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128-512: Knoxville National Cemetery was established by Major General Ambrose Burnside , whose Union forces had liberated Knoxville in September 1863 at the height of the Civil War . Burnside assigned the task of layout out the cemetery to his assistant quartermaster , Captain E.B. Chamberlain. The cemetery's first burials were Union dead exhumed and moved from Cumberland Gap and other parts of

256-777: A Democrat for one of the Congressional seats in Rhode Island in 1858 and was defeated in a landslide. The burdens of the campaign and the destruction by fire of his factory contributed to his financial ruin, and he was forced to assign his firearm patents to others. He then went west in search of employment and became treasurer of the Illinois Central Railroad , where he worked for and became friendly with George B. McClellan , who later became one of his commanding officers. Burnside became familiar with corporate attorney Abraham Lincoln , future president of

384-603: A brevet brigadier general when the war ended. Francis B. Spinola recruited four regiments in New York, was soon appointed Brigadier General by President Abraham Lincoln and given command of the Spinola Brigade . Later he commanded another unit, the famed Excelsior Brigade . The Garibaldi Guard recruited volunteers for the Union army from Italy and other European countries to form the 39th New York Infantry . At

512-793: A 48-foot (15 m) monument topped by a statue of a Confederate soldier at the Confederate National Cemetery near the Mabry-Hazen House in East Knoxville . Not to be outdone, the local chapter of the Grand Army of the Republic formed a commission, headed by former Union Army officer and Knoxville Journal publisher William Rule  (1839–1928), to raise money to build a monument of greater size at Knoxville National Cemetery. Completed in 1901,

640-449: A chief quartermaster, a chief commissary of subsistence, an assistant inspector general, an ordnance officer (all with the rank of colonel ) and a medical director. The actual number of personnel assigned to an army's headquarters could be quite large: at Gettysburg the headquarters of General Meade (excluding engineers, the artillery reserve and the headquarters of each corps) was no less than 3,486 strong. The military organization of

768-702: A commander, and he forwarded on to his superiors in concurrence. This episode later played a significant role in Porter's court-martial , in which Burnside appeared as a witness. Burnside again declined command following Pope's debacle at Second Bull Run . Burnside was given command of the Right Wing of the Army of the Potomac (the I Corps and his own IX Corps) at the start of the Maryland Campaign for

896-499: A division commander under Burnside at Fredericksburg. This cumbersome arrangement was rectified on May 24 just before the Battle of North Anna , when Burnside agreed to waive his precedence of rank and was placed under Meade's direct command. Burnside fought at the battles of Wilderness and Spotsylvania Court House , where he did not perform in a distinguished manner, attacking piecemeal and appearing reluctant to commit his troops to

1024-492: A fearful, if not needless, sacrifice of life. A firm patriot, he lacked the power of personality and will to direct recalcitrant generals. He had been willing to fight the enemy, but the terrible slope before Marye's Heights stands as his legacy. Bruce Catton summarized Burnside: Union Army American Indian Wars American Civil War Appomattox Court House During the American Civil War ,

1152-543: A further 18% were second-generation Americans. 596,670 Union soldiers were killed, wounded or went missing during the war. The initial call-up in 1861 was for just three months, after which many of these men chose to reenlist for an additional three years. When the American Civil War began in April 1861, the U.S. Army included ten regiments of infantry , four of artillery , two of cavalry , two of dragoons , and one of mounted rifles . The regiments were scattered widely. Of

1280-505: A hundred Black men were eventually made officers (not counting those passing as white), none were promoted to a rank higher than major. If captured by Confederate forces, Black soldiers risked being made slaves or summarily executed . Women took on many significant roles in the Union army and were important to its ultimate success on the battlefield. The most direct way they could help was to enlist and fight as soldiers, although women were officially barred from doing so. Nevertheless, it

1408-536: A misconception that the South held an advantage because of the large percentage of professional officers who resigned to join the Confederate army. At the start of the war, there were 824 graduates of the U.S. Military Academy on the active list; of these, 296 resigned or were dismissed, and 184 of those became Confederate officers. Of the approximately 900 West Point graduates who were then civilians, 400 returned to

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1536-642: A prominent opponent of the war, held a large public rally in Mount Vernon, Ohio in which he denounced President Lincoln as a "tyrant" who sought to abolish the Constitution and set up a dictatorship. Burnside had dispatched several agents to the rally who took down notes and brought back their "evidence" to the general, who then declared that it was sufficient grounds to arrest Vallandigham for treason. A military court tried him and found him guilty of violating General Order No. 38, despite his protests that he

1664-417: A replacement, so he had his three subordinate commanders draw lots. The division chosen by chance was that commanded by Brig. Gen. James H. Ledlie , who had failed to brief the men on what was expected of them, and was observed to be drinking liquor with Brig. Gen Edward Ferrero in a bombproof shelter well behind the lines during the battle, providing no leadership at all. As a result, Ledlie's men entered

1792-461: A role. Thus for example, comparing two infantry regiments at their full authorized strength one might have twice as many soldiers as the other. Furthermore, even when units were of equivalent size, their actual effectiveness depended greatly on training, leadership, equipment and other factors. During the course of the Civil War, the vast majority of soldiers fighting to preserve the Union were in

1920-515: A successful inventor and industrialist. He was responsible for some of the earliest victories in the Eastern theater, but was then promoted above his abilities, and is mainly remembered for two disastrous defeats, at Fredericksburg and the Battle of the Crater (Petersburg) . Although an inquiry cleared him of blame in the latter case, he never regained credibility as an army commander. Burnside

2048-480: A volunteer army of up to 500,000 troops to the cause. The call for volunteers initially was easily met by patriotic Northerners, abolitionists , and even immigrants who enlisted for a steady income and meals. Over 10,000 German Americans in New York and Pennsylvania immediately responded to Lincoln's call, along with Northern French Americans , who were also quick to volunteer. As more men were needed, however,

