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The Professional Bul let in of Army History

ARMYHISTORY

Summer 2010 PB 20-10-3 (No. 76) Washington, D.C.

27Too Busy to LearnBy Robert H. Scales32

An Nasiriyah:Americas First Battlein Operation IraqI

Freedom

By Mark K. Snakenberg6

No Heroism Can Avail:Andrew A. Humphreys andHis Pennsylvania Division at

Antietam and FredericksburgBy Matthew T. Pearcy


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The Professional Bullet in of Army His tory

Active U.S. Army officers have generally recog-nized the risks involved in becoming closely identi-fied with any one political party. In the first articlein this issue, Army engineer historian Matthew .Pearcy explores how the political views and personalassociations o Andrew A. Humphreys, an officerwho demonstrated noteworthy talent both as anantebellum topographical engineer captain and aCivil War general, thwarted the rapid rise to highcommand positions Humphreys battlefield heroicsmight otherwise have garnered him. Pearcy shows,

however, that Humphreys ultimately overcame theobstacles he aced and posted a very creditable CivilWar record.

Te second article in this issue is a commentaryentitled oo Busy to Learn. In this essay, retiredArmy Maj. Gen. Robert H. Scales argues that, muchlike the nineteenth-century British Army that washeavily engaged with the challenges o maintainingan empire, todays U.S. Army has induced too manyo its best officers to invest their time and energiesnearly exclusively in operations, leaving inadequateopportunity or proessional study and reflection.

Scales points to several programs that have mitigatedthis problem, and he proposes specific reorms, somerequiring action by Congress, that, he believes, wouldlead Army officers to make valuable new investmentsin personal intellectual enhancement.

In this issues third article, Capt. Mark K. Snaken-berg, who participated in some o the events hedescribes, examines the fighting during the openingdays o the Iraq War in March 2003 in the contexto more than two centuries o U.S. military history.Snakenberg compares the nature and extent o thediiculties the U.S. military experienced at andaround An Nasiriyah in southern Iraq with the types

o misortunes the U.S. Army encountered in its firstbattles in other wars. He finds some noteworthysimilarities.

Each o these contributions addresses historicalissues that remain significant to the Army today.

Charles HendricksManaging Editor


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In so many ways, we in the Armys history andmuseum community are on the leading edge o thehistorical proession. With other ederal historians,

we have been the first to grapple with electronic records,collecting them as they are generated or soon afer; storing,analyzing, and organizing them, even beore they have been

touched by trained archivists; and then using them as thebasis or many o the most current historical products toreach our Army customers and the public. In the realm ooral history, what academic historian regularly interviewssubjects at both the apex and base o the worlds currentevents while those events are still in motion? And in theclassroom, our products and instructors can be ound notonly throughout the Armys school systemand that o theMarine Corps as wellbut also across the wider academiccommunity via the Armys ROC and JROC (ReserveOfficers raining Corps and Junior ROC) programs andmany university-level history courses. Indeed, the Armys

many historical publications reach a wide audience. DeenseDepartment customers alone draw more than 4,000 Centerproducts rom the Armys publication depot monthly andthe Government Printing Offices sales to the general publicare always high. Bookstore owners and history departmentheads alike know that military history titles sell and that thesubject is popular with both students and the general public.Similarly, the Armys museum curators recognize that thepublics ascination with military artiacts is enduring, andthey are ofen the first to select the contemporary militarymateriel meriting preservation or posterity, doing so wellbeore such items become truly historical.

More unique is the ocused historical support that our

community gives to ederal decision makers. Te prac-tice is especially prevalent in the Army, yet this publichistory unction has no counterpart in academia and isofen given little recognition by our proessional organi-zations, which are generally organized around traditionalhistorical sub-disciplines. Yet such work orms the coreo our institutional service. Te Center alone annu-ally produces about one hundred careully researchedhistorical inormation papers or key Army leaders, anaccomplishment that is replicated by command his-torical offices and deployed historians throughout the

orce. Tese papers provide to Army leaders at all levelsvaluable historical perspective on the current issues chal-lenging them on a daily basis. Dr. Diane Putney, who isretiring this year as deputy chie historian in the Office othe Secretary o Deense, aptly captured our role in thisregard, stating How ortunate we all are to see history

being made and be right there to record it and then toshare our work with leaders and staff who seek and needknowledge and understandingand, at times, givingthem a centuries-long perspective on current issues.

Much has also been said about the official charactero ederal historical programs, and I would like to ad-dress that ofen misunderstood moniker. Certainly, thehistorical offices o the Armyand I suspect those othe other ederal agencies as welldo not produce anytrue official histories, that is, historical presentations orinterpretations that are sanctioned by the agencies inwhich these offices reside. For Army historians, author-

ship credit is accompanied by authorship responsibility,a relationship made clear in the preace o most o ourpublications. Our historical products go through a vet-ting process that is equally, and in a great many casesmore, rigorous than those o the academic or commercialworld. Tese products meet high proessional standardsin the areas o evidence, balance, logic o presentation,and mastery o narrative prose, and the positive reviewsthey receive underline our success. Te hard work o ourmuseum and art curators is judged by similarly highhistorical standards, although their efforts also involvethe application o the fine arts (exhibit presentation) andscientific skills (artiact preservation). But, again, there

is no official component to their work. Tat said, in therealm o unit history and heritage, the Center is chargedwith responsibility or determining the designations oArmy units, active and reserve alike, and their officiallineages and honors. Tese and a ew related organiza-tional tasks are probably the only truly official historicalunctions that the Center has.

Tere is yet another cutting-edge unction that Armyhistorians have begun to perorm, albeit one that needsurther development, and that is the creation o newpresentation media. Although the Armys use o the

The Chiefs CornerD. J C

Continued on page 57

History on theCutt ing Edge


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Summe

r2010

Features

Articles

27Commentary:Too Busy to Learn

By Robert H. Scales

46Book Reviews

58Chief HistoriansFootnote

6 32AN:A FB O IF

B M K. S

N HC A:A A.H HPD A F

B M . P


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CENTEROFMILITARYH ISTORYISSUESNEWPUBLICATIONS

Te U.S. Army Center o MilitaryHistory has jointly published withthe U.S. Army Corps o Engineersa history o the construction workundertaken by the Corps in the Medi-terranean basin and the Middle Eastbetween the end o World War II andthe Persian Gul War. he Centerhas also published a new two-volume

compilation o the lineages and honorso U.S. Army field artillery units.

Bricks, Sand, and Marble: U.S. ArmyCorps of Engineers Construction inthe Mediterranean and Middle East,19471991, by Robert P. Grathwol

and Donita M. Moorhus, describes theevolution o the Corps o Engineersextensive Cold War building programin southern Europe, northern Arica,and the Middle East, a program thatocused primarily on military pre-paredness vis--vis the Soviet Union.Although the program began in 1947with assistance to Greece in restor-ing inrastructure destroyed duringWorld War II, it shifed quickly tothe building o air bases and roads

first in North Arica and then in theMiddle East. Included in the programwere projects administered by theengineers Mediterranean Division inIran, Aghanistan, and Pakistan. Telargest effort made by the Corps oEngineers was in Saudi Arabia, wherethe military construction work waslargely locally unded. Tis 672-pagebook, which orms part o a series onthe U.S. Army in the Cold War, hasbeen issued in a cloth cover as CMHPub 452 and in paperback as CMH

Pub 4521. Te authors have writ-ten several earlier books on the ColdWar and on the Corps o Engineers,including Building for Peace: U.S.

Army Engineers in Europe, 19451991(Washington, D.C.: Center o MilitaryHistory and Corps o Engineers, U.S.Army, 2005).

Te new two-volume Field Artilleryby Janice E. McKenney in the ArmyLineage Series updates the organiza-tional history outlines and the lists ocampaign participation credits anddecorations o Regular Army ieldartillery regiments and their elementsthat were printed in the single-volumefirst edition o this title, issued in 1985.Beyond that, the new edition providesthis inormation or higher-level field

artillery headquarters and or field ar-tillery units in the National Guard. Asdid the earlier edition, these volumesalso include unit bibliographies andcolor illustrations o the units heraldicitems.Te volumes, which have a totalo 1,431 pages, have been published asCMH Pub 6011 in cloth and 60111in paperback. he compiler servedrom 1977 to 1999 alternately as chieo the Organizational History Branchand deputy chie o the HistoricalServices Division o the Center. She

is the author o Te OrganizationalHistory of Field Artillery, 17752003(Washington, D.C.: Center o MilitaryHistory, U.S. Army, 2007).

Army publication account hold-ers may obtain these items rom theDirectorate o LogisticsWashington,Media Distribution Division, AN:JDHQSVPAS, 1655 Woodson Road,St. Louis, MO 63114-6128. Accountholders may also place their orders athttp://www.apd.army.mil . Individuals

may order the materials rom the U.S.Government Printing Oice via itsWeb site at http://bookstore.gpo.gov.Bricks, Sand, and Marble: U.S. ArmyCorps of Engineers Construction inthe Mediterranean and Middle East,19471991, may be purchased in clothor $73 and in paperback or $61. Tenew two-volume edition oField Artil-lery may be purchased in paperbackor $93. he Government PrintingOffice should announced the price othe cloth volumes in May 2010.

MILITARYH ISTORYDETACHMENTWINS

AWARD

Te 305th Military History Detach-ment has been awarded the ReserveOfficers Associations 2009 Army Re-serve Outstanding Small Unit Award.Te detachment was selected or thishonor by General Charles C. Camp-bell, commanding general, U.S. Army

Continued on page 44


6/606 Army HistorySummer 2010

Charge of General Tylers Brigade at Fredericksburg by Alan H. Archambault

ABOUT

THE

AUTHOR

Dr. Matthew T.

Pearcyhas been a

historian with theOffice of History of

Headquarters, U.S.

Army Corps of Engi-

neers, in Alexandria,

Virginia, since 2006.

He worked from

2001 to 2006 as the

historian of the St.

