The President’s Message:
The COVID-19 virus is still center stage and our speakers are not.
I hope that everyone is well, taking safety precautions, and
trying to get an appointment for the vaccine.
The Lake Clarke Shores Town Hall is not allowing large groups to
meet inside the building or at the picnic pavilion.
The Round Table continues to exist but is in a temporary holding
pattern. I know that it is
frustrating to keep circling but
we
will meet as soon as possible.
When the Town Hall
allows us to safely hold a meeting, you will be promptly notified.
Good news! Last
year’s dues will be honored for this coming year.
I have kept in touch with our favorite actor and historian, Patrick
Falci. He is ready and
willing to fly down from New York when conditions permit.
We look forward to having him as our speaker.
In the mean time enjoy the newsletter and another
installment of “Meet the Generals.”
Two of the generals, Howard and Magruder, were polar opposites
not only on the sides they fought but in their personalities.
You might find some interesting facts that may be surprising.
Gerridine LaRovere
Meet the Generals
Oliver Otis Howard
 Oliver
Otis Howard was born in Leeds, Maine on November 8, 1830.
His father, a farmer, died when Howard was nine years old.
He moved in with relatives, attended several schools in Maine,
and graduated from Bowdoin College in 1850.
His education continued with an appointment to West Point and
graduated in 1854, fourth in his class of forty-six cadets.
Well done by any standards.
The first assignment was in Augusta, Maine as temporary commander
of the Kennebec Arsenal.
Howard married
Elizabeth Anne Waite (1832-1911) in 1855 and they would have seven
children. In 1857, he was
transferred to Florida for the Seminole Wars.
He was posted to Tampa where he battled mosquitoes, heat, and
humidity and described it as a “field for self-denial.”
However, at a Methodist meeting “the choking sensation” of Tampa
suddenly lifted from him and was replaced with, “a new well spring
within me, a joy, a peace, a trusting spirit.”
He wrote that God “plucked my feet from the mire & placed them on
a rock.” After that tour of
duty, he became a math instructor at West Point.
Later in his career he would be called “the Christian General.”
Thoughts of entering
the ministry fled when the Civil War started.
The Union was his calling.
“I gave up every other plan except as to the best way for me to
contribute to the saving of her life.”
Howard was appointed colonel of the 3rd Maine Infantry and
was at the First Battle of Bull Run.
He was promoted to brigadier general on September 3, 1861.
While commanding a brigade at the Battle of Seven Pines on June 1, 1862
Howard was wounded twice in the right arm.
It was subsequently amputated. Brigadier General Philip Kearny
lost his left arm in the Mexican War.
When Kearny visited Howard, he joked that they would be able to
shop for gloves together.
Howard fought in the Battle of Antietam and was promoted to major
general in November, 1862.
Commanding the XI Corps at Chancellorsville he suffered a humiliating
rout at the hands of “Stonewall” Jackson.
His failure to protect Joseph Hooker’s flank was cited as a major
reason for the defeat. At
Gettysburg, he became the senior commander for a brief period after John
Reynolds was killed. Howard
redeemed himself by the selection of Cemetery Hill and Cemetery Ridge as
sites to anchor the Union position.
This earned him a “thanks of Congress” citation.
In the Atlanta Campaign, he commanded the IV Corps under William T.
Sherman. Howard was a devout
churchgoer who opposed drinking, gambling, and prostitution.
In a play on his first initials, his men called him “Uh Oh” and
“Oh Oh” Howard. Sherman
declared he “ought to have been born in petticoats and ought to wear
them.”
After the success of the Battle of Atlanta, Sherman, who favored
granting command to West Point graduates, appointed Howard to permanent
command of the Army of Tennessee.
He led the right wing on the March to the Sea.
Sherman commented that Howard as corps commander had the “utmost
skill, nicety, and precision.”
Howard had the reputation of fairness and skillfulness.
Abraham Lincoln and Edwin M. Stanton chose Howard to head the
Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands.
This was created by Congress to provide humanitarian relief and
take four million people from slavery to citizenship with all its
rights. He attempted to
protect freed Blacks from hostile conditions.
For example, Howard’s labor policy set up a system that required
freed people to work on former plantation land under pay scales fixed by
the Bureau.
Howard had enormous power as Bureau head and wrote “Almost unlimited
authority gave me scope and liberty of action... Legislative, judicial
and executive powers were combined in my commission.”
President Andrew Johnson and Howard clashed over most issues.
Johnson did everything that he could to return political power to
southern whites and called Howard a fanatic.
