Typos in history

Note: Now edited to fix a typo!

Nobody understands how easy it is to commit a typographical error – also known as a typo – better than your loyal blogger. Even with today’s wonderful spell-checking computer programs, typos get into print. The world will probably never be rid of them because we are human and we make mistakes. Even our machines make mistakes because we imperfect humans are the ones who build the machines.

            That intimate knowledge of how typos can happen and then get through the editing process makes it easy to understand how the subject of today’s blog might have happened. Even the best of us, the hardest-working and most talented, can make mistakes.

            That a mistake was made nearly a century and a half ago is clear. How it was ignored all this time is a different question. It is time to stop ignoring an historic gaffe and fix a typo.

            On March 25, 1865, during an engagement that has come to be known as the fight at Hatcher’s Run in Virginia, a private in the Union army named George W. Tompkins shot Confederate Colonel Daniel Shipman Troy in the chest. Troy was in the act of waving the regimental flag of the 59^th Alabama Infantry Regiment in an effort to rally his men, who were attacking a Union position and were in danger of being flanked by the enemy.

            Thompkins grabbed the flag of the 59^th from the wounded Troy and Thompkins was properly credited with capturing an enemy flag. Thompkins was eventually awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor and that’s where the typo, or whatever led to the mistake mentioned here, came into play. The citation for Thompkins’ Medal of Honor reads that he captured the flag of the 49^th Alabama, not the 59^th.

            An excellent article about the action itself appeared in the magazine Alabama Heritage, Number 63, Winter 2002. There is also a shorter piece about Troy’s survival of his wound and what eventually happened to the sash he wore the day he was wounded at Hatcher’s Run.

            Your loyal blogger is researching the history of a different Alabama unit, Hilliard’s Legion, and the fighting at the battle of Chickamauga. Hopefully, a best-selling book is in the works.

The Legion was so splintered by the carnage at Chickamauga that it was split into three different units, the 23^rd Battalion Alabama Sharpshooters, the 60^th Alabama Infantry and the 59^th Alabama Infantry.

            Troy commanded the 60^th Alabama at the time of the fight at Hatcher’s Run but he was asked to command the 59^th on March 25 because by that stage of the war, the 59^th was running out of officers. The men of the 59^th and 60^th had served together over the course of the war and Troy would have been a familiar figure to the men of the 59^th.

            The story in Alabama Heritage is accurate in regards to the matter of the identification of the regiment Troy led into battle on March 25, 1863. Indeed, the only place this writer has found where it is reported that Thompkins captured the flag of the 49^th is in the citation for Thompkins’ Medal of Honor.

            This researcher has requested, and received, a copy of the wording of Thompkins’ citation from the National Archives, in case Internet quotations of the citation are incorrect. The citation declares Thompkins captured the flag of the 49th Alabama.

            Further, your writer has read through the regimental history of the 49^th Alabama and found no reference to that unit serving anywhere near the 59^th Alabama in March of 1865. A check with experts on the subject of the Confederate army confirms that the 49^th did not serve in Virginia at that point in the war.

            Finally, a check of the history of the 124^th New York, which was Thompkins’ regiment, shows that unit was in action at Hatcher’s Run near Petersburg, Virginia on March 25, 1865.

            Thompkins captured the flag of the 59^th, not the 49^th.

            Obviously, others have discovered the same error on Thompkins’ CMH citation but so far it has not been corrected. As the medal is named Congressional Medal of Honor, you would suspect an act of Congress might be needed to change the wording on a CMH citation. Maybe that’s why no correction has been made: Congress hasn’t acted in years.

            One thing is certain: There is no question about the valor of private Thompkins. During a heated engagement he shot an enemy officer and risked his life to snag the regimental flag the enemy officer had been waiving. The issue raised here is specific to the accuracy of the citation regarding the regiment Thompkins fought so bravely against on March 25, 1863.

            Thompkins reached age 91, passing away in 1934. Troy also survived the war and died in 1895. According to the previously-mentioned Sam Duval article in Alabama Heritage, Troy’s son wrote a letter to Thompkins to let the old Union soldier know that Troy’s father survived the war and lived 30 years beyond it. Duval reported that Thompkins wrote back to the younger Troy and said that he, Thompkins, was glad to hear he had not killed the Confederate colonel that day in Virginia.

