Commemorative biographical record of Dutchess County, New York, Part 29

Author: J.H. Beers & Co
Publication date: 1897
Publisher: Chicago, J. H. Beers & co.
Number of Pages: 1354

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While producing his six Studies upon Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, and James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell, he gathered a large number of works and portraits all across Europe, even to St. Petersburg. This collection, which may be considered unique, with two marble

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busts of Washington, one by Greenough and one by Crawford, both originals, and the first most likely without a duplicate; also a beauti- ful bust of his grandfather, John Watts, and of his father, Frederic de Peyster; likewise a miniature fac-simile of George A. Bissell's statue of Lincoln, of which the original was erected in Edinburgh, Scotland, and paid for by subscribers in this country, of whom the General was one; and a medallion in bronze of his cousin, Maj .- Gen. Phil Kearny, were pre- sented to Columbia College (now University).

One of the most remarkable publications of General de Peyster was a series of articles on the Medical Organization of the Roman and other Ancient Armies, published in the Army and Navy Journal in 1864.

The famous Professor Charles Anthon, of Columbia College, who could not be charged with the crime of being ever complimentary to pretenders, who had styled General de Peyster " the Tyrtæus of the War" on ac- count of some stirring pieces of military poetry he had written, when applied to to assist further investigation on this interesting subject, replied finally that he could not offer the slightest assistance, since the General had ex- hausted all available authorities. *

General de Peyster has also won reputation as a poet. A number of his published poems are characterized by a deeply poetical spirit, and elicited the admiration and praise of the famous author of "Thanatopsis," William Cullen Bryant, who was also one of the ablest of crit- ics. Bryant declared that the General's poems " had the true ring." His poem on " Oris- kany" was translated into German, while he

*The author notes in corroboration what justifying or justifica- tory vouchers or evidence he has examined

NEW YORK, October 5, 1864.

DEAR SIR :- The information which you seek is scattered over many ancient writers. 1 think, however, that one of them. Vege- tins, will answer your purpose. His work is entitled "Rei Militaris Instituta, " and may be found, I suppose, in the Astor Library. It not. my copy is at your service. You will find in one part an account of the duties of the Prefect of the camp, among which is the super- intendence of the camp " Medici." physicians who were probably all freedmen. This alone would prove the existence of a Medical Department in the Roman armies. In another part (Book III .. chap. ? ), there is a particular chapter entitled " Quemadmodum San- itas Gubernature Exercitus, " embracing plans of encampment, water. reasons medicinal exercise, etc

You will find some good intormation also in Le Clerc s "His- toire de la Medicine " and "Sprangell's Histoire de Medicine par Jourdan." There is also a "Sketch of the History of M .dicine,' founded originally by Bockbock, of which I have a copy. If I can be of any further aid to yon, you may command my services without hesitation. Very truly yours. CHARLES ANTHON.

Mr. DE PEYSTER, Tivoli, N Y.

NEW YORK, October S. 1569.

DEAR SIR Many thanks for the two articles from the Vray and Nary Journal, which I herewith return. They do you a very great deal of credit My reference to Vegetins was like carrying coals to Newcastle The poetry is capital, and I hive shown it to several of my friends-one of whom wants to rechristen yon "The American Tyrtæns. ' I handed the two photographs to my sister. who has placed them. as great prizes, in her album.

Very truly yours. CHARLES ANTHON.

General DE PRYSTER, Tivoli.

himself made a translation of Korner's famous " My Fatherland," which is remarkable for its vigor and fidelity to the original, both in re- spect to the warrior rythm and inspiring lan- guage of the notable patriot appeal. This stir- ring battle hymn was one of those trumpet- blasts of patriotic genius which aroused Prussia to arms, and led to the subsequent overthrow of Napoleon.

On a certain occasion in 1864, General de- Peyster paid a visit to the office of the chief editor of the New York Times, who seemed lost in thought. This gentleman had previously observed that he considered his visitor was one of the very few (about a dozen) original think- ers he had ever met. " What are you think- ing about so intensely?" " That the ancients, especially the Romans, should have had no Medical Administration connected with their armies." "Nonsense; they had. Who told you they did not have?" "Professor Now Professor was considered a judge of last appeal on all questions upon which he elected to sit in judgment. "The Professor manifests his ignorance in talking so. What reason does he give for such an opinion?" " He says Cæsar makes no mention of them [Medical Men or Medical and Surgical Corps] in his Commentaries." "A very poor argument. Does Cæsar mention camp-diseases among his troops? Do you suppose that his camps were any more free from disease than any camps have ever been? To prove that the great au- thority, Professor does not know what he is talking about I will demonstrate the con- trary to be the fact."

