Wilmer McLean, Man of Fate

Wilmer McLean was born on May 3, 1814 in Manassas, Virginia. As a teenager, he enlisted in the Virginia Militia and retired in 1854 after obtaining the rank of Major. He purchased a plantation at Manassas Junction along Bull Run and began to make many needed repairs and enhancements to the property where he lived with his wife and children. He became a part-time farmer and full-time merchant, mostly buying and selling sugar. He worked hard and became successful in his business. With his income from farming, selling sugar, and a modest retirement from the Virginia Militia, a nice and loving family and a comfortable place to live, life was good. He probably would have lived out his life in relative obscurity, but history came knocking on his front door in 1861 and his name was destined to be recorded as the only man on whose front porch a war started and in whose parlor a war ended.

The bombardment and surrender of Fort Sumter near Charleston, Virginia on April 12 – 13, 1861 is known as the start of the American Civil War, but that’s not exactly true. Following declarations of secession by seven Southern states, South Carolina demanded the U.S. Army abandon its facilities in Charleston Harbor. On December 26, 1860, under cover of darkness, U.S. Major Robert Anderson moved his small command from the indefensible Fort Moultrie on Sullivan’s Island to Fort Sumter, a substantial fortress controlling the entrance of Charleston Harbor. An attempt by U.S. President James Buchanan to reinforce and resupply Anderson, using the unarmed merchant ship Star of the West, failed when it was fired on by shore batteries on January 9, 1861. These were the actual first shots of the war. South Carolina authorities then seized all Federal property in the Charleston area, except for Fort Sumter which was placed under siege.

The road into Appomattox Court House

The first crisis for the newly elected president, Abe Lincoln, was Fort Sumter. He notified the governor of South Carolina that he was sending re-supply ships to the fort. In response, South Carolina demanded the evacuation of what it considered to be state’s property. Their demand was refused. Delegations from the south were then sent to Washington, D.C. and offered to pay for the Federal properties and enter into a peace treaty with the United States. President Lincoln however, rejected any negotiations with the Confederate agents because he did not consider the Confederacy a legitimate nation and making any treaty with it would be seen as recognition of it as a sovereign government. After several additional negotiations failed, at 3:20am on April 12, a southern delegation rowed a small boat over to the fort and a handwritten note was given to Major Anderson. It stated, “Sir: by authority of Brigadier General Beauregard, commanding the Provisional Forces of the Confederate States, we have the honor to notify you that he will open fire of his batteries on Fort Sumter in one hour from this time.” Anderson escorted the officers back to their boat, shook hands with each one, and said “If we never meet in this world again, God grant that we may meet in the next.”

At 4:30am, bombardment of the fort from shore batteries began. The fort returned fire, but after 34 hours, even though there had been no loss of life on either side, Major Anderson raised a white flag of surrender and agreed to evacuate. Ironically, during the surrender ceremonies, the Union gunners fired off a cannon salute to the U.S. flag and one of the cannons exploded and killed 2 men. Private Daniel Hough was killed instantly, becoming the first casualty of the Civil War and Private Edward Gallway was mortally wounded, dying a few days later. Following the battle, Lincoln’s call for 75,000 volunteers to suppress the rebellion resulted in four more states also declaring their secession and joining the Confederacy.

The first large-scale battle of the war occurred beginning on July 18, 1861; the First Battle of Bull Run. Confederate troops were stationed along Bull Run to guard against a Union incursion from Washington, D.C. Many regiments were camped on the McLean plantation along the rail line and Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard was using McLean’s house as his headquarters. Union troops arrived in the area and attacked the Confederates just before noon. Mrs. McLean was preparing lunch for the general when the battle began. When the firing started, General Beauregard rushed out of the house, mounted his horse and raced to the front lines. Right after he left, the Federals began shelling the McLean house. One of the first shots sent a cannonball falling directly down the chimney and straight into the large pot of stew cooking on the fire. The ball exploded in the pot, resulting in no casualties, but the stew was splattered all over the room and the McLean family.

Appomattox Court House was locked 
on the day of surrender.

As the battle progressed, wounded were brought to the large barn Wilmer had built beside the McLean home. Soon though, the Union gunners began shelling the barn and the wounded had to be quickly evacuated. After the battle, Beauregard commented bitterly on the enemy treatment of the McLean barn, saying that it was “surmounted by the usual yellow hospital flag. I hope, for the sake of past associations, that it was ignorantly mistaken for a Confederate flag.”

