GDG- Re: Strong Vincent

[GEODEUTSCH at aol.com]

In GDG Issue #24, Kerry from Australia asked for additional information and  
citation regarding Strong Vincent's promotion to Brigadier General. What 
follows  is my best attempt to cite the record.
 
During the overnight hours of July 2-3, George Meade sent the following  
telegram to headquarters in DC:
"Recommendation of Maj. Gen. George G. Meade, U. S. Army, commanding Army  of 
the Potomac, for the promotion of Col. Strong Vincent, Eighty-third  
Pennsylvania Infantry.
HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE POTOMAC, July 3,  1863.
Maj. Gen. H. W. HALLECK, Washington:
I would respectfully request  that Col. Strong Vincent, Eighty-third 
Pennsylvania Regiment, be made a  brigadier-general of volunteers for gallant conduct 
on the field yesterday. He  is mortally wounded, and it would gratify his 
friends, as well as myself. It was  my intention to have recommended him with 
others, should he live..."   (OR Series 1, Vol 27/1 Appendix)
Lincoln acted quickly and sent the appointment for promotion to the Army  and 
Vincent received it on his deathbed. Unfortunately, neither the OR  nor the 
Supplement to the OR contain a copy of the order. Dr. Roy  Stonesifer, in his 
1995 short monograph Brigadier General Strong Vincent: A  Gettysburg Hero, 
wrote that Meade's "...request was granted and the  promotion was received by 
Meade at 10:05 AM on July 4." Unfortunately, Dr.  Stonesifer did not cite his 
source, but the specificity of the time received  makes it likely that the order 
is in Meade's order book at the National  Archives.
 
There are several other direct primary source references to the  promotion.
First Division commander James Barnes in his official report stated that  the 
promotion reached Vincent shortly before his death.
"A tribute is due to the memory of Colonel Vincent, who fell, mortally  
wounded, early in the engagement. He lingered a few days after the engagement.  His 
promotion as a brigadier-general was sent to him at once as an appreciation  
of his services by the Government, but it reached him too late for his own  
recognition. He expired soon after its receipt." (OR Series 1, Vol 27/1  Report 
#189)
Vincent's aide and brigade bugler Oliver Norton wrote his sister on July 12  
that: "His [Vincent's] commission as Brigadier General was read to him on his  
deathbed." (Norton, Army Letters p.162)
Vincent's obituary and the report of his July 13 funeral in Erie was  
published on July 16 in the Erie Weekly Gazette, The article  referred to Vincent as 
General "...we call him General, because he was made such  before his 
death..." The 83rd's Adj., Lt. John Clark accompanied the body to  Erie and was in 
charge of the funeral. He was very likely the  first-person source of the 
newspaper's story.
On July 10, near Boonesboro, MD, the 3rd Brigade's new commander, James  Rice 
ordered out the whole brigade on dress parade, ",,,and the appointment [as  
Brigadier General was] read to the troops." (Judson, History of the 83rd  
Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, p. 144; also in Nash, History of the  44th New 
York Volunteer Infantry and Pullen, The 20th Maine)
At that time, none of the Fifth Corps officers or troops knew Vincent had  
died three days earlier. On July 12, Rice issued General Orders #5: "The colonel 
 commanding hereby announces to the brigade the death of Brig. Gen. Strong  
Vincent. He died near Gettysburg, Pa., July 7, 1863, from the effects of a 
wound  received on the 2d instant..." (OR Series 1 Vol 27/1 Report #195)
 
To summarize: Lincoln's written appointment of Strong Vincent as Brigadier  
General reached Meade by July 4, Vincent prior to his death on July 7 and the  
3rd Brigade by July 10.
 
But what happened next with the promotion? The Journal of the Executive  
Proceedings of the Senate of the United States (Volume 13, p. 350, January  7, 
1864), accessed through the Library of Congress website, contains a lengthy  list 
of promotions for Senate confirmations submitted by Lincoln on December 31,  
1863. Vincent and many others of those named were noted as "since dead." It  
appears that the Senate did not posthumously confirm the appointments of 
Vincent  and others, including Stephen Weed, who was also killed on Little Round 
Top.  ( Eicher in The Civil War in Books: An Analytical Bibliography  critiques 
Warner, Generals in Blue, who listed Vincent, Weed & others  as generals 
without reference to their Senate confirmation status.)  Unfortunately, the actual 
Senate proceedings are not available through even the  National Archives.
 
The historical record: Lincoln appointed Vincent a Brigadier General to  date 
from July 3; the army and public clearly recognized the promotion but the  
Senate failed to confirm the appointment posthumously.
 
A postscript request: If any esteemed members know the location of  Lincoln's 
order or the Senate confirmation proceedings, please let me  know.
 
George Deutsch





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