            It might be a better world if we could all follow the example of the old Union soldier and the son of his Confederate foe: Reach out to each other, put the past behind us and move forward.

            In the meantime, yours truly will begin researching the process for correcting a typo. At least this time it will be someone else’s goof.

 

            Thanks for reading.

Legends of the Legion

They are forgotten men now. They are ancestors, the subjects of genealogical research. They are faceless, former soldiers for a nation which lost the only war it ever fought and probably didn’t exist anyway, legally.

          These men were Confederate soldiers. Some survived America’s Civil War, others did not. Their common thread is that they served in Hilliard’s Legion, an Alabama outfit which was formed in 1862, shot to pieces in September of 1863 while part of the Army of Tennessee and then split into three different units the following November.

Confederate marker for Henry H.
Hines. Photo by R. E. Elder

          The three new units, the 23^rd Alabama Sharpshooters Battalion, the 59^th Alabama Infantry Regiment and the 60^th Alabama Infantry Regiment, eventually joined Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia and fought with that force until Lee surrendered in 1865.

          Of interest here is the fact that while many of Hilliard’s soldiers died before the Legion even reached the September 19-20, 1863 Battle of Chickamauga, where still more Legionnaires were killed or wounded, large numbers of those who did not serve beyond the killing ground at Chickamauga are still listed on the rolls of the 23^rd, 59^th and 60^th.

          John Henry Holt, for example, was buried in Montgomery, Alabama. A Lieutenant Colonel in the First Battalion of Hilliard’s Legion, Holt was struck down at Chickamauga. He succumbed to his wound October 12, 1863, more than a month before the Legion was decommissioned and the successor units went into service with the survivors of Hilliard’s Legion.

          Henry Hilliard Hines, a private in the Legion’s First Battalion, was also wounded at Chickamauga. He survived his Chickamauga wound but was unable to serve again. He returned to farming and died in 1908 without serving a day in the 23^rd Sharpshooters. Yet his tombstone lists his Confederate service as a member of the 23^rd.

          There are many other Legion soldiers with the same story. The bulk of their service, in many cases their entire military career, was as a member of the Legion. Yet they are listed as members of one of the other three units.

          There is no question about the quality of the fighting done by the 23^rd Sharpshooters and that done by the 59^th and 60^th regiments. That combative service was turned in by former members of the Legion, who first performed so magnificently at Chickamauga.

          The Legion earned a lasting place in the history of the Civil War when it stormed to the crest of Chickamauga’s Horseshoe Ridge and pushed the Union forces atop the Ridge away in the waning hours of that engagement.

          The uncertainties of Confederate record keeping may have partially confused and hidden the accomplishment of Hilliard’s Legion. The Legion deserved better.

 

          Thanks for reading.

Review: Gettysburg's Forgotten Cavalry Actions

Some time ago I happened upon a copy of Eric J. Wittenberg’s book, Gettysburg’s Forgotten Cavalry Actions and bought it, intending to read it on my next business trip.

          Three months later the road beckoned and the book has been read.

          Wittenberg’s study is an interesting read about three separate actions by Union cavalry units on July 3, 1863, the final day of the fighting at Gettysburg. There is, by far, more detail about the attack by federal Brigadier General Elon J. Farnsworth’s  1^st Cavalry Brigade against the extreme Confederate right than there is about the other two actions.

          Wittenberg’s book stands alone, meaning there is no previous knowledge of Gettysburg’s ebb and flow required. It is well-written. But if you want to really understand the desperate nature of the fighting in the actions detailed, a basic understanding of the situation for the Union and Confederate forces involved helps.

          Then again, if the reader did not already have an interest in the history of those three bloody days the reader would not have a copy of the book in hand, right?

          Wittenberg devotes a chapter over the matter of Farnsworth’s death. There is historic uncertainty over whether the Union commander, who was severely wounded, killed himself rather than be taken prisoner by the Confederates. Read it yourself, I don’t want to spoil a good book.