2176-614: A warning that generals were not to arrest civilians or close down newspapers again without the White House's permission. Burnside also dealt with Confederate raiders such as John Hunt Morgan . In the Knoxville Campaign , Burnside advanced to Knoxville, Tennessee , first bypassing the Confederate-held Cumberland Gap and ultimately occupying Knoxville unopposed; he then sent troops back to

2304-407: A young boy, but his education was interrupted when his mother died in 1841; he was apprenticed to a local tailor, eventually becoming a partner in the business. As a young officer before the Civil War, Burnside was engaged to Charlotte "Lottie" Moon , who left him at the altar. When the minister asked if she took him as her husband, Moon is said to have shouted "No siree Bob!" before running out of

2432-575: Is believed hundreds of women disguised themselves as men in order to enlist. While many were discovered and forced to quit, others were only found out after they were killed in combat, and a number managed to serve throughout the entire war with their true identity successfully concealed. One of the more traditional roles played by women in the Union army was that of camp followers . Thousands of white and Black women accompanied Union armies in an unofficial capacity to provide their services as cooks , laundresses , nurses and/or prostitutes . Many were

2560-858: The 69th New York , 63rd New York, 88th New York, 28th Massachusetts, 116th Pennsylvania; the Swiss Rifles (15th Missouri); the Gardes de Lafayette (55th New York); the Garibaldi Guard (39th New York); the Martinez Militia (1st New Mexico); the Polish Legion (58th New York); the German Rangers ; Sigel Rifles (52nd New York, inheriting the 7th); the Cameron Highlanders ( 79th New York Volunteer Infantry ); and

2688-476: The Battle of Campbell's Station and was able to reach his entrenchments and safety in Knoxville, where he was briefly besieged until the Confederate defeat at the Battle of Fort Sanders outside the city. Tying down Longstreet's corps at Knoxville contributed to Gen. Braxton Bragg's defeat by Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant at Chattanooga . Troops under Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman marched to Burnside's aid, but

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2816-551: The Battle of Fredericksburg on December 13. His advance upon Fredericksburg was rapid, but the attack was delayed when the engineers were slow to marshal pontoon bridges for crossing the Rappahannock River , as well as his own reluctance to deploy portions of his army across fording points. This allowed Gen. Lee to concentrate along Marye's Heights just west of town and easily repulse the Union attacks. Assaults south of town were also mismanaged, which were supposed to be

2944-490: The Battle of South Mountain , but McClellan separated the two corps at the Battle of Antietam , placing them on opposite ends of the Union battle line and returning Burnside to command of just the IX Corps. Burnside implicitly refused to give up his authority and acted as though the corps commander was first Maj. Gen. Jesse L. Reno (killed at South Mountain) and then Brig. Gen. Jacob D. Cox , funneling orders through them to

3072-485: The Civil War , the cemetery only accepted Union burials, although the cemetery contains at least one Confederate grave. The cemetery is currently administered by Mountain Home National Cemetery , and contains veterans of every war since the Civil War. The Union Soldier monument, in the cemetery's eastern corner, was erected in the early 1900s. In 1892, Knoxville's Confederate veterans installed

3200-648: The Confederate army . Almost 200 United States Military Academy graduates who previously left the U.S. Army, including Ulysses S. Grant , William Tecumseh Sherman , and Braxton Bragg , returned to service at the outbreak of the Civil War. This group's loyalties were far more evenly divided. Clayton R. Newell (2014) states, 92 wore Confederate gray and 102 put on the blue of the United States Army. Hattaway and Jones (1983), John and David Eicher (2001), and Jennifer M. Murray (2012), state that 99 joined

3328-527: The Department of War . These included, at the onset of the war, the adjutant general , inspector general , paymaster-general , judge advocate general , chief of engineers , chief of topographical engineers , quartermaster general , commissary general of subsistence, chief of ordnance , and surgeon general . After the war started, the position of Provost Marshal General was also created. Originally established on September 24, 1862, as an office in

3456-838: The Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies , there were over 200 Italians who served as officers in the U.S. army. By 1860, the African American or Black population of the United States consisted of four million enslaved and half a million free Blacks . When the Civil War began, many freedmen in the North attempted to enlist in federal service but were barred from doing so. Popularly-held prejudices doubted whether Black people could be effective soldiers, and President Lincoln believed allowing their enlistment would anger Northern whites and alienate not just

3584-603: The Rhode Island Locomotive Works . He was elected to three one-year terms as Governor of Rhode Island , serving from May 29, 1866, to May 25, 1869. He was nominated by the Republican Party to be their candidate for governor in March 1866, and Burnside was elected governor in a landslide on April 4, 1866. This began Burnside's political career as a Republican, as he had been a Democrat before

3712-826: The Southwest was still part of Mexico . Some Confederate propaganda condemned foreign-born soldiers in the Union army, likening them to the German Hessian troops who fought alongside the British Army during the American Revolutionary War . A relatively smaller number of Native Americans , including members of Cherokee , Chickasaw , Choctaw and Muscogee peoples, fought for the Confederacy. The great majority of Italian Americans , for both demographic and ideological reasons, served in

3840-620: The United States Army , the land force that fought to preserve the collective Union of the states , was often referred to as the Union army , the federal army , or the northern army . It proved essential to the restoration and preservation of the United States as a working, viable republic. The Union Army was made up of the permanent regular army of the United States , but further fortified, augmented, and strengthened by

3968-435: The regimental colors and rallied their fellow soldiers to fight, provided first aid or helped the wounded back to a field hospital. A related (and sometimes conflated) role was that of "daughter of the regiment". Often literally a daughter of one of the regimental officers, these women looked to the soldiers' well-being but also served as their regiment's "mascot" who inspired the men by wearing stylish clothing and enduring