Paul District of the

Corps of Engineers

in St. Paul, Minne-

sota. While there, he

joined with CharlesA. Camillo to co-

author Upon Their

Shoulders: A History

of the Mississippi

River Commission

(Vicksburg, Miss.:

Mississippi River

Commission, 2004).

He has published

articles in Louisiana

History,Journal of

the Illinois State

Historical Society,

Florida Histori-

cal Quarterly, andMilitary History of

the West. He holds a

doctorate in history

from the University

of North Texas. He

is currently working

on a book-length

biography of An-

drew A. Humphreys

(18101883), and hewould like to thank

his colleagues, and

especially the chief

of the Office of

History, Dr. John C.

Lonnquest, for sup-

porting this project.


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n the harried days afer hisinauguration on 18 Febru-ary 1861, the new Con-

ederate president, Jeerson Davis,made quiet overtures to some othe best officers in the U.S. service.1Among these was a senior captain inthe Army Corps o opographicalEngineers, Andrew A. Humphreys,a ity-year-old Pennsylvanian andleading scientist and engineer. He andDavis enjoyed a long association go-

ing back to their cadet years at WestPoint and had worked together sub-stantially in the previous decade. Assecretary o war in 1854, Davis pulledHumphreys rom important dutiesor the opographical Bureau to workclosely with him as chie o the Officeo Pacific Railroad Explorations andSurveys, a grand Army-led effort tostudy the American West and make itmore accessible. Teir warm personaland official riendship continued afer

Davis returned to the Senate in 1857,and they served together as late asDecember 1860 on a six-member com-mission headed by Davis reviewing thecurriculum, disciplinary system, andorganizational structure o the U.S.Military Academy.2wo months later,with seven states already in secessionand war on the horizon, Davis secreteda list o names to an abettor in Wash-ington, D.C. He was Louis . Wigall,a U.S. senator rom exas and leading

fire-eater who remained or a time inthe capital as a sel-appointed rearguard to spy on ederal activities andwork his mischie.3He moved quicklyto make the necessary contacts in theWar Department and saw Humphreyson 24 February. Following what couldonly have been an uncomortable en-counter, Wigall had his answer. Hereported back to Davis the next day,Capt. Humphreys can not under anycircumstances join us.4

Afer quietly turning his back onuntold opportunities in a new South-ern conederacy, Humphreys oundew immediate prospects in his ownarmy. He closed his Western explora-tion and survey office in July 1861,just days beore the Union disaster atBull Run, but serious illness made itimpossible or him to take the field.5He resorted to a system o physicaltraining to make himsel fit or activeservice and first sought field duty in

October, but without success. Toughhighly regarded in the old Army, hehad built his reputation as a scientistand, afer many years in Washington,was regarded as something o a desksoldier, a perception only reinorcedby his long history o rail health andhis lack o recent combat experience.Baseless but persistent rumors thatHumphreys was lukewarm in hisloyalty were buttressed when his onlysurviving brother, Joshua, threw in his

7

I

BYMATTHEWT. PEARCY



lot with the rebel navy.6All o theseactors, combined with the hurriedand sometimes haphazard method oselecting the first Civil War generals,condemned Humphreys to watchrom behind while less worthy menmoved to the ront rank.

Amid heightened security concernsin 1861, the Army assigned a numbero officers to the protection o publicbuildings in Washington, D.C., and

Humphreys, probably at the requesto his good riend, the eminent sci-entist Joseph Henry, took charge othe turreted Smithsonian castle.7Heremained at that post late into theyear but continued to seek field duty,even requesting affidavits o supportrom well-connected riends. Amongthese was the dashing Brig. Gen. IsaacI. Stevens, a ellow West Pointer andengineer, who had served as governoro Washington erritory and then as

its delegate to Congress and was nowa brigade commander in the Army othe Potomac. While territorial gov-ernor, Stevens had commanded oneo a handul o expeditions or thePacific railroad surveys, and in 1860he had served as campaign manageror one o Abraham Lincolns elec-toral opponents, Vice President JohnC. Breckenridge.8Te well-regardedStevens was only too happy to help. I

have dropped a line to the President[Abraham Lincoln] in your behal,he wrote to Humphreys in October1861, speaking o you in the waya riend speaks o a riend o whoseabilities . . . he has the high apprecia-tion I have o yours.9

Reaching across the aisle, Hum-phreys also tapped West Point class-mate Brig. Gen. Samuel R. Curtis (classo 1831), a ormer Republican con-gressman rom Iowa with presumably

better ties to the White House. Curtiswrote directly to the War Department,also in October, recommending Hum-phreys or service in the field.10Whileundoubtedly helpul, these overturesrom volunteer generals ailed to dis-pel the belie universally held here inWashington, as Humphreys wrotemany years later, that I would jointhe South, an expectation that the new-

comers into power were duly inormedo and acted on, [which] excluded merom everything and caused me to belooked on with distrust.11

Opportunity came in March 1862when Maj. Gen. George B. McClel-lan, commanding the Army o thePotomac, appointed Humphreys tohis personal staff as additional aide decamp with the rank o colonel and asthe chie topographical engineer o hisarmy. It was an act o good aith and

solid judgment on McClellans part,and Humphreys did not disappoint.In his new capacity, he accompaniedthe general on the Peninsula Cam-paign rom April through July 1862and served ably, conducting careulield reconnaissances and workingwith both the opographical Bureauin Washington and the Coast Surveyto supply maps and other intelligenceor the advancing Union army. It wasdifficult and at times dangerous workbut also mostly thankless. By July,

Humphreys had wearied o staff duty.From Harrisons Landing on the JamesRiver, he wrote to the new secretaryo war, Edwin M. Stanton, to againsolicit a command o troops, but thepolitical climate back in Washingtonwas volatile. McClellans stock wasdown afer the ailed campaign, andhis political enemies were movingagainst him. Lincoln placed his hopesbriefly in Maj. Gen. John Pope, andMcClellan ound himsel in eclipse.12

Jefferson Davis, c. 1859

Isaac Stevens, c.1860

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Ater returning to the capital inmid-August, Humphreys met withStanton to press his case. Always onthe lookout or Army officers o du-bious loyalty to the administration,Stanton accused Humphreys o beinga McClellan man. Humphreys re-sponded firmly (i inelegantly), Mr.

Secretary, I am no mans man.13Temeeting adjourned, apparently in hisavor, and he then promptly escapedthe city, having secured, as he laterwrote to a riend, our or five dayso perect quiet with my amily atour old place near Philadelphia [PontReading]. Tere he enjoyed the com-pany o his wie, Rebecca, and his twoyoung daughters, Letitia and Becky,and was struck by the luxury and easeo [civilian] lie compared to that inthe field. Humphreys hurried back to

the capital but arrived ill. He lay in aWashington sickbed on Saturday, 30August, without hearing a sound orecho o the many shots that were be-ing fired at [the Battle o Second] BullRun.14 Tat bloody exchange wentto the Conederates as a capstone to abrilliant six-week campaign in whichGeneral Robert E. Lee ollowed hissuccessul deense o Richmond bymoving north toward Washington,D.C., and crushing Pope and his short-

lived Army o Virginia. Te gallantGeneral Stevens was among the dead,shot through the temple while leadinga charge at Chantilly. Lees next moveinto Maryland set the stage or thegreat clash at Antietam.

On the Monday ollowing his re-turn to Washington, Humphreysreceived orders issued more than aweek earlier to report to Brig. Gen.Silas Casey, commander o the Pro-visional Brigade in Washington andthe officer responsible or organizing,

disciplining, and training new recruits.Humphreys ound the old headquar-ters dull enough and dispirited asword spread o the disastrous deeat atManassas, but there was opportunityin that news as well. Casey had beentasked with organizing several newdivisions or immediate dispatch tothe ront, and Lees invasion o theNorth gave the assignment greaterurgency. One o those divisions wasmeant or the Fifh Corps, Army o the

Potomac, commanded by Maj. Gen.Fitz-John Porter, and Humphreys hadmet with him in Washington that firstweek o September. Te two men wereacquainted rom the Peninsula Cam-paign and riendly, and Porter askedhim to assume command o a new bri-gade o volunteers. Humphreys balked

with an explanation that he was readyor anything in an emergency but thata brigade command was a small a-air. He wanted a division, and Porterapparently took the hint. Several dayslater on Friday afernoon, 12 Septem-ber, Casey suddenly asked Hum-phreys i he would take commando a division o Pennsylvania troopsalready en route to Washington andunder orders to march immediatelyto join General McClellan, who hadmomentarily regained avor with the

administration and was pursuing Leeand the Conederate Army into Mary-land. Te new command was the TirdDivision, Fifh Corps, under Porter.Humphreys accepted on the spot.15

Te rest o that day and the nextpassed in a flurry o activity. Te newregiments were scheduled to arrivethat afernoon, and Humphreys hadorders to join them and continuethe march. Instead, several weredelayed by as much as twelve hours

with the last arriving well afer mid-night. he regiments congregatedat the oot o Meridian Hill, thendominated by Columbian College(later George Washington University),where Humphreysstill without astaffconducted a quick inspection.He was exasperated by what he saw.

Tey were without rations, overloadedwith personal property, some withoutammunition, and ive o the regi-ments with such deective arms thatthe men had no confidence in themwhatever. Te division was, as Hum-phreys noted, miserably deficient ineverything and exhausted with want orest. Tus he ound it utterly impos-sible to move on Saturday morningand turned his immediate attentionto enlisting a sta, securing provi-sions, and exchanging thousands o

unserviceable Austrian muskets orSpringfield rifles.16

Porter lef the city early that morn-ing with the older divisions o hisFith Corps, but Humphreys kepthim advised throughout the day andsecured cordial approval or the nec-essary delays. He also sent an updateto Army headquarters through Brig.Gen. George W. Cullum, a West Pointengineer and chie o sta to Maj.Gen. Henry W. Halleck, the Armys

The Humphreys family home, Pont Reading, in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, June 2006

Matthew T. Pearcy



commanding general. As the day grewlong, Humphreys resigned himsel toan additional night in the capital. Hesent a second note to Cullum explain-ing the circumstances and indicatingthat his division would march atdaylight the next morning. Tis com-munication prompted an astonishingresponse rom Halleckwho seems to

have been deeply suspicious o Hum-phreysthreatening the new divisioncommander with arrest or disobedi-ence o orders unless he immediatelyleaves to take command o his divisionin the field.17Humphreys was urious.Tough he had no confidence in Hal-leck and shared in a popular distainor the general in chie, Humphreysturned the brunt o his anger on el-low engineer Cullum, a potential rivalwhom he suspected o double-dealing.

