Civil War Image Maj.Gen. John Magruder CSA Engraved Charles Magnus Red/Black CDV

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Civil War Image Maj.Gen. John Magruder CSA Engraved Charles Magnus Red/Black CDV:
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Civil War image, CSA Maj. Gen. John Magruder, a Charles Magnus two color CDV size engraving, black with fancy red frame, minor patina spots on front and just a small bit on edges on back, some patina on front and back.
Know as \"Prince John\" to his army buddies, Magruder was active in the Peninsular Campaign. During theBattle of Yorktown, Magruder completely deceived McClellan as to his strength by ostentatiously marching small numbers of troops past the same position multiple times. A great asset to the Confederate Army.
John B. MagruderFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaThis articleneeds additional or better citations forverification.Please helpimprove this articlebyadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.(February 2013)(Learn how and when to remove this template message)John Bankhead MagruderJohn B. MagruderNickname(s)Prince JohnBornMay 1, 1807
Port Royal, VirginiaDiedFebruary 19, 1871(aged63)
Houston, TexasPlace of burialEpiscopal Cemetery,Galveston, TexasAllegianceUnited States
Confederate States
Second Mexican EmpireService/branchUnited States Army
Confederate States Army
Imperial Mexican ArmyYearsof service1830–61 (USA)
1861–65 (CSA)
1865–1867 (Mexican Empire)RankCaptain (USA)
Bvt. Lieutenant Colonel (USA)
Major General (CSA)
Major General (Mexico)Unit7th U.S. Infantry
1st U.S. ArtilleryCommands heldMagruder\'s Division
Army of the Peninsula
District of Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona
Department of ArkansasBattles/wars

Second Seminole War
Mexican-American War
American Civil War

Seven Days Battles
Battle of Galveston

OtherworkSecond Mexican Empire

John Bankhead Magruder(May 1, 1807 – February 19, 1871) was a career military officer who served in the armies of three nations. He was aU.S. Armyofficer in theMexican-American War, aConfederategeneralduring theAmerican Civil War, and apostbellumgeneral in the Imperial Mexican Army. Known as \"Prince John\" to his army friends, Magruder was most noted for his actions in delaying Federal troops during the 1862Peninsula Campaignthrough elaborate ruses that gaveMaj. Gen.George B. McClellanthe impression that the Confederates had more forces than they actually did, and in successfully defendingGalveston, Texas, against theUnion ArmyandNavyearly in 1863.

Contents[hide]

1Early years and career
2Civil War
3Postbellum career
4Honors
5See also
6Notes
7References
8Further reading

Early years and career

Magruder was born inPort Royal, Virginiato Thomas and Elizabeth Magruder and is of Scottish ancestry.

He first attended theUniversity of Virginia, where he had the opportunity to dine with formerPresidentThomas Jefferson. He graduated from theUnited States Military Academyin 1830, where he was the roommate ofWilliam N. Pendleton. He was commissioned asecond lieutenantin the7th U.S. Infantryregiment. He was later assigned to the 1st U.S. Artillery.

Magruder served in theSecond Seminole Warin Florida and then underWinfield Scottin theArmy of OccupationinMexico. He was appointed abrevetmajorfor \"gallant and meritorious conduct\" at theBattle of Cerro Gordoandlieutenant colonelfor his bravery in the storming ofChapultepec. Magruder, along with other officers serving in Mexico City, was one of the organizers of theAztec Club of 1847.

He served onfrontierduty in California and atFort Leavenworthin theKansas Territory.

From May 29, 1857 to October 31, 1859 Magruder served as commanding officer of Company I of the 1st Artillery Regiment atFort Adamsin Newport, Rhode Island. During this assignment, Magruder was noted for holding \"fort days\" during which the public was invited to attend concerts at the fort.

\"Prince John\" spoke with a lisp, except when singing tenor, which he did frequently. Hisavocationwas composing songs and staging concerts and amateur theater productions, something to relieve the tedium of peacetime garrison duty. This theatrical bent would come in handy in the Civil War.

Civil War

At the start of the Civil War, Magruder was assigned to the artillery in the garrison forces of Washington, D.C.. However, he resigned from the U.S. Army when his nativeVirginiaseceded, whereupon he was commissioned acolonelin theConfederate States Army. He was quickly promoted tobrigadier general(June 1861) andmajor general(October 1861). He commanded the small Army of the Peninsula defendingRichmond, against Maj. Gen.George B. McClellan\'s invasion of theVirginia Peninsulain the early portion of theUnion\'sPeninsula Campaign in 1862. This separate army was incorporated as adivisionin theArmy of Northern Virginiaon April 12, 1862.[1]

During theBattle of Yorktown, Magruder completely deceived McClellan as to his strength by ostentatiously marching small numbers of troops past the same position multiple times, appearing to be a larger force. He moved his artillery around frequently and liberally used ammunition when Union troops were sighted, giving the impression of a large, aggressive defending force. This subterfuge caused McClellan\'sArmy of the Potomacweeks of needless delay and brought Magruder praise from his superior, Gen.Joseph E. Johnston. However, Magruder performed poorly and un-aggressively in the subsequentSeven Days Battles. Some blame heavy drinking for his erratic performance, others point to the unrelenting stress of his fending off McClellan at Yorktown.

Even before the first of the Seven Days Battles commenced there were signs that the Confederate leadership were ready to remove him from command in Virginia.

