1864 November 26: Election Returns from the 10th Battery and the 44th Infantry, Sheridan Promoted, McClellan Resigns

The following small articles are from The Polk County Press of November 26, 1864.  The Prescott Journal published only two pages on the 26th, the front page being all advertisements and the second page being all county government business.

– POPULAR VOTED.–Lincoln’s majority on the popular vote is over 400,000.  This is the largest popular majority ever given any President of the United States.  [Abraham Lincoln]

From the Tenth Wis. Battery.

MARIETIA, Ga., Nov. 10, 1864.

SAM. S. FIFIELD, JR.—Dear Sir :—I comply with your request and hasten to forward to you the result of our election. The number of votes cast by Polk County boys was nine.  Of this number Lincoln received 9 ;  McIndoe 9 ;  Stuntz 9 ;  and Nason and Fisk 9.  Mack nary a vote [George B. McClellan].  You will perceive that we vote in the same direction we shoot.

You may look for stiring [sic] news from this army within the next two months.  We are stripping ourselves for the fight again, and if this rebellion does not receive blows that will make the cursed traitors cry enough, then I am fearfully mistaken—that’s all.  Boys all well.  Yours truly,

O. A. CLARK,
Tenth Wisconsin Battery.

– FRONTIER PROTECTION.–General SIBLEY has stationed a company of cavalry at Chengwatona, Pine Co., Minn.  [Henry Hastings Sibley]

– Pierce County gives Lincoln 300 majority.  Every town gives Union majority, which is a heavy gain.

– From the 44th Regiment.–Our friend Seth Ayers writes us under the 12th inst., from Nashville, Tenn.  All the boys were well.  The election among the soldiers was all one way, Lincoln receiving four-fifths of the votes.  The Polk Co. boys in the regiment voted as follows:

Lincoln 6, [Walter D.] McIndoe 6, Stuntz 3, & Nason 3.  Democratic nary one.

– Ten thousand prisoners are now being exchanged at Savannah, Ga.

 – An engineer officer says that Sheridan [Philip H. Sheridan] has captured in the Valley one mile and 82 yards of artillery, an average of two pieces a day since he took command.  [Shenandoah Valley]

Congratulatory Dispatch from Gen. GRANT

The Washington Star publishes the following dispatch from Gen. Grant [Ulysses S. Grant] :

To Hon. E. M. Stranton :

CITY POINT, Nov. 10, 1864, 10:80 P.M.–Enough now seems to be known to say who is to hold the reins of Government for the next years.  Congratulate the President for me for the double victory.  The election having passed off quietly—no bloodshed or riot throughout the land—is a victory worth more to the country than a battle won.  Rebelldom [sic] and Europe will construe it.

U. S. GRANT, Lt. Gen.

 

Little Mac Resigns—Sheridan Promoted.

NEW YORK, Nov. 16.

GENERAL ORDERS 282.

WAR DEPARTMENT,  }
Washington, Nov. 14, 64 }

Ordered by the President :

1st.  That the resignation of Geo. B. McClellan, as Major General in the United States army, dated Nov. 8th, and received by the Adjutant Gen. is the 10th inst., be accepted as of the 8th of November.

2nd.  That for personal gallantry, military skill, and trust in the courage and patriotism of his troops, displayed by Philip H. Sheridan in the battle of Cedar Run, whereby, under the blessing of Providence, his routed army was re-organized, a great national disaster avoided, and a brilliant victory achieved over the rebels for the third days, Philip H. Sheridan is appointed Major General in the U.S. Army to rank as such from the 8th of November, 1864.

By order of the President of the United States.
.                                  .E. D. Townsend, A. A. G.

1864 September 26: Jerry Flint — “The cavalry at this post is ordered to prepare for the field immediately but its destination is of course a secret”

A letter from Jerry Flint with the 4th Wisconsin Cavalry in Louisiana, to his brother Phin (Phineas) in River Falls, Wisconsin.  The original letter is in the Jerry E. Flint Papers (River Falls Mss BN) at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, University Archives and Area Research Center.

Be warned that the “N” word was used by Jerry in his letter. The University of Wisconsin-River Falls  does not condone the use of this language but includes it as an accurate reflection of society during the Civil War.

Camp 4^th Wis Cavalry
Baton Rouge La Sept 26^th 1864

Dear Brother

                            I received a letter from you several days ago but being unwell at the time I was obliged to postpone answering it immediately.  Lt. Knowles [Warren P. Knowles] is to start for River Falls in a few days, and I will improve the opportunity to send a letter by him.

All the company property is turned over to me and I am now Commanding Company.  It is rather more responsibility than I like to have, but shall have to stand it.  Our sick men in the Hospital are to receive furloughs and I suppose you will soon see them up there.  Some of them are rather to [sic] healthy looking, in my opinion, to be used that way when better men have to do their duty for them.  But I am not “boss” of these things.  It is now approaching the termination of the sickly season, and I think that men who stand it through this month will come out all right.  Such has been my experience in this Country at any rate.

Charley¹ is quite unwell but I am in hopes he will not be seriously ill.  I cannot forbear to again express my high appreciation of him as a soldier.  He is no shirk, but always ready and willing.  In fact, he will do duty many times when he is unable rather than be reported sick.  He stands very high with the veterans, and that is saying considerable in favor of a recruit.  Whitefield is in very good health and has been most of the time.  I have but little opportunity to see much of his actions, as I do not tent near him and the rest of the boys would not say anything before me.  But at any rate he is not quite as noisey [sic] as formerly.  Rossie [Roswell V. Pratt] is the same good boy as ever, and if possible I am going to have him tent with me while Warren is gone.  I think him one of the treasures of earth.  Henry has been “shaking” some but I think it will not last him long.

The cavalry at this post is ordered to prepare for the field immediately but its destination is of course a secret known only to our Leaders.  If we start as soon as expected I shall probably to not get an opportunity to write again very soon.  Times are very busy just previous to starting on an expidition [sic] !  Our sabres are all to be ground sharp and all equipment put in perfect order.

The boys talk politics considerable now the “Chicago Platform” being distributed freely through the camp.  McClellan [George B. McClellan] stock does not run into very high figures, but still it has some “bidders.”  His letter of acceptance is sound enough but the platform upon which he stands I do not think can bear him up through the canvass.  He is a very good man but has fell into bad company.  I believe him a much sounder man than Freemont [sic: John C. Frémont].  I think I shall vote for Abraham [Abraham Lincoln] although I did want to cast a big vote for Benjamin.²

We have not been paid yet and the boys are begginning to get wrathy of over the matter.  It is useless though to growl and we will try and console ourselves that there will be the move coming by and by.

