Fellow Sharpshooters;
I wanted to add this piece from the Richmond Round Table (2000) since the presenter was Thomas G. Clemens who did the original research into the First Iron Brigade that appeared in the Columbiad magazine circa 1998. Curtiss Poole, Michigan's Co. 'B' 2nd USSS founder purchased an original Post-War Iron Brigade medal at the Mansfield, Ohio CW show. It was a in the shape of a Maltese Cross suspended by a clasp and ribbon. On each wing was stamped with the infantry regiments (22, 24, 30, 14 Brooklyn and 2nd USSS). Curtiss sent a photocopy of the medal for Mr. Clements to include in future articles.
This should set the record straight once and for all.
Bill Skillman Randolph Mess-USSS
Richmond Civil War Roundtable (2000) Notes Presenter: Thomas G. Clemens
"Will the Real Iron Brigade Please Stand Up!"
Review of the July 2000 Program
Tom presented an informative talk on "Will the Real Iron Brigade Please Stand Up!" The talk focused on who was really entitled to the nickname "Iron Brigade" and how some commonly held beliefs about the unit are not completely supported by the historical record.
The standard story is that Brigadier General John Gibbon commanded the Iron Brigade and that it was composed of the 2nd, 6th, and 7th Wisconsin, 19th Indiana, and 24th Michigan Infantry regiments. Its nickname resulted primarily from its fighting abilities as demonstrated at the Battle of South Mountain. According to legend, Major General George B. McClellan asked Major General Joseph Hooker for an "iron brigade" to pierce the Confederate center that day, and Fighting Joe sent forward Gibbon's men, who had been known as the "Black Hat Brigade" because of their distinctive Hardee hats. The general's continued in conversation during the battle, and both of them used the term "iron" in describing the men. Actually, Gibbon's was not the first, nor the only, brigade to have this title.
As Clemens pointed out, this entire tale is based primarily upon a story by W. H. Atkins, which appeared in the veterans' publication The National Tribune in 1904. None of the generals mentioned by Atkins were still alive at the time to refute his account. Hooker had not been with McClellan at the time and had not even witnessed Gibbon's men in action. After the war, Gibbon was asked about the sobriquet, but he could not recall when it had been applied to his brigade but thought it was shortly after the Battle of Antietam.
A unit of New Yorkers, the 1st Brigade, 1st Division, First Corps, was the original Iron Brigade. Composed of the 22nd, 24th, 30th, and 84th (14th Brooklyn) regiments, this brigade was commanded originally by Brigadier General Christopher C. Augur. In March 1862, while on a raid in central Virginia, the men made a long and difficult march. Brigadier General Marsena Patrick, who saw them coming into camp, said to Augur, "Your men must be made of iron to make such marches." From this time until the regiments were mustered out of the army in the fall of 1862, the 1st Brigade, 1st Division, First Corps, was known as the Iron Brigade.
Clemens shared some of the strongest evidence supporting this brigade's claim to the nickname. The papers of Colonel Walter Phelps, Jr., of the 22nd New York, contain a number of references to the term in his letters and diaries. There are also several relics that bolster this position. Badges were made up for the brigade's members, and they contain thename Iron Brigade and a list of the regiments in it. Several years ago, a relic hunter found one of the metals while digging near Fredericksburg. A flag carried by the 24th New York Infantry is preserved in the state capital in Albany. One side of the banner has the words "24th Regiment, Iron Brigade, 1st Division, 1st Army Corps." Finally, Captain Austin W. Holden, assistant surgeon of the 22nd New York, wrote a song dedicated to Colonel Phelps called "A Song of the Iron Brigade."
During the course of the Civil War, several other units called themselves the Iron Brigade. Included were the 3rd Brigade, 1st Division, Third Corps (17th Maine, 3rd and 5th Michigan, 1st, 37th, and 101st New York) and Brigadier General Jesse Reno's brigade of the Ninth Corps (21st and 35th Massachusetts, 51st New York, and 51st Pennsylvania). Clemens concluded by saying that, while Gibbon's "Black Hats" are the most famous Iron Brigade, more than one unit can claim the nickname and that we must be careful not to accept too readily some of the famous stories that have come out of the Civil War.
Last edited by Bill Skillman on Wed Mar 24, 2010 9:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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