INCLUDING REMINISCENCES OF FREDERIC W. DORR
JULY 1861 TO JUNE 1865
BY
JOHN W. DONN, ASSISTANT, U.S. COAST SURVEY
By instruction
from Prof. A.D. Bache, Supdt. U.S.Coast Survey, I was assigned to
duty with Genl McCall’s Division of the Army of the Potomac,
operating with F.W. Dorr and Cleveland Rockwell in the Topographical
Survey of the Country bordering upon the Potomac River and the approaches
north and west as far as the Great Falls. Completing this work we
joined the command of Genl W. F. Smith on the Virginia side and extended
the surveys from the Potomac nearly to Dranesville and Fairfax Court
House. Having passes beyond the lines our work embraced a belt of
country several miles wide lying between the opposing forces. During
this period Rockwell was relieved from duty with the Army of the Potomac
and I took charge of his unfinished work in Maryland and completed
it.
Chattanooga,
Tenn., vicinity. Tripod signal erected by Capts.
Dorr and Donn of U.S. Coast Survey at Pulpit Rock on Lookout
Mountain
Reference:
Civil War photographs, 1861-1865 / compiled by Hirst D. Milhollen
and Donald H. Mugridge,
Washington, D.C. : Library of Congress, 1977. No. 0681
|
While
the Army embarked at Alexandria for Fortress Monroe and the Peninsula,
we were attached to the official staff of Genl A.A. Humphreys, Chief
Topographical Engineer. Arriving at Old Point Comfort we were directed
to reconnoitre the whole country lying between the Point and Yorktown.
In the meantime the Army passed on and sat down before the Enemy’s
line of works. Having completed all the work in the rear of the Army
our next duty was to approach the line of Confederate works as nearly
as possible and study and determine its general form, and position.
The ground was traversed in this way from the York to the Warwick
River and thence to the James. The following incident is given in
illustration of the hazards common to the duty of a topographical
engineer. My especial duty along the lines was to direct the running
[of] short base lines with a steel tape carried by two soldiers in
a quick trot. F. W. Dorr with a plane table would occupy the ends
of the base and rapidly sight the lines of redoubt batteries or breastworks
drawing determining lines [???]. A very few minutes were given to
each station but one unfortunate day Lieut. Wagner of the Corps of
Topographical Engineers came up to the instrument "on station"
and engaged Dorr in conversation [within sight of] a small battery
about a thousand feet distant. The opportunity was seized by the Confederates
manning the battery who opened fire upon the group about the plane
table, comprising besides Dorr and Wagner, a number of pickets and
my chainmen. The first shell fired, a percussion, struck the tripod
and exploding literally blew up the whole group. Dorr escaped with
a scratch but Wagner and one of my chainmen were mortally wounded
both dying in two days. Three men were killed outright and several
slightly wounded. Nothing was left of the plane table, and the sheet
was torn in half and sprinkled with Wagner’s blood. Only the
telescope of the alhidade was found. This was the last plane table
work done during the campaign and thereafter reconnaissances were
made with compass and lineal measurements.
When
the Confederates evacuated Yorktown we continued our work up the
Peninsula generally in advance of the Army and without escort as
securing [to secure] a larger measure of safety. From the White
House on the Pamunkey we reconnoitred and mapped the country as
far as the bridges of the Chickahominy, miles beyond our advanced
pickets. When headquarters were established near the Chickahominy
swamp its bridges and fords became the object of our labors. We
were daily in sight of the spires of Richmond but we got no nearer
to it than the ford at Mechanicsville. Our work was troublesome
and doubly difficult because the topographers of the Corps knew
little or nothing of practical reconnaissance or rather of bringing
its results into practical shape. A little map that accompanies
this record is a type of the daily work furnished Genl. Humphreys
for the use of the Cmdg. General. We were almost constantly in the
saddle each starting out alone in a designated direction. I was
upon the field of Fair Oaks the day before the battle fought upon
that locality and reconnoitred the position in front of the two
Corps occupying it and returned by way of Sumner’s Bridge
in the midst of that terrible storm which precipitated the attack
by the Confederates upon the force north of the Chickahominy which
were apparently isolated by the raging river that obliterated the
swamp.