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4096-443: The volunteer units . The pre-war regular army numbered approximately 16,400 soldiers, but by the end while the Union army had grown to over a million soldiers, the number of regular personnel was still approximately 21,699, of whom several were serving with volunteer forces. Only 62,000 commissions and enlistments in total were issued for the regular army during the war as most new personnel preferred volunteer service. Since before

4224-618: The 197 companies in the U.S. Army, 179 occupied 79 isolated posts in the West , and the remaining 18 manned garrisons east of the Mississippi River , mostly along the Canada–United States border and on the U.S. East Coast . There were only 16,367 servicemen in the U.S. Army, including 1,108 commissioned officers. Approximately 20% of these officers, most of them Southerners , resigned, choosing to tie their lives and fortunes to

4352-647: The Adjutant General's department under Simeon Draper , it was made an independent department in its own right on May 1, 1863, under James B. Fry . The Signal Corps was created and deployed for the first time, through the leadership of Albert J. Myer . One drawback to this system was that the authority and responsibilities of the Secretary of War, his Assistant Secretaries , and the General-in-Chief were not clearly delineated. Additionally,

4480-438: The Civil War was a hazardous occupation: grueling hours spent in close proximity to deadly diseases and nearby battlefields resulted in many suffering permanent disabilities or death. Added to this were the prejudices of the male medical officers in charge who did not want them there and frequently clashed with the nurses over issues of triage , patient treatments and hospice care . Tens of thousands of women served as nurses for

4608-467: The Civil War, the American public had a generally negative view of the nation's armed forces, attributable to a Jeffersonian ideal which saw standing armies as a threat to democracy and instead valorized the " citizen soldier " as being more in keeping with American ideals of equality and rugged individualism . This attitude remained unchanged during the Civil War, and afterwards many would attribute

4736-835: The Commander of the Department of Rhode Island of the GAR. At its inception in 1871, the National Rifle Association of America chose him as its first president. During a visit to Europe in 1870, Burnside attempted to mediate between the French and the Germans in the Franco-Prussian War . He was registered at the offices of Drexel, Harjes & Co. , Geneva, week ending November 5, 1870. Drexel Harjes

4864-606: The Confederate Navy's Mosquito Fleet ; the latter were supported by a shore-based battery of four guns at Cobb's Point (now called Cobb Point) near the southeastern border of the town. The battle was a part of the campaign in North Carolina that was led by Burnside and known as the Burnside Expedition . The result was a Union victory, with Elizabeth City and its nearby waters in their possession and

4992-520: The Confederate army and 114 returned to the Union forces. With the Southern slave states declaring secession from the United States, and with a shortage of soldiers in the army, President Abraham Lincoln called on the states to raise a force of 75,000 troops for three months to put down the Confederate insurrection and defend the national capital in Washington, D.C. Lincoln's call forced

5120-522: The Confederate cause during the Civil War were known as Southern Unionists . They were also known as Union Loyalists or Lincoln's Loyalists. Within the eleven Confederate states, states such as Tennessee (especially East Tennessee ), Virginia (which included West Virginia at the time), and North Carolina were home to the largest populations of Unionists. Many areas of Southern Appalachia harbored pro-Union sentiment as well. As many as 100,000 men living in states under Confederate control would serve in

5248-469: The Confederate entrenchments and ignite explosives there to achieve a surprise breakthrough. The fort was destroyed on July 30 in what is known as the Battle of the Crater . Because of interference from Meade, Burnside was ordered, only hours before the infantry attack, not to use his division of black troops , which had been specially trained for the assault: instead, he was forced to use untrained white troops. He could not decide which division to choose as

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5376-475: The Confederate fleet captured, sunk, or dispersed. Burnside was promoted to major general of volunteers on March 18, 1862, in recognition of his successes at the battles of Roanoke Island and New Bern , the first significant Union victories in the Eastern Theater . In July, his forces were transported north to Newport News, Virginia , and became the IX Corps of the Army of the Potomac. Burnside

5504-529: The Cumberland Gap. Confederate commander Brig. Gen. John W. Frazer refused to surrender in the face of two Union brigades but Burnside arrived with a third, forcing the surrender of Frazer and 2,300 Confederates. Union Maj. Gen. William S. Rosecrans was defeated at the Battle of Chickamauga , and Burnside was pursued by Lt. Gen. James Longstreet , against whose troops he had battled at Marye's Heights. Burnside skillfully outmaneuvered Longstreet at

5632-716: The Regular Army, Burnside devoted his time and energy to the manufacture of a firearm that bears his name: the Burnside carbine . President Buchanan's Secretary of War John B. Floyd contracted the Burnside Arms Company to equip a large portion of the Army with his carbine, mostly cavalry and induced him to establish extensive factories for its manufacture. The Bristol Rifle Works were no sooner complete than another gunmaker allegedly bribed Floyd to break his $ 100,000 contract with Burnside. Burnside ran as

5760-488: The Scandinavian Regiment (15th Wisconsin). But for the most part, the foreign-born soldiers were scattered as individuals throughout units. The Confederate army was less diverse: 91% of its soldiers were native-born white men and only 9% were foreign-born white men, with Irish being the largest group, other groups included Germans, French, British, and Mexicans. Most Mexicans happened to have been born when

5888-582: The South but the Border States too. However he eventually changed his mind and persuaded Congress to authorize the first official Black enlistment system in late 1862, which evolved into the United States Colored Troops . Before they were allowed to enlist, many Black people volunteered their services to the Union army as cooks, nurses, and in other informal roles, and several volunteer regiments of Black troops were raised by

6016-410: The U.S. Army and 99 to the Confederacy. The ratio of U.S. Army to Confederate professional officers was 642 to 283. One of the resigning officers was Robert E. Lee , who initially was offered the assignment as commander of a field army to suppress the rebellion. Lee disapproved of secession, but refused to bear arms against his native state, Virginia , and resigned to accept the position as commander of

