Francis S. Bartow
Encyclopedia
Colonel Francis Stebbins Bartow (September 6, 1816 – July 21, 1861) was an attorney
, Confederate States of America
political leader, and military
officer during the early months of the American Civil War
. He was an inaugural representative to the Confederate Provisional Congress, where he led efforts to prepare for the coming war.
Bartow was killed at the First Battle of Manassas, becoming the first brigade commander in the Confederate States Army
to die in combat.
in Chatham County, Georgia
, to Dr. Theodosius Bartow and Frances Lloyd (Stebbins) Bartow. He studied law at the Franklin College (now known as the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences
at the University of Georgia
) in Athens
where he was a member of the Phi Kappa Literary Society
. One of his mentors was John M. Berrien
, a U.S. senator and former Attorney General
in Andrew Jackson
's administration. Bartow graduated with highest honors in 1835 at the age of 19. Later, he read law at Messrs. Berrien & Law, a Savannah law office. Finishing his studies, he took additional classes at Yale Law School
in Connecticut
. Bartow returned to Savannah in 1837, was hired by the Bryan Superior Court and was admitted to the local bar. He then joined Law, Bartow and Lovell, a well-known legal firm, and became regarded for his skills in handling difficult criminal cases.
In 1840, the 24-year-old Bartow campaigned for William Henry Harrison
, the Whig
candidate for President
. In 1841, he began his own political career by serving the first of two consecutive terms in the Georgia House of Representatives
, followed by one term in the Georgia Senate
. In 1844, Bartow married Louisa Greene Berrien, the daughter of one of his previous professional tutors, Sen. John Berrien. In 1856, Bartow was a candidate for the U.S. Congress, but was defeated. The following year, he was elected as captain of Savannah's 21st Oglethorpe Light Infantry, a reserve guard
company that had been formed in 1856. He served as an instructor to the volunteers, many of which were young scions of established families in local society.
As the national controversy over slavery
intensified, Bartow became concerned for Georgia's destiny if war became a reality. In 1860, after Abraham Lincoln
's election, he spurned the Union
to advocate the right of secession
.
for mid-January 1861. Bartow was nominated for Chatham County's delegation. On May 28, 1861, elections were held to select representatives to the convention, with Bartow emerging as a winner, along with John W. Anderson and A. S. Jones. However, Bartow was on military duty that day. Governor
Joseph E. Brown
had previously given orders to retake Fort Pulaski (located near the mouth of the Savannah River
), which had been recently seized by Federal military forces. Brown entrusted the task to Bartow and the Oglethorpe Light Infantry. Bartow's expedition successfully recaptured the fort on June 15, largely due to his artillery under Col. Alexander Lawton
.
At the convention, Bartow stood out as one of the most fervent secessionists. Demanding an immediate withdrawal from the Union, he helped align Georgia among the pro-secessionist states. On February 29, 1861, delegates approved the Ordinance of Secession by a vote of 208 to 89. Bartow was chosen to represent Georgia in the Confederate Provisional Congress at Montgomery
, Alabama
, starting February 4, 1861.
On the second day of the Congress, Bartow became chairman of the Military Committee. He pushed insistently for fast, drastic actions to counter the imminent threat of Northern retaliation. He helped select the color and style of the initial Confederate gray uniforms. During a later session, Bartow announced that he would depart for the battlefront, taking his Oglethorpe Light Infantry up to Virginia. As he explained later on:
, using a new law authored by Louis T. Wigfall of Texas
that authorized any citizen to offer any voluntary military force directly, without state mediation, to the Confederate President, who would also determine its military leader. Davis immediately approved Bartow's plan and designated him the commander of the new Confederate force, making Bartow's Oglethorpe Light Infantry the first company to officially contribute its services to the Confederacy's national war effort.
