John Gibbon: "He is one of the bravest of men..."

Most recently, we did an episode about the Iron Brigade with author of "Black Iron Mercy", a histoical novel about the Iron Brigade, Eric Schlehlein. You can find the episode here. We talked about all things Iron Brigade in that episode, and of course that meant we discussed the guy that was with them when they earned their name at the Battle of South Mountain AND is the reason for their uniform (well, minus the Hardee hat - that was there earlier) - General John Gibbon.

Check this bad ass looking guy out...

We were able to talk a little of Gibbon's life in our episode about the Iron Brigade BUT of course we can't spend the whole episode about him, so that's what we decided to write a blog post about him in case y'all want to know a little bit more about this guy...

John Gibbon was born on April 20, 1827 in Philadelphia, PA. When he was ten years old, Gibbon and his family moved to the Charleston, North Carolina. His father had accepted a position of Chief Assayer (basically, analyzing the quantity of gold, silver, etc. in a coin) at the U.S. Mint.

In 1842 at the age of 15, John was appointed to the US Military Academy at West Point. He had discipline problems (i.e. rebel, badass, etc) and ended up having to repeat his ENTIRE first year...

Clearly, mistakes were made but lessons were learned. Subsequently, his entire military career was defined by rigid discipline, something which the men of the Iron Brigade became VERY familiar with. He graduated in the middle of his class in 1847. Two of his classmates were Ambrose Burnside and Ambrose Powell Hill.

After graduation, John was made Brevet 2nd Lieutenant in the 3rd US Artillery.He was in Mexico during the Mexican-American war, but saw no action there. He was also in Florida and in Texas.

In 1854, he returned to West Point where he taught artillery tactics. This proved to be quite a fit for him and must have been something he enjoyed, because he ended up writing an ENTIRE book about it called the Artillerist’s Manual. It was published in 1859, and was adopted by the War Department very quickly. It ended up being used by both the Union and the Confederate Armies during the Civil War.

Life seemed to be rolling along smoothly for John when the Civil War broke out in 1861. His father, who still lived in the south, was a slave owner. John’s three brothers and his cousin, J. Johnston Pettigrew, all fought for the Confederacy.

General J. Johnston Pettigrew, cousin of John Gibbon.

John, who was stationed in Utah at the time, decided to remain loyal to the Union. He took the oath to the United States and reported to Washington. Here he was made Chief of Artillery for Major General Irwin McDowell.

General Irvin McDowell. Got ass kicked at First Bull Run.

In 1862, Gibbon was promoted to Brigadier General of Volunteers and placed in charge of King’s Wisconsin Brigade, made of men from Wisconsin (duh) & Indiana. He proved to be quite good at handling the volunteers, and, unlike other officers, he did not have a negative opinion of them. Not only was he big into constant drilling to train the soldiers, he used a rigid discipline system to turn them into being some of the most bad-ass, ferocious fighters in the Army of the Potomac. Gibbon believed the best way to promote such rigid discipline was using a system of awards (gold star, anyone?!) to recognize good behaviour and, for not-so-good behaviour, he used penalties that were meant to hurt their pride.

A few examples…

Fence stealing was popular (cause why not steal a fence when you’re a volunteer soldier, right?) amongst his brigade. Fence pieces would be used for shelter or fires.

This extra curricular activity dwindled after Gibbon came on the scene. Fence stealing ain’t so much fun when you have to rebuild said fence.

On a positive note, however, the Gibbon discovered that giving the well-behaved soldiers 24 hour passes was a thing of miracles for promoting good behaviour. Y’all, this 24 hour pass was their version of a gold star. Leave camp, go have fun! I’d be good to if it meant I got to leave camp for 24 hours and go hang with the locals. *cough* Bang Barn *cough*

Gibbon also changed the uniform of the soldiers. The most notable of these changes was the hat. He replaced the traditional Kepi with the black felt Hardee hat. Soon after this, they became known as the Black Hat Brigade.

