William S. Harney

William Selby Harney
Bvt. Maj. Gen. William S. Harney
Born (1800-08-22)August 22, 1800
Haysboro, Tennessee
Died May 9, 1889(1889-05-09) (aged 88)
Orlando, Florida
Place of burial Arlington National Cemetery
Allegiance United States of America
Union
Service/branch United States Army
Union Army
Years of service 1818–1863
Rank Brigadier General
Brevet Major General
Unit 1st U.S. Infantry
Commands held 2nd U.S. Dragoons
Military Department Number Five
Department of Oregon
Department of the West
Battles/wars

Indian Wars

Mexican–American War
Pig War
Utah War
Bleeding Kansas
American Civil War

William Selby Harney (August 22, 1800 – May 9, 1889) was a Tennessee-born cavalry officer in the U.S. Army, who became known (and controversial) during the Indian Wars and the Mexican–American War. One of four general officers in the U.S. Army at the beginning of the Civil War, he was removed from overseeing the Department of the West due to his Confederate sympathies early in the war (although he did keep Missouri from joining the Confederacy). Under President Andrew Johnson, he served with on the Indian Peace Commission, negotiating several treaties, before spending his retirement partly in St. Louis and partly trading reminiscences with Jefferson Davis in Mississippi.[1]

Early life

Born on August 27, 1800, at Haysborough (Haysboro), a community on the Cumberland River (then a few miles above Nashville, Tennessee, now incorporated in the city), Harney attended a local private academy. His father Thomas Harney had been a army officer.

Early military career

His brother, Dr. Benjamin F. Harney, an Army surgeon in Baton Rouge, Louisiana asked Andrew Jackson, hero of the War of 1812 and current Commander of the Army of the South, to write a letter to the Secretary of the Navy asking for Harney's acceptance into the Navy. This occurred July 23, 1817. Harney visited his brother and met high-ranking military officers. He so impressed them that they arranged a commission for him as U.S. Navy second lieutenant, which then President James Monroe signed. However, Harney instead chose to serve under General Andrew Jackson in the Army. His first military assignment under General Andrew Jackson was in 1818, as a second lieutenant in the 1st U.S. Infantry. He helped force the pirate Jean Lafitte to move his operations from the Louisiana territory to the Spanish Main.

Harney began his many years of interactions with Native Americans on the Great Plains in 1825 when he accompanied Col. Henry Atkinson and Benjamin O'Fallon on an expedition to sign treaties with the upper Missouri tribes. In 1832, Harney fought in the Black Hawk War against the Sauk and Fox tribes, serving as Gen. Zachary Taylor's assistant inspector.[2] There he met, fought and befriended Jefferson Davis, Taylor's son-in-law and a fellow army officer.

Beating Hannah

In June, 1834, (while a Major in the Paymaster Corps, Jefferson Barracks, St. Louis, Missouri), Harney was charged with beating a female slave named Hannah to death with his cane.[3][4][5][6][7][8][9] On June 30, 1834, the Missouri Republican reported "an inquest was held at the dwelling-house of Major Harney ... on the body of Hannah ... said slave possibly came to her death by wounds inflicted by William S. Harney".[10] The Missouri Intelligencer and the Cincinnati Journal also reported the incident, the latter labeling Harney as "a monster!"[11][12] This public outrage, the St. Louis county prosecutor's promised involvement and a relative's advice about possible mob violence against him caused Harney to flee eastward along the Ohio River to Wheeling, Virginia.[13] In 1835, Harney returned when "the excitement goes off" and on March 24, 1835 was legally acquitted.[14]

Second Seminole War

During the Second Seminole War (1835–1842), Harney gained a reputation as an Indian fighter for daring and ruthless raids. Harney and troops under his command often fought Seminole war leader and mystic Sam Jones, a/k/a Ar-pi-uck-i. During one skirmish, one of Harney's men accidentally shot, Itee, the wife of Sam Jones. When this was brought to Harney's attention, he turned down opportunities to deliver the shooter or use her as a negotiating chip during treaty negotiations. Instead, Harney ordered Itee comfortably set outside the U.S. Army camp, so that her husband and his men could retrieve her that evening.[15]

