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Philip Kearny 1815-1862

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Born June 2, 1815 New York City, New York

Died September 1, 1862 (aged 47) Chantilly, Virginia

Place of burial Arlington National CemeteryVirginia

Allegiance United States of AmericaSecond French Empire

Service/branch United States ArmyFrench Army

Years of service 1837 - 1851; 1861 - 1862 (USA) 1859 - 1861 (France)

Rank Major General

Commands held First New Jersey Brigade

Battles/wars Mexican-American WarSecond Italian War of IndependenceAmerican Civil War

Philip Kearny, Jr. (/krni/; June 2, 1815 September 1, 1862) was a United States Army officer, notable for his leadership in theMexican-American War and American Civil War. He was killed in action in the 1862 Battle of Chantilly.Early life and career Kearny was born in New York City to a wealthy family. His father and mother were Philip Kearny, Sr., andSusan Watts.[1] His maternal grandfather John Watts, the last Royal Recorder of New York City, [2] was one ofNew York's wealthiestresidents, who had vast holdings in ships, mills, factories, banks, and investment houses. Kearny's father was a Harvard-educated,New York City financier who owned his own brokerage firm and was also a founder of the New York Stock Exchange. Early in life,Kearny desired a career in the military. His parents died when he was young, and he was consequently raised by his grandfather.Against the younger Kearny's wishes, his guardian insisted that Kearny pursue a law career. Kearny attended Columbia College,attaining a law degree in 1833. His cousin John Watts de Peyster, who had also attended Columbia, wrote the first authoritative

biography on Kearny. In 1836, his grandfather died, leaving Kearny a fortune of over $1 million. He chose to make the army hisprofession. The following year, Kearny obtained a commission as a second lieutenant of cavalry, assigned to the 1st U.S. Dragoons,who were commanded by his uncle, Colonel Stephen W. Kearny, and whose adjutant general was Jefferson Davis. The regiment wasassigned to the western frontier. Kearny was sent to France in 1839 to study cavalry tactics, first attending school at the famouscavalry school in Saumur. He participated in several combat engagements with the Chasseurs d'Afrique in Algiers. Kearny rode intobattle with a sword in his right hand, pistol in his left, and the reins in his teeth, as was the style of the Chasseurs. His fearlesscharacter in battle earned him the nickname by his French comrades Kearny le Magnifique, or Kearny the Magnificent. He returned tothe United States in the fall of 1840 and prepared a cavalry manual for the Army based on his experiences overseas. Shortlyafterward, Kearny was designated aide-de-camp to General Alexander Macomb, and served in this position until Macomb's death inJune 1841. After a few months at the cavalry barracks in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, Kearny was assigned to the staff of General WinfieldScott, soon becoming his aide-de-camp. He did additional duty on the frontier, accompanying his uncle's unit on an expedition to theSouth Pass of the Oregon Trail in 1845.War with Mexico Kearny, disappointed with the lack of fighting he was seeing in the Army, resigned his commission in 1846, but

returned to duty a month later at of the outbreak of the Mexican-American War. Kearny was assigned to raise a troop of cavalry forthe 1st U.S. Dragoons, Company F, in Terre Haute, Indiana. He spared no expense in recruiting his men and acquired 120 matcheddapple gray horses with his own money. The unit was originally stationed at the Rio Grande but soon became the personal bodyguardfor General Scott, the commander-in-chief of the Army in Mexico. Kearny was promoted to captain in December 1846. Kearny andhis men participated in the battles ofContreras and Churubusco; in the latter engagement, Kearny led a daring cavalry charge andsuffered a grapeshot wound to his left arm. It later had to be amputated. Kearny's courage earned him the respect of his soldiers andfellow officers alike; General-in-Chief Winfield Scott called him "a perfect soldier" and "the bravest man I ever knew." [3] Kearnyquickly returned to duty. When the U.S. Army entered Mexico City the following month, he had the personal distinction of being thefirst man through the gates of the city.Resignation and service in France After the war, Kearny did a stint with the Army recruiting service in New York City. While there,he was presented with a sword by the Union Club for his service during the war, and was promoted to major. In 1851, he was amember of a unit that saw action against the Rogue River Native American tribe in Oregon. After the failure of his marriage,frustrated with the slow promotion process of the Army, Kearny resigned his commission in October of that year. He embarked on a

trip around the world, visiting China, Ceylon, and France. In Paris, Kearny fell in love with a New York City woman named AgnesMaxwell, but was unable to marry her because his first wife would not grant him a divorce. In 1854, Kearny was injured when thehorse he was riding fell through a rotten bridge. Agnes Maxwell moved in to take care of him. By 1855, Agnes and Kearny had leftNew York to escape the disapproval of society. They settled in Kearny's new mansion, Bellegrove, overlooking the Passaic River (inwhat is now Kearny, New Jersey). It was a short distance and across the river from his family's old manor in Newark, New Jersey. In


