An Old New Yorker

Union General James Samuel Wadsworth died May 8^th 1864 from wounds received two days earlier at the Battle of the Wilderness.

James Samuel Wadsworth was born October 30^th 1807, the son of James Wadsworth in Geneseo, Livingston, New York.  He studied law at both Harvard and Yale, and was admitted to the bar.  He didn't set up a practice; instead Wadsworth managed the family’s estate.  He would enter politics as a Democrat, but then became one of the organizers of the Free Soil Party, and finally a Republican.  In 1861 Wadsworth was a member of the Peace Conference.

When the Civil War became inevitable, Wadsworth volunteered his service to the Union.  He served as an aide-de-camp at the First Battle of Bull Run to Union Major General Irvin McDowell.  McDowell recommended Wadsworth for command, and with the rank of Brigadier General on October 3^rd 1861 he began commanding the 2^nd Brigade of 3^rd Division of the 1^st Corps.  From March 17^th to September 7^th 1862 Wadsworth had command of the Military District of Washington, and had a hand in holding troops for its defense against the wishes of Major General George B McClellan.  After having stepped on McClellan’s toes, Wadsworth could see no prospect in McClellan’s army, and so put his name into the running for Governor of New York State.  After McClellan was replaced at the head of the Army of the Potomac, and Wadsworth had lost the election to Democrat Horatio Seymour, he took the command of the First Division in the 1^st Corps.  He was well thought of by his men.  As the leader of his new division, they were only marginally involved at the Battle of Chancellorsville in May 1863.  At the Battle of Gettysburg, his division was the first Union infantry troops to arrive on the field on July 1^st 1863, and was heavily engaged, loosing over 50% of their strength that day.  They would also fight on the second day.

When the spring 1864 Campaign began, the Army of the Potomac was reorganized, and Wadsworth became the commander of the 4^th Division in the V Corps.  At the Battle of the Wilderness, Wadsworth was the oldest Union divisional command at 56.  On May 5^th 1864 his division was ordered to defend the left of the Union line, but lost their way in the thick underbrush, exposing his left flank to an attack.  Then on May 6^th 1864 while placing two of his brigades, Wadsworth was shot in the back of head, he fell from his horse and was captured by the Confederates.  Wadsworth would die in a Confederate field hospital two days later on May 8^th 1864.  His son-in-law Montgomery Harrison Ritchie would cross line under a flag of truce to retrieve his body.  He is buried in the Temple Hill Cemetery in Geneseo, New York.

Tetanus Took Him

Union Brigadier General George Crockett Strong died from complication of a wounding on July 30^th 1863.

George Crockett Strong was born October 16^th 1832 in Stockbridge, Windsor, Vermont the son of David Ellsworth and Harriet (Fay) Strong. He was raised by an uncle in Easthampton, Massachusetts. He attended the Williston Seminary in Easthampton, Massachusetts, and Union College in Schenectady, New York, before settling in and graduating from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1857.  He was ranked 5^th out of a class of 38.  He served in several military arsenals, becoming the assistant superintendent of the Watervliet Arsenal in Watervliet, Albany, New York.

At the beginning of the Civil War, Strong was serving as an ordnance officer on the staff of Union General Irvin McDowell with the rank of First Lieutenant, and was with him at the First Battle of Bull Run.  He commanded an expedition against Biloxi, Mississippi in April 1862, and received a commission to Brigadier General in November 1862.  While leading and assault on Fort Wagner at Morris Island, South Carolina on July 18^th 1863 he was wounded in the thigh.  While on his way to New York City to recuperate, Strong developed tetanus because of the wound and died June 30^th 1863.  He is buried in the Green Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York.

Find The Flank

The Battle of Blackburn’s Ford, fought on July 18th 1861, was the opening of the Manassas Campaign.


Union Brigadier General Irvin McDowell marched with 35,000 troop from Washington, DC on July 16th 1861. He was moving on the Confederates concentrating near the railroad junction at Manassas. They arrived at Fairfax Court House on July 17th 1861 and looked for a place to cross the Bull Run Creek where they could flank the Confederates. The 22,000 men under the command of Confederate Brigadier General PGT Beauregard anticipated the Union movement and guarded the fords on Bull Run.

McDowell ordered Union Brigadier General Daniel Tyler on July 18th 1861 to find the Confederate left flank. Tyler moved to Centreville which he found unoccupied. In the late morning he reached Blackburn’s Ford, and looking across the stream thought the road was clear to Manassas Junction. But Confederate Brigadier General James Longstreet was hid in the wood just beyond the Ford. Tyler ordered Union Colonel Israel B Richardson to move forward. Richardson ran into resistance from the 1st, 11th and 17th Virginia Infantry. Tyler then ordered artillery and cavalry forward. Unfortunately the 12th New York Infantry began to retreat, which caused panic to spread through out the Union line. At about this same time Confederate Colonel Jubal A Early arrived on the field, which sealed the Confederate victory.

The Union failure at Blackburn’s Ford caused McDowell to decide not to make a frontal assault on Bull Run, he instead tried to cross the stream beyond the left flank of the Confederates.

He Lost The First Battle

Brigadier General Irvin McDowell who was defeated at First Bull Run / First Manassas died May 4th 1885.


Irvin McDowell was born October 15th 1818 in Columbus Ohio. He started his college education in France at the College de Troyes, but then went on to graduate from West Point Military Academy in 1838. He was commissioned Second Lieutenant in the 1st United State Artillery. He was a tactics instructor at West Point. During the Mexican American War McDowell served as aide-de-camp to General John E Wool.

On May 14th 1861 McDowell was given a promotion to Brigadier General. He was placed in command of the Union Army of Northeastern Virginia through connection with Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P Chase. Even though he knew his troops were green and not ready for battle McDowell bent to the pressures of Washington and launched an offensive against the Confederates. His strategy for winning First Bull Run was complicated and his soldiers much to inexperienced, resulting in an humiliating Union loss.

After the loss at Bull Run, McDowell was replaced by Major General George B McClellan. McDowell was placed in command of the 1st Corps, which was placed in defense of Washington DC. Latter three of McDowell’s commands would be combined and moved into Major General John Pope’s Union Army of Virginia, where McDowell would lead the 3rd Corps. After another failure at Second Manassas, McDowell was exiled from leadership in the Army. He was placed in command of the Department of the Pacific.

Following the end of the Civil War McDowell commanded the Fourth Military district which included Arkansas and Louisiana during the years of Reconstruction. In 1872 he was promoted to Major General in the United States Regular Army. He retired from military service in 1882. McDowell died May 4th 1885 in San Francisco California, were he is buried in the Presidio.