Hunt, Henry Jackson (1819-1889) to William Sherman
High-resolution images are available to schools and libraries via subscription to American History, 1493-1943. Check to see if your school or library already has a subscription. Or click here for more information. You may also order a pdf of the image from us here.
Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC06415.02 Author/Creator: Hunt, Henry Jackson (1819-1889) Place Written: Atlanta, Georgia Type: Manuscript Date: 25 February 1880 Pagination: 56 p. ; 35.7 x 21.6 cm. Order a Copy
Hunt's analysis of artillery at Gettysburg, written as part of his long, ongoing feud with Winfield Scott Hancock. The first part of the manuscript explains and defends the organization artillery and the post of Commander in Chief of the Artillery. Hunt quotes Hancock's letters and responds at great length, mapping out the role of the artillery in battles prior to Gettysburg, pointing out weaknesses in the lack of centralized command. He notes why batteries were placed in certain positions, why they fired and did not fire at certain times during the battle, etc.
In an earlier letter to the Senate Committee on Military Affairs, Hunt had discussed Hancock's confusion at Gettysburg over artillery command authority. When Hancock learned of the letter, he took it as a personal attack, and wrote a rebuttal, critical of Hunt's actions during the battle, to William T. Sherman, then general of the Army. Sherman forwarded Hancock's letter to Secretary of War Robert Todd Lincoln; it was eventually published by the Senate. When Hunt sent this lengthy counter-rebuttal, however, Sherman did not forward it through normal channels, but instead had it filed in the military archives (per Thomas A. Desjardins, These Honored Dead, p.51). As a result, it was never published by the Senate.
Selected excerpts:
"…at the time of the battle of Gettysburg and for several months previous under the immediate predecessor of General Meade, 'common sense,' had run riot in the Army of the Potomac, and was rapidly dislocating the machine" (p.13). Additional excerpts available.
Chief Artillery in the Army of the Potomac. Considered by his contemporaries a great artillery tactician and strategist. Rewrote the manual on organization and use of artillery in war. Known for conservative artillery tendencies, urging gun crews to fight slowly and deliberately for accuracy and efficiency. At Gettysburg, he resisted command pressure that would have expended all his ammunition, reserving necessary amounts for future attacks. His orders to cease fire fooled Confederates into expending their ammunition prematurely, leaving victory for the Union.
Selected excerpts:
"…at the time of the battle of Gettysburg and for several months previous under the immediate predecessor of General Meade, 'common sense,' had run riot in the Army of the Potomac, and was rapidly dislocating the machine" (p.13).
"Major General Hancock's repeated assertion that I did not command the artillery at Gettysburg, are made with unusual audacity and in the face of official evidence to the contrary…he indirectly but clearly asserts that General Meade fought the battle of Gettysburg without any commander for his artillery! This is the most serious imputation against General Meade's conduct of that battle that I have yet heard…As General Meade is dead it is my duty as the general who under his orders exercised that command , to give Major General Hancock's assertion in this respect a formal denial…" (pp. 14-15)
"On the second day at Gettysburg there was a further large expenditure of artillery ammunition, and at night the battle was still undecided…." (p. 15)
"His [Hancock's] counter orders, to 'secure obedience' to which he was… 'actually compelled to threaten force resulted in the artillery fiasco he describes and moreover in a fearful loss of life and a narrow escape from defeat" (p. 17)
"Major General Hancock appears to be afflicted with an aggravated form of the military disease described by General Scott in a general order in Mexico as 'pruriency of fame - not earned, the characteristic symptom being self-puffing to the malignant exclusion of others'…he resorts to defamation, which sinks sometimes to calumny…." (p. 17)
"There is not an officer who held a high command on that field…who does not know that as my order to cease firing would lead at once to action involving the whole army; it would have been highly improper for me to issue it without first communicating, if possible, with General Meade…." (p. 18)
Citation Guidelines for Online Resources
The copyright law of the United States (title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One of these specific conditions is that the photocopy or reproduction is not to be “used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship, or research.” If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy or reproduction for purposes in excess of “fair use,” that user may be liable for copyright infringement. This institution reserves the right to refuse to accept a copying order if, in its judgment, fulfillment of the order would involve violation of copyright law.