GDG- Henry H. Lockwood

[Chet Diestel]

Esteemed GDG Member Jack Kelly Contributes:

   Greetings,
    While we are on the subject of Lockwood/Culp's Hill/Alpheus Williams, I 
might , as an aside, put in my two-cents worth on some other "forgotten" 
generals of that part of the battlefield.  In my opinion, Alpheus Williams 
was one of the more competent generals in the AOP and apparently received 
little recognition at the time and afterwards.  He was passed over several 
times for promotion to corps, much to his disgust. He did a creditable job 
managing the defense of the AOP's right wing on Culp's Hill despite a 
potentially disastrous decision by Gen. Meade, and Henry Slocum.
    Another general (and my personal hero) --who did not receive even a 
mention  in Meade's OR --was George Greene, who held the Culp's Hill 
position alone  and against all odds on the evening of 2 July.  Greene was 
the oldest  general on field duty in the Union Army, being 53 years old at 
the time of  the battle.  Amazingly, he had no "sick days" in his entire CW 
career, being  absent from his post only a short time after being wounded in 
the face at  Wauhatchie, and returning after his convalescence.  He also was 
passed over  for promotion many times (probably thought he was too old!).
    It's interesting that these two were slighted when it came time for 
promotions. Since they were both under Henry Slocum, I wonder if Old 
Slow-cum kept these guys back to further his own ambitions.  As you can 
guess, I am not a fan of Slocum.

     Regards,
       Jack Kelly

   Williams and Greene were both excellent generals who served the Union 
cause well on many proverbial far-flung fields of battle and have very often 
not received the credit due them, particularly in general histories of 
Gettysburg or the war in general.
  However, a correction and a clarification are needed in the case of 
Greene.
  First the correction: While Greene was indeed the oldest field commander, 
there were a few older generals on administrative duties, in the war, at 
Gettysburg he was 62 years of age (May 1, 1801) and not 53 as stated. Those 
nine years made a big difference in how others may well have viewed him 
regarding promotion to higher command.
  As to the clarification, yes while he returned to duty following his 
convalescence after the Wauatchie wound, it wasn't until April 1865 when he 
was deemed fit enough to return to the field. In the meantime he served on 
court martial duty as well as various administrative boards.
  As to Williams, who was 52 at Gettysburg, while he did eventually obtain 
corps command --- XX Corps in the Army of the Tennessee --- he never 
attained the major general rank save by brevet. Williams main fault seems to 
have been not being a regular at least, or, even better, a West Point 
graduate. It seemed to be a unwritten rule that, with some notable 
exceptions, commands higher than a division was the exclusive domain of the 
Regular Army. Of course, that was hardly unique to the Union Army --- the 
West Point alumni held sway in the CSA as well --- or the Civil War, for the 
same promotional fate awaited National Guard generals in both world wars.
  As for Slocum, I hold him in somewhat higher esteem, although Gettysburg 
was not his finest hour, with his getting too much caught up in the 
procedure or prerogatives of sonority etc. rather than just fighting the 
battle at hand. However, he was a competent field commander and an excellent 
administrator, which is, in many ways, a skill as equally important as those 
needed on the battlefield at that level of command.
   With regards,
      Chet