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CHAPTER 1
Major General Philip Kearny
Reminiscences of the One-Armed Hero of Two Wars
EDITOR'S NOTE: Judson Knight served as a scout for Maj. Gen. Philip Kearny in 1861 and until his death at the battle of Chantilly on September 1, 1862. That service with Kearny left an indelible impression on Knight.
For anyone who has served under a truly charismatic and exceptional leader in the military, Knight's account of Kearny will not be difficult to understand. Such a leader exerts so powerful an attraction that the beholder is almost high in his presence. In a case where that leader is a moral example, it is easy to develop a case of hero worship that would last him all of a lifetime. Knight's following account is a reflection of that feeling. In this case, it seeks to commemorate that overwhelming experience with a memoir twenty- nine years after his hero's death in battle.
Knight's account also provides fresh historical information, particularly the origin of the unit patch, the award of a precursor to the Purple Heart, and Stonewall Jackson's reaction to seeing Kearny's body on the battlefield of Chantilly.
Knight's conduct as a scout for Kearny provided him with ample testimonials to his ability such that he quickly earned himself a place in the Army of the Potomac's new military intelligence organization, the Bureau of Military Information. Those abilities eventually earned him a promotion to become the chief of scouts to succeed the remarkable Milton Cline.
The following summary of Kearny's life will put much of Knight's account in context.
Maj. Gen. Philip Kearny (pronounced Kárni) 1815–1862, was one of the finest leaders in American military history and a man of even greater but unfulfilled promise. Although he inherited great wealth, Kearny's ambition was to be a soldier. In 1837 he obtained a commission in the 1 Dragoons and served in the West for three years until he was sent to France to study cavalry tactics at the famous cavalry school at Samar. He accompanied the Chasseurs d'Afrique on campaign in Algeria where he rode into battle chasseur-style, with a pistol in one hand, a saber in another, and the reins in his teeth, earning the title Kearny le Magnifique.
Upon his return he served as aide-de-camp to Maj. Gen. Winfield Scott and then served again in the West. In the Mexican War, the dragoon troop he raised was the personal bodyguard of General Scott. He fought at the battles of Contreras and Churubusco, and in the latter led a daring charge in which his arm was mangled by grapeshot and had to be amputated. Scott called him "a perfect soldier" and the "bravest man I ever knew." Scott honored him by allowing him to be the first American soldier to enter the main gate of Mexico City after its surrender.
He resigned his commission in 1851, and in 1859 he returned to France to rejoin the Chasseurs d'Afrique in the war against Austria. He was with Napoleon III's Imperial Guard at the battle of Solferino and charged with the cavalry that broke the Austrian center. For his dash and heroism on the field, he was the first American to be awarded the Legion d'honneur.
When the Civil War broke out, he returned to the United States and was appointed brigadier general of volunteers in command of the newly formed Jersey Brigade, which he trained to a high level of efficiency such that it would later achieve a great military reputation in combat. He was noted not only for his superb leadership and tactical skills but also for the great attention he took in the care of his men.
It was Kearny who first devised the system of unit patches that survives to this day and has been adopted worldwide. He ordered his officers to wear a red piece of cloth on their caps, and the men followed suit on their own. He said to them then, "You are marked men, you must ever be in the front." The patch was later systematized by Maj. Gen. Butterfield in 1863 to give each corps its own symbol and each subordinate division that symbol in a different color.
Kearny was promoted to major general on July 4, 1862 and given command of the 3rd Division of III Corps. Kearny would go on to prove repeatedly that he was utterly fearless in battle and that he had that coolness and clarity of mind in the midst of deadly chaos that distinguishes the very best combat leaders. He led in the battles of Williamsburg and Fair Oaks in the Peninsular Campaign. His corps commander was unsure of his ability to command a division, to which Kearny retorted, "General, I can make men follow me to hell." At Williamsburg, he was summoned to take pressure off another sorely pressed division, and he drove his division forward through mud and rain in an act of sheer will. Blocked by wagons on the road, he roared, "I've been ordered up to fight! I'll permit no wagons to hamper me!" and had the wagons tipped over and burned to make a way for his division. He personally scouted ahead to find the front line in the chaos and rode so far out in front that the Confederates in the woods started shooting at him, calling out to target "that one-armed devil." Yet he escaped. He led his men into battle shouting, "I'm a one-armed Jersey son-of-a-gun, Follow me!" Knowing he was leading unbloodied troops into their first fight, he led consistently from the front; his courage was infectious, and the men surged forward. Kearny light- heartedly encouraged his men by saying, "Don't worry, men, they'll all be shooting at me!" as he charged with his saber in his one hand and his reins in his teeth, chasseur-style, as the Confederates were swept from the field. It was a demonstration of leadership well worthy of the epithet the French had given him. His efforts saved the Army of the Potomac from an embarrassing defeat. His only comment was, "It was incumbent upon me to inspire those men."
