USA > Pennsylvania > A biographical album of prominent Pennsylvanians, v. 1 > Part 29
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The story of Sumter is a long and interesting one. Its defence was heroic, considering the primitive conditions of our war material. Only two or three men were killed, and several wounded; but it was more important in its results than many battles where the loss in killed and wounded footed up many hun- dred. The bombardment of Fort Sumter lasted less than thirty-six hours, but, when the handful of Federal troops which had defended it surrendered what was left, havoc seemed to have reigned. The last officer to leave the surrendered fort was Assistant Surgeon Crawford, who remained by the side of a wounded man. The " Isabel," with the command on board, awaited his coming, and then sailed out to join the fleet beyond the bar, which had come down too late to give relief to Sumter.
The stern realities of war were now to be faced. The little handful of troops which had left Fort Sumter in ruins had reached New York harbor, and were resting on Governor's Island. They were the subject of much curious inquiry. They had witnessed the first stroke of war, and the officers, especially, were honored everywhere, and called upon to tell and retell the story of the bombard- ment and defence. Tragic as it was, it was very soon dwarfed by the dramatic stories of the fresh combats which followed each other in rapid succession. The line officers who came from Fort Sumter were rapidly promoted. It was not so easy to reward a surgeon, though equally deserving with the rest. Major Anderson had mentioned Dr. Crawford in his dispatches for efficient services, both as surgeon and commander of troops. He had gone further, and recom- mended that he be brevetted for gallant and meritorious services at Sumter ; but for this there was no precedent. The President, in his practical way, very soon solved the problem. Mr. James Lesley, Jr., the chief clerk of the War Department, telegraphed Assistant Surgeon Crawford to come to Washington. He secured leave of absence and went to the National Capital. On his arrival, the President tendered him the position of Major of the Thirteenth Infantry, or of the Lieu- tenant-Coloneley of the Sixteenth. After taking time for consideration, Dr. Crawford accepted the majority of the Thirteenth Regiment, of which William Tecumseh Sherman was the Colonel, and Philip H. Sheridan the senior Captain. He was commissioned the 14th of May, 1861, and reported to Gen. W. S. Rose- crans at Gauley Bridge, West Va., in October, 1861. IIis first duty was as Assistant Inspector-General of the Department. He served directly with the
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troops, however, and rendered efficient service during the whole of Rosecrans' West Virginia campaign. Upon its conclusion he was recommended by his commanding General for appointment as Brigadier-General of Volunteers.
On April 25, 1862, he was given his first star, and ordered to report to Major- General Banks, commanding the Department of the Shenandoah. He joined him at Strasburg just as Jackson and Ewell were moving upon Winchester, and at his request accompanied him personally through that battle. He was commended for meritorious services in General Banks' reports and dispatches to army head- quarters. When the Army of the Shenandoah was reorganized he was given the First Brigade of the First Division (Williams'), and on the Ist of June led his command up the Valley of Virginia. During all the summer operations which followed in that section General Crawford took a prominent part. On the 8th of August he was thrown forward with his command to check the advance of the enemy's forces that were moving under Jackson towards Culpepper. He took up a strong position on Cedar Run, supporting Bayard and his cavalry under an artillery fire, maintaining his position until the arrival of his corps on the morning of the 9th. In the battle which took place, he commanded on the right, conducting a desperate charge of his brigade on the enemy's left, in which and in the subsequent hand-to-hand fight he lost half of his command. He was again commended by the commanding General for efficient service.
