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“You will be a picked chicken…”

The Confederacy had many outstanding officers, who are are due all honor and respect. But by far, the makeup of the rank and file of the army was mostly privates. Those men marched and fought. Some lived, some died, and today their descendants wish to gratefully remember them.

As Sam Watkins of the 1st Tennessee Regiment wrote:“The generals risked their reputation, the private soldier his life. No one ever saw a private in battle. His history would never be written. It was the generals that everybody saw charge such and such, with drawn sabre, his eyes flashing fire, his nostrils dilated, and his clarion voice ringing above the din of battle…”Yes, we honor the exceptional officers that led men in battle, exposing themselves to as much danger as did the private.  But we also remember the Confederate foot soldier.  As Watkins also wrote:“The private’s tread is light—his soul is happy… Well, you have come here to fight us; why don’t you come on? We are ready; always ready…. Come, give us a tilt, and let us try our metal. You say you going to flank us out of the Southern Confederacy. That’s your plan, is it? Well, look out… You will be a picked chicken before you do that.”No doubt, that pluck lives on to this day.

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The Flag They Followed – With Grit and Determination

The recent news carried an article about how someone was very offended by a flag.  To hear the fellow’s words, you would think his life had just about been destroyed because he saw it. The flag in question had been followed by men whose constant companions were hunger and disease, who for years were vastly outnumbered, suffering pain and deprivations. Although often ill-equipped, these men were nonetheless armed with  a weapon of a different kind – grit and determination. Confederate General John B. Gordon tells a story about a night march. Late to arrive was an Arkansas regiment, a regiment Robert E. Lee once called “the great old Third Arkansas.”  Gordon described how an Arkansas soldier leaned his rifle up against a tent pole, and muttered the following:“This is pretty hard. I fight all day and march all night. But I suppose I can do it for my country. I can go hungry. I can march when I’m sick, because I love my country. I can always fight because there’s always another yankee somewhere who needs to be whipped. I do all this and I’m glad to do it because I love my country.”Gordon understood this. He was shot four times at Antietam, but continued to command his men. It took a fifth bullet that day to bring him down. Wounded at Shepherdstown, blood streaming from his head, he again carried on with his command. He was shot again near Appomattox, but kept right on fighting. Is it any wonder so many today still honor these men and the flag they followed?

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Throw Rocks!

Staff Sergeant Jimmie Howard knew the fight was coming. His 18-man Marine reconnaissance unit was on top of Hill 488 in Vietnam as over 200 enemy soldiers began probing their position.

Howard had enlisted in 1950, had a Silver Star and two Purple Hearts for his actions in the Korean War, so he knew what to do when an enemy attacked. It was 10 o’clock that night when the enemy struck. The Marines pulled back to a 20-yard circle, and began fighting. In the dark, grenades and mortar shells exploded, and tracer rounds filled the air.

The enemy taunted them with, “Marines, you die in an hour.”  Howard’s men just yelled back. The Marines found this funny and began laughing. Howard described it:

“They were shooting at us and when we started laughing… they stopped.  There was complete silence.  I think it had a chilling effect on them.  They must have known we were terribly outnumbered, but here we were laughing at them.”

But soon the fight continued. The Marines were low on ammo, so Howard directed his men to, “Throw rocks.” As his men threw the rocks into the brush and grass, the enemy mistook them for grenades and moved into the open. That way the Marines could make every round count.

It was not until noon the next day that a Marine company closed on the hill.  By the time Staff Sergeant Howard and his men were relieved, they had just eight rounds of ammunition left.

Howard’s men were awarded four Navy Crosses and 13 Silver Stars. Every man earned a Purple Heart. Howard had been shot in the back, could not move his legs, but had continued to fight. He was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.

If that’s not courageous and heroic, then what is?

 

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“If You Ain’t Cav, You Ain’t…”

American cavalry has a long and proud tradition.  These troops trained to fight on horseback were used effectively in the Revolutionary War, War of 1812, and the War with Mexico. The Civil War saw a significant change, with Cavalry heavily used as Mounted Infantry.  They were soldiers who used their horses for maneuvers and moving fast, then dismounted to the fight.  There was very little “cavalry vs. cavalry” in the Civil War, and even fewer mounted charges against infantry.