They fought at Second Manasses at Brawner’s Farm. This was one of the most intense fire fights of the entire Civil War. One of his solider’s remarked of Gibbon after the battle:

How completely that little battle removed all dislike from the strict disciplinarian, and how great became the admiration and love for him, only those who have witnessed similar changes can appreciate…

Gibbon was at South Mountain at fight at Turner’s Gap. It was here that either General Joseph Hooker or General McClellan christened Gibbon’s brigade as the “Iron Brigade”. The men had “fought like iron”.

At Antietam, the Iron Brigade had heavy losses. It was here that Gibbon manned an artillery piece during the very bloody fighting in the Cornfield.

In late 1862, John was promoted to the 2nd Division, I Corps. This meant he would be separated from his “Iron Brigade”, something which he wasn't very happy about...

My feeling was one of regret at the idea of being separated from my gallant brigade.

It is said that General John Reynolds picked up on this and said he could offer it to someone else. Gibbon, despite feeling quite attached to his brigade, did accept the new position he had been offered. One officer of the Iron Brigade described Gibbon as “a most excellent officer…beloved and respected by his whole command”.

His love of this brigade and its men evidently stuck with the Gibbs throughout his life. His answer to an invitation to all soldiers honorably discharged from Wisconsin shows how he felt towards them:

I was not a Wisconsin soldier, and have not been honorably discharged, but at the judgement day I want to be with Wisconsin soldiers.

So, on it was to his new command, and the first battle he led them at was Fredericksburg. It was here Gibbon ended up receiving a wound near his wrist after a shell exploded close by. This put him out of duty for several months.

He was back in time for Gettysburg. It was here he commanded the 2nd Division of General Winfield Scott Hancock’s II Corps.

On July 3rd at Gettysburg, Gibbon was at Cemetery Ridge. His major role in the battle was the repulse of Pettigrew-Pickett-Trimble Charge. In a council of war meeting (sounds like Game of Thrones shit happening here…) the night before, General Meade had pulled Gibbon aside and predicted that if Lee were to attack, it would be right where Gibbon would be. Eerily enough, Meade was right. Gibbon’s division did bear the brunt of the fighting, as predicted by Meade. Both Gibbon and Hancock ended up getting wounded here.

With being wounded, Gibbon was out of action and he ended up being sent to Cleveland, Ohio where he worked in a draft depot. We are both thinking Gibbon might have had the same reaction we would about Ohio...

When Gibbon was still recovering from his wounds, he was able to attend the dedication of the National Cemetery at Gettysburg on November 19, 1863. He would have been witness to Lincoln delivering the Gettysburg Address.

Once he’d recovered from his wounds, Gibbon was back in action again. He dove right back in for the Overland Campaign and fought at Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor, and Petersburg. On June 7th, 1864, he was promoted to Major General for his service in the Overland Campaign.

On August 25, 1864, he and his men fought in the Second Battle of Reams Station. He felt his Division had fought poorly and this very much disheartened. At this time, he also began to quarrel with his superior, General Hancock. I’m guessing Hancock was probably not a good man to cross. Although promoted briefly to command the XVIII Corps, Gibbon ended up going on sick leave.

In January 1865 he came back and was given command of the XXIV Corps in the newly created Army of the James. A member of the Iron Brigade had this say about Gibbon receiving this command:

His honors are fairly won. He is one of the bravest men. He was with us on every battlefield

On April 2, 1865, Gibbon was involved in the Third Battle of Petersburg. This battle was also known as the Fall of Petersburg, so I think we all know how that turned out for the Confederates. It was during this battle that the Gibbon captured Fort Gregg, part of the Confederate defences.

During the Appomattox Campaign, Gibbon blocked the Confederate escape route during the battle of Appomattox Courthouse. At the conclusion of the Appomattox Campaign, Gibbon served as the Surrender Commissioner.