A friend from Natchez lent me ten dollars to day which will enable me to procure postage and I have paper enough for present purposes which I drew of the Quartermaster.

I received a letter from Helen³ last night.  She was staying at Uncle Arial’s while they were visiting with “you all” (Niggertalk).  Give my love to Grandmother & Aunt Lydia and in fact all the family.  Tell Mother I have not forgotten her if I have not written as much as I should have done.  I will do better as soon as I can.  My love to Elmira and Little Lucy.  Tell Lucy to write to me.

It is Sunday evening and I imagine the folks having a sing at Uncl [sic] Joseph’s.  How a person’s memory will go back sometimes and dwell on old scenes and associations.  But it will not do to reflect, for when the man becomes unmaned [sic]⁴ he will make but a poor soldier.  Thoughts of peace and the happy days of old hardly correspond with my present surroundings, and should not be indulged in too much.

The chaplain⁵ had preaching to-night in front of his tent, but I did not go over for he is a bigger fool than I am, and that is certainly useless foolishness.

Well tattoo⁶ sounded some time ago and I am beginning to yawn.  So hoping this may find you well and enjoying a reasonable proportion of God’s choisest [sic] blessings I remain as ever

Your affectionate Brother
.                              .Jerry

1.  Charles G. Knowles was the “Charley” who was a recent recruit.  Charles P. Nichols has also been referred to by Jerry in letters as “Charley,” but he was a veteran.
2.  General Benjamin Butler, a prominent Radical Republican who was considered as a possible opponent of Lincoln. Butler was an ally of Lincoln and early in 1864 Lincoln had asked Butler to run as his Vice President.
3.  Jerry’s and Phin’s sister.
4.  Today we generally think of unmanned space craft, or something similar. But unmanned can also mean a person deprived of qualities traditionally associated with men, such as self-control or courage, which are important attributes in war.
5.  George W. Honey, from Sheboygan Falls.
6.  A tattoo is a drum version of taps–which is the bugle version—and lets the soldiers know that it is “lights out” time, or time to go into quaters.

Jerry Flint letter of September 26, 1864, from the Jerry E. Flint Papers (River Falls Mss BN) at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls University Archives & Area Research Center

1864 September 17: McClellan’s Acceptance Speech

The following is also from the September 17, 1864, issue of The Prescott Journal.

THE CHICAGO NOMINEE.

McClellan’s Letter of Acceptance. 

Made up of Glittering Generalities. 

Copperhead Platform Avoided. 

No Dissent Expressed from it. 

Union Must be Preserved. 

Peace on any Other Basis is Impossible. 

NEW YORK, Sept. 8.

The Committee appointed by the Chicago Convention to notify Gen. McClellan [George B. McClellan] of his nomination, met this morning at the St. Nicholas Hotel.  Nearly all the members of the committee were present.  At one o’clock the committee left the hotel and proceeded in carriages to the mansion of Gen. McClellan in 81st street where they were received by the General and Col. Lansing.  After the ceremony of introduction and a brief interview, the committee presented to General McClellan a copy of the proceedings of the Chicago Convention and a letter advising him of his nomination.

The General accepted the nomination, and his letter to that effect is a as follows :

ORANGE, N. J. Sept. 8.

To Hon. Horatio Seymour and others, Committee, etc. :

GENTLEMEN—I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter informing me of my nomination by the Democratic National Convention recently held at Chicago, as their candidate at the next election for President of the United States.

It is unnecessary for me to say to you that this nomination comes to me unsought.  I am happy to know that when the nomination was made, the record of my public life was kept in view.  The effect of long and varied service in the army, during war and peace, has been to strengthen and make indelible in my mind and heart the love and reverence for the Union, Constitution, laws and flag of our country impressed upon me in early youth.  These feelings have thus far guided the course of my life, and must continue to do so until its end.  The existence of more than one Government over the region which once owned our flag is incompatible with the peace, the power, and the happiness of the people.  The preservation of our Union was the sole avowed object for which the war was commenced.  It should have been conducted for that object only, and in accordance with these principles which I took occasion to declare when in active service.  Thus conducted the work of reconciliation would have been easy, and we might have reaped the benefits of our many victories on land and sea.

The Union was originally formed by the exercise of a spirit of conciliation and compromise.  To restore and preserve it, the same spirit must prevail in our councils and in the hearts of the people.  The re-establishment of the Union, in all its integrity, is and must continue to be the indispensable condition in any settlement.  So soon as it is clear and even probable, that our present adversaries are ready for peace, upon the basis of the Union, we should exhaust all the resources of statesmanship practiced by civilized nations, and taught to the traditions of the American people, consistent with the honor and interests of the country, to secure such peace, re-establish the Union, and guarantee for the future the constitutional rights of every State.  The Union is the one condition of peace–we ask no more.

Let me add what I doubt not was, although unexpressed, the sentiment of the Convention, as it is of the people they represent, that when any one State is willing to return to the Union, it should be received at once, with a  full guarantee of all its constitutional rights.  If a frank, earnest and persistent effort to obtain those objects should fail, the responsibility for superior consequences will fall upon those who remain in arms against the Union.  But the Union must be preserved at all hazards.  I could not look in the face of my gallant comrades of the army and navy, who have survived so many bloody battles, and tell them that their labors and the sacrifice of so many of our slain and wounded brethren had been in vain; that we had abandoned that Union for which we had so often periled our lives.  A vast majority of our people, whether in the army and navy or at home, would, as I would, hail with unbounded joy the permanent restoration of peace, on the basis of the Union under the Constitution without the effusion of another drop of blood.  But no peace can be permanent without Union.

As to the other subjects presented in the resolutions of the Convention, I need only say that I should seek, in the Constitution of the United States, and the laws framed in accordance therewith, the rule of my duty, and the limitations of Executive power; endeavor to restore economy in public expenditure, re-establish the supremacy of law, and by the operation of a more rigorous nationality, resume our commanding position among the nations of the earth.  The conditions of our finances, the depreciation of the paper money, and the burdens thereby imposed on labor and capital, upon the necessity of a return to a sound financial system; while the rights of citizens and the rights of States, and the binding authority of law over President, Army and People, are subjects of not less vital importance in war than in peace.