Given the politics of the time and complexity of the problems
creating a new South was difficult even with authority that Howard had
been given.
One option General Howard had was directing the resources to education
which he called “the true relief” from “beggary and dependence.”
He stated, “The opposition to Negro education made itself felt
everywhere in a combination not to allow the freed man any room or
building in which a school might be taught.
In 1865, 1866, and 1867, mobs of baser classes at intervals and
in all parts of the South occasionally burned school buildings and
churches used as schools, flogged teachers or drove them away, and in a
number of instances murdered them.”
As a result of a meeting with socially concerned groups, a new
institution of higher learning was incorporated by Congress in the
spring of 1867. The school would be nonsectarian and open to men and
women without regard to race. The Howard Normal and Theological
Institute for the Education of Preachers and Teachers became Howard
University in Washington, D.C. and was named in honor of Oliver Otis
Howard. He served as president from 1869 to 1874.
Although Howard’s behavior was beyond reproach at the Bureau, his
refusal to acknowledge inappropriate activities by his subordinates
resulted in accusations against him.
He was nearly bankrupt from the legal fees and described himself
as “crippled and broken.”
General Howard was cleared of all charges by a court of inquiry.
Tired of Washington and the political climate Howard rejoined the
military on active duty. He
took command of army forces in the Pacific Northwest and fought in the
Indian Wars. A large part of
his job was convincing Native Americans to move to isolated reservations
and establish themselves as farmers.
Given the work he did at the Freedmen’s Bureau this seemed to go
against his principles. He
believed that he was saving them and living on a reservation would lead
them on a path to citizenship.
From 1880-82 he was superintendent of West Point.
Then, he served as commander of the Platte from 1882 to 1886 and
the Military Division of the Pacific from 1886-1888.
His final command was the Department of the East at Fort Columbus
on Governors Island in New York Harbor from 1888-1894 and retired with
the rank of major general.
The French government made him a chevalier of the Legion of Honor in
1884. He received the Medal
of Honor in 1893 for his heroism at Fair Oaks.
In 1895, Howard founded Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate
Tennessee for the education of “mountain whites.”
He was the author of these books:
Donald’s School Days 1878
Nez Perce Joseph 1881
General Taylor1892
Isabella of Castile 1894
Fighting for Humanity or Camp and Quarterdeck 1898
Henry in the War: or the Model Volunteer 1899
Autobiography 1907
My Life and Experiences among Our Hostile Indians 1907
General Howard has been portrayed in movies. In the 1950 film,
Broken Arrow, Howard was played
by Basil Ruysdael opposite James Stewart.
James Whitmore portrayed General Howard in a 1975 television film
called
I
Will Fight No More Forever.
The plot followed the Army campaign against the Nez Perce Indians
and the surrender of Chief Joseph.
General Howard passed away in Burlington, Vermont on October 26, 1909.
An Army Reserve Center was named for him in Auburn,
Maine and is still in use.
Also named in his honor is Howard County, Nebraska and Howard, Kansas.
Two schools were named after him: Howard High School in
Wilmington, Delaware and Howard School of Academics and Technology in
Chattanooga, Tennessee.
John Bankhead Magruder
 John
B. Magruder was born in Port Royal, Virginia on May 1, 1807 to Thomas
Magruder and his wife, Elizabeth Bankhead.
He was the fifth of ten children.
Thomas was practicing law and had property but he was constantly
in debt and his homestead was sold at auction in 1820.
They were reduced to living on Elizabeth’s property in Aberfoyle.
John Magruder never
liked the idea of the law for a career but was drawn to soldiering.
His grandfather, Colonel James Bankhead, told glorious stories
about fighting in the American Revolution War.
In 1825, Magruder received an appointment to West Point.
He graduated in 1830 and was fifteenth in a class of 42 cadets
and commissioned as a brevet second lieutenant.
On May 18, 1831, he
married Henrietta von Kapff, (1810-1896) daughter of a wealthy
businessman. They would have
three children, Isabella (1833-1869), Katherine (1836-1896), and Henry
(1841-1907). The family
occasionally traveled with Magruder to his various assignments in the
military. Due to the many
remote locales, Henrietta lived in Baltimore where she raised the
children and looked after her business interests.
Despite the long separations a friend noted that Henrietta stayed
“in love with her husband to an uncommon degree.”
From 1831 to 1845,
Magruder had garrison duty in North Carolina, Maryland, and Florida.
These postings gave him the opportunity to study law and pass the
bar examination. He was not
pleased with his tour of duty in 1844 at Hancock Barracks in Maine.
