Harper's Ferry

Harper's Ferry as viewed from the Maryland Heights. The Potomac flowing east in the foreground with the Shenandoah entering from the south.

Harper's Ferry was a key site in both the war and its preceding events. On October 16, 1859, the radical abolitionist John Brown led a group of 22 men in a raid on the arsenal at Harpers Ferry. U.S. Army Colonel Robert E. Lee was assigned as commander of federal forces along with Lieutenant J. E. B. Stuart as his aide-de-camp. Following an army assault, Brown was captured, tried for treason and hung.

The 107th was on duty at the Maryland Heights fortification overlooking Harper’s Ferry from September 22 to October 29, 1862. This Picket duty at Harper's Ferry followed the end of the Maryland Campaign that lasted from September 4-20, one of the major turning points of the Civil War. 

Harper's Ferry during Civil War days looking east. Maryland 
Heights is to the left on the north bank of the Potomac River

Picket duty was an advance outpost or guard for a large force. It consisted of a scattered line in advance of the main army's encampment, but within supporting distance. A picket guard was made up of a lieutenant, 2 sergeants, 4 corporals, and 40 privates from each regiment. Picket duty constituted the most hazardous work of infantrymen in the field. Being the first to feel any major enemy movement, they were also the first liable to be killed, wounded, or captured. A soldier on picket was also a likely target of snipers. Picket duty, by regulation, was rotated regularly in a regiment.

The vacancy caused by the death of General Mansfield at Antietam was filled by the appointment of Major-General Henry W. Slocum who had achieved a good reputation by his services on the Peninsula, and at the successful storming of Crampton's Gap. The Twelfth Corps remained in the vicinity of Harper's Ferry until December, when it moved into Virginia, and made its winter-quarters at Stafford Court House.

Commentary

Dr. Robert Bell was William Graham’s cousin. For further information on Dr. Bell, see William's Letter Correspondents.

William Graham, based on his words, is a man of strong religious beliefs. In Ireland his family was Presbyterian. Given the religious ferment of the time, and his descendants' church membership in Schuyler County, as an adult he may have been Methodist or Free Methodist.

Frequently in his letters, William’s words relate an almost clinical contempt for his fellow soldiers. Incidently, blackleg is a British term for a strikebreaker or swindler. A blackguard is a low, contemptible person

The sickness while the regiment was at Harpers Ferry resulted in the death of many of William Graham’s fellow soldiers. Illness would ultimately put him in the hospital for more than eight months.

The ills and sanitary conditions prevalent in the Harpers Ferry area at the time did not improve in the next month. The following excerpt from a contemporaneous letter written on November 10, 1862 by Isabella Fogg is most revealing:

"We did what we could for his comfort and then proceeded to Harpers Ferry. Here the sick are in a fearful condition, in every old house and church and hundreds on the ground. You no doubt think your ladies in Washington are doing a great work, but I can assure you, if they were here, they would find the stern reality of want, privation and extreme suffering. We visited the sick of the 19th in care of Dr. Hawes, asst. surgeon, he has upwards of 50, does all in his power for their comfort. At Gen. Slocum's request we went over to Loudin Valley to learn the condition of several hundreds, who had been sent the day previous without any preparation. We found them lying on the ground, in all directions, many convalescent, but a great many very low. At this time no surgeons, nurses or cooks were on the ground and hard bread their only food." 

Schuyler County in 1854. Click to view.

William Graham’s sister, Elizabeth Graham lived with the Scobey couple in the Town of Dix, Schuyler County for around 30 years. That $30 William left with Scobey in 1862 would be worth more than $600 today based on the inflation of consumer prices.

A Henry Kleckler age 30, together with two young children, was living as a farmer in Wayne, Steuben County, New York in 1860. He was still there in 1870 with a wife and a lot more children.

