Dahlgren Goes to the Printer Tomorrow

Bill,

While there’s plenty there with just the raid, there are the following, in no particular order:

1. You would be hard-pressed to find an unrelated junior officer in the history of this country who had more and more unfettered access to the Oval Office than did Ully Dahlgren.

2. As a 20-year-old civilian, Dahlgren led an expedition to Harpers Ferry in June 1862 as a consequence of his expertise with large bore guns like the Dahlgren gun. He was commissioned a captain at the end of that expedition and ended up the de facto chief of artillery for an infantry corps for most of his career. Pretty remarkable, having an untrained civilian giving orders to regular artillerists and earning their respect.

3. There were few, if any, bolder or more effective scouts than Dahlgren. No raid was dangerous enough. He did tremendous work during the Gettysburg Campaign that cost him his leg.

4. Hooker had sent him along with the excursion that became the Battle of Brandy Station, and Dahlgren joined the charge of the 6th Pennsylvania Cavalry at St. James Church, and ended up rallying and leading them back after their commander’s horse went down and he was captured.

5. Finally, there’s the fact that Admiral Dahglren was a pack rat and kept every scrap of paper. There is a massive record in Ully Dahlgren’s own words, which makes this biography unusual.

Eric