At the second battle of Bull Run he commanded the First Division of his Corps, but was not engaged. He moved with it into Maryland on the 4th of September, arriving at night on the field of South Mountain. At the battle of Antietam he commanded his brigade until General Mansfield was killed, and then took the First Division for the balance of the fight. In the engagement on the second day he was severely wounded while personally commanding the First Division of his Corps. He refused, however, to leave the field, and remained on duty although suffering severely from his wound. For his gallant conduct in this engagement he was highly mentioned in the report of his immediate com- manding officer, and in the official reports of General MeClellan. After the bat- tle he was removed to his native home for treatment. It was a long time before he was fit for duty again. Before he was in condition to take command in the field he applied for some light duty, and was ordered to report as a member of Rickett's Military Commission, which convened in Washington, February 2, 1863. When able to mount his horse he was relieved of this duty at his own request, and ordered to report to General Heintzelman, commanding the defenees of Washington. At the request of Governor Curtin, General Cameron and Col. A. K. McClure, he was placed at the head of the Pennsylvania Reserves. He assumed command of that famous division, composed of Sickel's, Fisher's and McCandless' brigades-troops which had once been led by Meade, Reynolds and McCall. By a forced march he joined the Army of the Potomac with his com- mand at FFrederick, Md., on June 23d, and was assigned to the Third Division of the Fifth Corps, under Sykes.
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The battle of Gettysburg immediately followed, and in the second day's fight, when the troops in front were giving way before the onset of Longstreet's corps, General Crawford's division was thrown forward in front of Little Round Top, and had that terrible combat in and near the wheat field near the Devil's Den which has passed into history as one of the chief incidents of that bloody event. .Twenty officers and two hundred men were lost in an hour from Crawford's division. For this work he was brevetted a Colonel in the regular army, and the order read: " For gallant and meritorious service at the battle of Gettysburg." After the war he purchased and still owns the Devil's Den, and the ground over which his troops fought in the battle.
In all of the operations that followed Gettysburg the Pennsylvania Reserves took their full share of duty; but there were little more than skirmishes during the fall and winter, and they were not called to face the hazards in a great engagement until the tussle in the Wilderness. When the army was reorganized, on the 25th of March, 1864, and the First Corps was consolidated with the Fifth, General Crawford was retained as commander of the Third Division of the Fifth Corps, under Major-General Warren.
From the Wilderness to Cold Harbor General Crawford commanded that division and shared the fortunes of Grant's army. On May 5 and 6, 1864, he was engaged with his division in the heavy fighting in the Wilderness. At Spottsylvania the division lost heavily, and from the morning of the Sth until the 1 1th of May it was almost continuously engaged. The severe work done by the division may be read in the terrific losses it sustained. From Spottsylvania to Cold Harbor the record of hard fighting was the same. Then followed the combat of the North Anna, and other minor engagements incident to the moving of a large army in a hostile country. Bethesda Church followed soon after. At this place General Crawford performed most important service with his division, and inflicted a heavy loss on the enemy in both officers and men. The combat was notable from the fact that it was fought by the Pennsylvania Reserves and a brigade of New York heavy artillery, the Reserves being within one day of the expiration of their term of service. It was one of those examples of sturdy heroism which characterized that famous organization during the entire war. At the moment it was called upon to fight this battle its muster-out rolls were being prepared, and thoughts of home filled the minds of its members. One day later at Bethesda Church the command was mustered out after more than a year of service under General Crawford, during which it had never been beaten, and had made a record for gallant and meritorious conduct which will live as long as heroic deeds are chronicled in history. All of the Reserves, however, did not go home. Two thousand of them re-enlisted and became veterans, serving until the end of the war. The fame of the "Bucktails" was perpetuated in name and deeds until Lee's surrender, and the One Hundred and Ninetieth and One Hun- dred and Ninety-First Regiments of the Pennsylvania Volunteers-the old Reserve Division-was represented until the last gun at Appomattox; but these veterans were taken from General Crawford's command.
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The twenty-two regiments of the First Corps were shortly after, by order of General Grant, consolidated into a division and assigned as the Third Division of the Fifth Corps. To this General Crawford was assigned as a commander, in which position he continued until the end of the war. With the division he participated in the siege of Petersburg, the battle of Weldon Railroad and other engagements, and in Sheridan's terrific onslaught at Five Forks, which was the death-blow to Lee's army, he performed most conspicuous services. For his part in this battle he was brevetted a Brigadier-General in the regular army "for gallant and meritorious service." From Five Forks until Lee's surrender at Appomattox the story of hard work and good deeds was the same. The record was then made up, and upon the recommendation of his superiors he was bre- vetted a Major-General of Volunteers "for conspicuous gallantry in the battles of the Wilderness, Spottsylvania Court-House, Jericho Mills, Bethesda Church, Petersburg and Weldon Railroad," and " for faithful services in the war " he was brevetted a Major-General in the regular army.
