My new books, "My Dearest Lilla: Civil War Letters Home from General Jacob Cox," published by the University of Tennessee Press, and "Searching for Irvini McDowell: The Civil War's Forgotten General," published by Savas-Beatie, along with the nineteen books in my series, "Civil War Personalities: 50 At a Time," are available at https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00HV4SSWK
Civil War Talks on the Life of Jacob Cox, the Battle of Antietam, the Battle of Franklin, and the War in West Virginia
A picture says a thousands words — here is an example. This is the official portrait of Jacob Cox as Governor of Ohio. He was elected in 1865 while still in the Volunteer Army. He chose to be pictured as what I call the consummate “citizen-general.” A self-trained military man, Cox the private citizen had an outstanding military career in the Civil War, but then chose to return to civilian life. In the painting he wears his dress uniform as a two-star Major General, but in his hand is his commission as Governor. On the table behind him is his commission as a general, his sword and scabbard, and his binoculars. The latter are symbols of what he has left behind, but also reminders that they are available if the nation calls again. This is among the reasons why I put this picture on the cover of my biography of Cox, “Citizen-General: Jacob Dolson Cox and the Civil War Era.” The book is available via amazon. com. See also my web-site, https://civilwarhistory-geneschmiel.com
New Englanders were leaders in American society from the beginning of our nation’s history. From landing at “Plymouth Rock,” to leading the way in the American Revolution, to launching movements like abolitionism and the Underground Railroad, these men and women were changing American society in many ways. Thus, it was inevitable that during the American Iliad, the crucible of the Civil War, men and women from this region would emerge as leaders and change-makers.
The nine people pictured on the cover of this book are typical. Robert Gould Shaw’s charge with his USCT 54th Massachusetts immortalized many aspects of this momentous conflict. Frederick Law Olmsted, known for his landscape architecture, was Executive Director of the Sanitary Commission which relieved the suffering of thousands. Joshua Chamberlain made a reputation for himself at the Battle of Gettysburg. Rufus Saxton led the charge for black rights and freedom on the southeast coast. Clara Barton is by far the most famous woman of the era for her groundbreaking work on nursing and founding the American Red Cross. Fitz-John Porter is a symbol of what went wrong when a talented military man let his politics obstruct his actions. Ambrose Burnside symbolizes the dedicated military man who, unlike most, recognized his limitations. Gideon Welles revolutionized the U.S. Navy and was a key eyewitness to history. Dorothea Dix was a crusader for the insane and also a founder of the institution of nursing as a female profession.
Four years ago I wrote the first volume in my series, “Civil War Personalities: 50 At a Time,” which was entitled CIVIL WAR TRAILBLAZERS AND TROUBLEMAKERS. It was a collection of four page biographies of people from Abraham Lincoln and John Wilkes Booth to Frederick Douglas and Harriet Tubman.
Late in 2023, I published the 20th, CIVIL WAR NEW YORKERS. Again, short bios and photos of people like Dan Sickles and Ely Parker to William Seward and Mary Walker.
Other books in the series have focused on other states, ,e.g. Ohioans, Virginians, Missourians, Pennsylvanians, and the people of the Low Country (southeast coast). Others have focused on specific topics, e.g. CIVIL WAR POLITICAL GENERALS, CIVIL WAR WEST POINTERS FIRST AND LAST, AND CIVIL WAR BAPTISM OF FIRE AT FIRST BULL RUN.
Altogether, the books represent nearly 1000 biographies of Civil War personalities, with a reference to further, more in-depth reading about each personality.
The 20th book in my series, “Civil War Personalities, 50 At a Time,” has now been published in both Kindle and paperback formats.
With this book, my series now consists of nearly 1000 short biographies of significant Civil War figures (it’s less than 1000 because I have included some people, e.g. Mary Walker in “Civil War Women” and “Civil War New Yorkers,” in more than one volume).
New York’s influence and power were enormous in that era, and so was that of its people. I’ve included a representative few on the cover: Alonzo Cushing, hero of Gettysburg; Matthew Brady, pioneer of photography; Thomas Meagher, Immigrant General; William Seward, Secretary of State; Thomas Nast, pioneer of political cartooning; Ely Parker, Seneca leader and Union General; Horace Greeley, Leading Journalist; Dan Sickles, Rogue Union General; and Mary Walker, the only woman to win the Medal of Honor.
The state of Louisiana played a critical role early in the war, as the Union’s taking of New Orleans, the largest city in the Confederacy, was a major blow to the rebel states’ commerce and a major step to implementing the Anaconda Plan.