The Town of Wayne is situated upon Lake Keuka on the east border of Steuben County. The towns of Tyrone and Orange were taken from Steuben County when Schuyler County was formed in 1854. A part of the township of Wayne was annexed to Tyrone in 1854. (See map)

In 1860, next door to Henry Kleckler lived George Kleckler age 65 and family, including a Samuel Green, age 16. Samuel Green is listed in the National Park database as serving with the 107^th regiment during the Civil War and is likely the boy with fever who William Graham mentions.

John Boyes was the nephew of Thomas Boyes, with whose family William lived as a farm laborer in the Town of Orange in 1860. The experience living with Thomas must have made William quite knowledgeable of his affairs.

Commentary

Libbie is William’s only surviving sibling. For further information on Elizabeth (Libbie) Graham, see William's Letter Correspondents.

William's health would not remain good for long.

Guy C. Adams is recorded as being with the 107th by the Nat’l Park Service database. Like William, he went in as a private and out as a Sergeant. Guy Adams is about age 17 in 1862 and is the son of John Adams, a neighboring farmer of Libbie.

The Anna discussed in this letter appears to have been William's girl friend back home in New York's Finger Lake Region.  The discussion in this letter and elsewhere makes it pretty clear that she was not going to wait indefinitely for William's return from war. Rather then give him the bad news, she has 'proved deceitful' to Libbie and failed to communicate as her message to him.

Ruins of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Viaduct at Harpers Ferry, destroyed 
by Confederate forces on June 14, 1861.  This  bridge was destroyed and  
replaced nine times during the War. As can be seen at the top of this post, 
it still stands today.

Interesting that William asks frequently as to the condition of his father, but communication between the two of them never seems to occur.

The amount of letter correspondence mentioned by William is certainly not represented by the letters that have survived to our knowledge. At one per week, William's three year service should have resulted in some 150 letters. The letters of which we are aware represent less than 20 percent of that potential treasure trove.

The Independent was a weekly magazine published in New York City between 1848 and 1928. It was an important voice in support of abolitionism and women's suffrage. The magazine was founded by three Congregational ministers.

Havana Company was one of those in the 107th Regiment. The companies of the 107th NY Regiment were recruited principally: A, B, C, D and E at Elmira; F at Addison, Cameron and Campbell; G at Elmira, Bath and Hammondsport; H at Havana and Elmira; I at Corning, Wayland and West Union; and K at Hornellsville, Howard, Elmira and Canisteo.

Antietam

The Battle of Antietam, by Kurz & Allison (1878), depicting the scene of action at Burnside's Bridge

 

Commentary

This letter was written eight days after the battle at Antietam.  

Elizabeth (Libbie) Graham is William’s only sister. For further information on Libbie Graham, see William's Letter Correspondents.

Luck of War

 

The Battle of Antietam on September 16 to 18, 1862 was the key battle of the Maryland Campaign. This was the battle in which William and the 107th NY Regiment experienced its first trial by fire. William's statement in his letter to Dr. Bell in October 1862 regarding coolness "under a good shower of shells" was based on actual experience in what was later determined to be the bloodiest day of the war - September 17, 1862.

The 107th fought near the Dunker Church during
most of the day.

At Antietam, the 12th Corps (of which the 107th Regiment was now part) entered the fight early in the morning, and carried a position near, and in front of, the Dunker Church. Luck was a factor in William's survival during this bloody battle. The 107th Regiment was detached from the rest of the Corps to support George Cothran's Battery of artillery. They dug in to protect the battery from being overrun by the enemy. 

Historically the term "battery" referred to a cluster of cannon in action as a group, either in a temporary field position during a battle or at the siege of a fortress or a city. During the American Civil War, artillery batteries often consisted of six field pieces for the Union Army and four for the Confederate States Army, although this varied.

The 107th Regiment was under the command of Colonel Robert Van Valkenburgh. In his official report to General George Gordon of September 21, 1862 he said the following:

"...we received an order from you to retire into the woods and again form line of battle, which I was in the act of obeying when General Gibbon ... ordered me to return and support Cothran's battery, which was doing good execution upon the right of the woods.