          The book includes maps that help understand the situation and plenty of images of the soldiers involved. There is a walking tour section at the back, complete with GPS coordinates, for each of the three actions, a terrific addition to the book.

          The copy I read is a revised and expanded edition of Wittenberg’s original book. I never saw the original, so I do not know what has been added.

          Your blogger gives Gettysburg’s Forgotten Cavalry Actions a thumbs up.

 

          Hoping that you give your loyal blogger a thumbs up, he thanks you for reading.

Do you like history?

It is time for me to send my payment in to reserve a spot at this year’s Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College. I look forward to the next CWI as soon as the one I am attending ends.

          If you haven’t attended the CWI, it is an annual gathering of Civil War enthusiasts who have an opportunity to hear some of the foremost scholars on the subject present talks about various aspects of the war. This year’s topic is the war in 1863 with an emphasis on the battle of Gettysburg. Remember, this year marks the 150^th anniversary of that famous three-day battle. You can see this year’s schedule for yourself at www.gettysburg.edu/cwiconference.

 

          The Institute is held near the end of June every year.

 

          We always go several days ahead of the CWI so I can walk the battlefield with my Nikon. Then I attend the Institute for several days and I always leave anticipating the following year’s event.

          Dr. Peter Carmichael runs the show (more properly, he’s the Director of the CWI). Good guy; very personable and very approachable (even though he is understandably busy during the event). Everyone involved with the conference has proven to be easy to get along with. Great folks, all.

          I’ve made friends with fellow attendees and I’ve also been able to talk to some of the presenters. In fact, I had dinner with two presenters last year in the student dining hall. I’m sure they were bored nearly to death by talking to me but I learned a great deal.

          My primary interest in the conference is in the scholarship. The presenters are always top notch, as you’ll see if you investigate the event yourself by following the link above. I want to know the latest, detailed information on the subject. I want to hear from the leading scholars in the field of the Civil War. I can do those things every year at the CWI.

There are CWI scholarships available for high school students interested in attending and I don’t see how a student interested in history can fail to enjoy this conference. The best collegiate history departments in the nation are represented at each CWI.

          I stumbled upon the CWI in an odd way: I was looking for a roster for the Gettysburg College women’s basketball team back in the days when I announced the California Lutheran University games. After finding what I was looking for I decided to look into the GC history department and that eventually led me to the CWI.

          It has become a big part of my life.

          If you enjoy history, I’d recommend you look at the CWI website. If you attend once, I believe you’ll want to go every year.

 

          Thanks for reading.

A real snow (shovel) job

Dear reader, rest assured that this blogger appreciates the idea that none of us think exactly the same way as another human. We all have our differences and those subtle oddities make us fun for each other to be around.

Take my wife and me for example. I am comfortable in believing that nobody in these United States had as much fun today as we did shoveling snow off our driveway. We shoveled snow off our driveway and then did the same for our neighbors who share a portion of our driveway. We took turns and then decided we need another shovel so we can shovel snow together. We’ll get another shovel this week.

“You’re having too much fun,” my wife Amy called out as I completed a particularly brilliant piece of snow removal. “It’s my turn.”

Believe it or not, we laughed all the way through the shoveling. Even though Amy should have had an advantage in experience over me due to her being born in snow country, I had the upper hand because I once held public office. You do a lot of shoveling in public office, though you don’t shovel snow.

We did this driveway work after our morning workouts at the city recreation center. We should have been tired, but we were not. A neighbor walked by and asked, for the 20^th time since we met last fall, “How do you like it here now?”

Right at that moment, we liked it here a lot.

Our shovel does not have the same magic as the one our son bought last year. He and his wife bought one to create an exit lane for their cars in their apartment complex parking lot because they did not have a garage. Guess what? The snow stopped for the remainder of the winter. We tried to get them to give us the Magic Shovel, but they refused and we finally relented and bought a non-magic shovel for our own use.

So the $14 wonder we bought today does not have the same magic, but it does have a different sort of magic. How many snow shovels can you think of that can make two fully grown adults (read here old people) laugh like idiots while using said tool during a snow storm?

Probably not too many.

 

Thanks for reading.