Swim, Surrender or Die: The Union Army at the Battle Ball’s Bluff

By Mark R. Brewer

The war was still new. Soldiers on both sides had much to learn about fighting and killing. The Union volunteers who fought at the Battle of Ball’s Bluff had never “seen the elephant”—that is, they had never been in battle. They saw war as all glory and honor, and if death and wounds occurred, they would happen to someone else. Ball’s Bluff taught them otherwise.

It was a small battle that had little or no effect on the overall military picture. But its effects were far-reaching, causing profound grief to the residents of the White House and leading to the formation of the Committee of the Conduct of the War. That committee would decide who was responsible for the Union debacle at Ball’s Bluff, and they would have a profound influence on the rest of the Union war effort.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jan 29, 2019
• ISBN: 9781796011852

Mark R. Brewer

MARK R. BREWER has an MA in US history from Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He taught history in New Jersey for nearly a hundred years. He is really old.

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Copyright © 2019 by Mark R. Brewer.

ISBN:              Softcover                  978-1-7960-1182-1

                        eBook                       978-1-7960-1185-2

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Rev. date: 01/26/2019

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Table of Contents

Introduction

Acknowledgements

Chapter 1   In Passion and Pride

Chapter 2   Death In A Rosy Clime

Chapter 3   Deem Us Proud

Notes

Bibliography

In memory of my ancestors:

Luther M. Hapgood

Luther S. Hapgood

Joseph H. Hapgood

John William Willie Grout

Introduction

The Battle of Ball’s Bluff was not a significant engagement in the War of the Rebellion. It was small and relatively unimportant, except to those, North and South, who fought in it. But it was, perhaps, a battle that had to be fought for the Union Army to gain the experience necessary to win the war some three-and-a-half years later. They were learning to be soldiers, to be an army. The battle also had some repercussions, as the Joint Committee for the Conduct of the War was formed as a direct result of the Union defeat. And this Jacobin-like committee would harass President Lincoln and other wartime leaders throughout the war.

The war was still new. The Northern boys and men who fought at Ball’s Bluff had never been in battle before, whereas most of the Confederates engaged had fought at Bull Run. Experience would not have changed the outcome, but it is worth noting that these green troops fought as courageously as they did against overwhelming odds. They believed in their cause—for most that the Union must be preserved, and for some that slavery must end. Both were noble causes. Their willingness to give their lives for these causes me to admire them, honor them, and love them. Their sacrifice should not be forgotten.

All quotes maintain the original spelling and punctuation.

Mark R. Brewer

Pitman, NJ

January, 2019

Acknowledgements

I wish to thank my brother, Michael A. Brewer, for reading my manuscript and making comments, suggestions, and offering encouragement. I also wish to thank my wife, Laurie, and my children, Nick and Madeline, for their never-wavering love and support. I would also like to thank Wendy Essery of the Worcestor Historical Museum for her kind assistance, and Renee Ashton of Xlibris for her warmth and patience. I also express my gratitude to my ancestors who fought at Ball’s Bluff. They have left our family a legacy of heroism and service.

One

In Passion and Pride

She has gone,—she has left us in passion and pride,—

Our stormy-browed sister, so long at our side!

She has torn her own star from our firmament’s glow,

And turned on her brother the face of a foe!

            From Brother Jonathan’s Lament for Sister Caroline

                     by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.(¹)

1.

Monday, 31 December 1860.

Washington D.C.

Late afternoon.

Charles Pomeroy Stone maneuvered his horse carefully along the wide lane that was Pennsylvania Avenue. The ruts and the grooves in the cobblestone street were frozen and covered in snow that had been packed down by traffic from wagons, carts, coaches and carriages. It was slippery in places and could be treacherous. A blizzard had hit Washington City in midmonth, and a lengthy stretch of sub-freezing weather had kept the snow from melting. (²)

Stone was thirty-six and handsome, with nearly shoulder-length dark hair and a distinguished moustache and van-dyke. He sat straight in the saddle like a soldier, though he wore civilian clothes. But he came from a grand military tradition. Members of his family had fought for the United States in every one of its wars. Continuing that tradition, Stone had attended the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, graduating seventh in a class of forty-one in 1845. He had gone on to serve with distinction in the U.S. War with Mexico (1846-48), winning two brevets. But the peacetime army offered limited opportunity for advancement. In 1856, Stone had resigned his commission.(³)