The result was Gen. de Peyster wrote a series of articles for the Army and Navy Jour- nal, in which he showed that the ancients had far better medical arrangements than mediaval troops possessed, and far better than most of the European armies enjoyed down to within one hundred and fifty years.

He was proceeding to produce additional confirmatory testimony when the editor refused to print any more, remarking, "Are you not satisfied? You have got your opponent down, and I will not let you kick him or grind his face in the dust."

So the balance of the matter remains in manuscript to this day.

A writer has characterized General de Peyster as "an author of extraordinary fertility and unlimited scope, the omnivorous character of whose studies is displayed on every page of his

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writings; an author whose works comprise scores of volumes, with hundreds of smaller works, treatises and pamphlets, of which the entire amount would be doubled by the addi- tion of innumerable articles and series of papers published in magazines and newspapers, and never yet collected together; the author of poetry and drama of an unusual excellence, and an endless miscellany on almost every conceivable subject, and who yet, in his own peculiarly pre-eminent field as a military biog- rapher, military historian and military critic, has no peer in America."# Some indication (though merely that ) of his miscellaneous authorship has been given in the preceding pages. But his special place as a military critic-and it is not an exaggeration to say that he "has no peer in America" in this ca- pacity-can be readily shown by the citation of a few characterizations of him by persons competent to pronounce judgment.

The late Lieut. (Brevet Capt.) Frederick Whittaker, author of "Volunteer Cavalry," etc., after asserting that "until the close of the [Civil] war " we Americans " had been ac- customed to look to Europe, and especially to France, for our military historians," adds, emphatically: "But we are glad to say that we have changed all that, and now possess in America a military historian of the first rank." It is, of course, General de Peyster whom he thus eulogizes, and whom he describes as the "author of the best military writing our coun- try has yet produced." It was of de Peyster also that Gen. Barnard, brother of the former President of Columbia College, exclaimed: " His judgment of military matters is almost infallible !" It was, again, de Peyster's ex- haustive methods of research and indefatiga- ble energy in collecting authorities to which Gen. Adam Badeau bore witness when he wrote to a friend: " He has accumulated a wonderful amount of original matter, some of which is absolutely invaluable, and I expect to avail myself of it." It was de Peyster, like- wise, of whom Gen. W. T. Sherman, in con- junction with Maj .- Gen. H. W. Slocum, wrote: "He is thoroughly conversant with all the military operations of both armies during the late war. He has written considerably on this subject, and his writings have attracted much attention." General de Peyster, also it was, whom Brev. Brig .- Gen. William P. Wain-

wright thus characterized: " His keen eye for topography, his long and still unceasing military education, his uncommon memory, his powers of description, and his opportuni- ties for using his abilities, constitute him the only, as well as the first, military critic in America." When Maj .- Gen. A. Pleasanton penned the words: " His great acquaintance with military matters, his long and faithful re- search into the military histories of modern nations, his correct comprehension of our own late war, and his intimacy with many of our leading generals and statesmen during the period of its continuance, with his tried and devoted loyalty and patriotism," -- it was of General de Peyster of whom he wrote, while Gen. Grant endorsed this characterization in writing. Of de Peyster, also, Maj .- Gen. A. A. Humphreys wrote:

WASHINGTON, MAY 30, 1872.

MY DEAR GENERAL :- I fully appreciate your labors, which I am conscious have brought into clear relief what was before obscure and ill-defined. Let me for a moment suppose I am writing to a friend, not yourself, for you are one of the few persons to whom one may write, as it were, impersonally, and that implies a very high tribute to your sense of the just.

Your industry in collecting facts upon any subject you treat of, is literally untiring. In a long experience among the working men of the country, I have rarely found your equal, never, I think, your superior; and I may pay the same tribute to your conscientious labor, in the task of evolving the truth from the mass of matter collected, much of it contradictory and apparently irrecon- cilable with any known truths. Possessing a clear appre- ciation of the great fundamental principles which should govern military operations and battles, you are quick to perceive adherence to, or departure from, them, and as the extended study of the great military writers and his- torians has imbued your mind with just military views, so has it richly stored your memory with a redundant supply of apt illustrative examples for every important event or incident of our war.

