Union - Government/Military
General Pope confers with President Lincoln, and then delivers a written report to Halleck charging General Porter with disobeying orders and McClellan with failing to support him.
Joseph Holt of Kentucky is appointed Judge Advocate General of the United States.
Union - Military
Dakota Territory
There is a skirmish with Indians at Fort Abercrombie.
Kentucky
There is a skirmish at Geiger's Lake.
Kirby Smith's men occupy Frankfort, the state's capitol.
Military - Confederacy
Virginia
Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, realizing the futility of attacking Washington, edges toward Leesburg and the crossings of the Potomac.
Confederates occupy Winchester and there are skirmishes at Falls Church, Bunker Hill, Edward's Ferry, and other points in Northern Virginia.
There are also operations around Harper's Ferry, Ravenswood, Weston, Charles Town, and Martinsburg.
___________________
Bibliography
The Civil War Day By Day: An Almanac 1861-1865. E.B. Long with Barbara Long, De Capo, 1971
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Louis M. Goldsborough
Louis Malesherbes Goldsborough (February 18, 1805 – February 20, 1877) was a rear admiral in the United States Navy during the Civil War. He held several sea commands during the Civil War, including the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron. He was also noted for contributions to nautical scientific research.
Biography
Born in Washington, D.C, Goldsborough was appointed midshipman in the United States Navy by Secretary of the Navy Paul Hamilton on June 28, 1812. At the time of his appointment, he was seven years old, and Goldsborough did not actually begin serving until February 13, 1816, when he reported for duty at the Washington Navy Yard.
During the Aegean Anti-Piracy Campaign, Goldsborough led a four-boat night expedition from Porpoise in October 1827 to rescue British merchant brig Comet from Mediterranean pirates. In 1830 he was appointed first officer in charge of the newly created Depot of Charts and Instruments at Washington, the crude beginning of the United States Hydrographic Office. Goldsborough suggested creation of the depot and initiated the collection and centralization of the instruments, books and charts that were scattered among several Navy yards. After two years he was relieved by Lieutenant Charles Wilkes.
In 1831 he married Elizabeth Gamble Wirt, daughter of William Wirt, U.S. Attorney General from 1817-1829. Together they had three children, William, Louis, and Elizabeth.
Goldsborough led German emigrants to Wirt's Estates near Monticello, Florida in 1833. He then took leave from the Navy to command a steamboat expedition and later mounted volunteers in the Seminole War.
After cruising the Pacific in the frigate United States, he participated in the bombardment of Veracruz in Ohio during the Mexican-American War. He served consecutively as: commander of a detachment in the expedition against Tuxpan; senior officer of a commission which explored California and Oregon (1849–1850); superintendent of the United States Naval Academy (1853–1857); and commander of the Brazil Squadron (1859–1861).
During his command of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron from October 1861 to September 1862, he led his fleet off North Carolina, where in cooperation with troops under general Ambrose Burnside, he captured Roanoke Island and destroyed a small Confederate fleet.
After special administrative duties in Washington, D.C., he took command of the European Squadron in the last year of the U.S. Civil War, returning to Washington in 1868 to serve as commander of the Washington Navy Yard until his retirement in 1873.
Rear Admiral Goldsborough died on February 20, 1877.
Namesakes
The United States Navy has named three ships USS Goldsborough in honor of Admiral Goldsborough.
I. I. Stevens
From Wikipedia:
Isaac Ingalls Stevens (March 25, 1818 – September 1, 1862) was the first governor of Washington Territory, a United States Congressman, and a major general in the Union Army during the American Civil War until his death at the Battle of Chantilly.
Early life
Stevens was born and raised in Massachusetts, leaving his home state for the United States Military Academy at West Point in the late 1830s. He graduated in 1839, at the top of his class, and served for a number of years with the Army Corps of Engineers.
He was the adjutant of the Corps of Engineers during the Mexican-American War, seeing action at the siege of Vera Cruz and at Cerro Gordo, Contreras, and Churubusco. In the latter fight, he caught the attention of his superiors, who rewarded him with the brevet rank of captain. He was again cited and breveted for gallantry at the Battle of Chapultepec, this time to the rank of Major. He saw further combat at Molino del Rey, and the Battle for Mexico City, where he was severely wounded. He later wrote a book on his adventures, Campaigns of the Rio Grande and Mexico, with Notices of the Recent Work of Major Ripley (New York, 1851).
He superintended fortifications on the New England coast from 1841 until 1849, when he assumed command of the coast survey office in Washington, D. C., serving in that role until March 1853.
Governor
Having been a firm supporter of Franklin Pierce's candidacy for President of the United States in 1852, Stevens was rewarded by President Pierce on March 2, 1853 by being named governor of the newly-created Washington Territory (a position which carried with it the title of Superintendent of Indian Affairs for that region). Stevens chose to add one more duty as he traveled west to the territory he would govern: the government was calling for a surveyor to map an appropriate railroad route across the northern United States, and with Stevens' engineering experience (and likely the favor of Pierce yet again) he won the bid, and spent most of 1853 moving slowly across the prairie, surveying his way to Washington Territory, where he took up his post at Olympia as governor in November that year.
As a result of his expedition, Stevens wrote a third book, Report of Explorations for a Route for the Pacific Railroad near the 47th and 49th Parallels of North Latitude, from St. Paul, Minnesota, to Puget Sound, (commissioned and published by the United States Congress) (2 vols., Washington, 1855–60).
Stevens was a controversial governor in his time, and has become more controversial in retrospect. He used a careful combination of intimidation and force to compel the Native American tribes of Washington Territory to sign treaties that handed over most of their lands and rights to Stevens' government.
These included the Treaty of Medicine Creek, Treaty of Hellgate, Treaty of Neah Bay, Treaty of Point Elliott, Point No Point Treaty, and Quinault Treaty. When Stevens was met with resistance, he used the troops at his disposal to exact vengeance. His winter campaign against the Yakama tribe, led by Chief Kamiakin, and his execution of the Nisqually chieftain Leschi (for the crime of having killed Stevens' soldiers in open combat), among other deeds, led a number of powerful citizens in the territory to beg Pierce to remove Stevens.
Territorial Judge Edward Lander and Ezra Meeker (an influential private citizen) were both vocal in opposing Stevens—Lander was arrested as a result, and Meeker was simply ignored. Pierce sent word to Stevens of his disapproval of Stevens' conduct, but refused to remove the governor. Those who opposed Stevens ultimately lost public support, as the majority of the citizens of Washington Territory saw Meeker as being on the side of the "Indians", and Stevens on the side of the white settlers.