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1858 his wife finally granted a divorce. Kearny and Maxwell moved to Paris, where they were married. In 1859, Kearny returned toFrance, re-joining the Chasseurs d'Afrique, who were at the time fighting against Austrian forces in Italy. Later, he was withNapoleon III's Imperial Guard at the Battle of Solferino, where he charged with the cavalry under gnral Louis-Michel Morris,which penetrated the Austrian center and captured the key point of the battle. For this action, Kearny was awarded the French Lgiond'honneur, becoming the first U.S. citizen to be thus honored.Civil War When the American Civil War broke out in 1861, Kearny returned to the United States and was appointed a brigadiergeneral, commanding the First New Jersey Brigade, which he trained efficiently. The Army had been reluctant to restore hiscommission due to his disability, but the shocking Union defeat at the First Battle of Bull Run made them realize the importance ofseasoned combat officers. His brigade, even after he left to command a division, performed spectacularly, especially at the Battle ofGlendale. He received command of the 3rd Division of the III Corps on April 30, 1862. He led the division into action at the Battle ofWilliamsburg and the Battle of Fair Oaks. At Williamsburg, as he led his troops onto the field, Kearny shouted (in a notable quote),

"I'm a one-armed Jersey son-of-a-gun, follow me!" The general led the charge with his sword in hand, reins in his teeth. He is notedfor urging his troops forward by declaring, "Don't worry, men, they'll all be firing at me!" His performance during the PeninsulaCampaign earned him much respect from the army and his superiors. He disliked the commander of the Army of the Potomac, Maj.Gen. George B. McClellan, whose orders (especially those to fall back) he frequently ignored. After the Battle of Malvern Hill, whichwas a Union victory, McClellan ordered a withdrawal, and Kearny wrote: I, Philip Kearny, an old soldier, enter my solemn protestagainst this order for retreat. We ought instead of retreating should follow up the enemy and take Richmond. And in full view of allresponsible for such declaration, I say to you all, such an order can only be prompted by cowardice or treason. Kearny is credited withdevising the first unit insignia patches used in the U.S. Army. In the summer of 1862, he issued an order that his officers should weara patch of red cloth on the front of their caps to identify themselves as members of his unit. The enlisted men, with whom Kearny wasquite popular, quickly followed suit voluntarily. Members of other units picked up on the idea, devising their own insignia, and theseevolved over the years into the modern shoulder patch. (Daniel Butterfield is credited with taking Kearny's idea and standardizing itfor all corps in the Army of the Potomac, designing most of the corps badges.) Kearny was promoted to major general on July 4,1862.[4]

Death By the end of August 1862, General Kearny led his division at the disastrous Second Battle of Bull Run, which saw the UnionArmy routed and nearly destroyed by Gen.Robert E. Lee's ConfederateArmy of Northern Virginia. The Union army retreated towardWashington and fought with the pursuing Confederates on September 1, 1862, at the Battle of Chantilly. In a violent storm withlightning and pouring rain, Kearny decided to investigate a gap in the Union line. Responding to warnings of a subordinate, he said,"The Rebel bullet that can kill me has not yet been molded." Encountering Confederate troops, Kearny ignored a demand to surrenderand, while he tried to escape, was shot by a bullet that penetrated the base of his spine, killing him instantly. Confederate Maj. Gen.A.P. Hill, upon hearing the gunfire, ran up to the body of the illustrious soldier with a lantern and exclaimed, "You've killed PhilKearny, he deserved a better fate than to die in the mud." General Lee sent his body back to Union forces, with a condolence note. Atthe time, there were rumors in Washington that President Abraham Lincoln was contemplating replacing George B. McClellan with"Kearny the Magnificent".Kearny was buried at Trinity Churchyard in New York. In 1912, his remains were exhumed and re-interredat Arlington National Cemetery, where there is a statue in his honor, one of only two equestrian statues at Arlington. The re-intermentdrive was spearheaded by Medal of Honor recipient Charles F. Hopkins, who had served under General Kearny in the First NewJersey Brigade. The statue was dedicated by President Woodrow Wilson in November 1914. It was refurbished in 1996 by the

General Philip Kearny Memorial Committee, a New Jersey nonprofit corporation.Legacy and honors

The town ofKearny, New Jersey, is named in his honor. A statue honoring him was erected outside the main branch of theKearny post office. The Kearny Museum contains a display of furniture from his Belle Grove home, donated by hisgranddaughter and second wife, as well as other Kearny memorabilia.