A few days later, when the battle was over, Wilmer McLean, in an effort to protect his family from a recurrence of their near miss with death, packed up and moved 120 miles south to a small farm he purchased in isolated Virginia in the village of Appomattox Court House. Leaving was a smart thing to do as at least 2 more battles were fought on his plantation lands.

General Lee rode down this road on his 
way to McLean's house.

The McLean family lived in relative peace in their new 2-story red brick home for the next 3 years. But in early April, 1865, the war found them again. The main Confederate force, the Army of Northern Virginia under General Robert E. Lee was in retreat from Union Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant. The Rebels were short on ammunition, weak from lack of food, few had proper clothing for the cold weather, there were almost no tents for shelter and many were barefoot and sick. In full retreat down a road near the McLean house, they ran into a small Yankee cavalry force guarding their one path of escape. When the Southern forces quickly swept aside this small force, it seemed they were on the way to escaping the clutches of the enemy. The men rejoiced and quickly started down the road, but suddenly, just a few hundred yards ahead, the main Yankee force crested a hill, blocking their path. General Lee called a meeting of his officers. Most wanted to continue the fight with either a charge straight into the teeth of the Union army or to break up into small groups who would try to make their way through the Union lines and continue to fight later in guerilla actions. But Lee knew this would only delay the inevitable and lead to more bloodshed and suffering for his men. With his officers and men around him, most of them in tears, he sent an emissary to General Grant offering to surrender his army.

General Grant and party rode down this 
road on their way to McLean's house.

General Lee also sent Colonel Charles Marshall over the hill to the settlement of Appomattox Court House to secure a proper place for the generals to meet. With the cessation of that morning’s battle, Wilmer McLean came out and was walking down a street of the community trying to figure out if the fighting would engulf his farm. Young officer Marshall in a tattered gray uniform hailed him, asking for a place where General Lee might meet with General Grant. The courthouse was an obvious choice, but it was locked and the person with the keys could not be found. McLean then showed the officer an unoccupied, unfurnished, unheated brick building in the center of the village and left him there. As he was walking up to the front porch of his home, Colonel Marshall ran up to him and asked, “Isn’t there some other place?” “Well,” McLean answered, “I supposed you could use my parlor.”

A short time later, Wilmer McLean stood on the front porch of his two-story brick house awaiting the arrival of General Lee. Shortly after noon, General Lee, accompanied by Colonel Marshall, arrived on horseback. Wilmer extended his greetings to the two Confederate officers and invited them into his parlor. And there, on April 9, 1865, they awaited the arrival of the other guests.
At about 1:30pm, a group of Union officers arrived on horseback. Among those were Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant, Major General P. H. Sheridan, Major General E. O. C. Ord, Major General Wesley Merritt, Major General George Armstrong Custer, and Captain Robert Todd Lincoln, son of President Abraham Lincoln.

The McLean house where the surrender and 
end of the Civil War took place.

General Grant and several of the Union officers entered the parlor where General Lee was waiting. For the next 90 minutes, the generals discussed and came to agreement on the terms of surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia. For all practical purposes, the long, bloody war ended right there in Wilmer McLean’s parlor.

Once the ceremony was over, members of the Army of the Potomac began taking the tables, chairs, and other furnishings in the house – anything that was not tied down – as souvenirs. Some handed the protesting McLean family money as they made off with their property. Major Ord gave Wilmer $40 for the table Lee had used to sign the surrender document. Major General Sheridan got the table on which Grant had drafted the document for a $20 gold piece. Sheridan then asked George Armstrong Custer to carry it away on his horse. Few of their possessions were left by the time the soldiers were gone.

The McLean parlor - Lee sat at the table with 
the white top; Grant at the table on the right.

Five days later, on April 14, 1865, exactly 4 years to the day after he lowered it, Major General Robert Anderson, having survived the war, returned to Fort Sumter and raised the flag he had surrendered.
 

Wilmer and his family sold their Appomattox house in 1867 and returned to their Manassas plantation. They later moved to Alexandria, Virginia where he worked for the Internal Revenue Service. Wilmer McLean, who has gone down in history through a quirk of fate, died in Alexandria on June 5, 1882. His grave continues to be visited by the curious.