I I ind it to be so, Humphreyswrote, his blood boiling, I will smashthat miserable bald skull o his or thedastardly attempt to injure one who hemay think stands something in his wayin Corps [o Engineers] matters. Hemade one last review o his troops lateSaturday afernoon to see i it mightbe possible to march that night butound it would be olly.18

Freshly outitted and rested, thegreen division set out or Frederick,

Maryland, on the morning o Sunday,14 September, as the main body o theArmy o the Potomac clashed withConederate orces in the rugged passeso South Mountain. News o the fightreached Humphreys as he pushed histroops north under difficult conditions,with part o the way exceedingly dustyand the sun very hot, but he kept hismen well together and pretty resh.Marching ourteen miles a day, thedivision reached the Monocacy River

just shy o Frederick on Wednesdaymorning, where it received orders romWashington to halt and await urther in-structions. In the previous days, Lee hadretired rom the mountain passes towardSharpsburg and secured the rolling hillswest o Antietam Creek while McClel-lan and practically the whole Army othe Potomac had positioned itsel alongthe opposite bank. Humphreys chaedat the delay amid the distant sound ocannonading emanating rom the clash

o the two armies that had now begun.As the blood spilled at Antietam on whatwould be the bloodiest day o the war,Humphreys, still without instructions,scouted the area around Frederick andprepared his men or a long march. Tefirst orders arrived rom Washingtonlate in the afernoon instructing Hum-phreys to rejoin the main army. Heand his men advanced five miles beoresunset and were about to make campwhen a second dispatch arrived, this

General Porter

General Halleck, portraitby Jacob H. Lazarus

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one rom Porter urging Humphreys tohurry up with all haste . . . orce yourmarch.19Te much-maligned Army othe Potomac had checked the Coned-erate invasion and blunted the threatto Washington, D.C., but McClellanbelieved that a decisive victory might stillbe had. He planned a morning assaultand wanted Humphreys 7,000 troopson the field.20

Restless or a fight, Humphreys andhis men pushed through the night inlong sinewy lines o dust and humanity.Te road they took carried them westrom Frederick across the misty battle-fields o South Mountain and throughthe hushed villages o Boonsboro andKeedysville, all congested with thedead and wounded o both armies. Tesky was overcast and the night pitchblack, and the men stumbled along intheir exhaustion through a choking dust

several inches deep. Humphreys wasconspicuous, riding up and down thecolumn on his thoroughbred (namedafer a avorite uncle, Charley) andpressing his heavy-lidded men orwardat a killing pace. Nearly a thousand ellout along the way while others pushedon at the price o injury. Amid thesounds o the great column, o harnessand hoo and shuffling eet, his thoughtsturned to the coming battle. His menhad only just been mustered into serviceand would be skittish in battle. Tey

might break under fire. He would leadrom the ront but thought it highlyprobable, as he wrote many years later,that I should be killed. Even so, hepromised himsel that he would stickto the [battle] ground i all the othersdid leave it. . . . Nothing should makeme quit the field.21

As the division approached Sharps-burg just beore dawn, Humphreysthought the firing would begin andstopped the column or an hours rest.

In an instant, his men were on theground covered with their blankets.Humphreys slept with his back againsta rock, his son Harry by his side, andawoke at first light. He rose stiffly tohis eet, quickly roused his men, andrecommenced the march. Te divi-sion crossed the Antietam at 0730 andell in with the rest o the Fifh Corpsalong the center o the Union lines.

None o the men who participated inthat hurried march would ever orgetit. Struggling against atigue, they

drew up in rank, loaded their weap-ons, and stood at arms, supposingthemselves about to pass their firstordeal o battle. But the excessivelycautious McClellan tarried, and twohours later the men stood down andstacked their rifles. Preparations oran assault consumed the whole day,but it was all or nothing. Tat nightunder cover o darkness, Lee and his

grey ranks ell back across the Potomacinto Virginia. McClellan declined topursue. Te battle was over.22

General Cullum (seated), c. 1862, and General McClellan, 1861

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Bloody Antietam saw two greatarmies badly mauled on the deadliestday in American military history. Leestaggered rom the battlefield, signal-ing his deeat, but, or McClellan,Antietam was no triumph. A completevictory ending in the destruction o theRebel army had slipped rom his graspand, with it, any prospect o ending

the war on generous terms. Te lostopportunity promised months i notyears o continued fighting and playeddirectly into the hands o his politicaloes in Washington. As powerul Radi-cal Republicans railed against LittleMac, President Lincoln issued hispreliminary emancipation proclama-tion. Tat humble edict o 22 Septem-ber 1862, remade the war into a moralcrusade to abolish slavery, a transor-mation heartily opposed by McClellan

and many o his ellow West Pointers,including Porter and Humphreys.Teirs was no radical tradition. Mostregular officers were solid Democratsand conservative on issues o race andslavery, and many, like Humphreys,had quietly opposed Lincoln in 1860.23Tey ought or union, not slavery, buthad been outmaneuvered. A wave oabolitionist sentiment, soon to break,would wash away both McClellan andPorter and strip Humphreys o hismost powerul allies in the Army o

the Potomac. Merit alone would seehim through.Humphreys and his men spent the

next six weeks in camp near Sharps-burg where he began the arduousduty o training and indoctrinatinghis raw recruits. Volunteer soldiersconstituted the great mass o theUnion army, and their services wereindispensible to the struggle.24heywere oten, however, an unwieldybunchperectly green, as Hum-

phreys described his own division,and scarcely able to do anything.25A grim determination had carriedhis men to Sharpsburg, but it ell tothe division commander to makesoldiers out o this ragtag buncho Pennsylvania arm boys, storeclerks, coal miners, and assorted ru-ians. And it would have to be done

quickly as six o the eight regimentswere short-timers, nine-monthvolunteers recruited in late sum-mer 1862. hey hailed rom acrossthe Keystone State and most passedthrough Camp Curtin (named orthe popular Pennsylvania GovernorAndrew G. Curtin) near Harrisburgwhere they were outitted and orga-nized into regiments. For the vastmajority, that constituted the extento their military experience, and they

would not be easily tamed. Citizen-soldiers considered it degrading togive immediate and unquestionedobedience to orders, and the wholeconcept o taut impersonal disciplinewas oreign to them.26

Volunteer oicers shared manyo the strengths and deiciencieso the enlisted men. hey could bebrash, idealistic, and imperectlydisciplined. Company and regimen-tal oicers were generally electedby the soldiers or appointed by the

state governor or political reasons,and most either were or wanted tobe personally liked by the men theycommanded. Fraternization was acommon problem.27Brig. Gen. Eras-tus B. yler, a ur businessman romOhio, commanded the irst o twobrigades (encompassing the 91st,126th, 129th, and 134th Pennsylva-nia Volunteer Inantry Regiments).A strong-willed, competent oicer,he joined the war at its outset and

secured election to the colonelcyo the 7th Ohio Inantry Regiment,elling a uture president, James A.Garield, in the regimental contest.yler ought in the ShenandoahValley campaign but without distinc-tion. He was an avowed teetotalerand so something o an outsider atdivision headquarters.28 Col. Peter

H. Allabach, a burly Mexican Warveteran and a congenial ellow, com-manded the second brigade (123d,131st, 133d, 155th Regiments).Humphreys liked him. Other no-tables were Col. Jacob G. Frick, also aveteran o Mexico and a loud man oreal courage; and Lt. Col. William H.Armstrong, a talented young lawyerand stalwart Republican. he lattertwo served in the 129th under yler.

For his personal sta, Humphreys

retained two rom the PeninsulaCampaignhis twenty-two-year-oldeldest son, Henry Harry Hum-phreys, and Lt. Col. Carswell Mc-Clellan, an engineer graduate oWilliams College and, notably, irstcousin o the commanding general(though Humphreys was unawareo the act when he brought himon). O middling height, dark hair,and haunting eyes, McClellan servedHumphreys with pluck and idel-ity and, like his brigadier, saw a

younger brother join the rebellion.29

Harry was eager and smart, an inchor two taller than his ather andiercely loyal to him. He attendedhigh school at the elite PhillipsAcademy at Andover, a traditionaleeder school or Yale College, buthe looked instead to West Point.With his athers help, Harry se-cured an at-large appointment in1857 that would have placed himin the undistinguished class o 1861


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alongside George Armstrong Custer;but or reasons unknown, he ac-cepted the appointment but did not

attend, enrolling instead at the YaleScientiic School (later the SheieldScientiic School) or instruction inscience and engineering. he CivilWar interrupted his education, andhe joined his ather at Yorktown as acivilian assistant in the opographi-cal Engineers Department. Now in acombat role, Brig. Gen. Humphreyswanted a commission or his son andsuccessully lobbied Governor Cur-tin, who in the days ater Antietam

appointed Harry a irst lieutenant inthe 112th Pennsylvania Volunteers.he young Humphreys immediatelylet the regiment to serve with hisather, rarely leaving his side.30

he weeks ahead were dedicatedto training. Te division had a loose-jointed quality about it, but Hum-

phreys was nevertheless impressedwith his volunteers. He wrote a riendthat the material is excellent, some oit splendid, much o it loutish, but allare, apparently, desirous o learning.He pushed his men as he pushed him-sel and carried the entire enterpriseon his sturdy shoulders. As he wrotea riend, Te labor is immense. Ev-erything has to be taught and must allemanate rom one personevery littledetail even to the manner in which

non-commissioned officers teach andmake their squads keep themselves,clean their arms, accoutrements, etc.It keeps me so closely occupied that Ihave time or nothing else.

raining included daily recitationsby the officers in tactics and drill andour hours each day o squad or com-

pany and battalion drill. By the endo September, Humphreys reportedthat the men o his division could gothrough the most important battaliondrills pretty well, not with precisionor elegance, but without conusion.31Te first test o their martial bearingcame at the beginning o October1862, when the president paid anunexpected visit to the Army o thePotomac at Sharpsburg.