An angry Governor Brown countered by publishing an aggressively tough letter in all Georgia newspapers on May 21, 1861. Among other things, he alleged that Bartow was seeking his own glory by assuring a high command and aspiring to a promotion to colonel. To him, Bartow was actually deserting the war "to serve the common cause in a more pleasant summer climate." He wrote that the muskets Bartow's men had carried to Virginia were exclusively for local "public service," and that the Governor had the power of disarming the local military companies arbitrarily. He also alleged that Bartow had written the law beforehand, tailoring it for his own plans and forcing Davis to ignore the authority of the Confederacy's "independent" states. In Brown's opinion, the governor was Bartow's unique officer by the Confederate Constitution. He argued that the Congress was encroaching Georgia's rights.
Nonetheless, Bartow arrived in Savannah on May 21 to assemble his 106 soldiers and to arrange for a train to take them to Virginia's battlefront. A great rally of cheerful citizens congregated at the station, accompanied by the remaining local militia, which fired an artillery salute in Bartow's honor. Before departing, Bartow pronounced to the crowd his most celebrated phrase: "I go to illustrate Georgia."
On June 14, from Camp Defiance in Harper's Ferry
, Bartow wrote his response to the "insolent missive" of Brown, who "thought proper to publish [it] in [Bartow's] absence". The response was published in the Savannah Morning News
. Bartow defended himself vehemently, countering each of the personalized attacks and stating that he had undertaken the current campaign under the sole command of Jefferson Davis. His recurring argument was that the "Confederate Government is alone chargeable with questions of peace and war and has the exclusive right, excepting in the case of invasion, to raise and maintain armies" while the Governors are not "empowered to raise these armies". Brown would have been committing, "here again, [his] common error, of supposing that [he was] the State of Georgia .... a mistake in which I do not participate."
, with the objective of protecting the region from any Union attack. On June 1, 1861, Bartow was promoted to Colonel of the 8th Georgia Infantry, which had been formed in Virginia from companies that had been arriving from different Georgia counties. Later that day, he mustered the regiment for the first time at Camp Bartow in Howard's Grove in Richmond. The regiment was initially assigned to the Shenandoah Valley
. Crossing the Virginia Piedmont
, it arrived in Winchester
, near the northern end of the valley. Once settled, Bartow incorporated some local forces from the 2nd Brigade of the Army of the Shenandoah
.
Late in June 1861, Bartow received orders to move his troops to the outskirts of Manassas
to support General P. G. T. Beauregard
. They departed on June 19, fording the Shenandoah River
with their "luggage tied on the ends of [their] fixed bayonets." After reaching the Piedmont station, the regiment was transported to Manassas by train.
Bartow commanded the 7th & 8th Georgia Regiments—the 9th Georgia Regiment, Pope's and Duncan's Kentucky
Battalions Infantry remained at Piedmont Station and were not present on July 21, 1861. He addressed his troops, "... but remember, boys, that battle and fighting mean death, and probably before sunrise some of us will be dead." Early the next morning, Bartow had the 7th and 8th Georgia march to the left flank of the army.
After the fighting had started, the two regiments reached Henry House Hill, where they were joined by Bartow, after one of his soldiers confirmed that it was his regiment: "Boys, what Regiment is this?" The response came, "8th Georgia." He answered, "My God, boys, I am mighty glad to see you." He deployed his brigade on the hill alongside Brig. Gen. Barnard Bee
's brigade. Bee then decided to go forward to support Evan's brigade on Matthew Hill as Evans had rejected his suggestion to fall back to Henry Hill. Bartow deployed the 7th and 8th Georgia into line of battle to support the right flank of Bee's Brigade.
As the hours went on, Bartow's soldiers were gradually worn down by the enemy. At times, they found themselves completely encircled, the target of a spate of bullets. One of the survivors later wrote, "Practically half of the Eighth's 1,000 Georgians fell dead or wounded, or were captured or lost ... Bartow led his men to an exposed eminence which was too hot to hold."
