Speech of General McDowell, at Sacramento, California: 3rd November, 1864 (Classic Reprint)
(Excerpt from Speech of General McDowell, at Sacramento, C...)
Excerpt from Speech of General McDowell, at Sacramento, California: 3rd November, 1864
The Chickahominy river has risen so as to flood the entire bottom to the depth of three and four feet. I am pushing forward the bridges in spite of this, and the men are working night and day, up to their waists in water, to complete them.
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Irvin McDowell was a career American army officer.
Background
Irvin McDowell was born on October 15, 1818 at Columbus, Ohio, and was the son of Abram Irvin McDowell, and Eliza Selden Lord, his wife. The family was Scotch-Irish; its founder in America, Ephraim McDowell, came to Pennsylvania in 1735 and later migrated to the Valley of Virginia, whence his descendants crossed the mountains into Kentucky.
Education
Irvin McDowell received his early education in France, at the Collège de Troyes. Returning home, he was appointed a cadet at the Military Academy in 1834, and graduated in 1838, as No. 23 in a class of forty-five.
Career
Assigned to the 1st Artillery as brevet second lieutenant, he became second lieutenant almost immediately (July 7, 1838), upon the occurrence of a vacancy in his regiment. His first service was on the Canadian frontier, from Niagara to Maine, in connection with the border disturbances then in progress. In 1841, however, he was brought back to the Military Academy as a tactical officer, and served in that capacity and as adjutant until the outbreak of the Mexican War. Meanwhile (October 7, 1842) he had been promoted first lieutenant. On October 6, 1845, he was detailed as aide-de-camp to General Wool, and served with that officer's command throughout the war and in the Army of Occupation, most of the time acting as his adjutant general. For his services at the battle of Buena Vista he was made captain by brevet, and on May 13, 1847, was transferred with that rank to the Adjutant General's Department. He returned to the United States in 1848, and until 1861 served at headquarters of the Army and of various territorial departments, except for the year 1859, which he spent on leave in Europe. He was promoted major in 1856. At the outbreak of the Civil War he was serving in Washington. Through General Scott, who had known him since his graduation and thought highly of him, he became acquainted with the leaders of the new administration, and particularly with Secretary Chase, whose confidence and esteem he immediately won.
On May 14, 1861, he was promoted brigadier-general and assigned to duty with the forces assembling in Washington under the command of Gen. J. K. F. Mansfield. As these troops were transferred across the Potomac, it became necessary to organize those south of the river into a separate command, later known as the Army of the Potomac; and McDowell received this assignment, together with command of the Department of Northeastern Virginia. Although neither he nor most other officers concerned considered the army in any condition to operate in the field, both the political and the military situation seemed to demand a move to dislodge the Confederate forces at Manassas Junction, where the rail line from the West joined that from the South for at that time the direct railway from Washington to Richmond did not exist. He was therefore required to undertake the brief campaign which ended in the disastrous battle of Bull Run (First Manassas), a campaign of which it has been well said that "although foredoomed to failure, yet it came within inches of success". He was now superseded by McClellan in command of the army, but remained with it as a division commander. In March 1862 he was made major-general of volunteers, and assigned to command the I Corps, Army of the Potomac. When McClellan moved to Fort Monroe to open his Peninsular campaign, this corps was retained, against the judgment of both generals, for the direct defense of Washington; it was later separated from McClellan's command entirely, and designated as the Army of the Rappahannock, McDowell retaining command of the troops and of the territorial Department of the Rappahannock. When, after the Peninsular campaign, most of McClellan's troops were transferred to General Pope's new Army of Virginia, McDowell's force became the III Corps of that army. At the second battle of Bull Run (Second Manassas), McDowell's conduct was severely criticized, and he was relieved of his command. He at once applied for an inquiry, and was ultimately exonerated, but was never afterward employed in the field. In 1864 he was assigned to territorial command in San Francisco; in 1868 he was transferred to the Department of the East, and in 1872 to that of the South. In that year he was promoted major-general in the regular army. In 1876 he returned to San Francisco, where he remained until his retirement in 1882. He then took up his residence in that city, and interested himself in local affairs, serving as park commissioner until his death in 1885. In this capacity he planned the park improvement of the Presidio reservation, and laid out its roads overlooking the Golden Gate. He was buried on the reservation.
(Excerpt from Speech of General McDowell, at Sacramento, C...)
Personality
Although able, energetic, and devoted to his profession, McDowell was always unfortunate as a field commander. His previous service, while most creditable, had been entirely as a staff officer; until he took over the Army of the Potomac he had never held a command of his own, not even the smallest. In the preparation of his plans for Bull Run, he seemed instinctively to assume the position of a staff officer or second in command to General Scott, not that of the commander of an army; and in their execution he perhaps deferred too much to the views of his subordinates, and accepted situations instead of controlling them. But to control the situation that existed at that time would have required a most exceptional man, and no such man was found until much later in the war. In person, McDowell was squarely and powerfully built. His manner was frank and agreeable. An appreciation of him by Secretary Chase exists, written September 4, 1862, just after the second battle of Manassas. According to this estimate he was loyal, brave, truthful, and capable; a good disciplinarian. Contrary to the usual customs of the time, he used neither alcohol nor tobacco. He was serious and earnest, never sought popularity, and had no political aims. In official relations, his manner was purely military; he seemed to disregard individuals, and did not as a rule arouse warm personal sentiment in officers or men.
Connections
McDowell was married in 1849 to Helen Burden, of Troy, N. Y. , and had four children, three of whom, a son and two daughters, survived him.