The Henry Rifle and the Battle of Prairie Grove

The Battle of Prairie Grove was fought 155 years ago today, and one of the participants was Major Albert C. Ellithorpe of the First Indian Home Guards. His regiment consisted primarily of refugee Seminoles and Muscogee Creeks from the Indian Territory and were part of James G. Blunt’s Kansas Division. This division arrived on the battlefield after soldiers from Francis J. Herron’s division had launched several bloody and futile attacks on Confederates from Thomas C. Hindman’s army. Ellithorpe’s regiment gave a “war yell” after positioning itself to the right of Herron’s Twentieth Iowa Infantry, and then the two regiments advanced toward the enemy. Ellithorpe had purchased a Henry rifle earlier in the year. This repeater had a sixteen-shot magazine and fired a .44 caliber bullet. Ellithorpe proudly wrote a month after the battle that, “my ‘Henry’ has done its work well I emptied 32 shots from it at the Battle of ‘Prarie Grove’ at a very short range. I think the gun has done good service.” The Major was so taken with the weapon that he asked for permission “to raise a battalion of sharpshooters” that would be equipped with the Henry rifle. For reasons unknown, his request was never granted. Were any other soldiers equipped with the Henry rifle at Prairie Grove? If any Henry bullets are ever excavated from the ground where the First Indian advanced, then they were probably fired by the redoubtable Major Ellithorpe.

TV Appearance

Recently, I appeared on television for the first time, and, although I will never be a television star, I thought it went pretty well. Since my new book, Albert C. Ellithorpe, the First Indian Home Guards, and the Civil War on the Frontier was published, I've gotten several requests to give presentations. Among them was Sam Jones who interviewed me on his show, Perspectives, which is produced by RSU-TV. Check out the segment that I appeared on at youtu.be/cqZcLTVGzgA

Question and Answer Session

Drew Wagenhoffer asked me recently to participate in a question and answer session with him about my new book. Today, he posted the session on his blog, Civil War Books and Authors, which is an excellent source of information on the world of Civil War publishing. I've always been appreciative of his emphasis on trans-Mississippi scholarship and am honored to be featured on his blog.

New Book!

My book, Albert C. Ellithorpe, the First Indian Home Guards, and the Civil War on the Trans-Mississippi Frontier, will be published by Louisiana State University Press in November! The book is an edited edition of Ellithorpe's personal wartime journal, his correspondence, and the twenty-three wartime articles that he penned for the Chicago Evening Journal. Here is the description of the book from the LSU Press's website:

"The Civil War experiences of Albert C. Ellithorpe, a Caucasian Union Army officer commanding the tri-racial First Indian Home Guards, illuminate remarkable and understudied facets of campaigning west of the Mississippi River. Major Ellithorpe's unit--comprised primarily of Creek and Seminole Indians and African Americans who served as interpreters--fought principally in Arkansas and Indian Territory, isolated from the larger currents of the Civil War. Using Ellithorpe's journal and his series of Chicago Evening Journal articles as her main sources, M. Jane Johansson unravels this exceptional account, providing one of the fullest examinations available on a mixed-race Union regiment serving in the border region of the West.

Ellithorpe's insightful observations on Indians and civilians as well as the war in the trans-Mississippi theater provide a rare glimpse into a largely forgotten aspect of the conflict. He wrote extensively about the role of Indian troops, who served primarily as scouts and skirmishers, and on the nature of guerrilla warfare in the West. Ellithorpe also exposed internal problems in his regiment; some of his most dramatic entries concern his own charges against Caucasian officers, one of whom allegedly stole money from the unit's African American interpreters. Compiled here for the first time, Ellithorpe's commentary on the war adds a new chapter to our understanding of America's most complicated and tragic conflict."

Upcoming Presentation

For those who are in the area, I'll be presenting "A Constant School of Excitement: Albert C. Ellithorpe and the Civil War on the Frontier" this Monday, September 28th at 6:00 pm. The lecture will be in the Baird Hall Performance Studio on the Rogers State University campus in Claremore, Oklahoma. Hope to see you there!

It's Official!!!

Louisiana State University Press has officially accepted my manuscript, A Constant School of Excitement: Albert C. Ellithorpe and the Civil War on the Frontier, and set a fall 2016 publication date for it. Preparing Ellithorpe’s writings for publication was a genuine pleasure, making it my favorite research project thus far. 

"'Bread!' is now the cry from all quarters..."

Many soldiers campaigning in the trans-Mississippi eventually commented on the refugee problem. It seems to me that the campaigns particularly displaced civilians in the Indian Territory, northwestern Arkansas, as well as various locales in Missouri and Louisiana. The result was that some areas became eerily depopulated as refugees sought safe havens. Army camps were sometimes inundated with refugees desperately seeking food.