Bartow (now with less than 400 men) was forced to retreat about noontime back to his original deployment site. There, he asked General Beauregard, "What shall now be done? Tell me, and if human efforts can avail, I will do it." Waving at the enemy position on the Stone Bridge, Beauregard replied, "That battery should be silenced." Bartow gathered the remainder of the 7th Regiment and launched another attack. Around Henry House Hill, Bartow's horse was shot out from under him and a bullet wounded him slightly. Nonetheless, he grabbed another horse and continued the attack.
At one point, he harangued his troops to follow him toward the enemy by cheering "Boys, follow me!" and waving his cap frantically over his head. Just then, another projectile perforated his chest, fatally lodging in his heart. Some of his soldiers gathered around him, witnessing his last words: "Boys, they have killed me, but never give up the field." Lying on the ground and wrapped in Col. Lucius Gartrell's
arms, Francis Bartow died. He was the first brigade commander to be killed in action during the Civil War. (The first general officer to be killed in the war was Confederate Brig. Gen. Robert S. Garnett
at Corrick's Ford
, July 13, 1861.) Amos Rucker and his brother Moses Bentley, two body servants from the 7th Regiment, carried Bartow off the battlefield. The renowned surgeon H. V. M. Miller attended him, but without success.
The rest of Bartow's 7th Georgia continued to obey his last command to attack. The Union forces were beginning to show fatigue, due to their having been weakened during Bartow's morning attack. The Confederates sustained their attack until finally destroying the enemy battery at Stone Bridge. General Beauregard declared, "You Georgians saved me," though the Georgia Rome Weekly Courier newspaper commented, "Col. Bartow's fine Regiment of Georgians were nearly annihilated".
When notified of Bartow's death, the Confederate Congress adjourned its sessions "in testimony of [its] respect for his memory", as expressed by its spokesman, Thomas Reade Rootes Cobb
. The chamber felt an "unfeigned sorrow" due to the "heavy loss sustained by the Confederacy in the death of one of her most efficient counselors." They did confirm Bartow's posthumous rank of acting brigadier general.
On July 27, 1861, Bartow's corpse returned to Chatham County, Georgia. Accompanied by an extensive popular rally, Bartow was buried at Laurel Grove Cemetery
with a military ceremony. Louisa Berrien received a consoling letter from Mrs. Jefferson Davis. His granite monument has two of his historical phrases engraved under a wreath and a saber: "I go to illustrate Georgia" and "They have killed me, boys, but never give up."
On September 4, 1861, before a crowd of 1,000 people, the first Confederate-dedicated monument was inaugurated at Manassas, honoring Francis Bartow. An obelisk made of marble, it was mysteriously stolen in 1862. In 1936, in an attempt to repair this vandalism, a new marker was placed at the same site by the Georgia Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy
. A new monument of Bartow exists nearby, several feet from the original one.
. Unveiled in 1902, their two bronze busts were mounted on stone pedestals at Chippewa Square. Bartow's faced south towards Perry Street, while McLaws' faced north. About 1910, the council decided to build the Oglethorpe Monument at Chippewa Square. Both generals' busts were therefore relocated to the Confederate Monument at Forsyth Park
.
Bartow is buried in Savannah's Laurel Grove Cemetery.
During the Civil War, several Georgia companies carried Bartow's name:
The Francis S. Bartow Camp No. 93 of the Sons of Confederate Veterans
. The Georgia General Assembly recently acknowledged the work of this organization, citing them "for their role in protecting and preserving Confederate heritage" (LC 21 7026, House Resolution 1524).
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
, Confederate States of America
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
political leader, and military
Military
A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...
officer during the early months of 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...
. He was an inaugural representative to the Confederate Provisional Congress, where he led efforts to prepare for the coming war.
Bartow was killed at the First Battle of Manassas, becoming the first brigade commander in the Confederate States Army
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...
to die in combat.