Surprisingly some Union cavalry units were mounted on mules.  Why mules? They were  especially feisty animals that could endure conditions that a normal horse could not.

The Confederacy began the war with an advantage over Union horsemen.  The entire South was horse country, with few roads and rough terrain. Many Southerners owned a horse of some sort, and were at home in the saddle.

The North caught on after a while, and made effective use of their own cavalry. George Custer’s men certainly had their share of success in battle.  The flamboyant young Custer, with his long blond hair, wide-brimmed hat, and velvet jacket, made a name for himself long before his famous last stand against Crazy Horse in 1876.

In a charge at the Battle of Yellow Tavern near Richmond, his 5th Michigan cost the South one of its greatest generals, J.E.B Stuart.  One of Custer’s men shot and killed Stuart.

On the Confederate side, Nathan Forrest‘s cavalry was known for its fast travel.  Union General Sherman reported that Forrest’s men and horses “could travel one hundred miles in less time than it takes ours to travel ten.”   They could fight well when mounted, but usually fought on foot.  

Military strategists still study and write about Forrest’s operations and leadership. A paper from the Naval War College includes the statement that he was “…an unlettered military genius in the operational art of war at the tactical level. Without a formal military education, he became one of the leading cavalry figures and greatest operational leaders of the war.”  

This same paper went on to say,

“Generals Robert E. Lee and William T. Sherman and other leaders on both sides ultimately declared him the most remarkable soldier of the Civil War.”  He was known for using a Battle Flag with only 12 stars, instead of the usual 13, so his opponents knew who they were facing.

Today’s U.S. Army Cavalry carries on the tradition that started in 1775, operating with much of the same tactics as the Mounted Infantry of the Civil War. Of course, the Cav gets there much faster today using motor vehicles, armored tanks, and helicopters  

Appropriately, the motto of the 1st Cavalry Division is “The First Team.”   One of the unofficial mottos is, “If you ain’t Cav, you ain’t…”  

The history of American cavalry gives them every reason to stand tall and proud.

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Good Golly, Miss Molly!

Molly Pitcher is described as a patriot who carried pitchers of water to soldiers and helped with cannon duty during the Battle of Monmouth in the American Revolution.

“Molly Pitcher” may be a combination folk hero inspired by the actions of many women who served in this role on the battlefield, and became know by this nickname.  During the American Revolutionary War it was common  for wives to be near their husbands in battle and help as needed.

Although historians conclude that Molly Pitcher cannot be definitely identified, most sources say she was Mary Ludwig Hays, born in Trenton New Jersey in 1754.  At the Battle of Monmouth, she earned this nickname as she carried pitchers of water to soldiers.

As the story goes, it was a brutally hot day in June, 1778. She made countless trips to a nearby spring to fill pitchers of cold water for soldiers to drink and to pour over their cannons to cool them down. When her husband William (John) Hays, the artilleryman, was wounded, she dropped her her water jugs and took up loading the artillery in his place. She kept the cannon loaded throughout the rest of the battle until the colonists had won the victory.

According to the National Archives, there was a witness to Molly Pitcher’s actions. Joseph Plumb Martin, a soldier in the Continental Army, was there. His memoirs, discovered in the 1950’s, documented her heroic acts: Plumb relates :

“A woman whose husband belonged to the artillery and who was then attached to a piece in the engagement, attended with her husband at the piece the whole time. While in the act of reaching a cartridge and having one of her feet as far before the other as she could stemp, a cannon shot from the enemy passed directly between her legs without doing any other damage than carrying away all the lower part of her petticoat. Looking at it with apparent unconcern, she observed that it was lucky it did not pass a little higher, for in that case it might have carried away something else, and continued her occupation.”

With her actions on that day, Molly Pitcher became one of the most popular and enduring symbols of the women who contributed to the American Revolution.

George Washington is said to have seen her heroics and issued her a commendation. Mary was allegedly called “Sergeant Molly” for the rest of her life. But where history ends and folklore begins is up for debate. There is no record of such  commendation from Washington. Martin’s account is the only real evidence available about her at Monmouth.