When
the headquarters were moved to Savage Station we extended our work
toward Richmond. The flank movement to the James having been determined
upon, all the topographers of the Army were ordered out for special
reconnaissance to the White Oak Swamp. There was but one known crossing
of that swamp, second only in general impassibility to the Chickahominy,
and it was thought impractical to send the whole Army with its immense
siege trains and innumerable wagons by that route alone. The object
in making this special reconnaissance was to find an old ford that
was once used by the natives and to discover method of reaching
it directly from Savage Station. Dorr and I started out as usual
without escort and riding toward Richmond as far as practicable
entered a heavy body of timber and made directly for the swamp distant
about three miles. After riding together until the ground commenced
to fall rapidly toward the swamp we separated, Dorr continuing on
to the border of the swamp which he followed downward and I taking
a direct parallel to it examined every cart track and wood road
that crossed my line of direction. Many such roads were examined
and found impracticable, until one was reached that was better defined
than any previously passed over. Riding in the direction of Savage
Station, this road was traced through to a junction with the main
road running from Richmond to White Oak Swamp Bridge. Beginning
here by making a complete examination of the locality I turned back
toward the swamp, sketching the narrow track upon compass lines
and distances paced by my horse. A short distance from the swamp
I met Dorr who had found the ford and had traced the road back to
where we met. Having accomplished the object of our search we rode
rapidly to Savage Station, plotted and connected our lines and reported
the result to Genl Humphreys. A party of sappers and miners was
started out at once to go to the swamp to put the ford in passable
condition. I thought our labors which had been successfully accomplished,
were at an end so far as movements of the Army of the Potomac were
concerned. But about 11 o’clock we were summoned to Genl McClellan’s
tent. We joined a conference [that] was being held, there being
present Genl. McClellan, Genl. Marcy, Genl. Humphreys, and Genl.
Sykes. We were informed that the Regular Division, Genl. Sykes’
command of 15000 men with artillery and wagon, had to be thrown
across the new found ford by 5 o’clock in the morning and
that we would have to guide the force through. I replied that I
thought it would be impossible to find the entrance to the wood
road in the intense darkness of the night, especially as the heavy
trains that had passed down the bridge road during the afternoon
in double and triple columns had changed the appearance of everything
on the roadside. Genl. Marcy merely remarked that it was absolutely
necessary and that it would be done. As there was no alternative
I said I would do the best I could and would be ready in a few minutes.
I had made the objection to Genl. Marcy because Dorr had stated
that he knew nothing of the road until it approached the border
of the swamp. We went to our tent, gathered up rubber blankets and
other necessary articles and reported to Genl. Sykes. We had given
orders to our driver to pack everything before morning and move
with the headquarters for we knew that we would not return. I had
my pocket compass and notes of the survey and Dorr had a few candles.
Genl. Sykes at once started with us to find his command and it was
midnight before it was in marching order. It was a terribly black
night and a drizzling rain was falling as Dorr and I, two forlorn
figures, rode away into the darkness.
If
I had not by instinct been a topographer with a good faculty for
remembering localities the regular division would not have crossed
the White Oak Swamp by the upper ford at five o’clock in the
morning, and it is hard to say what the consequences might have
been. I knew by the change of level in the road when I was near
the entrance of the track sought for and I called to Genl. Sykes
to halt his command. I got off my horse and with a candle examined
the woods lying on the right of the road. I found a track and followed
it -- Dorr riding behind, throwing the feeble ray of a candle as
far forward as possible. With the initial bearing I passed along
the road until at a given distance I found that it was diverging
from the proper direction. Returning to the starting point search
was made for another track which was found. This too our examination
found to be wrong but the third time brought us into the desired
road which I proved by riding down it until three bearings and distances
corresponded with my notes made during the reconnaissance. We marched
until three o’clock when a halt was called and the command
rested until daylight. I then turned over the guidance to Dorr who
led them across the swamp. Here I left them and rode down the border
[of the swamp] to the bridge and awaited the coming of Genl. McClellan
and his staff. Dorr returned during the afternoon and reported that
soon after reaching the highlands beyond the swamp Genl. Sykes’
command encountered a large force of Confederate cavalry just from
Richmond on reconnaissance and it was driven back. We came together
at a small school house half way between White Oak Swamp Bridge
and Malvern Hill where headquarters was temporarily established.
The
next morning at daylight we were again sent forward in the advance.
We started two hours ahead of the vanguard and rode toward the James
River. At Eleven o’clock we rested near Malvern Hill and remained
until the skirmish line came in sight when we passed on to the James
R., arriving at Wilcox’s Wharf early in the afternoon. In
the morning we found the Headquarters established at the mouth of
Turkey Creek near the foot of Malvern Hill.