Believing that the views here expressed are those of the Convention and the people you represent, I accept the nomination.  I realize the weight of the responsibility to be borne, should the people ratify your choice.  Conscious of my own weakness, I can only seek fervently the guidance of the Ruler of the Universe, and, relying on His all-powerful aid, do my best to restore union and peace to a suffering people, and to establish and guard their liberties and rights.

I am, gentlemen,
. . . . . . .Very respectfully,
. . . . . . . . . . .Your obed’t servant,
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .GEO. B. McCLELLAN.

1864 September 17: McClellan’s Nomination, the Chicago Platform, and a Copperhead Conspiracy

The following reprinted article from the New York Herald appeared in the September 17, 1864, issue of The Prescott Journal.

The New York Herald on McClellan’s Nomination. 

MCCLELLAN MUST REPUDIATE THE PLATFORM, OR HE IS LOST. 

The Copperhead Conspiracy to Inaugurate a Revolt in the North. 

The New York Herald, the most widely circulated, and the most influential Democratic newspaper in the United States, thus speaks of the Chicago peace platform, the nomination of Gen. McClellan [George B. McClellan], and the Copperhead conspiracy to inaugurate an insurrection in the North.  The force of the article is not diminished by the fact that the Herald is a violent opponent of the Administration and for some time past has been advocating an armistice.  But the proposition for an “immediate cessation of hostilities” is a step beyond where it is willing to go :

THE PRESIDENTIAL QUESTION—SHALL WE HAVE
AN INSURRECTION AT THE NORTH ?

We have not the slightest doubt that there is a mutual understanding between the Seymours [Thomas H. Seymour], the Woods [Fernando Wood], Vallandigham [Clement L. Vallandigham] and the rebels. This understanding is shown in the secession platform adopted by the Chicago Convention, and in the nomination of Mr. Pendleton [George H. Pendleton], of Ohio—who is a practical secessionist—for Vice President. We have now driven the rebels completely to the wall. Gen. Grant [Ulysses S. Grant] has the best of them at Richmond, and General Sherman [William T. Sherman] has succeeded in capturing Atlanta. This is not the time, then, that any reasonable man would be talking about ” an immediate cessation of hostilities.” We are in favor of an armistice, like that between Prussia and Denmark, where both sides hold their ground and are ready to begin the conflict at any moment, but there is a vast deal of difference between such an armistice and the “immediate cessation of hostilities” which the Chicago platform requires. Nothing can explain such a platform except the hypothesis that it was dictated by Jeff. Davis [Jefferson Davis] to the peace Democrats, and that these peace men foisted it upon the Chicago Convention as the price of their endorsement of General McClellan’s nomination.

For three years past the Herald has sustained and defended the hero of Antietam.  We have done full justice to his generalship, his statesmanship, his honesty and his patriotism.  But when McClellan takes his stand upon a cowardly peace platform, we are at a loss how to follow him and defend him.  This the General has not yet done, and we hope that he will never be foolish enough to do it.  We advise and urge him to come out boldly and declare that his only platform is his past record as a Union General, and that his sentiments are those expressed in his letter from Harrison’s Landing and his  at West Point.  If he hesitates to do this he is lost.  There must be no prevarication nor equivocation.  The rotten Chicago platform must be kicked to pieces, and McClellan’s own platform substituted.  He had better a thousand fold decline the nomination than to accept it upon such conditions as those imposed by the Convention.  The Chicago Platform invites defeat, it must be broken up, either by McClellan himself or by the voice of the people at the polls.

We candidly and sincerely believe that the peace copperheads at the North do not desire election of McClellan any more than the Southern secessionists declared the election of Douglas [Stephen A. Douglas] or Breckenridge [sic: John C. Breckinridge] in 1860.—They bitterly opposed McClellan at Chicago, and openly denounced him as a tyrant and a usurper.  Finally they accepted him upon condition that they should have the platform and the Vice President.  But even now the copperheads are not earnest in his support.  There is no saying but that Mr. Lincoln may be elected by a small majority and in that event the Copperheads intend to raise a revolution at the North.  This they can very readily do if the people do not beware of the trap.  Suppose the election to be decided by only a few thousand votes, then the Democratic minority will be nearly as strong as the Republican majority.  In fact, the minority will be stronger ;  for the Democrats will fight, while the Abolitionists will not.  What then is to hinder a revolution ?  Is it the army ?  The moment the army is withdrawn to put down an insurrection here the rebels will come out of their intrenchments and capture Washington.  This, as we understand it, is part of the Copperhead plan, and if successful it will put an end to the Government of the country.

That this idea of a vast northern conspiracy between the copperheads and the rebels is no more bugbear, is evident from the fact that the Chicago Convention, instead of adjourning sine die,¹ as conventions usually do, adjourned to meet again at the call of the Executive Committee.  This is equivalent to the organization of a revolutionary body.  Our merchants and capitalists so consider it ;  for they are closing up business, shipping their goods back to Europe, turning their property into gold, sending their property across the water, and in every way preparing to leave the country as soon as the revolution begins.  These movements are not to be lightly considered.  They mean mischief and show that trouble is brewing.  Gen. McClellan can avert that trouble and restore public confidence if he have the pluck and sagacity to ignore the Chicago platform and come out boldly as a Jackson Democrat on the platform of  his past record.  Then he will have a fair chance of election, because he will not be bound to a cowardly policy if he be elected.  But what could Washington himself do if he were to pledge to negotiate for “an immediate cessation of hostilities ?”  The Chicago platform will encourage the rebels to hold out until election, and, as things stand at present, the Peace Copperheads have promised them one of two things :  either the election of Mr. Lincoln and a Northern insurrection—in which case the rebels will have the upper hand of us ;  or, in the event of McClellan’s election, “an immediate cessation of hostilities,” in which case the rebels will have everything their own way.  General McClellan can destroy these schemes by framing his own platform out of it.  Then a northern insurrection will be impossible ;  and, if the people do their duty in the meantime, there will be no rebellion left to make terms with, and no Jeff. Davis in existence to receive an offer for “an immediate cessation of hostilities.”  This is as great a crisis as that as Harrison’s Landing or at Antietam.  Let Little Mac² reflect deeply and act wisely.