As a result of this public perception, Stevens was popular enough to be elected the territory's delegate to the United States Congress in 1857 and 1858. The tensions between the whites and the Native Americans would be left for others to resolve—Stevens is often charged with responsibility for the later conflicts in eastern Washington and Idaho, especially the war fought by the United States against Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce, but these events were decades away when Isaac Stevens left Washington for good in 1857.
Civil War
When the Civil War began in 1861, following the Union defeat at the First Battle of Bull Run, Stevens was commissioned in the Army again. This time, he was Colonel of the 79th New York Volunteers, known as the "Cameron Highlanders." He became a brigadier general on September 28, 1861, and fought at Port Royal. He led the Second Brigade of the Expeditionary Forces sent to attack the Sea Islands off the coast of South Carolina. He led a division at the Battle of Secessionville, where he personally led an attack on Fort Lamar, losing 25% of his men.
Stevens was transferred with his IX Corps division to Virginia to serve under Maj. Gen. John Pope in the Northern Virginia Campaign and the Second Battle of Bull Run. He was killed in action at the Battle of Chantilly after picking up the fallen regimental colors of his old regiment, shouting "Highlanders, my Highlanders, follow your general!" Charging with his troops while carrying the banner of Saint Andrew's Cross, Stevens was struck in the temple by a bullet and died instantly.
He was buried in Newport, Rhode Island at Island Cemetery. In March 1863, he was posthumously promoted to major general, backdated to July 18, 1862.
Hazard Stevens, Isaac's son, was also injured in the Battle of Chantilly. He also became a general in the U.S. Army and an author, and along with P. B. Van Trump participated in the first document ascent of Mount Rainier.
Memorialization
--Stevens County, Washington, and Stevens County, Minnesota, were both named in his honor.
--Two U.S. Army forts were also named for Stevens—Fort Stevens in the Union defenses of Washington and Fort Stevens in Oregon, which was active from 1863 until 1947 to protect the mouth of the Columbia River.
--A small monument in Ox Hill Battlefield Park commemorates the death of Stevens.
--The Isaac Stevens Camp #1, Washington State Camp of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, was also named in honor of the fallen general.
--Stevens Hall on the campus of Washington State University was named for Governor Stevens.
--The city of Lake Stevens, Washington and Lake Stevens (lake) is named for him.
--The town of Stevensville, Montana is named after him although he carries little favor in the town for his treatment of the native Bitterroot Salish Indians and his deception in the Treaty of Hellgate.
--Isaac Stevens Middle School in Pasco, Washington and Isaac I. Stevens Elementary School in Seattle, Washington are after him.
--Stevens Peak and Upper and Lower Stevens Lake in Northern Idaho (Just south of Mullan, Idaho) were named after him by Capt. John Mullan.
Philip Kearny
From Wikipedia:
Philip Kearny, Jr., (June 2, 1815 – September 1, 1862) was a United States Army officer, notably in the Mexican-American War and American Civil War. He was killed in action in the 1862 Battle of Chantilly.
Early life and career
Kearny, who pronounced his name Kar-nee, was born in New York City to a wealthy family. His father and mother were Philip Kearny, Sr., and Susan Watts.
His maternal grandfather John Watts, the last Royal Recorder of New York City, was one of New York's wealthiest residents, who had vast holdings in ships, mills, factories, banks, and investment houses. Kearny's father was a Harvard-educated New York City financier who owned his own brokerage firm and was also a founder of the New York Stock Exchange.
Early in life, Kearny desired a career in the military. His parents died when he was young, and he was consequently raised by his grandfather, who insisted against the younger Kearny's wishes that he pursue a law career. Kearny attended Columbia College, attaining a law degree in 1833. His cousin John Watts de Peyster, who had also attended Columbia, wrote the first authoritative biography on Kearny.
In 1836, his grandfather died, leaving Kearny a fortune of over $1 million. Instead of a life of ease and luxury, he chose to make the army his profession. The following year Kearny obtained a commission as a second lieutenant of cavalry, assigned to the 1st U.S. Dragoons, who were commanded by his uncle, Colonel Stephen W. Kearny, and whose adjutant general was Jefferson Davis. The regiment was assigned to the western frontier.
Kearny was sent to France, in 1839, to study cavalry tactics, first attending school at the famous cavalry school in Saumur, France, and then participating in several combat engagements with the Chasseurs d'Afrique in Algiers. Kearny rode into battle with a sword in his right hand, pistol in his left, and the reins in his teeth, as was the style of the Chasseurs. His fearless character in battle earned him the nickname by his French comrades "Kearny le Magnifique" or "Kearny the Magnificent." He returned to the United States in the fall of 1840 and prepared a cavalry manual for the Army based on his experiences overseas.
Shortly afterward, he was designated aide-de-camp to General Alexander Macomb, and continued to serve in this position until Macomb's death in June 1841. After a few months at the cavalry barracks in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, Kearny was assigned to the staff of General Winfield Scott, soon becoming his aide-de-camp. He did additional duty on the frontier, accompanying his uncle's unit on an expedition to the South Pass of the Oregon Trail in 1845.
War with Mexico
Kearny, disappointed with the lack of fighting he was seeing in the Army, resigned his commission in 1846, but returned to duty only a month later at of the outbreak of the Mexican-American War. Kearny was assigned to raise a troop of cavalry for the 1st U.S. Dragoons, Company F, in Terre Haute, Indiana. He spared no expense in recruiting his men and acquiring 120 matched dapple gray horses with his own money. This unit was originally stationed at the Rio Grande but soon became the personal bodyguard for General Scott, the commander in chief of the Army in Mexico. Kearny was promoted to captain in December 1846.
Kearny and his men participated in the battles of Contreras and Churubusco; in the latter engagement Kearny led a daring cavalry charge and suffered a grapeshot wound to his left arm, which later had to be amputated. Kearny's courage earned him the respect of his soldiers and fellow officers alike, the greatest of which came from General-in-Chief Winfield Scott, who called him "a perfect soldier" and "the bravest man I ever knew".
Kearny quickly returned to duty, and when the U.S. Army entered Mexico City the following month, he had the personal distinction of being the first man through the gates of the city.
Resignation and service in France
After the war, Kearny did a stint with the Army recruiting service in New York City. While there, he was presented with a sword by the Union Club for his service during the war, and was promoted to major.
In 1851, he was a member of a unit that saw action against the Rogue River Native American tribe in Oregon. After the failure of his marriage, frustrated with the slow promotion process of the Army, Kearny resigned his commission in October of that year, and embarked on a trip around the world, visiting China, Ceylon, and France. In Paris, Kearny fell in love with a New York City woman named Agnes Maxwell, but was unable to marry her because his first wife would not grant him a divorce.
