Sypher Dispatches: From Lancaster to Louisville

Another company from Lancaster--Company B, 1st Penna. Reserves--in 1863
I suspect the civilian on the right of the picture is J. R. Sypher, who traveled with the Army of the Potomac as a journalist.  (Mathew Brady via Fold3.com)

The following post is the first in a series of a dozen or so letters by Lancaster lawyer, journalist, and civilian adventurer J. R. Sypher during his travels through the Western Theater as a sort of "embedded reporter" in May and June 1862.  

J. R. Sypher (suspected)
(Enlargement of above photo)

On May 2, 1862, former Daily Evening Express assistant editor Josiah Rhinehart Sypher left Lancaster for a two-month tour of the Western Theater, where he had spent time as a correspondent before the war.  I've written about Sypher--and brother James Hale Sypher of Standard's Ohio Artillery Battery and brother A.J., Armorer on the USS St. Louis ironclad--several times before on this blog, including his letter after having been chased out of Memphis in June 1861 and a quarrel with the Democratic Intelligencer in August 1861 over dueling rallies in Drumore Township (which Sypher coincidentally refers to in the opening to his letter below).

Only a week before leaving, Sypher was admitted to practice law, passing a "highly creditable examination."  He studied under none other than Thaddeus Stevens--with whom he shared many political beliefs--although it's unclear how much Sypher personally interacted with Stevens.  As a progressive-minded Republican, Sypher seems to show up in just about every reform movement and civic activity in Lancaster, such as the Lancaster County Bible Society and Temperance picnics. Just several weeks earlier, he was one of six founding members of the Linnaean Society of Lancaster City and County, a very active science and natural history society whose collection formed the basis of what is now the North Museum near Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster. [DEE 4/26/1862]

The Express sent Sypher off with the following announcement published on May 3, 1862:  

J. R. Sypher, Esq., formerly our Southern and Western correspondent, and more recently our editorial assistant, started for the seat of war in the department of the Mississippi, on Friday morning.  He goes as special correspondent of the Express, being provided with a military pass from the War Department, authorizing him to go anywhere within the lines of the armies of the United States.  For this we are indebted to the kindness of Secretary Stanton and Col. Sandford.  The conditions of the parole attached to the pass are very stringent, but the Express has no cause to fear them, as we have never yet published a line involving the censure of the war department, although important information has been frequently in our possession in advance of its publication elsewhere.

Mr. Sypher intended going direct to Corinth, and thence with Gen. Halleck's army to Memphis.  Being familiar with the country in the southwest, and having a pretty extensive acquaintance with the people there, his letters will no doubt be as interesting as valuable.  

George D. Prentice
Editor, Louisville Journal(Source)

Sypher penned his first letter in Louisville, the gateway to the Western Theater for Lancasterians during the Civil War.  Lancaster maintained a strong patriotic and logistical connection to Louisville, cheering on border state warriors like Louisville Journal editor George D. Prentice and relying on the soldiers' aid infrastructure there to distribute goods to Lancaster soldiers and others in need.  

From the May 8, 1862, Daily Evening Express: (alternate link)

Better Know an Enemy: John Hunt Morgan

General John Hunt Morgan (Source)

Name: John Hunt Morgan (bio)
Birth: June 1, 1825 in Huntsville, Alabama
Notable Events: Many significant raids in Kentucky in 1862,  Led major raid into Ohio during the summer of 1863
Death: September 4, 1864, shot dead during Union cavalry raid in Greeneville, Tennessee

Around this time in late 1861, one Confederate officer entered the consciousness of the men of the 79th Pennsylvania and the rest of the Union regiments slowly crawling their way down the Louisville and Nashville Railroad.  Captain John Hunt Morgan, leader of an irregular company of Confederate cavalrymen, began a series of daring raids in the area that confounded the Union advance and made picket duty in rural Kentucky a lot more interesting for soldiers in McCook's Division.

With the success of his raids in Kentucky through 1862 and the national attention they received, Morgan's rank in the Confederate army rose so that he became the colonel of a cavalry regiment and then a brigadier general, eventually leading a raid deep into Ohio (which ended in the capture of him and his command) in the summer of 1863.  Through 1862, Morgan's operations often intersected with the 79th Pennsylvania's operations, and resulted in the Lancaster County Regiment spending much of the year running around the back roads of Kentucky and Tennessee trying to protect infrastructure and supplies from Morgan. 