After the Civil War, Gibbon was demoted to being a Colonel in the regular army and spent much time on the frontier. He was mainly engaged in the Indian Wars. It was Gibbon who came upon the remains of Custer and his men after the Battle of Little Big Horn.

In 1885, he was promoted to Brigadier General in the regular army. He was placed in command of the Department of Columbia, which represented all points of the Pacific Northwest. In 1890, he was made head of the Military Division of the Atlantic. He only held this post for a year, however, as he was forced to retire in 1891.

In all, he served nearly fifty years! John Gibbon passed away on February 6, 1896 in Baltimore, Maryland and he is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Gibbon has a few towns named after him in Nebraska, Oregon, Minnesota, and Washington. Gibbon River and Falls in Yellowstone National Park is also named after him. He had been there on an 1872 expedition.

Besides “The Artillerist’s Manual”, Gibbon also wrote two other books, both of which were published posthumously: “Personal Recollections of the Civil War” (1928) and “Adventures On The Western Frontier” (1994).

Just on the lighter side of things, apparently Gibbon was quite the colourful speaker, something which we definitely have an appreciation for here at the podcast. A member of General Meade’s staff described Gibbon as having an “up-and-down manner of telling the truth, no matter whom it hurt”. In other words, he was blunt. He could also out-swear most officers in the Army of the Potomac. Apparently, the exception to this rule was Andrew Humphreys and quite possibly (and for some reason this did not surprise me), Winfield Scott Hancock.

Gibbon was a really cool, interesting guy. He was clearly well-respected by his troops and despite being a strict disciplinarian, a hard-ass and a-type about drilling his soldiers, in his heart he clearly cared about those he commanded. He created some of the most bad-ass fighters in the Army of the Potomac when he commanded the Iron Brigade. And the men he commanded after that were just equally as bad-ass.

Monument to Gibbon at Gettysburg

As always, thank you for reading (and listening to the podcast).

-Darin & Mare

Book Review by Jon Yuengling: "Gettysburg Peach Orchard" by James A. Hessler & Britt C. Isenberg

Geography is easily understood to be crucial in the outcomes of battles and campaigns. When one thinks of the American Civil War; there are many important battles; Gettysburg, Shiloh, and Antietam. On each of them is that particular feature that we gravitate towards. There is The Angle, Pittsburg Landing and Burnsides Bridge. While we have plenty of books on the strategic, operational and tactical levels of these and other battles, James Hessler and Britt Isenberg took a different approach; to look at a geographic location on the Gettysburg battlefield and treating it like the biography. This biography is on Gettysburg’s Peach Orchard.

The authors takes the reader on a tour of the area surrounding the Sherfy farm, including notable sites from the battle like the Sherfy barn, Wentz farm, the Stony Hill and the Peach Orchard. This tour is in depth conveying to the reader the importance to the community that lived near the site of the Peach Orchard and soldiers that fought there by using references from the individuals present. For many the Peach Orchard was crucial to the ever developing farms in the area.

On the 2nd of July 1863, General Sickles commanding the III Corps from the Army of the Potomac and General Longstreet commanding the I Corps Army of Northern Virginia moved their forces toward each other with the focal point being the Peach Orchard. Both thinking the Peach Orchard an important artillery position for their army’s flank positions, yet in the end it was not as crucial as initially thought. Both sides paid heavily during the battle and afterwards there was criticism for Longstreet on how he followed his orders and Sickles taking liberties with the orders received by General Meade. This battle of words is carried forward to this day in both this book and many others.

This book looks at command at the brigade and regimental level. While leadership in an American Civil War battle is normally at the front, there are defiantly different levels of competence for the leaders at the regimental and brigade levels during the battle. This book shows the confusion within the battle with regiments and batteries showing up at the same location trying to locate their positions while under artillery and rifle fire. This happens many times in and around the Peach Orchard for both sides. In the end the terrain that was thought to be crucial at the Peach Orchard and along the ridge that follows the Emmitsburg Road was less successful as an artillery position then initially hoped.