To all these qualifications as a military critic, you have added a ready, rapid, courageous pen, and a power of application. that physical ailments, growing out of a delicate physique, have not impaired, though they have sorely tried it -* * Sincerely Yours,

(Signed) A. A. HUMPHREYS.

To Maj .- Gen. J. Watts de Peyster.

WASHINGTON, Sunday, September 29, 1872.

MY DEAR GENERAL (DE PEVSTER): I returned to Washington, * * found a letter for me from Gen. Ba-

deau, * -X- intending to send you extracts from Ba- deau's letter, in which he speaks so highly (and justly) of your labors and papers. *

* He says, "you have accumulated a wonderful amount of original matter, some of which is absolutely invaluable, and I expect to avail myself of it, etc., etc." You would not think I had lost interest in the subject of your labors, had you heard me talk to some Philadelphians about the pursuit of Lee. I learnt only this summer of the effect of Stanton's tele- gram on the 6th or ith of April, giving the whole credit of overtaking and attacking Lee, on the 6th of April, to Sheridan. "There," they said in Philadelphia, (1 am told,) " the generals of the Army of the Potomac are lag- gards; it required Sheridan and Grant to overtake and beat Lee." What an outrage on Wright and myself that

** Gen. J. Watts de Peyster, Author, Soldier, Historian, Military Biographer and Critic. ' New York, 1894, p. 3.

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telegram was! We laggards! The impression thus made on the public in this movement of success, has never been effaced; it remains to this day. To you, I am indebted, my dear general, for the first presentation of the subject to the public, that will tend to efface this impression.

Sincerely Yours,

(Signed) A. A. HUMPHREYS,

Major-General U. S. V .; Chief of Staff. Army of the Potomac, 1-63-'4; Brig .- Gen .; Brev. Maj-Gen. ; Chief of Engineers, U. S. A.

-- -

Still more significant was the testimony of Sir Edward Cust, General, and author of the nine volumes of "Annals of the Wars" and six volumes of "Lives of the Warriors," in dedicating his second series to Gen. de Pey- ster, whom he only knew through the latter's writings. From this dedication of twenty-eight pages the following sentences have been extract- ed: * I am desirous of marking my deep obliga- tions to you by requesting permission to dedi- cate my concluding volume to you and to your military brethren. We appear to be men of much the same mind, and of common sympa- thies, desirous alike of employing our common language for a common object-that of en- lightening our comrades of a common profes- sion with the necessity of applying the pre- cepts of military history to the useful compre- hension of their calling. Both of us agreeing that the best instruction for all officers is to be acquired from the deeds of the old masters in the art of war ::

= The United States were on the eve of a melancholy crisis of in- ternational conflict, when you naturally wished and you very reasonably desired to show, by the introduction of a better system of war, how to stay the waste of blood among your countrymen in a strife which made every brother on either side a soldier. :1: # I, on the other hand, had fallen . upon the sere and yellow leaf' % = and *

had = * as an old stager, become disturbed by the intrusion of a new school at our military colleges, pre-eminently among the instructors of military history, who were seeking to introduce a theory of war, against which I sought to recommend a knowledge of the past, or, as you put it, ' practical strat- egy.' * I do not claim the merit

of originality. : * My works were written by me for the use of youths who have already entered the service of arms, and whose career has commenced, but whose pro- fession has yet to be learned. You address the higher ranks of the army, and ap- pear to seek to philosophize the art of war by showing it to be capable, under its most scien- tific phases, of being less lavish of human

blood. :: * To both our grievances the remedy is the same-practical strategy. I readily accept from you this expression. It comprises all that be said or written upon skill in war, and while I agree with you that this is best evinced by sparing the lives of its instruments as much as possible, I hold that this is in fact the whole art of war."