Writing from his camp in northwestern Arkansas, Federal officer Albert C. Ellithorpe of the First Indian Home Guards informed Chicago readers in February 1863 that “’Bread!’ is now the cry from all quarters, and hundreds are applying to our lines for something to eat. You will remember that in a former letter I predicted the approach of the ‘evil genius of war.’ He is here—famine is sitting upon the thresholds of almost every cabin in the country. All must flee before him, and where can they go but to our lines?” In the same time period Lieutenant Benjamin F. McIntyre stationed at Forsyth, Missouri, reported that “A large number of Arkansas families have sought protection in our lines and as their condition is a destitute one Uncle Sam from his abundance must care for them” (p. 114).

The Federals were not the only ones to grapple with the issue. Traveling near Shreveport, Louisiana, Private William Henry King of the 28^th Louisiana Infantry wrote on October 9, 1863, “On arriving at the ferry, a little after 1 o’clock, we find a crowd of refugees. They continue to cross until late in the evening, & crowds are still waiting to cross. Such heavy immigration will certainly cause great scarcity of bread stuffs in Texas. Indeed, I fear it will cause intestive war. Many of the citizens of Texas are opposed to refugees upon the ground that bread stuffs will be too scarce if so many go there” (p. 118).

Unlike the soldiers who viewed the refugees en masse, Mrs. Harriet Perry, residing near Marshall, Texas, informed her husband in early 1864 that “Dr. Haywood is boarding a family of refugees from Miss. a widow a Mrs Chevis, she has a grown daughter and a son, the young man has been discharged from the army on account of a wound received in the right arm which has rendered it useless—they have a man & maid servant, four mules & two horses, carriage & wagon” (p. 203). Several weeks later, Harriet described Mrs. Eliza Foote Chevis , the authoress and poetress…as the most incessant talker I ever heard” (p. 209).

Not many studies of refugees in the trans-Mississippi exist, but an in-depth one would probably be fascinating.

Sources:

Albert C. Ellithorpe quote: Chicago Evening Journal, 11 February 1863.

Benjamin F. McIntyre quote: Tilley, Nannie M., ed. Federals On The Frontier:: The Diary of Benjamin F. McIntyre, 1862-1864. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1963.

William Henry King quote: Joiner, Gary D, Marilyn S. Joiner, and Clifton D. Cardin, eds. No Pardons to Ask, nor Apologies to Make: The Journal of William Henry King, Gray’s 28^th Louisiana Infantry Regiment. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2006.

Harriet Perry quote: Johansson, M. Jane, ed. Widows by the Thousand: The Civil War Letters of Theophilus and Harriet Perry, 1862-1864. Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 2000.

Hurrah!

Today, I received an extremely positive outside reviewer’s report on my manuscript, A Constant School of Excitement: Albert C. Ellithorpe and the Civil War on the Frontier. Because of this the editor will recommend that the Press publish the book! Since it is not quite a done deal yet and won’t be for several more months, I don’t feel comfortable naming the publisher. But suffice it to say that I’m thrilled!!

Finally: A Completed Manuscript

The last five weeks have been hectic and stressful leaving little time for blogging. A close relative has experienced serious health problems with the bulk of that responsibility falling on me. In better news, my manuscript A Constant School of Excitement: Albert C. Ellithorpe and the Civil War on the Frontier is at a publisher and being considered for publication. Ellithorpe, as I’ve mentioned in previous postings, served as an officer in the First Indian Home Guards, a tri-racial regiment that served exclusively in Arkansas, the Indian Territory, and Missouri. Major Ellithorpe led an adventurous life, and his colorful personality is evident in his journal, his twenty-three Chicago Evening Journal articles, and various other documents. It’s been a fun project, but I was happy to send the 297-page manuscript on to a potential publisher.

"I never dreamed that a man so made up could be off his base..."

James H. Gillpatrick responded on April 27, 1888, to Albert C. Ellithorpe’s letter about James G. Blunt with his own ideas about the cause of Blunt’s insanity. This letter is also from the Ellithorpe Family Papers at the Kansas Historical Society.

“…And again, as I supposed, you give a good suggestion as to the possible, or presumable cause of the Generals’ mental decay. I had always thought that the placing of Genl. Schofield in command over Genl. Blunt had very much to do with his despondency and final break up. But I agree with you that the startling and tragic affair at Baxters Springs, May well have made his mind diseased.