6144-506: The U.S. Army, but this was refused. Burnside's detractors labeled him the "Butcher of Fredericksburg". In January 1863, Burnside launched a second offensive against Lee, but it bogged down in winter rains before anything was accomplished, and has derisively been called the Mud March . In its wake, he asked that several openly insubordinate officers be relieved of duty and court-martialed ; he also offered to resign. Lincoln quickly accepted

6272-616: The Union army (including generals Edward Ferrero and Francis B. Spinola ). Six Italian Americans received the Medal of Honor during the war, among whom was Colonel Luigi Palma di Cesnola , who later became the first Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Arts in New York (1879–1904). Most of the Italian-Americans who joined the Union army were recruited from New York City . Many Italians of note were interested in

6400-421: The Union army in maintaining the order and alignment of formations during marches, battles, and transitioning between the two. Sergeants in particular were vital in this role as general guides and their selection ideally reserved for the most distinguished soldiers. NCOs were also charged with training individuals in how to be soldiers. While the captain or other company-level officers were responsible for training

6528-420: The Union army or pro-Union guerilla groups. Although Southern Unionists came from all classes, most differed socially, culturally, and economically from the region's dominant pre-war planter class . Native-born White Americans made up roughly two-thirds of the soldiers in the Union army, with the rest of many different ethnic groups, including large numbers of immigrants. About 25% of the white men who served in

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6656-482: The Union army were foreign-born. The U.S. experienced its heaviest rate of immigration during the 1850s, and the vast majority of these people moved to the Northeastern states. Among these immigrants, Germans constituted the largest group with a million arrivals between 1850 and 1860, many of them Forty-Eighters . Nearly as many Irish immigrants arrived during the same period. Immigrant soldiers were among

6784-408: The Union army, among whom are included Clara Barton , Susie King Taylor , Mary Edwards Walker , and Louisa May Alcott . No less vital were the thousands of women who provided service to the Union army in the field of espionage . Early in the war, women were at a distinct advantage as spies , scouts , smugglers , and saboteurs : the idea of women participating in such dangerous lines of work

6912-470: The Union army. He established a military school in New York City where many young Italians were trained and later served in the Union army. Di Cesnola received the Medal of Honor for his actions during the Battle of Aldie . Two more famous examples were Francesco Casale and Luigi Tinelli, who were instrumental in the formation of the 39th New York Infantry Regiment . According to one evaluation of

7040-457: The Union's victory to the volunteers rather than the leadership and staff work provided by the regular army. In return, officers of the regular army despised the militia and saw them as having dubious value. Commentators such as Emory Upton would later argue that the reliance on militia for the nation's defense was responsible for prolonging conflicts and making them more expensive in both money and lives spent. Despite these attitudes towards

7168-525: The United States Army was based on the traditions developed in Europe, with the regiment being the basis of recruitment, training and maneuvering. However, for a variety of reasons there could be vast differences in the number of actual soldiers organized even into units of the same type. Changes in how units were structured during the course of the war, contrasts in organizational principals between regular and volunteer units, and even simple misnaming all played

7296-489: The United States, during this time period. At the outbreak of the Civil War, Burnside was a colonel in the Rhode Island Militia. He raised the 1st Rhode Island Volunteer Infantry Regiment , and was appointed its colonel on May 2, 1861. Two companies of this regiment were then armed with Burnside carbines. Within a month, he ascended to brigade command in the Department of northeast Virginia. He commanded

7424-495: The Virginian Confederate forces. Lee eventually became the overall commander of the Confederate army. The Confederacy had the advantage of having several military colleges, including The Citadel and Virginia Military Institute , but they produced fewer officers. Though officers were able to resign, enlisted soldiers did not have this right. As they usually had to either desert or wait until their enlistment term

7552-466: The academy, a clerical error was made listing his middle name as Everett, rather than Everts. He graduated in 1847, ranking 18th in a class of 47, and was commissioned a brevet second lieutenant in the 2nd U.S. Artillery. He traveled to Veracruz for the Mexican–American War , but he arrived after hostilities had ceased and performed mostly garrison duty around Mexico City . At the close of

7680-576: The blame for the Union defeat at the Crater on General Meade for requiring the specially trained USCT (United States Colored Troops) men to be withdrawn. After his resignation, Burnside was employed in numerous railroad and industrial directorships, including the presidencies of the Cincinnati and Martinsville Railroad, the Indianapolis and Vincennes Railroad, the Cairo and Vincennes Railroad , and

7808-426: The border states to choose sides, and four seceded, making the Confederacy eleven states strong. It turned out that the war itself proved to be much longer and far more extensive in scope and scale than anyone on either side, Union North or Confederate South, expected or even imagined at the outset on the date of July 22, 1861. That was the day that Congress initially approved and authorized subsidy to allow and support

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7936-538: The brigade without distinction at the First Battle of Bull Run in July and took over division command temporarily for wounded Brig. Gen. David Hunter . His 90-day regiment was mustered out of service on August 2; he was promoted to brigadier-general of volunteers on August 6 and was assigned to train provisional brigades in the Army of the Potomac . Burnside commanded the Coast Division or North Carolina Expeditionary Force from September 1861 until July 1862, three brigades assembled in Annapolis, Maryland , which formed

8064-459: The church. Moon is best known for her espionage for the Confederacy during the Civil War. Later, Burnside arrested Moon, her younger sister Virginia "Ginnie" Moon , and their mother. He kept them under house arrest for months but never charged them with espionage. He obtained an appointment to the United States Military Academy in 1843 through his father's political connections and his own interest in military affairs. During his early tenure at