Early life and career
Bartow was born near SavannahSavannah, Georgia
Savannah is the largest city and the county seat of Chatham County, in the U.S. state of Georgia. Established in 1733, the city of Savannah was the colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and later the first state capital of Georgia. Today Savannah is an industrial center and an important...
in Chatham County, Georgia
Chatham County, Georgia
Chatham County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. The county seat and largest city is Savannah. In the official US Census of 2010, Chatham County had a total population of 265,128 . Chatham is the most populous Georgia county outside the Atlanta metropolitan area...
, to Dr. Theodosius Bartow and Frances Lloyd (Stebbins) Bartow. He studied law at the Franklin College (now known as the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences
Franklin College of Arts and Sciences
The Franklin College of Arts and Sciences is the founding college of the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, United States. The college was named in honor of Benjamin Franklin.-History:...
at the University of Georgia
University of Georgia
The University of Georgia is a public research university located in Athens, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1785, it is the oldest and largest of the state's institutions of higher learning and is one of multiple schools to claim the title of the oldest public university in the United States...
) in Athens
Athens, Georgia
Athens-Clarke County is a consolidated city–county in U.S. state of Georgia, in the northeastern part of the state, comprising the former City of Athens proper and Clarke County. The University of Georgia is located in this college town and is responsible for the initial growth of the city...
where he was a member of the Phi Kappa Literary Society
Phi Kappa Literary Society
The Phi Kappa Literary Society is a college literary society, located at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia.The Society was founded in 1820 by Joseph Henry Lumpkin, later to become the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia and eponym for the , and by William Crabbe, Edwin...
. One of his mentors was John M. Berrien
John M. Berrien
John Macpherson Berrien of Georgia was a United States Senator and Andrew Jackson's Attorney General.Born at Rocky Hill, New Jersey, to a family of Huguenot ancestry, Berrien moved with his parents to Savannah, Georgia, in 1782; was graduated from Princeton College in 1796; studied law in...
, a U.S. senator and former Attorney General
Attorney General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general, or attorney-general, is the main legal advisor to the government, and in some jurisdictions he or she may also have executive responsibility for law enforcement or responsibility for public prosecutions.The term is used to refer to any person...
in Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States . Based in frontier Tennessee, Jackson was a politician and army general who defeated the Creek Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend , and the British at the Battle of New Orleans...
's administration. Bartow graduated with highest honors in 1835 at the age of 19. Later, he read law at Messrs. Berrien & Law, a Savannah law office. Finishing his studies, he took additional classes at Yale Law School
Yale Law School
Yale Law School, or YLS, is the law school of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Established in 1824, it offers the J.D., LL.M., J.S.D. and M.S.L. degrees in law. It also hosts visiting scholars, visiting researchers and a number of legal research centers...
in Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
. Bartow returned to Savannah in 1837, was hired by the Bryan Superior Court and was admitted to the local bar. He then joined Law, Bartow and Lovell, a well-known legal firm, and became regarded for his skills in handling difficult criminal cases.
In 1840, the 24-year-old Bartow campaigned for William Henry Harrison
William Henry Harrison
William Henry Harrison was the ninth President of the United States , an American military officer and politician, and the first president to die in office. He was 68 years, 23 days old when elected, the oldest president elected until Ronald Reagan in 1980, and last President to be born before the...
, the Whig
Whig Party (United States)
The Whig Party was a political party of the United States during the era of Jacksonian democracy. Considered integral to the Second Party System and operating from the early 1830s to the mid-1850s, the party was formed in opposition to the policies of President Andrew Jackson and his Democratic...
candidate for President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
. In 1841, he began his own political career by serving the first of two consecutive terms in the Georgia House of Representatives
Georgia House of Representatives
The Georgia House of Representatives is the lower house of the Georgia General Assembly of the U.S. state of Georgia.-Composition:...
, followed by one term in the Georgia Senate
Georgia Senate
The Georgia State Senate is the upper house of the Georgia General Assembly .-Composition:According to the state constitution of 1983, this body is to be composed of no more than 56 members elected for two-year terms. Current state law provides for 56 members...