The Civil War Comes To Van Buren





Historic Downtown Van Buren is full 
of small stores now.

Arkansas' 19th largest city is Van Buren. Unless you are from Van Buren, or perhaps Sherwood, the state's 18th largest city, or Cabot, number 20, you probably didn't know that. And now that I've got the educational piece of this blog entry out of the way, I'll get on to more interesting stuff about Van Buren.

First settled in 1818 and known as Phillips Landing (Phillips being the last name of brothers who established a lumber yard in the area), the town acquired a post office and changed its name to Van Buren (after the Secretary of State, Martin Van Buren) in 1831. The town was incorporated on Christmas Eve, 1842. Almost exactly 20 years later, downtown Van Buren became the site of a rather strange Civil War battle.

Many of the buildings survive from the 1800's.

Three weeks before the Battle of Van Buren was fought, The Confederates suffered a loss in the battle of Prairie Grove, north of the town. Outnumbered 2 - 1, demoralized by the lack of adequate equipment, food, medicine, and clothes and having not been paid in many months, the Rebels retreated to the northern outskirts of Van Buren. Many of the men were without shoes and a large number had to sleep under makeshift lean-to's constructed of sticks in the woods due to a severe lack of tents. Winter weather set in and with the lack of proper shelter, warm clothing, medicine, and not enough food, almost half of the 4,000 troops soon fell ill. When the weather cleared enough for travel, over 7,000 Federals traversed a mountain pass over the Ozarks and ran into a small detachment of Texas cavalry. The Texans put up a fight, but were soon overwhelmed. The surviving few retreated toward the rest of the Confederate troops in the town, but those men were in no condition to put up an effective defense and the fighting withdrawal soon became a full-on retreat right down Main Street.

The battle raged straight down Main Street.

What made this battle unusual is that in the majority of fights in other towns, the citizens were warned beforehand by one side or the other or they were aware of a battle that was coming their way hours or even days before it got there. The Battle of Van Buren happened so quickly that the citizens were caught completely by surprise. As the troops rode and ran through town, shooting at each other and engaging in mortal hand-to-hand combat, civilian men were caught sitting on benches trading news in front of stores, women in their bonnets were caught shopping and children stopped playing in the streets to stare at the fighting soldiers. Amazingly, not one civilian was seriously hurt during the running fight through the town.

The Confederates made their way to the river where they jumped on board a ferry and a number of steam boats. The Yankees got to the river as the last few boats were starting to pull away from the pier. The Rebels set 2 of the boats on fire to keep them from being captured. One boat was stranded on a sand bar and when musket fire and artillery disabled another one, exactly 100 southern troops were captured.

Over 500 Confederate soldiers are 
buried in Fairview Cemetery.

A 2-hour cannon duel commenced when from a hill in Fairview Cemetery, Union cannons fired across the river at the Confederates who had made it safely across and the southerners who brought up their own cannon, fired about 100 shells at the Yanks. Only 1 Northern soldier was killed and five were wounded in the shelling, but a number of houses around the cemetery were damaged, a civilian was killed and several more wounded. As night fell, the Yanks gathered up their wounded and dead and both sides withdrew from the battle. Left to repair itself and bury the Confederate dead was a now stunned and very quiet Van Buren.

Over 500 Southern soldiers are buried in a large corner of Fairview Cemetery. In a sad statement to the way of that awful war, over 400 of the headstones are marked simply, "Unknown Confederate Soldier."


William Quantrill - Still Hiding In Arkansas?

Within Augusta Memorial Park Cemetery, en enigma lies under a large marker bearing the name L.J. Crocker. Many believe the moniker is an alias and that the grave is actually the final resting place of William Clarke Quantrill, the infamous Confederate renegade.

Quantrill burned his name into American Civil War history during the border clashes between the states of Missouri and Kansas. On August 21, 1861, he led a group of 450 men into Lawrence, Kansas, where they executed 183 men and boys and then burned the town. Most historians think Quantrill was wounded and captured in 1865 and that he died in prison in Louisville, Kentucky.