Early
in the following morning before the battle began beyond the hill,
Genl. Humphreys sent for Dorr and me and said "Gentlemen our
rear guard has been defeated and driven in and the Army of the Potomac
is in a desperate condition. You have no recognized rank as military
men and it will be best for your safety in case of the worst happening
that you get away from here. I cannot give you passes or orders
to leave the Army but you are at liberty to return to Washington
if you can find a way of doing so, and I advise you to go."
No protest or expostulation was of any avail so we packed the few
articles that comprised our outfit and departed. We rode to Shirley
which had been taken as a hospital and thence to Harrison’s
Landing. Several steamers had arrived there during the night for
hospital purposes but orders had been issued that only sick or wounded
with surgeon’s certificate would be permitted to go aboard
them. As it seemed to be impossible for us to get away Dorr decided
to go back to Headquarters and refuse to leave the Army until proper
instructions were given. I told him I was sorry to leave him there
but I did not propose to go back but would endeavor by some strategy
to go down the river upon the first boat. I took charge of his baggage
and we parted. I succeeded by a stratagem in getting aboard a quartermaster’s
boat and in thirty-six hours I was in Washington and reported to
the Supdt of the Coast Survey Prof. A.D. Bache who was in a terrible
condition of anxiety regarding the safety of the Army of the Potomac.
I am glad to say that I did not leave the Headquarters of the Army
of the Potomac in a panic and felt confident that the Army could
hold Malvern Hill against the whole Confederate Army. So when I
saw Prof. Bache I told him of the situation and described the position
of the Army and its general condition so far as I knew it, but sufficient
to greatly relieve him his anxiety. Dorr remained with the Army
of the Potomac two weeks after I left him and when Headquarters
were established he made a reconnaissance of Herring Run and the
country down to the mouth of the Chickahominy R. During this period
he was attacked by a low malarial fever which held him in its teeth
for many months. The seeds of disease were sown however in his system
which germinated in after years and finally caused his death, long
before he had reached his prime.
I
have dwelt at considerable length upon this portion of my war record
to show the anomalous nature of my connection with the Army of the
Potomac while performing the most arduous duty that fell to the
lot of a topographical engineer in time of war. If such service
had been accomplished by an Officer of the Topographical Corps,
he would have at the very least received honorable mention and a
brevet. We received no particular mention and had nothing to pin
a brevet to, all because we were a "bone of contention"
between Secretary Stanton and Professor Bache.
I
returned to Washington in July and was soon afterward ordered to
join Whiting on Long Island. In October I was instructed to join
Gerdes for duty in connection with the Mississippi Flotilla. Some
"hitch" however occurred in this matter and after waiting
for Gerdes until the close of the year I received orders to report
to Lieut. Col. Macomb Topgl Eng Corps for topographical duty in
front of the defensive lines on the S.E. side of the District of
Columbia. I completed this work in June and was immediately ordered
to report to Col. Lockwood, Cmdg at Baltimore for reconnaissance
around the city and a survey for the establishment of defensive
works. I had accomplished but a small part of this duty when I was
relieved and ordered to report to W.F. Smith Chf Engr Army of the
Cumberland, at Chattanooga Tenn. Dorr was ordered to the same place,
Fendall to Vicksburg, and Rockwell to Knoxville. Dorr and I left
Baltimore on the 13th of October 1863 for Stevenson Alabama with
instructions to travel only so far as we could get transportation
for our instruments. The story of our struggle through Alabama to
Chattanooga hampered with instruments would make a long chapter.
We were two weeks upon that journey of sixty-nine miles.
Arriving
at Chattanooga in the midst of a half starved army we reported for
duty to Genl. Smith. By his direction Dorr took charge of the Survey
of the Eastern approaches including Missionary Ridge while I entered
upon the survey of the river and the Western approaches including
Lookout Mtn, Raccoon Mtn and the valley of Lookout Creek. The plane
table work here was of a very difficult and trying character. The
Confederates had learned the significance of the white-topped instrument
and it became a target for rifled guns whenever it was seen. We
had to seek secluded positions and work with great caution but the
work was advanced rapidly and when the Confederates were driven
from their entrenchments on Lookout Mtn and Missionary Ridge only
a few days were required to enable us to complete our special work
including the captured positions.
Our
status in the Army of the Cumberland was very different from what
it was in the Army of the Potomac. Maj Genl Geo. H. Thomas Cmdg
the Army of the Cumberland issued a general order giving Coast Survey
Officers on duty in his Department the assimilated rank of Captain
which entitled us to the same consideration and privileges enjoyed
by other Officers.