8192-417: The closure of the Chicago Times . He remembered the section of General Order No. 38 which declared that offenders would be banished to enemy lines and finally decided that it was a good idea so Vallandigham was freed from jail and sent to Confederate hands. Meanwhile, Lincoln ordered the Chicago Times to be reopened and announced that Burnside had exceeded his authority in both cases. The President then issued

8320-451: The colors. There were a number of staff NCO positions including quartermaster sergeant , ordnance sergeant , and commissary sergeant. NCOs in the volunteer forces were quite different from their regular counterparts as the war began. Appointed to their role as each regiment was created, they were often on a first-name basis with both their superior officers and the enlisted men they were tasked to lead. Discipline among friends and neighbors

8448-402: The command would go to Joseph Hooker. Jeffry D. Wert described Burnside's relief after Fredericksburg in a passage that sums up his military career: He had been the most unfortunate commander of the Army, a general who had been cursed by succeeding its most popular leader and a man who believed he was unfit for the post. His tenure had been marked by bitter animosity among his subordinates and

8576-405: The corps. This cumbersome arrangement contributed to his slowness in attacking and crossing what is now called Burnside's Bridge on the southern flank of the Union line. Burnside did not perform an adequate reconnaissance of the area, and he did not take advantage of several easy fording sites out of range of the enemy; his troops were forced into repeated assaults across the narrow bridge, which

8704-402: The costly frontal assaults that characterized these battles. After North Anna and Cold Harbor , he took his place in the siege lines at Petersburg . As the two armies faced the stalemate of trench warfare at Petersburg in July 1864, Burnside agreed to a plan suggested by a regiment of former coal miners in his corps, the 48th Pennsylvania: to dig a mine under a fort named Elliot's Salient in

8832-445: The efforts of the four "supply" departments (Quartermaster, Subsistence, Ordnance & Medical) were not coordinated with each other, a condition that would last throughout the war. Although the "War Board" could provide military advice and help coordinate military policy, it was not until the appointment of Ulysses Grant as General-in-Chief was there more than the vaguest coordination of military strategy and logistics. The Union army

8960-427: The field operations of the army. At the start of the war, Simon Cameron served as Secretary of War before being replaced in January 1862 by Edwin Stanton . The role of general-in-chief was filled by several men during the course of the war: The gap from March 11 to July 23, 1862, was filled with direct control of the army by President Lincoln and Secretary Stanton, with the help of an unofficial "War Board" that

9088-500: The gate. A marker containing several lines from the Theodore O'Hara poem, Bivouac of the Dead , faces the graves in the northeast corner. Most of the grave markers are marble headstones of a standard size and shape, although a few have larger and more elaborate markers. Inscriptions typically give the deceased's name and years lived, and in some cases, note the deceased's rank, company, and/or war in which they served. The burials are limited to veterans and spouses of veterans. After

9216-517: The huge crater instead of going around it, became trapped, and were subjected to heavy fire from Confederates around the rim, resulting in high casualties. As a result of the Crater fiasco, Burnside was relieved of command on August 14 and sent on "extended leave" by Grant. He was never recalled to duty for the remainder of the war. A court of inquiry later placed the blame for the defeat on Burnside, Ledlie and Ferrero. In December, Burnside met with President Lincoln and General Grant about his future. He

9344-435: The job too unsuitable for women of social rank, particularly at the thought of unmarried women surrounded by thousands of men in close quarters. Nevertheless, Congress eventually approved for women to serve as nurses, to which Dorothea Dix – appointed Superintendent of Army Nurses – was responsible for setting hiring guidelines and starting a training program for prospective candidates. For the women who served, nursing during

9472-501: The latter option, and on January 26 replaced Burnside with Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker , one of the officers who had conspired against him. Burnside offered to resign his commission altogether but Lincoln declined, stating that there could still be a place for him in the army. Thus, he was placed back at the head of the IX Corps and sent to command the Department of the Ohio, encompassing the states of Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, and Illinois. This

9600-447: The local architectural firm Baumann Brothers , largely followed the original design, the exception being a marble statue of a Union soldier placed atop the monument rather than an eagle. The new monument was completed on October 15, 1906. The monument, built of locally quarried marble , represents a medieval fortress, with stained glass windows and an inner room and staircase. The 8-foot (2.4 m) soldier statue stands at post atop

9728-475: The main avenue of attack, and initial Union breakthroughs went unsupported. Burnside was upset by the failure of his plan and by the enormous casualties of his repeated, futile frontal assaults, and declared that he would personally lead an assault by the IX corps. His corps commanders talked him out of it, but relations were strained between the general and his subordinates. Accepting full blame, he offered to retire from

9856-456: The main tower. The monument is sometimes called the "Wilder Monument," as local legend suggests the soldier bears the likeness of Union general and East Tennessee businessman John T. Wilder . Ambrose Burnside Ambrose Everts Burnside (May 23, 1824 – September 13, 1881) was an American army officer and politician who became a senior Union general in the Civil War and three-time Governor of Rhode Island , as well as being

9984-495: The many temporary units of dedicated volunteers , as well as including those who were drafted in to service as conscripts . To this end, the Union army fought and ultimately triumphed over the efforts of the Confederate States Army . Over the course of the war, 2,128,948 men enlisted in the Union army, including 178,895, or about 8.4% being colored troops ; 25% of the white men who served were immigrants, and

10112-404: The middle, where there is a flagpole and cloth canopy. A stone wall surrounds the perimeter, the southeast section of which divides the cemetery from the adjacent Old Gray Cemetery . The northeast section of the wall, which contains the main entrance, is topped by an iron fence, with the entrance secured by an iron double-gate. The administrative office and service building is located just inside

10240-565: The monument initially stood 50 feet (15 m) – the height having been calculated to surpass that of the Confederates' monument – and was topped by a bronze eagle with wings spread. On August 22, 1904, however, the eagle was shattered by a bolt of lightning, the sound of which rattled Knoxville and could be heard for miles all around. Undaunted, the GAR commissioners planned immediate reconstruction, using federal funds secured by Congressman Henry R. Gibson . The new monument, designed by

