January, 2015

An article on the Graffiti House appeared in Saturday, January 24’s edition of the Culpeper Star Exponent.

The article discusses the fact that more soldier graffiti has been found at the Graffiti House. If you read the article, you will note that our old pal, Useless Joe McKinney, the president of the Friends of the Graffiti House–this should be the name of the organization, not the Brandy Station Foundation–never once mentions preserving the battlefield at Brandy Station. His sole focus is on the Graffiti House.

Please don’t get me wrong: the Graffiti House is an important artifact, and so is the writing on the walls. But this organization’s charter says that its purpose is: “The Foundation is organized exclusively for charitable and educational purposes, with the primary purpose of protecting the historic rural character of the Brandy Station area of Culpeper County, Virginia, as set forth in the Articles of Incorporation dated March 6, 1989.” That’s all well and good, but the reason why the BSF was founded was to serve as the steward of the Brandy Station battlefield. The Brandy Station Foundation was once a proud battlefield preservation organization that played an integral role in saving the battlefield. However, under Useless Joe’s tenure as president, the BSF went from being the primary battlefield preservation organization in the area to appeasing those who want to destroy the battlefield.

It is a fact that the BSF stepped aside and allowed a local landowner to begin to develop critical battlefield into an illegal pond. When the bulldozers began moving earth to dam up Flat Run, the BSF stood by and did nothing. Instead, it took concerted action by former board members–who are now not even permitted to join the organization as members–to take it upon themselves to save Fleetwood Hill. It is a fact that the BSF issued this loathsome statement when that happened:

The strategic goals of the Brandy Station Foundation include “Preserv[ing] and protect[ing] the Brandy Station and Kelly’s Ford Battlefields and related sites of historical significance for the appreciation and education of future generations.”

The Foundation does not support commercial or residential development on historic battlefield property, and in the past has opposed developers before governmental agencies and in the courts. This last occurred in 2005 when Golden Oaks, a development company, purchased eighteen acres on the western approach to Fleetwood Hill with the intent of subdividing the land and building a dozen dwellings. In that endeavor the Foundation was successful and the Golden Oaks tract is now protected.

However, in pursuing our goals, we are mindful that landowners have certain rights with regard to the property that they own. As a result, we believe that it is generally not productive to officially oppose common property improvements, particularly when those improvements are reversible. Also, we do not oppose landowners who conduct agricultural activities on battlefield property. We freely acknowledge that such improvements and agricultural actions may be contrary to the personal views of some of our members and supporters.

Frequently landowners are required to obtain permits before making improvements or undertaking certain agricultural activities. We view the permit process primarily as an issue between the landowner and the governmental agency exercising legal or regulatory authority over the matter. However, the Board of Directors is prepared to consider each matter individually, and to provide the Brandy Station Foundation’s official position to the appropriate governmental agency if warranted.

We of the Brandy Station Foundation believe that all people, even those whose opinions or actions we may disagree with, should be treated with courtesy and respect.

In other words, it’s more important to make nice-nice with those who choose to destroy the battlefield–so long as the damage done is “reversible”–than it is to protect the battlefield that the organization admittedly was charged with stewarding. And since that time, its primary focus has been on the Graffiti House, on ghost hunting, and on relic hunting on the battlefield and not on preserving the battlefield proper. Why not just change the name of your organization to what it should be: Friends of the Graffiti House, stop pretending to be a battlefield stewardship organization, and leave preservation of the battlefield to those who actually care about it?

The Don Troiani painting, “The Gray Comanches”, depicted above (to see a larger version, click on the image), represents the pivotal charge of the 35th Battalion Virginia Cavalry against the 6th New York Light Independent Battery that took place in Flat Run Valley, a battle venue that would have been destroyed by the planned recreational lake. In the background is Mount Pony, to the south, and the church steeple identifies the hamlet of Brandy Station. In other words, if the former board members had not stepped in–when BSF did not–this battleground would have been destroyed.