Genl.
Grant having been made Commander-in-Chief of the Armies of the U.S.,
Genl. Smith moved his Headquarters to Nashville. I accompanied him
and Dorr remained at Chattanooga with Genl. Thomas who offered him
the position of Chief Topgl Engineer of the Army of the Cumberland.
I was ordered by Genl. Smith by direction of Genl. Grant to make
a reconnaissance of the Cumberland River from the town of Carthage
to the head of navigation at Point Isabel for the purpose of locating
a water route for the transportation of supplies to Knoxville Tenn
which was then being supplied by way of Chattanooga a long and circuitous
route or by way of Camp Nelson and Cumberland Gap. I was instructed
to examine all streams flowing into the Cumberland from the south
and report upon their navigability. I was placed in command of the
"Pilot Boy" an oak clad gunboat and joined a fleet of
iron clads and transports at Carthage. At Carthage, finding the
"Pilot Boy" drew too much water for Caney Fork, the first
stream to be examined, I got a small steamer drawing fourteen inches
of water. About four miles from the mouth of the Fork we struck
the first rapids. Having made several attempts to remove the obstruction
it was found to be impossible and I returned to Carthage. Careful
inquiry showed that the stream was a succession of rapids up to
the town of Sparta - seventy-five miles above its entrance into
the Cumberland.
The
fleet left Carthage when the river commenced to rise, the gunboats
leading. For a hundred miles or more we had a running fight with
guerillas. On the way I examined the Obey River and at the head
of navigation, the South Fork both of which I found even more impracticable
that the Caney Fork. While at Point Isabel the Cumberland began
to fall and thus removed much uncertainty as to my early return
to Nashville by steaming. I thought it important to get back to
Headquarters as speedily as possible and to that end I secured horses
from the quartermaster at Point Isabel and rode through Kentucky
to Camp Nelson. From there I returned to Nashville. On arriving
I found Dorr hard at work making a survey of the northern approaches
to the city. He had declined Genl Thomas’s offer after full
consideration because he was assured that his acceptance would excite
the jealousy of many of the young officers of the Engineers Corps
who were in the Army of the Cumberland.
I
was directed by Genl. Smith to survey the southern approaches to
the city and upon the completion of that work I relieved Dorr of
a part of a part of that upon the North side. When all was completed
Captain Orlando Poe Corps of Engineers having in the meantime relieved
Genl. Smith as Chief Eng relieved me of duty and directed me to
report to Washington which was done about the close of March 1864.
Early
in April I was ordered to join the expedition under Genl Butler
to the Appomattox R. and reported to Capt Farquahar Chf Eng of the
Army of the James and went with the official staff of Genl. Butler
to Bermuda Hundred. Capt Farquahar was relieved a few days after
the occupation of Bermuda Hundred by Genl Weitzel and I was made
Chf Topgl Eng of the Army of the James with several officers of
the N.Y. Engineer battalion as Assistants. I personally determined
the lines of Confederate batteries, located positions for pontoon
bridges and made reconnaissance across the James R. in the direction
of Richmond, and special surveys of the roads and approaches to
City Point, Fort Powhatan and Wilson’s Wharf.
The
Army of the James occupied so limited a position I asked to be transferred
to the Middle Div. of the Atlantic, Headquarters at Harpers Ferry
and during the period between October ‘64 and June ‘65
I made a survey of the portion of Harpers Ferry and the Potomac
R. down to the Great Falls, closing upon the work of my first season
with Dorr performed in Aug. 1861.
Frederic
W. Dorr, Asst Coast Survey,
1861-1864*
War Record
In
July 1861 F. W. Dorr was ordered to duty upon the Official Staff
of Genl. McCall, cmdg, Northern approaches to the Capital for special
reconnaissance and survey of the country lying to the North and
West. From July to December the area lying within the radius of
fourteen miles bounded by the Rockville Road and the Potomac River
was topographically surveyed. Before the completion of this work
his field was transferred to the South side of the Potomac, under
the direction of Genl. W. F. Smith, Div. Commander in the Army of
the Potomac. The Survey of the western and southern approaches to
the Capital was fully completed by Mr. Donn by Mr. Dorr and his
assistant prior to the departure of the Army for the Yorktown Peninsula
in April 1862. Mr. Dorr and his assistant became members of the
Official Staff of the Col., afterward Brig. Genl. A. A. Humphreys,
Chf. Topographical Eng. Accompanying the expedition to Fortress
Monroe, the topographical survey of the Peninsula was begun at Old
Point Comfort and rapidly advanced to the position of the of the
Army before Yorktown. During the siege the work performed by Mr.