10368-535: The morning of September 13, 1881, at his home in Bristol, Rhode Island, accompanied only by his doctor and family servants. Burnside's body lay in state at City Hall until his funeral on September 16. A procession took his casket, in a hearse drawn by four black horses, to the First Congregational Church for services which were attended by many local dignitaries. Following the services,

10496-462: The most enthusiastic in the Union army, not only from a desire to help save their adoptive home but to prove their patriotism towards it. To help cement immigrant enthusiasm and loyalty to the Union, several generals were appointed from these communities, including Franz Sigel and Michael Corcoran . Many immigrant soldiers formed their own regiments, such as the Irish Brigade , including

10624-426: The necessity of leading their units into combat and their conspicuousness when accompanied by staff and escorts. Among memorable field leaders of the army were Nathaniel Lyon (first Union general to be killed in battle during the war), William Rosecrans , George Henry Thomas , William Tecumseh Sherman , and Phil Sheridan . Others include Benjamin F. Butler . Non-commissioned officers (NCOs) were important in

10752-672: The notion that Black soldiers were a liability, allowing about 200,000 Black soldiers to serve in the Union army during the Civil War. Even as they served their country, Black soldiers were subject to discrimination. They were more often assigned to menial labor. Some Union officers refused to employ them in combat, but when they were they often had to use inferior weapons and equipment. Black soldiers were paid less than white soldiers ($ 10 vs $ 16 per month) until Congress yielded to public pressure and approved equal pay in June 1864. Black units were led predominantly by white officers, and while more than

10880-596: The nucleus for his future IX Corps . He conducted a successful amphibious campaign that closed more than 80% of the North Carolina sea coast to Confederate shipping for the remainder of the war. This included the Battle of Elizabeth City , fought on February 10, 1862, on the Pasquotank River near Elizabeth City, North Carolina . The participants were vessels of the United States Navy 's North Atlantic Blockading Squadron opposed by vessels of

11008-399: The number of volunteers fell and both money bounties and forced conscription had to be turned to. Many Southern Unionists would also fight for the Union army. An estimated 100,000 white soldiers from states within the Confederacy served in Union army units. Between April 1861 and April 1865, at least 2,128,948 men served in the United States Army, of whom the majority were volunteers. It is

11136-560: The outbreak of the American Civil War, Giuseppe Garibaldi was a very popular figure. The 39th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment , of whose 350 members were Italian, was nicknamed Garibaldi Guard in his honor. The unit wore red shirts and bersaglieri plumes . They carried with them both a Union Flag as well as an Italian flag with the words Dio e popolo, meaning "God and people." In 1861 Garibaldi himself volunteered his services to President Abraham Lincoln . Garibaldi

11264-543: The procession made its way to Swan Point Cemetery for burial. Businesses and mills were closed for much of the day, and "thousands" of mourners from "all towns of the state and many places in Massachusetts and Connecticut" crowded the streets of Providence for the occasion. Personally, Burnside was always very popular, both in the army and in politics. He made friends easily, smiled a lot, and remembered everyone's name. His professional military reputation, however,

11392-418: The region. Chamberlain's plan was so effective, that the cemetery was one of the few in the nation that required no alterations upon being designated a national cemetery at the end of the war. The graves at Knoxville National Cemetery are arranged in a circular pattern, with each burial section separated by walkways. The burial sections each form one quarter of the circle, with the headstones converging toward

11520-534: The regulars' performance could impress even the most battle-hardened volunteers. At The Wheatfield during the Battle of Gettysburg , the regulars' fighting skill and orderly retirement under fire drew the admiration of many observers, including Prince Philippe, Count of Paris . As one volunteer put it, "For two years the U.S. Regulars taught us how to be soldiers [;] in the Wheatfield at Gettysburg, they taught us how to die like soldiers." The regulars became

11648-406: The regulars, they would serve as an important foundation around which the Union army was built. In the disastrous First Battle of Bull Run , it was the regulars who acted as rearguard during the retreat while the volunteers fled, and when George McClellan was put in charge of what became the Army of the Potomac he used regular officers and non-commissioned officers to train the volunteers. Training

11776-402: The same grade regardless of their date of commission, a feature which could have become a subject of contention. The use of brevet ranks was also a common feature of the Union army. Officer appointments depended on the commission grade and whether it was in the regular or volunteer forces. The President reserved the right to issue commission for all regular officers and for general officers in

11904-511: The same hardships as them. Some of the most prominent women to accompany the Union armies in the field include Anna Etheridge , Marie Tepe , and Nadine Turchin . Women also sought to serve more formally as nurses in the Union army, many having been inspired by the work of Florence Nightingale during the Crimean War . However, there was strong resistance against these efforts at first. Societal prejudices saw women as too delicate and

12032-680: The siege had already been lifted; Longstreet withdrew, eventually returning to Virginia. Burnside was ordered to take the IX Corps back to the Eastern Theater, where he built it up to a strength of over 21,000 in Annapolis, Maryland. The IX Corps fought in the Overland Campaign of May 1864 as an independent command, reporting initially to Grant; his corps was not assigned to the Army of the Potomac because Burnside outranked its commander Maj. Gen. George G. Meade , who had been

12160-406: The soldiers when assembled into squads, platoons or as a company, experienced NCOs could take over this training as well. NCOs were also responsible for the regimental colors , which helped the unit maintain formation and serve as a rally point for the regiment. Typically a sergeant was designated the standard-bearer and protected by a color guard of corporals who only opened fire in defense of