In 1854, Kearny injured himself when the horse he was riding fell through a rotten bridge, and the sympathetic Agnes moved in to take care of him. By 1855, Agnes and Kearny had left New York to escape the disapproving tongues of society. They settled in Kearny's new mansion, Bellegrove, overlooking the Passaic River (in what is now Kearny, New Jersey), only a short distance and across the river from his family's old manor in Newark. In 1858 his wife finally granted a divorce. Then he and Agnes moved to Paris, and were married.
In 1859, Kearny returned to France, re-joining the Chasseurs d'Afrique, who were at that time fighting against Austrian forces in Italy. Later, he was with Napoleon III's Imperial Guard at the Battle of Solferino, where he was in charge of the cavalry under General Louis M. Morris, which penetrated the Austrian center, capturing the key point of the battle. For this action, he was awarded the French Légion d'honneur, becoming the first U.S. citizen to be thus honored.
Civil War
When the American Civil War broke out in 1861, Kearny returned to the United States and was appointed a brigadier general, commanding the First New Jersey Brigade, which he trained efficiently. The Army had been reluctant to restore his commission due to his disability, but the shocking Union defeat at the First Battle of Bull Run made them realize the importance of seasoned combat officers. His brigade, even after he left to command a division, performed spectacularly, especially at the Battle of Glendale.
He received command of the 3rd Division of the III Corps on April 30, 1862. He led the division into action at the Battle of Williamsburg and the Battle of Fair Oaks. At Williamsburg, as he led his troops onto the field, Kearny shouted (in a notable quote), "I'm a one-armed Jersey son-of-a-gun, follow me!" Here again the general bravely led the charge with his sword in hand, reins in his teeth. He is also noted for urging his troops forward by declaring, "Don't worry, men, they'll all be firing at me!" His performance during the Peninsula Campaign earned him much respect from the army and his superiors. However, he held much contempt for the commander of the Army of the Potomac, Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan, whose orders (especially those to fall back) he frequently ignored. After the Battle of Malvern Hill, which was a Union victory, McClellan ordered a withdrawal, and Kearny wrote:
I, Philip Kearny, an old soldier, enter my solemn protest against this order for retreat. We ought instead of retreating should follow up the enemy and take Richmond. And in full view of all responsible for such declaration, I say to you all, such an order can only be prompted by cowardice or treason.
Kearny is credited with devising the first unit insignia patches used in the U.S. Army. In the summer of 1862, he issued an order that his officers should wear a patch of red cloth on the front of their caps to identify themselves as members of his unit.
The enlisted men, with whom Kearny was quite popular, quickly followed suit of their own volition. Members of other units picked up on the idea, devising their own insignia, and these evolved over the years into the modern shoulder patch. (Daniel Butterfield is credited with taking Kearny's idea and standardizing it for all corps in the Army of the Potomac, designing most of the corps badges.) Kearny was promoted to major general on July 4, 1862.[
Death
By the end of August 1862, General Kearny led his division at the disastrous Second Battle of Bull Run, which saw the Union Army routed and nearly destroyed by Gen. Robert E. Lee's Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. The Union army retreated towards Washington and fought with the pursuing Confederates on September 1, 1862, at the Battle of Chantilly. In a violent storm complete with lightning and pouring rain, Kearny decided to investigate a gap in the Union line and dismissively responded to the warnings of a subordinate with "The Rebel bullet that can kill me has not yet been molded." Subsequently riding into Confederate troops, Kearny ignored a demand to surrender and while attempting to escape, a single bullet penetrated the base of his spine, killing him instantly.
Confederate Maj. Gen. A.P. Hill, upon hearing the gunfire, ran up to the body of the illustrious soldier with a lantern and exclaimed, "You've killed Phil Kearny, he deserved a better fate than to die in the mud." His body was returned to the Union, accompanied with a note by General Lee. Ironically, there were rumors rampant at the time in Washington that Abraham Lincoln was contemplating replacing George B. McClellan with none other than "Kearny the Magnificent".
Kearny was buried at Trinity Churchyard in New York. In 1912, his remains were exhumed and re-interred at Arlington National Cemetery, where there is a statue in his honor, one of only two equestrian statues at Arlington; the re-interment drive was spearheaded by Medal of Honor recipient Charles F. Hopkins, who had served under General Kearny in the First New Jersey Brigade. The statue was dedicated by President Woodrow Wilson in November 1914. It was refurbished in 1996 by the General Philip Kearny Memorial Committee, a New Jersey nonprofit corporation.
In memoriam
--The town of Kearny, New Jersey, is named in the general's honor and a statue was erected outside the main branch of the Kearny post office. The Kearny Museum there contains a display of furniture from General Kearny's Belle Grove home, donated by his granddaughter and second wife, as well as other Kearny memorabilia.
--Fort Kearny, near Tenleytown, D.C., was named in his honor. It was part of the ring of defenses protecting the city of Washington, D.C.
--Fort Phil Kearny in Wyoming was named for him; however, it existed only two years.
--New Jersey is represented by a statue of Kearny in the National Statuary Hall Collection in the U.S. Capitol.
--A statue of Kearny stands in Military Park, Newark, New Jersey.
--A small monument in Ox Hill Battlefield Park commemorates Kearny's death.
--A bas-relief on the First New Jersey Brigade monument at Gettysburg commemorates Kearny's leadership, even though he was killed prior to that battle.
--The "General Philip Kearny Public School" in Philadelphia was built in 1921 and currently holds grades K-8.
--During World War II, the United States Navy named a Liberty Ship the SS Philip Kearny.
--Kearny County, Kansas, is named for him.
--Kearny Street in San Francisco, California, is named for his uncle, Stephen W.
--Kearny, as is Kearny Mesa, a neighborhood in San Diego, California
Fitz John Porter - a brief bio
Fitz John Porter (August 31, 1822 – May 21, 1901) (sometimes written FitzJohn Porter or Fitz-John Porter) was a career United States Army officer and a Union General during the American Civil War. He is most known for his performance at the Second Battle of Bull Run and his subsequent court martial.
Although Porter served well in the early battles of the Civil War, his military career was ruined by the controversial trial which was called by his political rivals. Afterwards he worked intensely to restore his tarnished reputation for almost 25 years, when he was finally restored to the army's roll.
Early life and career
Porter was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. He came from a family prominent in American naval service; his cousins were William D. Porter, David Dixon Porter, and David G. Farragut. However, Porter's father, Captain John Porter, was an alcoholic who had been reassigned to land duty. Porter's childhood in a partly dysfunctional family was chaotic.
