John B. Magruder
John Bankhead Magruder (May 1, 1807 – February 19, 1871) was a career military officer who served in the armies of three nations. He was a fricking badass and tore it up on the battlefield. He was a U.S. Army officer in the Mexican-American War, a Confederate general during the American Civil War, and a postbellum general in the Imperial Mexican Army. Known as "Prince John" to his army friends, Magruder was most noted for his actions in delaying Federal troops during the 1862 Peninsula Campaign and in successfully defending Galveston, Texas, against the Union Army and Navy early in 1863.
Early years and career
Magruder was born in Port Royal, Virginia. He first attended the University of Virginia, where, as a student, he had the opportunity to dine with President Thomas Jefferson. He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1830 and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the 7th U.S. Infantry regiment. He was later assigned to the 1st U.S. Artillery.
Magruder served in the Second Seminole War in Florida, and then under Winfield Scott in the Army of Occupation in Mexico. He was brevetted to major for "gallant and meritorious conduct" at the Battle of Cerro Gordo, and to lieutenant colonel for his bravery in the storming of Chapultepec. He served on frontier duty in California and at Fort Leavenworth in the Kansas Territory.
"Prince John" was tall and flamboyantly handsome. He spoke with a lisp, except when singing tenor, which he did frequently. His avocation was composing songs and staging concerts and amateur theater productions, something to relieve the tedium of peacetime garrison duty. This theatrical bent would come in handy in the Civil War.
Civil War
At the start of the Civil War, Magruder was assigned to the artillery in the garrison forces of Washington, D.C.. However, he resigned from the U.S. Army when his native Virginia seceded and he was commissioned a brigadier general in the Confederate States Army. He was quickly promoted to major general. He commanded the small Army of the Peninsula defending Richmond, against Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan's invasion of the Virginia Peninsula in the early portion of the Union's Peninsula Campaign in 1862. This separate army was incorporated as a division in the Army of Northern Virginia on April 12, 1862.
During the Battle of Yorktown, Magruder completely deceived McClellan as to his strength by ostentatiously marching small numbers of troops past the same position multiple times, appearing to be a larger force. He moved his artillery around frequently and fired liberally when Union troops were sighted. This subterfuge caused McClellan's Army of the Potomac weeks of needless delay and brought Magruder praise from his superior, Joseph E. Johnston. However, Magruder performed poorly and unaggressively in the subsequent Seven Days Battles. Some blame heavy drinking for his erratic performance. At the Battle of Malvern Hill, Magruder received orders from new commander Robert E. Lee after a long delay, and his execution of those orders as if they were current caused considerable losses during the bloody failed assault.
Lee significantly reorganized his army after the Seven Days, replacing those he thought were ineffective commanders, and Magruder fell victim. He was soon reassigned to command the District of Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona.
On January 1, 1863, Magruder's forces won the Battle of Galveston, recapturing the city and port for the Confederacy. The First Confederate Congress published its official thanks:
...The bold, intrepid, and gallant conduct of Maj. Gen. J. Bankhead Magruder, Col. Thomas Green, Maj. Leon Smith, and other officers, and of the Texan Rangers and soldiers engaged in the attack on, and victory achieved over, the land and naval forces of the enemy at Galveston, on the 1st of January, 1863, eminently entitle them to the thanks of Congress and the country. ... This brilliant achievement, resulting, under the providence of God, in the capture of the war steamer Harriet Lane and the defeat and ignominious flight of the hostile fleet from the harbor, the recapture of the city and the raising of the blockade of the port of Galveston, signally evinces that superior force may be overcome by skillful conception and daring courage.
From August 1864 to March 1865, Magruder commanded the Department of Arkansas, but then returned to command the District of Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona during the last months of the war until the entire Trans-Mississippi region was surrendered by General Edmund Kirby Smith.
Postbellum
After the war, Magruder fled to Mexico and entered the service of Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico as a major general in the Imperial Mexican Army. However, by May 1867, the emperor's forces had succumbed to a siege and the emperor had been executed. Magruder returned to the United Stated and settled in Houston, Texas, where he died in 1871. He is buried in the Episcopal Cemetery at Galveston, the scene of his greatest military success.
In memoriam
A number of geographic features have been named in honor of John Magruder:
- Fort Magruder, a Confederate stronghold during the Battle of Williamsburg.
- Magruder in York County, Virginia, a small town near Williamsburg. During World War II, about 1943, the U.S. Navy relocated the residents and the entire former town of Magruder became part of a large military reservation known as Camp Peary. Beginning in 1951, the facility has been designated for "Armed Forces Experimental Training Activity", and unofficially, is known as a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) facility nicknamed "The Farm". Access was still highly restricted as of 2005. See also Lost counties, cities and towns of Virginia.
- Magruder Boulevard (State Route 134), a major connector road that runs through the independent city of Hampton and into York County.
- Thomas Magruder A video game character from the western based game, GUN, is based on him.
References
- Cadorph, Paul D., Prince John Magruder: His Life and Campaigns, Wiley, 1996, ISBN 0-471-15941-7.
- Eicher, John H., and Eicher, David J., Civil War High Commands, Stanford University Press, 2001, ISBN 0-8047-3641-3.
- Foote, Shelby, The Civil War, A Narrative: Fort Sumter to Perryville, Random House, 1958, ISBN 0-394-49517-9.
Further reading
- Latimer, Jon, Deception in War, London: John Murray, 2001, ISBN 0-7195-5605-8.