Is saving graffiti more important than saving real battlefield?

It is also a fact that the thwarting of the development of the illegal pond directly led to the purchase of the crest of Fleetwood Hill by the Civil War Preservation Trust last year. The BSF played no role in those events, other than by committing some of the very worst abrogation of its duty of stewardship imaginable. Instead, it felt that appeasing a wealthy landowner was more important than preserving the battlefield. For shame–the organization has gone from being the model battlefield preservation organization to the Friends of the Graffiti House with no interest at all in the battlefield it is supposed to protect.

How this corrupt organization still has any credibility at all is a complete mystery.

We’re still watching you, Useless Joe and the Board of Appeasers. We haven’t gone away.

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I’ve known about this for months, but I was sworn to secrecy. I was involved in identifying these parcels and in determining their historic significance. I’m finally able to discuss some great news with you.

The Battle of Trevilian Station lasted two long, hot, bloody days. The two days’ battlefields were separate and distinct. A substantial portion of the first day’s battlefield has been saved. Pieces of the second day’s battlefield have been saved. Ad then an opportunity to purchase 52 extremely critical acres at Trevilian Station has emerged. Specifically, the 52 acres–four contiguous parcels of land–make up almost the entirety of the Union line of battle for the second day of the battle. Lt. Robert Williston fought his battery of horse artillery on this ground and earned a well-deserved Medal of Honor for his valor that day. Danne’s Store, occupied by Union sharpshooters, was set ablaze by a Confederate artillery shell. It sat on one of these critical parcels of land. These parcels also connect with the first day’s battlefield and mean that a very substantial portion of the core battlefield land at Trevilian Station has been preserved.

A large grant from the Commonwealth of Virginia makes this acquisition possible. It funds about 80% of the purchase price. The Trust is now looking to raise that remaining 20%. The parcels involved appear in yellow on the excellent Steve Stanley map that appears at the beginning of this article. Please click it to see a larger version of the map.

This is the release by the Civil War Preservation Trust:

Save 70 Acres at Trevilian Station!

As bloody combat raged for the second day at Trevilian Station, Lt. Edward Williston brought up Battery D of the 2nd U.S. Artillery to bolster a faltering line. Despite intense enemy musketry fire, Williston advanced, unlimbered his guns, and personally moved one 12-pounder into the line of fire. Round after round of canister plowed through the advancing Confederates. Enemy troops advanced right up to the muzzle of the gun, but Williston stood firm and ensured that the Union line held for as long as possible. For this act of “distinguished gallantry” in the largest and bloodiest all-cavalry battle of the war, he was awarded the Medal of Honor.

The Civil War Trust now has the opportunity to save the very land where Williston bravely manned his guns on the second day of this crucial battle. With your help, we have already saved over 1,700 acres at Trevilian Station. Now, we can bridge the gap between two of those already-saved parcels of land with a further 70 acres of hallowed ground. Thanks to a $5.34-to-$1 match, we only need to raise $102,625 to ensure that the legacy of all who fought and died at Trevilian Station is preserved forever.

Here’s Trust President Jim Lighthizer’s letter regarding this acquisition opportunity. I very much appreciate the very kind words that Jim says about my role in all of this and about my work:

Save 70 Acres at the Trevilian Station Battlefield
A MESSAGE FROM JIM LIGHTHIZER, CIVIL WAR TRUST PRESIDENT

Dear Friend and Valued Member,

I am sure you are aware of the phrase, “Getting the biggest bang for your buck.”

And I hope that, over the years, you have come to see the Civil War Trust as unique among other non-profit organizations in being able to make your donation dollar go farther than anyone else.

Well today, I need to brief you quickly on a situation that doesn’t just give you a big “bang” for your buck…

… no, it gives you a “ribcage-rattling-horse-artillery-boom” for your buck.