Lincoln wanted the army to move

and came to prod it along. He spentour days in camp, quietly access-ing its condition and meeting withcommanders. He reviewed the FifhCorps on 3 October 1862, and Hum-

General Humphreys and his staff, September 1863, photo by Timothy OSullivan

President Lincoln, in top hat, meets with General McClellan, sixth from left, and a group of officers at Antietam, 3 October 1862; also present areGenerals Humphreys and Porter, second and fifth from right, respectively; photo by Alexander Gardner.

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phreys recognized in his own orderedranks the good effects o rigoroustraining. Tat same day, McClellanand fifeen members o his staff werephotographed with the president, whotowered over all others. His amousstovepipe hat only added to the per-ception. Behind and a couple o eet to

his lef stood the bearded Porter andto his lef and a step back, Humphreys,sword at his side and immaculatelydressed but small and nearly lost inthe shadowsnot yet a recognizablefigure in the war effort.

Te division continued to improveinto October, but many o the rankand file and not a ew o the officersbristled under the harsh discipline.Humphreys was the lone West Pointerin the division. He was a stickler ordetail and stubborn as a mule. He

was also a firm disciplinarian. Whilecharming on a personal level, he caredlittle as yet or the aection o his

troops and understood to his very corethat morale depended on control, dis-cipline, and punishment. Tis preceptinormed his leadership, and rom it hewould not bend; he would not deviate;he would not excuse. When his menell short o expectations, as they in-evitably would, Humphreys relied on

the court-martial as the most visibleinstrument at his disposal or enorc-ing order and maintaining the rankstructure.32One early case stood out. Itinvolved seventeen-year-old Pvt. Rob-ert Stevens o the 155th Pennsylvaniawho ell asleep on guard duty on thenight o 23 September. It was a capi-tal offense. Te volunteer officer whodiscovered the boy took pity on himand determined not to preer seriouscharges, but word got back to Hum-phreys who was greatly incensed. He

ordered a court-martial. A convictionseemed beyond all doubt when Colo-nel Armstrong interceded on the boysbehal and put up a suitable and ulti-mately successul deense based on animperect identification o the accused.Tat officer probably saved the boyslie, but the episode soured relationsbetween Humphreys and several ohis key men and presaged a later andvery serious alling out.33

Hal o the division saw its first ac-

tion in mid-October. Following theretreat rom Antietam, Lee neededtime to reit and reinorce his bat-tered army, and he sought reugein the amiliar Shenandoah Valley.From there, the Rebels recoveredstrength and spirit, and the flamboy-ant Conederate cavalryman Maj. Gen.James E. B. Stuart started anew withhis exploits. asked with gatheringintelligence and collecting supplies,he set out with 1,800 cavalrymen on10 October 1862, and splashed across

the Potomac near Williamsport on araid that carried him as ar north asChambersburg, Pennsylvania, andully around the encamped Unionarmy.34Stuart returned two days laterwith ood, clothing, and 1,200 horsesliberated rom angry Pennsylvaniaarmers. It was a humiliating episodethat let McClellan looking oolishand touched a nerve among the meno Humphreys division, particularlythose o the 126th Pennsylvania who

hailed mostly rom the Chambersburgarea. One private rom the regimentwrote home that the men are all outo humor and are discouraged thatwe have to be here and let the Rebelsplunder our homes.35Lincoln, alreadysorely disappointed with McClellan,challenged him to engage the Rebel

army. he recalcitrant general an-swered with incursions o his own intoVirginia and tapped or the job twoo his newest division commandersGeneral Humphreys and Brig. Gen.Winfield S. Hancock, a ellow WestPointer and Pennsylvanian and a ris-ing star in the Army o the Potomac.36

he two led separate but coordi-nated reconnaissances. Hancock tookhis First Division o the Second Corpsand 1,500 additional men across thePotomac River at Harpers Ferry and

ollowed the Shenandoah Valley asar as Charles own. He met littleresistance and careully reconnoiteredthe area. Humphreys took commando a larger body that included 500cavalry; six pieces o artillery underLt. Charles E. Hazlett, 5th U.S. Artil-lery; and 6,000 inantry drawn romeach division o the Fifh Corps anda regular U.S. Army inantry brigade.Te whole column crossed the Po-tomac at Shepherdstown under the

watchul eye o Conederate picketsand soon clashed with lead elementso Stuarts cavalry brigade. A serieso skirmishes saw the Rebels drivenrom position to position towardsKearneysville, six miles to the south,and the long blue line halted or thenight just short o town. Te next day,the bulk o the orce moved throughKearneysville where it engaged a largeConederate cavalry orce on its ront.Humphreys advanced with both regu-lars and volunteers, orced the Rebels

back, and pushed on our more milesto Leetown. With the scouting missionaccomplished by early evening, he andhis men returned to Shepherdstownunder scattered musket and artilleryire. As they approached the river,two Conederate cavalry regimentscharged the rear o the column andwere neatly repulsed by a single volleyfired at orty yards, emptying manysaddles.37Te river crossing occurredwithout incident. Back in camp beore

General Hancock, c. 1863

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midnight on 17 October, Humphreysreported that Conederate cavalry oc-cupied Martinsburg and that the lefwing o the Conederate army restedon Bunker Hill, several miles west oKearneysville. Tis, his first combatcommand in a quarter-century, wentoff without a hitch, and Porter waseusive in praise o his new divi-sion commander.38 Te episode also

ostered a close riendship betweenHumphreys and Hancock that grewstronger and stronger throughout thewar and afer.39

News that Lee and his army werestill in striking distance only ed themounting rustration in Washington,and Lincoln again pressed or ac-tion. McClellan relented in the lastdays o October, pulling up stakesand nudging his army across thePotomac towards Richmond. Leeresponded by dispatching Lt. Gen.James Longstreet, and his single

wing easily outpaced the lumberingUnion army and positioned itselacross McClellans line o advanceat Culpeper, Virginia, shielding thenorthern army rom its objectivethe Conederate capital. News o thesetback reached Washington on 4November 1862, and Lincoln firedMcClellan the next day.40His replace-ment was the reluctant Maj. Gen.Ambrose E. Burnside, commander othe Ninth Corps and a avorite o the

Republican Congress. Better knownor his muttonchop whiskers than his

martial abilities, he was a man o ac-tion but perhaps too eager to please.With the transition under way, theopposing armies settled on either sideo the Rappahannockthe Army othe Potomac near Warrenton andthe Conederates across the riverat Culpeper.41

Te sacking o McClellan staggeredthe Army o the Potomac, and the

days that ollowed saw an outpouringo raw emotion or the man who hadashioned the army and shared in itsmany trials. Te general bid arewellto his staff on the evening o Sunday, 9November, greeting the men personallyand sharing in their expressed dismayand rustration. Officers embraced, andtears flowed. Alcohol poured reely, andin their cups men spoke their minds.

A ew uttered serious indiscretions, andHumphreysprobably drunk at the

time was chie among the transgres-sors. By God, he proclaimed to a not

General McClellan, accompanied by General Burnside, taking leave of the Army of thePotomac, 10 November 1862, drawing by Alfred R. Waud

General Burnside

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altogether riendly audience, I wishsomeone would ask the Army to ollow[General McClellan] to Washingtonand hurl the whole damned pack intothe Potomac, and place General Mc-Clellan at the head o affairs.42Teseharmless expressions o regret were,according to his son, enlarged upon

by his enemies in the division, particu-larly Frick and yler, and later made tomilitate against him in his promotionto higher rank afer Fredericksburg.43Humphreys conceded many years laterthat my greatest misortune was myassociation with McClellan.44

Amid the uproar, Burnside first setabout consolidating his command anddevising a plan o action. Having alreadyconerred with McClellan about hisplans, the new commander determinedto advance on Richmond, the taking o

which . . . should be the great object othe campaign. Te army would marchsoutheast along the RappahannockRiver to Fredericksburg, a small town

o some five thousand people near thehead o navigation that would serve asa staging ground or the advance south.In a ateul move, Burnside orderedthe army to keep to the north bank othe Rappahannock and cross en masseat Fredericksburg. For that he wouldneed pontoon boats and lots o them.