1.  A Latin phrase meaning to adjourn with no future date of meeting assigned.
2.  “Little Mac” was a nickname for McClellan.

1864 September 3: The Battles of Globe Tavern, Second Ream’s Station, Killdeer Mountain, and the End of the Siege of Fort Morgan

Following are the “News” columns from The Prescott Journal and The Polk County Press of September 3, 1864.

Battle of Globe Tavern, also known as the Second Battle of Weldon Railroad, was fought August 18-21, 1864.  It was the second attempt of the Union Army to sever the Weldon Railroad during the Siege of Petersburg, and was the first Union victory in the Richmond-Petersburg Campaign.

The Second Battle of Ream’s Station was fought August 25, 1864.  A Union force under General Winfield S. Hancock began destroying part of the Weldon Railroad, which was a vital supply line for the Confederate army in Petersburg.  General A. P. Hill was sent to challenge Hancock and the Confederates were able to rout the Union troops from their fortifications at Reams Station. They lost a key portion of the railroad, however, which caused logistical problems for the rest of the Richmond-Petersburg Campaign.

The Siege of Fort Morgan, at the mouth of Mobile Bay, began on August 9 and was broken on August 23, 1864.

In the Battle of Killdeer Mountain on July 28, 1864, General Alfred Sully defeated about 1,600 Dakota warriors.  After the battle the Sioux, along with their women and children, scattered into the Badlands west of Killdeer Mountain, near where the present-day South Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota.  Sully had around 2,200 troops and lost only 5 dead and 10 wounded.  The Dakota, led by Sitting Bul and Galll, had around 1,600 warriors and the estimated casualties were 31-100 dead.

From The Prescott Journal:

THE NEWS.

— GEO. B. McCLELLAN and GEO. H. PENDELTON¹ of Ohio, are the Democratic nominees for President and Vice Pres’t.

— There has been a series of terrible battles near Petersburg for the possession of the Weldon Railroad, in which our forces won signal advantages.

— Fort Morgan, in Mobile Bay, has been taken by our forces.  It was the most important of the rebel defenses.

The war news generally is very favorable, and, Gold has declined 14 cents.

News Paragraphs

Gen. Stoneman [George Stoneman, Jr.], captured during a recent raid in Georgia, has been sent to Charleston S. C., where it is said the exchange of prisoners is being regularly carried on.

Gen. Sherman [William T. Sherman], commanding the Federal forces before Atlanta, has been appointed a Major General in the regular army, to fill the vacancy caused by the promotion of General Grant [Ulysses S. Grant].

James G. Blewitt, editor of the Gallatin County Democrat, published at Shawneetown, Ill., has been arrested by military authority, on charge of disloyalty, and placed in the guard-house at Paducah.

The steamer Courier, with a cargo of naval stores, was burned at Mound City on Monday evening.  The steamer was owned in Memphis and St. Louis, valued at $50,000 and insured for $23,000.

Lieut. Col. Johnson, 2nd Ky., overtook the rebel Adam Johnson’s [“Stovepipe” Johnson] forces at Canton, Ky., on the 22nd, while attempting to cross the river, killed 15, wounded a large number, and captured 100.  Adam Johnson is severely wounded and a prisoner.

Marshal Murray of New York, on Tuesday seized 32 cases containing from 50 to 80 revolvers each of the Savage Arms Company.  The revolvers were part of  a lot purchased in New York for the Sons of Liberty in Indiana, and were awaiting shipment.

The Natchez Courier of the 16th notices the shipments of the first bale of cotton sent from that market this season.  It was raised on an abandoned plantation opposite Natchez and is of excellent quality.  Cotton picking has already commenced at the plantations along the river.  The present favorable appearance promises an abundant crop.

The New Orleans True Delta is informed by officers of Farragut’s [David G. Farragut] fleet that the action had hardly closed before boats loaded with vegetables and fruits, which the owners were anxious to sell, came off to the vessels.  They would not receive Confederate money, but clutched greenbacks and postage currency eagerly.  An officer offered one of them a silver quarter for a large melon.  The poor fellow fell overboard in his frantic efforts to grasp the coin.

From The Polk County Press:

The News.

From GRANT’S Army, we have several engagements reported.  The struggle has been for the Weldon Road.  The battle commenced in earnest on Thursday the 25th ult.,—when the rebels attacked Hancock north of Reams Station, but his brave troops held their ground, repulsing the enemy disastriously [sic] in several charges.  At this date Gen. GRANT in his dispatches to the government states :  “The loss of this road seems to be a blow which the enemy can’t stand.  I think I don’t overstate the enemy’s loss in the last two weeks at 10,000 killed and wounded.”

Later dated dates bring the news of an attack on Wednesday in which the rebels made four desperate attacks on GRANT’S forces on the Weldon railroad, but were repulsed each time with great loss.  The fifth assault, however, was partially successful, our forces being compelled to abandon a portion of the road.

Our army, however, had totally destroyed the road—which, if we may judge by his struggles, is indeed the throat of the rebellion’s best General.

From SHERMAN’S army there is not much news.  The rebel Wheeler [Joseph Wheeler] has been on a raid on his communications but as yet, has done no material damage.  SHERMAN is slow but sure.

From the Gulf Department we have good news.  Fort Morgan which commands the entrance of Mobile harbor, has fallen into our hands.  The particulars have not yet been received.

From the Indian War we have the pleasure of recording a brilliant victory over the red-skins by Gen. SULLY.  He came upon a camp of 1,600 lodges, drove them from a strong position, killing large numbers, destroying large quantities of provisions, and with but slight loss to his command.

There is several skirmishes reported in the Shenandoah valley between SHERIDAN [Philip H. Sheridan] and the “rebs.”  The rebels are reported as falling back towards Richmond.

Gold has taken a downward flight.  It stood 265 all last week.  It commenced falling on the 18th ult., and continued to drop until it reached 235 on the 31st.  On the 2nd inst., however, it again advanced to 239.

The greatest sensation of the day, however, has been the Chicago Convention.  It has not run as harmoniously as some anticipated, but has finally completed its work, having nominated Geo. B. McCLELLAN, of New York, for President, and Geo. H. PENDLETON, of Ohio, for Vice President.  We have not time nor space for further mention—but shall have hereafter.

1.  George Hunt Pendleton (1825-1889), nicknamed “Gentleman George,” was a U.S. Representative (1857-1865) and U. S. Senator (1879-1885) from Ohio who ran for Vice President alongside George McClellan on the Democratic ticket against Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson in 1864.