Today, to build on our tremendous past success at the Trevilian Station battlefield, will you help me turn every $1 donated today into $5.34 of crucial hallowed ground?

SAVE TREVILIAN STATION
Every $1 donated
multiplies into $5.34

Or, more specifically, will you help me raise just $102,625 in the next 45 days so that I can turn it into $587,000 and save 70 additional key acres of endangered hallowed ground at the Trevilian Station battlefield in Virginia…

…bringing to more than 2,000 acres the total amount of land preserved forever for future generations at this crucial Civil War battleground?

Before you answer, please look at the battle map I have for you, and let me walk you through a brief retelling of the history of this site:

June 11 and 12, 1864: The Battle of Trevilian Station was the largest all-cavalry battle of the Civil War.

The casualty rate for two days of fighting in scorching heat was 60 percent higher than at Brandy Station (which included some infantry troops), fought a year earlier and only 32 miles to the northeast.

Union Brigadier General George Armstrong Custer and his command of Michigan troopers, at one point finding themselves completely surrounded, saved themselves only through good luck and hard fighting, surviving what historian Eric Wittenberg has called “Custer’s First Last Stand.”

And the victory won there by Confederate Major General Wade Hampton (former cavalry commander J.E.B. Stuart was just barely cold in his grave) prevented Union General Phil Sheridan from making a strategic link with forces in the Shenandoah Valley, which could have forced Lee out of his Petersburg / Richmond defenses, possibly ending the war much earlier.

Ed Bearss, the preeminent Civil War historian of our time, says that “this battle was as important in the ’64 campaign as Brandy Station was in the ’63 campaign.”

Eric Wittenberg is the leading historian on this battle – and on most aspects of the cavalry in the Civil War – today. When I recently asked him to comment on the tremendous significance of this transaction to this battlefield, he jumped at the chance, saying:

“Although the Battle of Trevilian Station was fought over two days on two separate battlefields, the opportunity to acquire a 70-acre critical piece of pristine ground – the land immediately around Danne’s Store – is a major accomplishment by the Civil War Trust. This ground saw heavy fighting during the second day of the battle, but more importantly, it is a ‘bridge’ providing a crucial, unbroken link between previously separated wings of the second-day action, thus ensuring that no interloper can place a development between in this space and obliterate its significance. Acquisition of this land also means that the entire main Union position during the second day’s battle will be preserved.

“That makes this parcel of land as critical as any other parcel that has been acquired at Trevilian Station. That the Trust has already lined up more than $484,000 in matching funds (a $5.34-to-$1 match) only makes it easier for me to encourage anyone who can do so to make a contribution so as to facilitate the preservation of this critical and pristine piece of battlefield land for future generations.”

Trevilian Station Land Tract
70-acre tract of land the Civil War Trust has the opportunity to preserve at Trevilian Station. (Douglas Ullman)
Here are the details so that you can make an educated decision:

The Trust has successfully negotiated the purchase of a 70-acre tract of land that joins together key previously preserved parts of this battlefield – as Eric said – areas of heavy action on the second day of fighting… consider it a “land bridge.”

As I mentioned before, the fair-market purchase price for this hallowed ground is $587,000, or about $8,400 per acre – a good price for that part of Virginia, but still expensive. (Trevilian Station is located almost exactly between Richmond and the Shenandoah Valley, on the Virginia Central Railroad, so it was of key strategic importance to both armies in 1864.)

Development is already encroaching upon this battlefield… self-storage operations, a lumber yard, auto repair and body shops, etc.

And as much as it pains me to tell you this, it is the truth; if the Trust had to pay the full $587,000, even as important as this land is, I think my counsel to the Board of Trustees would be for us to walk away. Now that would be a knife through my heart, but I hold it as my duty to spend your money like it was my own, and there are a lot of places where $587,000 would save even more hallowed ground. But fortunately, we don’t have to pay full price. Not even close.