This story also shows off Gettysburg’s colorful characters, among them Sergeant Henry Wentz, an artilleryman with Captain Osmond Taylor’s Battery CSA. Henry Wentz had grown up in the area and it does not appear that this local knowledge was put to use by either his brigade or his Corps command planning the Confederate attack on the second day. Latter on July 2nd his battery was firing on Union positions that he once called home.

For the reader there are many inspiring stories. There are the troops quickly marching past on July first to get to the developing battle north and west of Gettysburg. On July 2nd there is the skirmish between the lines involving the 1st Massachusetts and the 1st US Sharpshooters and the advancing Confederates. Later in the day there is Barksdale’s attack on the orchard and General Kershaw’s engagement at the Rose Farm. The Peach Orchard was also to see fighting on July 3rd with artillery on the ridge supporting Pickett’s Charge with infantry from the nearby Lang and Wilcox Brigades taking part.

In the post battle portion of the biography, the Sherfy farm and the greater community was to take time to heal. In latter years both Union and previously Confederate troops were to return to Gettysburg and the Peach Orchard for reunions. Hessler and Isenberg write about this and how the community and veterans interacted. Both during and after the reunions the area continued to support the tourist industry, as first trollies and latter cars made it easier to get to the battlefield. The authors even cover the tacky aspect of having a chain store called Stuckey’s on the battlefield proper near the Peach Orchard, which luckily for us was removed in 1972. Battlefield preservation is never easy.

I end with Lieutenant Colonel Levi Bird Duff on General Birney’s staff that wrote, “In times yet to come and long after we have passed away, many pilgrims will visit this battlefield.” This is true and after reading Hessler and Isenberg’s book I agree with them that, “At the battle of Gettysburg, no other single terrain feature can claim such far-reaching impacts as the Peach Orchard.” We can only hope that other authors will look to do a similar treatment to the many other import geographic locations on other battlefields for tourists and armchair generals that will refight the battles be it at the pub afterwards or on the battlefield tour.

**Thank you to our listener Jon who wrote this review. If you would like to be a guest writer on our blog, please send us an email: info@civilwarbreakfastclub.com**

"War is a terrible thing" - Sherman in Louisiana Part 3

We last left Cump in Louisiana with South Carolina having seceded from the Union on December 20, 1860. Admitting to keeping “aloof of politics”, Sherman was trying to weather through the brewing “political storm” and he was hoping peace would fall upon the country again.

Basically, this was Sherman pre-December 20, 1860…

After that time is a completely different story with Cump. The man who had chosen to lay low, not vote in the 1860 election and hope things would just pass by, finally, to use the title of an awesome Sherman bio, let the “fierce” patriot roar forth….

Well, at least to his friend David French Boyd, a colleague of Sherman’s at the Military Academy in Louisiana.

David French Boyd. Friend & colleague of Cump while he was in Louisiana. Also a strong secessionist.

It was Boyd who was with Sherman when they both learned that South Carolina had seceded. Boyd recounted Sherman’s reaction, stating that Sherman “burst out crying like a child, and pacing his room in that nervous way of his…”.

Next, Sherman launched forth into what Robert L. O’Connell refers to in “Fierce Patriot” as being “clairvoyant words”…

“You people of the South don’t know what you are doing. This country will be drenched in blood, and God only knows how it will end. It is all folly, madness, a crime against civilization! You people speak so lightly of war; you don’t know what you’re talking about. War is a terrible thing! .You mistake, too, the people of the North. They are a peaceable people but an earnest people, and they will fight, too. They are not going to let this country be destroyed without a mighty effort to save it… Besides, where are your men and appliances of war to contend against them? The North can make a steam engine, locomotive, or railway car; hardly a yard of cloth or pair of shoes can you make. You are rushing into war with one of the most powerful, ingeniously mechanical, and determined people on Earth—right at your doors. You are bound to fail. Only in your spirit and determination are you prepared for war. In all else you are totally unprepared, with a bad cause to start with. At first you will make headway, but as your limited resources begin to fail, shut out from the markets of Europe as you will be, your cause will begin to wane. If your people will but stop and think, they must see in the end that you will surely fail.”