I obeyed the order, formed my men in line of battle in front of the enemy, marched up to the battery, occupied the position assigned to us until past 3 o'clock, when the battery and my regiment were relieved by General Slocum's division. We were under severe fire from early in the morning until about 4 o'clock. The officers and men, so far as I know, of the One hundred and seventh Regiment behaved well, and obeyed every order with alacrity.

I desire to commend the coolness and bravery of Captain Cothran, who was in command of the battery. His decision and promptness, in my opinion, contributed in a great measure to the sustaining of that position."

1862 - Dunker Church and Burnside Bridge after battle

Of the 600 present for battle in the 107th regiment; 7 were killed, 51 wounded and 5 missing; making total casualties of 63.

A soldier assigned to the 107th regiment was half as likely to become a battle casualty as the rest of the Corps. The percentage of loss being 10.5% compared to 21.8% for the 12th Corps as a whole. If we just look at the number killed, the difference was even starker; the chances of being killed being more than four times as great in the 12th Corps as a whole.

General Mansfield fell, mortally wounded, while deploying his columns, and the command of the corps during the battle devolved on General Williams. The two divisions of the Corps lost in this battle, 275 killed, 1,386 wounded, and 85 missing; total, 1,746, out of about 8,000 present in action.

Antietam Battle, Sept 17, 1862. Click to enlarge.

According to the battle history, although outnumbered two-to-one, Lee committed his entire force, while McClellan sent in less than three-quarters of his army, enabling Lee to fight the Federals to a standstill. During the night, both armies consolidated their lines. In spite of crippling casualties, Lee continued to skirmish with McClellan throughout the 18th, while removing his wounded south of the river. McClellan did not renew the assaults. After dark, Lee ordered withdrawal of his army.

Emancipation Proclamation

On September 22, 1862, Lincoln issued a preliminary warning that by January 1, 1863 he would order the emancipation of all slaves in any state that had not ended its rebellion against the Union. None of the Confederate states returned to the Union. Therefore, Lincoln's order was signed and took effect on January 1, 1863.

The Emancipation Proclamation outraged white Southerners (and their sympathizers) who envisioned a race war. It angered some Northern Democrats, energized anti-slavery forces, and undermined elements in Europe that wanted to intervene to help the Confederacy. The Proclamation lifted the spirits of both free and slave African Americans. It led many slaves to escape to Union lines to obtain their freedom, and to join the Union Army.

The Emancipation Proclamation broadened the goals of the Civil War. While slavery had been a major issue that led to the war, Lincoln's only mission at the start of the war was to maintain the Union. The Proclamation made freeing the slaves an explicit goal of the Union war effort. Establishing the abolition of slavery as one of the two primary war goals served to deter intervention by Britain and France. The Emancipation Proclamation was never challenged in court. To ensure the abolition of slavery in all of the U.S., Lincoln pushed for passage of the Thirteenth Amendment. Congress passed the 13th Amendment by the necessary two-thirds vote on January 31, 1865, and it was ratified by the states on December 6, 1865, ending legal slavery.

Guy C. Adams is recorded as being with the 107th by the Nat’l Park Service database. Like William, he went in as a private and out as a Sergeant. Guy Adams is about age 17 in 1862 and is the son of John Adams, a neighboring farmer of Libbie. William and Libbie's father James Graham was  almost 77 years old at this time. He was living on the farm of William Bell, his brother-in-law.

Commentary

Dr. Robert Bell lived in Monterey, Town of Orange, Schuyler Co., NY.  For further information on Dr. Bell, see William's Letter Correspondents.

William's report on Jackson's near presence was probably erroneous since Lee had withdrawn the battered Army of Northern Virginia across the Potomac into the Shenandoah Valley.