In this case, utilizing federal and state matching grants, we have $484,375 of the total amount already in process – that’s fully 82.5% of the transaction already fully funded, just waiting for us to raise the final 17.5% of the money.

My friend, in the world of battlefield preservation, it just doesn’t get much better – or easier – than this. If, in your personal business, retirement plan or private investing, you could turn $1 into $5.34, earning a 534% return on your dollar, wouldn’t you jump at that chance?

To restate the obvious, to get these 70 acres at Trevilian Station for an investment of just $102,625…I think you have to agree that we’re getting some serious bang, boom, crash and pow for our buck!

And we are protecting our previous investment by preventing future development that would mar forever the land we have already saved.

Over the years, we have been doggedly building upon our previous successes there, clawing land away from developers one acre at a time.

As you can clearly see from your map, we are making enormous progress. But this next 70-acre acquisition is crucial; it joins the two separated sections of the second-day’s battlefield, preventing forever development in the heart of this hallowed ground.

I cannot stress to you enough how important this is. Two hundred years from now, when people come to learn about this battle, it is imperative that the battlefield not be split in half by gas stations or warehouses, or otherwise paved over by rapacious developers who care nothing for our past and its heroes.

Would you come away from Shiloh with the same appreciation for that battle if there was a housing development between the Hornet’s Nest and Pittsburg Landing? How about if there was a complex of self-storage units between the Wheatfield and Pickett’s Charge at Gettysburg?

Again, don’t just take my word for it… here are a few closing words of wisdom from historian Eric Wittenberg on the incredible importance of this land:

“In short, these 70 acres are a linchpin to the entire battlefield at Trevilian Station. Seldom do such important parcels come on the market at a reasonable price, and this acquisition, combined with the Trust’s prior success, means that the entire Union line will be owned and preserved.”

SAVE TREVILIAN STATION
Every $1 donated
multiplies into $5.34

New scholarship on Trevilian Station now evaluates this battle as a pivotal moment in General Ulysses S. Grant’s 1864 strategy. A clear Union victory here would have undoubtedly hastened the end of the war. But after two days of brutal fighting and nearly 2,000 casualties, the Confederates held on, and hard war would grind on for another 10 brutal months.

I know this letter is getting long, but you should also know that Union Lt. Edward Williston unlimbered four guns of his horse battery directly on this property and fought from this position for the rest of the day. Years later – quite appropriately – Williston was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his conduct, fighting his guns at point-blank range all day.

That makes this unique site even more important to preserve, so that the next generations coming up behind you and me will have a place where they can learn about the courage, valor and gallantry of an American soldier.

You can make that happen, and I can multiply every $1 you send today by $5.34. I really need to raise our $102,625 portion of this terrific match as soon as possible, hopefully in the next 45 days.

Please, be as generous as you can today, and accept my deepest appreciation, in advance, for all that you are doing to help preserve our nation’s rich history and heritage.

Most sincerely yours,

Jim Lighthizer
President

P.S. Let me close with a short but meaningful excerpt from Eric Wittenberg’s Trevilian Station book, Glory Enough for All: Sheridan’s Second Raid and the Battle of Trevilian Station:

“…nothing is more moving or more poignant than standing among those quiet rows of small stones marked “unknown”… The silent graves of the Confederate and Union dead… provide the most striking and most important reminder of the ferocity of those two days in June 1864. The final resting places of soldiers who fought and died at Trevilian Station bear mute witness to the sacrifices made by the hot, parched horse soldiers of both sides who clashed in the largest all-cavalry battle of the American Civil War.”

Isn’t that exactly why we must save this land? Please let me hear from you today.

P.P.S. Please allow me a moment to make a shameless plug: Visit the Civil War Trust’s website to learn more about the Trevilian Station battlefield, and your role in saving it! Don’t miss a moment of the Civil War Trust’s battle to save hallowed ground all across America! Go to www.civilwar.org/trevilianstation15 to see maps, photos, articles and more!

