Leftwich’s Gun Crew’s Rebuttal

The letter to the Richmond Enquirer written by members of Leftwich’s gun from Latham’s Battery, contesting the report of Captain John D. Imboden, was provided courtesy of Jim Burgess at Manassas National Battlefield Park.  It generated some good comments – check them out at the bottom of the post.  Notice that the gun crew claimed that Wheat’s Battalion alone faced off against 35,000 Federal troops.  This is not all that unusual for after action reports, regardless of th army, the period of the war, or the rank of the writer.  You defeat insurmountable odds, or retreat in an orderly fashion under the weight of same.

For instance, Joe Johnston’s report says 6,000 Confederates held off 35,000 Yankees at Bull Run.  Other reports make similar assertions.  And the myth that the Confederates were significantly out manned at Bull Run persists, showing up as recently as Joseph Glatthaar’s General Lee’s Army (see here and here).  And a new Lost Cause publication states that the Rebels faced the largest army ever assembled on the North American continent up to that time: true, but the book fails to mention that they did so with a force that came in a very, very close second.  I’ll be reviewing that book in the next installment of America’s Civil War’s Six-Picks.

So keep in mind that the two armies probably totaled about 33,000 to 36,000 men each.  We typically don’t include Runyon’s reserve division, or Johnston’s troops who failed to arrive in time, or any nearby Confederate militia units (thanks, Robert).  And the fighting on Matthew’s and Henry House Hills involved only about 15,000 to 18,000 men on each side.  These were evenly matched forces.

Notes on “Facts and Incidents of the Battle”

The basic building block of Civil War armies was the company.  Typically raised in the same, small community, they were often formed from existing militia units.  Especially early on, the companies were better known by their militia or nicknames than their regiment number and company letter.  For the most part, that is how the author of the Richmond Daily Dispatch article posted here referred to the companies.  So, with help from Robert of Cenantua’s Blog, First Bull Run.com, and Vol. I of William Frayne Amann’s Personnel of the Civil War, I’ll try to make a little sense out of the article here.

Latham’s Battery

Captain H. Grey Latham’s Lynchburg Artillery consisted of two sections of two model 1841 six pound guns.  Two guns of one section were commanded by Lieutenants Davidson and Leftwich.

Seventh Virginia Regiment

Captain J. H. French’s company of the 7th Virginia was D, the Giles Volunteers (see here).

The Botetourt troops

The Botetourt troops on the field included Co. F of the 28th VA Infantry (Botetourt Springs Rifles, Capt. F. G. Rocke, see here), possibly Co. I of the 28th VA (Capt. J. W. Anderson’s Mountain Rifles, later the Botetourt Artillery, see here), and Company C of the 30th (2nd) VA Cavalry (Botetourt Dragoons, Captain A. L. Pitzer – Lieut. C. Breckenridge commanding, see here).

Capt. Rippetoe’s Company

Robert informed me that Capt. W. D. Rippetoe’s Page Grays was Co. H of the 33rd VA Infantry.  This company  may have been credited with temporarily capturing guns of Griffin’s West Point Battery.  Rippetoe was a Methodist minister for whom Bull Run was his last battle.  Apparetnly his behavior after the battle was less than admirable.

“Victory or Death”

The West Augusta Guards was Capt. J. H. Waters’ Company L of the 5th VA Infantry (see here).  They were briefly the West Augusta Artillery for a period.

Another gallant soldier gone

Capt. T. L. Yancey’s Rockingham Cavalry was Co. K of the 1st VA Cavalry.  Later they became Co. C of the 6th VA Cav (see here).

The Rockingham boys

The Rockingham Regiment was the 10th VA Infantry (thanks Robert – see here).

Deceived the enemy

The Valley Guards was Capt. C. A. Sprinkel’s Co. G of the 10th Virginia Infantry (see here).

Record of Brave Men

Col. J. W. Allen’s regiment was the 2nd VA Infantry (see here).

• Capt. W. L. Clarke commanded the Winchester Riflemen, Co. F.
• Capt. J. Q. A. Nadenbusch commanded the Berkeley Border Guards, Co. D.