Mary Hays (“Molly Pitcher”)  was honored by the Pennsylvania Legislature in 1822 for her wartime services. She was awarded $40 and an annual commission for rest of her life. A monument in Carlisle commemorates her heroic acts in battle.

                                            

Whether Molly Pitcher is  one woman or a mixture of many, her legend tells the story of women’s heroism during the American Revolution.

 

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The Grandest Charge

“I am sure that it was the grandest charge that was ever seen by mortal man.”

Those are the words of Union Colonel Worthen, whose men at Gettysburg tried to stand against the Mississippi brigade commanded by General Barksdale.  Gettysburg was the bloodiest battle of the Civil War, and there are many tales of the brave men that fought there.

This is a tale of the “grandest charge.”Longstreet needed to create an opening in the Union lines, but attacks by four of his brigades had failed in the face of a Union artillery battery.

Brigadier General Barksdale approached Longstreet with a request:

“I wish you would let me go in, General; I would take that battery in five minutes!”   

The order was given, and true to his word, Barksdale’s men swiftly overwhelmed the artillery. But the Mississippi Brigade was not done.  They raced onward to where the 68th Pennsylvania awaited them. The 68th collapsed in 30 minutes.

Onward went the charge of the Mississippi Brigade, shattering the 57th Pennsylvania next.  But this was the “grandest charge,” and not quite over. Racing into the 141st Pennsylvania, the clash was ferocious, with 70 percent of the Federals lost before they retreated.

The Mississippi boys had driven a hole a mile deep into the Union lines. One of the Confederate soldiers reported that a Federal soldier from Pennsylvania insisted on shaking hands

“with one of the men who made the most splendid charge of the war.”

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Pirate Patriots

America has had its share of pirates. One could even say that the Boston Tea Party was a sort of piracy. It’s  likely that a some of those tea leaves found their way into a patriot’s teapot instead of landing at the bottom of Boston Harbor.

It was normal for a nation at war to authorize civilians to seize enemy shipping. Men who did this were called privateers. The Continental Congress issued this proclamation: 

“You may, by force of arms, attack, subdue, and take all ships and other vessels belonging to subjects of the King of Great-Britain…”

Nations called any enemy “privateers” pirates. During the American Revolution, even Navy Captain John Paul Jones was called a pirate. He was so successful off the British coast that the British Navy declared he was to be hanged if captured. Fortunately he never was, and won a famous battle against the 50-gun HMS Serapis off the east coast of Britain.

American Naval officer Joshua Barney was a privateer.  During the Revolutionary War, Barney once remarked that he was happiest when faced with “the point of the bayonet or the cannon’s mouth.” As a privateer during the War of 1812, Barney took 20 vessels from 1812-1813. He put his uniform back on and started building and commanding vessels, and even fought on land to defend the nation’s capital.

Jean Lafitte was a pirate and smuggler near New Orleans. He raided Spanish and French shipping. He even set up his own Kingdom of Barataria, made up of isolated islands in Louisiana. A local hero, he supplied “a steady and relatively inexpensive supply of dry goods, wine, all sorts of manufactured items…”

In 1812, the British tried to convert Jean Lafitte to their side, but he was a patriot at heart and would have nothing to do with it. When General Andrew Jackson came to defend New Orleans, Lafitte offered his services. The popular pirate supplied cannons, ammunition and skilled men. Pirates knew how to handle a cannon, and Lafitte had some of the best in the business. His men manned key artillery and were crucial to winning the battle.

Pirate hero Jean Lafitte

The pirates were commended by Jackson as “having shown uncommon gallantry and skill in the field.”

 

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The Brave Dash for Water

It was the autumn of 1863, and Confederates were in the middle of a bold assault on a Union fort near Knoxville, Tennessee. The Rebels reached a defensive ditch surrounding the fort, but were pinned down.  

One of the men volunteered to make a dash back across the wide open field to get water. Somehow, he managed to make it back without being shot, but now he had to make it to the ditch, carrying the load.

Confederate General Gordon later recalled the following:

“Laden with the filled and heavy canteens, he approached within range of the rifles in the fort and looked anxiously across the intervening space. He was fully alive to the fact that the chances were all against him; but determined to relieve his suffering comrades or die in the effort, he started on his perilous run for the ditch at the fort.”