A band of Yankee cavalry caught up with Quantrill on a farm, located 5 miles south of Taylorsville, Kentucky on May 10, 1865. Quantrill and about 21 of his men were camped inside the barn when the Yanks launched a surprise attack. He and his men fought desperately from the windows and doorways of the farm house until their ammunition was exhausted. Quantrill was shot while trying to escape. One bullet struck him in the hand and another hit his left shoulder blade, angled down and lodged against his spine. He was instantly paralyzed from the waist down. When questioned, Quantrill gave his name as Captain Clarke of the 4^th MO Confederate Calvary and asked to be allowed to stay on the farm and die. His wish was granted and the northern  men rode off in pursuit of Quantrill. Mr. Wakefield, the owner of the farm, sent for a doctor who announced that Quantrill’s wound was fatal.

After learning the supposedly true identity of the man who was injured at the Wakefield farm, the Yankees returned with a wagon on Friday, May 12. They loaded Quantrill and took him to Louisville, arriving there on the 13^th of May and a few days later, there he died.

According to one legend though, what really happened was that Quantrill, who was so badly injured that he lay quietly in his bed, pleaded with the authorities to let his wife visit him. Finally they agreed. Then one of the most bizarre escapes in all of America history took place.

When Mrs. Quantrill arrived in the hospital room, Quantrill's companion in the next bed had just died. They stripped the dead man and dressed the body in Quantrill's uniform and placed it in Quantrill's bed. Then Quantrill himself put on his wife's clothes. She in turn put on the dead man's clothes, was gagged and tied, and lay down in the dead man's bed. Quantrill, whose bruised spine had healed enough that he could move again, dressed as a woman and walked away a free man. Mrs. Quantrill was discovered bound and gagged, gasping she had found her husband dead in his bed and had been attacked by the other man n the room who made her exchange clothes with him and then tied her up.

The authorities believed her story and as a result of this dramatic escape plot no further search was ever conducted for Quantrill. Instead the Louisville hospital records reflect William Clarke Quantrill died of his wounds and that an unknown member of his gang managed to escape. Quantrill and his wife stayed in Kentucky for the next two years while Quantrill was fully recovering his health.

In 1867, a wealthy stranger calling himself Captain L.J. Crocker arrived in Gregory, a small town near Augusta, Arkansas. He bought a large farm with cash pulled from his saddlebags. It is said he had a military bearing and it was obvious he was an expert horseman. For several years, he and his wife worked their farm and kept mostly to themselves, but eventually Crocker made many friends, helped establish the local bank, and joined the local Freemason lodge. When the Crockers arrived, they had a young daughter named Laura Lee with them, but unfortunately, Laura died shortly before her 4th birthday. She was buried in Augusta Memorial Park cemetery.

Rumors circulated about Crocker’s true identity. Men familiar with Quantrill noted the stranger’s striking resemblance to the guerilla leader. Quantrill was known to have lost a finger in the fight on the farm when he was captured and Crocker always wore a glove in public. Crocker’s wife, Gabriella, was a relative of Cole Younger. Younger and Frank and Jessie James were former members of Quantrill’s Raiders and visited the Crocker home on several occasions.

Then one day when Captain Crocker was chatting with friends in the livery stable at Augusta, a newcomer by the name of Hutchison approached him and said, "You, Captain Crocker, are the man I knew as Quantrill. I was in the Federal Army and was captured by your men. It was you who finally let me escape." Captain Crocker looked at the man and smiled slowly. "You are mistaken, Sir. My name is L. J. Crocker, and furthermore I think that Quantrill would have shot any Yankee soldier that he captured."  Over the years, a number of former soldiers identified Captain Crocker as Quantrill, but he always denied it.

Could Captain Crocker really be the infamous William Clarke Quantrill, the feared guerrilla fighter, the leader of a large group of desperadoes who tried to aid the Confederacy by burning, pillaging, and murdering during raids in Missouri, Kansas, and even Kentucky? Could this stately gentlemen who had made so many friends in Gregory and Augusta, and who was adored by children when he visited in their homes, could he possibly be that same Quantrill who had been described in the newspapers as "The bloodiest man in the annals of American history, the father of American outlaws, a killer who had butchered women and children"?

Eventually, in 1910, after obtaining a secrecy oath from his fellow Masons, Crocker confirmed suspicions. He was, he said, William Clarke Quantrill and he asked that his true identity be kept secret until after his death.

