The Battle of White Sulphur Springs (24 page)

A portrait of Lieutenant General Götz von König, painted in 1915 by his son, Leo Freiherr Von König.
Dominik von König
.

Schoonmaker resolved to erect a suitable marker on the grave of the brave staff officer who died leading a hopeless attack in an attempt to turn defeat into victory. He paid for the monument out of his own pocket and stated that he had done so at the specific request of his younger brother, the lieutenant general.
⁴⁸⁰
The handsome granite shaft was placed on Paul von König's resting place. A bronze plaque tops it that reads:

Monument to Captain Paul Freiherr von König.
Author photo
.

Baron
Paul von König
Captain U.S.A.
Killed
Aug. 26
^th
, 1863

Along with other veterans of the 14
^th
Pennsylvania Cavalry, Schoonmaker dedicated the monument on November 9, 1914, just over half a century after the baron fell.
⁴⁸¹
Unfortunately, his brother, Lieutenant General Götz Freiherr von König, could not attend—World War I was already underway, and the general, as so many other members of the family von König had done over the years, had answered the call of duty and was serving the Fatherland on the eastern front.

The land where the monument stands was sold and developed into a strip shopping center. The monument now rests just outside a Hardee's fast-food restaurant located on an outparcel of the shopping center. It gets little visitation other than from curious diners, but it still stands as a silent sentinel commemorating the life and heroic death of Captain Paul Freiherr von König. The location of his remains is unknown but is presumably somewhere beneath the strip shopping center or its parking lot.

Notes

I
NTRODUCTION

1
. A detailed discussion of the history of the formation of the state of West Virginia is beyond the scope of this study. For a detailed discussion, see Rice and Brown,
West Virginia
, 111–23.

2
. Ibid., 147.

3
. However, some would not be freed until reaching the age of twenty-five under these formulas.

4
. Rice and Brown,
West Virginia
, 147.

5
. Ibid., 140–50.

6
. Ibid., 150–51.

7
. Obviously, the details of the Jones-Imboden Raid stray far beyond the scope of this book. For a detailed discussion of the Raid, the only monograph devoted to it is Collins,
Jones-Imboden Raid
.

8
. Williams,
West Virginia
, 68.

9
. Rice,
History of Greenbrier County
, 261.

10
. McKinney,
Civil War in Greenbrier County
, xiii.

11
. For the most detailed description of the Battle of Lewisburg, see McKinney,
Civil War in Greenbrier County
, 169–96.

12
. Cole,
History of Greenbrier County
, 24.

13
. Rice,
History of Greenbrier County
, 283.

C
HAPTER
1

14
. Bates,
Martial Deeds
, 849.

15
. Reader,
Fifth West Virginia Cavalry
, 197.

16
. Warner,
Generals in Blue
, 12–13.

17
. Eckert and Amato,
Ten Years in the Saddle
, 388.

18
. Collins,
Averell's Salem Raid
, 9.

19
. Bates,
Martial Deeds of Pennsylvania
, 850.

20
. Collins,
Averell's Salem Raid
, 5.

21
. Rhodes,
Cavalry of the Army of the Potomac
.

22
.
War of the Rebellion
, series 1, vol. 21, 900 (hereafter cited as
OR
; all further references are to series 1, unless otherwise noted);
Charleston Mercury
, January 5, 1863.

23
.
OR
, vol. 21, 895–96, 902.

24
. James K. Kim to William W. Averell, February 3, 1863, William Woods Averell Papers, New York State Library and Archives, Albany.

25
. William Redwood Price to Averell, February 19, 1863, Averell Papers.

26
. For a detailed discussion of the formation of the Army of the Potomac's Cavalry Corps and of these actions, see Wittenberg,
Union Cavalry Comes of Age
.

27
.
OR
, vol. 25, part 1, 1072–73.

28
. Joseph Hooker to Samuel P. Bates, April 2, 1877, Samuel P. Bates Papers, Pennsylvania State Archives, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

29
. Doster,
Lincoln and Episodes of the Civil War
, 200–01.

30
. Note of the Adjutant General of the Army, May 7, 1863, William Woods Averell file, Letters Received by the Appointment, Commission and Personal Branch of the Adjutant General's Office, 1871–1894, M1395, National Archives, Washington, D.C.

31
. William Woods Averell diary, entries for May 14 and May 17, 1863, Averell Papers.

32
.
OR
, vol. 25, part 1, 1076–77. Averell wrote, “The form and tenor of the order and its mode of communication are extraordinary. No cause is or has been assigned for its issue, to my knowledge. Issued at the close of the unsuccessful engagement of Sunday, May 3, and destitute of history or explanation, its effect is to place upon me, by implication, an indefinite share in the responsibility for whatever there may have been of failure in the operations of the Army of the Potomac in the recent attack upon the enemy's forces. I therefore deem it my duty to make you acquainted with the history of the recent cavalry operations in which I took part, to ask your consideration of the inclosed orders, marked A, B, C, D, and E, which controlled my conduct, and to ask that an inquiry be made as to the causes for my removal, and that I may be informed of their nature.” Averell continued, “If the execution of my orders was faulty, it cannot be attributed to a misunderstanding of them, as the cavalry, in their recent operations, were engaged in carrying out a part of the plan originated by myself previous to the first battle of Fredericksburg, and which I once set out to execute about the beginning of the year. The major-general commanding the Army of the Potomac also did me the honor to invite my opinion upon the details of these operations before they were ordered, and I believe I thoroughly understood the project of the general commanding, so far as the cavalry was concerned.”

33
. Hardaway,
On Our Own Soil
, 85.