. In 1844, Bartow married Louisa Greene Berrien, the daughter of one of his previous professional tutors, Sen. John Berrien. In 1856, Bartow was a candidate for the U.S. Congress, but was defeated. The following year, he was elected as captain of Savannah's 21st Oglethorpe Light Infantry, a reserve guard
Militia
The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...
company that had been formed in 1856. He served as an instructor to the volunteers, many of which were young scions of established families in local society.
As the national controversy over slavery
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
intensified, Bartow became concerned for Georgia's destiny if war became a reality. In 1860, after Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
's election, he spurned 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...
to advocate the right of secession
Secession
Secession is the act of withdrawing from an organization, union, or especially a political entity. Threats of secession also can be a strategy for achieving more limited goals.-Secession theory:...
.
Secession and Fort Pulaski
Georgia summoned a State Secession Convention in MilledgevilleMilledgeville, Georgia
Milledgeville is a city in and the county seat of Baldwin County in the U.S. state of Georgia. It is northeast of Macon, located just before Eatonton on the way to Athens along U.S. Highway 441, and it is located on the Oconee River. The relatively rapid current of the Oconee here made this an...
for mid-January 1861. Bartow was nominated for Chatham County's delegation. On May 28, 1861, elections were held to select representatives to the convention, with Bartow emerging as a winner, along with John W. Anderson and A. S. Jones. However, Bartow was on military duty that day. Governor
Governor
A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...
Joseph E. Brown
Joseph E. Brown
Joseph Emerson Brown , often referred to as Joe Brown, was the 42nd Governor of Georgia from 1857 to 1865, and a U.S. Senator from 1880 to 1891...
had previously given orders to retake Fort Pulaski (located near the mouth of the Savannah River
Savannah River
The Savannah River is a major river in the southeastern United States, forming most of the border between the states of South Carolina and Georgia. Two tributaries of the Savannah, the Tugaloo River and the Chattooga River, form the northernmost part of the border...
), which had been recently seized by Federal military forces. Brown entrusted the task to Bartow and the Oglethorpe Light Infantry. Bartow's expedition successfully recaptured the fort on June 15, largely due to his artillery under Col. Alexander Lawton
Alexander Lawton
Alexander Robert Lawton was a lawyer, politician, diplomat, and brigadier general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War.-Early life:...
.
At the convention, Bartow stood out as one of the most fervent secessionists. Demanding an immediate withdrawal from the Union, he helped align Georgia among the pro-secessionist states. On February 29, 1861, delegates approved the Ordinance of Secession by a vote of 208 to 89. Bartow was chosen to represent Georgia in the Confederate Provisional Congress at Montgomery
Montgomery, Alabama
Montgomery is the capital of the U.S. state of Alabama, and is the county seat of Montgomery County. It is located on the Alabama River southeast of the center of the state, in the Gulf Coastal Plain. As of the 2010 census, Montgomery had a population of 205,764 making it the second-largest city...
, Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
, starting February 4, 1861.
On the second day of the Congress, Bartow became chairman of the Military Committee. He pushed insistently for fast, drastic actions to counter the imminent threat of Northern retaliation. He helped select the color and style of the initial Confederate gray uniforms. During a later session, Bartow announced that he would depart for the battlefront, taking his Oglethorpe Light Infantry up to Virginia. As he explained later on:
Dispute with Governor Brown
Bartow telegraphed the news to his Georgia troops, arranging a prompt rally. However, his plans were blocked by Governor Brown, who had already decided to concentrate the state's armed forces strictly for the defense of Georgia. Bartow appealed personally to the Confederate President, Jefferson DavisJefferson Davis
Jefferson Finis Davis , also known as Jeff Davis, was an American statesman and leader of the Confederacy during the American Civil War, serving as President for its entire history. He was born in Kentucky to Samuel and Jane Davis...