As can be seen from the personalities pictured on the front cover, the word”colorful” suited Louisiana well during the Civil War Its most eminent General, PGT Beauregard; submarine pioneer H.L. Hunley; and Black politician PBS Pinchback; are pictured along with the most hated man in New Orleans, Ben Butler, and General W.T. Sherman who happened to be living in Louisiana when the war began, serving as headmaster of a school which would ultimately become Louisiana State University.
John G. Nicolay, Lincoln’s private secretary during his presidency, was a German immigrant who first met Lincoln as a clerk in the Office of the Illinois State Secretary. Lincoln came to like Nicolay and eventually appointed him as secretary during his presidential campaign of 1860 and then as his private secretary in the White House. In the latter role, Nicolay would become a de facto White House chief of staff. Along with future Secretary of State John Hay, the two young men had immense influence in the White House making Nicolay arguably the most powerful immigrant leader during the Civil War.
Nicolay was born in Bavaria in 1832, and he and his family emigrated to the U.S. six years later. The family lived in Ohio and Indiana for a time before settling in Pike County, Illinois, where they operated a flour mill. When Nicolay’s father died in 1846, their neighbor Zachariah Garbut, editor of the newspaper, the Pike County Free Press, became a father figure and hired Nicolay as an apprentice. Over time Nicolay rose to leadership at the newspaper, which supported the new Republican Party, including a rising party leader, Abraham Lincoln. Nicolay sold the paper in 1856, and in 1858 he became secretary of state of the Illinois government in Springfield.
During his time in Springfield, Nicolay developed a close relationship with Lincoln, who in 1860 appointed him as his personal secretary, a position he would hold until Lincoln died. Along with Hay and a few other subordinates, Nicolay would play the role which today hundreds play in running the White House and managing the Executive Office of the President. Nicolay and Hay were the gatekeepers and the order writers, and Nicolay often was also sent on special missions.
After his tenure in the White House, Nicolay became a consul in the U.S. embassy in Paris for four years. From 1872 to 1887 he was marshal of the U.S. Supreme Court, a sinecure which allowed him to work with Hay on the organization of Lincoln’s public papers and the writing of a ten-volume biography of the deceased president, published in the 1890’s. This work is the basis for much of the popular understanding of Lincoln and his presidency.
Below is a photo of, from left, Nicolay, Lincoln, and Hay taken during the presidency.
This is the third extract from my book, “Civil War Immigrant Leaders,” about a man best known for uttering the words, “Dr. Livingstone, I presume.” What is little known about him is that Henry Stanley fought on both sides in the Civil War and set an unenviable record for desertions. The book can be purchased at: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Gene-Schmiel/author/B00HV4SSWK
Before he met Dr. Livingstone in 1871 in Africa and allegedly uttered those timeless words, “Dr. Livingstone, I presume,” Henry Morton Stanley had established an unenviable record in the United States during the Civil War. That record and that of his other actions are recorded in Stanley’s autobiography, The Autobiography of Sir Henry Morton Stanley, much of which modern historians have determined to be fallacious.
John Rowlands (Stanley’s name at birth) was an aimless youth who was born in England in 1841 and moved to New Orleans in t859. There he met a merchant named Mr. Stanley, and Rowlands decided to change his name. When the war began, Stanley volunteered for 6th Arkansas in the Confederate army and fought, among other places, at the Battle of Shiloh, after which he was taken prisoner.
While in a Union prison, Stanley agreed to become a “Galvanized Yankee,” joining the Union army on a promise of changed allegiance and commitment to the Union cause. Not long afterward, he again changes his allegiance and deserted from the Union army. After a few months of service on merchant ships, he joined the Union navy. Having set a pattern earlier, he then deserted from the Navy in early 1865. As a result, he was not only one of the few individuals to have served in both armies and the Union navy, but also to have deserted from them all and as a non-citizen!
After his final desertion, Stanley returned to England and launched a successful career as a trailblazing journalist and explorer. His trip to find Livingstone was only one of his many adventures. Those included searching for the source of the Nile and claiming what would become the Belgian Congo for the King of Belgium. He was knighted by Queen Victoria in 1899 for his service to the British Empire.
Below is a stylized drawing of the meeting between Stanley and Livingstone. Note the American flag being carried by Stanley’s assistant:
In June 1862, as he set out for his first major command outside Richmond, Jeb Stuart was accompanied by a solitary aide. His companion was a formidable man indeed, a huge Prussian officer turned soldier-of-fortune named Heros von Borcke, recently arrived to serve the Southern cause. Von Borcke stood 6 feet 2 inches tall, weighed 250 pounds, and spoke English with great difficulty…von Borcke completed his retinue of ‘freaks’ – the aristocratic Prussian shared his love of laughter and his disdain for danger. In later life he wrote a memoir of Stuart in which he himself was the hero. As von Borcke wrote in his memoir, “Stuart became one of truest and best friends I have had in this world.”