The weather was extremely cold, he developed bronchitis, and saw
no military action. A
disappointment that stayed with him for several years was absolutely no
recognition for the organization of the crucial supplies that were
needed during the Second Seminole War.
He volunteered in
1845, for his next assignment which was in Corpus Christi, Texas.
Magruder commanded a light artillery unit in the Mexican War and was
recognized for his “gallant and meritorious conduct.”
Although, he had a reputation for being restless and short
tempered, “Stonewall” Jackson sought service with Magruder.
Jackson said that he would be the officer most likely to take his
guns to wherever the action was the hottest.
Magruder was “lightly wounded” in the Battle of Mexico City.
Magruder believed
that the War demonstrated “the science of artillery is continuously
advancing.” He learned the
value of deceiving and flanking forces that outnumbered his own.
Detailed plans were submitted by Magruder for separating the
light artillery from “ordinance, field, and seacoast artillery.”
He believed these divisions of labor were more efficient.
The War Department rejected his suggestions because they would be
too expensive.
Lieutenant Magruder
was a favorite among his men who remarked that he was “always charming,
frivolous at times, but intelligent and obviously well read.”
He earned the sobriquet “Prince John” while stationed in Newport,
Rhode Island where he lavishly entertained, was attentive to the ladies,
and wore fashionable military dress.
Others described him as pompous, egotistical, theatrical, and a
man who thrived on this type of recognition.
Even with marginal visiting dignitaries he ordered dress parades
and reviews followed by elaborate dinner parties.
At the height of his popularity The Richmond Dispatch
described him as, “the picture of the Virginia gentleman, the frank and
manly representative of the chivalry of the dear Old Dominion.”
In 1850, Magruder was assigned to command the post in San Diego,
California. While he was in
California, he was a land speculator, lawyer, saloon owner, railroad
president, and a celebrated duelist.
By May, 1857, he was at Fort Adams in Rhode Island and, finally,
he was recognized as one of the lead artillerists.
His experience aided him in convincing the War Department in 1860
to accept his logistic plans.
The government funded an expedition to observe European artillery
tactics.
At the onset of the Civil War, Magruder was serving in Washington, D.C.
However, his loyalties were with his home state of Virginia and
he resigned four days after the state seceded.
Governor John Letcher appointed him a colonel in the Confederate
Army. His victory at Big
Bethel on June 10th was reported as the
first significant land engagement of the War.
Though a small engagement that only involved three hundred men,
it made him the South’s first military celebrity.
On June 17, 1861 he advanced to brigadier general and to major
general on October 7th.
“He’s the hero for the times,” boasted one Civil War ballad, “the
furious fighting Johnny B. MaGruder.”
This was the spelling of his name on the sheet music.
Commanding a force of 12,000 infantry in the spring of 1862, Union
soldiers were advancing up the Virginia Peninsula.
Magruder’s improvisations deceived George McClellan giving
success to the South. He
ordered the infantry unit to march in a wide circle for several hours.
This convinced the North that they were seeing a continuous line of
troops passing and reinforcements were arriving.
Magruder’s reputation suffered a fatal blow during the subsequent Seven
Days’ Battles around Richmond.
His bumbling and inefficiency helped deny Robert E. Lee a
potential victory. Magruder and Lee quarreled.
Lee decided he could not work with him and transferred him to
Texas.
The general worked to strengthen the Texas coastal defenses and could
boast of one success. On January 1, 1863, with two cotton-clad gunboats,
he took Galveston, captured the cutter
Harriet Lane
and drove off the
Union blockading squadron.
With Galveston in Confederate hands, he left for his headquarters in
Houston to attend to administrative duties.
He strenuously enforced the draft, commanders had dictatorial
powers, and occasionally suspended habeas corpus.
General Edmund Kirby Smith said that Magruder had an “utter
disregard for the law.”
After the War he joined the Confederate exodus to
Mexico and lived there from July, 1865 to November, 1866.
Magruder became a naturalized Mexican citizen and was appointed
chief of the Land Office of Colonization.
Napoleon III’s troop withdrawal from Mexico crippled the
monarchy, and Magruder fled to Havana.
Returning to the United States he was totally broke.
He established a law practice in New York City but was still
constantly on the move. In
1869, he lectured in New Orleans on Mexican politics.
A natural at the podium his lectures were always well-attended.
A group of wealthy admirers pledged to purchase a plantation for
him but this never materialized.
In failing health. he
moved to a luxurious hotel in Houston and died on February 18, 1871.
Last changed: 02/07/21 |
