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| Field name | Value |
|---|---|
| Collection Reference Number | GLC02382.084 |
| From Archive Folder | Collection of Henry Jackson Hunt |
| Title | John F. Lee to Henry Jackson Hunt regarding military rank and retirement pay |
| Date | 26 July 1870 |
| Author | Lee, John F. (1813-1884) |
| Recipient | Hunt, Henry Jackson |
| Document Type | Correspondence |
| Content Description | Discusses submitting testimony for Hunt, on the issue of military rank and retirement pay. Notes that Hunt is correct in his opinion of brevet pay for brigadiers and majors, referring to General Roger Jones. Writes "in good law you had no right to any brevet pay in your own regiments troop or company, but only to the pay of the commission by which you were mustered. Nevertheless, the law has been a dead letter for 30 years... " Discusses the case of General Fitz John Porter, whose conduct at Second Manassas would be questioned before a board in 1878. In relation to the case, refers to Generals Robert E. Lee and John Pope. Notes that in Lee's opinion, Porter was never a threat to Stonewall Jackson during Second Manassas. Says, "Genl. Lee was here the other day. I asked him about that 2d Manassas - or bull-Run. He said Jackson ... never was in any danger (of reverse, much less capture) - & Porter never in condition to do any harm to that wing or any wing of the Confederate army. The Gnl. never did delight in criticisms, but he could see no ground for verdict of the [Porter's] c[ourt] mar[shal] ..." Mentions an oration on Ulysses S. Grant, a bill introduced by Congressman John Alexander Logan, and the Franco-Prussian War. Writes "I am for France against Prussia... the war is a very good war (as Gnl Porter said of the Florida war)... the French are less troublesome- for they stay at home." Asks Hunt his opinion on the Chinese question, possibly referring to the Tientsin Massacre. |
| Subjects | Union General Military History Soldier's Pay Law Congress Confederate General or Leader Confederate States of America Battle Second Battle of Bull Run (Manassas) Military Law President France Global History and Civics Asia Massacre Religion Catholicism Mobs and Riots |
| People | Hunt, Henry Jackson (1819-1889) Lee, John F. (1813-1884) Jones, Roger (d. 1889) Lee, Robert E. (Robert Edward) (1807-1870) Pope, John (1822-1892) Grant, Ulysses S. (Ulysses Simpson) (1822-1885) Logan, John Alexander (1826-1886) Jackson, Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" (1824-1863) Jackson, Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" (1824-1863) |
| Place written | Upper Marlboro, Maryland |
| Theme | The American Civil War; Foreign Affairs |
| 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 his later years, Hunt pursued a congressional bill that would affect his military retirement rank and pay. |
| Copyright | The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History |
| Module | Civil War, Reconstruction and the Modern Era: 1860-1945 |