During my reading of the Civil War, there have been (For that matter still are) numerous personalties that have caught my eye. Daniel Sickles comes to mind right off the top of my head, (Email me if you would like to know who he was and why I hold him in low esteem) then Jeb Stuart (their is a wonderful book out “Plenty of Blame to go Around on his most controversial ride), Jubal Early, Richard Ewell, James Longstreet, Oliver Otis Howard, Henry Slocum just to name a few. Even U.S. Grant and the marble man himself Robert Edward Lee all have their moments of anger, glory and even heartbreaking defeats.
But, in my view there is one person, one soldier, one General officer who stands out above the rest. Gouverneur Kemble Warren. Why you ask?
The reason is based on over 150 years of debate, writing of others and then how the majority of the 20th and early 21st Century authors and historians have written about and presented him in books, magazines, documentaries and finally the spoken word.
I use to feel the same way. Then an event occurred now over 10 years ago, that caused me to reexamine my thoughts of GKW. Once again,a little over 10 years ago, at my wifes aunt and uncles 50th Wedding anniversary, her Aunt Helen sat me down and proceeded to share a life time of family stories past down through generations of him, the families connection to him and finally I was able to leaf through a diary that had been kept by his then new bride of just days, Emily Chase Warren which she had started just days before their wedding in the end of June 1863 till just after his promotion to command of the 5th Corps of the Army of the Potomac, shortly before the Overland campaign began. Since then I found myself almost consumed by the desire to find out who this man really was!
After all I had spent almost 25 years of my reading life, believing this soldier has his to paraphrase Andy Warhol, ” 15 minutes of fame” on a rocky hill during the July 2 carnage of Gettysburg, that by some records earned him the title of “The Savior of Little Round Top” (There is another story there, but thats for either a private email or another blog). And then turned into either one of the worst officers in the whole Civil War at worst, to as one author has put it “A overcautious, over protective officer, who was afraid of his own shadow”…
So where you may ask did my view begin to change? Its birth, or genesis as it were began that day in Aunt Helen’s den. Thats one place, but the other was I began to dig. And what I found stunned me.
To understand him, we have to take a look his roots and then his prewar career.
Born Jan 8,1830 in Cold Spring N.Y. to Sydney and Phebe Warren. He was the oldest of 6 out of 12 children who lived to adulthood. Living across the Hudson from West Point, in sight of it really, it was obvious even to his family that one day he would become a cadet on the Hudson. His namesake, Gouverneur Kemble told him that he was to graduate no worse then second in his class. Who ever graduated first in the class of 1850 has faded off into history. Ok back up for another minute. That means he was barely 16 when he started the academy! Though a lot of young men started the academy in the early teens, not many carried the weight of the honor of one of New York states proud families. I found that stirring and even encouraging as well. And also an example of what young people can do if they want to!
After graduation as a 2nd Lt with a degree in civil engineering he didn’t hang around West Point or for that matter Cold Spring for very long. By late 1850 he found himself serving along side one A. A. Humphreys, (Yes that Humphreys of Civil War fame), who though several years older then “Gouv” would become a life long close friend of his.
During those 10 years between graduation and when the war begins, Warrens career will take him from the mouth of the Mississippi River, then up the river (there is some circumstantial evidence that he might have rubbed elbows with a soldier by the name of Robert E. Lee). Finally he finds himself serving as an engineer under William Harding as the Army begins its push west along with exploring and mapping of the land west of the river and into what is now Nebraska, Montana, and South Dakota. In 1857 he has his first taste of combat against the Black Hill Sioux. It leaves him angry, appalled and upset at what some of the soldiers call “combat” when it including “fighting” against the men of the tribe, but also the shooting of woman and children. Warren finds a wounded young Sioux girl who he personally takes charge of and helps to dress her wounds.
In 1858 he returns to Washington to compile his information, create the maps from the expedition, document the different plant, wild life and fossils that were found, then write the reports that earn him the gratitude of Congress and one huge well for the lack of a better term, A HUGE ATTABOY from the Secretary of War, Jefferson Davis.
Thinking he is going to go back west, he is almost crestfallen when he finds out he has been ordered back to West Point to teach. That is where he is when the war starts.
Why tell all of this? So many historians leave this part of his story out. But in my view its essential to understand where the keen eye for good ground that will serve him well during the Civil War comes from, and also his desire to not waste human life. His distaste for war, that will lay barely beneath the surface during the Civil War as he rises like a shooting star up to the rank of Brigadier General by the spring of 1863.
His Civil War career begins in fits and starts. First he is commissioned as a Lt Colonel of Volunteers, packs his bags to leave and is told, wait a minute oh no your not by the command of West Point. Finally he is released and joins the 5th New York Duryee Zouaves as its second in command. It isn’t long before he takes command of the regiment, and even then to brigade. He commands this brigade at the Second Battle of Bull Run where his brigade basically sacrifices its self in attempt to slow down Longstreet’s flank attack.
It isn’t long though before he catches the eye of the higher command. And a friendship begins to build that will cause problems later on..
Part II to come.
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