Irvin
McDowell was
born in Columbus, Ohio, in 1818. He studied at the College de Troyes,
in France, and graduated from West Point
in 1838, 23rd in his class of 45. During the border dispute with Canada
he was stationed on the Niagara and Maine frontiers.
In 1841 he served at West Point as
assistant instructor in tactics, becoming adjutant in 1845. During
the Mexican War he went to Mexico as
aide-de-camp to General Wood and for gallant conduct at Buena Vista
in 1847 was promoted to brevet captain. Shortly afterward he was given
the rank of assistant adjutant general.
Following the Mexican War McDowell was
stationed at the War Department in Washington.
A close associate of General Winfield Scott,
he became an adviser to several Republican
Party politicians including Abraham Lincoln
and Salmon Chase.
On the outbreak of the American Civil War
McDowell he was given command of the Union
Army south of the Potomac. In July Abraham
Lincoln sent McDowell to take Richmond,
the new base the Confederate government. On 21st July McDowell engaged
the Confederate Army at Bull
Run. The Confederate troops led by Joseph
E. Johnson, Thomas Stonewall Jackson,
James Jeb Stuart, Jubal
Early and Pierre T. Beauregard,
easily defeated the inexperienced Union Army. The South had won the
first great battle of the war and the Northern casualties totaled
1,492 with another 1,216 missing.
McDowell was recalled and given the task of defending Washington
from the Confederate Army. In May, 1862,
McDowell joined Major General John Pope,
the commander of the Army of Virginia. Pope was instructed to move
east to Blue Ridge Mountains towards Charlottesville. It was hoped
that this move would help George McClellan
by drawing Robert E. Lee away from defending
Richmond. Lee's 80,000 troops were now
faced with the prospect of fighting two large armies: McClellan (90,000)
and Pope (50,000)
Joined by Thomas
Stonewall Jackson, the Confederate troops constantly attacked
George McClellan and on 27th June
they broke through at Gaines Mill. Convinced he was outnumbered, McClellan
retreated to James River. Abraham Lincoln,
frustrated by McClellan's lack of success, sent in McDowell and John
Pope, but they were easily beaten back by Jackson.
Criticised for his performance, McDowell was relieved on his command.
However, he demanded and was ultimately exonerated by a court of inquiry.
In July, 1864, McDowell was given command of the Department of the
Pacific. He retired as a major general in 1882 and afterwards served
as Park Commissioner of San Francisco.
Irvin McDowell died in 1885.
(1)
Henry Villard wrote about General Irvin
McDowell in his Memoirs: Journalist and Financier (1904)
McDowell
was a man of strong character and much intellectual ability. While
his practical military experience was necessarily limited by the narrow
opportunities offered in the active service of the small regular army,
his theoretical knowledge was very extensive. He was well read in
war history. But in my frequent intercourse with him I gained the
impression that he lacked the resolute determination which alone could
insure success in his trying task of organizing an effective army
for aggressive war out of the raw material gathering under his command.
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