Captain Crocker, or Quantrill, take your pick, lived on his farm near Gregory for 50 years, from 1867 until his death in 1917. He is buried in Augusta Memorial Park next to his daughter Laura Lee. No one seems to know for sure what happened to Mrs. Crocker after her husband's death, but it is assumed she rejoined her relatives in Missouri.

Augusta is a small, peaceful town 75 miles northeast of Little Rock. To visit the cemetery, turn south off US64 East onto Fifth Street at the armory and go about 1 block. The cemetery will be on your left.

The Civil War Ended In Texas

Historians usually fail to mention it and Yankees don't believe it, but the fact is the last battle of the Civil War was fought in Texas and won by Confederate forces. It happened on May 13, 1865, exactly 34 days after the war supposedly came to an end.

Colonel John S. "Rip" Ford, a former Texas Ranger who, since 1861, had been in the Rio Grande Valley recruiting and commanding a volunteer force to keep the area in the hands of the South, had succeeded in keeping Brownsville an open port. Yankee forces had taken Brazos Island and blockaded or captured almost every other Confederate port, but never managed to capture Fort Brown or the port of Brownsville. In the spring of 1865, the Union troops, numbering about 2,000 on Brazos Island and about 600 Confederates in Fort Brown and around Brownsville had peacefully co-existed as both sides realized the southern cause was coming to an end. However, in late April, a Union change of command changed things.

Colonel Theodore H. Barrett of the 62nd U.S. Colored Infantry assumed control. Barrett had never led men in combat and he seems to have thirsted for a little battlefield glory before the war ended altogether. In the early hours of May 11, he ordered approximately 300 men, most from the 62nd U.S. Colored Infantry, to proceed from Brazos Island to White's Ranch, where he believed a contingent of Rebels were camped. Arriving at the ranch at 2:00 AM, May 12, they found the Confederates had left several days earlier. They burned the ranch and made camp close to Palmetto Ranch, about 1 1/2 miles away. About noon, they made contact with the handful of Rebels at the ranch, but nobody was hurt as the vastly outnumbered southerners made a strategic advance to the rear. A couple of Texans who were to sick enough to be bedridden were captured along with 4 head of cattle.

Soon afterwards, Colonel Ford arrived on the scene with 200 men and 6 cannon and immediately ordered an attack by 1/2 of his men on the left flank of the Federals. After one volley from the Rebels, the Yankees broke and stampeded in retreat. They reformed about 1/2 mile later though and began a counter attack. Once again, the Rebels fired a volley and this time, several of the cannon joined in. The Yankees stopped in their tracks as they weren't aware the Confederates had any cannon with them. Colonel Ford rode in front of his troops and shouted, "Men, we have whipped the enemy in all our previous fights and we can do it again!" His men responded with cheers and the Rebel yell and began their own counterattack, rushing forward and shooting at everything that moved. From that point on, the fight became a rout.

In their headlong run back to the safety of Brazos Island, the Yankees littered the road with dropped canteens, haversacks, and rifles. When the sun went down, a handful of them fired shots toward the following Confederates and both sides decided to retire for the night. The next morning, May 13, shots from the Rebels proded the Yankees to resume their retreat. Once they neared Brazos Island that evening, the 200 Confederates, knowing there were 1,700 Federals in reserve, backed off their attack and watched as the Yankees pushed and shoved each other trying to get into the skiffs that would take them across the water and to safety.

As darkness descended and the men settled in for the night, a Federal gunboat, the S.S. Isabella, which had entered the Rio Grande, lobbed a shell toward the Rebels. It landed harmlessly in a nearby field, but it angered a 17-year-old Rebel private who leaped to his feet and fired at the gunboat with his Enfield rifle. The last shot of the Civil War had been fired. (see Who Fired The First Shot of the Civil War.)

When the reports were filed, despite all of the shooting, only one man was killed; Union Army Private John Jefferson Williams, of Jay County, Indiana; the last battlefield death in the Civil War. Nine Yankees had been wounded and 103 officers and men captured, most of them from the 34th Indiana. On the Rebel side, there were "only 5 or 6 wounded" according to Colonel Ford. Even the 2 bedridden  Texans captured in the beginning stages of the battle were left behind by the retreating Yankees and found by their southern brothers. The Confederacy had the satisfaction of claiming victory in the last battle of the war.