Bounty money was simply a sum of money offered to any eligible man for volunteering. Bounties existed on the federal, state and more importantly, local levels. The bounty usually took the form of $50, $200, $300, $1000 cash amounts that would only be paid to the man after he volunteered. As Eugene Murdock notes, “It had the expected results, men volunteered, and it became the standard method of obtaining troops.

William's statements respecting "slavish fear" or that, "I feel quite as cool under a good shower of shells as anyone around me" were not idle boasting. Just a month before on September 17th he had experienced and survived a virtual cloud burst of shells while defending a battery of Union cannon in the middle of the battle at Antietam. 

Burnside's Bridge today

Army of the Potomac

George McClellan

On July 26, 1861, General George McClellan formed the Army of the Potomac, composed of all Union military forces in the former Departments of Northeastern Virginia, Washington, Baltimore and the Shenandoah. This was the principal Union army of the first years of the American Civil War. This was also the army that William joined following his enlistment in Elmira, New York in July 1862.

At the time William joined the Army of the Potomac it was still commanded by George McClellan. With victory an ever elusive goal, it went through three other commanders before the end of the War in 1865. 

The known letters of William Graham begin on September 1, 1862 with a message from Camp Seward on the Arlington Heights in Virginia. These heights upon the south bank of the Potomac River overlook Washington, DC on the north bank. This was the site of the main base of the Union army during most of the war.

The map below shows the relationship of the Arlington Heights with the river and the City of Washington. The map was drawn in May 1861, a little over a year before William arrived with the 107th NY Regiment. Interestingly, almost all the regiments shown entrenched on the heights, with the exception of two from New Jersey, are from New York. Clicking on the map will enlarge it, clearly setting forth the details.  

1861 map showing Arlington Heights with its fortifications defending Washington DC located across the Potomac

 

Letter Commentary

By the beginning of 2019, less than 30 of William's letters had been brought to my attention. This letter addressed to John Boyes has the earliest date. For further information on John Boyes, see William's Letter Correspondents.

If William wrote one letter a week during the three years he served with Union forces in the American Civil War, this means less than one out of five letters have been brought to light.

Camp Seward

Camp Seward was located on the Arlington Heights. It was the entry point for many Union soldiers in the Civil War. It was also the name that the 107th gave to its early camps in the Washington area while guarding the nation's capital.

It was named after William Seward, Lincoln's Secretary of State, and his former rival for the presidency as well as the former Governor of the State of New York. Seward was also an 1820 graduate of Union College, my alma mater.

William H. Seward

The Union fortifications on the Arlington Heights served as a defense line for the city. William's regiment, the 107th, was attached to Whipple's Command, Defenses of Washington, D.C., until sometime in September, 1862. In September, the 107th Regiment was assigned to the 12th Army Corps.

When the 107th arrived at Washington President Lincoln presented them with a regimental banner, a gift of New York State Governor Morgan. It was never carried into battle, but was left in Washington at the residence of Secretary of State Seward, and taken back at the conclusion of the war. It was framed by the regimental association and currently hangs in the Chemung County History Society building in Elmira, NY.

Chantilly

When this letter was written the 107th had yet to take active part in battle. The battles discussed in the letter are probably the Battle of Chantilly that took place on September 1, 1862 about 15 miles from Arlington Heights and the Second Battle of Manassas or Bull Run that occured August 28-30, 1862 about 25 miles away.

General Philip Kearny's fatal charge at the Battle of Chantilly (Ox Hill)

According to the National Park Service battle summaries, Chantilly began on September 1, 1862 with a wide flank march by Jackson who hoped to cut off the Union retreat from Bull Run. Jackson sent his divisions against two Union divisions under Kearny and Stevens. The Confederate attacks were stopped by fierce Union fighting during a severe thunderstorm.  Union generals Stevens and Kearny were both killed.