The Rockingham Regiment

All of these were in the 10th VA Infantry (see here).

• Southern Greys – Co. C, Capt. J. N. Swann.
• Valley Guards – Co. G, Capt. C. A. Sprinkel.
• Page Volunteers – Co. K, Capt. W. T. Young.
• Bridgewater Grays – Co. D, Capt. J. B. Brown
• Chrisman’s Infantry – Co. H, Capt. G. Chrisman

Second Regiment Virginia Volunteers

See here:

• Co. A – Jefferson Guards.
• Co. B – Hamtramck Guards.
• Co. C – Nelson Guards.
• Co. D – Berkeley Border Guards.
• Co. E – Hedgesville Blues.
• Co. F – Winchester Riflemen.
• Co. G – Botts Greys.
• Co. H – Letcher Riflemen.
• Co. I – Clarke Riflemen.
• Co. K -Floyd Guards.

The Wythe Grays

This was Capt. J. T. Kent’s Co. A of the 4th VA Infantry (see here).

Facts and Incidents of the Battle

Richmond Daily Dispatch, July 29, 1861 (see source here, see notes here)

Facts and incidents of the battle.

Our exchanges furnish some interesting facts connected with the great battle, which we copy:

Gallant feat of arms.

The Fredericksburg News records a feat performed by W. C. Scott, of that town, as follows:

Though not strictly speaking in the fight, his position being that of Private Secretary to Gen. Holmes, whose command was not engaged in the action, his proximity to the scene of conflict was rewarded by an unexpected encounter with four straggling Yankees, whose muskets were somewhat out of order and who were endeavoring to escape. Our young Virginia hero “surrounded” the squad, instantly dispatched two with his revolver, and marched the other two into camp as his prisoners. We’ll venture to say not a man of his inches did as much on that great day of triumph. The soul makes the hero and one Southern boy is good for a dozen Yankees at any time.

Latham’s Battery.

A correspondent of the Lynchburg Republican writes that “God never made a braver man than Capt. Gray Latham.” He noticed him frequently in the battle, and says the Latham Battery saved the 28th Regiment, (Preston’s.) He believes they did as much or more execution than the famous Washington Battery. He saw one shot from Latham’s Battery kill 40 men. This is the testimony of one competent to judge, and not connected with the Battery or any of its members.

Seventh Virginia Regiment.

The killed and wounded of Capt. James H. French’s company, from the county of Giles, Va., 7th Regiment, Col. James L. Kemper:

Killed.–Edward Bane.

Wounded.–Lloyd Fry, Harvey Bane, Stuart Johnson, William Lewey, Mr. Lee, (son of Rev. J. B. Lee, of the Baptist Church,) Samuel Shannen and Lewis Skenes.

The Botetourt troops.

The Valley Sentinel says that out of some four hundred Botetourt men upon the field, young Calvin Utz is the only one that is certainly known to have been killed. He was struck in the head by a fragment of a shell.

Capt. Rippetoe’s Company.

Among the killed in the battle of Manassas was Robert Newman, Esq., formerly one of the editors of the Front Royal (Va.) Gazette. He was a member of Capt. Rippetoe’s company. Some twenty or more of this gallant company were killed and wounded. Capt. Rippetoe’s escape was miraculous, his sword and belt being shot off.

Gen. Barnard E. Bee.

The following is from the Richmond correspondence of the Charleston Mercury:

The name of this officer deserves a place in the highest niche of fame. He displayed a gallantly that scarcely has a parallel in history. The brunt of the morning’s battle was sustained by his command until past 2 o’clk. Overwhelmed by superior numbers, and compelled to yield before a fire that swept everything before it, Gen. Bee rode up and down his lines, encouraging his troops, by everything that was dear to them, to stand up and repel the tide which threatened them with destruction. At last his own brigade dwindled to a mere handful, with every field officer killed or disabled. He rode up to Gen. Jackson and said: “General, they are beating us back.”

The reply was: “Sir, we’ll give them the bayonet”

Gen. Bee immediately rallied the remnant of his brigade, and his last words to them were: “There is Jackson standing like a stone wall. Let us determine to die here, and we will conquer. Follow me!”