Ultimately, Porter pursued an army career. He graduated from the United States Military Academy (West Point) in 1845, standing eighth out of 41 cadets, and was brevetted a second lieutenant in the 4th U.S. Artillery.
Porter was promoted to second lieutenant on June 18, 1846 and First Lieutenant on May 29, 1847. He served in the Mexican-American War and was appointed a brevet captain on September 8, 1847, for bravery at the Battle of Molino del Rey. He was wounded at Chapultepec on September 13, for which he also received a brevet promotion to major.
After the war with Mexico ended, Porter returned to West Point and became a cavalry and artillery instructor from 1849 to 1853, and then became adjutant to the academy's superintendent until 1855. He next served at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, as assistant adjutant general in the Department of the West in 1856, where he was brevetted to captain that June. Porter then served under future Confederate Albert Sidney Johnston in the expedition against the Mormons in 1857 and 1858. Afterward Porter inspected and reorganized the defenses of Charleston Harbor, South Carolina until late 1860, when he aided in the evacuation of army personnel from Texas after that state seceded from the Union.
Civil War service
Union General Fitz John Porter (seated in chair) and staffAfter the start of the Civil War, Porter became chief of staff and assistant adjutant general for the Department of Pennsylvania, but he was almost immediately promoted to colonel of the 15th Infantry on May 14, 1861. In August, he was promoted to brigadier general, backdated to May 17 [3] so he would be senior enough to receive division command in the Army of the Potomac, newly formed under Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan. Soon Porter became a trusted adviser and loyal friend to McClellan, but this association with the soon-to-be-controversial commanding general would prove to be disastrous for Porter's military career.
Porter led his division at the beginning of the Peninsula Campaign, seeing action at the Siege of Yorktown. McClellan created two provisional corps and Porter was assigned to command the V Corps. During the Seven Days Battles, and particularly at the Battle of Gaines' Mill, he displayed a talent for defensive fighting.[5] At the Battle of Malvern Hill he also played a leading role. For his successful performance on the Peninsula he was promoted to major general of volunteers on July 4, 1862.[3]
Second Bull Run
August 29, noon; Longstreet's Corps arrives, Porter's Corps stops and does not engagePorter's corps was sent to reinforce Maj. Gen. John Pope in the Northern Virginia Campaign, a reassignment that he openly challenged and complained about, criticizing Pope personally. During the Second Battle of Bull Run, on August 29, 1862, he was ordered to attack the flank and rear of Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's wing of the Army of Northern Virginia. Porter had stopped at Dawkin's Branch where he had encountered Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart's cavalry screen.
On August 29 he received a message from Pope directing him to attack the Confederate right (which Pope assumed to be Jackson on Stony Ridge), but at the same time to maintain contact with the neighboring division under Maj. Gen. John F. Reynolds, a conflict in orders that could not be resolved. Pope was apparently unaware that Confederate Maj. Gen. James Longstreet's wing of the army had arrived on the battlefield and the proposed envelopment of Jackson's position would have collided suicidally with Longstreet's large force. Porter chose not to make the attack because of the intelligence he had received that Longstreet was to his immediate front.
August 30, 3:00; Porter turns and attacks, Longstreet in position to attack and "rolls up" Pope's army.
On August 30 Pope again ordered the flank attack, and Porter reluctantly complied. As the V Corps turned to head towards Jackson's right and attacked, it presented its own (and consequently the entire army's) flank to Longstreet's waiting men. About 30,000 Confederates now assailed Porter's 5,000 or so men and drove through them and into the rest of Pope's forces, doing exactly what Porter most feared would come of these orders. Pope was infuriated by the defeat, accused Porter of insubordination, and relieved him of his command on September 5.
Porter was soon restored to command of the corps by McClellan and led it through the Maryland Campaign, where the corps served in a reserve position during the Battle of Antietam. He is famously said to have told McClellan, "Remember, General, I command the last reserve of the last Army of the Republic." McClellan took his implied advice and failed to commit his reserves into a battle that might have been won if he had used his forces aggressively.
Court martial
On November 25, 1862, Porter was arrested and court-martialed for his actions at Second Bull Run. By this time, McClellan had been relieved by President Abraham Lincoln and could not provide political cover for his protégé. In fact, Porter's association with the disgraced McClellan and his open criticism of Pope were significant reasons for his conviction at court-martial. Porter was found guilty on January 10, 1863, of disobedience and misconduct, and he was dismissed from the Army on January 21, 1863.
Postbellum career
After the war ended, Porter was offered a command in the Egyptian Army but declined it, and spent most of the remainder of his life fighting against the perceived injustice of his court-martial.
In 1878, a special commission under General John M. Schofield exonerated Porter by finding that his reluctance to attack Longstreet probably saved Pope's Army of Virginia from an even greater defeat. Eight years later, President Chester A. Arthur reversed Porter's sentence and a special act of the U.S. Congress restored Porter's commission as an infantry colonel in the U.S. Army, backdated to May 14, 1861, but without any back pay due. Two days later, August 7, 1886, Porter, vindicated, retired from the Army at his own request.
Porter was then involved in mining, construction, and commerce. He served as the New York City Commissioner of Public Works, the New York City Police Commissioner, and the New York City Fire Commissioner. He died in Morristown, New Jersey, and is buried in Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York. His grave can be found in Section 54, Lot 5685/89.
Namesake and honors
In 1904, a statue of Porter designed by artist James E. Kelly was dedicated in Haven Park in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
In World War II, the United States liberty ship SS FitzJohn Porter was named in his honor.
Although Porter served well in the early battles of the Civil War, his military career was ruined by the controversial trial which was called by his political rivals. Afterwards he worked intensely to restore his tarnished reputation for almost 25 years, when he was finally restored to the army's roll.
Early life and career
Porter was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. He came from a family prominent in American naval service; his cousins were William D. Porter, David Dixon Porter, and David G. Farragut. However, Porter's father, Captain John Porter, was an alcoholic who had been reassigned to land duty. Porter's childhood in a partly dysfunctional family was chaotic.
Ultimately, Porter pursued an army career. He graduated from the United States Military Academy (West Point) in 1845, standing eighth out of 41 cadets, and was brevetted a second lieutenant in the 4th U.S. Artillery.
Porter was promoted to second lieutenant on June 18, 1846 and First Lieutenant on May 29, 1847. He served in the Mexican-American War and was appointed a brevet captain on September 8, 1847, for bravery at the Battle of Molino del Rey. He was wounded at Chapultepec on September 13, for which he also received a brevet promotion to major.