12288-592: The standard by which the Volunteers were measured, and to be described as being as good or better than them was considered the highest compliment. Commissioned officers in the Union army could be divided in several categories: general officers , including lieutenant general , which was added on March 2, 1864, major generals and brigadier generals ; field officers including colonels , lieutenant colonels and majors ; and company officers including captains , first lieutenants and second lieutenants . There

12416-498: The states. These included the 1st Kansas Colored Infantry Regiment , the first Black regiment to be raised and the first to engage in combat; the 1st Louisiana Native Guard , raised from both freedmen and escaped slaves after the Capture of New Orleans ; and the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment , which became the most famous Black unit after their valiant participation in the Battle of Fort Wagner . Their efforts helped to dispel

12544-601: The third or fourth one who has been to me this morning with similar orders." The IX Corps eventually broke through, but the delay allowed Maj. Gen. A. P. Hill 's Confederate division to come up from Harpers Ferry and repulse the Union breakthrough. McClellan refused Burnside's requests for reinforcements, and the battle ended in a tactical stalemate. After McClellan failed to pursue General Robert E. Lee 's retreat from Antietam , Lincoln ordered McClellan's removal on November 5, 1862, and selected Burnside to replace him on November 7, 1862. Burnside reluctantly obeyed this order,

12672-502: The third such in his brief career, in part because the courier told him that, if he refused it, the command would go instead to Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker, whom Burnside disliked. Burnside assumed charge of the Army of the Potomac in a change of command ceremony at the farm of Julia Claggett in New Baltimore, Virginia . McClellan visited troops to bid them farewell. Columbia Claggett, Julia Claggett's daughter-in-law, testified after

12800-525: The volunteer forces. volunteer field and company-grade officers could be commissioned by either the president or their respective governor. Company officers were also unique in that they were usually elected by members of their company. The political appointment and/or election of volunteer officers was part of a long-standing militia tradition and of a political patronage system common in the United States. While many of these officers were West Point graduates or had prior military experience, others had none, nor

12928-411: The volunteers, especially in regards to critical administrative and logistical matters, remained an important function of the regulars during the war. This was particularly the case with regular army artillery, as they were more widely dispersed than the infantry and cavalry (making them more visible to the olunteers) and were assigned to specific units to train their volunteer counterparts. In battle,

13056-404: The war and joined the army, reaching positions of authority. Brigadier General Edward Ferrero was the original commander of the 51st New York Regiment . He commanded both brigades and divisions in the eastern and western theaters of war and later commanded a division of the United States Colored Troops . Colonel Enrico Fardella, of the same and later of the 85th New York regiment, was made

13184-420: The war that a "parade and transfer of the Army to Gen. Burnside took place on our farm in front of our house in a change of command ceremony at New Baltimore, Virginia on November 9, 1862." President Abraham Lincoln pressured Burnside to take aggressive action and approved his plan on November 14 to capture the Confederate capital at Richmond, Virginia . This plan led to a humiliating and costly Union defeat at

13312-610: The war, Lt. Burnside served two years on the western frontier under Captain Braxton Bragg in the 3rd U.S. Artillery, a light artillery unit that had been converted to cavalry duty, protecting the Western mail routes through Nevada to California. In August 1849, he was wounded by an arrow in his neck during a skirmish against Apaches in Las Vegas, New Mexico . He was promoted to 1st lieutenant on December 12, 1851. In 1852, he

13440-677: The war. Burnside was a Companion of the Massachusetts Commandery of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States , a military society of Union officers and their descendants, and served as the Junior Vice Commander of the Massachusetts Commandery in 1869. He was commander-in-chief of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) veterans' association from 1871 to 1872, and also served as

13568-452: The wives or other female relatives of the soldiers themselves who saw to their personal needs and (if time allowed) looked to the well-being of other soldiers. A somewhat more formal role for some camp followers was that of vivandière . Originally a female sutler , the role of vivandière expanded to include other responsibilities, including on the battlefield. Armed for their own protection, they brought water to thirsty soldiers, carried

13696-508: Was Michigan , which designated Fort Wayne as a training center for both officers and NCOs. As the war progressed NCOs gained valuable experience and even drastic disciplinary measures such as execution by firing squad were carried out when deemed necessary. The promotion of soldiers to NCOs (and NCOs to officers) was also increasingly based on battlefield performance, although each state maintained their own standards for when and where promotions could be granted. Southerners who were against

13824-711: Was a major lender to the new French government after the war, helping it to repay its massive war reparations . In 1876 Burnside was elected as commander of the New England Battalion of the Centennial Legion , the title of a collection of 13 militia units from the original 13 states, which participated in the parade in Philadelphia on July 4, 1876, to mark the centennial of the signing of the Declaration of Independence . In 1874 Burnside

13952-426: Was a modest and unassuming individual, mindful of his limitations, who had been propelled to high command against his will. He could be described as a genuinely unlucky man, both in battle and in business, where he was robbed of the rights to a successful cavalry firearm that had been his own invention. His spectacular growth of whiskers became known as " sideburns ", deriving from the two parts of his surname. Burnside

14080-459: Was a quiet area with little activity, and the President reasoned that Burnside could not get himself into too much trouble there. However, antiwar sentiment was riding high in the Western states as they had traditionally carried on a great deal of commerce with the South, and there was little in the way of abolitionist sentiment there or a desire to fight for the purpose of ending slavery. Burnside

14208-444: Was assigned to Fort Adams , Newport, Rhode Island , and he married Mary Richmond Bishop of Providence, Rhode Island , on April 27 of that year. The marriage lasted until Mary's death in 1876, but was childless. In October 1853, Burnside resigned his commission in the United States Army and was appointed commander of the Rhode Island state militia with the rank of major general. He held this position for two years. After leaving

14336-457: Was authorized a number of aides-de-camp as their personal staff and a general staff . The general staff included representatives of the other combat arms, such as a chief of artillery and chief of cavalry (the infantry being typically represented by the commanding officer) and representatives of the staff bureaus and offices. The staff department officers typically assigned to an army or military department included an assistant adjutant general,