After the close of the war General Crawford was granted a long leave of absence on account of disability from wounds received in battle. He finally made application to be assigned to duty, and took command of his regiment, the Second Infantry, with head-quarters in Kentucky. While on this duty he was made Colonel of the Sixteenth Infantry, which was later consolidated with the Second, losing its identity in the army list and becoming the Second Regiment of the peace footing. Thus, by one of those curious freaks of destiny, General Crawford succeeded to the command of a regiment of which, in 1859, he had been the Assistant Surgeon.
After the consolidation and the concentration of his troops at Atlanta, Ga., he was assigned to duty as military commander in Alabama. He established his head-quarters at Huntsville, and for three years commanded the troops in that State, to the mutual satisfaction of the Government and the people among whom he was stationed. The strain of the war, however, had been so great upon Gen- eral Crawford that he began suffering again from his wounds, and he was retired upon his own application. The full grade of Brigadier-General of the regular army was conferred upon him by special enactment. This, with the rank of Major-General by brevet in the regular army, he still holds.
Years of active public service, both in war and in peace, had endowed General Crawford with a thorough knowledge of his own country. He had travelled extensively and seen much. Ilis retirement gave him the opportunity to widen the range of his knowledge, and almost immediately after he left active service he went abroad ; first with a view of visiting the sanitary institutions in the south of France, with the hope of there obtaining relief from the distress caused by the wound received in the war. At all the favorite resorts of the literati and military men General Crawford was a welcome guest. From the Duke of Cambridge, Commander-in-Chief of the British army, and Lord Wolseley as well as some of the other leading generals of England, he received attentions,
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both military and social, and stood high in their esteem. While in Paris he became interested in the operations of Don Carlos in Spain, so he left the capital of France, and passing the Pyrenees in a private conveyance, joined Don Carlos at Los Arcos, and saw him fight the battle of Viana on the Ebro. After an interesting and extensive trip in Spain he returned to Paris, and was im- mediately sent for by Mr. Washburn, the American Minister. The demands of the American Government for the release of the "Virginius " and indemnity for the outrages committed at Santiago de Cuba were to be sent by special messenger to Madrid. Mr. Washburn had an interview with General Crawford and offered him this important mission, which he accepted, and the same night left for Spain, reaching its capital after a rough passage. At that time relations between the United States and Spain were very much strained and our Minister at Madrid was almost a prisoner in his own house. Immediately upon his arrival at the Spanish capital General Crawford reported his mission to the American Minister, who at once proceeded to inform the Spanish Government of the demands made by the United States. The reply of the Spanish Premier was prompt and satis- factory. In less than forty-eight hours after his arrival General Crawford left Madrid for the United States with Spain's acquiescence in the demands of his Gov- ernment. After delivering the dispatches to the Secretary of State, Hon. Hamil- ton Fish, in Washington, he remained in this country for some time visiting friends and then again sailed for the old world.
During this trip he visited all the old Eastern countries, traversing the deserts in his visit to Syria. Egypt, Turkey and Palestine, and all the old lands rich in Biblical lore were carefully explored and new acquaintances made and fresh mines of information tapped. His classical training had developed a fondness for archæological study, and it was while at Aleppo, in Syria, in 1876, that he made a copy of the famous Aleppo Stone, of which the Biblical Archeological Society of Great Britain has reproduced a sketch from the drawing made by him under great difficulties. Upon his first attempting to sketch it the Moslem students drove him off, for it was worshipped by the Turks for its supposed cura- tive qualities ; he then appealed to the Pasha, who granted him protection while he made the drawing. It was fortunate for history that he did, for a year later, the Moslems, in their fanaticism, destroyed it, and but for General Crawford's perfect sketch, which the Archæological Society of Great Britain has preserved in enduring form, no authentic record of it would remain.