After the war with Mexico ended, Porter returned to West Point and became a cavalry and artillery instructor from 1849 to 1853, and then became adjutant to the academy's superintendent until 1855. He next served at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, as assistant adjutant general in the Department of the West in 1856, where he was brevetted to captain that June. Porter then served under future Confederate Albert Sidney Johnston in the expedition against the Mormons in 1857 and 1858. Afterward Porter inspected and reorganized the defenses of Charleston Harbor, South Carolina until late 1860, when he aided in the evacuation of army personnel from Texas after that state seceded from the Union.
Civil War service
Union General Fitz John Porter (seated in chair) and staffAfter the start of the Civil War, Porter became chief of staff and assistant adjutant general for the Department of Pennsylvania, but he was almost immediately promoted to colonel of the 15th Infantry on May 14, 1861. In August, he was promoted to brigadier general, backdated to May 17 [3] so he would be senior enough to receive division command in the Army of the Potomac, newly formed under Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan. Soon Porter became a trusted adviser and loyal friend to McClellan, but this association with the soon-to-be-controversial commanding general would prove to be disastrous for Porter's military career.
Porter led his division at the beginning of the Peninsula Campaign, seeing action at the Siege of Yorktown. McClellan created two provisional corps and Porter was assigned to command the V Corps. During the Seven Days Battles, and particularly at the Battle of Gaines' Mill, he displayed a talent for defensive fighting.[5] At the Battle of Malvern Hill he also played a leading role. For his successful performance on the Peninsula he was promoted to major general of volunteers on July 4, 1862.[3]
Second Bull Run
August 29, noon; Longstreet's Corps arrives, Porter's Corps stops and does not engagePorter's corps was sent to reinforce Maj. Gen. John Pope in the Northern Virginia Campaign, a reassignment that he openly challenged and complained about, criticizing Pope personally. During the Second Battle of Bull Run, on August 29, 1862, he was ordered to attack the flank and rear of Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's wing of the Army of Northern Virginia. Porter had stopped at Dawkin's Branch where he had encountered Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart's cavalry screen.
On August 29 he received a message from Pope directing him to attack the Confederate right (which Pope assumed to be Jackson on Stony Ridge), but at the same time to maintain contact with the neighboring division under Maj. Gen. John F. Reynolds, a conflict in orders that could not be resolved. Pope was apparently unaware that Confederate Maj. Gen. James Longstreet's wing of the army had arrived on the battlefield and the proposed envelopment of Jackson's position would have collided suicidally with Longstreet's large force. Porter chose not to make the attack because of the intelligence he had received that Longstreet was to his immediate front.
August 30, 3:00; Porter turns and attacks, Longstreet in position to attack and "rolls up" Pope's army.
On August 30 Pope again ordered the flank attack, and Porter reluctantly complied. As the V Corps turned to head towards Jackson's right and attacked, it presented its own (and consequently the entire army's) flank to Longstreet's waiting men. About 30,000 Confederates now assailed Porter's 5,000 or so men and drove through them and into the rest of Pope's forces, doing exactly what Porter most feared would come of these orders. Pope was infuriated by the defeat, accused Porter of insubordination, and relieved him of his command on September 5.
Porter was soon restored to command of the corps by McClellan and led it through the Maryland Campaign, where the corps served in a reserve position during the Battle of Antietam. He is famously said to have told McClellan, "Remember, General, I command the last reserve of the last Army of the Republic." McClellan took his implied advice and failed to commit his reserves into a battle that might have been won if he had used his forces aggressively.
Court martial
On November 25, 1862, Porter was arrested and court-martialed for his actions at Second Bull Run. By this time, McClellan had been relieved by President Abraham Lincoln and could not provide political cover for his protégé. In fact, Porter's association with the disgraced McClellan and his open criticism of Pope were significant reasons for his conviction at court-martial. Porter was found guilty on January 10, 1863, of disobedience and misconduct, and he was dismissed from the Army on January 21, 1863.
Postbellum career
After the war ended, Porter was offered a command in the Egyptian Army but declined it, and spent most of the remainder of his life fighting against the perceived injustice of his court-martial.
In 1878, a special commission under General John M. Schofield exonerated Porter by finding that his reluctance to attack Longstreet probably saved Pope's Army of Virginia from an even greater defeat. Eight years later, President Chester A. Arthur reversed Porter's sentence and a special act of the U.S. Congress restored Porter's commission as an infantry colonel in the U.S. Army, backdated to May 14, 1861, but without any back pay due. Two days later, August 7, 1886, Porter, vindicated, retired from the Army at his own request.
Porter was then involved in mining, construction, and commerce. He served as the New York City Commissioner of Public Works, the New York City Police Commissioner, and the New York City Fire Commissioner. He died in Morristown, New Jersey, and is buried in Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York. His grave can be found in Section 54, Lot 5685/89.
Namesake and honors
In 1904, a statue of Porter designed by artist James E. Kelly was dedicated in Haven Park in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
In World War II, the United States liberty ship SS FitzJohn Porter was named in his honor.
General John Pope - brief bio
From Wikipedia:
John Pope (March 16, 1822 – September 23, 1892) was a career United States Army officer and Union general in the American Civil War. He had a brief but successful career in the Western Theater, but he is best known for his defeat at the Second Battle of Bull Run (Second Manassas) in the East.
Pope was a graduate of the United States Military Academy in 1842. He served in the Mexican-American War and had numerous assignments as a topographical engineer and surveyor in Florida, New Mexico, and Minnesota. He spent much of the last decade before the Civil War surveying possible southern routes for the proposed First Transcontinental Railroad. He was an early appointee as a Union brigadier general of volunteers and served initially under Maj. Gen. John C. Frémont, with whom he had a stormy relationship. He achieved initial success against Brig. Gen. Sterling Price in Missouri and then led a successful campaign that captured Island No. 10 on the Mississippi River.
Pope's success in the West inspired the Lincoln administration to bring him to the troubled Eastern Theater to lead the newly formed Army of Virginia. He initially alienated many of his officers and men by publicly denigrating their record in comparison to his Western command.
He launched an offensive against the Confederate army of General Robert E. Lee, in which he fell prey to a strategic turning movement into his rear areas by Maj. Gen. Stonewall Jackson. At Second Bull Run, he concentrated his attention on attacking Jackson while the other Confederate corps, under Maj. Gen. James Longstreet, executed a devastating assault into his flank, routing his army. He deflected some of the blame for the defeat by wrongfully accusing Brig. Gen. Fitz John Porter of disobeying his orders. Porter was exonerated in 1879, causing much public embarrassment for Pope.
Following Manassas, Pope was banished far from the Eastern Theater to Minnesota, where he commanded U.S. Forces in the Dakota War of 1862. He was appointed to command the Department of the Missouri in 1865 and was a prominent and activist commander during Reconstruction in Atlanta. For the rest of his military career, he fought in the Indian Wars, particularly against the Apache and Sioux.
