At noon on April 17, 2020, I'll be at the Kenosha Civil War Museum in Kenosha talking about my latest book, The Petersburg Regiment in the Civil War: A History of the 12th Virginia Infantry from John Brown's Hanging to Appomattox, 1861-1865 (Savas Beatie, 2019). The museum's curator suggested that I talk about some of the regiment's individual soldiers. I suggested talking about an action where the regiment faced Wisconsin men.
The Curator's idea is better. There are many 12th Virginia soldiers who each left substantial literature, frequently more than entire other regiments. On the other hand, upon reflection, I can think of no action in which the regiment directly faced Wisconsin men except maybe a few fugitives from the already broken Iron Brigade's 2nd, 6th and 7th Wisconsin on August 19, 1864.
So I'll be talking about each of five soldiers from the Petersburg Regiment who left at least a volume of literature covering pretty much the entire war. The soldiers covered by my talk will be:
1) George S. Bernard, a private of Company E, the Petersburg Riflemen, then a sergeant of Company I, the Meherrin Grays or "Herrings," then a private of Company E again. A Petersburg lawyer, he was wounded and captured at Crampton's Gap (September 14, 1862) and wounded at Hatchers Run (February 6, 1865). He was one of the men who joined the 12th more than once. He compiled and edited War Talks of Confederate Veterans (1892) and was ready to publish a similar volume in 1896 but it disappeared until found in a flea market in 2004, edited by Hampton Newsome, John Selby and myself, and published as Civil War Talks: Further Reminiscences of George S. Bernard and His Fellow Veterans (2012). The Petersburg Regiment's first historian, Bernard also left articles in newspapers and in the Southern Historical Society Papers, diaries and letters at the University of Virginia, a notebook at Duke University, fragments of a memoir at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Southern Historical Collection, and letters in private hands.
2) Westwood A. Todd, originally of Company A, the Petersburg City Guard, transferred to Company E in 1861. A Norfolk lawyer, Todd left a volume of unpublished reminiscences in the Southern Historical Collection. Wounded at Second Manassas (August 30, 1862), he later became the ordnance officer of the 12th's brigade and was captured at Sailors Creek (April 6, 1865).
3) James Edward "Eddie" Whitehorne of Company F, the Huger Grays. Son of a Greensville County farmer, Whitehorne left a volume of unpublished letters at Library of Virginia, a diary in the Southern Historical Collection (also compiled and published by W. E. Deaton in The Military Engineer), and another diary compiled by Fletcher L. Elmore and published as the Diary Of J. E. Whitehorne, 1st Sergt., Co. “F,” 12th Va. Infantry, A. P. Hill's 3rd Corps, A. N. Va. Whitehorne was wounded at Gettysburg (July 2, 1863) and the Crater (July 30, 1864). He was Company F's first sergeant throughout the war.
4) James Eldred Phillips of Company G, the Richmond Grays. A tinsmith, Phillips left a flag fragment as well as letters, newspaper articles, a diary and a memoir of his company with his descendant, Elise Phillips Atkins, of Arlington Heights, Illinois. Copies of the newspaper articles and transcripts of the unpublished letters, diary and memoir are at the Virginia Historical Society. Captured at Crampton's Gap, Phillips rose from private to first lieutenant.
5) John Francis "Johnny" Sale of Company H, the Norfolk Juniors. A student of architecture at the College of William and Mary, Sale left unpublished at the Library of Virginia a diary and a volume of letters with an 1862 sketch of the regiment's flag. Wounded at Malvern Hill (July 1, 1862), Sale rose from private to second lieutenant before he was mortally wounded at Hatchers Run. He died February 12, 1865.
Bernard is the steadiest of these writers, Todd the most cheerful, Phillips and Sale the most poignant, and Whitehorne the vividest in detail.
1) George S. Bernard, a private of Company E, the Petersburg Riflemen, then a sergeant of Company I, the Meherrin Grays or "Herrings," then a private of Company E again. A Petersburg lawyer, he was wounded and captured at Crampton's Gap (September 14, 1862) and wounded at Hatchers Run (February 6, 1865). He was one of the men who joined the 12th more than once. He compiled and edited War Talks of Confederate Veterans (1892) and was ready to publish a similar volume in 1896 but it disappeared until found in a flea market in 2004, edited by Hampton Newsome, John Selby and myself, and published as Civil War Talks: Further Reminiscences of George S. Bernard and His Fellow Veterans (2012). The Petersburg Regiment's first historian, Bernard also left articles in newspapers and in the Southern Historical Society Papers, diaries and letters at the University of Virginia, a notebook at Duke University, fragments of a memoir at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Southern Historical Collection, and letters in private hands.
Sgt. Bernard hugging the ground at Crampton's Gap while kinsman Lieutenant Manson holds up a white flag to surrender. From Bernard, War Talks of Confederate Veterans.
2) Westwood A. Todd, originally of Company A, the Petersburg City Guard, transferred to Company E in 1861. A Norfolk lawyer, Todd left a volume of unpublished reminiscences in the Southern Historical Collection. Wounded at Second Manassas (August 30, 1862), he later became the ordnance officer of the 12th's brigade and was captured at Sailors Creek (April 6, 1865).
Flag of the Petersburg City Guard. Courtesy of the Virginia Historical Society.
3) James Edward "Eddie" Whitehorne of Company F, the Huger Grays. Son of a Greensville County farmer, Whitehorne left a volume of unpublished letters at Library of Virginia, a diary in the Southern Historical Collection (also compiled and published by W. E. Deaton in The Military Engineer), and another diary compiled by Fletcher L. Elmore and published as the Diary Of J. E. Whitehorne, 1st Sergt., Co. “F,” 12th Va. Infantry, A. P. Hill's 3rd Corps, A. N. Va. Whitehorne was wounded at Gettysburg (July 2, 1863) and the Crater (July 30, 1864). He was Company F's first sergeant throughout the war.
James Edward "Eddie" Whitehorne. Courtesy of Fletcher Elmore.
4) James Eldred Phillips of Company G, the Richmond Grays. A tinsmith, Phillips left a flag fragment as well as letters, newspaper articles, a diary and a memoir of his company with his descendant, Elise Phillips Atkins, of Arlington Heights, Illinois. Copies of the newspaper articles and transcripts of the unpublished letters, diary and memoir are at the Virginia Historical Society. Captured at Crampton's Gap, Phillips rose from private to first lieutenant.
James Eldred Phillips. Courtesy of Elise Phillips Atkins.
John F. Sale flag sketch. Library of Virginia.