14464-622: Was born in Liberty, Indiana , and was the fourth of nine children of Edghill and Pamela (or Pamilia) Brown Burnside, a family of Scottish, Scotch-Irish and English origins. His great-great-grandfather Robert Burnside (1725–1775) was born in Scotland and settled in the Province of South Carolina . His father was a native of South Carolina; he was a slave owner who freed his slaves when he relocated to Indiana. Ambrose attended Liberty Seminary as

14592-416: Was composed of numerous organizations, which were generally organized geographically. Each of these armies was usually commanded by a major general . Typically, the Department or District commander also had field command of the army of the same name, but some conflicts within the ranks occurred when this was not true, particularly when an army crossed a geographic boundary. The commanding officer of an army

14720-506: Was contemplating resignation, but Lincoln and Grant requested that he remain in the Army. At the end of the interview, Burnside wrote, "I was not informed of any duty upon which I am to be placed." He finally resigned his commission on April 15, 1865, after Lee's surrender at Appomattox . The United States Congress Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War later exonerated Burnside and placed

14848-438: Was dominated by Confederate sharpshooters on the high ground. By noon, McClellan was losing patience. He sent a succession of couriers to motivate Burnside to move forward, ordering one aide, "Tell him if it costs 10,000 men he must go now." He further increased the pressure by sending his inspector general to confront Burnside, who reacted indignantly: "McClellan appears to think I am not trying my best to carry this bridge; you are

14976-617: Was elected by the Rhode Island Senate as a U.S. Senator from Rhode Island, was re-elected in 1880, and served until his death in 1881. Burnside continued his association with the Republican Party , playing a prominent role in military affairs as well as serving as chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee in 1881. Burnside died suddenly of "neuralgia of the heart" ( Angina pectoris ) on

15104-452: Was established on March 17, 1862. The board consisted of Ethan A. Hitchcock , the chairman, with Department of War bureau chiefs Lorenzo Thomas (Adjutant General), Montgomery C. Meigs (Quartermaster General), Joseph G. Totten (Chief of Engineers), James W. Ripley (Chief of Ordnance), and Joseph P. Taylor (Commissary General). Reporting directly to the Secretary of War were the bureau chiefs or heads of staff departments which made up

15232-537: Was expressing his opinions publicly. Vallandigham was sentenced to imprisonment for the duration of the war and was turned into a martyr by antiwar Democrats. Burnside next turned his attention to Illinois, where the Chicago Times newspaper had been printing antiwar editorials for months. The general dispatched a squadron of troops to the paper's offices and ordered them to cease printing. Lincoln had not been asked or informed about either Vallandigham's arrest or

15360-515: Was further differentiation between line officers, who were members of the artillery, cavalry or infantry branches, and staff officers, who were part of the various departments and bureaus of the War Department. All line officers outranked staff officers except in cases pertaining to their staff assignment, in which they received their orders from their respective department chiefs. Regular general officers outranked volunteer general officers of

15488-408: Was less positive, and he was known for being obstinate, unimaginative, and unsuited both intellectually and emotionally for high command. Grant stated that he was "unfitted" for the command of an army and that no one knew this better than Burnside himself. Knowing his capabilities, he twice refused command of the Army of the Potomac, accepting only the third time when the courier told him that otherwise

15616-452: Was military leadership a primary consideration in such appointments. Such a policy inevitably resulted in the promotion of inept officers over more able commanders. As the war dragged on and casualties mounted, governors reacted to their constituents' complaints and instead began to issue commissions on the basis of battlefield rather than political competence. Officers tended to suffer a higher percentage of battle wounds on account of either

15744-437: Was not enforced as strictly as in the regular army, and while some NCOs brought with them prior battlefield experience (whether from the Mexican–American War or foreign military service) many at the start of the war were as equally ignorant as their officers in military matters. Training for these NCOs took place during off-duty hours and often involved lessons based on manuals such as Hardee's Tactics . One notable exception

15872-402: Was offered a major general's commission in the U.S. Army through the letter from Secretary of State William H. Seward to H. S. Sanford , the U.S. Minister at Brussels , July 17, 1861. Colonel Luigi Palma di Cesnola , a former Italian and British soldier and veteran of the Crimean War , commanded the 4th New York Cavalry and would rise to become one of the highest ranking Italian officer in

16000-653: Was offered command of the Army of the Potomac following Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan's failure in the Peninsula Campaign . He refused this opportunity because of his loyalty to McClellan and the fact that he understood his own lack of military experience, and detached part of his corps in support of Maj. Gen. John Pope 's Army of Virginia in the Northern Virginia Campaign . He received telegrams at this time from Maj. Gen. Fitz John Porter which were extremely critical of Pope's abilities as

16128-628: Was over in order to join the Confederate States Army; though few are believed to have done so, their total number is unknown. U.S. President Abraham Lincoln exercised supreme command and control over the army in his capacity as commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces . Below him was the Secretary of War , who oversaw the administration of the army, and the general-in-chief , who directed

16256-506: Was simply not considered. Eventually though their opponents recognized their existence, and while female spies caught in the act were not typically executed like their male colleagues, they still faced the threat of lengthy prison sentences. For self-evident reasons many of these activities were kept secret and any documentation (if it existed) was often destroyed. As such the identity of many of these women will never be known. Of those who became famous for their espionage work during or after

16384-493: Was thoroughly disturbed by this trend and issued a series of orders forbidding "the expression of public sentiments against the war or the Administration" in his department; this finally climaxed with General Order No. 38, which declared that "any person found guilty of treason will be tried by a military tribunal and either imprisoned or banished to enemy lines". On May 1, 1863, Ohio Congressman Clement L. Vallandigham ,

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