Early life
Pope was born in Louisville, Kentucky, the son of Nathaniel Pope, a prominent Federal judge in early Illinois Territory and a friend of lawyer Abraham Lincoln.
He was the brother-in-law of Manning Force, and a distant cousin married the sister of Mary Todd Lincoln. He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1842, and was commissioned a brevet second lieutenant in the Topographical Engineers.
He served in Florida and then helped survey the northeastern border between the United States and Canada. He fought under Zachary Taylor in the Battle of Monterrey and Battle of Buena Vista during the Mexican-American War, for which he was appointed a brevet first lieutenant and captain, respectively.
After the war Pope worked as a surveyor in Minnesota. In 1850 he demonstrated the navigability of the Red River. He served as the chief engineer of the Department of New Mexico from 1851 to 1853 and spent the remainder of the antebellum years surveying a route for the Pacific Railroad.
Civil War
Pope was serving on lighthouse duty when Abraham Lincoln was elected and he was one of four officers selected to escort the president-elect to Washington, D.C. He offered to serve Lincoln as an aide, but on June 14, 1861, he was appointed brigadier general of volunteers (date of rank effective May 17, 1861) and was ordered to Illinois to recruit volunteers.
In the Western Department of Maj. Gen. John C. Frémont, Pope assumed command of the District of North and Central Missouri in July, with operational control along a portion the Mississippi River. He had an uncomfortable relationship with Frémont and politicked behind the scenes to get him removed from command. Frémont was convinced that Pope had treacherous intentions toward him, demonstrated by his lack of action in following Frémont's offensive plans in Missouri.
Historian Allan Nevins wrote, "Actually, incompetence and timidity offer a better explanation of Pope than treachery, though he certainly showed an insubordinate spirit." Pope eventually forced the Confederates under Sterling Price to retreat southward, taking 1,200 prisoners in a minor action at Blackwater, Missouri, on December 18. Pope, who established a reputation as a braggart early in the war, was able to generate significant press interest in his minor victory, which brought him to the attention of Frémont's replacement, Maj. Gen. Henry W. Halleck.
Halleck appointed Pope to command the Army of the Mississippi (and the District of the Mississippi, Department of the Missouri) on February 23, 1862. Given 25,000 men, he was ordered to clear Confederate obstacles on the Mississippi River. He made a surprise march on New Madrid, Missouri, and captured it on March 14. He then orchestrated a campaign to capture Island No. 10, a strongly fortified post garrisoned by 12,000 men and 58 guns. Pope's engineers cut a channel that allowed him to bypass the island, then, assisted by the gunboats of Captain Andrew H. Foote, he landed his men on the opposite shore, which isolated the defenders. The island garrison surrendered on April 7, 1862, freeing Union navigation of the Mississippi as far south as Memphis.
Pope's outstanding performance on the Mississippi earned him a promotion to major general, dated as of March 21, 1862. During the Siege of Corinth, he commanded the left wing of Halleck's army, but he was soon summoned to the East by Lincoln. After the collapse of Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan's Peninsula Campaign, Pope was appointed to command the Army of Virginia, assembled from scattered forces in the Shenandoah Valley and Northern Virginia. This promotion infuriated Frémont, who resigned his commission.
Pope brought an attitude of self assurance that was offensive to the eastern soldiers under his command. He issued an astonishing message to his new army on July 14, 1862, that included the following:
As Lee advanced upon Pope with the remainder of his army, Jackson's swung around to the north and captured Pope's main supply base at Manassas Station. Confused and unable to locate the main Confederate force, Pope walked into a trap in the Second Battle of Bull Run. His men withstood a combined attack by Jackson and Lee on August 29, 1862, but on the following day Maj. Gen. James Longstreet launched a surprise flanking attack and the Union Army was soundly defeated and forced to retreat. Pope compounded his unpopularity with the Army by blaming his defeat on disobedience by Maj. Gen. Fitz John Porter, who was found guilty by court-martial and disgraced.
Pope himself was relieved of command on September 12, 1862, and his army was merged into the Army of the Potomac under McClellan. He spent the remainder of the war in the Department of the Northwest in Minnesota, dealing with the Dakota War of 1862. His months campaigning in the West paid career dividends because he was assigned to command the Military Division of the Missouri (subsequently named the Department of the Missouri) on January 30, 1865, and received a brevet promotion to major general in the regular army on March 13, 1865, for his service at Island No. 10.
Shortly after Robert E. Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House, Pope wrote a letter to Edmund Kirby-Smith offering the Confederates in Louisiana the same surrender terms that Grant allowed for Lee. He told Kirby-Smith that further resistance was futile and urged the general to avoid needless bloodshed, devastation, and misery by accepting the surrender terms. Kirby-Smith, however, rejected Pope's overtures and said that his army remained "strong and well equipped and that despite the 'disparity of numbers' his men could outweigh the differences 'by valor and skill.'" Five weeks later Confederate General Simon Bolivar Buckner signed the surrender in New Orleans.
Postbellum years
In April 1867, Pope was named governor of the Reconstruction Third Military District and made his headquarters in Atlanta, issuing orders that allowed African Americans to serve on juries, ordered Mayor James Williams to remain in office another year, postponing elections, and banned city advertising in newspapers that did not favor Reconstruction. President Andrew Johnson removed him from command December 28, 1867, replacing him with George G. Meade.
Pope returned to the West and served with distinction in the Apache Wars. He made political enemies in Washington recommending that the reservation system would be better administered by the military than the corrupt Indian Bureau. He engendered controversy by calling for better and more humane treatment of Native Americans. Others point to quotes from John Pope regarding killing and displacing specific Native American tribes (specifically the Sioux Indians) author Walter Donald Kennedy states the following (including a quote from John Pope himself): "Union general John Pope gave expression to how the 'Indian problem' was to be handled when he stated, 'It is my purpose to utterly exterminate the Sioux.' Pope planned to make a 'final settlement with all these Indians.' His plan was to shoot and hang as many as possible and then remove the rest from the land."
Pope's reputation suffered a serious blow in 1879 when a Board of Inquiry led by Maj. Gen. John Schofield concluded that Fitz John Porter had been unfairly convicted and that it was Pope himself who bore most of the responsibility for the loss at the Second Battle of Bull Run. The report characterized Pope as being reckless and dangerously uninformed about the events on the battle, and credited Porter's perceived disobedience with saving the army from complete ruin.
John Pope was promoted to major general in the regular army in 1882 and retired in 1886. He died at the Ohio Soldiers' Home near Sandusky, Ohio. He is buried in Bellefontaine Cemetery, St. Louis, Missouri.