Reference has already been made to a re- mark of Gen. Adam Badeau, in a letter to a friend, in view of the help he expected to receive from Gen. de Peyster's resources in connection with an important military work on which he was engaged at the time. "He," (de Peyster), wrote Badeau, "has accumulated a wonderful amount of original matter, some of which is absolutely invaluable, and I expect to avail myself of it." Not a few have been under the deepest obligation to Gen. de Peys- ter in this way, although he has not always received the credit which is, one would think, the very least which a service of this character deserves. The most astonishing case of this kind is to be credited to the late Comte de Paris, who, in spite of the greatest obligation to General de Peyster, made not the slightest acknowledgment in his work on our Civil War. When the Count was preparing the volume of his history, embracing the battle of Gettys- burg, he enlisted the assistance of General de Peyster, who himself, or through his friend, Major-General A. A. Humphreys, U. S. A., must have furnished the Count information, including statistics and opinions founded on thorough examination, equivalent to hundreds of pages of paper. The Count acknowledged the correctness of his correspondents' judg- ment, and his American editor or translator. after applying to the General for the trans- lation of a passage which no one else could explain, wrote that he recognized the influence of the General throughout the Gettysburg pages.

Although the Count remained in the most intimate correspondence with the General-a correspondence which has been preserved- writing continually from whatever spots the General's letters reached him, even from the Escurial in Spain, he did not acknowledge in his introduction to the Gettysburg volume his indebtedness to his American correspondent : most likely because General de Peyster was not a regular army officer; consequently, tlie General refused to meet him when he came to the United States, although he admitted to a

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relative how much assistance the General had afforded.

So astounding was the Comte's conduct in this inatter that mutual friends in America, cognizant of all the facts, did not scruple to express in writing their disapproval of what he had done. Thus in a letter to General de Peyster, dated at Philadelphia, June 29, 1893, soon after the appearance of the Comte's book. his American editor wrote: « In place of writing letters he (Comte de Paris) had bet- ter have done you justice. If ever I have a chance I shall say so to him in pretty strong language."

The same writer, in a letter to General de Peyster dated at Philadelphia June 23, 1883. says:

It was the Comte's duty, after having used your pamphlets and reviews to the extent that he did, and itx shown by the text, to have at least expressed his obliga- tion. And the biographical portion appears in some cases to lo a reprint. That is rather strong, but I mean what I write.

It may have been the unusual method of appropriating General de Peyster's materials, alluded to here, which made the Comte so reluctant to give him credit, very prudently deeming it unwise to advertise the source of Inatter thets laid hold of. The editor's sugges- tion that the Comte should have "done justice" in "place of writing letters," is in allusion to the Comte's prolonged correspondence with de Peyster. Indeed, the Comte seemed to over- look the fact that in this correspondence he had left behind him the most indubitable proofs of the obligation which he was sc loth to con- fess. Such "royal" injustice is of curious in- terest. and some passages from the Comte's letters to General de Peyster will be given here. Lest the charge of a deviation from exact lit- eralness might be made, the precise phrase- ology and spelling of the Comte will also be preserved. His command of English was won- derfully direct for a foreigner, but not abso- lutely perfect. In a long letter to the General. dated November 23, 1877, he wrote:

I must apologize for having been so long before re- turning to you my best thanks for the valuable informa- tion concerning the battle of Gettysburg which you were kind enough to furnish me with, both in your letter and in the notes which you forwarded to me as a kind of appendix to your pamplet on that battle. I was so busy upon all these materials that I had no time to write. I have now to acknowledge the receipt of your letters dated the 21st of September, the fifth, 15th and 2nd of October, and the first of November. I really feel quite ashamed to have left unanswered until now so many and auch interesting letters, but if I did not write to you I worked hard on these letters as well as on the notes from your " Decisive Con-

dicts," which go as far as No. 6%. I dare say I know the whole set by heart. It is full of varied information of ris which throws a great and often a net light upon the cents and of incidents which the historian carefully picks up to reduce the barrenness of his narrative. *

* Such are the main points upon which I think it necessary to tell you my opinion in answer to the remarks contained in your letters. Whenever I have only to say anun and fully agree with you, I do not inxist. I shall avail myself of your kind permission to put you frankly any question which my future readings may suggest.

He writes to the same, under date Decem- ber 18, 1877:

Receive my best thanks for your two letters of No- vember 21st and December Ist, as well as for the notes which you did send me under the same seal as a continu- ation of those previously received by me. * * * knew of the existence of the maps which you mention of Adams county, Pa., and Frederick county, Md., but I have not yet been able to get a copy of these through the American agency of Stevens in London. Where could I apply to get these?

