The Webster

Colonel Daniel Fletcher Webster was killed August 30^th 1862, while leading his men during the Second Battle of Bull Run [Second Manassas].

Daniel Fletcher Webster was born July 25^th 1818 in Portsmouth, New Hampshire the son of the well-known politician Daniel and Grace (Fletcher) Webster.  He was known in the family as Fletcher.  He attended and graduated from Dartmouth College.  While Webster’s father was serving as the United States Secretary of State, he served as the Chief Clerk of the States Department.  While serving as the Chief Clerk, Webster delivered the news to Vice President John Tyler of President William Henry Harrison death.

When the Civil War started Webster resigned his job as the surveyor of the Port of Boston, and became the Colonel of the 12^th Massachusetts Infantry.  The 12^th was recruited in the Boston area and mustered into Union service July 11^th 1861 and a three year regiment.  The first action was at the Battle of Cedar Mountain.  He was killed August 30^th 1862 during the Second Battle of Bull Run.  Webster and the 12^th were on Chinn Ridge, and he was riding along the lines encouraging the men to stay in line.  He was struck in the wrist, with the bullet passing into his chest, toppling him off his horse, his adjutant moved him into some bushes.  Webster was found by some Confederates, and knowing he was dying asked one of them, a Ludwell Hutchison of the 8^th Virginia Infantry to take his wallet and return it to his family, which was done after the war.  After the battle Webster’s body was recovered and it was sent home for burial in the Winslow Cemetery in Marshfield, Massachusetts.

The 12^th Massachusetts a part of the Army of the Potomac was known as “The Webster Regiment” in honor of their Colonel.  There is a plaque on a boulder near where Webster was killed on the Manassas Battlefield.

He Moved To Slow

Major General George Brinton McClellan died October 29th 1885.

George B McClellan was born December 3rd 1826 in Philadelphia Pennsylvania. He was the son of Dr George McClellan and Elizabeth Steinmetz (Brinton) McClellan. McClellan began at the University of Pennsylvania in 1840, to study the law, but two years latter he decided on military service. His father got President John Tyler to write a letter to West Point and McClellan was admitted there in 1842. McClellan closest friends while at West Point were James Stuart and A P Hill. He graduated second in his class of 59. He created the Army of the Potomac at the beginning of the Civil War, but moved to slowly battle for Abraham Lincoln and was replaced early in the war. He ran for President against Lincoln in 1864.

After the Civil War was over McClellan took his family for a long trip to Europe. Upon his return to the United States the Democratic Party showed interest in his running for president again. He went on to be the Chief Engineer of the New York City deptartment of Docks, and the President of the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad. In 1877 McClellan was nominated for the Governorship of New Jersey, and he served from 1878 to 1881. He worked hard to get Grover Cleveland elected President, hoping to be named Secretary of War in Cleveland’s cabinet.

His final years were spent traveling and writing about his military career. He died at the age of 58 after having had chest pains for several weeks at his home in Orange New Jersey. At 3am on the October 29th 1885 he spoke his final words, saying “I feel easy now. Thank you.” He is buried in the Riverview Cemetery in Trenton New Jersey.

He Didin't Die on US Soil

The tenth President of United States, John Tyler Jr died January 18th 1862.

Tyler was the first President to come to the office via succession, when President William Henry Harrison died April 4th 1841. Without question the most important thing that Tyler’s administration can claim is the annexation of Texas.

After his term of service was up, Tyler retired to his plantation in Virginia where he continued to work with the Democrats on the issue of States Rights. On the eve of the Civil War, February 1861 former President Tyler was in Washington, DC as part of the Virginia Peace Convention, which was meeting to try to prevent the coming war. Tyler strongly believed that each state should decide on the state level if it should be “free” or “slave” without interference from the Federal Government. When the Civil War began Tyler joined the Confederacy and went to the Provisional Confederate Congress as a delegate. He was elected to the Confederate Congress as part of the House of Representatives.

President John Tyler’s death would be the first presidential death not to be officially mourned in the Capital. He is also the only president to die while living outside of the United States, as Richmond,Virginia was considered to be a part of the Confederate States. He is buried at his plantation in Virginia.