, using a new law authored by Louis T. Wigfall of Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
that authorized any citizen to offer any voluntary military force directly, without state mediation, to the Confederate President, who would also determine its military leader. Davis immediately approved Bartow's plan and designated him the commander of the new Confederate force, making Bartow's Oglethorpe Light Infantry the first company to officially contribute its services to the Confederacy's national war effort.
An angry Governor Brown countered by publishing an aggressively tough letter in all Georgia newspapers on May 21, 1861. Among other things, he alleged that Bartow was seeking his own glory by assuring a high command and aspiring to a promotion to colonel. To him, Bartow was actually deserting the war "to serve the common cause in a more pleasant summer climate." He wrote that the muskets Bartow's men had carried to Virginia were exclusively for local "public service," and that the Governor had the power of disarming the local military companies arbitrarily. He also alleged that Bartow had written the law beforehand, tailoring it for his own plans and forcing Davis to ignore the authority of the Confederacy's "independent" states. In Brown's opinion, the governor was Bartow's unique officer by the Confederate Constitution. He argued that the Congress was encroaching Georgia's rights.
Nonetheless, Bartow arrived in Savannah on May 21 to assemble his 106 soldiers and to arrange for a train to take them to Virginia's battlefront. A great rally of cheerful citizens congregated at the station, accompanied by the remaining local militia, which fired an artillery salute in Bartow's honor. Before departing, Bartow pronounced to the crowd his most celebrated phrase: "I go to illustrate Georgia."
On June 14, from Camp Defiance in Harper's Ferry
Harpers Ferry, West Virginia
Harpers Ferry is a historic town in Jefferson County, West Virginia, United States. In many books the town is called "Harper's Ferry" with an apostrophe....
, Bartow wrote his response to the "insolent missive" of Brown, who "thought proper to publish [it] in [Bartow's] absence". The response was published in the Savannah Morning News
Savannah Morning News
The Savannah Morning News is a daily newspaper in Savannah, Georgia. It is published by Morris Communications, Inc. The motto of the paper is "Light of the Coastal Empire and Lowcountry"...
. Bartow defended himself vehemently, countering each of the personalized attacks and stating that he had undertaken the current campaign under the sole command of Jefferson Davis. His recurring argument was that the "Confederate Government is alone chargeable with questions of peace and war and has the exclusive right, excepting in the case of invasion, to raise and maintain armies" while the Governors are not "empowered to raise these armies". Brown would have been committing, "here again, [his] common error, of supposing that [he was] the State of Georgia .... a mistake in which I do not participate."
Manassas
Bartow's 21st Oglethorpe Light Infantry finally arrived in Richmond, VirginiaRichmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
, with the objective of protecting the region from any Union attack. On June 1, 1861, Bartow was promoted to Colonel of the 8th Georgia Infantry, which had been formed in Virginia from companies that had been arriving from different Georgia counties. Later that day, he mustered the regiment for the first time at Camp Bartow in Howard's Grove in Richmond. The regiment was initially assigned to the Shenandoah Valley
Shenandoah Valley
The Shenandoah Valley is both a geographic valley and cultural region of western Virginia and West Virginia in the United States. The valley is bounded to the east by the Blue Ridge Mountains, to the west by the eastern front of the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians , to the north by the Potomac River...
. Crossing the Virginia Piedmont
Piedmont (United States)
The Piedmont is a plateau region located in the eastern United States between the Atlantic Coastal Plain and the main Appalachian Mountains, stretching from New Jersey in the north to central Alabama in the south. The Piedmont province is a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian division...
, it arrived in Winchester
Winchester, Virginia
Winchester is an independent city located in the northwestern portion of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the USA. The city's population was 26,203 according to the 2010 Census...
, near the northern end of the valley. Once settled, Bartow incorporated some local forces from the 2nd Brigade of the Army of the Shenandoah
Army of the Shenandoah
Army of the Shenandoah refers to two armies in the American Civil War:* Confederate Army of the Shenandoah* Union Army of the Shenandoah...