34
. West,
Remember Me
, 212.

35
. Lang,
Loyal West Virginia
, 108.

36
. Reader,
Fifth West Virginia Cavalry
, 197.

37
. Lang,
Loyal West Virginia
, 108.

38
. According to historian Terry Lowry, Gibson's Battalion consisted of four companies of West Virginia cavalry, Company C of the 16
^th
Illinois Cavalry and the 3
^rd
Independent Company Ohio Cavalry. See Lowry,
Last Sleep
, 11.

39
.
OR
, vol. 29, part 1, 37. Averell stated in his report of the raid that “I did not have 1300 men in the front on the first day” of the Battle of White Sulphur Springs. This number likely reflects attrition from the long marches of July and August 1863.

40
. Reader,
Fifth West Virginia Cavalry
, 200.

41
. West,
Remember Me
, 212.

42
. OR, vol. 27, part 2, 206.

43
. Ibid.

44
. Lang,
Loyal West Virginia
, 207; Biographical Register of the United States Congress, 1774–Present,
http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=L000107
.

45
. Lang,
Loyal West Virginia
, 213.

46
. Hunt,
Colonels in Blue
, 194.

47
. Wiley,
History of Monongalia County
, 529–31.

48
. Lang,
Loyal West Virginia
, 217–22.

49
. Baumgartner,
First Families of Huntington
, 37–38; Obituary of John H. Oley,
Huntington Advertiser
, March 17, 1888; Hunt and Brown,
Brevet Brigadier
, 454.

50
. Lang,
Loyal West Virginia
, 226–27.

51
. Emerson,
Col. J.M. Schoonmaker
, 21.

52
.
National Tribune
, “General James M. Schoonmaker.”

53
. Westnam, “The Fourteenth Cavalry.”

54
.
National Tribune
, “General James M. Schoonmaker.”

55
. Slease,
14
^th
Pennsylvania Cavalry
, 15–18.

56
. Davis, “At Rocky Gap, W. Va.”

57
. Lowry,
Last Sleep
, 21–23.

58
. Reader,
Fifth West Virginia Cavalry
, 69; Lowry,
Last Sleep
, 22.

59
. Reid,
Ohio in the War
, 2:929.

60
. Lowry,
Last Sleep
, 22.

61
. Reader,
Fifth West Virginia Cavalry
, 86–87; Lowry,
Last Sleep
, 29.

62
. Thomas,
Round Ball to Rimfire
, 2:137. Approximately 252 of the 501 Lindner carbines were issued to the 8
^th
West Virginia in June 1863. The weapon later proved to be unsatisfactory, and the War Department rejected a shipment of six thousand of them in May 1865. McAulay,
Carbines of the U.S. Cavalry
, 23–24.

63
.
OR
, vol. 27, part 2, 209.

64
. Slease,
14
^th
Pennsylvania Volunteer Cavalry
, 83–84.

65
. Price, “Plain Tales of Mountain Trails,” 390.

66
.
OR
, vol. 27, part 2, 210–11; Slease,
14
^th
Pennsylvania Volunteer Cavalry
, 85.

67
.
OR
, vol. 27, part 2, 211.

C
HAPTER
2

68
. Slease,
14
^th
Pennsylvania Volunteer Cavalry
, 89.

69
.
OR
, vol. 29, part 1, 33.

70
. Ibid.

71
. Ibid., 38.

72
. Ibid., 38–39.

73
. Ibid., 39.

74
. Giunta,
Civil War Soldier of Christ and Country
, 192.

75
.
OR
, vol. 29, part 1, 39–40.

76
. Ibid., 40.

77
. Ibid., 33.

78
. Mathers, “The War in West Virginia.”

79
. Lyda, “Gen. Averill's Brigade.”

80
. Slease,
14
^th
Pennsylvania Volunteer Cavalry
, 102.

81
. Mathers, “The War in West Virginia.”

82
.
OR
, vol. 29, part 1, 33.

83
. Croft, “Averell's Queer Skirmish at Rocky Gap.”

84
.
OR
, vol. 29, part 1, 33.

85
. Slease,
14
^th
Pennsylvania Volunteer Cavalry
, 89.

86
. Giunta,
Civil War Soldier of Christ and Country
, 190.

87
. Ibid.

88
. Ibid.

89
. Slease,
14
^th
Pennsylvania Volunteer Cavalry
, 89.

90
. Lyda, “General Averill's Brigade.”

91
.
Richmond Daily Dispatch
, August 22, 1863.

92
. Lyda, “General Averill's Brigade.”

93
.
OR
, vol. 29, part 1, 33.

94
. Slease,
14
^th
Pennsylvania Volunteer Cavalry
, 89.

95
. Lyda, “General Averill's Brigade.”

96
. Mathers, “The War in West Virginia.”

97
. Ibid.

98
.
OR
, vol. 29, part 1, 33.

99
. Collins,
General William Averell's Salem Raid
, 86.

100
. McNeel, “The Imboden Raid and Its Effects,” 303.

101
. Warner,
Generals in Gray
, 153–54. Mudwall Jackson served one term as lieutenant governor of Virginia prior to the war. He resigned as judge of the nineteenth judicial circuit in 1861, enlisted in the Confederate army as a private and quickly rose to the colonelcy of the 31
^st
Virginia Infantry. In April 1863, he recruited the 19
^th
Virginia Cavalry within the Federal lines in western Virginia and was commissioned its colonel.

102
. Jones, “Battle of Dry Creek.”

103
.
OR
, vol. 29, part 2, 634.

104
. Hardaway,
On Our Own Soil
, 65.