Gordon, from Georgia, was no stranger to daring himself. He was already battle-scarred before he was shot four times at Antietam, and continued to lead his men. It took a fifth bullet to bring him down that day. Later wounded at Shepherdstown, West Virginia, blood streaming from his head, he again carried on with his command.

Here is the rest of the story he told of that day:

“The brave Union soldiers stood upon the parapet with their rifles in hand. As they saw this daring American youth coming, with his life easily at their disposal, they stood silently contemplating him for a moment. Then realizing the situation, they fired at him a tremendous volley–not of deadly bullets from their guns, but of enthusiastic shouts from their throats. If the annals of war record any incident between hostile armies which embodies a more beautiful and touching tribute by the brave to the brave, I have never seen it.”

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“…giving them the best I had…”

Sergeant Alvin York is one of America’s most famous soldiers.  Son of a blacksmith, York was raised on a small farm in Tennessee.  In his own words:

“I used to drink a lot of moonshine. I used to gamble my wages away week after week. I used to stay out late at night. I had a powerful lot of fist fights….”  

But one day,

“I promised my mother that night I would never drink again; I would never smoke or chew again; I would never gamble again; I would never cuss or fight again. And I have never drunk any whiskey, I have never touched cards, I have never smoked or chewed, and I have never fought or rough-housed since that night.”

Then came World War I.  York went to France, landing with the U.S. Army 82nd Division in May 1918.  

Five months later he and 17 other men had just captured some enemy soldiers when they came under heavy fire.

According to York,

“There were about 30 of them. They were commanding us from a hillside less than 30 yards away. They couldn’t miss. And they didn’t!”  

Nine Americans went down:

He continued:

“Those machine guns were spitting fire and cutting down the undergrowth all around me something awful…. I didn’t have time to dodge behind a tree or dive into the brush…. As soon as the machine guns opened fire on me, I began to exchange shots with them…”

“All the time I kept yelling at them to come down. I didn’t want to kill any more than I had to. But it was they or I. And I was giving them the best I had.”

Suddenly six of the enemy jumped out of their trench and charged York.  He pulled out an old automatic pistol and started firing:

“I touched off the sixth man first, then the fifth, then the fourth, then the third, and so on. I wanted them to keep coming. I didn’t want the rear ones to see me touching off the front ones. I was afraid they would drop down and pump a volley into me.”

No western movie has better displayed “cool under fire.”  One of the captured soldiers, a major, had seen enough.  He spoke English, telling York, “If you don’t shoot any more I’ll make them surrender.”  And he did.

That was how eight Americans found themselves with 80 prisoners. They started making their way back through enemy lines, encountering more enemy soldiers on the way.  York had the major order them to surrender, and all but one did:

“I made the major order him to surrender twice. But he wouldn’t. And I had to touch him off. I hated to do it. But I couldn’t afford to take any chances and so I had to let him have it.”

By the time York and his seven men reached American lines they had 132 prisoners. The Army inspected the battlefield later, and the official report said York’s account was accurate, but also said,

“York’s statement tends to underestimate the desperate odds which he overcame.”

York was promoted to sergeant and awarded the Medal of Honor. The government made a lot of fuss about it, but York wrote in his diary that he

“…wanted to get back to my people where I belonged, and the little old mother and the little mountain girl who were waiting.”  And so he did.

Thank you for your service Sergeant.  May we all be as brave and courageous as you and your men when the time comes.

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The “Giant in Gray”

Johann Heros von Borcke was a lieutenant in the 2nd Brandenburg Regiment of Dragoons of the Prussian Army when news arrived of the beginning of the American Civil War.

He managed to get released from his unit, and crossed the Atlantic to the island of Bermuda. From there he managed to get onto a Rebel Blockade Runner and sailed into Charleston Harbor in 1862.

Von Borcke brought with him a massive Solingen straight sword, which would become famous during his military  career. Standing 6′ 4″tall  and weighing in at more than 240 pounds, he was a conspicuous sight to see on the battlefield, wielding his extremely large sword.   He  became known as the “giant in gray.”