.
Manassas, Virginia
The City of Manassas is an independent city surrounded by Prince William County and the independent city of Manassas Park in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Its population was 37,821 as of 2010. Manassas also surrounds the county seat for Prince William County but that county...
to support General P. G. T. 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...
. They departed on June 19, fording the Shenandoah River
Shenandoah River
The Shenandoah River is a tributary of the Potomac River, long with two forks approximately long each, in the U.S. states of Virginia and West Virginia...
with their "luggage tied on the ends of [their] fixed bayonets." After reaching the Piedmont station, the regiment was transported to Manassas by train.
Bartow commanded the 7th & 8th Georgia Regiments—the 9th Georgia Regiment, Pope's and Duncan's Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
Battalions Infantry remained at Piedmont Station and were not present on July 21, 1861. He addressed his troops, "... but remember, boys, that battle and fighting mean death, and probably before sunrise some of us will be dead." Early the next morning, Bartow had the 7th and 8th Georgia march to the left flank of the army.
After the fighting had started, the two regiments reached Henry House Hill, where they were joined by Bartow, after one of his soldiers confirmed that it was his regiment: "Boys, what Regiment is this?" The response came, "8th Georgia." He answered, "My God, boys, I am mighty glad to see you." He deployed his brigade on the hill alongside Brig. Gen. Barnard Bee
Barnard Elliott Bee, Jr.
Barnard Elliott Bee Jr. was a career United States Army officer and a Confederate States Army general during the American Civil War. He was mortally wounded at the First Battle of Bull Run, one of the first general officers to be killed in the war. During that battle, he was responsible for the...
's brigade. Bee then decided to go forward to support Evan's brigade on Matthew Hill as Evans had rejected his suggestion to fall back to Henry Hill. Bartow deployed the 7th and 8th Georgia into line of battle to support the right flank of Bee's Brigade.
As the hours went on, Bartow's soldiers were gradually worn down by the enemy. At times, they found themselves completely encircled, the target of a spate of bullets. One of the survivors later wrote, "Practically half of the Eighth's 1,000 Georgians fell dead or wounded, or were captured or lost ... Bartow led his men to an exposed eminence which was too hot to hold."
Bartow (now with less than 400 men) was forced to retreat about noontime back to his original deployment site. There, he asked General Beauregard, "What shall now be done? Tell me, and if human efforts can avail, I will do it." Waving at the enemy position on the Stone Bridge, Beauregard replied, "That battery should be silenced." Bartow gathered the remainder of the 7th Regiment and launched another attack. Around Henry House Hill, Bartow's horse was shot out from under him and a bullet wounded him slightly. Nonetheless, he grabbed another horse and continued the attack.
At one point, he harangued his troops to follow him toward the enemy by cheering "Boys, follow me!" and waving his cap frantically over his head. Just then, another projectile perforated his chest, fatally lodging in his heart. Some of his soldiers gathered around him, witnessing his last words: "Boys, they have killed me, but never give up the field." Lying on the ground and wrapped in Col. Lucius Gartrell's
Lucius Jeremiah Gartrell
Lucius Jeremiah Gartrell was an American politician and lawyer, as well as general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War.-Biography:Gartrell was born near Washington, Georgia...
arms, Francis Bartow died. He was the first brigade commander to be killed in action during the Civil War. (The first general officer to be killed in the war was Confederate Brig. Gen. Robert S. Garnett
Robert S. Garnett
Robert Selden Garnett was a career military officer, serving in the United States Army until the American Civil War, when he became a Confederate States Army brigadier general. He was the first general officer killed in the Civil War.-Early life and career:Garnett was born at the family plantation...
at Corrick's Ford
Battle of Corrick's Ford
The Battle of Corrick's Ford took place on July 13, 1861, on the Cheat River in western Virginia as part of the Operations in Western Virginia Campaign during the American Civil War. By later standards the battle was a minor skirmish...