1864 August 27: Barrett, Beardsley, Brainard, Dahlgren, Grant, Lincoln, McClellan, an Empress and a Texas Deck

Following are the smaller news items from the August 27, 1864, issue of The Prescott Journal.

DEATHS.

In Hospital, at New Orleans, of Chronic Diarrhea, June 19th, 1864, Cyrus Beardsley, Sergeant in Co. I, 153d Regt., N. Y. Volunteers, aged 34 years and 8 months.

The deceased came to Prescott in 1853, and returned to New York, his native State, in 1860, leaving many friends in this county.  He enlisted in September, 1862, and performed the duties of a soldier and christian [sic] faithfully.

Death loves a shining mark.¹

  Recruiting is still going on, and the prospect is favorable for filling the quotas in most of the towns in this County.  Let the good work continue.

ADMIRAL DAHLGREN’S DEFENSE OF HIS SON.—Admiral Dahlgren [John A. Dahlgren] has written a touching letter defending the character of his son against the imputations attempted to be cast upon it by the rebel authorities, with regard to alleged brutal orders for his proposed dash into Richmond, as a justification for their barbarous treatment of his body.  After examining the photographic copy of the document alleged by them to have been found on the body of Colonel DAHLGREN [Ulric Dahlgren], he pronounced it a “bare-faced, atrocious forgery.”  He feelingly alludes to to [sic] the attributes of his dead son, and describes in the most touching manner the last letter of that son to him, written just before the gallant Colonel departed upon the expedition which resulted in his death.

— The New York Herald comes out in favor of an armistice—as a war measure—and says if Old Abe [Abraham Lincoln] will act upon this hint it will save the country and secure his election.  The Herald desires it to be distinctly understood that this “armistice” is an original Herald idea.  It says Lincoln has tried “my plan,” and Greeley’s plan [Horace Greeley], and several other plans, but he never will be able to accmplish [sic] anything till he acts upon the Herald’s plan.  In case Old Abe will surrender the whole question to the Herald’s management, that bashful sheet guarantees to finish up the job in short order.

— The New York Herald is a dirty and infamous sheet, but possesses tact and shrewdness.  It wants General McCLELLAN [George B. McClellan] elected President, but it has sense enough to understand that his prospects cannot be promoted by assailing General GRANT [Ulysses S. Grant].  The Copperhead World having proclaimed GRANT the last and worst of military failures, the Herald says :

“Gen. Grant’s achievements are great and tangible.  His victories are counted by the half dozen, and when the people run over in their minds the lists of our great battles they name six of the victories of this illustrious soldier where they name one achieved by any other.  Gen. Grant is the man who has planted the Stars and Stripes on all that part of the rebel territory that we now occupy.  *  *  Those politicians cut their own throats who try to ignore, underrate or sneer down a man who has fought more battles and won more victories than any other general in the army, and who has won his way from a colonelcy of militia to the Lieutenant Generalship of the United States.”

— George Dawson, writing from Washington to his paper, the Albany Evening Journal, says, “the draft in September is a fixed fact.  It will be neither modified nor postponed.  Those subject to the draft might as well prepare for it—by procuring substitutes in advance, or by ‘setting their house in order’ for departure, if they choose to give their person service.”

ATTACK ON A MISSISSIPPI STEAMER.—The steamer Empress on her up trip from New Orleans, was fired into by a battery of six guns on the 10th near Gaines’ Landing, and narrowly escaped destruction.  She was struck while making a distance of 300 yards, about 30 times by cannon shot, disabling her machinery.  The balls ploughed through her in every direction and showers of musket balls fell on every side.  There were about 500 persons on board and great alarm and confusion existed.  The Captain, JOHN MALLOY, who was at his post forward of the texas,² was instantly killed by a cannon ball, which took his head off completely.  His last words were “never surrender the boat.”  The pilots, mates, and engineers heroically kept their posts until finally the steamer was rescued by the tin clad gunboat “No. 3.”  Five persons were killed, including S. E. BRAYNARD,³ Co. I, 16th Wisconsin infantry, and several wounded.

  If Grant wins a battle, it is in part a triumph over the fundamental law of the Government.  If Sherman [William T. Sherman] conquers Atlanta, an essential portion of the Constitution is thereafter dead.  If our soldiers win a victory, its glory is lost in the consciousness that a portion of its fruit is a marred and battered Constitution.—Milwaukee News.

Men who announce such sentiments as the above desire of course that the rebels should succeed.  If LEE [Robert E. Lee] wins a battle they have no fears for the Constitution.  If HOOD [John Bell Hood] were to drive back and scatter the yet victorious legions of SHERMAN, the News and such as it speaks for would doubtless hail it as a constitutional triumph.  Whatever interferes with the success of rebellion, is a blow at the Constitution, according to the Copperheads.

SOME of the opposition Journals are so violently in favor of peace, that they cannot tolerate the mild and milky belligerency of Gen. McCLELLAN.  Thus the Catskill, (N. Y.) Recorder, an ardent Democratic sheet says :

We know where McClellan stands ;  he is for war !  for “more vigorous prosecution of the war.”  He is for more conscription, for more taxes, for doing Lincoln’s work more thoroughly than Lincoln is doing it !  Let any Democrat put the record thus deliberately made by McClellan with his agency in the infamous arbitrary arrest of the Maryland Legislature, and then say if he has not seen enough to cure him of all desire to see such a man in the Presidential chair.

PENSIONS AND THE HUNDRED DAY MEN.—JOS. H. BARRETT,⁴ Pension Commissioner at Washington, has published a letter stating that “the same rights in regard to pensions are granted to those called into the service for one hundred days, (and to their widows or dependent relatives, in case of death,) as to those who have enlisted for the term of three years.  This law, under which all pensions based on service in the present war are allowed, is unequivocal in its language, making no distinction between those engaging for a longer or a shorter period.”

CLOTHING FOR THREE MONTHS’ MEN.—The War Department has decided that the allowance for clothing for three months’ men who have served less than that time shall be fixed for the full time of service.  The same rule applies to six and nine months’ men.  The 100 day men will be treated in this respect the same as the three months’ troops.

BRIDGED.—The great railroad bridge over the Chattahoochee river which the rebels destroyed, was re-built by Gen. Sherman, and trains passed over it on Friday.  Cars now run to within three miles of Atlanta.