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Charles Pomeroy Stone

Stone endured the cold, as he wished to pay his respects to his former commander in Mexico, Lieutenant-General Winfield Scott. Scott, though seventy-five, was the General-in-Chief of the U.S. Army. His headquarters was in New York City, but Scott had been summoned to Washington by President James Buchanan, who was completely overwhelmed by the alarming situation in the country and therefore wished to consult with the general.(⁴) South Carolina had passed an Ordinance of Secession but eleven days before, and it was clear that several other southern states were preparing to follow suit. The country was ripping in two, and Buchanan had no idea what to do. Indeed, historian Margaret Leech stated that Buchanan sat the Presidential chair like a nervous gentleman on a runaway horse, longing for the ride to be over.(⁵) Surely General Scott could offer some suggestions.

The streets of the capital, normally bustling with activity, were all but empty on this frigid New Year’s Eve. Pennsylvania Avenue, the main thoroughfare in the city, looked deserted and desolate. But desolation was a common feature of most of Washington. As in 1800 and 1850, so in 1860, wrote Henry Adams, the same rude colony was camped in the same forest, with the same unfinished Greek temples for workrooms, and sloughs for roads.(⁶) Margaret Leech called it an idea set in the wilderness.(⁷) But the idea had yet to come to fruition. For example, the original wooden dome of the Capitol building had been dismantled, but only the base of the new cast-iron dome was in place, topped by scaffolding and a crane. Columns and blocks of marble, piles of lumber, and iron plates scattered the grounds. Likewise, the Washington Monument, begun in 1849, was only one-third complete. Donations had lapsed and construction had ceased. Stone blocks were strewn around it. The capital had the overall appearance of being incomplete.(⁸)

Charles Stone was on his way to Wormley’s Hotel, which is where General Scott was staying while in Washington. Wormley’s was a five-story building located at 1500 H Street. It was owned by James Wormley, a free-born black who had spent time in Europe learning the art of fine cuisine. Wormley’s had a reputation for excellent food.(⁹) It is little wonder that Stone found Scott in the dining room at Wormley’s. General Scott, who weighed more than 300 pounds, had a reputation of his own.

Winfield Scott had served in the army during the War of 1812, and in every year since. He had become immensely huge in his later years, and he had an ego every bit as large as his frame. But he had always been a good soldier and he still was—experienced, wise and knowledgeable. Despite his age, he would soon design what he called the Anaconda Plan, a strategy for defeating the South. His plan would later be adopted, and Scott would live to see it succeed.(¹⁰)

Stone joined General Scott at his table in the dining room. They exchanged pleasantries, and then the two chatted for a time, reminiscing about the Mexican War and catching up, as it were. Scott then pulled out his watch and stood. I must be with the President in a quarter of an hour, he said, and he called for his carriage. Then he lumbered back and forth in the dining room several times before he suddenly stopped and looked at Stone. How is the feeling in the District of Columbia? Scott asked. What proportion of the population would sustain the Government by force, if necessary?

It was a logical question. Washington was a southern city. Slavery was legal in the capital of liberty, and secessionist sentiment was sure to be strong.

It is my belief, General, Stone replied, that two-thirds of the fighting stock of this population would sustain the Government in defending itself, if called upon. But they are uncertain as to what can be done or what the Government desires to have done, and they have no rallying point.

General Scott limped around the dining room once more. Then came word that his carriage had arrived, and Stone escorted the General outside. As Scott was about to depart, he turned toward Stone and placed a hand on his shoulder. These people have no rallying point. Make yourself that rallying point! Then the old general climbed into his carriage and drove off.

The next day, Charles Pomeroy Stone enlisted in the U.S. Army, and so became the first of some two-and-a-half million men called into military service to defend the government against secession.(¹¹)

2.

Thursday, 24 January 1861.

Boston, Massachusetts.

Evening.

Tremont Hall was filled to overflowing for the annual meeting of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society. The balcony, however, was packed with riotous, rough-looking men who seemed bent on preventing the meeting from taking place.(¹²) For this reason, volunteer guards had been placed at each end of the stage where stairs led up from the floor. Among them was a tall, slender youth with flashing blue-gray eyes who stood armed with a billy club.

His name was Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. He was nineteen and