John Pope (March 16, 1822 – September 23, 1892) was a career United States Army officer and Union general in the American Civil War. He had a brief but successful career in the Western Theater, but he is best known for his defeat at the Second Battle of Bull Run (Second Manassas) in the East.
Pope was a graduate of the United States Military Academy in 1842. He served in the Mexican-American War and had numerous assignments as a topographical engineer and surveyor in Florida, New Mexico, and Minnesota. He spent much of the last decade before the Civil War surveying possible southern routes for the proposed First Transcontinental Railroad. He was an early appointee as a Union brigadier general of volunteers and served initially under Maj. Gen. John C. Frémont, with whom he had a stormy relationship. He achieved initial success against Brig. Gen. Sterling Price in Missouri and then led a successful campaign that captured Island No. 10 on the Mississippi River.
Pope's success in the West inspired the Lincoln administration to bring him to the troubled Eastern Theater to lead the newly formed Army of Virginia. He initially alienated many of his officers and men by publicly denigrating their record in comparison to his Western command.
He launched an offensive against the Confederate army of General Robert E. Lee, in which he fell prey to a strategic turning movement into his rear areas by Maj. Gen. Stonewall Jackson. At Second Bull Run, he concentrated his attention on attacking Jackson while the other Confederate corps, under Maj. Gen. James Longstreet, executed a devastating assault into his flank, routing his army. He deflected some of the blame for the defeat by wrongfully accusing Brig. Gen. Fitz John Porter of disobeying his orders. Porter was exonerated in 1879, causing much public embarrassment for Pope.
Following Manassas, Pope was banished far from the Eastern Theater to Minnesota, where he commanded U.S. Forces in the Dakota War of 1862. He was appointed to command the Department of the Missouri in 1865 and was a prominent and activist commander during Reconstruction in Atlanta. For the rest of his military career, he fought in the Indian Wars, particularly against the Apache and Sioux.
Early life
Pope was born in Louisville, Kentucky, the son of Nathaniel Pope, a prominent Federal judge in early Illinois Territory and a friend of lawyer Abraham Lincoln.
He was the brother-in-law of Manning Force, and a distant cousin married the sister of Mary Todd Lincoln. He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1842, and was commissioned a brevet second lieutenant in the Topographical Engineers.
He served in Florida and then helped survey the northeastern border between the United States and Canada. He fought under Zachary Taylor in the Battle of Monterrey and Battle of Buena Vista during the Mexican-American War, for which he was appointed a brevet first lieutenant and captain, respectively.
After the war Pope worked as a surveyor in Minnesota. In 1850 he demonstrated the navigability of the Red River. He served as the chief engineer of the Department of New Mexico from 1851 to 1853 and spent the remainder of the antebellum years surveying a route for the Pacific Railroad.
Civil War
Pope was serving on lighthouse duty when Abraham Lincoln was elected and he was one of four officers selected to escort the president-elect to Washington, D.C. He offered to serve Lincoln as an aide, but on June 14, 1861, he was appointed brigadier general of volunteers (date of rank effective May 17, 1861) and was ordered to Illinois to recruit volunteers.
In the Western Department of Maj. Gen. John C. Frémont, Pope assumed command of the District of North and Central Missouri in July, with operational control along a portion the Mississippi River. He had an uncomfortable relationship with Frémont and politicked behind the scenes to get him removed from command. Frémont was convinced that Pope had treacherous intentions toward him, demonstrated by his lack of action in following Frémont's offensive plans in Missouri.
Historian Allan Nevins wrote, "Actually, incompetence and timidity offer a better explanation of Pope than treachery, though he certainly showed an insubordinate spirit." Pope eventually forced the Confederates under Sterling Price to retreat southward, taking 1,200 prisoners in a minor action at Blackwater, Missouri, on December 18. Pope, who established a reputation as a braggart early in the war, was able to generate significant press interest in his minor victory, which brought him to the attention of Frémont's replacement, Maj. Gen. Henry W. Halleck.
Halleck appointed Pope to command the Army of the Mississippi (and the District of the Mississippi, Department of the Missouri) on February 23, 1862. Given 25,000 men, he was ordered to clear Confederate obstacles on the Mississippi River. He made a surprise march on New Madrid, Missouri, and captured it on March 14. He then orchestrated a campaign to capture Island No. 10, a strongly fortified post garrisoned by 12,000 men and 58 guns. Pope's engineers cut a channel that allowed him to bypass the island, then, assisted by the gunboats of Captain Andrew H. Foote, he landed his men on the opposite shore, which isolated the defenders. The island garrison surrendered on April 7, 1862, freeing Union navigation of the Mississippi as far south as Memphis.
Pope's outstanding performance on the Mississippi earned him a promotion to major general, dated as of March 21, 1862. During the Siege of Corinth, he commanded the left wing of Halleck's army, but he was soon summoned to the East by Lincoln. After the collapse of Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan's Peninsula Campaign, Pope was appointed to command the Army of Virginia, assembled from scattered forces in the Shenandoah Valley and Northern Virginia. This promotion infuriated Frémont, who resigned his commission.
Pope brought an attitude of self assurance that was offensive to the eastern soldiers under his command. He issued an astonishing message to his new army on July 14, 1862, that included the following:
Let us understand each other. I have come to you from the West, where we have always seen the backs of our enemies; from an army whose business it has been to seek the adversary and to beat him when he was found; whose policy has been attack and not defense. In but one instance has the enemy been able to place our Western armies in defensive attitude. I presume that I have been called here to pursue the same system and to lead you against the enemy. It is my purpose to do so, and that speedily. I am sure you long for an opportunity to win the distinction you are capable of achieving. That opportunity I shall endeavor to give you. Meantime I desire you to dismiss from your minds certain phrases, which I am sorry to find so much in vogue amongst you. I hear constantly of "taking strong positions and holding them," of "lines of retreat," and of "bases of supplies." Let us discard such ideas. The strongest position a soldier should desire to occupy is one from which he can most easily advance against the enemy. Let us study the probable lines of retreat of our opponents, and leave our own to take care of themselves. Let us look before us, and not behind. Success and glory are in the advance, disaster and shame lurk in the rear. Let us act on this understanding, and it is safe to predict that your banners shall be inscribed with many a glorious deed and that your names will be dear to your countrymen foreverMajor General John PopeDespite this bravado, and despite receiving units from McClellan's Army of the Potomac that swelled the Army of Virginia to 70,000 men, Pope's aggressiveness exceeded his strategic capabilities, particularly since he was now facing Confederate General Robert E. Lee. Lee, sensing that Pope was indecisive, split his smaller (55,000 man) army, sending Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson with 24,000 men as a diversion to Cedar Mountain, where Jackson defeated Pope's subordinate, Nathaniel Banks.