1.  From Edward Young’s poem “The Complaint: or, Night-Thoughts on Life, Death, & Immortality”—better known simply as Night-Thoughts—was published in nine parts between 1742 and 1745. This quotation is from Night V, line 1011.
2.  The texas deck gets its name from the steamboat tradition of naming the highest deck after the largest state of the union in the 19th century (Texas). On a riverboat, that is the flat deck immediately behind the pilot house.
3.  In the published Roster of Wisconsin Volunteers, he is listed as Lu E. Brainard, from Mauston (Wis.).  He enlisted November 26, 1862, and was “killed August 10, 1864, Miss. River, by guerrillas.” Capital “L” and capital “S” in 19th century handwriting are often hard to distinguish.
4.  Joseph Hartwell Barrett (1824-1910) was President Lincoln’s friend and biographer (Life of Abraham Lincoln, 1864; Abraham Lincoln and His Presidency, 1904). He was admitted to the Vermont bar in 1851 and served two years as secretary of the Vermont Senate.  By 1860, Barrett was the editor of the Cincinnati Gazette, and was a member of the Republican political machine in Ohio. He served as commissioner of Pensions under Presidents Lincoln and Johnson.

1864 July 4: Strengthen Our Patience and Resolve to Never Doubt or Falter

The following editorial on the 4th of July is from the July 2, 1864, Prescott Journal.

P A T I E N C E .

Again we stand upon the threshold of the Nation’s natal day.  That day which beamed so gloriously upon our arms one year ago, brought with it the hope that another “FOURTH” might find the Rebellion vanquished—the Republic entire—the Nation united and free.

That hope is yet unfulfilled.  The agonizing prayer of the Nation for a Peace born of victory and hallowed by justice, is yet unanswered.

Still the stupendous struggle goes on.  Still are marshalled [sic] the mighty armies of the Union with banners battle-torn, with shrunken columns, but invincible in their determination to uphold Freedom, and Government, and Law, at whatever cost.

What we at home need, is patience.—We need fortitude to bear the inseperable [sic] losses of war, and that clear comprehension of the vast interests at stake, which shall make no sacrifice seem too great, no burden too heavy, so that the end be obtained.  We need to gather courage from the heroic example of our living soldiers, and inspiration from the sacred memory of the dead.

Battle Monument, U.S. Military Academy, from the Library of Congress²

Thinking of those who have so freely given their lives for the Land they love, let us say with Gen. McCLELLAN [George B. McClellan] :¹

“Shall it be said in after ages that we lacked the vigor to complete the work thus begun? That after all these noble lives freely given we hesitated and failed to keep straight on until our land was saved. Forbid it, Heaven, and give us firmer, truer hearts than that.

Oh, spirits of the valiant dead, souls of our slain heroes, lend us your indomitable will, and if it be permitted you to commune with those still chattled by the trammels of mortality, hover around us in the midst of danger and tribulation—cheer the firm, strenthen [sic] the weak, that none may doubt the salvation of the Republic, after the triumph of our grand old flag.”

Let us adopt the spirit of that patriotic invocation and dedicate this birth day of the Nation to the strengthning of our patience, and the fixing of the firm resolve never to doubt or falter, till the great work of subduing the Rebellion and establishing free government is accomplished.²

“GOD bless our native land ;
Firm may she ever stand,
.Through storm and night.
When the wild tempests rave,
Ruler of wind and wave.
Do thou our country save.
.By thy great might.”

1.  At the dedication on June 15, 1864, of the site for a proposed battle monument at West Point to the memory of the officers and privates of the regular army who had fallen in the war for the Union.
2.  The completed battle monument was dedicated in 1897. This image was created by the Detroit Photographic Company and was copyrighted 1901. A digital version is available from the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.

1864 March 19: General McClellan and Kentucky Neutrality, Plus a “phrenological reminiscence” of McClellan

We are missing the March 26, 1864, issue of  The Prescott Journal, and that issue of The Polk County Press has only small articles, so we will be printing several more items from the March 19th issues.

The first article is from The Polk County Press of March 19, 1864; the second from The Prescott Journal of the same date.  Later in 1864, General George B. McClellan will be the Democratic candidate for president, running against Abraham Lincoln.  Right now many of the newspapers supporting Lincoln and the Union party consider him to be a front-runner for the nomination and are already beginning to attack his record.

From The Polk County Press:

Important Omission in McClellan’s Report—
His Idea of a Complete Civil and Military Policy.
(From the Cincinnati Gazette.)

When the General took the command at Washington, and had succeeded legitimately to General Scott’s [Winfield Scott] torpid anaconda, he issued wise instructions to the various commanders round the circumference.  In his general order to General Buell [Don Carlos Buell] in regard to Kentucky, he wrote:  “It is possible that the conduct of our political affairs in Kentucky is more important than that of our military operations.  I cannot overestimate the importance of the former.”

It will be noticed throughout Gen. McClellan’s report that he conceived he had a special mission in political affairs.  His genius for political affairs had a good foundation on the negative pregnant that he had tried other things, and had found nothing adapted to his genius.  When he had held his army helplessly astride the Chickahominy, where is was disabled from attack, and divided to be attacked alternately on the right and left bank of the river, and when he had sacrificed his campaign, and withdrawn his shattered army to Harrison’s Landing, sacrificing his army stores and the costly equipment of that army, leaving thousands of sick and wounded to the tender mercies of the enemy, and disengaging Lee’s army for an invasion of the North [Robert E. Lee], the first thing he did was to sit down and write a letter to the President, to lay out for him “a civil and military policy covering the whole grounds of our national trouble,” and a way “of directing the whole course of national affairs in regard to the rebellion.”

But while the General-in-Chief impressed on Gen. Buell that the conduct of the political policy in Kentucky was most important, he neglected to lay down in any clear manner that political policy suited to the latitude of Kentucky.  Nor did he give to Gen. Buell the political and military policy that he had established for Kentucky.  To supply this important omission, and to correct some of the imperfections of the report as a history, and to show his capacity to lay out a comprehensive political policy to cover the whole ground of our national trouble, even if his military performance had not negatively established it, we reproduce the treaty between Gen. McClellan, on the part of the United States, and Gen. Simon Bolivar Buckner, on the part of Gov. Beriah McGoffin [sic],¹ which established the celebrated Kentucky neutrality, and made that State a barrier against the national forces, gave up Tennessee to rebel conquest, placed the Confederacy in quiet possession of the Mississippi river below Cairo, made Kentucky a recruiting ground and supply country for the rebels, and left it to be carried into the rebellion by the machinations and violence of the Secessionists.

