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General Lee is Near! Stonewall Jackson at Sudley Mills - Virginia By: John Paul Strain The warm summer month of August 1862 was a critical time for the Army of Northern Virginia. Its commander General Robert E. Lee was stalking his opponent, General John Pope like a hunter in the woods along the Rappahannock river. General Pope commanded a Federal army consisting of 50,000 troops and was waiting to link up with another Federal army of 80,000 men under the command of General McClellan. General Lee had to destroy Pope's army before the link could happen. General Lee's plan was bold and audacious. He would deploy one of his top generals, Stonewall Jackson for the assignment. Jackson was to take his three divisions of 23,000 men and skirt around the right flank of Pope's army using the Bull Run Mountains to screen his movements and cut through the mountains at Thoroughfare Gap. Then in the rear of Pope's forces he would cut Pope's communication and supply lines from Washington, the Orange and Alexandria Railroad line. Pope would be forced to move on the new threat and be further drawn away from McClellan. Then Lee and Jackson would attack together and take out Pope's army, and turn on McClellan. The plan was daring and dangerous for Jackson and his command, as he could possibly find himself cut off from Lee, facing two huge Federal armies if all did not go well. Jackson's march began at 3 A.M. on August 25th with orders for no straggling. The men were pushed hard and made good time passing through the village of Orleans by mid-day. After a 26 mile march, the men went to sleep along the roadside. Passing through Thoroughfare Gap after sunrise the next day, Jackson headed for the town of Bristoe and the railroad. That evening at Bristoe the Confederates attacked the station capturing all the Federal troops that did not flee. Jackson's men opened a railroad track derailing switch and soon a locomotive train barreling down the tracks crashed down the embankment in cloud of steam, smoke, and twisted metal. After the excitement, Jackson consolidated his troops as it became dark. His men were exhausted after their 56 mile march in two days but Jackson wasn't finished with the day. He sent General Isaac Trimble with his men to secure Manassas Junction before it could be reinforced. Trimble's troops along with Stuart's cavalry attacked Manassas Junction after midnight, capturing 300 Federals and the post commander. The following day Jackson and his men found that Manassas Junction held the mother load of supplies and commissary stores. The confederates stuffed their haversacks with all they could carry including such delicacies as rhine wine and lobster salad! General Jackson ordered his men to obtain four days rations and destroy all the rest. That night the army headed northwest to Sudley Springs Ford at Bull Run. Thanks to Jackson and his command, the first phase of General Lee's plan had been successfully carried out on time, but now the alarm had been sounded and General Pope was on the way. It was now time to prepare for the deadliest part of the plan and take on 50,000 men. But Jackson needed the help of Lee to take on that kind of force. Where were they? Had they been held up, running into trouble? Had they been stopped at Thoroughfare Gap that was only 200 yards wide? On August 28th Jackson had made his headquarters at Sudley Mills. One of the mills was a grist mill that turned out tons of corn, the other a large saw mill. General Jackson passed the early afternoon riding alone and restlessly worrying, while his men rested in the shade from the hot sun. At about 3:00PM at the mill a courier arrived. His dispatch reported that the second half of the Confederate army was approaching Thoroughfare Gap. General Jackson "beamed with pleasure" and with uncharacteristic exuberance shook the courier's hand for the great news. General Lee was near! |
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No Man Died With More Glory By: Ron Lesser
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In the Still of the Night By: Ron Lesser Stonewall Jackson and his wife Anna celebrate an evening ride together. |
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The Spirit Endures By: Ron Lesser Man's pathway to glory is strewn with the bones of the horse.... |
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Sword of Virginia, 2nd Manassas By: Don Troiani As he thundered toward the roaring cannons, Colonel Skinner brandished his tremendous sword, a French Cuirassier saber he had brought home from Europe as a youth. The massive straight blade measured 38 inches long and bore an engraved maker's imprint of August 1814. "In his cups," a Confederate staff officer wrote, "the fine old Colonel would swear he should die happy could he have one chance to use that steel on the enemy." That chance loomed large at Manassas. |
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Berdan's Sharpshooters, Summer-Fall 1863 By: Don Troiani On the evening of July 1st, 1863 the regiments of the Army of The Potomac's III Corps arrived in Gettysburg and settled into bivouac after a fatiguing forced march. That day had seen sharp fighting north of Gettysburg as Confederate infantry clashed with Federals of the I and XI Corps. Among the tired veteran soldiers to arrive in Gettysburg on the evening of July 1st were Col. Hiram Berdan's 1st U.S. Sharpshooters and Lt. Col. Henry Stoughton's 2nd U.S. Sharpshooters. Both regiments of elite marksmen were at the time attached to General David Birney's 1st Division after their previous stay in Whipple's 3rd Division was ended in June following devastating losses at Chancellorsville. |
