Examination Boards

Officers in the Regular Army, especially veterans of the Mexican War, had “a regular’s contempt for ‘fancy volunteers.’”  Men like George McClellan denigrated untrained and undisciplined volunteer officers as the dregs of society, kicked out of “county courthouses, & low village bar rooms.”  Unyielding in his disdain, McClellan sought to double the number of officers…

Commitment, Discipline and Leadership

In April I detailed the 8th Pennsylvania Cavalry’s Christmas Day frolic in King George County.  The misfeasance of Lt. Col. Amos E. Griffiths, and several of his officers, may have gone unnoticed but for the timely, or untimely, depending upon your point of view, arrival of Col. William Gamble’s 8th Illinois Cavalry.  Regiments rotated picket…

Picket Duty in King George, Christmas Day 1862

The 8th Illinois Cavalry relieved the 8th Pennsylvania Cavalry from picket duty in King George County on Christmas Day 1862.  Leaving their camps in Stafford County, the men headed south and east along present-day Route 3 into King George County.  Stafford County was desolate, stark and war-ravaged; fences had disappeared, forests denuded and farms abandoned. …