No Place for Glory

Major General Robert E. Rodes and the Confederate Defeat at Gettysburg

Robert J. Wynstra

• Publisher: The Kent State University Press
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781631014314
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: American Civil War History
• Index: History

A scrupulous analysis of Rodes's conduct during the Battle of Gettysburg

Over the years, many top historians have cited Major General Robert E. Rodes as the best division commander in Robert E. Lee's vaunted army. Despite those accolades, Rodes faltered badly at Gettysburg, which stands as the only major blemish on his otherwise sterling record. Although his subordinates were guilty of significant blunders, Rodes shared the blame for the disjointed attack that led to the destruction of Alfred Iverson's brigade on the first day of the battle. His lack of initiative on the following day was regarded by some in the army as much worse. Whether justified or not, they directly faulted him for not supporting Jubal Early's division in a night attack on Cemetery Hill that nearly succeeded in decisively turning the enemy's flank.

The reasons behind Rodes's flawed performance at Gettysburg have long proven difficult to decipher with any certainty. Because his personal papers were destroyed, primary sources on his role in battle remain sparse. Other than the official reports on the battle, the record of what occurred there is mostly limited to the letters and diaries of his subordinates. In this new study, however, Robert J. Wynstra draws on sources heretofore unexamined, including rare soldiers' letters published in local newspapers and other firsthand accounts located in small historical societies, to shed light on the reasons behind Rodes's missteps.

As a result of this new research and analysis, we are finally able to come to a more detailed understanding of Rodes's division's activities at Gettysburg, an enduring subject of study and interest.

CHAPTER 1

“Everything ahead Looks Like War”

Despite the stunning victory at Chancellorsville, Robert Rodes faced several nagging problems in the weeks following the battle. One particularly troubling issue was the mixed quality of the officers who commanded the five brigades in his infantry division. He initially focused on finding a suitable candidate to lead his former brigade, which comprised the Third, Fifth, Sixth, Twelfth, and Twenty-Sixth Alabama Regiments. The general’s most immediate concern was the lackluster performance of forty-four-year-old Col. Edward A. O’Neal from the Twenty-Sixth Alabama, who had temporarily headed the brigade since early January 1863. Finding a permanent leader, however, would be much more difficult than he had anticipated.

While acknowledged for his bravery in action, O’Neal lacked any formal military training. He practiced as an attorney in Florence, Alabama, prior to the war and unsuccessfully ran for Congress in 1848. As a leading advocate of secession, he cultivated strong political connections throughout the state. O’Neal joined the Ninth Alabama at the start of hostilities as a major. In early 1862 he took over the Twenty-Sixth Alabama as a lieutenant colonel, promoted to colonel soon afterward. While serving at the head of the regiment, O’Neal was wounded at both Seven Pines and South Mountain. Leading the brigade at Chancellorsville, he suffered another wound during the fierce fighting on May 3.¹

Soon after assuming temporary command of the brigade, O’Neal began using his extensive political contacts in Alabama to lobby the Confederate government for promotion to brigadier general. In mid-January one of his allies informed Secretary of War James A. Seddon that O’Neal’s “conduct at the head of his Regt. very fully entitles him to the most favorable considerations of his government.” He emphasized that the promotion “would be popular in this portion of the state & I have not [sic] doubt all over the state.” Little more than a month later, influential Confederate senator James Phelan from Mississippi, who began his career in Alabama, wrote a letter of support directly to Pres. Jefferson Davis. This came after Gov. John G. Shorter called his attention to O’Neal’s qualifications during the senator’s visit to the state capital at Montgomery.²

Despite O’Neal’s efforts to gain promotion, Rodes failed to include him among his top choices to head the brigade. He preferred to have Brig. Gen. John Brown Gordon, who had earlier served as colonel of the Sixth Alabama in his brigade, transferred from his position as temporary commander of a Georgia brigade in Early’s Division. The only concern that Rodes expressed about Gordon’s abilities was his apparent lack of attention to maintaining order in the ranks. He confided to General Ewell that Gordon “is a magnificent officer in action, but is a horrible disciplinarian I find.” Despite those qualms, the Georgian remained his first choice to take over his former brigade.³

If Gordon’s transfer could not be worked out, Rodes then requested the promotion of Col. John Tyler Morgan, who had spent the early part of the war as a field officer in the Fifth Alabama. The general described Morgan as “an able officer” who was well known to him before transferring to a command in Alabama. But Rodes emphasized that he would accept this alternative only if Morgan “can be had promptly.” As a last resort, his choices were “confined” to O’Neal and Col. Cullen A. Battle from the Third Alabama. Rodes emphasized that neither of them was “in my opinion equal to Morgan.” The devastating loss of more than eight hundred men from the brigade during the fighting at Chancellorsville further complicated O’Neal’s chance for promotion, which remained unlikely at best.

