American army officer (1818?1885)
Irvin McDowell
|
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Photo of McDowell taken during the American Civil War
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Born
| (
1818-10-15
)
October 15, 1818
Columbus, Ohio
, U.S.
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Died
| May 4, 1885
(1885-05-04)
(aged 66)
San Francisco
, California, U.S.
|
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Place of burial
| |
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Allegiance
| United States
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Service/
branch
| |
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Years of service
| 1838?1882
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Rank
| Major general
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Commands held
| |
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Battles/wars
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Other work
| Park Commissioner,
San Francisco
|
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Irvin McDowell
(October 15, 1818 ? May 4, 1885)
[1]
was an American
army officer
. He is best known for his defeat in the
First Battle of Bull Run
, the first large-scale battle of the
American Civil War
. In 1862, he was given command of the
I Corps
of the
Army of the Potomac
. He fought unsuccessfully against
Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson
's troops during the
Valley Campaign of 1862
and was blamed for contributing to the defeat of United States troops at the
Second Battle of Bull Run
in August.
Early life
[
edit
]
McDowell was born in
Columbus, Ohio
, son of
Abram Irvin McDowell
and Eliza Seldon McDowell, and is of English and Scots-Irish descent.
[2]
He was a cousin-in-law of
John Buford
,
[3]
and his brother,
John Adair McDowell
, served as the first colonel of the
6th Iowa Volunteer Infantry Regiment
during the Civil War.
[2]
McDowell initially attended the College de Troyes in
France
before graduating from the
United States Military Academy
in 1838, where one of his classmates was
P. G. T. Beauregard
, his future adversary at First Bull Run. He was commissioned a
second lieutenant
and posted to the 1st U.S. Artillery. McDowell served as a
tactics
instructor at West Point before becoming
aide-de-camp
to General
John E. Wool
during the
Mexican?American War
. He was
brevetted
captain at
Buena Vista
and served in the Adjutant General's department after the war. While in that department, he was promoted to major on May 31, 1856.
[3]
Between 1848 and 1861, McDowell generally served as a staff officer to higher-ranking military leaders and developed experience in logistics and supply. He developed a close friendship with General
Winfield Scott
while serving on his staff. He also served under future Confederate general
Joseph E. Johnston
.
[4]
Civil War
[
edit
]
McDowell was promoted to
brigadier general
in the
regular army
on May 14, 1861, and was given command of the
Army of Northeastern Virginia
on May 27. The promotion was partly because of the influence of his mentor,
Treasury Secretary
Salmon P. Chase
. Although McDowell knew that his troops were inexperienced and unready and protested that he was a supply officer, not a field commander, pressure from the
Washington
politicians
forced him to launch a premature offensive against
Confederate
forces in
Northern Virginia
. His strategy during the
First Battle of Bull Run
was imaginative but ambitiously complex, and his troops were not experienced enough to carry it out effectively, resulting in an embarrassing rout.
After the defeat at Bull Run,
Major General
George B. McClellan
was placed in command of the new
Union Army
defending Washington, the
Army of the Potomac
. McDowell became a division commander in the Army of the Potomac. On March 14, 1862, President Lincoln issued an order forming the army into corps, and McDowell got command of the
I Corps
as well as a promotion to major general of volunteers. When the army set off for the Virginia Peninsula in April, McDowell's command was detached for duty in the Rappahannock area out of concern over Stonewall Jackson's activities in the Shenandoah Valley (one division was later sent down to the Peninsula).
Eventually, the three independent commands of Generals McDowell,
John C. Fremont
, and
Nathaniel P. Banks
were combined into Major General
John Pope's
Army of Virginia
and McDowell led the
III Corps
of that army. Because of his actions at
Cedar Mountain
, McDowell was eventually brevetted
major general
in the regular army; however, he was blamed for the subsequent disaster at
Second Bull Run
. McDowell was also widely despised by his own troops, who believed him to be in cahoots with the enemy. He escaped culpability by testifying against Major General
Fitz John Porter
, whom Pope
court-martialed for alleged insubordination
in that battle. Pope and McDowell did not like each other, but McDowell tolerated serving under him with the full knowledge that he himself would remain a general after the war was over while Pope would revert to the rank of colonel. Despite his formal escape, McDowell received no new assignments for the next two years.
Later service and postbellum career
[
edit
]
In July 1864, McDowell was given command of the
Department of the Pacific
. He later commanded the
Department of California
from July 27, 1865, to March 31, 1868; briefly commanded the
Fourth Military Department
; then commanded the
Department of the East
from July 16, 1868, to December 16, 1872. On November 25, 1872, he was promoted to major general. On December 16, 1872, McDowell succeeded General
George G. Meade
as commander of the
Military Division of the South
and remained until June 30, 1876. From July 1, 1876, he was commander of the
Division of the Pacific
. In 1882, Congress imposed a mandatory retirement age of 64 for military officers, and McDowell retired on October 14 of that year.
In 1879, when a board of review commissioned by
President
Rutherford B. Hayes
issued its report recommending a
pardon
for Fitz John Porter, it attributed much of the loss of the Second Battle of Bull Run to McDowell. In the report, he was depicted as indecisive, uncommunicative, and inept, repeatedly failing to answer Porter's requests for information, failing to forward intelligence of
Longstreet
's positioning to Pope, and neglecting to take command of the left wing of the Union Army as was his duty under the
Articles of War
.
Following his retirement from the army, General McDowell exercised his fondness for landscape gardening, serving as Park Commissioner of
San Francisco
,
California
until his death from
heart attack
on May 4, 1885. In this capacity, he constructed a park in the neglected reservation of the
Presidio
, laying out drives that commanded views of the
Golden Gate
. He is buried in
San Francisco National Cemetery
in the Presidio of San Francisco.
See also
[
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]
Notes
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- Dupuy, Trevor N., Curt Johnson, and David L. Bongard.
The
Harper Encyclopedia of Military Biography
. New York: HarperCollins, 1992.
ISBN
978-0-06-270015-5
.
- Eicher, John H., and
David J. Eicher
.
Civil War High Commands
. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2001.
ISBN
0-8047-3641-3
.
- Warner, Ezra J.
Generals in Blue: Lives of the Union Commanders
. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1964.
ISBN
0-8071-0822-7
.
- Simione Jr., Frank and Gene Schmiel, "Searching for Irvin McDowell: The Civil War's Forgotten General," Savas-Beatie, 2023. ISBN 978-1-61121-620-2
External links
[
edit
]
Military offices
|
Preceded by
none
|
Commander of the
Army of Northeastern Virginia
May 27, 1861 ? July 25, 1861
|
Succeeded by
|
Preceded by
none
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Commander of the
I Corps
(
Army of the Potomac
)
March 13, 1862 ? April 4, 1862
|
Succeeded by
Reorganized as III Corps (Army of Virginia)
|
Preceded by
Himself as Commander of I Corps (Army of the Potomac)
|
Commander of the
III Corps
(
Army of Virginia
)
June 26, 1862 ? September 5, 1862
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Succeeded by
|
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