Fellow Sharpshooters;

In this four part series Dr. Timothy Orr chronicles the rise and ignominious fall of General J.H. Hobart Ward. With the assignment of the U.S. Sharpshooters to the Third Army Corps in the Spring of 1863, it was their fate to witness (and experience) Ward’s behavior. Paradoxically, Dr. Orr notes that Ward received high compliments and recommendations for advanced rank from a number of senior AoP officers (Sedgwick, Kearney, among others) and the press.

For those of us that have long studied the controversial military career of Colonel Hiram Berdan (and marveled of his ability to avoid censure/dismissal from service; and then enjoy promotions to brevet ranks of Brigadier and Major General after the War), perhaps its less of a surprise. However, what is interesting is Ward was “raised from the ranks” instead of graduating from West Point, like the majority of the AoP’s senior officers.

Dr. Orr points out Ward’s indefensible conduct at Chancellorsville, Wilderness and Spotsylvania occurred when he was obviously intoxicated, witnessed by both officers and enlisted men alike. While not an uncommon condition among officers on both sides of the War, Ward’s conduct and tyrannical attitude towards the troops under his command, left him without any supporters when he demanded a court martial to present his defense. Unwilling to resign, Ward was kept “in limbo” until War’s end.

Dr. Orr begins his series with a less than flattering introduction of his subject:

“I’d like to focus on the Civil War career of Brig. Gen. John Henry Hobart Ward, a soldier who served three years with the Army of the Potomac. Ward was an interesting character. As an officer, he enjoyed widespread praise from newspaper correspondents and from superior officers. Lofted to the rank of colonel early in the war, he eventually rose to divisional command by the summer of 1863. And yet, Ward was hardly a likable man. He was mean, condescending, intemperate, and ruthless. In short, he was a general who fooled a host of admirers (and I’m sad to say, still manages to bamboozle a cluster of historians who consider him an excellent officer). This is the story of a grade-A snot-bag who managed to wear general stars despite a series of personality defects that would have normally kept him from rising high in the ranks of the Army of the Potomac. This is the tale of Hobart Ward.

Friday, July 15, 2016:“I Always Supposed Him to Be Brave”: The Career of Hobart Ward, Part 1.

https://talesfromaop.blogspot.com/2016/07/i-always-supposed-him-to-be-brave.html?m=1

Part 2:Ward’s conduct at Wapping Heights

Monday, July 18, 2016 “An Outburst of Passion and Profanity”: The Career of Hobart Ward, Part 2.

https://talesfromaop.blogspot.com/2016/07/an-outburst-of-passion-and-profanity.html?m=1

Part 3: Ward’s conduct at the Wilderness

Wednesday, August 3, 2016 “Too Disgraceful to be Aired by a Hearing”: The Career of Hobart Ward, Part 3.

https://talesfromaop.blogspot.com/2016/08/too-disgraceful-to-be-aired-by-hearing.html?m=1

Thursday, August 4, 2016: Killed by a Train: The Career of Hobart Ward, Part 4.

https://talesfromaop.blogspot.com/2016/08/killed-by-train-career-of-hobart-ward.html?m=1

Dr. Orr’s presents his closing summation against General Hobart Ward’s defense: “At Chancellorsville, he ran over his own soldiers in a frightened panic, trampling one of them to death. At Wapping Heights, he was drunk on the field. The day after, he threatened his hungry soldiers, perpetrating childish revenge fantasies. At the Battle of the Wilderness, he fled the front lines and refused to come down from his escape vehicle. At the Battle of Spotsylvania, he showed up drunk on the battlefield, and once again, he tried to flee to the rear at the height of the action. Somehow, years later, all those unsightly acts were forgotten by an exceedingly generous press corps.”

Dr. Orr closes his case with: “As I have found, historians, much like trains, are not so forgiving.

Bill Skillman
Berdan Sharpshooters Survivors Association