His men obeyed the call; and, at the head of his column, the very moment when the battle was turning in our favor, he fell, mortally wounded. Gen. Beauregard was heard to say he had never seen such gallantry. He never murmured at his suffering, but seemed to be consoled by the reflection that he was doing his duty.

“Victory or death.”

The Rockingham Register contains the following:

Among the gallant spirits who fell in the battle at the Junction on Sunday last, was Wm. C. Woodward, of the West Augusta Guards. To those who knew him, it is need less to say that he died like a patriot and fell at his post. He was in the battle from its commencement until three o’clock in the afternoon, when he fell in the ranks, struck by a musket ball and buck shot in the head, just above the left ear. Throughout the whole fight he evidenced the highest gallantry, all the time urging his comrades to deeds of heroism and bravery. His last words to his friends before he fell were, “Victory or death.” He was a noble, generous spirit, and was a favorite of his company. His remains were brought to Staunton on Monday and followed to their last resting place by a large concourse of sincere friends, amongst them the I. O. O. F., of which he was a faithful and worthy member, and Captain Skinner’s company.

Another gallant soldier gone.

We learn (says the Register) that our young friends, George W. Messick, son of Gessner Messick, of this vicinity, a member of Capt. T. L. Yancey’s troop of cavalry, was killed in the battle of Sunday last, near Manassas Junction. He had, we learn, been ordered to make a charge for the rescue of some prisoners, when he received a shot in the head, which killed him instantly. He was a gallant soldier, and met his death like a patriot.

The Rockingham boys.

We are proud to learn that all the boys from Rockingham, in the late battle, conducted themselves with spirit and gallantry.–Not a man quailed — not a nerve that trembled. They were in the thickest of the fight, and at one time were assailed by three times their number; but they stood their ground like men, and drove the enemy back.

Deceived the enemy.

During the fight on Sunday last, Maurice Guiheen, of the Valley Guards, was captured by the Lincolnites; but his wit saved him — He succeeded in persuading his captors that they had a friend, and they let him off.

Record of brave men.

The Winchester Republican, alluding to the gallant conduct of Colonel Allen’s regiment, says:

Capt. Wm. L. Clarke received a painful but not dangerous wound. Capt. W. N. Nelson, of Clarke, was seriously wounded in the breast. Hopes are, however, entertained of his recovery.

The “Winchester Riflemen” lost 5 killed and 14 wounded. The bodies of the killed reached here Tuesday evening. They were Lloyd Powell, Isaac Glaize, Owen Burgess, Chas. Mitchell and Chas. Young.

Capt. Nadenbousch’s company, of Martinsburg, performed good service. The bodies of four of his company were sent on through here Tuesday. We were pained to learn that two of them were the sons of Holmes Conrad, Esq. They were killed by the same fire and fell side by side Peyton R. Harrison was also one of the killed: the name of the fourth we could not learn.

The Rockingham Regiment.

The Harrisonburg (Va.) Register furnishes the annexed list of the killed and wounded of the Rockingham Regiment, which was in the thickest of the fight:

Killed.–Southern Greys, Edinburg.–Lt. John W. Heaton, shot in the heart with a musket ball; died a few hours after he was shot.

Valley Guards, Harrisonburg–Privates John W. Bowles, printer, of New Market, and Isminius A. Moore, of Mt. Jackson. Mr. Bowles was instantly killed by a musket shot through the heart. Mr. Moore was shot and received a bayonet wound. He died on Monday morning.

Page Volunteers, Luray.–Privates Ambrose Comer, John W. Kite, and James H. Gaines, all instantly killed by musket shots.

Wounded–Southern Grays.–Geo. W. Sibert, badly wounded — shot through the breast. P. H. Grandstaff, flesh wound in the thigh.

Valley Guards.–Lieut P. Bryan, slightly wounded in the head. Corporal M. D. Coffman, severely wounded through the left side. Private John J. Roof, badly wounded in the foot, Private David Harrigan, badly wounded in the foot and ankle.