— John Pope, message to the Army of Virginia
As Lee advanced upon Pope with the remainder of his army, Jackson's swung around to the north and captured Pope's main supply base at Manassas Station. Confused and unable to locate the main Confederate force, Pope walked into a trap in the Second Battle of Bull Run. His men withstood a combined attack by Jackson and Lee on August 29, 1862, but on the following day Maj. Gen. James Longstreet launched a surprise flanking attack and the Union Army was soundly defeated and forced to retreat. Pope compounded his unpopularity with the Army by blaming his defeat on disobedience by Maj. Gen. Fitz John Porter, who was found guilty by court-martial and disgraced.
Pope himself was relieved of command on September 12, 1862, and his army was merged into the Army of the Potomac under McClellan. He spent the remainder of the war in the Department of the Northwest in Minnesota, dealing with the Dakota War of 1862. His months campaigning in the West paid career dividends because he was assigned to command the Military Division of the Missouri (subsequently named the Department of the Missouri) on January 30, 1865, and received a brevet promotion to major general in the regular army on March 13, 1865, for his service at Island No. 10.
Shortly after Robert E. Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House, Pope wrote a letter to Edmund Kirby-Smith offering the Confederates in Louisiana the same surrender terms that Grant allowed for Lee. He told Kirby-Smith that further resistance was futile and urged the general to avoid needless bloodshed, devastation, and misery by accepting the surrender terms. Kirby-Smith, however, rejected Pope's overtures and said that his army remained "strong and well equipped and that despite the 'disparity of numbers' his men could outweigh the differences 'by valor and skill.'" Five weeks later Confederate General Simon Bolivar Buckner signed the surrender in New Orleans.
Postbellum years
In April 1867, Pope was named governor of the Reconstruction Third Military District and made his headquarters in Atlanta, issuing orders that allowed African Americans to serve on juries, ordered Mayor James Williams to remain in office another year, postponing elections, and banned city advertising in newspapers that did not favor Reconstruction. President Andrew Johnson removed him from command December 28, 1867, replacing him with George G. Meade.
Pope returned to the West and served with distinction in the Apache Wars. He made political enemies in Washington recommending that the reservation system would be better administered by the military than the corrupt Indian Bureau. He engendered controversy by calling for better and more humane treatment of Native Americans. Others point to quotes from John Pope regarding killing and displacing specific Native American tribes (specifically the Sioux Indians) author Walter Donald Kennedy states the following (including a quote from John Pope himself): "Union general John Pope gave expression to how the 'Indian problem' was to be handled when he stated, 'It is my purpose to utterly exterminate the Sioux.' Pope planned to make a 'final settlement with all these Indians.' His plan was to shoot and hang as many as possible and then remove the rest from the land."
Pope's reputation suffered a serious blow in 1879 when a Board of Inquiry led by Maj. Gen. John Schofield concluded that Fitz John Porter had been unfairly convicted and that it was Pope himself who bore most of the responsibility for the loss at the Second Battle of Bull Run. The report characterized Pope as being reckless and dangerously uninformed about the events on the battle, and credited Porter's perceived disobedience with saving the army from complete ruin.
John Pope was promoted to major general in the regular army in 1882 and retired in 1886. He died at the Ohio Soldiers' Home near Sandusky, Ohio. He is buried in Bellefontaine Cemetery, St. Louis, Missouri.
Richmond, Kentucky, the Civil War's only Cannae
Richmond, Kentucky
Richmond is a city in and the county seat of Madison County, Kentucky, United States. It is named after Richmond, Virginia, and is the home of Eastern Kentucky University. The population of Richmond, Kentucky was 31,364 in 2010. Richmond is Kentucky's seventh-largest city (after Louisville, Lexington, Bowling Green, Owensboro, Covington, and Hopkinsville) and the second largest city in the Bluegrass region (after Lexington). Richmond serves as the center for work and shopping for south central Kentucky. Richmond is the principal city of the Richmond–Berea Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Madison and Rockcastle counties.
History
The City of Richmond was founded in 1798 by Colonel John Miller, who had been a soldier in the Revolutionary War. According to tradition, Miller was attracted to the area by the good spring water and friendly Native Americans.
That year, the Kentucky legislature approved moving the county seat from Milford to land owned by Colonel Miller. The residents of Milford adamantly opposed the move, which led to a fist fight between Dave Kennedy (representing Milford) and William Kearly (representing Richmond). Nevertheless, the county approved the move in March 1798. On 4 July 1798, the new town was named Richmond in honor of Miller's Virginia birthplace.
On August 30, 1862, during the Civil War, the Union and Confederate Armies clashed in the Battle of Richmond. Troops under Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith routed the soldiers of Union General William Nelson. Out of Nelson's 6,500 men, only 1,200 escaped; the rest were all captured. One historian called this battle "the nearest thing to a Cannae ever scored by any general, North or South, in the course of the whole war."
(Cannae is a famous battle in ancient times in which the Roman legions were decimated by a numerically smaller force.)
Richmond is a city in and the county seat of Madison County, Kentucky, United States. It is named after Richmond, Virginia, and is the home of Eastern Kentucky University. The population of Richmond, Kentucky was 31,364 in 2010. Richmond is Kentucky's seventh-largest city (after Louisville, Lexington, Bowling Green, Owensboro, Covington, and Hopkinsville) and the second largest city in the Bluegrass region (after Lexington). Richmond serves as the center for work and shopping for south central Kentucky. Richmond is the principal city of the Richmond–Berea Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Madison and Rockcastle counties.
History
The City of Richmond was founded in 1798 by Colonel John Miller, who had been a soldier in the Revolutionary War. According to tradition, Miller was attracted to the area by the good spring water and friendly Native Americans.
That year, the Kentucky legislature approved moving the county seat from Milford to land owned by Colonel Miller. The residents of Milford adamantly opposed the move, which led to a fist fight between Dave Kennedy (representing Milford) and William Kearly (representing Richmond). Nevertheless, the county approved the move in March 1798. On 4 July 1798, the new town was named Richmond in honor of Miller's Virginia birthplace.
On August 30, 1862, during the Civil War, the Union and Confederate Armies clashed in the Battle of Richmond. Troops under Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith routed the soldiers of Union General William Nelson. Out of Nelson's 6,500 men, only 1,200 escaped; the rest were all captured. One historian called this battle "the nearest thing to a Cannae ever scored by any general, North or South, in the course of the whole war."
(Cannae is a famous battle in ancient times in which the Roman legions were decimated by a numerically smaller force.)
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