Archibald Gracie III
Encyclopedia
Archibald Gracie III was a career United States Army
officer, businessman, and a graduate of West Point
. He is well known for being a Confederate
brigadier general during the American Civil War
and for his death during the Siege of Petersburg
.
family with interests in exporting cotton from Mobile, Alabama
. After his elementary education, Gracie traveled to Germany
for five years of further studying at the University of Heidelberg. After arriving back in the United States
Archibald started his education at West Point. After graduating in 1854, he was appointed a second lieutenant and set off as an escort to Governor Isaac Stevens
, who was on the way to the Walla Walla Council of 1855
.
In 1857 Gracie resigned his post to join his father's firm, established during the 1840s in Mobile, Alabama
, as agents of the London banking firm of Baring brothers
. Later Gracie became the President of the Barings Bank
of Mobile. It was here in Mobile that he joined the Washington Light Infantry
and became its captain. By the orders of Governor Andrew B. Moore
, Archibald and his men took the Mount Vernon Arsenal
.
. In June 1861 he was created a Major of the 11th Alabama Regiment
. From March to April 1862 he commanded a small company of sharpshooters, who were some of the first to reinforce General Magruder
during the Battle of Yorktown
. In July of that year Gracie was put in command of a brigade near Chattanooga, Tennessee
, consisting of the 43rd Alabama infantry, 55th Georgia infantry, 12th Georgia infantry, 1st Georgia Artillery, and the 1st Florida dismounted regiment. Through his successes in Huntsville, Tennessee
, he was promoted to brigadier general on November 4, 1862, at the age of 29. His company was the guard of the rear of General Bragg's
Army in Harrodsburg during his retreat from the Battle of Perryville
, and during his retreat after the Tullahoma Campaign
. General Gracie's command took an active role during the Battle of Chickamauga
, where he lost over 700 men.
Gracie and his unit then joined General Longstreet's
army at the Battle of Bean's Station. During this battle Gracie was shot in the arm causing temporary paralysis of his little and ring fingers. After his recovery he was sent to Richmond to join General Beauregard
. While there he had a horse shot out from under him, but went away relatively unscathed. During the Siege of Petersburg
Gracie is credited with possibly saving General Lee's
life. Lee was at "Gracie's Mortar Hell" inspecting Gracie's defenses when he rose his head over the wall to glance at the Union position, seeing this Gracie climbed the wall in front of Lee. Lee then stated "Why, Gracie, you will certainly be killed," Gracie then replied,"It is better, General, that I be killed than you. When you get down, I will."
, during the Siege of Petersburg
. On December 1, Gracie's 32nd birthday, his second child, a girl, was born, and he was to take a leave to see the baby on December 3. On December 2, 1864, the day after his 32nd birthday Archibald Gracie was looking out at the Union
lines through his telescope when an artillery shell exploded in front of him breaking his neck; it killed him instantly. Because of his actions at the Battle of Chickamauga
Gracie's name was put into consideration for a promotion to a Major General, but his death caused the consideration to be suspended.
Frank O. Ticknor eulogized Gracie's Death in the poem "Gracie, of Alabama", which he sent to General Robert Chilton
:
Gracie, of Alabama!
'Twas on that dreadful day
When howling hounds were fiercest,
With Petersburg at bay.
Gracie, of Alabama,
Walked down the lines with Lee,
Marking through mists of gunshot
The clouds of enemy;
Scanning the Anaconda
At every scale and joint;
And halting, glasses levelled
At gaze on " Dead Man's Point."
Thrice, Alabama's warning
Fell on a heedless ear,
While the relentless lead-storm,
Converging, hurtled near;
Till straight before his chieftain,
Without or sound or sign,
He stood, a shield the grandest,
Against the Union line:
And then the glass was lowered,
And voice that faltered not
Said, in its measured cadence,"
Why, Gracie, you'll be shot!"
And Alabama answered:"
The South will pardon me
If the ball that goes through Gracie
Comes short of Robert Lee!"
Swept a swift flash of crimson
Athwart the chieftain's cheek,
And the eyes whose glance was "knighthood"
Spake as no king could speak.
And side by side with Gracie
He turned from shot and flame;
Side by side with Gracie
Up the grand aisle of Fame.
. He was also the father of Archibald Gracie IV, the famous survivor of the Titanic and a daughter who was born the day before his death.
Gracie is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in New York.
Camp, Archibald Gracie Camp #985, is named in his honor.
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
officer, businessman, and a graduate of West Point
United States Military Academy
The United States Military Academy at West Point is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located at West Point, New York. The academy sits on scenic high ground overlooking the Hudson River, north of New York City...
. He is well known for being a Confederate
Confederate States Army
The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...
brigadier general during the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
and for his death during the Siege of Petersburg
Siege of Petersburg
The Richmond–Petersburg Campaign was a series of battles around Petersburg, Virginia, fought from June 9, 1864, to March 25, 1865, during the American Civil War...
.
Early life and career
Archibald was born into a wealthy New YorkNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
family with interests in exporting cotton from Mobile, Alabama
Mobile, Alabama
Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest...