This treaty was published at the time, and was never authentically denied.  Having been authoritatively published to the people of Kentucky as a treaty, an authoritative repudiation by General McClellan would have been required by good faith if it was not binding.  But it was acknowledged by being allowed to stand, and to bind the Kentucky people and Confederacy without denial.  Besides the military convenience it gave the Confederacy, it goes the whole length of the doctrine of the right of a State to separate herself from the nation, and to take sides in a secession, or to stand neutral until she gets ready to decide.  We reproduce it as one of the curiosities in the history of this war, and particularly of that most wonderful part of it, the McClellan reign, and as showing General McClellan’s ideas of a complete comprehensive, civil and military policy, which shall cover the whole ground of the controversy.

HEADQUARTERS KENTUCKY STATE GUARD, }
LOUISVILLE, June 10, 1861. }

Sir :—On the 8th instant, at Cincinnati, Ohio, I entered into an arrangement with Major General George B. McClellan, Commander of the United States troops in the States north of the Ohio river, to the following effect :

The authorities of the State of Kentucky are to protect the United States property within the limits of the State, to enforce the laws of the of the United States in accordance with the interpretations of the United States Courts, as far as those laws may be applicable to Kentucky, and to enforce with all the power of the State our obligations of neutrality as against the Southern States, as long as the position we have assumed shall be respected by the United States.

General McClellan stipulates that the territory of Kentucky shall be respected on the part of the United States, even though the Southern States should occupy it ;  but in the latter case he will call upon the authorities of Kentucky to remove the Southern forces from our territory.  Should Kentucky rail [fail?] to accomplish this object in a reasonable time, General McClellan claims the right of occupancy given the Southern forces.  I have stipulated in that case to advise him of the inability of Kentucky to comply with her obligations, and to invite him to dislodge the Southern forces.  He stipulates that if successful in so doing, he will withdraw his forces from the territory of the State, as soon as the Southern forces shall be removed.

This, he assures me, is the policy which he will adopt toward Kentucky.

Should the Administration hereafter adopt a different policy, he is to give me timely notice of the fact.

The well known character of General McClellan is a sufficient guarantee for the fulfillment of every stipulation on his part.³

I am, sir, very respectfully,
.  .   .  .  .Your obedient servant,
.  .   .  .  ..  .   .  .  ..  .   .  .  .S. B. BUCKNER,
.  .   .  .  ..  .   .  .  ..  .   .  .  .Inspector General.

To his Excellency, B. Magoffin, Frankfort, KY.

From The Polk County Press:

A Bump-er to McClellan.

In a recent lecture in Maine, Fowler, the Phrenologist,² ralated [sic] the following phrenological reminiscence of “Little Mac :”

The father of George B. McClellan and himself were “old cronies,” as he expressed it ;  he often came into his office to listen to his examinations, and when, once on a time, the lad George was home from West Point the father brought his two sons to have their characters phrenologically descanted upon—Says Mr. Fowler :  “I remember all the circumstances as if it were but yesterday, and I remember the train of reasoning that then passed through my mind.”  “Never” with great emphasis, “never, in all my life, had I found such an inordinate development of the organ of “caution” as in the head of Geo. B. McClellan.  I also found the propelling faculties, combativeness and destructiveness, small, and I thought to myself, what is the sense or reason of sending such a natural coward to West Point!”

“But then I reasoned that there would probably never be any war to call for military genius and West Point might as well educate the cowards as any other institution.”  He said that his life had only proved his early convictions, and referring to the great seven days’ battle, related that a personal family friend was then in Richmond, and the plan of the battle was well known.  Lee said, “I know McClellan for a natural coward, and if I draw every available man from Richmond, and hurl our whole force upon his right wing he will not dare to move his left!”  He did so, and proved that he truly did know his adversary ;  for though McClellan could have swung his left wing over Richmond, he only sent forward a corporal’s guard to reconnoiter, and the golden opportunity was passed by.”

Fowler’s “Numbered divisions of the brain”³

1.  Beriah Magoffin (1815-1885) was the 21st governor of Kentucky (1859-August 1862). He was a states’ rights advocate, including the right of a state to secede from the Union, and he personally sympathized with the Confederate cause. But when the Kentucky General Assembly adopted a neutrality position, Magoffin ardently adhered to it, refusing calls for aid from both the Union and Confederate governments. Unable to provide effective leadership due to a hostile legislature, Magoffin agreed to resign as governor in 1862.
2.  Orson Squire Fowler (1809-1887) wrote and lectured on phrenology, preservation of health, popular education, and social reform, between 1834 and 1887.
Phrenology is a pseudoscience focused on measurements of the human skull and the skull’s bumps—hence the title of this article. Phrenology involved observing and/or feeling the skull to determine an individual’s psychological attributes. Phrenological thinking was influential in 19th-century psychiatry.
3.  From Orson S. Fowler’s Phrenological Chart (Baltimore, 1836).

1864 February 27: General McClellan for President?

In August of 1864, at their national convention in Chicago, the Democratic Party would nominate General George B. McClellan as their candidate for president.  In this editorial, reprinted in the February 27, 1864, issue of The Polk County Press, some Democrats are already finding fault with him as a potential nominee.

The Course of General McClellan.

From the Green Bay Advocate, War Democrat.

What matters it here, in this time of peril, whether McClellan’s or somebody else’s plans and theories, in 1862, were better?  It is precisely of as much consequence as the question of Grouch’s fidelity at Waterloo.  It is a matter with which history has to deal–not we here in the trenches, restating an assault upon the life of the nation.

Suppose McClellan to have been badly treated.  Shall the earth and the sun stand still until he is attended to ?  Give him a court-martial, or a committee of inquiry, if he wants it ;  shoot him or Stanton—whichever is found to be in the fault—do anything in reason that he wants done ;  but let us go on meanwhile with more pressing and important matters.

