The Story of a Cannoneer Under Stonewall Jackson

Edward Alexander Moore (1842-1916) was a cannoneer in the Confederate Army.

http://amzn.to/Xwtx5v

Stonewall Jackson was born January 21, 1824, in Clarksburg, West Virginia

Stonewall Jackson was born January 21, 1824, in Clarksburg, West Virginia. He established himself as a hero in the Mexican-American War. From 1851–1861 he taught at the Virginia Military Institute. He earned his nickname at the First Battle of Bull Run during the Civil War. Stonewall Jackson died on May 10, 1863, in Guinea Station, Virginia, after being wounded by friendly fire at Chancellorsville.

 http://www.biography.com/people/stonewall-jackson-9351451

Help Us Save Gettysburg's Forgotten Flanks

The Civil War Trust has an incredible opportunity to save 3 different portions of the Gettysburg battlefield totaling 112 acres – the "forgotten flanks" of the Union and Confederate armies on July 3, 1863. As the two great Union and Confederate armies in the East concentrated their forces at Gettysburg, both commanding generals, Robert E. Lee and George G. Meade, extended their lines to protect their vulnerable flanks and probe for enemy weaknesses. Union and Confederate troops sparred with one another on these flanks, adding scores of casualties to the already horrific losses of those first days of July 1863. Today, these flanks are still vulnerable – to development, which could at any time threaten the integrity of the Gettysburg battlefield, one of the America's most important pieces of hallowed ground. Donate Today »

Video »

Map »

Forgotten Flanks of Gettysburg »

Photos »

And to learn more about the Battle of Gettysburg,
please visit our updated page: Civilwar.org/Gettysburg »

Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870)

Robert Edward Lee 

(January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870) 

The following article is available at the Civil War Trust website and at the following link location: http://www.civilwar.org/education/history/biographies/robert-e-lee.html

Born to Revolutionary War hero Henry "Light-Horse Harry" Lee in Stratford Hall, Virginia, Robert Edward Lee seemed destined for military greatness.  Despite financial hardship that caused his father to depart to the West Indies, young Robert secured an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point, where he graduated second in the class of 1829.  Two years later, he married Mary Anna Randolph Custis, a descendant of George Washington.  Yet with for all his military pedigree, Lee had yet to set foot on a battlefield.  Instead, he served seventeen years as an officer in the Corps of Engineers, supervising and inspecting the construction of the nation's coastal defenses.  Service during the 1846 war with Mexico, however, changed that.  As a member of General Winfield Scott's staff, Lee distinguished himself, earning three brevets for gallantry, and emerging from the conflict with the rank of colonel.

From 1852 to 1855, Lee served as superintendent of West Point, and was therefore responsible for educating many of the men who would later serve under him - and those who would oppose him - on the battlefields of the Civil War.  In 1855 he left the academy to take a position in the cavalry and in 1859 was called upon to put down abolitionist John Brown’s raid at Harpers Ferry.


Because of his reputation as one of the finest officers in the United States Army, Abraham Lincoln offered Lee the command of the Federal forces in April 1861. Lee declined and tendered his resignation from the army when the state of Virginia seceded on April 17, arguing that he could not fight against his own people.  Instead, he accepted a general’s commission in the newly formed Confederate Army. His first military engagement of the Civil War occurred at Cheat Mountain, Virginia (now West Virginia) on September 11, 1861. It was a Union victory but Lee’s reputation withstood the public criticism that followed. He served as military advisor to President Jefferson Davis until June 1862 when he was given command of the wounded General Joseph E. Johnston's embattled army on the Virginia peninsula.

Lee renamed his command the Army of Northern Virginia, and under his direction it would become the most famous and successful of the Confederate armies.  This same organization also boasted some of the Confederacy's most inspiring military figures, including James Longstreet, Stonewall Jackson and the flamboyant cavalier Jeb Stuart.  With these trusted subordinates, Lee commanded troops that continually manhandled their blue-clad adversaries and embarrassed their generals no matter what the odds.

Yet despite foiling several attempts to seize the Confederate capital, Lee recognized that the key to ultimate success was a victory on Northern soil.  In September 1862, he launched an invasion into Maryland with the hope of shifting the war's focus away from Virginia.  But when a misplaced dispatch outlining the invasion plan was discovered by Union commander George McClellan the element of surprise was lost, and the two armies faced off at the battle of Antietam.  Though his plans were no longer a secret, Lee nevertheless managed to force McClellan into a stalemate.  Following the bloodiest one-day battle of the war, heavy casualties compelled Lee to withdraw under the cover of darkness.  The remainder of 1862 was spent on the defensive, parrying Union thrusts at Fredericksburg and, in May of the following year, Chancellorsville. 

The masterful victory at Chancellorsville gave Lee great confidence in his army, and the Rebel chief was inspired once again to take the fight to enemy soil.  In late June of 1863, he began another invasion of the North, culminating at the crossroads town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.  For three days the two armies faced off in what would become the most famous battle of the entire war.  Accustomed to seeing the Yankees run in the face of his aggressive troops, Lee attacked strong Union positions on high ground.  This time, however, the Federals wouldn't budge.  The Confederate war effort reached its high water mark on July 3, 1863 when Lee ordered Virginians under Maj. Gen. George E. Pickett to assault the Union center.  The attack was a failure and Lee, recognizing that the battle was lost, ordered his army to retreat.  Taking full responsibility for the defeat, he wrote Jefferson Davis offering his resignation, which Davis refused to accept.