Bridgewater Grays–Private Jas. Minnick, wounded slightly in the heel.

Chrisman’s Infantry.–Lieut. Jas. Ralston, slightly wounded in the forehead. Private William Whitmore slightly wounded in the left hand.

Page Volunteers.–Corporal Trinton O. Graves, badly wounded in the leg. Private James H. Cubbage, badly wounded in the thigh.

Second Regiment Virginia Volunteers.

The Winchester Republican furnishes the annexed list of the killed, wounded and missing of the Second Regiment (Col. Allen) Virginia Volunteers:

Company A, of Jefferson County–Capt. J. W. Roan–Wounded–Capt. J. W. Roan, wounded in the ankle; Privates T. J. Hurst, shot through the body; Ogden, in the hip; Edmonds, in the hip; Triplett, thumb shot off; G. N. Myers, shot through the leg.

Company B, Jefferson County.–Capt. V. N. Butler–Wounded–Private A. R. Botles wounded slightly on the knee by a piece of spent shell.

Company C., Clarks County.–Capt. W. N. Nelson. –Killed–Privates George S. Whitter, Benjamin E. Grubbs, Scott Dishmar Wounded–Captain W. N. Nelson, severely wounded in the left breast; Corporal T. H. Randolph, wounded in left breast; Corporal Hibbard, thigh; Privates Basil Burnett, in the right shoulder; Alex Parkins, left arm Bush Fuller, in shoulder Samuel Ritter in neck, breast and arm; Adam Thompson, in the back; C. F. Whiting; left arm and stomach; J. E. Ware, left arm; John Welsh left breast; Noland, in the neck.

Company D, Berkeley County–Captain J. Q. A. Nadenbousch–Killed.–Lieutenant Peyton R. Harrison. Sergeant Holmes A. Conrad, Privates H. Tucker Conrad and John Fryatt. Wounded.–Sergeant J. A. Dugan, in the thigh; Privates William Light, face an neck; W. H. McGary, neck; J. H. Lashort in the head; J. S. Armstrong, in the arm; T. E. Buchanan, in shoulder; George D. White man, in thigh; Color Sergeant Edmund P. Dandridge, in foot; David Hunter, slightly or left arm; Lambert S. McMullen, in foot; Charles McFarly, in the leg; Joseph C. Simmons, in two places.

Co. E, Berkeley County–Capt. R. T. Colston. Killed–Lieut. D. H. Manor. Wounded-Privates C. Manor, in the face; G. Miller mortally. Missing — E. Tobin, J. Frizer, J. Turner, N. Keesecker.

Co. F. Winchester–Capt. Wm. L. Clark, Jr. –Killed — Serg’t E. O. Burgess, Serg’t I. N. Glaize, Privates Lloyd Powell, William Young, Charles Mitchell. Wounded–Capt. W. L. Clark, Jr., in the thigh; Privates R. Meade, lost an arm; S. Barton, in the leg, McCarty, head; Kidd, back; Beatty, leg; Hobson, leg; Coontz, ankle; J. Sherrard. slightly wounded; James Rines lost a leg. Missing–Ten men, supposed to be at the Junction.

Co. G. Jefferson County–Capt. E. L. Moore Wounded–Lieut Robert M. English, wounded in the arm, leg and breast; Sergeant Middlecough, in forehead; Privates Aisquith, in neck; F. G. Butler, in chest, since dead; Foster, in both legs; W. Manning, in breast and face; L. Page, mortally, in arm and abdomen; Painter, in the thigh; J. Timberlake, neck; S. Timberlake, both legs; C. Wiltshire, in the leg; T. Briscoe in the side.

Co. H., Jefferson County, (near Daffield’s)–Capt. J. H. L. Hunter.–Killed–Private Hendricks. Wounded–Privates H. M. Snyder, wounded in the thigh; G. E. Curry flesh wound; George Gall, in thigh; James Crussell, leg broken; Joseph Colbert, George Ashby, breast and arm; John Christfield flesh wound; Corporal Henry Billings, flesh wound.

Company I, Clarke County.–Capt. S. H. Bowen. –Wounded–Corporal Holmes McCuire; in the arm; Privates Geo. W. Ketly, in the leg; A. May, in the cheek; Wm. Niswanner, bayonet wound in the arm and breast.

Company K. Jefferson County, (Harper’s Ferry,)–Capt. G. W. Chambers–Killed–Corporal McArdell. Wounded–Privates McCabe, dangerously; Foley, slightly; Kennedy, Hudson, Dovle.

Total killed, 2 officers and 13 men. Total wounded, 72. Missing, 14.

The Wythe Grays.

This company was in the hottest of the fight. The following list of killed and wounded is from the Wytheville Telegraph:

Killed — N. D. Oglesby, James R. Pattison, Thos. J. Kavenagn, T. W. Cooper Wounded — Samuel Crockett, badly; W. H. Locket, Sanders Harsh, W. H. Harrison, Wise, Ferguson and Bryant, wounded slightly. Balance all safe — officers not touched.

The New York Times Tackles the Sherman’s Battery Controversy

Thanks so much to reader Linda Mott for once again coming up with a link to a topical newspaper article, this time a New York Times piece from August 11, 1861 (see here).  A couple of things: 

Note that T. W. and W. T. were not classmates at West Point.  T. W. graduated 18th of 49 cadets in 1836.  W. T. was 6th of 42 four years later, 1840. (Cullum)

During the Bull Run campaign, T. W. was in Pennsylvania recruiting for the 5th U. S. Artillery. (Cullum)

As for the two men being “great friends”, they did serve together at Ft. Moultrie in Charleston, SC in 1846.  T. W. rejoined W. T. in the Army of the Tennessee very briefly after Shiloh, and ran into him again briefly in New Orleans in March, 1864.  W. T.’s references to T. W. in his memoirs are cursory, giving no hint that they were ever “great” anythings, friends or otherwise. (Memoirs of General William T. Sherman)

Notice too that the article refers to the famous Sherman’s Battery.

I wish I could figure out that mouseover trick of Robert’s – it would save me having to make these explanatory posts.

The Two Shermans

The New York Times, August 11, 1861 (see here)

The Two Shermans.

From the Cincinnati Commercial.

Not a little error and confusion has been created by writers in the newspapers, especially since the recent battle before Manassas Junction, by confounding the names of two meritorious officers in the Army.  There are two Col. Shermans in the Army: Col. William T. Sherman, of Ohio, and Col. Thomas W. Sherman, of Rhode Island.  The former is the only one of the two who was engaged in the battle at Bull Run.  He is a brother of John Sherman, Senator from Ohio.  He is not the Capt. Sherman who first organized the famous Sherman’s Battery.

There are some points of remarkable similarity in the case of the two Shermans, which have easily led those ignorant of their history and position into confounding them together.  Their initials are similar – one being W. T. and the other T. W. Sherman; they both graduated in the same class at West Point; both entered the same regiment – the Third Artillery; both served in the Mexican War; and both have been recently appointed Brigadier Generals.

It is T. W. Sherman, of Rhode Island, who commanded and gave his name to “Sherman’s Battery,” which he organized in Mexico, where he served under Taylor and Scott, and which was doing duty on the frontier (Minnesota) when the difficulties with the seceded States broke out.

W. T. Sherman, of Ohio, was found at the beginning of these troubles at the head of a State Military Academy in Louisiana, and upon the secession of that State he resigned, refusing to serve in a State disloyal to the Government.  When the new regiments of the regular Army were formed, Sherman, of Ohio, was appointed Colonel of the Thirteenth Infantry, and Sherman, of Rhode Island, was made Lieutenant-Colonel of the Fifth Artillery, and shortly after, by promotion of Col. Hunter, became Colonel of that regiment.

Sherman’s Battery, although it still retains the name, is now really Ayres’ Battery.  It was Col. Sherman, of Ohio, who commanded the Brigade in the battle fo Bull Run composed of the following regiments:

Seventy-ninth New-York (Highlanders,) Col. Cameron.

Sixty-ninth New-York, (Irish,) Col. Corcoran.

Thirteenth New-York.

Second Wisconsin.

He also had accompanying his Brigade, and under his orders, the Battery of Capt. Ayres, (Shermans Battery,) which was not captured by the enemy, as claimed by all the rebel newspapers, but after a desperate contest every gun was brought off in safety, and was replanted on Capitol Hill, from whence it has since been removed across the Potomac.

Col. Sherman, of Rhode Island, was not in the battle, but was on duty elsewhere.  Both of the Shermans are regarded in the Army as among its best officers.  Both are now Generals, and there is little doubt that they will distinguish themselves in the service, and very probably their actions will be confounded in future as in the past, and each receive the credit due the other.  At this, the two Shermans will not complain, for they are great friends, although not related to each other.

(See explanatory comments here).

Old Bull Run Report of Fourteenth Found

Brooklyn Daily Eagle, March 17, 1901, Page 6 (see here)

Old Bull Run Report of Fourteenth Found.

———————

Turned Over to War Veterans’ Association After Nearly Forty Years.

———————

Written By Colonel Fowler

Describes Part the Regiment Took in the First Great Battle of the Civil War.

———————

Colonel Fowler’s report to Colonel Porter of the part taken by the Fourteenth Regiment in the first battle of Bull Run, which has been lost for nearly forty years, has been found and turned over to the Wasr Veterans’ Association.  Several weeks ago it was learned that this report and a number of other papers were in a packet which had been picked up near Arlington, Va., in 1861, and could be had for the asking.  The finder, it was said, had put them away with other souvenirs of the war and only lately had learned that the survivors of the Red Legged Devils would like to have them.

The writing is as clear and distinct as though done yesterday.  Colonel Wood was wounded and captured in the battle and Lieutenant Colonel Fowler took command.  Colonel Porter was the regular Army officer in command of the brigade to which the Fourteenth was assigned.  The report reads as follows:

Report Text

The other papers were a consolidated report of the morning of July 19, ahile the regiment was on its way to the battlefield, and showing that its strength was 843 officers and men; an order from General McClellan, dated August 4, and assigning the Fourteenth, with the Twenty-second and Thirtieth New York Volunteers, to Colonel Keyes’ brigade; an order from McClellan constituting Keyes’ and Wadsworth’s brigades a division to be commanded by Brigadier General Irwin McDowell, United States Army; an order from McDowell assigning the four regiments Keyes’, which was known as the Iron Brigade, to positions.  The Fourteenth and Twenty-second were left where they were.

The other two were ordered to take position on the line with the Twenty-second.  The morning report referred to above is signed by Colonel Wood and L. L. Laidlaw, a lieutenant in G. who was acting adjutant.  In the battle of Bull Run Wadsworth was an aid on McDowell’s staff, ranking as a major.  After Woods’ injury he stuck by the Fourteenth and was breveted a colonel on the field.  He was soon made a general and he always, so the vets say, took great interest in the Fourteenth.

Fowler’s Report

The after action report of E. B. Fowler of the 14th Brooklyn was printed in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle on March 17th, 1901.  I was alerted to this by reader Linda Mott in a comment to this post.  For now, you can find the article here, but I will be posting the text separately since it’s an interesting story.

Paydirt!

Reader Linda Mott left the following comment on this post:

I ran across an article written about the 14th Brooklyn’s missing report and their actions at Bull Run. The report had been misplaced, and found forty years later. According to the article, the report and other papers found with it were forwarded to the War Veterans Association. The report was finally published 40 years later in the Brooklyn Daily Leader on Mar. 17, 1901. The Brooklyn Public Library has some of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle newspapers online. Their website is: http://www.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/. 

There are other articles about the 14th Brooklyn regiment if one has the patience to search for them. It’s best to search by subject rather than dates. However, the article about the report can be located by date. If not successful try “Old Bull Run Report”. The report is written by Lt. Col. E. B. Fowler. Just thought I’d pass this along, and thank you for the OR’s their organization and presentation are wonderful. I had been looking them up at e-history.com from OSU very tedious. Have you looked there for the Supplemental Volume with the later reports? The site has the atlases and several Supplemental Volumes.

Lo and behold, following Linda’s tip I found the report on page 6 of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle for Mar. 17, 1901.  I’ll post the report and the text of the Daily Eagle article later.

As an aside, there are two different supplements we are talking about.  Linda is I think referring to Series III, Vol. 2 of the ORs, which contains supplemental reports and correspondence not filed where they should have been filed in the rest of the ORs.  It’s part of the set referred to as The Official Records.  I’ve already posted all the reports from that volume, that pertain to First Bull Run.  When I refer to The Supplement, I’m talking about the Broadfoot set compiled much more recently.

Thanks Linda!

Second Chance

Here’s one that got under the radar.  I posted it awhile back.  If you’re killing time today, give it a read and let me know what you think.  Follow the links and it will make more sense.

Handcuffs at Bull Run

Handcuffs at Bull Run

This report of Captain Edward Porter Alexander on men and equipage captured by the Confederates at Bull Run is pretty straightforward and not too exciting.  Alexander grossly overestimates the strength of McDowell’s army, though other Confederate reports were even further off.  And this tidbit is enticing:

Incomplete returns of many miscellaneous articles, such as bed-ticks, buckets, coffee-mills, halters, picket-pins, saddles and bridles, ten barrels commissary stores, and a few handcuffs left from a large lot captured, but carried off by individuals as trophies.

That McDowell’s army brought thousands of handcuffs in which to haul the defeated rebels back to Washington is one of the oldest myths of First Bull Run, but myths are not necessarily false.  Indignant southern commentators reported 30-40,000 handcuffs captured.  You can read some of the accounts in Vol. II of The Rebellion Record (1862) – the Northern publishers ridiculed them, claiming they were written by Baron Munchausen.  The New York Times had a similar attitude.   Southern papers and authorities certainly used the story of the handcuffs to their advantage, adding it to the rhetoric extolling the righteousness of the Confederate cause.

Mary Chesnut wrote shortly after the battle (at least, she would have us believe it was shortly after the battle):

They brought us handcuffs found in the debacle of the Yankee army.  For whom were they?  Jeff Davis, no doubt.  And the ringleaders.  Tell that to the Marines.  We have outgrown the handcuff business on this side of the water.  C. Vann Woodward, ed., Mary Chesnut’s Civil War, New York, 1981, p.113

Chesnut’s passage here is interesting, because the phrase Tell that to the Marines implies that she did not believe the handcuff story (in England sailors looked down on marines, and the phrase meant try that line of bull on somebody who doesn’t know any better).  So it would appear that at the time the story was contested not only by northern wags, but by some prominent southerners.

Folks were still fighting over the truth of the story years after the war.  I have copies of a few articles from Confederate Veteran magazine, which was published from 1893 through 1912.  Unfortunately, I don’t have the dates of publication for these articles (maybe someone out there can help me out with this):

HANDCUFFS ON THE MANASSAS BATTLEFIELD

By George G. Bryson, Gallatin, Tenn.

I cannot tell you much about the handcuffs seen on the First Manassas Battlefield.  I saw them in barrels on the slope of the hill between the Henry House and the spring.  There were also several barrels of crackers , which had been opened and out of which I replenished my haversack.  There may be some survivor’s of Lindsay Walker’s Battery who were present in this battle.  It was Walker’s guns which so effectually demolished the last effort to form line made by the Federals on this part of the field.  If there are any of them living, I believe they can also testify, for the handcuffs were within a few yards of the spot occupied by this battery while in action.  There were also several boxes, still unopened, on which was written: “To be opened on streets of Richmond.”

I have had a talk with my old friend M. E. Head, who was with me and saw the cuffs and boxes.  His recollection and mine are the same, except as to locality.  He thinks they were on the opposite side of the hill from where our command (Holmes’s Brigade) halted; but as to the fact of seeing them there is no doubt in his mind than in my own.

In the same issue, and on the same page (304):

ANOTHER ACCOUNT OF HANDCUFFS

By Mrs. E. A. Meriwether, St. Louis, MO.

I notice in the Veteran for April an article about the handcuffs found on the field of the First Manassasbattle.  The writer says: “I confidently defy any one to find in print a reference to this fact.”  About two years ago a book entitled “Facts and Falsehoods Concerning the War on the South in 1861-65″ was published.  Among other known “facts” contained in the book may be found an interesting account of the handcuffs and shackles captured at Bull Run [read it here].

Some years ago my husband’s cousin, Capt. Robert Walker Lewis, of Albemarle, Va., wrote to him (Col. Minor Meriweather) of being in that First Manassas battle, and that he and his men captured a wagon loaded with handcuffs and shackles.  Some of the Union prisoners captured at the same time stated that these instruments were intended to be used on the Rebels they expected to make prisoners, and intended to march them into Washington in that shackled condition.  I now have hanging on my wall one of those shackles.  It is made of two strong iron rings, with lock and key, to be fastened on the ankles.  These rings are fastened together by a strong iron chain seventeen inches long.

Was there a cache of Union handcuffs and/or shackles captured by the Rebels at Bull Run?  I’m not sure one way or the other.  However, one would think that of so many thousands carried off for display on southern walls, at least some would survive today.  So if you’re aware of the whereabouts of any of these mementos, drop me a note!

Photo of Delestasius style 1860s handcuffs at top from this site.

UPDATE 8/27/2008: Friend, reader, and researcher extraordinaire Teej Smith turned up a couple more contemporary references to the captured handcuffs.  First is this report in the New York Times on August 26, 1861, which examines the mathematics of 32,000 one-pound handcuffs loaded onto three 800 pound capacity wagons (I’m not sure upon what the correspondent based his estimate of the load limit). 

Second comes this announcement in the Raleigh North Carolina Standard for July 31, 1861.  In it, the writer not only perpetuates the handcuff story, but recognizes the need to perpetuate it in order to garner support for the war, avoid the necessity of a draft (the author misapprehended the eventuality: the Confederacy instituted conscription before the Union), and ultimately to raise a company of infantry:

AN APPEAL TO THE PATRIOTIC!

It is evident that the tyrannical despotism which has been inaugurated at Washington City by Lincoln and his supporters — smarting under the signal defeat it sustained in the great battle at Manassas — is still resolved to prosecute this unjust and iniquitous war upon the South with all its power, and with fresh rancor. If it succeeds in the appeal it has made to the worst passions of the Northern people, the question for the men of the Southwill be, not, who can with convenience volunteer for the defence of their rights and firesides, but, who can, in honor and duty, remain longer inactive, or refuse to lake the field for the protection of all that is valuable and dear to them? The subjugation of the South, is the dedicated purpose of that despotic government. The destruction of our homes, the confiscation our property, the massacre of our people, is its wish — its proclaimed intention. But the other day, on the floor of the Senate, one of its mercenaries declared that, if successful, ” Yankee Governors should be placed over the States of the South to be rule them as conquered provinces.” Another proclaimed in the same place, that “hemp was the only argument they intended to use to the South.” It is said that amongst the “booty ” they left, on their retreat from Manassas, were thousands of handcuffs, which had been forged for “Southern traitors” All admit that the South must arouse herself to an energy and boldness, fully equal to the conflict that may be forced upon her by the rapacity and tyranny of the Northern government. If volunteers cannot be obtained, the system of drafting will be necessarily adopted. No one can believe, for a moment, that the patriotic young men of our State, will, by inactivity, and or disregard for the importance of the struggle, and the odds with which their gallant brethren, who have been already subjected to the hardships and dangers of the battle field, must encounter, submit to be drafted! All they ask is, to be convinced that their services are needed, and they will rush, with alacrity, to the post of duty and danger.

This appeal is made to the patriotic who may wish to aid in procuring volunteers for a company of Infantry, to be organized for immediate service. Those wishing to volunteer, will apply to the undersigned, from whom all necessary information may be obtained.

JOHN DEVEREUX,

Raleigh, S. C.

July 30, 1861

My impression is that this John Devereux served as Quartermaster for North Carolina during the war, and was part of the delegation that surrendered the city to Sherman’s army in 1865 (see here.)