Rather than take advantage of Kearny's achievement, Gen. McClellan did nothing to follow it up, earning Kearny's growing contempt. Kearny detested him for his constant retreating, writing that it could only be explained by "cowardice or treason."
Kearny led his division in the battle of Second Bull Run in late August 1862, and on September 1 held off the pursuing Confederates at the battle of Chantilly. In a driving rainstorm he rode to investigate a gap in the lines. Cautioned by an aide, he said, "The Rebel bullet that can kill me has not yet been molded." He stumbled upon the enemy and defied their demand to surrender. He slipped onto the side of his horse Comanche-style to shield himself from their fire, but a bullet fired by Sgt. John McCrimmon of Jacksonville, Georgia, hit him at the base of the spine, killing him instantly. Confederate Maj. Gen. A.P. Hill exclaimed when he saw the body, "You've killed Phil Kearny, he deserved a better fate than to die in the mud." Gen. Robert E. Lee, commanding the Army of Northern Virginia, returned the body to the Union side with his condolences. At the time of his death, there were rumors in Washington that Lincoln planned to replace McClellan with Kearny the Magnificent.
The National Tribune October 8, 1891 Judson Knight, Washington, D.C.
KNIGHT. WHILE IT is true that the idea of badges in the Army of the Potomac was originated by Gen. Kearny, it is not equally true that the red diamond or, as it has been frequently called, the "Kearny Patch," was the first badge ever worn by members of that army. Early in the Fall of 1861 Kearny had a badge made of fine yellow cloth in the form of a Maltese cross trimmed around the edge with gold cord. These he gave to men of his brigade who were wounded. His first command consisted of the 1, 2, and 3 N.J., and later on the 4. A German soldier of Co. I, 2 N.J. made them, and the writer of this saw Kearny present one of them to a soldier who had lost an eye by gunshot received while on a scouting expedition, and with it either $50 or $100 in gold, for the purpose of procuring an artificial eye.
The writer was detached from his regiment [2d New Jersey] for special duty about the 17 of August, 1861 at Kearny's headquarters, and from that time until winter occupied a room in the house used by Kearny as headquarters. Before such detail he had been serving as a scout for the General, and upon one occasion the General said: "Lieut. Custer tells me that he had heard from citizens that the secesh had a masked battery between us and the village of Annandale. I don't believe it. How long will it take you to find out the truth of the matter?" Lieut. Custer afterward Gen. Custer was Acting Assistant Adjutant General for Kearny at this time and commanding a troop of the 2d U.S. Cavalry. At this time the rebels had an outpost a short distance beyond what was known as Padgets's wagon-stand. On the opposite side of the road, which was the Little River pike, was a place marked Daingerfield, where one of the Lees (W.H.F.) lives now. From Padget's a road ran north until it led into the Columbia pike, which led into the Little River pike at Annandale.
In answer to the general's query, I told him that by the next morning I could let him know. About 3 p.m. I crossed the road running between the Little River and Columbia pike, and cautiously made my way through the woods until the village of Annandale was in plain sight. A convenient pine thicket near by afforded a safe retreat. Ensconsing myself therein, with paper and pencil I soon had a map of the village as it appeared from my retreat.
On the Columbia pike, near a church, within 50 yards of my position, sat two videts [also vedette-mounted sentinel stationed in advance of pickets]. One of them had his hat brim hanging over his eyes on account of a break, and both wore ostrich plumes. They were probably not as villainous as they looked. On my left, a little farther away, was Little River pike. A steam saw-mill with its smoke stack perforated with bullet holes stood on the near side, while on the other side, was another videt on a gray horse which he presently dismounted from, as a heavy rain storm commenced. He crawled into a bush hut which was probably no more of a protection during the storm which lasted for hours, than was my pine thicket. Soon after dark I made a thorough examination of both sides of the road from Annandale down toward our lines as far as Padget's wagon- stand.
On coming to our lines about midnight a Lieutenant of Co. F., 2 N.J., and I met in the road. His name is forgotten, but the way his sword leaped from its scabbard is not. The next morning on showing Kearny the map I made, and telling him of the color of the horses the videts were mounted on, and showing one house that was octagon in shape, he asked "How were you armed?" Upon being shown a penknife, and told that I had carried nothing but that he turned to a field desk and took up a silver- mounted Colt's revolver, and presenting it to me, said: "Keep this and practice with it until you find how it shoots." Afterward, in company with Joe E. [C.] Jackson, a Lieutenant on Kearny's staff, who became a Brigadier-General before the close of the war, I practiced in an apple orchard in rear of Kearny's headquarters until I became quite proficient.