Born to an aristocratic Prussian family in 1835, von Borcke joined that country’s military forces in 1855. In 1862, because of financial difficulties, he decided to go to the U.S. and volunteer for the Confederate forces. After a difficult journey through the Union blockade, he made his way to Richmond, where he first met Stuart. The latter was impressed with the Prussian giant and made him a Captain. During the Peninsular campaign, von Borcke joined Stuart on the ride around George McClellan’s forces. Stuart reported later that his new friend “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”
In June 1863 von Borcke was seriously wounded during the Battle of Middleburg, Virginia, and was hors de combat for the rest of that year. He returned to Stuart’s staff in 1864 and was present in May 1864 at the Battle of Yellow Tavern, where Stuart was killed. Early in 1865, Von Borcke was sent to England to aid the effort to gain British recognition of the Confederacy. When the war ended, he returned to Prussia, where he again joined that country’s forces. He retired in 1867 because of the effects of his wounds. Von Borcke returned to Virginia in 1884 to attend a reunion with other Confederate officers. He died in 1895, and in 2008 the Sons of Confederate Veterans purchased a new headstone for his grave, which had previously been destroyed during World War II.
Among the many thousands of immigrants who participated in the Civil War, one of the most famous — ultimately — was Ferdinand Graf von Zeppelin. The following is the first of several extracts from my book, “Civil War Immigrant Leaders” https://www.amazon.com/stores/Gene-Schmiel/author/B00HV4SSWK
Born into an aristocratic family in Germany in 1838, Zeppelin was tutored privately until he attended military schools in the 1850’s. He was a Lieutenant in Wurtemberg’s army in 1863 when he requested leave to come to the United States to observe the Civil War. He reportedly requested and got an appointment with President Lincoln, who issued him a pass to the Army of the Potomac. It appears that Zeppelin spent only a few months as an observer before deciding to go off on a trip to see more of the United States. However, at least one source states that during his time with the Union army, he observed Thaddeus Lowe’s ballooning activities in support of the army.
Zeppelin traveled through New York and went to the West via Buffalo. He apparently spent some time wandering in and around Lake Superior and up and down the Mississippi River. On August 17, 1863, he arrived in St. Paul, Minnesota. On that day an itinerant German immigrant balloonist named John Steiner was going to display his talents. The latter had served with Lowe in the army, and that plus their German descent allowed the two men to quickly become friends. The two men took several ascents, and Zeppelin wrote later, “While I was above St. Paul, I had my first idea of aerial navigation strongly impressed upon me and it was there that the first idea of my Zeppelins came to me.”
Zeppelin returned home later in 1863 to resume his military career. He would ultimately rise to the rank of General in the united German army. He resigned from the army in 1891 and spent most of the rest of his life working on designs for airships. In 1895 he received a patent for an airship whose design would be the model for future Zeppelins. He made his first test flight in 1900, and by the time of World War I, his designs were seen as important weapons by the German army. The latter used Zeppelins to make air raids over Britain during that war.
Zeppelin died in 1917 and is considered one of the most important pioneers in aviation history.
Below is a photo of Zeppelin (second from right) and other Union army staffers, including Ulric Dahlgren (standing)
Of the tens of thousands of immigrants who played key roles for both the Union and Confederacy, this book focuses on a representative 50. Here are short descriptions of those on the cover, from top left:
Patrick Cleburne, Ireland, Confederate General, “Stonewall of the West.”
Thomas Meagher, Ireland, Union General, the “Irish Brigade.”
3. Sister Anthony O’Connell, Ireland, Union nurse
4. Friedrich Hecker, Germany, Union General
5. John Nicolay, German, Lincoln’s White House Chief of Staff
6. Heros von Borcke, Prussia, Confederate Cavalryman, JEB Stuart’s aide
7. Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell, England, Medical Pioneer, Initiator of the Sanitary Commission idea
8. Allan Pinkerton, Scotland, Union Detective and Intel Chief
9. Marie Tepe, France, Union Nurse and “Vivandiere”
On May 6 I visited the President James Garfield House (National Park Service) to give a talk about my new book, “Searching for Irvin McDowell.” I was hosted by acting Superintendent, Allison Powell. The arrangements had been made by Superintendent Todd Arrington, who is on another assignment.
Attached are two photos of me with Allison, whose staff was very helpful and supportive throughout. Many thanks to that great group.
The book (see below) is now on sale at the Garfield House and on-line via amazon.com and Savas-Beatie:
GENE SCHMIEL, CIVIL WAR HISTORIAN, AUTHOR, AND LECTURER 