From First to Last The Life of William B. Franklin

by Snell, Mark A.

• ISBN13: 9780823221486
• ISBN10: 0823221482
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2002-04-01
• Publisher: Fordham University Press

Summary

From First to Last is complete life story of one of the most controversial yet least well known generals on either side during the Civil War. The number one graduate of the West Point class of 1843, William Buel Franklin served in the U.S. Army's Corps of Topographical Engineers and contributed greatly to the building of the nation's internal improvements, including a stint as chief engineer in charge of construction of the U.S. Capitol's dome and extension from 1859 to 1861. During the Civil War Franklin ascended rapidly in rank and command authority, from command of a Union brigade at Bull Run, to leadership of the Sixth Corps of the Army of the Potomac on the Peninsula and during the Maryland Campaign, to command of the Left Grand Division, of that army at the terrible Battle of Fredericksburg. In the wake of Fredericksburg, Franklin was unjustly blamed for the Union army's defeat, not so much because of his generalship-or lack thereof-but because of his politics and the highly-charged political nature of high-level leadership in the Army of the Potomac. Censured by the notorious Joint Congressional Committee on the Conduct of the War, Franklin was banished to the Department of the Gulf, where he participated in the ill-fated Sabine Pass Expedition and Red River Campaign. Wounded during the Red River Campaign and captured by Confederate partisan rangers Franklin would escape his captors but could not escape the wrath of the Lincoln administration, which refused to place him back in command even though his old West Point classmate-U. S. Grant-personally requested his services.Franklin resigned his commission in 1866 and began a highly successful post-war career as Vice President and General Manager of Colt's Firearms Company in Hartford, Connecticuit. A respected citizen of that city, Franklin continued to serve his country in a number of public positions, including leadership of a government bureau that eventually became the U.S. Veterans Administration. Snell's study of Franklin is evenly balanced, correctly pointing out Franklin's flaws and lapses of judgment-such as the Battle of Crampton's Gap on September 14, 1862-but giving him credit where he received none in the past. Snell provides readers with a complete picture of Franklin: brilliant engineer, doting husband, respected businessman, and controversial Union general. From First to Last will change the way historians interpret this important figure of American history.

Author Biography

Mark A. Snell is Director of the George Tyler Moore Center for the Study of the Civil War at Shepherd College in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, where he also teaches courses on the Civil War and American history.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
``A Dutiful and Affectionate Son'': From York to West Point	1	(10)
``Fire Grape at Them if They Get Too Close'': From the Great Lakes to the South Pass and Beyond	11	(16)
``I Have Thought So Much of Leaving the Army'': Between Two Wars	27	(9)
``Rascality in High Places'': Washington, 1857--1860	36	(17)
``The Hottest and Most Disagreeable Fire That Anyone Ever Was In'': The War Begins	53	(15)
``The First Great Crime of the War'': From Bull Run to Yorktown	68	(27)
``Glory Enough for One Day'': The Peninsula Campaign, April-June 1862	95	(21)
``It Is Likely That We Should Have Been Defeated'': The Seven Days	116	(27)
``We Will Try to Do Our Duty'': Harrison's Landing to Second Manassas	143	(23)
``I Would Prefer to Make the Attack'': The Maryland Campaign, September 1862	166	(31)
``The Radical Thirst for Blood'': The Battle of Fredericksburg	197	(30)
``Halleck Deserves Hanging'': The Army of the Potomac and the Politics of Defeat	227	(18)
``The Army Is Literally Stuck in the Mud'': Mud Marching and Mudslinging	245	(18)
``My Whole Campaign Has Been a Perfect Purgatory'': Operations in the Department of the Gulf, 1863	263	(32)
``Don't You Know This Is Mutiny?'': The Red River Campaign	295	(25)
``The Noble Army of the Shelved'': Capture, Escape, and Waiting Out the War's End	320	(14)
``A Butterfly Kind of Existence'': Colt's Firearms and a New Beginning	334	(13)
``A Person Whose Life Had So Little in It to Awake Popular Enthusiasm'': Public Servant Till the Very End	347	(18)
Selected Bibliography	365	(14)
Index	379