, he believed himself outnumbered and conducted a cautious campaign that ground slowly toward the Confederate capital. The Confederates under McClellan’s friend Joseph avoided battle until five miles from Richmond. At Fair Oaks, Johnston finally attacked McClellan on May 31, 1862. During this battle, Johnston was seriously wounded. Jefferson Davis who was on the battlefield “temporarily” replaced Johnston with Robert E. Lee. At the end of June, Lee launched a series of bloody attacks known as the Seven Days Battles which drove McClellan away from Richmond. Frustrated with McClellan’s lack of success and fearing for the safety of the capital, Lincoln ordered the Army transported back to Washington in early August 1862. Many of McClellan’s troops were funneled to the Army of Virginia commanded by John Pope. By the time he returned to the Washington area at the end of August, McClellan was essentially a commander without an army. Meanwhile, with the threat to Richmond gone, Lee advanced rapidly north, and in a brilliant campaign crushed Pope at the Second Battle of Manassas on August 30-31, 1862. Maintaining the initiative and momentum Lee crossed the Potomac and entered Maryland on September 4, 1862. Again, in a moment of crisis, Lincoln turned to McClellan, despite the universal opposition of his cabinet. He ordered McClellan to pursue and destroy the Rebel Army which was now deep in Maryland. McClellan, to his credit quickly reorganized and revitalized his demoralized forces. But in typical fashion believing himself heavily outnumbered, he conducted a slow and cautious pursuit of Lee. McClellan’s fortunes dramatically improved upon the discovery of a lost copy of Lees operational plans at Frederick on September 13, 1862. They showed the Rebel Army to be divided and widely dispersed. Pushing aside weak Confederate forces at South Mountain on September 14th, McClellan found Lee with Longstreet’s command of 18,000 men boldly standing on the banks of Antietam creek. Believing that the rolling hills across the Antietam hid an army nearly as large as his 87,000 man force, McClellan spent the next two days perfecting his battle plans while Stonewall Jackson’s command, flush with victory at Harpers Ferry arrived at Sharpsburg and doubled the size of Lee’s Army. He established his headquarters at the Pry House and though nearly two miles away, had a clear view of the Union center and right. McClellan’s plan was to strike both of Lee’s flanks and force him to commit his reserves to one or both of the threatened sides of his line. McClellan would then launch his reserves against the weakened Confederate center and achieve a decisive breakthrough that would destroy Lee’s Army. As the sun rose on the morning of September 17, 1862, McClellan could observe his plan unfold as Hooker’s First Corps began its attack on the Union right. The bloodiest day in American history had begun.