On January 29, 1878, he writes again (in a letter of very great length):

l avail myself of the opportunity to acknowledge the receipt of your letters of December 19th, 29th, 30th and of January Ist, as well as of Gen. Whipple's report with your postscript. You seem to think that some of your let- ters addressed to me last summer have been lost. It could be indeed very unfortunate and I hope it is not the case; but in order to ascertain the fact, as I keep all those letters to- gether, so as to be able to consult them as often as I cant, as soon as I return home I shall send you a list of every letter received from you last year. You may be axxured that I shall carefully weight the information which you gave me concerning the numbers engaged at Gettysburg. * * * I quite agree with you and my areellent friend. Gen. Humphreyx, when you assert that the Army of the Poto- mac did not number as many men on the field of battle as would appear from the field returns prepared some days before. * * * You see by the length of my answer hour fully I value your letters and my gratitude for the trouble you take in giving me every information within your reach.

On March 6, 1878, he wrote:

I thank you very much for your letter of January 29th and February 16th, the last received yesterday, with the photographs which you were kind enough to send me. * * * I shall gratefully accept any papers concerning reliable and unpublished information on the Civil war, posterior to July 4, 1863. What you tell me of Sickles' coolness when wounded is very striking. * * The plan and pamphlet on Gettysburg are also received.

Again (March 23, 1878):

I have to acknowledge the receipt of your letters dated February 23rd and March Ist and 4th, and thank you must heartily for the varied information which these contain. * * * F received Ditterline's pamphlet, for which I thank you very much. * * * If there is any- thing which seems to me still doubtful I shall not fail to

Again, writing of Chancellorsville and Gettysburg, he says (April 19, 1878):

I had not the letters for the 20th of June. I thank you very much for the whole. * * * Thanks for the very full explanation given first hy Gen. Humphreys and then by yourself. * * * ! thank you for Fitz Lee's answer to Longstreet, which you took the trouble to send

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* * I am always grateful for the sincere ex-

* pression of your opinion on things and men. * As for your judgments on men you may rely on my discretion.

The long letter of May 12, 1878, contained the following acknowledgments:

I have to acknowledge the receipt of your letter dated April 10th and 20th, as well as of the copy of Gen. Humphreys' letter, his endorsement of a paper from the War Office, your Inaugural Address, as well as the num- ber of the Historical Magazine containing Maj. Kearny's letter. I thought I had already mentioned to you the latter, as I read these letters with great pleasure. I beg you to believe, my dear General, that I am always ready to revise the conclusions to which I may have come when- ever I get hold of documents or facts which throw a new light upon the questions which I have already studied. * * * I quite agree with you that Meade did not actually fight the whole of his men present for duty. ] do not think that he can be blamed for it. In the after- noon of July 2nd he collected on the threatened flank more troops than he could have fought with on that ground. On the 3rd, Lee's attack was so quickly and de- cisively repulsed that Meade could not before 4 P. M. have engaged more men than he did. A great general would no doubt have seized at once the opportunity of Pickett's repulse and taken the offensive. A direct attack on the front of Lee, covered as it was by the artillery, would in all probability have failed; but the counterpart of Longstreet's move the day before ought to have been attempted. Meade ought to have thrown forward from the Round Tops the 5th and the 6th Corps at once, so as to strike the Emmetsburg road south of Peach Orchard. He would no doubt have achieved a great success. Still, there is some excuse for a commander so new for not having adopted this bold design. But where I entirely agree with you, my dear General, it is in the judgment you pass on Meude's conduct from the 4th to the 14th of July. Even if Lee's army had been as strong as he believed, his conduct would be below criticismn: but if he was not aware of its weakness it is his fault, he should have tested it. He positively acted during these ten days as if he had no other object than to facilitate Lee's retreat into Virginia. I have come to that conclusion by the careful study of Meade's dispatches; but as these papers were given to me, most kindly by his own son, Col. Meade, I beg you to keep that opinion quite for yourself; it will be time to utter it when I publish my account. My deliberate opinion is that Meade, under the impression of the Con- federate repulse at Gettysburg, had' made up his mind never to attack, and to let Lee have his own ways, rather than to take the offensive on the field of battle.

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Commemorative biographical record of Dutchess County, New York, Part 29

Author: J.H. Beers & Co Publication date: 1897 Publisher: Chicago, J. H. Beers & co. Number of Pages: 1354

Author: J.H. Beers & Co
Publication date: 1897
Publisher: Chicago, J. H. Beers & co.
Number of Pages: 1354