Joe Hooker [Joseph Hooker] had as good a right to growl and grumble, and hump himself up.  Did he do it ?  Go and ask him, down there in Tennessee, good naturedly smoking his cigar under the shadow of Lookout Mountain.  John Pope, as brave a fighting man as ever lived, never had the hundredth part of the time, the favor, the patient waiting, which was given McClellan to do something with the Army of the Potomac—did he fall back, glum and cross, and demand that nothing should be done until he was avenged ?  He came from the command of a great army to a mere Indian border war, as gaily as though it were a holiday excursion.  Burnside [Ambrose E. Burnside] did not cope with Longstreet [James Longstreet] at Fredericksburg, and was summarily sent away ;  but he sought another trial and gave him hard knocks at Knoxville.  McDowell [Irvin McDowell], the earliest victim of ill-luck, has been vainly urging, over since, not the indorsement [sic] of his plans at Bull Run, but a command to lead once more at the Rebel army.  Rosecrans [Williams S. Rosecrans], the beloved of all, who was blown out after Chickamauga, as you would blow out a penny candle, referred to the druggist, instead of the Government, about the opium question.  Even Scott [Winfield Scott], the greatest general living, who was set aside gently but firmly, takes his morning walks in the Fifth Avenue, and if he doesn’t encourage, he doesn’t discourage the attempts we are making to save the country.

Up to the advent of Meade [George G. Meade], every General who has had command of the Army of the Potomac, has been relieved from it under the circumstances which they probably did not regard as flattering.  But of them all, there has been only one who has undertaken to inflict his wrongs—if they were wrongs—upon the country.  That one is Geo. B. McClellan.  He asks the country to take notice that not only his military plans but his ideas as to the politics of war, are different from those which have pursued.  He publishes old letters to the President [Abraham Lincoln].  He charges Stanton [Edwin M. Stanton], the existing Secretary of War, with having connived at his defeat and the destruction of the army.  He advocates the election of a man to the Governorship of Pennsylvania who decides that the draft is unconstitutional.  And he permits himself to be named as the Presidential candidate of the Fernando Woods, the Vallandighams [Clement L. Vallandigham], and all the other dead weights hanging on this war.  It is one of the fatalities which seem to attend that class of politicians, that they are making a candidate of that kind.  So long as they keep control of the Democratic party, so long will it be beaten.

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1863 May 2: Polk County Press Smaller Items

Following are the smaller items from The Polk County Press of May 2, 1863.

From The Polk County Press:

D I E D.

In the Post Hospital, at Lake Providence, March 2d, Lieut. JOSEPH ALLEN, 1st Minnesota Battery, formely [sic] of Brecksville, Cuyahoga county, Ohio.

Through the exertions of his brother his remains were brought to his former home, and entered in the old churchyard.  He was a young man of more than ordinary intelligence ;  a patriotic, enthusiastic and efficient soldier, and won the regard of his brother officers, and the love and esteem of every soldier.  His death casts a deep gloom around the camp-fire and a dark shadow across the the [sic] hearthstone.

“None knew him but to love him,
None named him but to praise.”¹

— Cleaveland [sic] Herald                           COM.

— At Madison, Wisconsin, April 7th, George W. Longfellow, a member of company D, 30th Wisconsin regiment.  Mr. Longfellow was undoubtedly known to many of our readers, as one of the Big rock Creek (Polk county Wisconsin) settlers.  He was a fine fellow, and left behind a large circle of warm friends.—Taylors Falls Monitor.

— The Military Meeting at the the [sic] school house on Wednesday evening was very well attended.  The reports of the various committies [sic] show that about forty-five men are enrolled.  But little business was done.  Wm. Kent and Daniel Mears were appointed a committee to see personally every man in the town of Osceola and Farmington, subject to military duty, and obtain the names sufficient to complete the organization.  The meeting adjourned until Monday evening next.

— It is notorious that the rebels are short of bread, and by the recapture of the ram, Queen of the West, they are deprived of their butter.

— A report is current that Gen. Bragg [Braxton Bragg] was shot and instantly killed by Gen. Breckinridge [John C. Brickinridge] at Tullahoma [Tennessee] on the 27th ult.²

— JUST BEGINNING.—The Richmond Examiner, says the Yankees are just beginning to fight.  Two years ago it said the Yankees would not fight at all, or if they did, the soldiers of the south would whip them five to one.  People change their opinions of each other sometimes.

— Nearly fifty refugees, composed mainly of East Tennessee farmers, with families, arrived in Cincinnati on Saturday.  They came overland, having been starved out where they have been living in the Southern Confederacy.  They have gone to Illinois.

THE WAR AGAINST McCLELLAN.—The clamor against Gen. McClellan [George B. McClellan] continues with unabated if not renewed vigor.  Why is this?  What more would his opponents have?  Has he not been deprived of his command and rendered powerless for either good or evil to the Union?  Then let him be.  We are not much of an admirer of Gen. McClellan, but we do believe there should be decency in all things.  This kicking a man after he is down, is not exactly the thing, according to our notion.  It is neither good courage, fair dealing, or common decency.  When a man is dead he should not be kicked, but ought to be buried and his grave let alone.

— The New Orleans Era of April 14th says that posters, of which the following is a copy, were posted up in the most public places of Mobile on the 6th ult.  It is one of the unmistakable signs, now becoming quite common, that the distress of the people in the rebellious States has reached a point that is almost unbearable:

BREAD OR PEACE.

It has not yet come to be a question of bread or peace with us, but we are fast coming to it.  If our government can compel a man with a family of children to fight for it for $11 per month, it can compel and must, those who stay at home and enjoy their ease now, and will enjoy our freedom when achieved—to feed the poor children of poor fathers—the widows, whose only sons are fighting the battles and enduring the terrible hardships of the march and camp—foodless, clothesless and shoeless.  Forbearance will soon cease to be a virtue.

Our wives, sisters, and little ones are crying for bread.  Beware, lest they cry for BLOOD ALSO !  We have had enough of extortion and speculation.  It is time the strong arm of the law was extended.

The people will rise sooner or later.  There are lamp-posts and rope enough to care this worse than treason, and the remedy will be applied by an outraged people.

(Signed)                   BRUTUS II.

MARRYING “FOR THE WAR.”—We learn by a letter from Corinth, Miss., that a new “social arrangement” has been gotten up between our soldiers and the secesh women of that locality.  The soldiers get to courting the women, and when a match is struck up, they get married in regular style, with the condition “while the war lasts.”  Some twenty of our soldiers have entered into the arrangement lately.—Chicago Journal.

1.  A common gravestone epitaph of the time.
2.  Bragg survived the Civil War.