Mexican–American War

During the Mexican–American War, Harney was appointed colonel and commanded the 2nd Dragoons. They were attached to John E. Wool's command during the Chihuahua Expedition and the Battle of Buena Vista. Harney joined Winfield Scott's Army as senior cavalry officer at the siege of Veracruz. However, Harney's headstrong and insubordinate temperament causes losses and embarrassment, so when Harney refused to leave Monterrey despite orders to do so (being replaced by Major Edwin V. Sumner), General William J. Worth placed him under court-martial, and he was ultimately convicted.[16] However, President James K. Polk overrode General Scott's judgment removing Harney from command, concluding Harney's only fault was in being a Democrat, although the incident damaged the relationship between the general and Commander-in-Chief.[17]

Placed in temporary command of the 1st Brigade in David Twiggs' division, Harney fought with distinction at the Battle of Cerro Gordo, and received a promotion to brevet brigadier general. He returned to cavalry command during Contreras, Churubusbsco and the battles for Mexico City. However, he was accused of mistreatment of captured prisoners from San Patricio Battalion, which included U.S. Army deserters and escaped slaves. Harney became an original member of the Aztec Club of 1847, which was composed of American officers who had served in Mexico.

First Sioux War

On May 14, 1849, on the death of Bvt. Major General William J. Worth, Harney assumed command of Military Department Number Five, which comprised almost all settled portion of Texas. He was assigned to control Indian raids, which led to the First Sioux War, discussed in part below, although Harney actually only commanded Military Department No. 5 for three short periods, having been replaced by Col. George N. Brooke on July 7, 1849, and after Brooke's death from March 9 until September 15, 1851 when he was replaced by Col. Persifor N. Smith, and then from December 3, 1852 until again relieved by Col. Smith on May 11, 1853.[18]

Recalled from leave attempting to visit his family in Paris in 1854, Harney led a punitive expedition against the Sioux after they killed a small U.S. Army detachment in Nebraska Territory, an event called the Grattan Massacre. He led attacks against Brulé Lakota, who were involved in conflicts with immigrant travelers on Oregon Trail. In the Battle of Ash Hollow on September 2 and 3, 1855, Harney's troops routed Little Thunder's village at Blue Water Creek (now known as Ash Hollow) in western Nebraska, killing about a half of the 250 band members, including women and children (hence an alternate name of the "Harney Massacre").[19] Harney earned a Lakota name translated as "Mad Bear" because, following this attack, he marched across the Badlands to Fort Pierre, the largest trading post in Dakota Territory, and challenged the Lakotas to a winter fight. The success of this campaign encouraged Harney to suggest that mobile units might replace permanent army posts.[20]

Harney briefly commanded troops during the Utah War, and was again recalled and placed in command of troops sent to deal with the guerrilla warfare of Bleeding Kansas.

Next assigned command of the Department of Oregon, Harney sent Captain George E. Pickett and troops to San Juan Island, precipitating the Pig War with British forces. The Army recalled Harney to St. Louis after the altercations with the British.

Promoted to brigadier general on June 14, 1858, Harney was at age 61 the youngest of the four general officers in the regular army at the time (alongside War of 1812 veterans Winfield Scott, John Wool, and David Twiggs, the next youngest at age 70, due to the lack of a fixed retirement age).

Civil War

As the Civil War began, Harney was still in command of the Army's Department of the West based at Jefferson Barracks in St. Louis, Missouri, and his wife's family was prominent in the area. General Twiggs accepted a Confederate commission to head the Department of Louisiana and was accordingly dismissed from the U.S. Army and replaced by Edwin V. Sumner.[21] Missouri Governor Claiborne Jackson was pro-secession, but the majority of Missourians favored Union. After the bombardment of Fort Sumter, President Lincoln called for troops to suppress the rebellion. Jackson refused, and began plotting with Confederate authorities to bring about Missouri's secession by a military coup.