Battle of Seven Pines

SPECIAL ORDERS, ADJT. AND INSP. GENERAL\'S OFFICE, Numbers 118. Richmond, Va., May 23, 1862.

VII. Major General J. B. Magruder is assigned to the command of the Trans-Mississippi District, of Department Numbers 2, and will report to this office for instructions.[2]

In dispatches sent just days after, Magruder was found defending his actions regarding his command of the defense of Mechanicsville. Jeb Stuart\'s Cavalry had also been put in charge of the defense of Mechanicsville, where they met with picket-fire, but Stuart was told to hold the town. Magruder arrived at the town and met with Stuart\'s Cavalry but Stuart was not there, likely in Richmond to deliver reports and get instruction. So Magruder exchanged communications with the next in command, Colonel Robertson, who reported that the enemy were moving forward with infantry and artillery.

Magruder was under a slightly different set of orders – to hold the town unless the enemy \"attacked in force\". Magruder interpreted Col Robertson\'s information as an attack in force on Mechanicsville. In the absence of Stuart, Magruder ordered that cavalry back across the bridge and to leave Mechanicsville.[3]It was this action, most likely, that warranted the special order to remove Magruder to the theater of war in the west.

It was common in the Confederacy, during those panicked days (May–June 1862) when Richmond was threatened so close to the city proper, that similar orders were given to multiple units; some of which actually contradicted one another. The best a commanding officer could do was to use his best judgement in taking matters into his own hands. Gen J. E. Johnston had the unfortunate duty of having to relieve Gen Magruder, which took place on about the 25th of May 1862 and was likely met with much protest after having received so much praise for his actions at Yorktown. It then appears as though the Confederate leadership considered the act a bit hasty and unwarranted, and turned to Johnston to repair. Johnston found himself in the unusual position of having to defend his act of relieving Magruder in the 26 May 1862 dispatch:

Honorable GEORGE W. RANDOLPH,

Secretary of War:

SIR: I have had the honor to receive your letter of this date, in which you require me to modify my order relieving Major-General Magruder from duty in this army.

Your letter is calculated, I think, to give the impression that I have done Major-General Magruder injustice. Let me remind you that my order in question was given in obedience to yours assigning General Magruder to the command of a department (Trans-Mississippi), and directing him to report for instructions. Your order was positive and unconditional. I had no option, but was bound to obey it. If injustice has been done it was not by me. If an improper order has been given it is not mine. Mine, therefore, permit me to suggest, is not the one to be recalled or modified.

Obedience to the order contained in your letter would place me in a false position in relation to Major-General Magruder and to the Army. I therefore respectfully ask you to recall it.

Most respectfully, your obedient servant,

J. E. JOHNSTON,

General.[4]

The same day the general order was modified as seen below.

SPECIAL ORDERS,

ADJT. AND INSP. GENERAL\'S OFFICE, Numbers 120. Richmond, Va., May 26, 1862.

XXIV. Major General J. B. Magruder is relieved from the operation of paragraph VII, Special Orders, Numbers 118, current series, and will report for duty to General Joseph E. Johnston, commanding Department of Northern Virginia.

By command of Secretary of War

By then the damage had been done and Magruder was likely demoralized. He returned to his command near Mechanicsville and faithfully executed his orders, while the rumors swirled around him and his own personal ego had been checked. Over the next several days he likely thought about the westward position with favor; an opportunity to escape the (seemingly) unruly Virginia aristocratic mindset.

At theBattle of Malvern Hill, the last of the Seven Days, local guides led him and his men astray, causing a considerable delay in his arrival in the line of battle. Orders from new commanderRobert E. Leeto attack, dispatched earlier in the day but with no time marked on them, were received only after Magruder finally got into proper position some hours later. They were mistaken as currently issued; the error was compounded when fresh orders from Lee arrived which, based on faulty intelligence, reaffirmed the attack. Magruder\'s execution of those orders as if they were current and accurate resulted in an uncoordinated assault that suffered considerable losses and made no headway. Lee afterward, when he personally surveyed the field, thought that no commander on the scene should have gone ahead with an attack. When he asked Magruder, \"Why did you attack?\" Magruder replied, \"In obedience to your orders, twice repeated.\"

Lee reorganized his army after the Seven Days, replacing those he thought were ineffective commanders, and Magruder was soon reassigned to command the District of Texas,New Mexico, andArizona.

On January 1, 1863, Magruder\'s forces won theBattle of Galveston, recapturing the city and port for the Confederacy. TheFirst Confederate Congresspublished itsofficial thanks:

... The bold, intrepid, and gallant conduct of Maj. Gen. J. Bankhead Magruder, Col.Thomas Green, Maj. Leon Smith, and other officers, and of theTexan Rangersand soldiers engaged in the attack on, and victory achieved over, the land and naval forces of the enemy at Galveston, on 1 January 1863, eminently entitle them to the thanks of Congress and the country. ... This brilliant achievement, resulting, under the providence of God, in the capture of the war steamerHarriet Laneand the defeat and ignominious flight of the hostile fleet from the harbor, the recapture of the city and the raising of the blockade of the port of Galveston, signally evinces that superior force may be overcome by skillful conception and daring courage.

From August 1864 to March 1865, Magruder commanded the Department ofArkansasbut then returned to command the District of Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona during the last months of the war until the entire Trans-Mississippi region was surrendered by GeneralEdmund Kirby Smith.

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