Halleck would make the necessary ar-rangements. Burnside also reorganizedthe army. Distrustul o his own abili-ties to command so unwieldy a orce,he grouped the six Union corps intothree grand divisions and promotedseveral o his senior commanders. TeLef Grand Division, consisting o theFirst and Sixth Corps, went to the highlyregarded Maj. Gen. William B. Franklin,a ellow topographical engineer captainbeore the war and someone Hum-phreys knew and liked. he Second

and Ninth Corps constituted the RightGrand Division, which ell under thesixty-ive-year-old Maj. Gen. EdwinV. Sumner. During the reorganization,Halleck ordered the arrest and court-martial o General Porter, accused odisobedience at Second Bull Run. Maj.Gen. Joseph Fighting Joe Hooker tookhis place but just days later ascended tothe head o the Center Grand Division,composed o the Tird Corps as wellas the Fith, including Humphreys

raw division. Command o the FithCorps devolved to senior division com-mander Maj. Gen. Daniel Butterfield, aduplicitous figure Humphreys wouldlater characterize as alse, treacherous,and cowardly.45

Te pace o things picked up consid-erably under Burnside. Within days,the massive Army o the Potomac withmore than 120,000 men began movingout o Warrenton, pushing Lees armyback toward Culpeper, and then mak-ing quickly or Fredericksburg. Lead

elements covered the nearly orty milesin two days and began situating them-selves opposite the city beore Lee couldreinorce it. Te Fifh Corps was the lastto leave Warrenton, breaking camp inthe predawn hours o 17 November.Heavily burdened as they marchedthrough the nearly deserted town, theblue ranks drew the attention o twoindignant emales well up in years, whoscolded . . . the Yankee troops . . . asthey passed.46Late the next day, a cold

winter rain soaked all to the bone andtransormed the country roads intoquagmires. he mud was knee deepin places. Humphreys and his divisiontrudged along with stops at Spottedavern and Hartwood Church beorereporting to camp near Potomac Creek.Te army under Burnside had exceeded

all expectations, placed itsel ahead oLee on a strategic location en route toRichmond, and ound Fredericksburgexposed and vulnerable. But there wasa problem. As a result o some bureau-cratic bungling in Washington (withHalleck mostly at ault), the pontoonshad not arrived, and the narrow but nowswollen Rappahannock separated Burn-side rom his objective. He could onlywait, his progress arrested, and watchas Lee gathered together his scatteredorces and occupied the high ground

beyond the city. Soon, lonely pickets oblue and grey stretched or our mileson opposite banks o the river.47Te ele-ment o surprise was lost, and Burnsideabandoned any pretext o it. He waitedseveral days or the pontoons and sur-rendered another two weeks to plan-ning, establishing reliable supply baseson a nearby bend o the Potomac River,and rebuilding ractured railroad lines.

During this period o inaction, Hum-phreys and his men settled into thick

pine woods so dense they could scarcelyfind room to stack arms. Spirits werehigh, but the men elt the weight o thecoming battle and turned their nervousenergy to transorming the grounds intoa fine camp and a good parade ground.As a winter chill moved into Virginia,they hid away in their dog tents, anda ew o the more industrious threw uppine huts with fireplaces, though, as oneofficer later explained, many haplessellows had their homes destroyed byfire. Te days passed in rest and routine.

Te men wrote long letters home andcrawled rom their shelters or drill andoccasional picket duty. On Tanksgiv-ing Day, the division heard an eloquentdiscourse rom Col. John B. Clark, aormer chaplain and commander othe 123d Pennsylvania.48Four inches osnow ell on 6 and 7 December, and themen suffered accordingly. At least tworoze to death.

Humphreys used this time to outfithis division, fill out his staff, and rid

General Butterfield

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himsel o incompetent oicers. Heremoved one or mental dullness andphysical ineptness.49He also picked upon his correspondence. He had lettersrom old riends and new, those seekingavors, and those with advice. A noterom one o his brigade commanders,General yler, counseled headquartersto procure at once a supply o onions. . . which are said to be an excellentremedy or the prevailing diseases inthe brigade.50Anotherwritten, appar-

ently, by the mother o a soldier in thedivisionadmonished Humphreys orhis salty tongue.

Hon. Sir, you must excuse the libertyI have taken in address you these ewlines. You are a stranger to me butI heard you spoken o as a gentle-man but a proane swarer. Now, I

am going to give you a lecture, andyou must bare with me. God is justand will not let the guilty go ree.Its not your own Damnation butyoure example to others. Pause andthink to Curse the god that madeyou to whome you are indeted orevery breath you draw. I must sayno man is fit to command that cantcommand his own toung.51

he thrashing continued or sev-

eral pages. Humphreys meek responsecame in the third person: GeneralHumphreys it is true swears at hisellow mennever at the Almightysuch an act o impiety is as abhorrentto his soul as to that o the most piousChristian, even when carried awayby an irresistible burst o passion.He never did orswear the colorul

habit, and his reputation only grew.Many years later a gifed chronicler othe war, Charles A. Dana, called Hum-phreys one o the loudest swearers thatI ever knew and put him in rarified air:Te men o distinguished and brilliantproanity in the war were General Sher-man and General HumphreysI couldnot mention any others that could beclassed with them.52

he great movement began onTursday, 11 December 1862, when

just afer 0300 the dangerous task othrowing the pontoon bridges wasinitiated. Conederate sharpshootersacross the river harassed the engineers,dropping a dozen or more beore amassive Union cannonade hurled shotand shell into the historic city. hebombardment continued or severalhours to sweep the rifle-pits along the

Union troops cross the Rappahannock River to assault Fredericksburg, 11 December 1862, print by L. Prang & Company

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river and drive the Conederate riflesrom riverront homes and buildings.Te effect was more general. Te ex-plosions kindled fires throughout thecity, and these burned uriously. Dense

clouds o smoke hung in the air, butthe sharpshooters persisted with theirdeadly work. o the sound o artilleryand occasional musket fire, the FifhCorps broke camp and, moving in threeseparate columns, advanced towardsthe river. Te march was irksome, andthe crisp morning air stringent with thesmell o gunpowder and burnt pine.Early in the afernoon, the bridges stillincomplete, Burnside sent out inan-tryplaced on boats and erried acrossthe riverto drive the enemy rom its

bunkers. Tat bravely done, the rus-trated engineers made short work othe bridges.53All that day and the nexttwo, long blue columns marched acrossgently rocking pontoons into the city.

Humphreys division, held in re-serve with the center wing, would beamong the last to cross, and it closedon the river as troops in advance en-tered the city. On the eve o battle, thedivision bivouacked in uncomortablecircumstances near the Phillips House,

where Burnside would establish hisheadquarters. Te weather was exqui-site, according to Humphreys; but themelting snow lef six inches o mud inits place, and the men were in it all

day and lay down in it all night.

54

Teywere not permitted fires and subsistedon the ood in their haversacks. A ewmen took ill. Te ollowing morning,Saturday, 13 December 1862, was coldand rosty, and a dense og obscuredeverything but the opening salvos o agreat battle. It had begun.

he Battle o Fredericksburg un-olded in a natural amphitheaterbounded on the east by the Rappahan-nock River and on the west by a stringo hills heavily ortified by Lee. Te

Union plan called or a flanking move-ment against the Conederate rightand a demonstration against MaryesHeights, the anchor o the Rebel lefand the heart o its deenses. For theluckless Army o the Potomac, thingswent badly rom the start. Conusingand evasive orders rom headquar-ters lef Franklin perplexed as to whowas leading the main attack, and hisefforts that morning were tentativeand uncertain. He began the assault

against the Rebel flank on ProspectHill at 0830 in piecemeal ashion. Histop subordinate, Maj. Gen. George G.Meade, led a single division througha seam in the woods and achieved

temporary success, threatening to rollup the deenders, but the movementwas not reinorced. A devastatingcounterattack by Lt. Gen. Tomas J.Stonewall Jackson swept the field.Meade was driven back with heavycasualties, and the opportunity lost.Franklin did not renew the assaultdespite orders to do so. Fully hal ohis 60,000 men were never engagedin the battle.55

Te attack on Maryes Heights beganabout noon. Lee was strongest there

and his troops enjoyed a splendidfield o fire. His artillery occupied thehigh ground, and his legions wereburrowed into the hillside and shel-tered behind a heavy stone wall thatextended a hal mile along the base othe ridge, as perect a deensive workas any engineer could have planned,or any engineer troops could haveconstructed.56 Six hundred yardso narrow plain stretched rom thisposition to the town below and un-

Union Army engineers build a pontoon bridge across the Rappahannock River into Fredericksburg, 11 December 1862,drawing by Alfred R. Waud

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neled the attackers against the hearto the Conederate deenses. It was akilling field, and Burnside hurled hisdoomed army onto it. he veteranSecond Corps under Maj. Gen. DariusN. Couch led the way. One by one, thebrigades debouched rom the town,crossed a canal, traversed the narrow

level, and ormed under cover o a riseo ground below a large brick houseless than 150 yards rom the Coneder-ate line. At a word, they ascended thebank and pressed orward up the hillor the stone wall and oblivion. In theboldest o the early assaults, Hancockled his three brigades to within twenty-ive yards o the deenders beoreeach in turn staggered back, crushedand bleeding. Hundreds o dead anddying littered the battlefield. Rem-nants o the shattered Second Corps,

slightly sheltered by a small rise in theground, ormed a ragged line o battleacross the field and held the positionlate into the afernoonbut to noadvantage.57

As the battle raged across the riverat 1430, Humphreys stepped rom thePhillips House with orders in handand a look o grim determinationon his ace. He mounted his horse,galloped to the head o the ormingcolumn, and addressed his division,

Gentlemen, the Fifh Corps is in thereserve o the Army, and it is expectedto carry the day. He turned and ledhis men hastily down the ravine to thebanks o the icy Rappahannock andtraversed one o the three new bridgesleading into the burning city. Te oghad dissipated, and the Conederateartillery improved its range, splashingordnance in the river as the men treadwarily across the pontoons. Saely onthe other side, Humphreys climbedatop his horse and directed his divi-

sion up a steep bank and south along

the riverront beore winding his menup narrow avenues toward the westernedge o town. While the division waspassing through an intersection, arebel shell exploded overhead, throw-ing brick, slate, and a large tree branchon the lead brigade, killing severalhorses. Moments later, a second shell

ripped one o the men nearly in two.He died with a gasp, Oh, my God![]ake me, the first o more than athousand division casualties that day.58

As he neared the staging area,Humphreys met Hancock just off thefield. Te two were talking when metby a highly agitated General Couchwho had watched the slaughter ohis own corps rom the cupola o the

Fredericksburg Court House. Despitehorrific losses, his men had gained theheights but were out o ammunitionand needed support. Humphreys al-ready had instructions rom Burnsideand indicated as much to Couch. Butyou are the ranking officer, Hum-phreys continued, and i you will give

me an order to do so I will supportyou at once. Couch recalled manyyears later the grim determinationwhich settled on the ace o that gal-lant hero when he received the words,Now is the time or you to go in! 59Humphreys rode ahead, his divisionin tow. Once ree o the city, the tworookie brigades took up positions oneither side o George Street, which

Confederate riflemen fire on advancing Union troops from behind the stone wall on MaryesHeights, drawing by Allen C. Redwood

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merged up ahead with elegraph Roadleading directly into the Conederatelines. Soon afer, Hooker confirmedthe new orders. Humphreys and hisour thousand men would lead the

inal attack on Maryes Heights asthe orlorn hope o the Army o thePotomac.

