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Collection Reference Number GLC02382.092
From Archive Folder Collection of Henry Jackson Hunt 
Title John F. Lee to Henry Jackson Hunt discussing the biography of Robert E. Lee
Date ca. [1872]
Author Lee, John F. (1813-1884)  
Recipient Hunt, Henry Jackson  
Document Type Correspondence
Content Description Refers to Hunt's contribution to the biography, an account of Lee's passage through the pedregal (a lava rock field) during the Mexican American War. Notes that the book is "short & simple... well done for a female- no bad eloquence. except in the appendix- where there is some, very bad, by orators and statesmen... " Notes that Marshall's contribution was good (possibly referring to Charles Marshall, who served as Lee's aide-de-camp). Discusses the implications of Hunt's description of Lee; wonders whether his praise of Lee was appropriate (possibly since Hunt had served the Union and Lee the Confederacy). Mentions McClellan, Grant, and the trial of General Fitz John Porter. Year inferred from the date of publication of Emily Virginia Mason's biography of Robert E. Lee, which Lee recently received in the mail.
Subjects Union General  Literature and Language Arts  Confederate General or Leader  Military History  Latin and South America  Global History and Civics  Women's History  Civil War  President  Military Law  Mexican War  
People Hunt, Henry Jackson (1819-1889)  Lee, John F. (1813-1884)  Mason, Emily Virginia (1815-1909)  Lee, Robert E. (Robert Edward) (1807-1870)  Marshall, Charles (1830-1902)  Porter, Fitz John (1822-1901)  Grant, Ulysses S. (Ulysses Simpson) (1822-1885)  McClellan, George B. (1826-1885)  
Place written Upper Marlboro, Maryland
Theme The American Civil War; The Mexican 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). Hunt had served as Chief of Artillery for the Army of the Potomac. After the Civil War, he occupied various military posts. In the early 1870s, Hunt served at Fort Adams, Newport, Rhode Island.
Copyright The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
Module Civil War, Reconstruction and the Modern Era: 1860-1945