On May 10, 1861, Captain Nathaniel Lyon, commander of the St. Louis Arsenal, led a force of unofficial Unionist "Home Guards" to capture a force of state militia that were poised to seize the Arsenal—acting without any authorization from Harney, his nominal superior. The Camp Jackson Affair resulted in a bloody riot in St. Louis, which horrified Harney.

The state legislature responded by reorganizing the militia as the Missouri State Guard, and authorized it to resist "invasion" by Federal troops. Harney tried to calm the situation and agreed to the Price–Harney Truce with Guard commander Sterling Price (who was married to his wife's niece). They agreed that the State Guard would control most of Missouri, while Federal troops stayed near St. Louis. The deal also involved Missouri Governor Claiborne Jackson, who favored secession, swearing allegiance to the Union.

This was not acceptable to Unionist leaders in Missouri, including Republican leader Frank Blair, since Price did nothing to prevent the organization of pro-Confederate forces nor protect Unionists in his territory. Worsening matters was Harney's Tennessee heritage, which made his loyalty to the Union suspect. Blair reported all this to the Lincoln administration in Washington, and was authorized to replace Harney with Lyon, which Blair did on 30 May.

Recalled to Washington to discuss the situation, Harney was captured by Confederates en route and offered a command by Confederate General Robert E. Lee. He turned down the offer, but because he was a Tennessean, his captors graciously released him and allowed him to continue on to Washington.

Harney remained in Washington and served in various administrative positions. When it became clear that he would not receive another field command, he retired in 1863 and lived in St. Louis, Missouri. In recognition of his long and distinguished career, he was awarded and breveted to major general in 1865.

Later years

President Andrew Johnson appointed Harney to the Indian Peace Commission, so he returned to the Great Plains in 1865 and 1867 to negotiate treaties. In part because he urged Congress to honor past treaties, the Sioux called him the 'Man-who-always-kept-his-word.' He helped secure the Little Arkansas Treaty with the Comanche and Kiowa in 1865 and the Medicine Lodge Treaty in 1867, and the Fort Laramie Treaty with the Brule Sioux in 1868. In 1868 Harney received a temporary assignment to establish three Sioux agencies on the Missouri River, and did so at Whetstone Creek, Cheyenne River, and Grand River.[22]

Harney then retired to Pass Christian, Mississippi on the Gulf Coast and often reminisced with his old friend Jefferson Davis about their old service at Fort Crawford including their near duel, forgetting their opposite service during the Civil War.[23] After Davis' death Harney moved to Orlando, Florida, where he died.

Personal life

Harney had a relationship with Ke-Sho-Ko, a mixed-blood Winnebago woman, while posted to Fort Winnebago in the early 1830s. She bore a daughter, Mary Caroline, but they never married and Harvey abandoned them both upon his reassignment. In 1833, in St. Louis, he married Mary Mullanphy, one of seven daughters of John Mullanphy, an Irish immigrant who became a wealthy merchant in Baltimore and St. Louis' first millionaire. Harney converted to Catholicism, and they had three children including John Mullanphy Harney (1847–1905). However, Harney only saw his wife twice after 1850, and she would relocate to France with their children in 1853, where she died in 1860. Her children would return to St. Louis, and their granddaughter Marie Antoinette Harney Beauregard (1868-1940) would marry the son of Confederate general Pierre Beauregard.[24] In 1884, Harney remarried again, this time to Mary St. Cyr (1826-1907), who survived him.[25]