Humphreys had not yet seen theConederate position and had re-ceived little intelligence.60 He rodeorward with his son and the resto his sta to survey the ield, ap-proaching the high ground, as he lat-er wrote, above, on which, some 200yards in advance, were the troops Iwas to support, slightly sheltered bya small rise in the ground. hese

were the men o Couchs SecondCorps.61One hundred ity yards inront o them was the heavy stonewall, the existence o which I knewnothing o until I got there. Whileexposed, the small contingent drewire rom Rebel sharpshooters, and,according to Harry, the balls lew ina perect shower like one o the se-verest hailstorms . . . ever witnessed.One struck General Humphreyshorse in the neck. As the general

reeled around, Harrys horse, omCat, took a ball in the let orelegbut did not seem to mind at all.62Humphreys and his sta withdrewto the shelter o lower ground and

began preparations or the assault.Te Second Brigade under ColonelAllabach would go first. His men threwoff everything that might impede theirprogresscoats, knapsacks, canteensall but their guns and ammunition, andormed under the shelter o a rise. Asthe bugle sounded, Humphreys turnedto his staff, took off his hat, and quietlyaddressed them, Gentlemen, I shalllead this charge; o course you wishto ride with me. Te officers movedtwelve paces to the ront, and Allabach

gave the command, Forward, guidecenter, march!63Elbow to elbow, the men advanced

with colors flying, ranks dressed as ion parade, out o the depression andinto the fire. Te balls came thickand ast, creating a din, one soldierrecalled, as I never wish to hearagain. Men ell in groups. Te deadand wounded lay all around, but theadvance continued with Humphreysstill mounted and in ront. As the

line reached the massed troops o theSecond Corps, a galling fire o mus-ketry and o grape and canister roma rebel battery on the right shatteredthe ormation, and the advance wasthrown into conusion by a throngo bluecoats lying several ranks deepand muddy behind a little old in

the ground. Some o the prostratecried out, Dont go there, tis certaindeath. Others reached out to theadvancing brigade, grabbing at theskirts o their overcoats and deliber-ately tripped them. Allabachs menlay down with the men o the SecondCorps and generally joined them infiring at the wall.64

Humphreys knew what was aheadand wanted a rapid movement to thewall. Little could be gained by firinginto the ortified Conederate position,

and the time lost to reloading wouldslow and ultimately stymie the assault.Tere was nothing to be done, Hum-phreys concluded, but to try the bayo-net. He ordered all muskets emptied.hrough orce o will, Humphreysand Allabach extricated the lattersbrigade rom the mass o bluecoatsand in loose ormation advanced onthe stone wall. Deep gaps opened inthe ragged lines as the deadly stormo leaden hail rent clothing, tore flesh,

and splintered bone. Amid mountingconusion, the generals horse tookanother mini ball, this in the leg, andtumbled over. Humphreys jumped tohis eet, let off sulphurous anathemasat the rebels, and mounted a secondhorse, soon killed, and then a third.His staff, excepting only his son, wasall dismounted and most o themwere wounded, a strange scene, asthe elder Humphreys later recalled,or ather and son to pass through.Perhaps as close as twelve paces rom

the stone wall, the column reachedits zenith and began to melt awaywith men scattered about the ieldand in retreat. Some ew brave soulsheld orward positionsflat on theirbellies amid the mud and goreasHumphreys stepped away to prepareor a second run.65

His adjutant, Captain McClellan,had gone back to ready the First Bri-gade and returned to find Humphreyssitting quietly and alone viewing the

Fredericksburg Court House, May 1862, drawing by Edwin Forbes

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ground in his ront and whistling acheerul tune. It was Gay and Happy,a prewar avorite that inspired sev-eral parodies. One popular versionincluded the lines:

We are the boys so gay and happy,Wherever we chance to be,I at home or on camp duty,is the same, were always ree.So let the war guns roar as they will,

Well be gay and happy still.66

McClellan delivered a hurried statusreport, and Humphreys, without theslightest show o excitement o anykind, directed that the ormationand movement o the First Brigadeshould be hastened. He returned tohis study o the ground, and McClel-lan rode off to elegraph Road wherethe troops had just arrived. herehe met Butterfield and Hooker, and

both oered their compliments toGeneral Humphreystell him heis doing noblynobly. Butterfieldsent McClellan and a personal aideback to Humphreys with final orders.En route, the aide took a bullet, andMcClellan lost his horse but not hisorders. Tey were hand delivered andunambiguousthe heights must becarried beore dark.67

ylers men had ormed a doubleline o battle behind the rise as shad-ows stretched across the field under a

setting sun. Te First Brigade wouldlead the final charge o the day. Hum-phreys rode among them trying torestore conidence as shells ell allaround. Many o the men ducked anddodged. Dont juke, boys! holleredHumphreys. When the general shiedrom another shot, the boys laughed.Juke the big ones, boys, the generalsaid, smiling, but dont mind the littleones! Humphreys moved to the ront,turned his ace to the heights, and

lifed his hat as the signal to attack.Te brigade lurched ahead, runningand hurrahing.68

Immediately, the batteries began toplay upon them rom every side, andthere was a continuous line o irerom the top o the stone wall into theadvancing column, shredding the regi-mental flags and sowing conusion inthe ranks. Humphreys later describedthe scene:

Te stone wall was a sheet o flamethat enveloped the head and flankso the column. Officers and menwere alling rapidly, and the head othe column was at length brought toa stand when close up to the wall. Upto this time not a shot had been firedby the column, but now some firingbegan. It lasted but a minute, when,in spite o all our efforts, the columnturned and began to retire slowly.

I attempted to rally the brigadebehind the natural embankmentso ofen mentioned, but the unitedefforts o General yler, mysel, ourstaffs, and other officers could notarrest the retiring mass.69

As Humphreys led the remnants ohis shattered division rom the fieldin order and singing and hurrah-ingthe skies over Fredericksburgell dark and put a merciul end to itall.70

Te survivors o the bloodied TirdDivision, Fifh Corps, gathered in aravine near the mill race and beganorming around regimental colors.Humphreys initiated roll calls, butnearly hal ailed to answer. Sarvey,Stahl, Stonecypher . . . And so it went.Humphreys dispatched search partiesto gather the missing and woundedand to collect the dead where it wassae to do so. wo lost regiments werelocated. In absence o new orders, the

123d and 155th had held their posi-tions on the ield. heir returningnumbers swelled the ranks, and thecorrected report returned 1,030 casu-altiesone man out o our. Miracu-lously, Humphreys was uninjured.wo horses were shot out rom underhim and another badly wounded,and he repeatedly exposed himsel tothe most galling fire, to the point ocriticism even. I do like to see a brave

man, wrote one young Union officero Humphreys, but when a man goesout or the express purpose o gettingshot at, he seems to me in the way oa maniac. Only one o his staff, hisson Harry, remained in the saddle, buthe suffered a painul contusion to hisoot. At about 0900, the division pulledback and bivouacked or several hoursnear the unfinished Mary Washingtonmonument beore retreating urtherinto the streets o the ruined city. Tere

it passed a fitul nights sleep on coldcobblestone.71Back at his headquarters, a rattled

Burnside made plans to lead a grandbayonet assault at dawn, but his gen-erals were all against it. Butterfield,Meade, Humphreys, and severalothers met late in the evening, andall agreed that another such attackwould be disastrous. Couch thought itsuicidal. When conronted, Burnsidedumped the plan and determined orthe time being to secure the city and

wait. Humphreys and his divisionspent most o Sunday holding a linein the northern part o town betweenFauquier and Amelia Streets just easto the old cemetery.72Te men threwup barricades and established an arrayo batteries to resist any counterattack.Te sense o risk was visceral. Onepostwar unit history reported that Leehad plans to send Jackson smashinginto the demoralized Yankee armyoccupying the city streets but that



rumors o another Union assault onMaryes Heights had stayed his hand.Late on Monday, 15 December, Burn-side dictated orders to abandon thecity. Well afer dark, the army begana sober withdrawal. It was conductedrapidly but in secret. alking above awhisper was prohibited, and the en-gineers placed straw and sod on thepontoons to muffle the sound.73

Humphreys and his division drew a

short straw and were tasked with cov-ering the retreat. Beore nightall, theydeployed all along the mill race to thewest. Teir orders were starkholdthe position against any attack andat any cost.74Te men were uneasyor to their immediate ront stood thebulk o the Conederate Army, a lonedivision against several hostile corps.A bleak wind howled and sent blackclouds scudding across the sky. ornawnings and broken window shutters

flapped and banged about, unsettlingnerves and stoking ear among menalready haunted by dreams o deathand horrid murder. Sheets o rainbegan to buffet the city at 0300 on 16December and continued or threehours. Humphreys men neverthe-less kept their wits and maintainedan almost constant musket fire as thecity emptied behind them. he jobwas completed just beore dawn. Fol-

lowing one last search or stragglers,Humphreys ordered the whole lineback to the pontoons, and word spreadexcitedly through the ranks to hurry orrisk capture.75

Te withdrawal began in an orderlyashion, but one company o the 91stPennsylvania, one o ylers regimentsand the only veteran unit in the divi-sion, remained too long in its isolatedposition on the ar lef. At sunrise theConederates recognized the dramatic

turn o events and began advancingon the city. Te last Pennsylvaniansthen beat a hasty retreat, but it was aclose affair and some members o the91st were captured. At the end, thelines broke, and it was a race or thebridgesevery man or himsel. Telast crossed just two hundred yardsahead o pursuers.76Saely on the arside o the river, the division crept backto its old camping place and braced

itsel or a cold winter.77

Humphreys had, by all accounts,perormed magnificently at Freder-icksburg, and the afermath broughtaccolades thick and ast. Letters homecaptured the excitement as he reveledin the esteem o his ellow oicersand men. From every side, he wroteRebecca on 15 December, we meetwith commendation. It is pleasant tobe greeted by everyone as I am and tohave it said that the best disciplined

Gallant charge of Humphreys division at the battle of Fredericksburg, drawing by Alfred R. Waud

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troops could not have done better inthe charges we made. Days later hisson wrote that hundreds o officerso all ranks speak o the charge as be-ing the most brilliant and gallant thathas ever been made, and, he added,I think ather will get his other *[star; that is, a promotion to major

general].78 Burnside, too, heapedpraise on his division commanderwho was conspicuous or his gal-lantry throughout the action, andCol. Regis de robriand, a colorulimmigrant o French aristocratic ori-gin who commanded the 55th NewYork Volunteer Inantry Regiment,went urther still. He called Hum-phreys probably the best officer inthe Army o the Potomac that day.79wo weeks afer the battle, the popu-lar magazine Harpers Weekly ran

a flattering account o the charge,observing that beore that awulhurricane o bullets no heroism canavail. Te issue included a handsometwo-page sketch by Alred R. Waud othe divisions already amous assaulton Maryes Heights, entitled Gallantcharge of Humphreys division at thebattle of Fredericksburg.80

While the severe loss at Fredericks-burg shuffled the deck and gave boostto a number o careers (Hookers and

Meades, most notably), Humphreyssaw his own aspirations or highercommand go unrealized. In this Burn-side was blameless. He sought a pro-motion or Humphreys and pressedLincoln on the issue, successully itseemed at first, but nothing came o it.Congress was angry, and its radical el-ements began a highly charged inves-tigation into the battle that urther po-liticized an already partisan process orselecting top commanders. Te resultsmostly cleared Burnside, a Republican,

but pinned responsibility on GeneralFranklina Democrat, a confirmedMcClellanite, and a West Pointer.Humphreys shared all o those attri-butes, and despite his heroics on thebattlefield, probably suffered rom thesame animus.81His own actions in theweeks afer the battle did not help.ense relations with leading men othe 129th Pennsylvania Inantry ledto untimely and politically harmulcourts-martial in mid-January. wo o

his best volunteer officers, Frick andArmstrong, had reused to support arequisition or winter rock coats thatthey saw as an unnecessary and ex-travagant expense or their men, mosto whom had only several monthsremaining in their short enlistments.Humphreys dug in his heels, testi-fied against both men, and saw thempromptly cashiered rom the armyor conduct subversive o good orderand military discipline, tending to mu-tiny. Neither went quietly, and their

howls o protests reached the Capitolwith some effect. Several months later,both were restored to their positionsby Secretary o War Stanton.82

Humphreys, meanwhile, umed inrustration at his circumstances, writ-ing Rebecca on 17 January, PresidentL. had not done as he had promisedGeneral Burnside. She oered tospeak to Stanton, but Humphreysinitially reusedI would not haveyou or anyone say one word to the

Secretary o War or anyone else. I Icannot command the position I knowthat I am entitled to by my acts, I willnot have it by imperanity or intercep-tion . . . so let it pass.83Within days,though, his resolve weakened, and hedetermined not to remain silent anylonger. Te ensuing weeks saw a flur-ry o activity intended to expose thoseellows at Washington, prompted byhostility and sel-interest, secretlyworking against me.84A short visit toWashington in late January evidenced

the extent o the damage done to him,and he lef the capital with the depres-sion consequent upon the chillingreception I met at the Presidents andat the War Department. Tat Halleckharbored old grudges was no surprise,but Humphreys was disheartened tolearn that Lincoln had no recollectiono my recommendation or promo-tion, nor o his assurance it shouldbe made, and knows nothing o myservice at Fredericksburg.85

General Meade, center, commander of the Army of the Potomac, and Union corpscommanders, from left Maj. Gens. Horatio G. Wright, John A. Logan, John G. Parke, andAndrew A. Humphreys, June 1865, photo by William M. Smith

LibraryofCongres

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As was mostly the case throughoutthe war, his relationships within theupper echelon o the army were strong.You must not ancy that I am out withGeneral Hooker at all, he reassured hiswie. On the contrary we are on the besto terms. And with General Burnsidethere is the greatest warmth and cordi-

ality. Humphreys took comort in thecamaraderie o camp lie and turned hisattention to the immediate needs o hisbattered division, but he could not shakea eeling o disappointment. In a tellingline to his wie, he conessed, Recogniz-ing no man in this army as my superior,it wounds me to see men above me inrank and command.86

For the cause o union, Fredericksburgranks among the most humiliating de-eats o the war, but or Humphreys itwas a proving ground, a test o his mettle

and an opportunity or the scientist-soldier to dispel any questions abouthis martial abilities. It has cost me greatlabor, he later contemplated, but I takeit that it has established my reputationin arms as the same earnestness didbeore in Science & art & administra-tion.87He ollowed up Fredericksburgwith a heroic eort at Gettysburg, adeensive struggle where he and a newdivision ought doggedly in retreat,resisting a slashing Conederate attack

along Emmitsburg Road in some o thefiercest fighting o the war. He finallyreceived his second star (but not yet acorps command) as chie o staff o theArmy o the Potomac under riend andellow engineer, General Meade, andplayed a prominent role in the tragicencounters at the Wilderness and ColdHarbor as well as the early siege o Pe-tersburg. Late in the war, in November1864, Humphreys took command othe celebrated Second Corps, Army othe Potomac, and earned additional ac-

colades at Sailors Creek, contributing indramatic ashion to Lees final surrenderat Appomattox Court House. At warsend, Charles Dana, Assistant Secretaryo War, called Humphreys the greatsoldier o the Army o the Potomac. Itwas a brilliant Civil War record, but notwhat it could have been had he advancedmore rapidly to high command.

In 1866, General Ulysses S. Grantselected Humphreys as the new chieo Corps o Engineers, into which the

Corps o opographical Engineers hadbeen consolidated in 1863, and he heldthat position or thirteen years. Dur-ing his long tenure, he administered adramatic postwar expansion o internalimprovements and oversaw importantsurveys and explorations o the Ameri-can West as well as a complete overhaul

o the nations coastal ortifications. Healso established the Armys first engineerschool at Willets Point, New York, andserved on a number o important boardsand commissions, including the Wash-ington Monument Commission, theLighthouse Board, and a commissionto examine possible canal routes acrossCentral America. He retired at the ageo sixty-eight as the next longest servingchie o engineers, second only to Brig.Gen. Joseph G. otten. Humphreyslast years were devoted to penning two

important and highly reputable historieso the Virginia campaigns. He died inWashington, D.C., on 27 December1883, still harboring, as he wrote ariend in July o that year, many regretsconcerning my own career during thewar.88

NOTES1. Charleston Mercury, 9 March 1861.

2. James H. Wilson, Major-General An-

drew Atkinson Humphreys, in Teodore F.

Dwight, ed., Critical Sketches of Some of the

Federal and Confederate Commanders(Boston:

Military Historical Society o Massachusetts,

1895), p. 78, quote; James L. Morrison Jr.,

Te Best School in the World: West Point, the

Pre-Civil War Years, 18331866 (Kent, Ohio:

Kent State University Press, 1986), pp. 12425.

For urther evidence o the riendship between

the two men, see Andrew Humphreys to Je-erson Davis, 22 Feb 1872, printed inJefferson

Davis: Constitutionalist, His Letters, Papers,

and Speeches, ed. Dunbar Rowland, 10 vols.

(Jackson, Miss.: Mississippi Department o

Archives and History, 1923), 7: 30506.

3. Eric H. Walther, Te Fire-Eaters (Baton

Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1992),

pp. 18788, quote, p. 188.

4. Ltr, Wigall to Davis, 25 Feb 1861, in

Papers of Jefferson Davis, 12 vols. to date (Ba-

ton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press,

1971), 7: 6061.

5. Henry H. Humphreys,Andrew Atkinson

Humphreys: A Biography(Philadelphia: John

C. Winston, 1924), p. 155.

6. Wilson, Major-General Humphreys,

p. 78, quote; John Watts De Peyster, Andrew

Atkinson Humphreys, Magazine of Ameri-

can History16 (October 1886): 349; Henry

Humphreys,Andrew Atkinson Humphreys: ABiography, p. 147.

7. Henry Humphreys, Andrew Atkinson

Humphreys: A Biography, p. 156. Joseph Henry

was secretary o the Smithsonian Institution.

8. Matthew . Pearcy, Science, Politics,

and Bureaucracy: Andrew A. Humphreys and

the Oice o Paciic Railroad Explorations

and Surveys,Military History of the West38

(2008): 8990; Kent D. Richards, Isaac Ingalls

Stevens, American National Biography, 24

vols. (New York: Oxord University Press,

1999), 20: 700.

9. Ltr, Isaac Stevens to Andrew Humphreys,

19 Oct 1861, Andrew A. Humphreys Papers,

Historical Society o Pennsylvania (hereinafer

cited as AAHP, HSP), 5/91.

10. Ltr, Samuel R. Curtis to Secretary o

War Simon Cameron, 10 Oct 1861, AAHP,

HSP, 5/90.

11. Ltr, Andrew Humphreys to John Watts

De Peyster, 18 Jul 1883, AAHP, HSP, 31/9.

12. Henry Humphreys,Andrew Atkinson

Humphreys: A Biography, pp. 15666.

13. Ibid., p. 166.

14. Ltr, Andrew Humphreys to Archibald

Campbell, 4 Oct 1862, AAHP, HSP, 8/103.


Humphreys: A Biography, p. 166, quotes; War

of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official

Records of the Union and Confederate Armies

(hereinafer cited as OR), 128 vols. (Wash-

ington, D.C., 18801901), ser. 1, vol. 12, pt.

3, p. 640.