Make an informed giving decision – read the rich history associated with this battlefield, the men, the maps, the flags, the photographs – and decide for yourself if you want to be part of the team that is working to save this site forever. Then, click on the “Donate Now” button to make your gift quickly and securely, helping the Civil War Trust ensure that we can utilize the state and federal matching funds. You will receive an e-mail confirmation of your gift in seconds. Thank you!

Please help us save this important battlefield land. If you would like to donate, please use this link. Thank you for your support.

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I found a fascinating publication while poking around on the Google Books site. Gen. Antoine Fortuné De Brack, a French cavalry general, published an outposting manual for use by the French cavalry. The third edition of his book was published in 1863, and was later translated and published by the United States Army in 1893. The introduction to this fascinating little volume contains General De Brack’s description of the importance of a light cavalryman:

One must be born a light-cavalryman. No other position requires so much natural aptitude, such innate genius for war, as that of an officer of that arm. The qualities which make the superior man–intelligence, will, force–should be found united in him. Constantly left dependent on himself, exposed to frequent combats, responsible not only for his own command, but as well for that which he protects and guards, the employment of his physical and moral powers is continuous. The profession which he practices is a rude one, but the opportunities of distinguishing himself are presented daily–glorious compensation which the more richly rewards his labors by enabling his true worth to become the sooner known.

The French cavalry in the first half of the Nineteenth Century was the finest the world had ever seen, and this description is fascinating.

I can’t help but wonder whether Dennis Hart Mahan, who wrote the U.S. manuals for cavalry, was aware of this little volume and whether he incorporated it into his teachings.

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One of my favorite projects of mine, and one of the projects I am most proud of, is my 2009 biography of Ulric Dahlgren, Like a Meteor Blazing Brightly: The Short but Controversial Life of Colonel Ulric Dahlgren. The book has been universally well received. Unfortunately, the publisher, Edinborough Press, lost its distributor, and even though I have always had inventory of them, it has not been available through Amazon or otherwise for quite a while now. Sadly, Edinborough’s efforts to obtain a new distributor have not been successful.

Dan Hoisington, the publisher at Edinborough, has graciously agreed to revert the publication rights to the book back to me, and I have struck a deal with my favorite publisher, Savas-Beatie, for the book to become generally available again. One of the many reasons why I love working with Savas-Beatie is its really outstanding distribution network, so the prior problem should not arise again.

In very short order, Savas-Beatie will make an eBook version of it available in all digital formats (Kindle, iPad, Android, Nook, etc.) for download. A 6 x 9 trade paperback of the book will be available later this year at a price yet to be determined. Once I know the date and the price, I will let everyone know.

In the interim, hardcover copies of the original edition of the book will continue to be available through me for the original price of $29.95, and are available either signed or unsigned. Please contact me directly to purchase those.

And Ted Savas and I are working on bringing back another old favorite of mine that has been out print for far too long. Stand by for important news on that soon…..

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Thanks to John M. Priest for the excellent review of The Devil’s to Pay: John Buford at Gettysburg. A History and Walking Tour that appeared in the December issue of The Civil War News:

“The Devil’s to Pay”: John Buford at Gettysburg: A History and Walking Tour. By Eric J. Wittenberg. Photos, maps, notes, bibliography, index, 286 pp., 2014, Savas Beatie, www.savasbeatie.com, $32.95.

Until the publication of Michael Shaara’s The Killer Angels and the public release of the movie “Gettysburg,” only students of the Civil War had known anything about Brig. Gen. John Buford and his Federal cavalry division at Gettysburg.

Eric Wittenberg in “The Devil’s to Pay” has separated the real story from the popular one and has brought to life John Buford and his stalwarts who bought precious time until the Union infantry could arrive on the battlefield.

A West Point graduate, the Kentucky-born Buford had relatives who fought for the Confederacy. Ironically, a fellow classmate, Gen. Henry Heth, would open the Confederate attack on July 1 against Buford and his troopers.