. After his elementary education, Gracie traveled to Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
for five years of further studying at the University of Heidelberg. After arriving back in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Archibald started his education at West Point. After graduating in 1854, he was appointed a second lieutenant and set off as an escort to Governor Isaac Stevens
Isaac Stevens
Isaac Ingalls Stevens was the first governor of Washington Territory, a United States Congressman, and a brigadier general in the Union Army during the American Civil War until his death at the Battle of Chantilly...
, who was on the way to the Walla Walla Council of 1855
Walla Walla Council (1855)
The Walla Walla Council was a meeting in the Pacific Northwest between the United States and sovereign tribal bodies of the Cayuse, Nez Perce, Umatilla, Walla Walla, and Yakama. The treaties signed at this council were ratified by the U.S. Senate in 1859...
.
In 1857 Gracie resigned his post to join his father's firm, established during the 1840s in Mobile, Alabama
Mobile, Alabama
Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest...
, as agents of the London banking firm of Baring brothers
Barings Bank
Barings Bank was the oldest merchant bank in London until its collapse in 1995 after one of the bank's employees, Nick Leeson, lost £827 million due to speculative investing, primarily in futures contracts, at the bank's Singapore office.-History:-1762–1890:Barings Bank was founded in 1762 as the...
. Later Gracie became the President of the Barings Bank
Barings Bank
Barings Bank was the oldest merchant bank in London until its collapse in 1995 after one of the bank's employees, Nick Leeson, lost £827 million due to speculative investing, primarily in futures contracts, at the bank's Singapore office.-History:-1762–1890:Barings Bank was founded in 1762 as the...
of Mobile. It was here in Mobile that he joined the Washington Light Infantry
Washington Light Infantry
The Washington Light Infantry is a military and social organization located in Charleston, South Carolina. Founded in 1807, it is one of the oldest of these militia groups still active in the United States....
and became its captain. By the orders of Governor Andrew B. Moore
Andrew B. Moore
Andrew Barry Moore was the 16th Governor of the U.S. state of Alabama from 1857 to 1861, and served as Governor at the outbreak of the American Civil War....
, Archibald and his men took the Mount Vernon Arsenal
Mount Vernon Arsenal
The Mount Vernon Arsenal-Searcy Hospital Complex is a historic district listed on the National Register of Historic Places in Mount Vernon, Alabama, in Mobile County...
.
Civil War service
When Alabama seceded in 1861 Gracie enlisted in the Confederate States ArmyConfederate States Army
The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...
. In June 1861 he was created a Major of the 11th Alabama Regiment
11th Regiment Alabama Infantry
The 11th Regiment Alabama Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment that served in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War.-Service:...
. From March to April 1862 he commanded a small company of sharpshooters, who were some of the first to reinforce General Magruder
John B. Magruder
John Bankhead Magruder was a career military officer who served in the armies of three nations. He was a U.S. Army officer in the Mexican-American War, a Confederate general during the American Civil War, and a postbellum general in the Imperial Mexican Army...
during the Battle of Yorktown
Battle of Yorktown (1862)
The Battle of Yorktown or Siege of Yorktown was fought from April 5 to May 4, 1862, as part of the Peninsula Campaign of the American Civil War. Marching from Fort Monroe, Union Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan's Army of the Potomac encountered Maj. Gen. John B. Magruder's small Confederate force...
. In July of that year Gracie was put in command of a brigade near Chattanooga, Tennessee
Chattanooga, Tennessee
Chattanooga is the fourth-largest city in the US state of Tennessee , with a population of 169,887. It is the seat of Hamilton County...
, consisting of the 43rd Alabama infantry, 55th Georgia infantry, 12th Georgia infantry, 1st Georgia Artillery, and the 1st Florida dismounted regiment. Through his successes in Huntsville, Tennessee
Huntsville, Tennessee
Huntsville is a town in Scott County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 981 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Scott County.-Geography:...
, he was promoted to brigadier general on November 4, 1862, at the age of 29. His company was the guard of the rear of General Bragg's
Braxton Bragg
Braxton Bragg was a career United States Army officer, and then a general in the Confederate States Army—a principal commander in the Western Theater of the American Civil War and later the military adviser to Confederate President Jefferson Davis.Bragg, a native of North Carolina, was...
Army in Harrodsburg during his retreat from the Battle of Perryville
Battle of Perryville
The Battle of Perryville, also known as the Battle of Chaplin Hills, was fought on October 8, 1862, in the Chaplin Hills west of Perryville, Kentucky, as the culmination of the Confederate Heartland Offensive during the American Civil War. Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg's Army of Mississippi won a...
, and during his retreat after the Tullahoma Campaign
Tullahoma Campaign
The Tullahoma Campaign or Middle Tennessee Campaign was fought between June 24 and July 3, 1863, during the American Civil War. The Union Army of the Cumberland, commanded by Maj. Gen. William S...
. General Gracie's command took an active role during the Battle of Chickamauga
Battle of Chickamauga
The Battle of Chickamauga, fought September 19–20, 1863, marked the end of a Union offensive in southeastern Tennessee and northwestern Georgia called the Chickamauga Campaign...
, where he lost over 700 men.
Gracie and his unit then joined General Longstreet's
James Longstreet
James Longstreet was one of the foremost Confederate generals of the American Civil War and the principal subordinate to General Robert E. Lee, who called him his "Old War Horse." He served under Lee as a corps commander for many of the famous battles fought by the Army of Northern Virginia in the...
army at the Battle of Bean's Station. During this battle Gracie was shot in the arm causing temporary paralysis of his little and ring fingers. After his recovery he was sent to Richmond to join General Beauregard
P. G. T. Beauregard
Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard was a Louisiana-born American military officer, politician, inventor, writer, civil servant, and the first prominent general of the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. Today he is commonly referred to as P. G. T. Beauregard, but he rarely used...
. While there he had a horse shot out from under him, but went away relatively unscathed. During the Siege of Petersburg
Siege of Petersburg
The Richmond–Petersburg Campaign was a series of battles around Petersburg, Virginia, fought from June 9, 1864, to March 25, 1865, during the American Civil War...
Gracie is credited with possibly saving General Lee's
Robert E. Lee
Robert Edward Lee was a career military officer who is best known for having commanded the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in the American Civil War....
life. Lee was at "Gracie's Mortar Hell" inspecting Gracie's defenses when he rose his head over the wall to glance at the Union position, seeing this Gracie climbed the wall in front of Lee. Lee then stated "Why, Gracie, you will certainly be killed," Gracie then replied,"It is better, General, that I be killed than you. When you get down, I will."
Death
Between July and December 1864 Gracie served in the trenches of Petersburg, VirginiaPetersburg, Virginia
Petersburg is an independent city in Virginia, United States located on the Appomattox River and south of the state capital city of Richmond. The city's population was 32,420 as of 2010, predominantly of African-American ethnicity...
, during the Siege of Petersburg
Siege of Petersburg
The Richmond–Petersburg Campaign was a series of battles around Petersburg, Virginia, fought from June 9, 1864, to March 25, 1865, during the American Civil War...
. On December 1, Gracie's 32nd birthday, his second child, a girl, was born, and he was to take a leave to see the baby on December 3. On December 2, 1864, the day after his 32nd birthday Archibald Gracie was looking out at the Union
Union (American Civil War)
During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty free states and five border slave states. It was opposed by 11 southern slave states that had declared a secession to join together to form the...
lines through his telescope when an artillery shell exploded in front of him breaking his neck; it killed him instantly. Because of his actions at the Battle of Chickamauga
Battle of Chickamauga
The Battle of Chickamauga, fought September 19–20, 1863, marked the end of a Union offensive in southeastern Tennessee and northwestern Georgia called the Chickamauga Campaign...
Gracie's name was put into consideration for a promotion to a Major General, but his death caused the consideration to be suspended.
Frank O. Ticknor eulogized Gracie's Death in the poem "Gracie, of Alabama", which he sent to General Robert Chilton
Robert H. Chilton
Robert Hall Chilton was an officer in the U.S. Army and then a brigadier general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. He served as Chief of Staff for the Army of Northern Virginia under Robert E. Lee for much of the war.-Biography:Chilton was born in Loudoun County,...
:
Gracie, of Alabama!
'Twas on that dreadful day
When howling hounds were fiercest,
With Petersburg at bay.
Gracie, of Alabama,
Walked down the lines with Lee,
Marking through mists of gunshot
The clouds of enemy;
Scanning the Anaconda
At every scale and joint;
And halting, glasses levelled
At gaze on " Dead Man's Point."
Thrice, Alabama's warning
Fell on a heedless ear,
While the relentless lead-storm,
Converging, hurtled near;
Till straight before his chieftain,
Without or sound or sign,
He stood, a shield the grandest,
Against the Union line:
And then the glass was lowered,
And voice that faltered not
Said, in its measured cadence,"
Why, Gracie, you'll be shot!"
And Alabama answered:"
The South will pardon me
If the ball that goes through Gracie
Comes short of Robert Lee!"
Swept a swift flash of crimson
Athwart the chieftain's cheek,
And the eyes whose glance was "knighthood"
Spake as no king could speak.
And side by side with Gracie
He turned from shot and flame;
Side by side with Gracie
Up the grand aisle of Fame.
Family
On November 19, 1856 Archibald Gracie married Josephine Mayo, a niece of General Winfield ScottWinfield Scott
Winfield Scott was a United States Army general, and unsuccessful presidential candidate of the Whig Party in 1852....
. He was also the father of Archibald Gracie IV, the famous survivor of the Titanic and a daughter who was born the day before his death.
Gracie is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in New York.
Commemorations
New York City's historic Sons of Confederate VeteransSons of Confederate Veterans
Sons of Confederate Veterans is an American national heritage organization with members in all fifty states and in almost a dozen countries in Europe, Australia and South America...
Camp, Archibald Gracie Camp #985, is named in his honor.
See also
- List of American Civil War generals
- Gracie MansionGracie Mansionthumb|250px|Western sideGracie Mansion is the official residence of the mayor of the City of New York. Built in 1799, it is located in Carl Schurz Park, at East End Avenue and Eighty-eighth Street in Manhattan...
- Archibald Gracie IV