As was normally the case, the final selection of a new brigade commander rested with General Lee. When difficulties arose with securing the services of both Gordon and Morgan, the army leader decided to give the position to Colonel O’Neal, whom he did not know well. That decision caught many in the division by surprise. Lee based this unexpected choice on O’Neal’s seniority and the fact that he “has been identified with his regiment and brigade by long service as Lieut. Col. and Colonel.” On Lee’s recommendation, the Confederate War Department formally issued a commission for O’Neal’s promotion to the permanent rank brigadier general on June 6.⁴

In a break with standard procedure, Lee did not immediately pass on news of the appointment to the colonel and his family, who had long expected a much different outcome. “If any man has ever done his duty or won his promotion, you have,” O’Neal’s wife, Olivia, complained to him on the day before the commission was issued. “And yet I think it very doubtful whether you will have justice done you.” The failure to inform the colonel of his commission resulted from a last-minute protest by General Rodes that caused Lee to put the promotion on hold. The final decision on O’Neal’s future with the Army of Northern Virginia would come only after he was further tested in the upcoming summer campaign.⁵

The situation proved much different for Brig. Gen. Stephen Dodson Ramseur, who commanded one of the two Tar Heel brigades in the division. Although his men suffered nearly seven hundred casualties in the battle, Ramseur’s performance at Chancellorsville further cemented his growing reputation as one of the best brigade commanders in Lee’s army. The twenty-six-year-old general was universally known by his middle name, Dodson. Born and raised in Lincoln County, North Carolina, Ramseur attended Davidson College for three years before winning an appointment to West Point. Following his graduation in the class of 1860, he briefly served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Army.

After resigning his commission at the outbreak of war, Ramseur entered the Confederate service as a captain of artillery. He took over as colonel of the Forty-Ninth North Carolina in the spring of 1862 and sustained a severe wound in the arm at Malvern Hill on July 1. Ramseur’s reputation as a hard fighter eventually earned him promotion as the replacement for Brig. Gen. George B. Anderson, who had died in October from wounds he sustained at Sharpsburg. His new command comprised the Second, Fourth, Fourteenth, and Thirtieth North Carolina. Although his appointment dated from November 1, 1862, Ramseur did not join the brigade until mid-January 1863 due to continued problems with his wounded arm.⁶

Because Ramseur came from outside the brigade, some of the senior officers greeted his selection with less than complete enthusiasm. Col. Francis M. Parker from the Thirtieth North Carolina, who had been passed over for promotion to take over the brigade, was initially one of his most ardent critics. While smarting from that apparent snub, the veteran field officer openly griped about Ramseur’s young age and his well-known penchant for imposing rigid discipline on his troops. “Our Brig. Genl. is quite a strict young man, not more than twenty-seven,” Parker commented in a letter to his wife. “He is a very strict disciplinarian. Drills are very hard.”⁷

Other men in the ranks expressed similar concerns about Ramseur’s fitness for command. One soldier from the Fourth North Carolina complained to his mother that their own colonel “was more entitled to the promotion of brigadier than Ramseur.” At the same time, he held out hope that his new commander would “prove himself to be as good as General Anderson was, though that is hardly possible.” Sgt. William A. Adams from the same regiment was especially unhappy about the exhaustive training that the new commander required. “Gen Ramseur is giving us the very devil on drilling,” he commented in a letter to his sister soon after the general’s arrival. “He is a good general but he is as tite as the very devil.”⁸

Any worries about their new commander quickly evaporated following the ferocious fighting at Chancellorsville, where Ramseur won praise throughout the army for his unmatched skill and bravery. Brig. Gen. William Dorsey Pender from A. P. Hill’s Division reported to his wife soon after the battle that Ramseur had “covered himself and brigade with glory.” Even Colonel Parker, who had been cool to Ramseur’s promotion, admitted in a letter home that “our own Brigadier is a very gallant officer.” By the time Rodes took over as permanent head of the division, Dodson Ramseur was acknowledged throughout the army as someone destined for higher command.⁹

Brig. Gen. Alfred Holt Iverson led the division’s other North Carolina brigade, which suffered nearly five hundred casualties during the awful fighting at Chancellorsville. For many in the brigade, those appalling losses only confirmed the worst doubts about their thirty-four-year-old commander. Iverson was born and raised in Georgia. He had strong political connections to President Davis through his father, who was a former U.S. senator and a vocal advocate of secession. The younger Iverson had served briefly in the Mexican War as an officer with the Georgia volunteers. In 1855 he won an appointment from the civilian ranks as a lieutenant in the newly formed First US Cavalry.

At the outbreak of the Civil War, he resigned from the U.S. Army and took up recruiting duties in North Carolina. As one of the few professional soldiers in the camp, Iverson easily won election as colonel of what would become the Twentieth North Carolina. After joining Brig. Gen. Samuel Garland’s brigade outside Richmond, his men experienced their first major combat at Gaines’s Mill during the Seven Days’ Campaign, where Iverson was wounded in the hip. He returned to duty in time for the Maryland Campaign, during which his men twice broke and ran under the weight of a Federal assault. His chance for advancement suddenly came when Garland suffered a mortal wound at South Mountain.¹⁰