Death and legacy

Harney died at his home near Orlando, Florida, in 1889, just months after Harney County, Oregon was named for him.[26] He was interred in the officer's section at Arlington National Cemetery, as would his widow in 1907.[27] His handwritten will, witnessed by Ulysses S. Grant and filed in St. Louis, gave his son "John Hearney" and daughter "Eliza Hearney" $5 each, and the rest of his property, wherever located, to his widow.[28]

Historic site

The Maj. Gen. William S. Harney Summer Home in Sullivan, Crawford County, Missouri, is privately owned by the Harney Mansion Foundation. The Sullivan Chamber of Commerce cooperates with the foundation and can arrange visits to the home, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[29]

Places named for William Harney

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/wsharney.htm
  2. ↑ http://plainshumanities.unl.edu/encyclopedia/doc/egp.war.020
  3. ↑ General William S Harney: Prince of Dragoons by George Adams, Univ. Nebraska Press 2005
  4. ↑ Slavery and Crime in Missouri, 1773–1865 by Harriet Frazier, McFarland & co. 2001
  5. ↑ The Narrative of William W Brown, a Fugitive Slave, ed. Gilbert Osofsky Harper & Row 1969
  6. ↑ American Slavery As It Was by Theodore Weld 1836, Arno Press and NY Times 1968
  7. ↑ Fraser's Magazine for Towne and Country, Vol. 61 Feb. 1860
  8. ↑ The Story of Archer Alexander by William G Eliot, Boston 1885
  9. ↑ Official Correspondence of Brig. Gen. W.S. Harney, U.S. Army and First Lt. Geo. Ihrie, late U.S. Army, with the U.S. War Department, and Subsequent Personal Correspondence. Washington 1861
  10. ↑ Missouri Republican, June 30, 1834.
  11. ↑ Missouri Intelligencer, July 5, 1834
  12. ↑ Cincinnati Journal, July 25, 1834
  13. ↑ Clemons Family Collection, Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis A0298
  14. ↑ Kennerly Family Records, Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis A0811
  15. ↑ Reavis, L. U. Saint Louis the Future Great City of the World. Page; 339. Barnes, Missouri. 1876.
  16. ↑ Charles L. Dufour, The Mexican War: A Compact History, 1846–1848 ((New York: Hawthorn Books, Inc. 1968) p. 199
  17. ↑ John S. D. Eisenhower, So Far from God: the U.S. War with Mexico, 1846–1848 (Random House Publishers 1989) p.256n
  18. ↑ https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fha73
  19. ↑ M. Sandoz, Crazy Horse pp.79-82
  20. ↑ http://plainshumanities.unl.edu/encyclopedia/doc/egp.war.020
  21. ↑ http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/wsharney.htm
  22. ↑ Richmond L. Clow, "William Harney" available at http://plainshumanities.unl.edu/encyclopedia/doc/egp.war.020
  23. ↑ William C. Davis, Jefferson Davis: the Man and his hour (HarperCollins Publishers 1991) p. 685
  24. ↑ findagrave no. 43825889
  25. ↑ Gregory P. Shine, "William Selby Harvey (1800-1889) available at https://oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/harney_william_selby/
  26. ↑ https://oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/harney_william_selby/
  27. ↑ http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/wsharney.htm
  28. ↑ St. Louis Probate case file No. 17257-1728 (1889) in Missouri will records, available on ancestry.com
  29. ↑ National Park Service (2010-07-09). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  30. ↑ Federal Writers' Project (1940). South Dakota place-names, v.1- Now changed to Black Elk Peak. August 11, 2016 U. S. Geographic Board. 3. University of South Dakota. p. 40.

See also

  • Hogan, Michael. "Los San Patricios: The Irish Soldiers of Mexico". Indymedia. September 2006. Retrieved July 15, 2008. .
  • L. U. Reavis, The Life of General Harney available at archive.org
  • "Harney, William Selby", by Thomas W. Cutrer, in the Handbook of Texas Online, uploaded June 15, 2010.
  • Military Career of Wm. S. Harney
  • M. Sandoz, Crazy Horse, 1942.
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