Von Borcke became a Confederate Captain and a close confidant and aide to Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart who praised him for his bravery and skill.  Stuart wrote,

“Capt. Heros von Borcke, a Prussian cavalry officer, who lately ran the blockade, assigned me by the honorable Secretary of War, joined in the charge of the First Squadron in gallant style, and subsequently, by his energy, skill, and activity, won the praise and admiration of all”.

He rode with Stuart as his Chief of Staff and adjutant general during the Northern Virginia Campaign and the Maryland Campaign, further adding to his reputation for bravery in the face of the enemy.

During the Battle of Middleburg,  early in the 1863 Gettysburg Campaign, von Borcke took a bullet to his neck and could not fight for the rest of the of the year.  But he did recover enough to return to staff duties in the following spring. He was present at the Battle of Yellow Tavern where Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart was lost.

Where von Borcke was wounded

Von Borcke was voted the official thanks of the Confederate Congress. President Jefferson Davis even sent him on a diplomatic mission to England.

After the war he returned to Germany, but never forgot his Southern friends, even returning to visit them.  He named one of his daughters Virginia.  Johann inherited the family castle, where it was his “delight to fly the Confederate flag from its battlements”.

His headstone over his grave in Giesenbrügge was destroyed by the Soviet army during World War II. The Sons of Confederate Veterans purchased a new headstone for his grave. It was reinstalled in  2008.

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Washington Battles An Invisible Enemy

Until modern times, the great killer of soldiers in all armies was an invisible one. It was not bullets, cannons or bayonets, but the disease called smallpox. In 1775, smallpox had so devastated the American army in Canada that John Adams bemoaned that “…smallpox is ten times more terrible than the British, Canadians and Indians together.”

Washington knew all about this disease because he had survived it as a child. It could kill off the soldiers and destroy a viable army. Plus, just the threat of infection would scare off many of the troops that Washington desperately needed. The success or failure in the war to gain independence from Britain could be determined by this unseen killer. Washington described as a threat greater  “than…the Sword of the Enemy.”

Smallpox continued to plague the Continental Army and civilian populations. Epidemics broke out in Boston and Philadelphia in the summer of 1776.  American forces sent to take Quebec had to retreat because of the high number of soldiers infected with smallpox.

Washington took the bold and controversial move in the winter of 1777 in Morristown New Jersey to have soldiers inoculated against smallpox. Later while in encampment at Valley Forge, he went further and demanded that his entire army be inoculated.

Inoculation would have to be done in great secrecy because inoculated soldiers were unable to fight for a period of time. But Washington eventually put in place a system where new recruits would get the inoculation as soon as they enlisted. They would then have the mildest form of the disease while they were being outfitted with uniforms and weapons. By the time the men left to join, these new soldiers would be completely healed.  

By some reports, death from smallpox in the ranks dropped from 17% to a low of 1% of all reported deaths, a tremendous reduction.

Historian Elizabeth Fenn stated, “Washington’s unheralded and little-recognized resolution to inoculate the Continental forces must surely rank with the most important decisions of the war…”

George Washington’s military genius is undisputed. But American independence may not have happened without his strategy to reduce the loss of men to smallpox with the first mass military inoculation.

 

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George Washington’s Fury

George Washington was known for keeping his cool, so it was rare that anyone saw him lose his temper. But at the Revolutionary War Battle of Monmouth in New Jersey, Washington exploded in rage when his second in command disobeyed orders and retreated from an engagement.  

Washington had sent General Charles Lee ahead to engage British General Cornwallis while Washington brought his full army up from winter quarters at Valley Forge. But Lee withdrew from the fight after several hours.

When Washington met up with Lee, he cursed him furiously for withdrawing from the British. General Scott was there and said that the “leaves shook on the tree.”

Washington rode forward on his horse, encouraging his men to battle, and continued to do so throughout the day.  The day was so hot and Washington maneuvered around so swiftly – inspiring his men and directing the fight – that his horse died from exhaustion.

That night Washington resolved to continue the fight the next day, but when dawn came, the British were nowhere to be seen. They had retreated overnight.

Another of Washington’s generals, Marquis de Lafayette, was present at the battle, and later reported, “I thought then as now I had never beheld so superb a man.”

 

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