Fort Kearny, near Tenleytown, D.C., was named in his honor. It was part of the ring of defenses protecting the city ofWashington, D.C.

Fort Phil Kearny in Wyoming was named for him; it existed only two years. A statue of Kearny represents New Jersey in the National Statuary Hall Collection in the U.S. Capitol. A statue of Kearny stands in Military Park, Newark, New Jersey. A small monument in Ox Hill Battlefield Parkcommemorates Kearny's death. A bas-relief on the First New Jersey Brigade monument at Gettysburg commemorates Kearny's leadership, although he was

killed prior to that battle.

The General Philip Kearny Public School in Philadelphia was named for him when built in 1921. During World War II, the United States Navy named a Liberty Ship the SS Philip Kearny. Kearny County, Kansas, is named for him.

See also United States Army portal

American Civil War portal

List of American Civil War generals Kearny Cross

Notes

1. ^ De Peyster, p. 32.2. ^ De Peyster, p. 31.3. ^ Dupuy, p. 396.4.

^Warner, p. 259. Eicher, p. 328, claims this was a posthumous promotion, backdated to July, but histories of theBattle of Chantilly refer to him as a major general during the battle.

References

De Peyster, John Watts. Personal and Military History of Philip Kearny, Major-General United States Volunteers. Elizabeth,NJ: Palmer & Co., 1869. OCLC17692924.


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Dupuy, Trevor N., Curt Johnson, and David L. Bongard. The Harper Encyclopedia of Military Biography. New York:HarperCollins, 1992. ISBN 978-0-06-270015-5.

Eicher, John H., and David J. Eicher. Civil War High Commands. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2001. ISBN 0-8047-3641-3.

Warner, Ezra J. Generals in Blue: Lives of the Union Commanders. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1964.ISBN 0-8071-0822-7.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:Philip Kearny

Index to Philip Kearny's Pages

"The One Armed Devil" Battle of Williamsburg 1911 Encyclopedia Biography Civil War Home Biography Fort Phil Kearny site #1 Wyoming State Parks on Fort Phil Kearney National Statuary Hall biography Arlington National Cemetery

Statue in Military Park, Newark Statue over Kearny's remains in Arlington National Cemetery Philip Kearny

Kearny CrossFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Kearny Cross was a military decoration of the United States Army, which was first established in 1862 during the opening yearof the American Civil War. The original decoration was known as the Kearny Medal and was adopted as an unofficial medal by theofficers of the 1st Division, 3rd Corps, of the UnionArmy of the Potomac, which had served under Major GeneralPhilip Kearny. Theoriginal Kearny Medal was first bestowed on November 29, 1862, and was awarded to any Union officer who had performed acts ofextreme bravery and heroism in the face of the enemy. In 1863, the medal was authorized retroactively to officers who had performedsuch acts while enlisted soldiers, and had been subsequently commissioned. On March 13, 1863, a second version of the KearnyMedal was ordered established as a "Cross of Valor" for enlisted personnel. The new medal, known as the Kearny Cross, wasawarded to any Union soldier who had displayed meritorious, heroic, of distinguished acts while in the face of an enemy force. By1865, both the Kearny Medal and the Kearny Cross were commonly referred to by the single name of the Kearny Cross. Since thedecorations were issued by local commanders, the medals remained unofficial awards and were not issued after the close of the CivilWar. Nevertheless, the Kearny Cross and Medal are regarded as one of the oldest military decorations of the United States Army,second only to the Badge of Military Merit and the Fidelity Medallion. General Birney awarded Mrs. Annie Etheridge with thisaward. Marie Tebe, {1834-1901} also known as "French Mary", a famous Vivandiere of the Civil War, was the only woman whoserved during the battle of Gettysburg. While serving under the 114th Pennsylvania Volunteers known as the Collis' Zouavesd'Afrique, she received the award for being wounded in the ankle. She was in 13 battles, and carried a .44 caliber pistol.See also American Civil War Corps Badges

an american hero with the french army at solferino

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