Wittenberg meticulously describes the ties within the Buford family that the war tore asunder.

From there he goes into the opening shots by the cavalry on June 30 and carries the story through the end of July 2 when Buford’s division was relieved of duty.

He finishes the narrative with an analysis of Buford’s performance on the field and a detailed walking/driving tour of the cavalry positions on the field.

This book, which I could not put down, has completely changed my perspective on the role of Buford’s cavalry on July 1 and 2.

Without giving away everything I learned from this carefully crafted work, I will share a few of the generally unknown “gems” that I mined from its pages.

A.P. Hill, commanding the Army of Northern Virginia’s Third Corps, and his division commander Heth had decided the day before the battle to engage what they believed to be local militia despite orders not to bring on a general engagement.

Buford’s men, through very effective scouting as they approached Gettysburg, had gathered enough intelligence to inform Union Gen. John Reynolds of what to expect before the infantry advanced on Gettysburg.

Brig. Gen. Thomas Devin’s cavalry brigade engaged Gen. Robert Rodes’ division of Richard Ewell’s 2nd Corps before the Union 11th Corps arrived on the right of the Army of the Potomac. There is so much more to glean from this narrative that makes it worth exploring.

Wittenberg has skillfully filled a historical void in the Gettysburg story and has defined what really happened to Buford and his cavalrymen on that fateful July 1.

While historians have portrayed Buford as a visionary cavalryman, the author has cleared away the mythology surrounding him and has preserved for future generations an honest assessment of a solid, no-nonsense professional officer and the troopers who followed him.

The numerous citations from letters, memoirs and diaries, both military and civilian, make the action come alive. The flowing narrative involves readers in the heat of battle.

After reading this book, Gettysburg visitors should be able to stand before the monuments along the cavalry line and vividly remember the men they represent.

“The Devil’s to Pay” is essential reading for everyone, Civil War enthusiasts and novices, interested in the Battle of Gettysburg or Civil War cavalry.

John Michael Priest

I am humbled by Mike’s kind words and appreciate them a great deal. Please be sure to check out Mike’s latest, Stand to It and Give Them Hell: Gettysburg as the Soldiers Experienced it from Cemetery Ridge to Little Round Top, July 2, 1863, which is quite a good book in its own right.

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I apologize for not having posted much recently. I’m deeply immersed in writing mode, working on my latest book project, which addresses the first day of the Battle of Chickamauga, September 18, 1863, with a particular focus on the covering force actions conducted by Col. Robert H. G. Minty’s Saber Brigade at Reed’s Bridge, and Col. John T. Wilder’s Lightning Brigade at Alexander’s Bridge. I’ve written about 120 pages so far, and it’s coming right along. But it’s been pretty much all-consuming.

Even in this age of easy access to digital research, you can’t get everything. Things get digitized too late to be of use. Or they don’t turn up in keyword searches. Or sometimes, you just plain miss things.

Chief Judge Edmund A. Sargus, Jr. of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio is not only a member of the Federal bench, he’s also very interested in the life and career of Capt. Thomas Drummond of the 5th U.S. Cavalry, a former U.S. Senator from Iowa, who was killed in action at the April 1, 1865 Battle of Five Forks. Judge Sargus brought a source to my attention that escaped me during both rounds of research for both editions of Gettysburg’s Forgotten Cavalry Actions, and which I really wish I had had when doing them. Since I didn’t have them, but because they are so interesting, I want to share them with you here.