Officers of Morgan's Cavalry, photographed while imprisoned at the Western Penitentiary in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania (now Pittsburgh), after their capture in July 1863 in Ohio (Source)

Morgan even gained enough notoriety that his name became a verb in the Lancasterians' lexicon, as in many of the wounded members of the 79th Pennsylvania in field hospitals after the Battle of Perryville, Kentucky, were "morganized" when Morgan's cavalry captured and paroled them in October 1862 [INQ, 10/29/1862].  A large detail of the 79th Pennsylvania was captured by Morgan while building telegraph lines in May 1862, and Captain William G. Kendrick of Company A even got to eat dinner with his captor, but that's another story for another time.

If you're interested in learning more about Captain Morgan and his strategy and tactics in late 1861 and early 1862, you can read an 1867 book entitled History of Morgan's Cavalry by his brother-in-law, Basil W. Duke.  Pages 94-109 cover this time period, and shed light on a couple aspects of the 79th Pennsylvania's experience at this time:

1. McCook's division had no cavalry or no effective cavalry and was basically blind at this time.  This meant the men of the 79th Pennsylvania spent many of their days on company-sized scouting expeditions with 100 or 200 men going out a couple miles into the countryside to investigate rumors or see what they could find.  Also, any shots heard in the distance or rumor had to be taken seriously as there was no way to tell if it was just a couple Confederate cavalrymen causing trouble or the whole Confederate army marching up the road.  
2. Both sides relied on civilians as a system of information and alarm.  Morgan even played a sort of repeated cat-and-mouse game on his raids with civilians who would see him and dash back to Union lines. 

Three Days in Louisville

Arrival of Union Troops at Louisville (HW 1/11/1862)

Getting back to current events in the life of the Lancaster County Regiment, the regiment's initiation into soon-to-be-replaced Gen. William T. Sherman's Department of the Cumberland began with a three day stay in Louisville, Kentucky.  Opposite the Union army in that part of Kentucky were forces under of Confederate Gen. Simon Bolivar Buckner, who had recently invaded Bowling Green, Kentucky--100 miles south of Louisville--and who was poised to strike farther north.  To the west, along the Mississippi River, Gen. Ulysses S. Grant was about to begin a campaign against Confederate forts that would take him into western  Tennessee.  To the east, Gen. George H. Thomas was organizing Union forces to drive Confederates out of eastern Kentucky.

The following letter appeared in the November 2, 1861, edition of the Lancaster Inquirer.  My hunch is that the correspondent, "Ipse Dixit," was Hospital Steward John B. Chamberlain, based on the content of an earlier letter and the fact that he later wrote to the Inquirer in 1862 under the alias, "Occasional."  Thanks again to reader Andi Beyer for typing up this letter. 

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Camp Oakland,
Louisville, Ky., Oct 24, '61.

Mr. Editor: It may be "bully" for Uncle Sam to economize in his expenditures, in these hard times; but I do think that he might have chartered another steamboat at Pittsburg for the transportation of the Negley brigade. "Elbow room" is desirable at all times, and in all places, but there's no use in complaining.

On Monday evening we entered the port of Louisville, Kentucky, and a more interesting sight we never witnessed. Before us for a mile or two, as far as the eye could range on the levee, the gallant sons and daughters of Kentucky were packed to the water's edge, to fittingly greet the sons of the old Keystone state, who had come to fight secesh under Zollicoffer and Buckner, the two rebel generals. When the fleet of steamboats had all been fastened to the shore, we were greeted with a shower of grape and canister in the shape of fine large apples. For better than an hour it looked as if they intended to take the boats by storm; but the ammunition giving out, they had to withdraw. On Tuesday morning, we were moved out to one of the most beautiful groves around the city, about one mile and a quarter from the outskirts. Before the men had started, the citizens waving flags and Union emblems had completely crowded the streets and pavements in one dense, wild mass, barely leaving space for the men to pass. The "brave young lads and lasses," greeted us enthusiastically as we passed along, with the waving of flags and singing national airs. Our reception throughout to camp was a perfect ovation, and speaks well for the sincerity of the people in this crisis.

