Chapter Forty-Nine
War to the Hilt
From “Kearny the Magnificent” by Roger Galton
NorthWestern
“Kearny was well aware of the risks associated with his appointment in the middle of the campaigning season. “There is a great temptation to meddle in every aspect of our army’s organisation and to make great plans for the remainder of this year, but there is great danger involved. I must be certain not to leave any element of our forces disorganised while I shuffle my cards in the midst of a hand in play”…
It was essential for Kearny to establish the scope of his new authority. A meeting with the President and Secretary Stanton was required and soon. Thankfully the President had already foreseen such a need, and coupled with his desire to “see free Richmond” he had already laid plans to travel south by sea. Secretary Wells, on hearing of the plans was beside himself with nerves. An escort of three warships was assigned to the President to “sweep the waters before the President’s conveyance for mines and such”. No one wanted to loose the President as General McClellan had been lost...”
From “The King and his Heir – Lincoln and Kearny in the Civil War” by Robert Todd Lincoln II
Grafton Press 1939
“It was hard to know who was the more idolised as the President and the First Among His Generals ambled around Richmond. The city’s newly freed negros fell at the feet of their “Father Abraham” while every soldier stood a bit taller at the sight of “the ironplated Kearny”. It was not lost on Kearny’s admirers and detractors alike that he could not pass a limbless grey rags-clad figure without a salute, and a bundle of greenbacks where these would be accepted…
When General Sedgwick enquired of Kearny’s staff whether more military escorts should be sought to hold back the crowds, General Kearny’s new chaplain, Rev. James Smith Bush (of Orange, New Jersey) responded that both men were “
protected by a host no earthly power could overcome”…”
President Lincoln and General Kearny walk through Richmond
From “Kearny the Magnificent” by Roger Galton
NorthWestern
“Kearny’s first concern was recruitment. As a fervent believer in esprit de corps he was appalled by the recruitment practices of the northern governors. Instead of providing a steady flow of reinforcements for depleted existing regiments, northern governors insisted on raising new regiments and providing fresh commissions, in many cases granting senior field commissions to men with no previous experience after full two years of war. Regiments with a history, with a proven character, were being whittled away to nothing by illness, battle and by expiring enlistments.
Kearny considered this method impractical and bad for moral. It denied experienced regimental officers in the field robust commands; it denied recruits a leavening of experienced comrades, NCOs and officers to provide a solid foundation in their transition from civilian to military life; and it was genuinely disturbing to an officer like Kearny to see fine regiments wither on the vine after two and more years of war...
He was direct in his approach to the President and Secretary Stanton. “I have convinced many to re-enlist in this army upon expiry of their enlistments. I will continue to address each regiment personally where I can to implore the men to remain and serve to see this struggle through. However many do not re-enlist for the simple reason their beloved regiments are dying for want of re-enforcement and recruitment, and they will not serve under any other regiment’s flag…Should fresh regiments continue to be sent I will break them up to reinforce the old. Should fresh commissions be granted I will remove those officers from their regiments and place them wherever I judge they may do most good. I will thus instruct those officers under my command to do likewise. I will have re-enforcements for our existing regiments. I will accept whole companies if necessary. But I deem it in the best interests of our cause that the system be changed…” (Notes according to Secretary Stanton)…
It would appear, if Stanton’s notes are to believed (no notes, if any were made, from Kearny nor Lincoln survive), that Kearny adopted an aggressive argument expecting Lincoln and Stanton would protect the governors’ right to recruit as they saw fit. Stanton agreed wholeheartedly with Kearny. It was pure inefficient gubernational political patronage. Lincoln was more reserved, offering Kearny his support, but suggesting Kearny correspond with the governors directly on the matter…”
From “Kearny and the Radicals” by Hugh W. McGrath
New England Press 1992
“The James Conference was a watershed moment for the Lincoln Administration as Lincoln, Kearny and Stanton discussed their visions for post-war reconstruction for the first time with each other in detail.
It was a tenet of faith with Kearny that the aristocratic political leadership of the south had led an unsuspecting southern people down the road of treason, and that the south’s military officers had betrayed the most sacred oaths to defend the nation and the constitution. Kearny’s view of the post war South showed a clear dichotomy in his thinking: the southern people, and the Confederate rank and file, should be spared punishment. The Confederate political and military leadership should be subjected to the harshest measures. “If we cut off the head completely the Southern Serpent will die. Whether we impose a new leadership on the South or encourage a new leadership from its infancy, there are no circumstances under which we should allow arch-traitors and oath breakers to resume their places in our society”.
General Kearny favoured execution of the Confederate ring leaders – The President, some members of the Cabinet, Governors and perhaps former US officers in the Confederate service. The murderers of officers and enlisted men who had laid down their arms should also face the gallows in Kearny’s opinion. "Remember General Hunter for the nation shall".
Beyond that Kearny favoured a lifetime ban on any former Confederate officer or officeholder from public office or government employ. Kearny also favoured a permanent disenfranchisement for such men. “Treason, in this case a double treason, against our country and against God’s most precious gift, liberty, is the greatest crime of which a man is capable. Add to that the oath breaking by the very defenders of our country and their treason becomes threefold…” (Kearny in a separate note to Secretary Stanton. It is a sentiment that Kearny expressed and paraphrased in many letters to friends and correspondents in the north)…
Stanton recorded one phrase in the margins of his notes that is indicative of his own concerns: “Who will say Remember Hunter?” [Stanton’s own emphasis]…
Lincoln was notably taken aback according to Stanton’s recollection. This was not the re-united Union that Lincoln sought. Lincoln sought to outline his vision of a “liberated” south not a “conquered” one. The enforcement of emancipation and statutory protection for the newly liberated slaves, yes, but also an open door to southern states to fully participate in the political life of the country once a portion of its population had taken an oath of allegiance.
Stanton records that Kearny was unconvinced by the President’s words. If the southern leadership were spared the full consequences of its treason “the South will rise again and our sons and our grandsons will only have to fight this war again”...
It is unknown whether the President now harboured any doubts about the man he had raised to command the armies of the Union, but John Hay recalled that the President seemed more downcast and contemplative after the James Conference than at any time since the death of General McClellan…”
President Lincoln was most impressed during his visit to Richmond by General Kearny's bugler 14 year old Gustave A. Schurmann