At one time during that Fall we had a reserve picket post at a house we called the Territt Mansion. In passing by this post one day, one of the soldiers invited me to dismount and have some corn, of which they had a quantity already cooked. Accepting the invitation, I joined them. After eating as much as I cared for, I began looking over a lot of papers, with which the yard was strewn, and discovered a document reading like this as near as I remembered:
FORT LEAVENWORTH, July -, 1841
Received of Lieut. -----------------Territt, A. Q. M., 64 horses
PHIL. KEARNY
First Lieutenant, Com'd'g — Co., 1st Dragoons
When I returned to Headquarters I laid it upon his desk. After reading it he said to me, "Where on earth did you get this?" After hearing my account he asked if knew any of the family, and said he had danced at the house years before and wanted to know if I knew if any of the family were in the neighborhood. I mentioned a Mrs. Gardner, who lived near Cloud's Mills, and also a man by the name of Territt, who lived inside our lines, on Holmes Run below Barcroft Mill and he renewed his acquaintances.
Early in the fall of 1861, for a short time, it was a part of my duty to visit our pickets, who went out by entire companies and staid a week at a time, to inquire of the men if they had on that day received everything in the shape of rations they were entitled to. "Don't ask the officers but see the men privately and find out," were Kearny's orders. At first there were numerous complaints, which speedily became fewer and fewer until one day two of the regiments, the men said, they had everything; in the other the man I asked said, they had everything but their molasses, and that was not worth mentioning, and if I were you I should say nothing to the General about it.
I reported exactly what the man said. "Humph! Not worth reporting, is it. You ride over to Lieut. --------------- with my compliments and say I want to see him." Corp'l [Madison M.] Cannon, afterward colonel of the 40 N.Y., who was a clerk in Kearny's office, afterward said he never heard a man get such a scoring. "How is this, Lieutenant, with good roads, and plenty of transportation, with not over six miles hauling, my men can't get what they're entitled to? This must not happen again."
When Kearny first came to us the three regiments were not camped near each other: the 3 (Col. Taylor) was near Cloud's Mills; the 2d (Col. McLean) at Roach's Mill, and the 1 (Col. Morrison) somewhere else. He issued an order that the 1 and 2 should proceed to the place where the 3 was. After we had our tents pitched a number of us strolled over to where Kearny's headquarters tents were pitched hoping to get a sight of him. He was not visible and after waiting quite a time, we had started to go back, when we heard the music of a brass band down the Little River pike toward Alexandria. Knowing that the 1 regiment was to come from that way, we waited. Soon they turned into a farm road leading up toward the General's headquarters, and he came out of his tent and stood at a bend in the road. When about 30 feet from Kearny three men straggled from the ranks, and with clubbed muskets approached a peach tree that stood within a few feet of him and began knocking some hard, not fully grown peaches off. It was a study to watch him, and see the different expressions that swept over his face; at first incredulity, as though he could not believe what he saw, then that was succeeded by indignation, and at last by rage. He commenced using scriptural language in a vigorous manner, so much so that it was fully as interesting to see the play of the features of the men he was addressing as his own had been. When they finally realized that he was talking to them, and calling them pet names, they stood in surprise as if it could not be possible he meant them; when at last they became convinced he was really talking to them, they hastened to merge their individuality with that of their comrades and slunk back into the ranks with a grieved expression on their faces that plainly expressed the fact that they considered themselves very much aggrieved and Kearny a very unreasonable man.
After getting out of his sight as individuals, he turned his attention to the regiment collectively, from colonel to private, and called them moles instead of soldiers. And yet, within two months of that time, I heard him take Capt. Wilson to task for the same thing. He said to him, "Wilson, these men are not soldiers to make a living. They have gone into the army from patriotism, and plenty of them have held positions better than you ever did. You must not talk to them as you do. That night probably found no better hated man in the army than Phil. Kearny, but it did not last long. The enlisted men found Kearny was their friend; their rations improved, their duties became pleasanter under a regular system, and when he issued his last order as their commander at Ship Point, whence he took command of Hamilton's Division, there were but few dry eyes in the brigade. All knew he had been offered more important commands, but would not take them because he could not take his brigade with him. He was sincerely mourned, while all felt proud of the reason he gave for leaving them. He was offered the command of troops under fire. That expressed all. He established a brigade bakery and slaughter-house during the Fall of '61, and when the army left their camps in the spring of '62 each company in the brigade had $100 in cash in the company fund. I doubt if its parallel could be found in the Army of the Potomac.
(Continues…)
Excerpted from "Scouting for Grant and Meade"
by .
Copyright © 2014 Peter G. Tsouras.
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