After the simultaneous Union victories at Gettysburg and Vicksburg, Mississippi, Ulysses S. Grant assumed command of the Federal armies.  Rather than making Richmond the aim of his campaign, Grant chose to focus the myriad resources at his disposal on destroying Lee's Army of Northern Virginia.  In a relentless and bloody campaign, the Federal juggernaut bludgeoned the under-supplied Rebel band.  In spite of his ability to make Grant pay in blood for his aggressive tactics, Lee had been forced to yield the initiative to his adversary, and he recognized that the end of the Confederacy was only a matter of time.  By the summer of 1864, the Confederates had been forced into waging trench warfare outside of Petersburg.  Though President Davis named the Virginian General-in-Chief of all Confederate forces in February 1865, only two months later, on April 9, 1865, Lee was forced to surrender his weary and depleted army to Grant at Appomattox Court House, effectively ending the Civil War.

Lee returned home on parole and eventually became the president of Washington College in Virginia (now known as Washington and Lee University). He remained in this position until his death on October 12, 1870 in Lexington, Virginia.

"Stonewall" Jackson's House Celebrates 189th Birthday

Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's Birthday

Monday, January 21, 2013
10:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.

The Jackson House will be open January 21, 2013 in honor of Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's 189th Birthday. FREE tours will be given on the hour and half hour with the last tour at 3:30 p.m. Birthday cake and cider will be served next door in the Davidson-Tucker house.

Stonewall Jackson House

Celebrate Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's birthday at the Stonewall Jackson House with birthday cake, hot apple cider, and free tours of the Stonewall Jackson House -- the only home the famous Confederate general ever owned. Discover the man who became a legend.

Address

Stonewall Jackson House

8 E. Washington St.

Lexington, VA 24450

Region Shenandoah Valley

Locality Lexington City

Date(s)/Time:

Monday, January 21, 2013 (10:00 AM-4:00 PM)

Phone: (540) 463-2552

Fax: (540) 463-4088

Email development@stonewalljackson.org

Website www.stonewalljackson.org

Cole Younger (1844 - 1916)

Text by Carlynn Trout with research assistance by Elizabeth Engel

http://shs.umsystem.edu/historicmissourians/name/y/younger/index.html

Thomas Coleman “Cole” Younger was an outlaw who joined forces with Jesse and Frank James to rob banks and trains in the period following the Civil War. He was born into a large and affluent family on January 15, 1844, near Lee’s Summit, Missouri. Though his father was a respected landowner and merchant, Cole Younger became an outlaw in the early years of the Civil War. He had trouble with a militiaman, went into hiding, and armed himself with a weapon, a violation of an order by General John C. Frémont who was commander of Union forces in Missouri. After his father was killed, his sister assaulted, and his mother’s house burned down, Younger joined other Confederate guerrillas to fight the Union forces.
Younger fought with William Clarke Quantrill in the raid on Lawrence, Kansas, in 1863. He participated in many fierce raids until the end of the Civil War. Afterwards, Younger and his brothers, Jim and Bob, joined fellow bushwhackers Jesse and Frank James in robbing banks, stagecoaches, and trains. They were, to some extent, seeking revenge for the poor treatment Southern sympathizers suffered at the hands of Unionists during and after the war. Many former Confederates supported the James-Younger gang during these years.
Cole Younger’s career as an outlaw came to an end in Northfield, Minnesota. He was captured after attempting to rob the Northfield bank in 1876. Though Jesse and Frank James escaped, Cole, along with his brothers, was captured and sent to Stillwater Prison. Bob Younger died in prison in 1889; Cole and Jim Younger remained there until they were paroled on July 10, 1902.
After his release, Cole Younger worked briefly with Frank James in a Wild West show. Later, Younger wrote a memoir and toured as a lecturer. He died in Lee’s Summit on March 21, 1916, and is buried there.

Meets Show-Me Standards SS: 2, 6, 7; 4th grade GLE 2a.A.

References and Resources

For more information about Cole Younger's life and career, see the following resources:

Society Resources

The following is a selected list of books, articles, and manuscripts about Cole Younger in the research centers of The State Historical Society of Missouri. The Society’s call numbers follow the citations in brackets. All links will open in a new tab.

• Articles from the Newspaper Collection

  • "Younger on the Road Again: Has Started Out This Time with a Street Show – Has Not Been Successful." Jefferson City Daily Tribune. March 20, 1908. p. 1, c. 6.
  • "A Letter from the Notorious Cole Younger: He Denies the Charges and Challenges Investigation." Jefferson City People’s Tribune. December 9, 1874. p. 1, c. 3.

• Books

  • Christensen, Lawrence O., William E. Foley, Gary R. Kremer, and Kenneth H. Winn, eds. Dictionary of Missouri Biography. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1999. pp. 822-823. [REF F508 D561]
  • Croy, Homer. Last of the Great Outlaws: The Story of Cole Younger. New York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1956. [REF F508.1 Y89c]
  • Koblas, John. The Great Cole Younger and Frank James Historical Wild West Show. St. Cloud, MN: North Star Press of St. Cloud, 2002. [REF F508.1 Y89ko2]
  • Younger, Cole. The Story of Cole Younger, by Himself. Chicago: Press of the Henneberry Co., 1903. [REF F508.1 Y89 In Case]

• Manuscript Collection

  • Younger, Cole (1844-1916), Papers, 1915 (C1670)
    Application for Confederate veteran's pension, data on his Civil War service, correspondence between Missouri and U.S. adjutant's general about Younger, and newspaper clipping about John McCorkle's book, Three Years With Quantrill.
  • Younger, Cole (1844-1916) and James (1848-1902), Papers, 1885-1897 (C0443)
    Letters from Cole Younger in the Stillwater, MN, prison to his aunt and W.C. Bronaugh. Letters from Missouri officials, 1897, and a petition signed by members of the 39th General Assembly to the Minnesota Board of Pardons asking for the release of the Youngers.