John Ellis Wool, 85, died at his home in Troy, New York on November 10, 1869. Major-General Wool was a veteran of three major North American wars. After volunteering for the War of 1812 he made the U.S. Army his career for the rest of his career. He was wounded during the 1812 Battle of Queenston Heights; after recovering he was shot in the thigh. After recovering, John E. Wool was promoted and led the 29th U.S. Infantry with distinction at the 1814 Battle of Plattsburgh. During the Mexican–American War he commanded the Chihuahuan Expedition, which captured Saltillo; later he fought with General Zachary Taylor at the Battle of Buena Vista. “Wool’s leadership was recognized with a Congressional sword, a vote of thanks, and the brevet of major general. After the battle, he commanded the occupation forces of northern Mexico.”
Thanks for Buena Vista
As Wikipedia has also reported: “When the Civil War began in April 1861, Wool had just turned 77 years old, two years older than commander-in-chief of the US Army Winfield Scott. Unlike Scott, who suffered from obesity, gout, and other ailments, Wool was still reasonably fit and could mount a horse.”
He might have been 77, but he had a younger man’s fire. When citizens of Troy visited the general’s home after the rebel assault on and capture of Fort Sumter, he passionately pledged his all for the Union: “My friend, that flag must be lifted up from the dust into which it has been trampled, placed in its proper position and again set floating in triumph to the breeze.”
But according to documentation at the Library of Congress General Wool was involved before Fort Sumter. On January 11, 1861 he wrote to President-Elect Abraham Lincoln vowing to do everything he could to make sure Mr. Lincoln made it safely to Washington, D.C. for his inauguration:
elderly generals along the bottom
Head Quarters Dept of the East
Troy 11th January 1861
Dear Sir,
Presuming that I am not altogether unknown to you, I take the liberty of transmitting to you two printed letters, which in part indicate my views on the state of the Country. In a few days will be published in the City of New York a letter of mine to the Hon A. B. Olin, a representative in Congress from this City, in which will be found a condensed history of the causes which have induced the State of South Carolina to rebel against the Union. My object in saying this much to you is merely to apprise you that with me the preservation of the Union is paramount to all other considerations; and that I am prepared against all threats to see you safely placed in the Presidential Chair the 4th March next in the city of Washington, that is, if my services as military commander of the Department in such a case be deemed necessary.
Third Wool War
To the letters enclosed I have received responses from the States of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland; all expressive of the most elevated patriotism and devotion to country, with a fixed determination to preserve the Union, “peaceably if it can, but forcibly if it must.” Any number of men, and any amount of money, can be had to sustain the union, and that flag, the stars and stripes, which is identified with all that has contributed to our greatness and renown as a nation, but recently trampled under the rebel feet of South Carolina without the slightest cause or justification.
In conclusion, allow me to say that I am no partisan, but a firm, decided and an uncompromising friend of the Union, “the whole Union and nothing but the Union”
considerations of the highest
respect your obt. servt
John E. Wool
P.S. Lest you may not know the part that I have acted in behalf of my country, I send you by mail a pamphlet which may interest you from the fact that several of the Regiments concerned in the [series?] of which t treats, were from Illinois.
W.
a team of generals
Mr. Lincoln responded on January 14th:
Springfield Ill Jany 14th 1861.
My dear Sir:
Many thanks for your patriotic and generous letter of the 11th inst. As to how far the military force of the government may become necessary to the preservation of the Union; and more particularly, how that force can best be directed to the object, I must rely chiefly upon General Scott and yourself. It affords me the profoundest satisfaction to know, that with both of you, judgment and feeling go heartily with your sense of professional and official duty, to the work.
It is true that I have given but little attention to the Military Department of government; but, be assured, I can not be ignorant as to who is Gen: Wool, or what he has done.
With my highest esteem
and gratitude I subscribe
myself
Your Obt. Servt.
A. Lincoln.
During the early days of Civil War General Wool secured Fort Monroe and in May 1862 he ordered the capture of the Norfolk Navy Yard. President Lincoln “personally witnessed the capture of Norfolk and afterwards rewarded Wool by promoting him to a full major general in the regular army thereby becoming only the 23rd man to hold this rank since its creation in 1791.” In July 1863 General Wool commanded a small force that helped contain the New York City draft riots, but on August 1st of that year President Lincoln ordered General Wool’s retirement after 51 years of army service.
letters for Lincoln
General Sherman breaks the news – The New-York Times
November 11, 1869
General Wool monument
It seems that in the 19th century career U.S. Army officers were often involved in managing the indigenous peoples as the United States manifestly filled up all the land between the Atlantic and the Pacific. John E. Wool “participated in the removal of the Cherokee from Georgia and Tennessee in the 1830s.” Between 1854 and 1857 General Wool commanded the Department of the Pacific; during that time he helped bring to Indian Wars in the Pacific Northwest by settling the tribes on reservations but having a more humane view of the native peoples. Wikipedia quotes from his letter to Governor Stevens of Washington Territory on February 12, 1856 – the general thinks he can protect the whites and bring peace to the region if white settlers don’t keep trying to exterminate the natives. You can read a good summary of General Wool’s work in the Northwest at The Oregon Encyclopedia.
As you can see above, the newspaper clipping John E. Wool included in his letter to President-Elect Lincoln praised the general for his actions while he commanded the Department of the Pacific.
Currently the United States observes Veterans Day to honor its servicemen and women and to commemorate the November 11, 1918 armistice between Germany and the Allies. So far I haven’t seen too much evidence that people officially remembered the one year anniversary of the armistice. Headlines in The New York Times focused on the U.S. Senate debate about joining the League of Nations, a coal miners’ strike, and communists. However, in its November 12, 1919 issue the Times reported on violence during Armistice Day activities in Centralia, Washington:
“Four former soldiers, members of the American Legion, were killed, two other service men were probably fatally wounded, and several other soldiers were less seriously hurt when members of the Industrial Workers of the World fired on an Armistice Day parade today as it passed the I. W. W. Hall.
“The marching veterans raided the hall, seized supposed snipers” … and escorted them to jail, protecting them from a mob that tried to seize them.”
Thanks again to Wikipedia – this time for all the information and quotes about John Ellis Wool and for the circa 1825 portrait. Matt H. Wade’s photo of the Wool obelisk in Oakwood Cemetery, Troy, New York is licensed under Creative Commons. The photo of sword and scabbard from Congress comes from The Metropolitan Museum of Art. From the Library of Congress: Virginia map; General Wool commanding Fort Monroe ; 1861 Council of War1919 issues of the New York Tribune – October 26th (Wikipedia has different numbers for the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery) and November 30th (John E. Sheridan was famous for all his posters, including those that supported the American war effort in World War I).
twenty acres in France
“In Flanders Field”
twenty acres in France
“In Flanders Field”