It is eerie how accurate Sherman was in this passionate speech to his friend. A friend who happened to be a secessionist. With statements like “the country will be drenched in blood” and “…at first you will make headway”, his words are eerily prophetic. And Sherman will be one of the men, four years later, that sees that the South’s “limited resources” not just begin to fail them, but that they do ultimately fail them.

Despite trying to keep his head down, do his job and hope the political “storm” would pass, it is clear in the back of his mind that Cump knew what would happen - war.

He said as much to Ellen on November 10, 1860…

“Secession must result in Civil War, anarchy and ruin to our present form of Government”.

What Cump had dreaded had come true. There was definitely a part of him that wished it truly would just pass. I mean, who wouldn’t? O’Connell states that “Sherman’s agony was real. Secession cut him to the depths of his nationalistic soul”.

And what cut him even more? Louisiana Governor Moore seizing all the forts in Louisiana. Sherman tells his brother John in a letter dated January 18, 1861 that “I regarded the seizure by Govr. Moore of the U.S. arsenal as the worst act yet committed in the present Revolution”. Robert L. O’Connell in “Fierce Patriot” tells us that Cump was also “particularly galled” when some muskets showed up at the military academy to be stored and that the “U.S.” that had been printed on their packing crates had been scratched off. Not cool. Basically Sherman...

Cump was worried before December 20 but now? He is a northerner in the south. He holds a prominent position at a military academy. He’s also deeply loyal to the Union. In his heart, he knows he cannot stay in Louisiana, even though they have not seceded by this point but he feels that it will happen eventually. He tells Ellen as such on December 23, 1860:

“I take it for granted that South Carolina has seceded and that other Southern States will follow and that Louisiana will be precipitated along…”

He goes on to say that if Louisiana should secede, and “assumes a hostile attitude towards the other states, I will resign here…”.

And that's what happens when he writes to Governor Moore on January 18, 1861:

“Recent events foreshadow a great change and it becomes all men to choose. If Louisiana withdraw from the Federal Union I prefer to maintain my allegiance to the Old Constitution as long as a fragment of it survives; and my longer stay here would be wrong in every sense of the word”.

In other words, Cump knew he needed to GTFO out of Louisiana IF they seceded.

On January 26th, 1861 that “if” about Louisiana seceding , turned into a “when”…

This meant Cump would now be resigned as Superintendent of the Louisiana State Seminary of Learning & Military Academy. He had written Governor Moore and told him this would be the case on January 18, 1861:

“…I beg you to take immediate steps to relieve me as superintendent, the moment the state determines to secede, for on no earthly account will I do any act or any thought hostile to or in defiance of the old government of the United States”.

Governor Moore responded on January 23, three days before Louisiana would officially secede and it is evident he deeply regrets losing Sherman…

“You cannot regret more than I do the necessity which deprives us of your services, and you will bear with you the respect, confidence and admiration, of all who have been associated with you”.

And with that, Cump was no longer Superintendent of the military academy. It was on February 25th, 1861, just one day shy of a month when the secession of Louisiana happened, that he began making his way back to Lancaster, Ohio. I can only imagine how heartbroken he must have been. After finally landing a steady source of income with something he was happy about, he is again having to “make a new start in life, but it does seem to be my luck”. He wrote this to Ellen on January 27, 1861. In this same letter he also writes….

“I feel no temptation to take part in a civil war…”

Clearly he put that crazy thought out of his mind at some point because we all know Sherman will go on to become one badass Union rock star general.

And what of the Louisiana State Seminary of Learning & Military Academy? It's still around today, except now known as Louisiana State University. And following the Civil War? Sherman donated two cannons, which are said to be from Fort Sumter, which still stand there today: