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| Field name | Value |
|---|---|
| Collection Reference Number | GLC02382.057 |
| From Archive Folder | Collection of Henry Jackson Hunt |
| Title | John Gibbon to Henry Jackson Hunt regarding the Gettysburg painting |
| Date | 24 May 1885 |
| Author | Gibbon, John (1827-1896) |
| Recipient | Hunt, Henry Jackson |
| Document Type | Correspondence |
| Content Description | Refers to the sale of the Gettysburg painting and to Hunt's Gettysburg article. He refuses to work any further for promotion: "I contend I have already done all my work for promotion & if this does not promote me, I am afraid I shall have to live & die a Col." |
| Subjects | Battle of Gettysburg Military History Union General Battle Civil War Union Forces Art, Music, Theater, and Film Finance Literature and Language Arts Journalism |
| People | Gibbon, John (1827-1896) Hunt, Henry Jackson (1819-1889) |
| Place written | Fort Laramie, Wyoming |
| Theme | The American Civil War; Arts & Literature |
| 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). Gibbon was loyal to the Union though he had three brothers fighting for the Confederacy. An 1847 West Point graduate. After serving several months as McDowell's chief artillerist, was granted a brigadier's star and assigned to the only all-Western brigade serving with the armies in Virginia. Led the brigade at Antietam and was wounded at Fredericksburg while commanding a division. He returned to fight at Chancellorsville and was seriously wounded at Gettysburg on the final day. Returned for the spring 1864 campaign and was mustered out but remained on active duty, serving against the Indians with the Little Big Horn campaign. |
| Copyright | The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History |
| Module | Civil War, Reconstruction and the Modern Era: 1860-1945 |