Dorr was of the highest character and received the approbation of
the of the Comdg. General. During the entire campaign closing at
Harrison’s Landing on the James River the services of Mr.
Dorr were of very great value in securing knowledge of the country
in advance of movements of the Army. The condition of service required
of the Coast Survey topographers in the Army of the Potomac, placed
each one independently under the special direction of the Chief
Topographical Engineer. But one of the three attached to the Army
held a special commission. Asst. P. C. F. West was Captain and Aid-de-Camp
upon the staff of Genl. W.F. Smith. During the entire campaign the
other officers (two) served with no recognized military rank.
The
association of F. W. Dorr and the writer in the movements of the
Army of the Potomac from the day of its arrival at Old Point Comfort
to the close of the campaign has been shown in the report of J.
W. Donn. As shown there, F. W. Dorr remained two weeks after the
battle of Malvern Hill and engaged in a special reconnaissance of
the positions at Harrison’s Landing during which he contracted
the seeds of the disease that ended his life prematurely. He returned
to the North very ill and was unfit for further military duty until
in the fall of 1863. In the meantime, however, he was engaged in
making a reconnaissance of the country adjacent to Portland, Maine,
in the interest of the proposed erection of defensive works for
the protection of that city. In October 1863 he was ordered to the
official staff of Brig. Genl W. F. Smith, Chief Engineer of the
Army of the Cumberland, and was made by Genl. Order issued by Maj.
Gen. Geo. H. Thomas Cmdg., the assimilated rank of Captain of [???
unreadable word] Engineers. His services in connection with the
movements of the Army of the Cumberland and the combined forces
under Genl. Grant’s Army during the siege of Chattanooga are
shown in the report of J. W. Donn.
Mr.
Dorr’s connection with the Dept. of the Cumberland closed
in March 1864. He returned to Washington and was directly thereafter
assigned to duty with Genl. Sherman then en route from Savannah
to Raleigh.
The
object of this paper precludes an extended statement of the important
services performed by Mr. Dorr. Having been closely associated with
him during the greater part of the period between July 1861 and
March 1864 and shared with him all the hazards and difficulties
attending topographical service in an enemy’s country, instances
of which appear in my personal record, it is due to his memory to
say that no man stood up more bravely and patiently in the performance
of a duty from which no glory was to be gained , no promotion was
promised, nor expected, and for which not even adequate pecuniary
compensation was given. Through all his services, which were second
to none in his line of duty, he was not even rewarded by personal
mention and only shared in the general praise accorded to the Coast
Survey Service at large.
John
W. Donn
*
Editor’s note: John Donn’s memory failed him on these
dates. Frederic Dorr was among the first of the Coast Surveyors
to take to the field in the early days of the war in 1861. Sherman’s
march from Savannah to Raleigh occurred in 1865. Dorr was in the
saddle during the whole campaign and was present at Confederate
General Joe Johnston’s surrender at Raleigh on April 14, 1865,
almost a week after Lee’s surrender at Appomattox. No ninety-day
or one-year conscripts, Frederic Dorr and John Donn were in the
field sharing the hardships and dangers of the Union Armies throughout
the duration of the war. Dorr’s and Donn’s battle map
of Chattanooga has been called one of the best examples of Civil
War topographical work ever produced although Fendall’s map
of “Approaches to Vicksburg” is also a classic.
The Coast Surveyors who should be remembered for their combat roles
during the Civil War include: Dorr and Donn; Clarence Fendall who
served with David Dixon Porter before Vicksburg; John Oltmanns who
served with Porter on the Mississippi, William B. Franklin in Louisiana,
and Phil Sheridan in the Valley; and Cleveland Rockwell who served
throughout much of the war with Orlandoe Poe associated with a number
of commands. These men were the elite combat topographers, reconnaissance
specialists, and scouts of the Civil War. On the hydrographic side,
Charles O. Boutelle and Robert Platt should be remembered as combat
hydrographers who served primarily with the South Atlantic Blockading
Squadron providing invaluable information to both Samuel DuPont
and John Dahlgren. Preston C. F. West who served on the staff of
“Baldy” Smith for much of the war also made major contributions
as a scout, topographer, and combat intelligence officer who often-times
was in front of the front-lines.
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