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| Field name | Value |
|---|---|
| Collection Reference Number | GLC02382.035 |
| From Archive Folder | Collection of Henry Jackson Hunt |
| Title | Henry Jackson Hunt to Henry Knox Craig regarding Emory Upton's book on infantry tactics |
| Date | 4 October 1867 |
| Author | Hunt, Henry Jackson (1819-1889) |
| Recipient | Craig, Henry Knox |
| Document Type | Correspondence |
| Content Description | Hunt calls Emory Upton's book A New System of Infantry Tactics, Double and Single Rank a "botched application of a stolen principle." Hunt had been a member of a three-man board that revised field artillery drill and tactics, and published a revered manual on the topic. Claims that Upton stole his ideas, but "failed to apply the principle properly to the infantry, or to understand the fullness of its value..." Refers to William F. Barry, who had served with him on the board. Discusses the evils of current times; does not think that political conservatives will carry elections in Iowa, Ohio, or Pennsylvania. Declares "Principles will vindicate themselves, and the course pursued towards the south will not only in the end be seen in its proper light but will bring a sure punishment on the north..." Criticizes radical reconstruction policies, the tyranny under which the North places the South, and power being placed in the hands of blacks. Sends a check for Dr. Johnson and discusses other family or mutual acquaintances. Penciled docket on last page apparently written at a later date. "…People wont open their eyes until their interests induce them to do so. As regards the south I don't think they will open them until too late. ..I fear the reaction will not be strong enough to gain the Presidential Election of 1868. Principles will vindicate themselves and the course pursued towards the south will not only in the end be seen in its proper light but will bring a sure punishment on the north. What I most dislike in the people of the North is the malignity exhibited in its whole course towards a people whose condition appeals to every sentiment of generosity - and patriotism to say nothing of Christianity which in the children of the Puritan is extinct. Neither Poland nor Crete suffer under such tyranny at the hands of the Russian and the Turk as does the south now suffer under the rule of the Puritan - for the elements of such tyranny do not exist in their countries. There is a refinement of vengeance, tyranny, and cruelty in [depriving?] the intelligent, the cultivated, the White of that section of all political power and resting it in the ignorant, the brutal, the black, the former slave, of the white, and stimulating him to use such power in every possible way to ruin, oppress, degrade and insult his former master. Look at Tennessee - Is not that 'reconstructed' state a perfect vindication of every charge that the southerner has ever made against the northerner that it was the object of the latter to degrade, ruin, and enslave him. I see it stated that Grant writes to Johnson , that there is 'no power in the Army, or armed force of the government to oppose the Execution by a governor of a state, of the laws of that state'." [Says this was done to aid Brownlow's election in Nashville and to help city authorities "representing the nigger paupers…."] Letter was originally with others in an envelope labeled "Private Letters from Eastport to General Craig &c." |
| Subjects | Religion Union General Infantry Military History Artillery Literature and Language Arts Politics Election Government and Civics Reconstruction African American History Finance President Patriotism Christianity Global History and Civics Slavery Freemen Law |
| People | Hunt, Henry Jackson (1819-1889) Craig, Henry Knox (1791-1869) Upton, Emory (1839-1881) Barry, William Farquhar (1818-1879) |
| Place written | Eastport, Maine |
| Theme | The American Civil War; Slavery & Abolition; African Americans; Government & Politics |
| Sub-collection | Papers and Images of the American Civil War |
| Additional Information | Folder information: Henry Jackson Hunt was Chief of the Artillery in the Army of the Potomac. Considered by his contemporaries the greatest artillery tactician and strategist of the war, he was a master of the science of gunnery and rewrote the manual on the organization and the use of artillery in early modern armies: Instruction for field artillery. Prepared by a board of artillery officers, consisting of Captain Wm. H. French...Captain Wm. F. Barry...Captain H.J. Hunt...To which is added The evolutions of batteries, tr. from the French by Brigadier General R. Anderson (New York, D. Van Nostrand, 1864). Hunt was born in Detroit, Michigan, the son of Samuel Wellington Hunt, a career infantry officer. As a child he accompanied his father in 1827 to the Kansas Territory on an expedition to found Fort Leavenworth. He graduated from the U.S. Military Academy in 1839 as second lieutenant in the 2nd U.S. Artillery. He served in the Mexican War where he was elevated to captain and major. Hunt received attention when in the First Battle of Bull Run in 1861, his four-gun battery covered the retreat of a Union force with an artillery duel. He soon afterword became the chief of artillery in defense of Washington, D.C. As a colonel on the staff of McClellan, he organized and trained the artillery reserve and fought in the Peninsular Campaign. His keen work influenced battles at Malvern Hill, South Mountain, Antietam, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville. His most famous service occurred at Gettysburg. He served in Virginia through the end of the war. Following the Civil War, Hunt held various military posts. He served as president of the permanent Artillery Board. He also served at Fort Sullivan, Eastport, Maine (1868), Fort Adams, Newport, Rhode Island (1869-1872 definitely, and possibly until 1874), military commander at Charleston, South Carolina and Atlanta, Georgia (1875-1880), commander, Department of the South (1880-1883), and as Governor of the Soldier's Home in Washington D.C. (1883-1889). |
| Copyright | The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History |
| Module | Civil War, Reconstruction and the Modern Era: 1860-1945 |