One of My Goals in Writing about Petersburg

Recently I've been devouring Silent Hunters (Theodore P. Savas, ed., Savas Beatie, 2013). In that book, my friend, publisher and fellow lawyer Ted Savas brings to light the stories of half a dozen formidable but otherwise unknown warriors.

For me, singing the unsung is one of the things that writing history is all about. (Why else would anybody write about Peterrsburg? So much there remains unsung.) 

Thomas Gray wrote in his Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard (1751):

"Full many a gem of purest ray serene

"The dark unfathom'd caves of ocean bear;

"Full many a flower is born to blush unseen

"And waste its sweetness on the desert air."

One of my goals in writing about Petersburg is to show the reader that gem and and make him see and smell that flower. 

Take Pvt. Leonidas H. Dean of Company B, the Petersburg Old or 'A' Grays, in the 12th Virginia Infantry, the Petersburg Regiment. Born in 1839, Dean had enlisted on April 19, 1861, the day before the Old Grays departed for Norfolk. Wounded at Malvern Hill on July 1, 1862, he did not make his mark until May 6, 1864, when as a member of the ambulance corps--who had to be the bravest of the brave to retrieve the wounded quickly and thus keep up morale--he distinguished himself by dragging many wounded Federals out of the burning woods. On May 12, 1864, in a melee with IX Corps east of Heth's Salient, Dean picked up a musket and captured a beautiful stand of colors from the 51st Pennsylvania Infantry along with eight Keystoners. 

At Cold Harbor, a wounded Yankee private lay between the lines begging his friends to retrieve him. Dean, who had just narrowly escaped capture during a reconnaissance, asked the officer of the day for permission to fetch in the wounded Federal. The officer refused permission, warning that the Unionists would shoot Dean. The wounded bluecoat overheard this conversation and begged his friends not to fire. Dean dropped his musket, shucked his equipment and slipped out between the lines. The Unionist was suffering so much that he begged Dean to shoot him. Dean brought in the wounded Northerner, who gave his watch and knapsack to Dean in gratitude. 

Map by Hampton Newsome

At home on leave in Petersburg when the Mine exploded early on July 30, 1864, he rushed back to his regiment despite the entreaties of his mother and sisters to remain. Wearing a white calico shirt with red stripes from the knapsack of the Yank he had rescued at Cold Harbor, he reached the 12th in time to join his comrades on their trek to the Crater. 

"Do you want any prisoners?" Dean asked as he passed Brig. Gen. William Mahone while the regiment formed line. The answer was no; Mahone wanted flags, not prisoners. 

Diagram by Hampton Newsome

Company B formed on the right of the 12th. In line there, Dean pointed to a Unionist banner. "I mean to take those colors," he said to the man next to him. As the 12th charged the Federals in the Crater, a ball fired by one of the United States Colored Troops in the Crater mortally wounded Dean in front of a messmate who took Dean's testament and some other personal effects, then rejoined the charge. That night the messmate and another man crawled out and rolled Dean's body into a blanket. With one of them pushing and the other pulling, they slid the corpse into the Confederate works. 

Dean's story is just one of the many in The Petersburg Regiment in the Civil War: A History of the 12th Virginia Infantry from John Brown's Hanging to Appomattox, 1859-1865 (Savas Beatie, 2019), winner of the Army Historical Society's 2019 Distinguished Writing Award for Unit History. 

What forename could have suited Dean better than Leonidas?

Hill, Anderson and Mahone on July 2, 1863

When I started exploring this subject, I was probably unfair to Maj. Gen. Richard Heron Anderson. I think I made it seem as if he had gotten a pass for his failure to lead his division from the front rather than recline at his headquarters during the critical evening of July 2, 1863. Of course the elephant in the room was Brig. Gen. William Mahone, who refused an order from Anderson to advance that evening because he had previously been directed to stay put on Seminary Ridge in support of some artillery and the right of Pender's division. Practically every account of his brigade at Gettysburg on July 2, 1863 ends with this refusal. If the authors of the principal books on the battle had done their homework, however, they'd have known that Mahone's brigade moved around dark, which occurred about 8:45 p.m. that night, the end of nautical twilight. Good accounts of this movement have been in publication since 2012, when Civil War Talks: Further Reminiscences of George S. Bernard & His Fellow Veterans appeared. What may have occasioned even more delay that evening were the wanderings of Lt. Gen. A. P. Hill, the corps commander. He was at Gen. R. E. Lee's headquarters when Longstreet's flank attack began, then meandered down to a post behind McLaws' division. Meanwhile, Anderson was seeking authority from Hill to countermand his previous orders for Mahone to stay put. It is very likely that Anderson spent more time looking for Hill than correcting Mahone. If so, that provides the answer to the question of why Mahone wasn't disciplined for his refusal to comply with Anderson's order to advance. If Mahone had required discipline, the whole chain of command up from Mahone through Anderson to Hill would have required discipline. My much more detailed article on this subject is due out in Gettysburg Magazine next July.

