Something a Little Bit Different

Recently, I've been thinking about Zebulon Pike, an Army officer who died April 27, 1813 in Canada during the War of 1812. He had one surviving daughter who married a son of President William Henry Harrison. As connected as his family was, what if he also had a surviving son - one who followed his father's military career?

Let's call him Zebulon, Jr, born in 1807, while Sr was away on the "Pike Expedition" (some of you may guess where I'm going with this), and gets his military training at West Point - entering in the summer of 1825, along with classmate Robert E. Lee.

Both graduate with strong records and receive initial assignments with recognition of their respective fathers' careers. They both serve in the Mexican War and are senior leaders by the time the Slavery issue is coming to a head in 1860. Both would be 53 years old.

What happens next? Does the lifelong influence of a yankee like Zebulon, Jr keep REL from joining the Confederacy? Do they both have leadership positions on opposite sides at the beginning of the war? Does Zebulon, Jr become U.S. Secretary of War or enter politics at the encouragement of his sister's father in law?
 
Worth noting that the Zebulon Pike of Pike's Peak fame was already was himself a Jr.

So either Zebulon Pike III or maybe something completely different.
 

TFSmith121

Banned
Fun concept... what's interesting is that looking at

Recently, I've been thinking about Zebulon Pike, an Army officer who died April 27, 1813 in Canada during the War of 1812. He had one surviving daughter who married a son of President William Henry Harrison. As connected as his family was, what if he also had a surviving son - one who followed his father's military career?

Let's call him Zebulon, Jr, born in 1807, while Sr was away on the "Pike Expedition" (some of you may guess where I'm going with this), and gets his military training at West Point - entering in the summer of 1825, along with classmate Robert E. Lee.

Both graduate with strong records and receive initial assignments with recognition of their respective fathers' careers. They both serve in the Mexican War and are senior leaders by the time the Slavery issue is coming to a head in 1860. Both would be 53 years old.

1) What happens next? 2) Does the lifelong influence of a yankee like Zebulon, Jr keep REL from joining the Confederacy? 3) Do they both have leadership positions on opposite sides at the beginning of the war? 4) Does Zebulon, Jr become U.S. Secretary of War or enter politics at the encouragement of his sister's father in law?

Fun concept...

1) Pretty much whatever you wish, I think;
2) No. REL was ambitious as hell, disloyal, and willing to do anything for the "concept" of serving Virginia.
3) Quite likely; ZP II was born in New Jersey and lived north of the M-D, and obviously the Harrisons were deep into the Old Northwest/Midwest/Great Lakes, so ZP III stays with the US, one would expect.
4) Quite possibly; WH Harrison was a Whig, and so ZP III could have been in Washington during the Polk, Taylor, or Fillmore administrations; he may have joined the Republicans in 1856 or 1860, as well.

Historically, what's interesting is that looking at Cullum's for the class of 1829, there really is not a "northern" counterpart to Lee, in terms of remaining with the army, technical branch, etc.

The number one man in the class (Lee was number 2) was Charles Mason, who had a very distinguished civilian career and was still alive and active in 1861, but had left the Army after six years, including two years at USMA as an engineering professor at the tender age of 26. His (historical) career was as follows:


Military History. — Cadet at the Military Academy, July 1, 1825, to July 1, 1829, when he was graduated and promoted in the Army to Bvt. Second Lieut., Corps of Engineers, July 1, 1829.
Served: at the Military Academy as Principal Asst. Professor of Engineering, Aug. 30, 1829, to Aug. 31, 1831. Resigned, Dec. 31, 1831.
Civil History. — Counselor at Law, Newburg, N. Y., 1832‑34, and at New York City, 1834‑36. Acting Editor of the New York "Evening Post," 1835‑36. District Attorney, Des Moines County, Wis., 1837‑38. Aide-de‑Camp to the Governor of Wisconsin Territory, 1837‑38. Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Iowa, July 4, 1838, to May 16, 1847. Attorney of the State of Iowa for the adjustment of its Southern Boundary, 1847‑50. Appointed by the Legislature of Iowa, Jan., 1848, one of three Commissioners to draft an entire code of laws for the State, which was adopted in 1851. Judge of Des Moines Country Court, Wis., Aug., 1851, to June, 1852. President of Burlington and Missouri River Railroad, Iowa, 1852‑53; and of Peoria and Oquawka Railroad, Ill., 1852‑53. Counselor at Law, Burlington, Io., 1847‑53. U. S. Commissioner of Patents, Mar. 24, 1853, to Aug. 5, 1857. Commissioner to adjust the extent of the Des Moines River Land Grant, 1858‑59. Member of the Board of Education of the State of Iowa, 1858‑59. Counselor at Law, Burlington, Io., 1858‑59. Counselor at Law, Washington, D. C., 1860‑61. Appointed a Commissioner by the Legislature of Iowa, 1861, to control a State War Fund of $800,000 for the suppression of the Rebellion. Democratic Candidate for Governor of the State of Iowa, but not elected, 1867. Delegate to the Democratic National Convention from Iowa, 1868 and 1872; and to several State Conventions, 1867‑81. Author of various papers on Financial Subjects, 1867‑82. President of Burlington, Iowa, Water Company, 1875‑82; of German-American Savings Bank, 1874‑82; of Burlington Board of Trade, 1879‑82; of Burlington and Northwestern Railroad Company, 1877‑82; and of Burlington Street Railway Company, 1870‑82. Vice-President of Burlington, Keosauqua, and Western Railroad, 1878‑82. Treasurer of Burlington School Board, 1879‑82. Patent Law Attorney, 1861‑82.