I think you will be sure to do the best possible thing for Mrs. blunt in your affidavit, Let me call your attention to this—his morbid idea of writing a history of his campaigns and the war—He worked at it day and night in Washington just and Long before his break down. I thought he was off but as you say never dreamed that a man so made up could be off his base until the crash came…”

Gillpatrick’s comment about Major General John M. Schofield is intriguing. Blunt’s and Francis J. Herron’s victory at Prairie Grove caused a jealous rage in Schofield, the commander of the Army of the Frontier. Just weeks after the battle, Schofield tartly informed his department commander, Major General Samuel R. Curtis, “The operations of the army, since I left it, have been a series of blunders, from which it narrowly escaped disaster where it should have met with complete success. At Prairie Grove Blunt and Herron were badly beaten in detail, and owed their escape to a false report of my arrival with re-enforcements” (Official Records, vol. 22, pt. 2, 6). It didn’t help his attitude when officials rewarded Blunt and Herron with promotions to major general. Blunt and Schofield ended up sparring with each other for years. Fortunately, Blunt never read Schofield’s damning postwar comment that Blunt was “’probably the lowest specimen of humanity that ever disgraced a general’s stars in this or perhaps any other country’” (William L. Shea, Fields of Blood: The Prairie Grove Campaign, p. 334, note 8).

We are left so far with three possible explanations for Blunt’s insanity:
       Syphilis
       Psychiatric problems caused by the Baxter Springs Massacre
       Problems stemming from his stormy relationship with Schofield

His obsession with writing a book seems to have been a symptom rather than a cause of his affliction.

Unfortunately, there apparently are no surviving medical records pertaining to General Blunt, records that might shed more light on his condition and the causes of it. It’s interesting that neither Ellithorpe nor Gillpatrick even allude to the possibility that Blunt suffered from syphilis. Although Ellithorpe greatly admired the General, he was honest and straightforward in his wartime writings, and my impression is that he would have been willing to broach a sensitive topic.

At some point, I hope to track back and find out if possible who first suggested that Blunt’s insanity was caused by syphilis. The general had several enemies—did the suggestion that he suffered from syphilis come from one of them? Or, was there credible evidence that he visited “houses of ill repute”? No doubt there are other possible explanations for his insanity as well, and perhaps we will never know for certain what caused Blunt’s “crash.” What is certain is that his condition was a tragedy.

"It haunts me night and day..."

Currently, I am editing the diary and papers of Albert C. Ellithorpe, an officer in the First Indian Home Guards. An intelligent and perceptive observer, it is apparent from his writings that he interacted often with Major General James G. Blunt.

Seven years after Blunt’s death, Ellithorpe learned that attempts were being made to secure a pension for Blunt’s widow, Nancy. On April 18, 1888, Ellithorpe wrote James H. Gillpatrick (or Gilpatrick), Blunt’s son-in-law and a former comrade of Ellithorpe’s, and offered to write a letter in support of Mrs. Blunt’s application. Ellithorpe’s poignant letter offers interesting insights into Blunt’s behavior and provides another explanation for Blunt’s mental breakdown. The following is the pertinent part of the letter from the Ellithorpe Family Papers at the Kansas Historical Society:

 “I never imagined that a man of so strong and positive a brain could ever have it turned or dethroned by any military adversity; but it seems that I, in my judgment, was mistaken, for while in the very heighth [sic] of his success, and while all his previous efforts in the field had been crowned with victory, I find after a certain event to be a changed man. From his buoyant and jovial disposition he became taciturn, and despondent at times, while many of his hours appeared to be spent in a moody, absent minded reflection. I often asked myself, what can be the cause of this great change in the generals appearance, his habits, social, and military, all changed. I soon however, discovered what seemed to me to be the cause.

While on his march from Leavenworth to take command of the army assigned to him in Southern Missouri and the Indian Territory, his little escort was attacked at Baxter Springs and you know the result of that massacre, for it was nothing else but a cold-blooded and wanton sacrifice of life by the Quantrell and Livingston Bands of marauders while he with only a few of his guard escaped. The records and history in the War Department have full particulars of this event. From this hour forward I found the General a changed man; moody, very reflective, while all of that former buoyance of spirit, and dash appeared to have left him. I frequently asked what trouble, or what anxieties depressed him; his answer invariably was ‘The Baxter Spring Massacre; I cannot throw it from my mind,’ said he; ‘It haunts me night and day, however much I try to throw it off, I can not, and I sometimes feel that I was to blame, and that the Government will blame me’. Said he; ‘I sometimes think that it was one of those events liable to occur in the fortunes of war, & that all the, care or caution of any man, could not prevent; then again, I feel, that, perhaps I did not exercise the care or caution which I ought to have exercised.’ This tradgedy [sic] or massacre, was the one great thing in my opinion, that commenced to affect, and finally resulted in [the] dethroning of the brain of our much loved General. From that time he appeared changed[.] His despondent hours grew upon him, and became more frequent; and from the close of the war to his death this, with other things, such as feeling that the Government Officials were against him, and that he was not properly appreciated for his acts and his services all contributed to worry, depress, and unnerve the man.”

Historians Kip Lindberg and Matt Matthews used Ellithorpe’s letter (and, like me, used it for a title) in their excellent article, “It Haunts Me Night and Day: The Baxter Springs Massacre” that was published in North & South, Vol. 4, Number 5, pages 42-53.

Next time: yet another explanation for Blunt’s decline.