Despite his spotty record, Iverson was promoted to brigadier general and assigned to head the brigade about a month after Garland’s death at South Mountain. His new command comprised the Fifth, Twelfth, Twentieth, and Twenty-Third North Carolina. Soon after his promotion, Iverson became embroiled in a vicious feud with the officers of his former regiment over the choice of an outsider to succeed him as colonel. The infighting turned so rancorous in late December 1862 that he arrested all twenty-six officers from the Twentieth North Carolina, who had sent a protest about his actions to the Confederate War Department. At the end of January 1863, the new general reluctantly agreed to a compromise in which the senior officers waived their ranks in favor of Capt. Thomas F. Toon from their regiment, who was appointed as the next colonel of the regiment.¹¹

Another bitter dispute broke out in the Twelfth North Carolina during late 1862, when Iverson forced the resignation of Col. Benjamin O. Wade. Following several failed attempts to find a replacement, he eventually nominated former captain Henry Eaton Coleman as the new colonel. Coleman was born in 1837 and grew up in Halifax County, Virginia. He briefly attended VMI before being dismissed for exceeding the allowable number of demerits. After studying for a year at William and Mary College, the Virginian worked as a civil engineer and supervised his family’s properties in Virginia and North Carolina, where in 1858 he purchased a plantation in Granville County. Coleman entered military service from that county as captain of a volunteer company, which had been largely raised and equipped by his uncle.¹²

The captain soon became widely disliked by the men under his command. One soldier from the regiment recalled that Coleman proved to be “a too strict disciplinarian.” Sgt. Adolphus Pitcher noted that there was also “bitter hatred existing against him amongst the men of the regiment in consequence of his bad treatment of them while on guard.” Sgt. Archibald Henderson reported in a letter to his brother during early 1862 that Coleman’s reputation had sunk so low by then that he “could not get two men in the company to go under him in action.” As a result, he was handily defeated for reelection during the army’s reorganization of May 1862 and returned to civilian life at his family’s plantation in Virginia.¹³

Capt. William S. Davis and other ranking officers in the Twelfth North Carolina vehemently protested against Iverson’s selection of their despised former captain to take the place of Colonel Wade. Davis noted that he looked upon Coleman “at this time as sustaining the relation of a citizen to the regiment and could not see how he could interpose with promotions in the regiment.” After numerous delays in securing Coleman’s nomination from the War Department, a board of examination intervened during late May by promoting Davis to lieutenant colonel and assigning him command of the regiment. Although “nothing was further heard” of Coleman’s appointment at the time, Iverson continued to maneuver behind the scenes to obtain the position for his friend, which only further undermined the general’s leadership.¹⁴

Many others already viewed the selection of Iverson, who came from Georgia, to command a brigade made up entirely of Tar Heel troops as a severe affront to their state’s honor. Some charged that the promotion only happened because of his father’s political connections to President Davis. Col. Duncan K. McRae from the Fifth North Carolina, who temporarily headed the brigade following Garland’s death, resigned in protest. Gov. Zebulon Baird Vance and other top politicians in North Carolina even attempted to block Iverson’s promotion in the Confederate Senate. The soldiers endured another blow to their pride when Iverson retained nearly all of the Virginia officers from Garland’s brigade staff, including his assistant adjutant general, Capt. Don Peters Halsey.¹⁵

The general’s reputation suffered further damage during his first major combat as a brigade commander at Chancellorsville, when some of his men accused him of remaining safely behind the lines on both days of the fighting. At least one wounded soldier from the brigade recalled seeing Iverson well in the rear while his men pursued the fleeing Federal troops during the flank attack on May 2. “I went first to the field hospital station to have my wound dressed,” Pvt. George W. Rabb from the Twelfth North Carolina recalled years later. “As I was going to the hospital, I passed by Brigadier Gen. Iverson, and told him the Yankees were running like turkeys.”¹⁶

Rather than accompanying his men into the fight on the following day, Iverson again chose to direct the action from behind the front lines. While rallying his troops amid a hail of bullets, Lt. Col. John Lea from the Fifth North Carolina attempted to locate the brigade commander. He discovered to his disgust that the general “was no where to be found in my front or on either flank (I did not think to look in [the] rear).” Iverson’s conduct at Chancellorsville drew similar criticism from Capt. Vines Turner of the Twenty-Third North Carolina, who noted that it “has never been explained” exactly where the general was when the attack went forward. Iverson himself claimed in his official report that he was forced to leave the field after suffering a contusion from a spent bullet.¹⁷

The stories about Iverson’s alleged cowardice at Chancellorsville eventually reached General Ramseur, who was renowned for always leading his troops from the front into the thickest of the fighting. These proved more troubling than he could endure in silence. “Brig. Gen’l Iverson comd’g. a N.C. Brig I learned behaved badly himself, his brigade doing well,” the general wrote to his best friend about three weeks after the battle. Ramseur also heard several reports that “charges will be preferred against him.” Although there is nothing official to back up that claim, Iverson approached the upcoming summer campaign with hardly a friend left in the division.¹⁸

The outcome at Chancellorsville was much more positive for thirty-three-year-old Brig. Gen. George P. Doles, who earned numerous accolades for his gallant conduct while leading one of the two Georgia brigades in the division. Doles spent the years prior to the...