After these years of travel General Crawford, owing to trouble from his wounds, has been compelled to remain in America, excepting a short trip which he made to Iceland. For the past few years he has been engaged in putting in shape his notes of travel, but the major part of his time has been devoted to writing his book on the " Genesis of the Civil War," which has but lately been published, and is a story of Sumter, political and military. Only three of the officers of the little garrison at Fort Sumter are still alive. General Seymour is an artist in Italy ; General Doubleday is still compiling his memoirs, and is en-
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gaged in the active affairs of life; and General Crawford, the youngest of them all, though physically disabled, looks hopefully forward still to years of intellectual usefulness.
The history of the war records few such examples of rapid promotion, success- ful effort and efficient service. Warren, who fell at Bunker Hill, was a physi- cian ; so was General Cialdini, who commanded the Italian army. Save in General Crawford's case, and in these two instances, no officer has ever risen to a high military command from the medical staff. The case of General Crawford is all the more notable from the fact that, while he was not a West Point gradu- ate, he never failed in maintaining his position, and commanded the respect of all his comrades in the army, whether graduates of the military academy or men appointed from civil life.
In the higher branches of civil life General Crawford has also obtained a com- manding position. After the close of the war the University of Pennsylvania conferred upon him the degree of LL.D. Not long after his first trip to Europe he was made a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society of England, and also a Fellow of the Biblical Archaeological Society of Great Britain. He is also a member of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, a corresponding member of the New York Historical Society, as well as a member of the American Geo- graphical Society and the Archaeological Institute. He was twice a delegate of the American Geographical Society to the Geographical Congress in Europe. His immediate family connection with the University of Pennsylvania, his Alma Mater, has been long and honorable through a series of years, stretching back to the early part of the century. His great-uncle, Rev. Samuel B. Wylie, D. D., had been the Vice-Provost of the University and the distinguished Professor of Languages for many years. His father, Rev. Samuel W. Crawford, D. D., was the Principal of the Academical Department, and was eminent as well for his scholastic attainments and his admirable system of instruction as for the purity of his personal character. Two years ago General Crawford was chosen one of the Vice-Presidents of the Society of the Alumni of the University, which posi- tion he yet holds. He has recently presented to the Trustees of the University six hundred and eighty-seven bound volumes and three hundred unbound volumes, comprising works of great value on Herculaneum and Pompeii, and a varied collection of works on Philosophy, Archaeology, Science and Art.
In 1885 the Pennsylvania Reserve Association presented to the State a full- length military portrait of their old commander. It was received by the Gov- ernor (Hoyt) in a glowing and appreciative response, and now has a permanent place in the Capitol among the distinguished men of Pennsylvania.
General Crawford is now enjoying that higher phase of intellectual existence which comes to a man of his mature years who has lived a useful life of achieve- ment, and stored away mines of information yet to be drawn upon. In the years to come his pen is to be as ready in giving them to the world as his sword was efficient in the defence of his country. FRANK A. BURR.
GEN. E. BURD GRUBB
GEN. EDWARD BURD GRUBB.
G ENERAL E. BURD GRUBB, now residing at Edgewater Park, N. J., son of Edward Burd and Euphemia B. (Parker) Grubb, was born, November 13, 1841, in Burlington, N. J., and, while not strictly speaking a Pennsylvanian, his immediate ancestors were, and his business and social relations have been so intimately connected with Philadelphia and Philadelphians that he is looked upon as a citizen of that place. He is descended from distinguished Revolutionary stock. His great-grandfather, Col. Peter Grubb, who commanded the Second Regiment of Pennsylvania Associators in Washington's army during the Revo- lution, married Mary Shippen Burd, daughter of Col. James Burd, one of General Washington's staff, and owned the whole of the Cornwall Ore Mines. His father, a native of Lancaster county, Pa., an extensive miner of iron ores and manufacturer of pig-iron, died, August 27, 1867, at Burlington, where he had resided many years. His mother, a daughter of Isaac B. Parker, of Carlisle, Pa., was also a Pennsylvanian by birth.
