At the Forefront of Lee's Invasion

J. Wynstra Robert

Description

After clearing Virginia's Shenandoah Valley of Federal troops, Gen. Robert E. Lee's bold invasion into the North reached the Maryland shore of the Potomac River on June 15, 1863. A week later, the Confederate infantry crossed into lower Pennsylvania, where they had their first sustained interactions with the civilian population in a solidly pro-Union state. Most of the initial encounters with the people in the lush Cumberland Valley and the neigh- boring parts of the state involved the men from the Army of Northern Virginia's famed Second Corps, commanded by Lt. Gen. Richard S. Ewell, who led the way as Lee's veteran soldiers advanced north toward their eventual showdown with the Union army at the crossroads town of Gettysburg.The move to the North lasted for nearly a month and encompassed the major battle at Winchester, Virginia, with more than 5,000 casualties; five skirmishes with more than 100 men killed, wounded, and captured in each; and several other minor actions. Civilian property losses in the North amounted to several million dollars. The interactions along the way further laid bare the enormous cultural gulf that separated the two sides in the war. As Robert Wynstra explains, Ewell and his top commanders constantly struggled to control the desire among the troops to seek retribution for what they perceived as Federal outrages in the South and to stop the plundering, working to maintain strict discipline in the army and uphold Southern honor.Despite the yearly flood of books on Gettysburg, the Confederate advance has been largely ignored. Most books devote only a few pages or a single short chapter to that as- pect of the campaign. In this new study, Wynstra draws on an array of primary sources, including rare soldiers' letters and eyewitness accounts published in local newspapers, manuscripts and diaries in small historical societies, and a trove of postwar damage claims from the invasion to fill in this vital gap in the historiography of the campaign.

Sujets

• Histoire
• USA
• United States of America
• History of the Americas
• American Civil War
• États-Unis
• Guerre de Sécession

Informations

• Publié par: The Kent State University Press
• Date de parution: 16 octobre 2018
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781631013379
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

At the Forefront of Lee’s Invasion
CIVIL WAR SOLDIERS AND STRATEGIES
Brian S. Wills, Series Editor
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HAMPTON NEWSOME
Work for Giants: The Campaign and Battle of Tupelo/Harrisburg, Mississippi, June–July 1864
THOMAS E. PARSON
“My Greatest Quarrel with Fortune”:
Major General Lew Wallace in the West, 1861–1862
CHARLES G. BEEMER
Phantoms of the South Fork: Captain McNeill and His Rangers
STEVE FRENCH
At the Forefront of Lee’s Invasion: Retribution, Plunder, and Clashing Cultures on Richard S. Ewell’s Road to Gettysburg
ROBERT J. WYNSTRA
At the Forefront of Lee’s Invasion
Retribution, Plunder, and Clashing Cultures on Richard S. Ewell’s Road to Gettysburg