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Sherburne's Additional Continental Regt., 1778-17779 By: Don Troiani Henry Sherburne of Newport, Rhode Island began his military career at age 35 when appointed Major of the 3rd Rhode Island Regiment in May 1775. Serving with merit during the Siege of Boston, he became Major of the 15th Continental Regt. in January 1776 and commanded a detachment that fought with distinction near the Cedars on May 20th, before being overpowered and forced to surrender. Exchanged shortly thereafter, Sherburne rejoined his regiment on the retreat from Canada and had joined Washington's Main Army by fall 1776. Sherburne, "as brave a man as ever was made" as recalled by one of his men, "and a strict disciplinarian" would again signalize himself in action, leading the 15th in a successful bayonet charge against the Hessians at Trenton. |
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Breaking New Fontiers By: Larry Selman Commissioned by the Command and General Staff College Class 2008. Lewis and Clark landing on the bank of the Missouri river near present day Ft. Leavenworth KS on the threshold of exploration that would open the Great West to the Pacific Ocean. |
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Hour of Liberation By: Larry Selman 101st Airborne 506 Co. E |
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Down to Earth By: Larry Selman 101st Airborne 506 Co. E |
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French Foot Dragoons By: Keith Rocco Napoleon first conceived of the dismounted dragoons during the Channel Encampments, when planning for the invasion of England. The dismounted dragoons would be part of the invasion force, and would find horses upon arrival - the naval transportation requirmenets for horses was simply too daunting. Until dismounted dragoons served as infantry with the Grande Armee in 1805, as the army abruptly left the coast for war with Austria and Russia. General de division Baraguey d'Hilliers led the dragons a pied. He had been tasked with training the foot dragoons for dismounted combat. Historian John Elting relates a colorful story of Baraguey d'Hilliers and his dragoons: "This Baraguey was a cavalryman of enthusiasm, courage and presence, decent enough but lacking in common sense. Army gossip was that when he put the dragoons through dismounted drill, he assured them that no cavalry could break them; when he drilled them mounted, he proclaimed that no infantry could withstand them. Both veterans and recruits were somewhat confused." Barguey d'Hilliers's division was assigned to defind the army's baggage and artillery train. These troopers saw limited action at Haslach-Jungingen in October 1805, as they were called upon to assist General Dupont's isolated and outnumbered forces. While the day was a French success (thanks in large part to the 9th Legere), some embarrassment occurred when the Austrians overran Dupont's baggage train, and the dragoons were unable to defind it. Dupont savaged the dragoons and their general in his report, adding a great deal of discredit to the dragons a pied. By the 1806 campaign, however, about half of the foot dragoons had been re-mounted, and the remainder guarded the trains again, until nearly all found horses in the aftermath of Jena-Auerstadt. The uniforms and equipment of the dragoons reflect their versatility. The brass helmet is in the style of the heavy cavalry, yet the green coat is the traditional color of light cavalry and infantry. The dragoons depicted here are performing skirmish duty, fighting as infantry and carrying the regulation dragoon musket. Note also that the foot dragoons are wearing infantry and carrying the regulation dragoon musket. Note also that the foot dragoons are wearing infantry footgear and gaiter, rather than cavalry boots, and they are equipped with the infantryman's backpack, all details appropriate for dismounted service. |
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Lt. Charles Young By: Don Stivers It wasn't until the summer of 1903 when the Department of the Interior appointed. Captain Charles Denton Young as Acting Superintendent of Sequoia National Park along with four 9th Cavalry troops that the beauty and grandeur of the Giant Forest was finally made appreciable to the public. Together they accomplished more in one summer than had been in the previous thirteen years. |
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Bayonets By: Dan Nance Col. Joshua Chamberlain leads his 20th Maine on Little Round Top at Gettysburg, July 3, 1863. |
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Fury at the Wall By: Dan Nance |
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Chamberlain By: Dan Nance |
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Berrian's Stand By: Dan Nance |
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Follow Me By: Dan Nance Col. Charles Collis Rallies his 114th PA Zouaves at the Battle of Fredericksburg, earning the Medal of Honor. December 7, 1862. |
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God of War By: Dan Nance |
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