Recognizing that his army was still in danger, Maj. Gen. Pope ordered the retreat to continue to Washington. With Pope no longer a threat, Lee turned his army west and north to invade Maryland, initiating the Maryland Campaign and the battles of South Mountain and Antietam. Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan assumed command of Union forces around Washington.

From Farm to War

Clipper Ship Roscius

As described in the previous post, in 1850 during the middle of the Irish Famine, the Graham family emigrated to America aboard the ship Roscius.  They had been a farm family in County Tyrone, Ireland. James Graham was the family head. His oldest child, William Graham was still a teenager. They followed the path of James Graham's older sister Elizabeth. 

Elizabeth Graham Bell emigrated in 1827, at about age 44, from County Down, Ireland with her husband William Bell and children. The Bells ultimately settled in New York State's Finger Lakes Region on a farm in the Town of Orange in what would eventually become Schuyler County, New York. Elizabeth Graham Bell died in 1849, leaving her husband a farmer and widower.

The James Graham family ship of passage, the Roscius, reached New York City on September 18, 1850. According to the ship passenger list, William was 17, his sister Betty 'Libbie' age 12 and James, his father, 64. His mother Jane was 48 and brother John was 14. No records were found of his mother or brother after 1850. It is presumed that they perished soon after reaching America.

Settled in Schuyler County, New York

In 1855, all remaining members of the family were living in Schuyler County, New York. James Graham was living on the Bell farm with his brother-in-law, William Bell. William Graham, was a boarder with Enoch Webster, wife and family, including 3 adult daughters and a son. Sister Libbie was living on the farm of the Andrew Scobey, who had adopted her.

In 1860, William Graham was working as a farmer in Orange, Schuyler Co., NY. He was living on the farm of Thomas Boyes and wife Mary and their seven children ages 10 to 24. Mary was his cousin, the daughter of William Bell. In 1860 sister Libbie was still living with the Scobey's and listed as a domestic servant in the census.

Enlistment and Service in the Union Army

William Graham War Record

The American Civil war broke out in April 1861 when secessionist forces attacked Fort Sumter in South Carolina. On July 18, 1862 in the City of Elmira, New York, William Graham enlisted in the Union Army. Elmira is a small city south of the Finger Lakes and just north of the Pennsylvania border.  

As was his future son, grandson and great grandson, William Graham was a tall and thin man. At the time of his enlistment, William was described as having a height of 5 feet 11 inches, light sandy complexion, blue eyes, and light hair. In a letter he said he weighed 164 pounds. 

William committed to serve three years in Co. B, 107th New York Regiment of volunteers. He was discharged on June 5, 1865 when he was mustered out with the company near Washington, D.C. He entered as a private and was discharged as a Sergeant. He was promoted to corporal on November 1, 1862 and Sergeant, on April 1, 1865. He participated in all battles with the regiment except two. 

After the Battle of Antietam in September 1862 the regiment marched to Harper's Ferry where they made their camp on top of Maryland Heights.  Maryland Heights was on the north side of the Potomac River and overlooked Harper's Ferry. An important military arsenal was located within Harper's Ferry. 

On the heights William's regiment helped build gun emplacements, spending many of their days cutting down trees for that purpose.  It was here that disease struck the regiment hard and for the period ending November 8, 1862, a total of 30 men died.

William became quite sick in December 1862 during the regiment's march to Fredericksburg, Virginia. He was sent to St. Paul’s Hospital in Alexandria, Virginia on December 19, 1862. He was transferred on Feb. 18, 1863 to the USA General Hospital, Fort Schuyler, New York Harbor. The battles fought by the 107^th regiment that William missed - Chancellorsville (April 29 - May 6, 1863) and Gettysburg (July 1-3, 1863) - occurred while he was hospitalized from December 1862 until August 1863. 

The posts that follow present William Graham's experience in the Civil War as documented through the letters he wrote to his sister Libby and other relatives living back home in Schuyler County, New York.