Robert J. Wynstra

THE KENT STATE UNIVERSITY PRESS
KENT, OHIO
© 2018 by The Kent State University Press, Kent, Ohio 44242
All rights reserved
Library of Congress Catalog Number 2018008734
ISBN 978-1-60635-354-7
Manufactured in the United States of America
No part of this book may be used or reproduced, in any manner whatsoever, without written permission from the Publisher, except in the case of short quotations in critical reviews or articles.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA
Names: Wynstra, Robert J., author.
Title: At the forefront of Lee’s invasion : retribution, plunder, and clashing cultures on Richard S. Ewell’s road to Gettysburg / Robert J. Wynstra.
Description: Kent, Ohio : The Kent State University Press, [2018] | Series: Civil War soldiers and strategies | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018008734 | ISBN 9781606353547 (hardcover ; alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Gettysburg Campaign, 1863. | United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Campaigns. | Ewell, Richard Stoddert, 1817-1872.
Classification: LCC E475.51 .W96 2018 | DDC 973.7/349--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018008734
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Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction: “We Have Our Wishes Gratified”
1 “A Fair Opportunity to Strike a Blow”
2 “A Worthy Successor of Jackson”
3 “Quite a Brilliant Little Affair”
4 “A Thunderbolt from a Cloudless Sky”
5 “Cold Indeed Was Our Reception”
6 “Wherever Ewell Leads, We Can Follow”
7 “No Signs of Sympathy with the Rebels”
8 “Going Back into the Union”
9 “These People Certainly Must Have Lived like Lords”
10 “No Army Ever Fared Better”
11 “Enough to Frighten Us All to Death”
12 “Our Army Left a Mark Everywhere It Went”
13 “I Want My Requisitions Filled at Once”
14 “We Did Not Come Here for Nothing”
15 “The General Was Quite Testy”
16 “We Had No Idea of Our Destination”
Epilogue: “The General Results … Are Not All Unsatisfactory”
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Acknowledgments
This book would not have been possible without kind assistance from numerous people, who shared my enthusiasm for the project. I would especially like to acknowledge prolific author and researcher Scott Mingus Sr., who was kind enough to review my manuscript and contribute from his treasure trove of knowledge about Maj. Gen. Jubal Early’s activities in York County, Pennsylvania. His earlier classic book on the Confederate advance to York and Wrightsville, Pennsylvania, served as one of the primary inspirations for my interest in this topic. Without his help and encouragement, my task would have been much more difficult.
Author Steve French generously reviewed many versions of the manuscript and contributed several valuable documents. He has long been a kind friend and source of vital information on wartime activities in the Shenandoah Valley. Most important, I thank him for putting me in touch with Kent State University Press, which ultimately made this book possible.
The young prodigy Cooper Wingert repeatedly provided me with some elusive documents that I could not have obtained or even known about without his kind help. Author Gregory White also went the extra distance to supply me with several newspaper accounts and other important documents from his home state of Georgia. Seasonal ranger and author Charles Teague graciously helped me obtain several important items from the Gettysburg Military Park Library. He also joined me in walking the field at Gettysburg and provided invaluable insights on the terrain and its influence on the battle. Most of all, his enthusiasm and support for my projects over the years are greatly appreciated.
Credit is also due to Thomas L. Elmore, who reviewed my manuscript and contributed several vital documents, diaries, and letters. Benjamin Hoover II provided me with an invaluable family letter for use in my research. Howard Land allowed me to quote from his relative’s Civil War diary. The late John Chapla kindly gave me access to several important letters regarding the activities of the Forty-Second Virginia. Fred Ray as always willing shared from his vast storehouse of information on Maj. Eugene Blackford and the sharpshooters in Rodes’s Division.
My appreciation extends to prolific author Eric Wittenberg for his early interest in my various projects and his kind assistance over the years. J. David Petruzzi also deserves special recognition for his encouragement and help. Without exception, the staffs from the numerous public and private archives and other institutions that provided source material and photographs for this book were remarkably helpful. From large to small, they provided the kind of dedicated service that makes my research so enjoyable. Thanks are also due to Phil Laino for his superb maps, which so greatly enhance this publication.
Of course, this book would not have been possible without the support from acquisitions editor William Underwood and the staff at Kent State University Press, which well deserves its reputation as one of the premier Civil War publishers in the country. Their enthusiasm and unmatched professionalism made every step in the publishing process remarkably easy. Without them, this book would have been impossible. Thanks are also due to copyeditor Kevin Brock, who patiently guided me through the many baffling intricacies of the Chicago Manual of Style . Without his expert help, my efforts would have fallen well short of the mark.
Lastly, I would like to thank Anita Povich for her constant help. Every time I faltered she was there to pick me up and prod me to move forward. Many times she showed more faith in my ability to pull off this project than I did. Without her support and encouragement, I certainly would still be struggling to finish this book.
Introduction
“ We Have Our Wishes Gratified ”
After clearing the Shenandoah Valley of Federal troops, Gen. Robert E. Lee’s bold invasion into the North reached the Maryland shore of the Potomac River on June 15, 1863. A week later the Confederate infantry crossed into lower Pennsylvania, where they had their first sustained interactions with the civilian population of a solidly pro-Union state, laying bare the enormous cultural gulf that separated the two sides in the war. Most of these initial encounters in the lush Cumberland Valley and adjacent regions of Pennsylvania involved the men from the Army of Northern Virginia’s famed Second Corps, leading the way as Lee’s veteran soldiers advanced north toward their eventual showdown with the Union Army of the Potomac at the crossroads town of Gettysburg.
Lt. Gen. Richard S. Ewell had assumed command of this newly reorganized corps on June 1 as the successor to Lt. Gen. Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson, who succumbed on May 10 to complications from the accidental wounds he suffered eight days earlier at Chancellorsville. Ewell, who had finally recovered from the loss of his left leg less than a year before, returned to the army on May 29, arriving in the Fredericksburg area early that day on a train from Richmond. At the age of forty-six, Ewell now ranked as third in command of the army, behind only Lee and Lt. Gen. James Longstreet. His corps included the three divisions commanded by Maj. Gens. Jubal A. Early, Edward “Old Allegheny” Johnson, and Robert E. Rodes. 1
Ewell’s background gave every indication that he was well qualified for his new position. He was a native of Virginia and grew up on a farm near Manassas. After graduating from West Point in 1840 ranked thirteenth in his class, he fought in the Mexican War under Maj. Gen. Winfield Scott and was cited for gallantry during the fighting at Contreras and Churubusco. Ewell continued to serve in the U.S. Army after the war as an officer in the dragoons on the western frontier, eventually rising to the rank of captain. Baldheaded with bulging eyes and a distinct lisp to his speech, he remained a bachelor at the time that he joined the Confederate service in early 1861.
After briefly serving as a regimental commander, Ewell earned promotion to brigadier general in June of that year. As an experienced military man, he quickly rose to command a division under Stonewall Jackson. During the Shenandoah Valley Campaign in the spring of 1862, Ewell emerged as one of the leader’s most trusted subordinates, playing a key role in the major victories at Winchester (May 25) and Cross Keys (June 8). He again performed brilliantly during the subsequent fighting at Gaines’s Mill (June 27) and Malvern Hill (July 1) during the crucial Seven Days’ Campaign.
His service with Jackson was cut short when Ewell suffered a severe leg wound at Groveton during the Second Manassas Campaign that August. While recuperating from the amputation of his limb, the general courted and finally married his cousin, Lizinka Campbell Brown, the widow of a wealthy plantation owner from Mississippi. During his extended absence, Ewell wholeheartedly supported the promotion of General Early to take over his former division. Although he remained without a command of his own, Ewell had largely recovered from his injuries by early May 1863 and was ready to rejoi