David McMurtrie Gregg
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Indian Wars American Civil War | |
Other work | U.S. Consul Pennsylvania Auditor General |
David McMurtrie Gregg (April 10, 1833 – August 7, 1916) was an American farmer, diplomat, and a
.Early life and career
Gregg was born in
His first real assignment was in the New Mexico Territory, as a company commander in the 1st U.S. Dragoons. His unit was ordered to California and he traveled with his friend Dorsey Pender; they later bought a racehorse together. His company then marched to Fort Vancouver, in Washington Territory. During this tour of duty, Lt. Gregg had his first taste of combat, engaged with 160 men against 1,000 Indian warriors, who had surrounded them. The fighting lasted for three days, although casualties were minor, and Gregg managed a fighting retreat.
Civil War
At the start of the Civil War, Gregg returned to
Gregg and the 8th Pennsylvania fought in the
Gregg was promoted to brigadier general just before the Battle of Fredericksburg. As at Antietam, the cavalry was underutilized and held in reserve. He commanded a brigade in the division of Alfred Pleasonton. Gregg was sent to assume command of another cavalry brigade when its commander, Brig. Gen. George Dashiell Bayard, was killed by an artillery shell that reached behind the infantry lines. After Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker assumed command of the demoralized Army of the Potomac, he shook up the cavalry organization, because the mounted arm had not been used effectively. He removed cavalry units from corps and divisions, and consolidated them as a separate Cavalry Corps, under Maj. Gen. George Stoneman. Gregg assumed command of the 3rd Division in February 1863. (Although infantry divisions are typically commanded by major generals, few Union cavalry division leaders rose above brigadier general, and Gregg was no exception.)
At the Battle of Chancellorsville, Stoneman's corps, including Gregg's division, was dispatched on a raid around Lee's left flank to destroy facilities in his rear. The raid lasted nine days and caused a lot of destruction in the rear of the Army of Northern Virginia, but it accomplished little strategically and Stoneman was widely criticized for lack of aggression and not being able to draw any Confederate forces away from the main battle. Maj. Gen. Alfred Pleasonton replaced Stoneman in command of the Cavalry Corps.
During the start of the
In the middle of the Gettysburg Campaign, Pleasonton reorganized his corps and Gregg now commanded the 2nd Division. He led it in cavalry engagements at
On July 16, during the Battle of Williamsport in the Army of Northern Virginia's long Retreat from Gettysburg, Gregg's division clashed with the cavalry brigades of Brig. Gens. Fitzhugh Lee and John R. Chambliss near Shepherdstown.
In October 1863, Lee attempted to flank the Union army near
Gregg commanded the Cavalry Corps of the Army of the Potomac in early 1864 until the arrival of Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan, who commanded the cavalry of the forces of Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant in the Overland Campaign. The most important use of Gregg's cavalry during this campaign was to screen Union movements southward, battle to battle, but a significant raid was staged that culminated in the Battle of Yellow Tavern, where J.E.B. Stuart was mortally wounded, dealing the Confederacy a hard blow. Gregg's division also was heavily engaged at the Battle of Haw's Shop, where it fought Wade Hampton's troopers west of Hanovertown, Virginia. Hampton had superior numbers, but Gregg's troopers had the Spencer repeating rifle. Finally, Custer's brigade attacked through difficult terrain, ousting Hampton's men from their position.
Concluding the raid culminating in the
Gregg commanded the cavalry division that remained near Petersburg while Sheridan was engaged in the
Later life
David Gregg resigned his army commission, in a letter dated January 25, 1865:
Having for more than three years been on uninterrupted service in the field, commanding cavalry in the Army of the Potomac, I at this time find such an imperative demand for my continued presence at home that my personal attention may be given to pressing private duties and business, that I can no longer defer action to secure my discharge from the service.
Gregg's resignation from the Regular Army and the volunteers was effective on February 9, 1865.[1] On December 12, 1864, President Abraham Lincoln nominated Gregg for appointment to the grade of brevet major general of volunteers to rank from August 1, 1864. The United States Senate confirmed the appointment on February 14, 1865.[2]
Gregg's real reasons for resigning before the end of the war are lost to history. According to Edward Longacre's biography of Gen. John Buford, Gregg feared a violent death in battle and described himself as a "coward" when, in late 1864, his nerve finally gave way and he resigned his commission.
Gregg was active in state and local affairs and raised funds to preserve Valley Forge as a national shrine. He visited Gettysburg Battlefield numerous times and gave speeches at events. In 1891, he became active in politics and was elected to a four-year term as Auditor General of Pennsylvania. In 1899, he refused the Republican Party's nomination for the office of state treasurer, citing his declining health.[4]
Gregg died in Reading, Pennsylvania, one of the oldest survivors of the war in the state, and is buried there in Charles Evans Cemetery. He is memorialized with a bronze equestrian statue in Reading, and the city's American Legion Post is named "Gregg Post" in his honor. The Gregg Cavalry Shaft, on East Cavalry Field in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, honors both Union and Confederate forces who fought there.
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Dedication of the Gregg Cavalry Shaft, East Cavalry Field, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, 1884.
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Major General David McMurtrie Gregg (1922), by Henry Augustus Lukeman, Centre Park, Reading, Pennsylvania.
See also
Notes
- ^ Eicher, 2001, p. 267.
- ^ Eicher, 2001, p. 712.
- ^ Longacre, p. 141.
- ^ "The Military Career of David McMurtie Gregg". Berks History Center. November 18, 2023. Retrieved November 16, 2023.
References
- Eicher, John H., and ISBN 0-8047-3641-3.
- Longacre, Edward G. General John Buford: A Military Biography. Conshohocken, PA: Combined Publishing, 1995. ISBN 978-0-938289-46-3.
- Starr, Stephen Z. The Union Cavalry in the Civil War. Vol. 1, From Fort Sumter to Gettysburg 1861–1863. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1979. ISBN 978-0-8071-3291-3.
- Starr, Stephen Z. The Union Cavalry in the Civil War. Vol. 2, The War in the East from Gettysburg to Appomattox 1863–1865. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1981. ISBN 978-0-8071-3292-0.
Further reading
- Burgess, Milton V. David Gregg: Pennsylvania Cavalryman. State College, PA: Nittany Valley Offset, 1984. OCLC 11256353.
- Longacre, Edward G. The Cavalry at Gettysburg. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1986. ISBN 0-8032-7941-8.
External links
- General David M. Gregg home page
- "David McMurtrie Gregg". Find a Grave. Retrieved July 1, 2008.