Tents were pitched, and everything went as "merry as a marriage bell," until evening when a severe storm arose. It was extremely cold, and between it and the rain, the men had a hard time. The men crowded into the tents as closely as possible, to get warm. The storm strongly reminded me of the three months' campaign on the sacred soil of the Old Dominion, and the storms we encountered there. We received orders to strike tents and march to the city. The orders were complied with, although there was some grumbling at leaving such a beautiful place. When we arrived at the depot, we ascertained that Colonels Stambaugh's and Sirwell's regiments were to move off first; so Colonel Hambright moved the men off into a field nearby, and put them through the regimental drill, which was executed very satisfactorily. The men thought that they would have to go supperless; but the good Union people of Louisville had other intentions in view. Immediately in the rear of the depot, a large building is erected, where every soldier can get his meals "without money and without price." The men were greatly surprised when marched into the yard, and saw the large supply of provisions prepared for them. Most ample justice was done to the bounteous repast; and numerous and hearty were the encomiums lavished by the grateful men upon their kind benefactors - The leading gentlemen in this movement to provide for the soldiers are James Malone, Esq., President, John Graham, Dr. Goddard, John Gill, Wm Kaye, Rev. Haywood, Mr. Cornell, Prof. Holyoke, S. Dupont, Benj. Cawthorn, Wm Grunstead, Andrew Graham, Richard Cox, and William Nally. All soldiers passing through Louisville are provided with hot meals.

On Thursday morning, Mrs. John Graham, formerly of Lancaster gave Col. Hambright and his officers a most splendid repast; which was most highly appreciated. Shortly afterward, orders came to embark the 1st battalion; and this afternoon the 2nd one follows in the hospital department, to join Col. M'Cook at Bowling Green, [M'Cook was at Camp Dennison, in Lancaster] Gen. Buckner has 30,000 secesh troops now in sight of that place; and I think ere long, I will have the pleasure of sending you word of our troops dislodging him. At least from the preparations now going on it does look like fight, for Kentucky must be cleared from the vermin that infest her soil and prey upon her vitals.

I cannot close without paying Louisville a passing notice. It is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. The buildings are elegant in appearance and chaste in architecture. The people are kind, social and hospitable, worthy the reputation they have enjoyed abroad.

Yours Truly, Ipse Dixit

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Gov. Curtin Presents Flags to Negley's Brigade

Early War 79th Pennsylvania Flag, presumably presented by Curtin in 1861
(PA Capitol Preservation Committee)
Due to a regimental numbering controversy, it is unclear specifically when this flag was used.

Pennsylvania Gov. Andrew G. Curtin
(Library of Congress: cwpbh.01288)

On October 17, 1861, Pennsylvania's popular and tireless wartime governor Andrew Curtin arrived in Pittsburgh to present flags to the three newly formed regiments gathered there, including Col. Hambright's regiment.  An unidentified correspondent "X" recorded the governor's speech and sent it on to the Daily Evening Express for publication.  As the flags were unfurled, so was the brigade's destination thereby ending weeks of speculation as to whether the men would be going to Western Virginia, Kentucky, or Missouri.  Curtin announced:

In a few hours (not a few days) you leave your native State of Pennsylvania and go--not to Western Virginia, for the orders have been changed--but to Kentucky; for while at Washington hordes of rebels, led on by men steeped in treasonable purposes, menace the capital--in Kentucky they are invading a State loyal to the Union and devastating the homes of her faithful people.  But Pennsylvania, true to her original compact, goes to defend Kentucky, and I now stand in the presence of men who go to defend the friends of liberty there.

From the October 19, 1861, Daily Evening Express: (alternate link)

The Situation in Kentucky Deteriorates

Presentation of a flag to Kentucky Volunteers, September 1861
Harper's Weekly October 5, 1861

Today marks an important anniversary in which the national narrative and the story of the 79th Pennsylvania converge to help explain why the regiment fought in the war's Western Theater (i.e., Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri, etc.).  On September 3-4, 1861, Confederate forces under Gen. Gideon Pillow marched into the state to seize a strategic position along the Mississippi River, violating its stated position of neutrality.  Until then Kentucky was walking a delicate balance of a pro-Southern governor, an official position of neutrality, a populace sympathizing more and more with the Union, and Northern and Southern armies camped on its doorstep. 

In response to Pillow's invasion, Union forces under Brig. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant entered Kentucky a couple days later.  Kentucky's governor wanted everyone out, but the General Assembly basically sided with the Union, setting the stage for a shadow Confederate government.  Overall command of Union forces in the region (the Department of the Cumberland) rested with Brig. Gen. Robert Anderson (hero of Fort Sumter) and later with Brig. Gen. William T. Sherman, both of whom seemed overwhelmed by the task before them.  Their pleas for more soldiers presumably influenced the War Department to route the 79th Pennsylvania and a couple other Pennsylvania regiments to Kentucky.

Read more:
Kentucky in the Civil War Wikipedia page
The Civil War in Kentucky: Battle for the Bluegrass State by Kent Masterson Brown

Brig. Gen. Robert Anderson, initial commander of the Department of the Cumberland
By Mathew Brady [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons