behind AotW

Students of American military history have been referring to the painstaking work of Cullen for many years. I’ve never actually seen a print copy of his Biographical Register of the Officers and Graduates of the United States Military Academy, only bits and pieces derived from it. But last week Harry Smeltzer pointed me to an online copy which–as we commiserated together–may become the biggest time sink for me since the Official Records first went digital. I’m in your debt, Harry.

As is my habit, I did some digging into the life and career of the man behind that massive work and his legacy at the USMA, West Point. As anyone with a Cullum Number already knows, he had quite a ride …

I’ve been chastened to find General JEB Stuart had a more considerable role at Sharpsburg on 17 September 1862 than I’ve long thought. He was apparently “everywhere” on the field, noticed particularly in directing the Confederate far left flank. His greatest service may have been in placing and leading the artillery on Nicodemus Heights and later on Hauser’s Ridge. A case can easily be made that he and those gunners saved the day for General Lee at Sharpsburg.

But I’ll save that larger story for another day. Today I’m following threads inspired by this illustration of Stuart:

The artist was Frank Vizetelly (1830 - c.1883) of the Illustrated London News. This scene was published in the 4 November 1862 edition, and suggests Vizetelly sketched the General about the time of the Antietam Campaign. I can’t verify that Vizetelly was in Maryland, though. Judging by his sketch history, he’d been “west” until at least July 1862, and can’t be positively placed with the Army of Northern Virginia til October.

In any event, Frank Vizetelly did some superb work during the War, and he’s certainly worthy of further examination …

Cadet D.W. Flagler (c.1856-61)

I was looking for someone else, actually, when I noticed the name D.W. Flagler on the list of Burnside’s staff at Antietam.

Then I came upon this superb photograph of him, preserved and displayed by the fine folks at Gettysburg College. It really struck me as that of a man who knows what he’s about, even if still fairly young.

Cadet Flagler had entered West Point from New York in June 1856 and did well, graduating fifth in the Class of ‘61. He spent the rest of his life in the Army.

I had a kind email from the g-g-granddaughter of Oliver D. Green, medal of honor recipient and staff officer at Antietam. She corrected my error on AotW in his middle name (it’s Davis). I’m very glad she brought him to my attention.

Oliver Davis Greene

A career Regular Army officer from west-central New York State, Oliver Davis Greene graduated from West Point in 1854 and saw duty in the West with the 2nd US Artillery Regiment. At the start of the War in 1861 he was 1st Lieutenant, Battery G, and was in action as the battery’s commander at First Bull Run in July. He was then assigned as Captain and Assistant Adjutant General (AAG) on Major General Don Carlos Buell’s staff.

In that service Captain Greene made a powerful enemy: Andrew Johnson, then military governor of Tennessee. In 1864, of course, Johnson was elected Vice-President of the United States, and became President himself on Lincoln’s assassination in 1865.

It was at Nashville in the summer of 1862 that Greene and Johnson bumped heads …

I was first introduced to the legendary soldiers of the Late Unpleasantness as a new Civil War reader in the 1960s. Lee, Jackson, and Stuart; Grant and Sherman, certainly, but also more accessible lesser deities like Mosby, Pelham, Forrest, Semmes, and Gordon. For the generations before mine, particularly in the South, those and dozens more were household names. Today, most beyond the Big 5 are largely unknown.

JH Chamberlayne in Confederate Uniform
From an oil portrait by John Elder

One of the heroes I remember from that period, and still find often in my reading, was the young artillerist John Hampden (Ham) Chamberlayne (1838–1882). I expect his prominence is due to a collection of his war-era letters published by his son in 1932. These letters are quoted in later works on the Civil War in the East, as well.

He may not have been well known during the War, but his letters have helped make him immortal. Let me see if I can put some flesh on his bones.