16. Ltr, Andrew Humphreys to Campbell,

4 Oct 1862.

17. Ibid., first two quotations; Under the

Maltese Cross: Antietam to Appomattox, Te

Loyal Uprising in Western Pennsylvania,18611865, Campaigns, 155th Pennsylvania

Regiment, Narrated by the Rank and File

(Pittsburgh, Pa.: 155th Regimental Association,

1910), p. 67, printing Hallecks order, third and

ourth quotations.


4 Oct 1862.

19. Ibid., first and second quotes; Under

the Maltese Cross, pp. 6872, last quote, p. 72;

Henry Humphreys, Andrew Atkinson Hum-

phreys: A Biography, p. 170.


25/6025

20. Autobiography of Major General Wil-

liam F. Smith, 18611864, ed. Herbert M.

Schiller (Dayton, Ohio: Morningside House,

1990), p. 55.

21. Ltr, Andrew Humphreys to Rebecca

Humphreys, 20 Sep 1862, HSP, 33/17, first

quote; Ltr, Andrew Humphreys to Campbell,

4 Oct 1862;Under the Maltese Cross, pp. 7273;

Ltr, Andrew Humphreys to De Peyster, 19 Apr1881, AAHP, HSP, 29/9, remaining quotes.


Humphreys, 20 Sep 1862; Ltr, Andrew

Humphreys to Campbell, 4 Oct 1862,

quotes; Stephen W. Sears, Landscape urned

Red: he Battle of Antietam (New Haven:

icknor and Fields, 1983), pp. 298307;

William H. Armstrong and Frederick B.

Arner, Red-ape and Pigeon-Hole Generals:

Andrew A. Humphreys in the Army of the

Potomac (Charlottesville, Va.: Rockbridge

Pub., 1999), pp. 1415, 19.

23. Ltr, Andrew Humphreys to De Peyster,

18 Jul 1883; Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, Te

Passing of the Armies: An Account of the Final

Campaign of the Army of the Potomac, Based

upon Personal Reminiscences of the Fih Army

Corps (1915, reprint ed., New York: Bantam

Books, 1993), p. xiv.

24. Volunteers comprised 94 percent o the

Union army and 80 percent o the Coneder-

ate. See Herman Hattaway, Shades of Blue and

Gray: An Introductory Military History of the

Civil War(Columbia: University o Missouri

Press, 1997), pp. 31, 33.


4 Oct 1862.

26. Bruce Catton, he Civil War (1960,

Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2005),

p. 144; William J. Miller, Te raining of an

Army: Camp Curtin and the Norths Civil War

(Shippensburg, Pa.: White Mane Publishing

Company, 1990), pp. 10609, 26063, 265.

27. Catton, Civil War, pp. 14445.

28. Allan Peskin, Garfield: A Biography

(Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press,

1978), p. 90; Ezra J. Warner, Generals in Blue:

Lives of the Union Commanders(Baton Rouge:Louisiana State University Press, 1964), p. 515;

or the reputation or drinking at the Hum-

phreys headquarters, see Ltr, Capt Francis

Adams Donaldson to Jacob Donaldson, 15

May 1863, printed in Inside the Army of the

Potomac: Te Civil War Experience of Captain

Francis Adams Donaldson, ed. J. Gregory

Acken (Mechanicsburg, Pa.: Stackpole Books,

1998), p. 267.


Humphreys, 22 Oct 1862, AAHP, HSP, 33/20;

Benson J. Lossing, Harpers Encyclopdia of

United States History from 458 A.D. to 1905, 10

vols. (New York: Harper & Brothers Publish-

ers, 1905), 6: 8, 10. Also a graduate o Williams

College, Carswells brother, Henry Brainerd

McClellan, taught in Virginia or several years

beore the war and attained some notoriety

during its course as chie o staff to Conederate

Maj. Gen. James E. B. Jeb Stuart.30. For notice o Henry Humphreys ap-

pointment to West Point, see New York imes,

25 February 1857; also see Papers of Jefferson

Davis, 6: 529; Ltr, Andrew Humphreys to Cur-

tin, 18 Sep 1862, AAHP, HSP, 9/46.


4 Oct 1862.

32. Writing the Civil War: he Quest to

Understand, ed. James M. McPherson and

William J. Cooper Jr. (Columbia: University

o South Carolina Press, 1998), p. 89.

33. Joseph R. Orwig, History of the 131st Pen-

na. Volunteers: War of 18615(Williamsport,

Pa.: Sun Book and Job Printing House, 1902),

pp. 5558, quoted words, p. 56; Armstrong and

Arner, Red-ape and Pigeon-Hole Generals,

pp. 4953, 30305;Reid Mitchell, Not the

General but the Soldier: Te Study o Civil War

Soldiers, in Writing the Civil War: Te Quest

to Understand, ed. James M. McPherson and

William J. Cooper Jr. (Columbia: University o

South Carolina Press, 1998), p. 89.

34. Sears, Landscape urned Red, pp.

32728.

35. Ralph S. Geiman, Letters o Samuel W.

North, 126th Regiment, Papers Read before

the Kittochtinny Historical Society, 18: 21524.

36. Many years later, Humphreys indicated

that General Porter had selected him to head

the reconnaissance. See Ltr, Andrew Hum-

phreys to De Peyster, 18 Jun 1882, AAHP,

HSP, 29/63.

37. Ltr, Andrew Humphreys to Lt. Col.

Frederick . Locke, assistant adjutant general,

Fifh Corps, 19 Oct 1862, printed in OR, ser.

1, vol. 19, pt. 2, pp. 8588, quotes, pp. 86, 88.

A manuscript copy o the letter is in AAHP,

HSP, 9/16.38. As a young lieutenant in 1836, Hum-

phreys ought in the Second Seminole War.

See Matthew . Pearcy, Te Ruthless Hand

o War : Andrew A. Humphreys in the Second

Seminole War, Florida Historical Quarterly85

(Fall 2006): 12353.

39. De Peyster, Andrew Atkinson Hum-

phreys, p. 350.

40. Stephen W. Sears, George B. McClellan:

Te Young Napoleon(New York: icknor and

Fields, 1988), pp. 33640.

41. Francis A. OReilly, Te Fredericksburg

Campaign: Winter War on the Rappahannock

(Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press,

2003), p. 13.

42. Sears, George B. McClellan, pp. 34041;

David S. Sparks, ed., Inside Lincolns Army:

he Diary of Marsena Rudolph Patrick,

Provost Marshal General, Army of the Po-

tomac (New York: . Yoselo, 1964), p. 174;Bruce Catton, Mr. Lincolns Army (Garden

City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1951), pp. 32830;

OReilly, Fredericksburg Campaign, pp.

1619; Armstrong and Arner, Red-ape and

Pigeon-Hole Generals, pp. 31718. Captain

Francis Adams Donaldson o the 118th

Pennsylvania Inantry Regiment wrote to his

brother shortly ater the event that he had

heard General Humphreys say, while riding

through a arewell throng, that he wished to

God Genl. McClellan would put himsel at

the head o the army and throw the inernal

scoundrels at Washington into the Potomac.

See Ltr, Capt Francis Adams Donaldson to

Jacob Donaldson, 11 Nov 1862, printed in

Acken, Inside the Army, p. 164.


Humphreys: A Biography, p. 173; also see,

Teodore Lyman, With Grant and Meade from

the Wilderness to Appomattox, ed. George R.

Agassiz (1922, Lincoln: University o Nebraska

Press, 1994), p. 78.


Humphreys, 17 Jan 1863, AAHP, HSP, 33/27.

45. OReilly, Fredericksburg Campaign, pp.

2124, 30, first quote, p. 21; Ltr, Andrew Hum-

phreys to Rebecca Humphreys, 1 Sep 1864,

AAHP, HSP, 33/88, second quote.

46. Ltr, H. W. Ryder to Andrew Humphreys,

16 Nov 1862, AAHP, HSP, 9/96; Under the

Maltese Cross, p. 91, quote.

47. Edward J. Stackpole, Te Battle of Fred-

ericksburg(Gettysburg, Pa.: Civil War imes

Illustrated, 1965), p. 43.

48. Orwig, History of the 131st Penna. Volun-

teers, p. 85, first our quotes; Under the Maltese

Cross, p. 93, final quote.

49. Ltr, Andrew Humphreys to Daniel But-terfield, 29 Nov 1862, AAHP, HSP, 9/114.

50. Ltr, Erastus B. yler to Carswell McClel-

lan, 9 Dec 1862, AAHP, HSP, 10/24.

51. Ltr, Mother J. D. to Andrew Hum-

phreys, 19 Nov 1862, AAHP, HSP, 9/98.

52. Ltr, Andrew Humphreys to Mother

J. D., 1 Jan 1863, AAHP, HSP, 9/99, first quote;

Charles A. Dana, Recollections of the Civil War:

With the Leaders at Washington and in the

Field in the Sixties(1898, Lincoln: University

o Nebraska Press, 1996), p. 192, second quote.



53. Armstrong and Arner, Red-ape and

Pigeon-Hole Generals, pp. 26869; Orwig, His-

tory of the 131st Penna. Volunteers, pp. 9697;

OReilly, Fredericksburg Campaign, pp. 5786.

54. Andrew Humphreys to Rebecca Hum-

phreys, printed in Armstrong and Arner, Red-

ape and Pigeon-Hole Generals, p. 269; Henry

Humphreys,Andrew Atkinson Humphreys: A

Biography, p. 177.55. James M. McPherson, Battle Cry of Free-

dom: Te Civil War Era (New York: Oxord

University Press, 1988), p. 572.

56. De Peyster, Andrew Atkinson Hum-

phreys, p. 352.

57. Charles W. Cowtan,Services of the enth

New York Volunteers (National Zouaves) in the

War of Rebellion(New York: Charles H. Lud-

wig, 1882), pp. 16667; OReilly, Fredericksburg

Campaign, pp. 24675, 293388.

58. Carswell McClellan, General Andrew

A. Humphreys at Malvern Hill Va., July 1,

1862, and at Fredericksburg Va., December

13, 1862: A Memoir

army history ah76(w)

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