One Of Four Generals

An Officer in the United States Cavalry William Selby Harney died May 9th 1889.


William Selby Harney was born August 27th 1800 in Haysboro Davidson Tennessee. While visiting his brother Dr Benjamin F Harney who was an Army Surgeon in Baton Rouge Louisiana in 1817 met some high military officers. Harney was so impressed by these men that he worked to get a commission to Second Lieutenant through President James Monroe. He began his military carrer in the 1st Unites States Infantry under Andrew Jackson. He saw action in the Seminole and Blackhawk Wars. With an appointment to Colonel with command of the 2nd Dragoons he was a member of General Winfield Scott’s Army at the Battle of Cerro Gordo during the Mexican American War. After this Harney found himself fighting Indians in the west, at the Battle of Ash Hollow and with a then Captain George E Pickett serving under him in the Dept of Oregon.

Harney received a promotion to Brigadier General June 14th 1856 and was one of the only four generals serving in the regular army at the start of the Civil War [the other three being Lieutenant General Winfield Scott, and Brigadier Generals John E Wool and Edwin Vose Sumner]. He was in command of the Department of the West, stationed in St Louis Missouri at the out break of the Civil War. Although Missouri vowed neutrality at the beginning of the war, the “Camp Jackson Affair” where Union General Nathaniel Lyon captured some Missouri State Militia, and fired on a crowd, causing the Missouri General Assembly to authorize attacks on any Army North or South end the neutrality. Harney struck a deal with the Missouri State Guard and Governor Claiborne Jackson to remain neutral and finaly to swear allegiance to the Union. Harney was ordered to Washington DC April 1861 over the affair and was captured by Confederates at Harper’s Ferry Virginia on the way. The Confederates offered him a command, he refused it but found himself relieved of command when he reached Washington and was replaced by Lyon. Harney retired from military service in 1863.

Harney died May 9th 1889 in Orlando Florida. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Into The Valley

The Battle of McDowell one of Jackson’s actions in the Valley campaign was fought May 8th 1862.

Leaving from Staunton Virginia, Major General Thomas J Jackson marched his army along the Parkersburg Turnpike. He was advancing to face two Union brigades under Brigadier General Robert Milroy and Brigadier General Robert Schenck. Reaching McDowell on May 8th 1862, Milroy assaulted the Confederate position on Sitlington’s Hill. After four hours of heavy fighting the Union troops were repulsed. Milroy and Schenck pulled back into western Virginia, allowing Jackson’s army march through the valley and hit other Union columns.

We'd Have Driven Them Into The River

Part of the Peninsula Campaign, the Battle of Eltham’s Landing took place on May 7th 1862.

Brigadier General William B Franklin had been ordered to protect the road to Barhamsville, New Kent County, Virginia. On May 7th 1862 Union Brigadier General John Newton had a brigade in the woods on either side of the landing road. Confederate Brigadier General John Bell Hood advanced pushing Newton’s skirmish line back. Do to the thick woods, Hood ordered his men to unload their rifles as they advanced. Union troops retreated from the woods onto the plain in front of the landing, where they could get cover fire from the Union gunboats. The Confederates fired artillery into the gunboats, but they didn't have enough range and so disengaged at about 2pm.  After the Confederates pulled back from the area, the Union troops moved back into the woods, but did not try to advance any further.

The action of the Battle at Eltham’s Landing was really little more than a skirmish. The Confederate saw 48 casualties, while the Union side lost 194 men. The action was a draw, although Confederate General Joseph E Johnston considered it a success, having only ordered Hood to feel out the enemy. He asked Hood, "What would your Texans have done, sir, if I had ordered them to charge and drive back the enemy?" To which Hood said, "I suppose, General, they would have driven them into the river, and tried to swim out and capture the gunboats."

Hurrah For Jeff Davis

Philip Henry Mulkey was arrested in Oregon on May 6th 1865 for shouting “Hurrah for Jeff Davis”

Although Eugene, Oregon is a long way away from where the Civil War fighting was going on, there were Confederate sympathizers in the North West state. When news of Abraham Lincoln’s death on April 15th 1865 reached Oregon, Philip Henry Mulkey set off what is known as the “The Long Tom Rebellion” by yelling “Hurrah for Jeff Davis, and damn the man that won’t” in the streets of Eugene. Mulkey was arrested and placed in jail.

A pro-Union mob broke into the jail and came close to lynching Mulkey. Friends of Mulkey’s from the town of Long Tom, Oregon, who shared his Confederate feelings, prepared to fight. The military in Oregon finally had to take Mulkey 130 miles away to Fort Vancouver so things would settle down. Mulkey would spend three months in jail.

Victory Or Withdrawal

The first major battle of the Peninsula Campaign fought on May 5th 1862 was the Battle of Williamsburg.

The Battle of Williamsburg or the Battle of Fort Magruder, was part of the Peninsula Campaign and took place on May 5th 1862. There were about 41,000 Union troops and 32,000 Confederates engaged. The Confederates were in retreat from Yorktown when a Union division commanded by Major General Joseph Hooker ran into their rear near Williamsburg. Confederate General Joseph E Johnston on May 4th 1862 established his rear position in earthen fortifications built by Major General John Bankhead Magruder, which overlooked the junction of two roads.

Hooker conducted a morning attack on May 5th 1862 against Fort Magruder, but was forced back. They were driven by a strong assaults lead by General James Longstreet. In time a division under Brigadier General Philip Kearny arrived to support the Union position and the Confederates fell back to their defenses. While this was going on Brigadier General Winfield Scott Hancock had marched his brigade in behind the Confederate left flank. Longstreet sent Major General D H Hill and Brigadier General Jubal A Early to try to flank Hancock’s men, but they were misdirected and this resulted in great loss.

Having delayed the Union advance, the Confederates left the redoubts during the night and continued their withdrawal toward Richmond. Although the Union claimed a victory, the Confederates saw the battle as a delaying maneuver allowing them to continue their withdrawal. The Union saw losses of 2,283 and the Confederates lost 1,682.

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.

Honoring The Dead

The Washington Race Course Cemetery saw the burial of Union dead and the first Memorial Day on May 1st 1865.


Many communities set aside a day to mark the end of the Civil War and honor those who had died. Some of the towns who began these early Memorial or Decoration Days included Columbus Mississippi, Carbondale Illinois, and Sharpsburg Maryland, among others. The first of these remembrance is thought to have been held by former slaves on May 1st 1865 at the Washington Race Course in Charleston South Carolina.

The race course was used during the war as prison camp, and contained a mass grave behind the old grandstand of the Union soldiers who died there. Following the end of the war, the former slaves who lived in the area exhumed the bodies of the 257 Union soldiers who died there and reentered them in individual graves. There was a fence built and the area was declared to be a Union cemetery and named the “Martyrs of the Race Course“. It was reported by Charleston newspapers that on May 1st 1865 a crowd of around 10,000 including some 2,800 children attended ceremonies that included sermons, singing, picnicking on the grounds and laying of flowers. The 54th Massachusetts and the 34th and 104th United States Colored Troops drilled and did a march around the cemetery. This then became the first Decoration Day.