Mahone's brigade, 8:45-9:15 p.m. July 2, 1863

Lieutenant General Ambrose Powell Hill

Talk on "The Petersburg Regiment..." 7 p.m. December 14, 2020 at 12615 Wicker Avenue US 41 Cedar Lake, Indiana

Indiana had some strong regiments in the Army of the Potomac. The 19th Infantry in the Iron Brigade, the 20th Infantry in the 3rd and then 2nd Army corps, and the 3rd Cavalry in Wilson's division come to mind. Yet until recently I've been unaware of any Civil War Round Table in Indiana north of Indianapolis. Fortunately, one is starting up at 2 Old Goats Market, 12615 Wicker Avenue US 41, Cedar Lake, IN 46303. I'll be talking there Monday, December 14, 2020 at 7p.m. The group is requesting a fee of five dollars. I'll be talking about my most recent book, The Petersburg Regiment in the Civil War: A History of the 12th Virginia Infantry from John Brown's Hanging to Appomattox, 1859-1861, 439 pp., 32 maps and diagrams, $39.95. The book won the 2019 Army Historical Foundation's Distinguished Writing Award for Unit History. Most of the distinguished writing was done by the regiment's soldiers, who left about 10 volumes of material that give as complete an account of life in a Confederate regiment as exists. For precisely that reason, its extraordinary literacy, the 12th was not a typical Confederate regiment. Still, there is not only a detailed account of every battle in which the regiment participated (including two naval battles); there are detailed accounts of the time in between fights.

Place: 2 Old Goats Market Address: 12615 Wicker Avenue US 41 Cedar Lake IN. 46303 Date: Monday, December 14, 2020 Time: 7:00 PM Lecture: $5.00 For More information: Call 219-390-7183 Sponsor: 2 Old Goats Market. Check us out on Facebook!!

Edwin C. Bearss, R.I.P.

Edwin C. Bearss, former Chief Historian of the United States National Park Service, died a few days ago at the age of 97. He was the author of many books and beloved by everyone I know who had contact with him. Mr. Bearss was very generous with his time. He read three of my manuscripts and gave me good advice about each of them. From him I learned to curb my use of superlatives and employ "one of the best (or worst)" instead of "the best (or worst)." The former is more judicious. We met in person only one time, more than 20 years ago at the dedication of the marker for the 39th Illinois on the Darbytown Road about 12 miles southeast of Richmond. As I wrote my first book I learned that a man from my township in Illinois had carried the 39th's flag in a successful charge against Confederate earthworks on August 16, 1864, captured a Confederate flag, and earned a battlefield commission and a Medal of Honor. Some of us from the township had raised the money to mark the spot. The dedication took place on a beautiful, sunny August 16th, not overly warm for Virginia. My three young children ran around among a few other spectators on a field over which Federals and Confederates had charged and blasted one another more than a hundred years before. Mr. Bearss was kind enough to speak on the occasion. Gesturing with his good arm, he spoke slowly, distinctly and authoritatively on the battle fought there. Mr. Bearss was once a Marine. One of my children is now a Marine. How grateful to God I am that I recently had to thank Mr. Bearss for all his help and informed him of the career choice of the little boy playing on the site of our township's glory. Many of us have soft spots for Marines, as some have for Texans. God bless you, Mr. Bearss.

Still Another Very Positive Review for "The Petersburg Regiment...," this one from Brett Schulte in his blog "Beyond the Crater"

Here's a link to another very positive review of "The Petersburg Regiment in the Civil War: A History of the 12th Virginia Infantry from John Brown's Hanging to Appomattox, 1859-1865." This one is from Brett Schulte in his blog "Beyond the Crater."

"The Myth that Mahone's Brigade Did Not Move on July 2, 1863" accepted for publication by Gettysburg Magazine

 It was an honor today to learn that my article, The Myth that Mahone's Brigade Did Not Move on July 2, 1863 has been accepted for publication in Gettysburg Magazine, probably for next July (2021)'s issue.  The thesis of the article is that Mahone's Virginia Brigade did move that evening, but at dark, too late to help Wilcox's, Lang's and Wright's brigades in their fight for Cemetery Ridge; the Virginia Brigade became involved in preparations for a night attack that was called off.  

Caption:  William Evelyn Cameron, a First Lieutenant and Adjutant of the 12th Virginia Infantry at Gettysburg, after the war Mayor of Petersburg and then Governor of Virginia

Credit:  Virginia Historical Society

Cameron, shown above, was one of the star witnesses to the movements of Mahone's brigade on the evening of July 2, 1863.  The article expands on part of Chapter 10 of my most recent book, The Petersburg Regiment in the Civil War:  A History of the 12th Virginia Infantry from John Brown's Hanging to Appomattox, 1859-1865 (Savas Beatie, 2019).  The book was awarded the 2019 Army Historical Foundation Distinguished Writing Award for Unit History.  

 

Thanks, Lincoln-Davis CWRT!

Thanks, Lincoln-Davis Civil War Round Table in Alsip, Illinois for the pleasant reception you gave me and my book The Petersburg Regiment in the Civil War: A History of the 12th Virginia Infantry from John Brown's Hanging to Appomattox, 1859-1865 on Tuesday, July 21, 2020.  The talk focused on the longitudinal history of the regiment with emphasis on the most prolific of its writers, such as George S. Bernard, Westwood Todd, James Edward Whitehorne, James Eldred Phillips, Henry Van Leuvenigh Bird and Joseph Richard Manson.