the players

As a graduate student in Military History, with a focus on the American Civil War, I need to get my head around all the players. I’m introduced to hundreds of individuals via my reading and find the blog a great way to keep track. I need a database! Yes I’ve seen other sites with bibliographies but better to do it myself for learning purposes. Note that I’ll be filling in names as I encounter them (admittedly I have some catching up to do) but will fill in the details as I have time to do so. Insight welcomed.

Robert Anderson
Rank: Major, Union
Short facts

• Sent by Washington to take over command of three forts in the Charleston, South Carolina area. These included: Sumter, Castle Pinckney and Moultrie.
• A native of Kentucky, most ancestors were Southern as was his wife (she was from Georgia)
• Owned slaves and sympathized with the South
• Did his duty in defense of Fort Sumter
• His father, Major Richard Anderson, defended Fort Moultrie (then Fort Sullivan) during the American Revolution.

Pierre Gustave Toutant (P. G. T.) Beauregard
Rank: General, CSA
Short facts

• Creole
• Diminutive
• One of Jefferson Davis’ top generals although they did not get along

Henry Benham
Rank: General, Union

Percival Drayton
Rank: Unknown, Union
Short facts

• Commanded the USS Pocahontas during the attack on Port Royal in 1861
• Fought against is own brother, Brigadier General Thomas F. Drayton who led the defense of Port Royal on the ground.

Thomas F. Drayton
Rank: Brigadier General, CSA
Short facts

• Commanded defense of Port Royal in 1861 which was lost
• Plantation owner - in fact - owned a plantation on the island and was a long time resident
• Fought against his own brother, Percival Drayton, who commanded the USS Pocahontas which was among a fleet of Federal ships that bombarded the island.

Dupont
Rank: Flag Officer
Short facts

• Made an unsuccessful attempt to attack Charleston in April of 1863 at the behest of Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Gustavus V. Fox.

Nathan “Shanks” G. Evans
Rank: Brigadier General, CSA
Short Facts

• An able fighter
• Heavy drinker - court-martialed for drunkenness during Civil War
• Thought highly of himself and let people know
• Fought at Manassas where he made a solid contribution
• Fought in Charleston arena

Gustavus V. Fox
Rank: Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Union
Short facts

• Tried to relieve the men in Fort Sumter

Quincy Gillmore
Rank: General, Union
Short facts

• Sent in to attempt to take Charleston and Fort Sumter
• Known as a highly competent engineer who had used artillery to lay siege to fortresses with success
• Landed 10,000 troops south of Charleston

States Rights Gist
Rank: Brigadier General, CSA
Short facts

• Son of Revolutionary War patriot who named his sons to express his political point of view
• Brothers were named “Independence” Gist and “Constitution” Gist
• Fought in defense of Charleston

Daniel Hough
Rank: Private, Union
Short facts

• Fought on union side to defend Fort Sumter during outbreak of hostilities that led to war
• Survived thirty-four hours of bombardment by Confederate shells
• While leaving the fort after surrender, he was mortally injured during a 100 gun salute to the flag when a shell exploded prematurely. It ripped off his arm. Several others were also injured.
• Considered by many to be the first casualty of the American Civil War

David Hunter
Rank: Major General, Union

Story from Harper’s Weekly providing excellent background material can be found at http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/civil-war/1863/march/general-hunter.htm
Short Facts

• Federal commander of Union land forces at Port Royal
• An apparently unlikable man
• Was despised by the Confederacy
• Graduated from West Point in 1822 - Infantry - served in the army prior to resigning.
• Fourth highest-ranking general of volunteers
• Took it upon himself to emancipate the slaves in the Department of the South, an order which was revoked by President Lincoln
• Presided over the military trial of the conspirators of Lincoln’s murder
• Arrested General Henry Benham who was under his command after Benham was defeated at Seccesionville and charged him with disobedience of orders
• According to William C. Davis in The Cause Lost: Myths and Realities of the Confederacy, “he was nearly incompetent in command, yet always managed to shift the blame for his failures to others.” (p. 59)

Robert E. Lee
Rank: General, CSA

Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, [reproduction number, LC-B8172-0001]
Short facts

• One of the senior generals on Jefferson Davis’ staff
• Was a member of the old United States Army, graduating second in his class from West Point
• Distinguished himself in the Mexican War
• Came from an old and respected Virginia family
• Was good looking by most accounts
• Was frequently in an advisory role to President Jefferson Davis

George Brinton McClellan (1826 - 1885)
Rank: Major General, Union

Short Facts:

• Entered West Point at age 15 and graduated 2nd in the class of 1846
• Veteran of the Mexican-American War
• Chief engineer and vice president of the Illinois Central Railroad 1857
• President of the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad in 1860
• Commander of the Army of the Potomac
• Briefly General-in-Chief of the Union Army (November 1861 to March 1862)
• Opposed Lincoln as democratic nominee for president in 1864
• Govenor of New Jersey, 1878 to 1881

Claude-Etienne Minié
Rank: Captain, French Army


Short facts:
1843, perfected the design of the cylindroconcoidal Bullet ["Minie ball"] invented by Captain Norton of the British army in 1832.

John C. Pemberton
Rank: Major General, CSA

Francis W. Pickens
Rank: Governor, South Carolina
Short facts

Left office in December of 1862

Considered meddlesome by Confederate commanders

Roswell Ripley
Rank: Colonel, CSA
Short facts

Commander of Charleston’s Palmetto Guard

Occupied For Sumter after the Federals left it at the outbreak of hostilities between the North and South

Was actually a native of Ohio