General Grubb received his preliminary education in the grammar school of his native eity, and matriculated in Burlington College, from which he graduated with first honors in 1860. In response to President Lincoln's call of May 3, 1861, he entered the service as Second Lieutenant of Company C, Third Regiment of New Jersey, going into camp at Camp Olden, near Trenton. On June 28, 1861, the three New Jersey regiments reported to General Scott at Washington. The following July the Third Regiment formed one of the reserve regiments, and participated in the first battle of Bull Run. At Fairfax, after the battle of Bull Run, the Fourth New Jersey Regiment was added, and the whole force (First Brigade) was placed under command of Brigadier-General Philip Kearney. When General Kearney took possession of Manassas Lieutenant Grubb was promoted to a first lieutenancy, and assigned to Company D, Third Regiment. The brigade being soon after attached to the First Division of the First Army Corps, embarked from Alexandria for the mouth of the York river. General Kearney being assigned a division, Colonel Taylor assumed command, and Lieutenant Grubb was appointed to a position on the latter's staff, where he remained until that officer's death. After the battle of Gaines' Mills, on June 27th, the New Jersey Brigade (then the First Brigade, First Division, Sixth Army Corps), numbering two thousand eight hundred men, had left to answer at roll- call but nine hundred and sixty-five. The brigade was encamped near White Oak Creek, directly between the fire of the rebel and Union forces, when the former with sixty pieces of artillery commenced a galling fire. The New Jersey troops quickly formed in line, and Lieutenant Grubb was immediately sent for orders to General Slocum's headquarters in the face of the enemy's fire. Not finding that officer he returned, but orders being imperatively necessary he gal-
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lantly repeated his dangerous ride, this time being successful. At Bull Run Bridge, 1862, General Taylor, without either cavalry or artillery to support him, bore the brunt of the battle, being nobly sustained by his men ; but the day was lost to the Union forces, and General Taylor fatally wounded.
"Stonewall " Jackson said he had rarely seen a body of men who stood up so gallantly in the face of such overwhelming odds as did General Taylor's com- mand. After the battle, in which General Kearney was killed and Jackson repulsed, General Pope withdrew the army to their intrenchments on the bank of the Potomac, the First Brigade resuming its old position at Camp Seminary. Here Colonel Torbert succeeded General Taylor, and Lieutenant Grubb was assigned to a position on his staff, having previously held and returned the com- mission as Captain of Company B, Third New Jersey Volunteers. Subsequently General Torbert's brigade distinguished themselves in the charge at Crampton's Pass, of the South Mountain, Md., where they annihilated Cobb's Legion and drove the rebels from the defences, capturing the position, September 14, 1862, Lee retreating across the Potomac, leaving his dead on the field. The enemy lost fifteen thousand men. The Fifteenth and Twenty-third Regiments were added to the brigade, and on November 23d Lieutenant Grubb was promoted to Major of the latter regiment, and on the 26th of the following month was again promoted to be Lieutenant-Colonel of the same for gallant conduct at the battle of Freder- icksburg. On December 12th the brigade crossed the river to take part in the battle of Fredericksburg. General Torbert, in his official report, states that " Major Grubb, of the Twenty-third, deserves great credit for the manner in which he fought a part of the regiment." Another authority says that it was " due to him that the right of the regiment, when thrown into confusion by the terrible fire to which it was subjected, was rallied and led into the thickest of the combat at Fredericksburg."
The command was subsequently engaged at Chancellorsville, and here the same writer, speaking of Colonel Grubb, states that "always at the head of his regiment, mounted until his horse was shot from under him, then on foot, still animating the nien and leading them on, himself the farthest in the front and last to leave the field, seeming to bear a charmed life, he moved from point to point calm and cool, the men nerved to daring by his example, until further exertion no longer availed." The Twenty-third afterwards went into camp at White Oak Church. A mutiny had almost broken out in the regiment by reason of receiving orders to cross the Rappahannock instead of being mustered out at Washington, their term of service having expired, when Colonel Grubb addressed them at evening parade so forcibly that they reconsidered their action and said they would go. Crossing the river they threw up a breastwork in front of the city and heights of Fredericksburg, upon which the enemy opened fire, but with- out inflicting loss. Finally orders were received to march for home. Upon reaching Beverly, N. J., a short delay ensued before the men could be mustered out. Late in June Lee marched into Pennsylvania, and Harrisburg was threat-
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