Given his experience and career in Iowa, he seemed an obvious choice for the JAG post in Fremont's Department of the Northwest in BROS. Going on down the list of loyalists, this is where the class of 1829 ended up, historically and in BROS. Thirteeen of the 20 were with or returned to the colors; the other seven fell into the "likely rallier" list in BROS. Italicized are "BROS" assignments; non-italicized are (more or less) real life.

Charles Mason, 1829, engineer, (IA) to Department of the Northwest, as judge advocate general
James Barnes, 1829, artillery, 18th Massachusetts
Catharinus P. Buckingham, 1829, artillery, adjutant general, Ohio
Joseph Smith Bryce, 1829, artillery, AAG, DC
Miner Knowlton, 1829, artillery (NJ) to Defenses of Philadelphia, as inspector general
O. McKnight Mitchel, 1829, artillery (Division in AotL)
Sidney Burbank, 1829, infantry, 13th US Infantry
William Hoffman, 1829, infantry, CG of Prisoners, DC
Franklin E. Hunt, 1829, paymaster, PM of 3rd (SW) Division, XV Corps (Curtis)
Lancaster P. Lupton, 1829, cavalry (CA) to Defenses of San Francisco, as commissary
Seth Eastman, 1829, infantry; Adjutant General, Department of New England
Thomas Swords, 1829, quartermaster, Army of the Ohio
Albemarle Cady, 1829, infantry, CO, District of the Columbia
Thomas A. Davies, 1829, infantry, 16th NY Volunteers
Caleb C. Sibley, 1829, infantry, 9th US Infantry (San Francisco)
George A. Sterling, 1829, infantry (CT) to Defenses of New Haven, as commissary
James Clark, 1829, infantry (Pres. Holy Cross, MA; SJ) to Defenses of Boston, as chaplain
George R. J. Bowdoin, 1829, infantry (NY) to Defenses of New York, as judge advocate general
Benjamin W. Brice, 1829, paymaster, Kansas District
Robert W. Burnet, 1829, infantry (OH) to Defenses of Cincinnati, as inspector general

The BROS assignments are, for the most part, my speculation, but give some interesting examples of the "one hand behind its back" reality of the US war effort.

Best,
 
Thanks.

There are many here who know a lot of details about this period (oddly, until this came to mind, I hadn't been much of a ACW fan).

Pike has always struck me as someone who would have made much more of a mark (beyond having a mountain named for him) if he had lived longer (or if Jefferson hadn't allowed the Navy to deteriorate).

I think I'll let this percolate for a while.
 

TFSmith121

Banned
Sure - re-reading Cullum for BROS has been an education

Thanks. There are many here who know a lot of details about this period (oddly, until this came to mind, I hadn't been much of a ACW fan). Pike has always struck me as someone who would have made much more of a mark (beyond having a mountain named for him) if he had lived longer (or if Jefferson hadn't allowed the Navy to deteriorate). I think I'll let this percolate for a while.

Sure - re-reading Cullum for BROS has been an education; certainly validates Shelby Foote's "One hand behind its back" statement.

One of those who kind of leaps off the page is Miner Knowlton. (Who?)


Military History. — Cadet at the Military Academy, July 1, 1825, to July 1, 1829, when he was graduated and promoted in the Army to Bvt. Second Lieut., 1st Artillery, July 1, 1829. Second Lieut., 1st Artillery, July 1, 1829.

Served at the Military Academy as Asst. Professor of Mathematics, Aug. 31, 1830, to Aug. 28, 1831; in garrison at Ft. Monroe, Va. (Artillery School for Practice), 1832, — and Ft. Moultrie, S. C., 1832; at the Military Academy, 1832‑44, — as Asst. Professor of Mathematics, Sep. 14, 1832, to Jan. 29, 1833, — as Asst. Teacher of French, Jan. 27, 1833, to Aug. 30, 1837, — as Asst. Instructor of Artillery and Cavalry, Aug. 30 (First Lieut., 1st Artillery, July 23, 1835) to Nov. 9, 1837, — and as Instructor of Artillery and Cavalry, Nov. 9, 1837, to July 1, 1844; as Member of Artillery Board for the compilation of "Instruction for Field Artillery — Horse and Foot," adopted Mar. 6, 1845, for the service of the United States; as Aide-de‑Camp to Marshal Bugeaud, of the French Army, in Algeria, Africa, 1845; in Military Occupation of Texas, at Corpus Christi, 1845‑46; in the War with Mexico, (Captain, 1st Artillery, Apr. 21, 1846) being engaged on the Rio Grande, and mustering Volunteers into service, 1846; on Recruiting service, 1846‑48; on Engineer duty, Dec. 15, 1848, to Sep. 1, 1849...Author of "Notes on Gunpowder, Cannon, and Projectiles," 1840. President of the Common Council of the City of Burlington, N. J., 1857. Compiler of "Instructions and Regulations for the Militia and Volunteers of the United States," 1861.

Unfortunately, he was sidelined by poor health after Mexico (may have been malaria or something equally nasty and reccurring), which is why I figured in BROS he'd find his way to an IG spot close to home, but still:

Artillery and cavalry expert; staff service at the corps/army level with a Western army before Mexico; obviously capable as an academic, engineer, staff officer, civil affairs, etc...

He's not RE Lee, but again...

Best,
 
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