First is a letter by Maj. Gen. Alfred Pleasonton, the commander of the Army of the Potomac’s Cavalry Corps, to Congressman (and former Brigadier General) John F. Farnsworth, the uncle of fallen Brig. Gen. Elon J. Farnsworth. Pleasonton’s toadying with John Farnsworth was largely responsible for the removal of Maj. Gen. Julius Stahel from command of the cavalry division that became the Army of the Potomac’s Third Cavalry Division not long before the Battle of Gettysburg (Stahel outranked Pleasonton and would have been entitled to corps command by virtue of that seniority). That toadying was also largely responsible for Elon Farnsworth’s promotion from obscure captain to brigadier general. After Elon Farnsworth fell leading the eponymous charge, Pleasonton sent this letter to John Farnsworth, who appears in the photograph below:

Headqrs. Cav. Corps Army of the Potomac
July 6th, 1863

Gen. J. F. Farnsworth:

Dear General:

I deeply regret to announce to you the death of Brig. Gen. Farnsworth, late Captain 8th Illinois Cavalry. He was killed while leading a charge of his brigade against the enemy’s infantry in the recent battle of Gettysburg. His death was glorious. He made the first grand charge against the enemy’s infantry–broke them–when found, his body was pierced with five bullets, nearly a mile in rear of the enemy’s line.

He has been buried in the [Evergreen] Cemetery in Gettysburg, and the grave is properly marked. The enemy stripped the body to the undershirt–an unheard of piece of vandalism, as the General was in his proper dress.

Accept my warmest sympathy. You know my estimate of our late friend and companion in arms. We have, however, a consolation in his brilliant deeds in the grandest battle of the war.

Very truly yours,

A. Pleasonton

Pleasonton could afford to be gracious–the Army of the Potomac had won a major battle, and his cavalry had done well. And he owed a large debt to John Farnsworth.

Elon Farnsworth was wearing a brigadier general’s shell jacket lent to him by Pleasonton when he fell. Pleasonton was correct in saying that Farnsworth was “in his proper dress” when he fell.

The second letter was written by Capt. Thomas Drummond, which is why it caught Judge Sargus’ attention.

Gen. J. F. Farnsworth:

Gen.:

You have already heard of the death of your nephew, Gen. E. J. F., killed in the action on the 3rd. I was with him not five minutes before he fell, gallantly charging the the enemy’s infantry at the head of two of his regiments. His body was brought in last night, and at 3 a.m. of the day, I buried him with one of his captains, each in a good, rough box, in the Gettysburg Cemetery. He was shot through the pelvis, and had two balls through the left leg, one of which shattered his ankle.

Farnsworth’s loss is mourned by all. He had just got his star, and fell in a gallant endeavor to prove to his new men his right to wear it. While by the light of a single lantern I dug his grave, instinctively the lines of Sir John Moore’s burial at Corunna came in my mind.

“We buried him darkly at dead of night,
The sods with our bayonets turning,
By the moonbeam’s misty struggling light,
And our lanterns dimly burning.

Slowly and sadly we laid him down,
From the field of his fame fresh and gory;
We carved not a line, we raised not a stone,
But we left him alone in his glory.”

T. Drummond
Capt. and Prov. Marshal Cavalry Corps

John Farnsworth came to Gettysburg later that month to retrieve the remains of his nephew and to take them home to Rockton, Illinois, where they were buried in Rockton Cemetery. The photo to the left is the monument on Elon Farnsworth’s grave. You can see a larger version of this image by clicking on it.

Prior to seeing this source, I had never seen anything that said that Farnsworth had been shot through the pelvis, or that his ankle had been shattered by a ball. Given that he was mounted when shot by infantry, who had to aim high to hit him, it makes sense that these wounds would have been sustained in the bottom half of his body, and and that there would have been no evidence of him having shot himself in the head, as some claimed.

I’ve always claimed that Elon Farnsworth was the ONLY Union general to fall behind enemy lines while leading an attack during the entire Civil War, and Pleasonton bears out what I’ve always said. It really is a shame that the monument that the veterans of Farnsworth’s brigade had wanted to erect to him was not put up, as he is the only Union general officer to fall on the field at Gettysburg who does not have a monument of some sort to him on the battlefield.

Thanks to Judge Sargus for bringing this fascinating material to my attention. I only regret that I didn’t have it to include in my book.

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