, July 13, 1861.) Amos Rucker and his brother Moses Bentley, two body servants from the 7th Regiment, carried Bartow off the battlefield. The renowned surgeon H. V. M. Miller attended him, but without success.
The rest of Bartow's 7th Georgia continued to obey his last command to attack. The Union forces were beginning to show fatigue, due to their having been weakened during Bartow's morning attack. The Confederates sustained their attack until finally destroying the enemy battery at Stone Bridge. General Beauregard declared, "You Georgians saved me," though the Georgia Rome Weekly Courier newspaper commented, "Col. Bartow's fine Regiment of Georgians were nearly annihilated".
When notified of Bartow's death, the Confederate Congress adjourned its sessions "in testimony of [its] respect for his memory", as expressed by its spokesman, Thomas Reade Rootes Cobb
Thomas Reade Rootes Cobb
Thomas Reade Rootes Cobb was an American lawyer, author, politician, and Confederate officer, killed in the Battle of Fredericksburg during the American Civil War.-Early life:...
. The chamber felt an "unfeigned sorrow" due to the "heavy loss sustained by the Confederacy in the death of one of her most efficient counselors." They did confirm Bartow's posthumous rank of acting brigadier general.
On July 27, 1861, Bartow's corpse returned to Chatham County, Georgia. Accompanied by an extensive popular rally, Bartow was buried at Laurel Grove Cemetery
Laurel Grove Cemetery
Laurel Grove Cemetery is a cemetery located in midtown Savannah, Georgia. It includes the original cemetery for whites and a companion burial ground that was reserved for slaves and free people of color. The original cemetery has countless graves of many of Savannah's Confederate veterans of the...
with a military ceremony. Louisa Berrien received a consoling letter from Mrs. Jefferson Davis. His granite monument has two of his historical phrases engraved under a wreath and a saber: "I go to illustrate Georgia" and "They have killed me, boys, but never give up."
Manassas battlefield
After the battle, on the approximate spot where Bartow was killed, Confederate soldiers placed a small stone landmark (engraved in Savannah) which quoted his last words: "My God, boys, they have got me, but never give up the field." This memorial stone was later removed by Union forces during one of their raids. (Two markers survive on that same site in the present-day National Battlefield—an older one placed by veterans of the 7th Georgia in 1903, and a newer bronze marker erected in the 20th century.)On September 4, 1861, before a crowd of 1,000 people, the first Confederate-dedicated monument was inaugurated at Manassas, honoring Francis Bartow. An obelisk made of marble, it was mysteriously stolen in 1862. In 1936, in an attempt to repair this vandalism, a new marker was placed at the same site by the Georgia Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy
United Daughters of the Confederacy
The United Daughters of the Confederacy is a women's heritage association dedicated to honoring the memory of those who served in the military and died in service to the Confederate States of America . UDC began as the National Association of the Daughters of the Confederacy, organized in 1894 by...
. A new monument of Bartow exists nearby, several feet from the original one.
Savannah's monument
After years of postponement due to the war and its effects, on February 7, 1890, the Savannah City Council approved erecting a memorial recognizing native sons Francis Bartow and Lafayette McLawsLafayette McLaws
Lafayette McLaws was a United States Army officer and a Confederate general in the American Civil War.-Early life:...
. Unveiled in 1902, their two bronze busts were mounted on stone pedestals at Chippewa Square. Bartow's faced south towards Perry Street, while McLaws' faced north. About 1910, the council decided to build the Oglethorpe Monument at Chippewa Square. Both generals' busts were therefore relocated to the Confederate Monument at Forsyth Park
Forsyth Park
Forsyth Park is a large city park that occupies in the historic district of Savannah, Georgia. The park is bordered by Gaston Street on the North, Drayton Street on the East, Park Avenue on the South and Whitaker Street on the West...
.
Bartow is buried in Savannah's Laurel Grove Cemetery.
Bartow namesakes
- Bartow County, GeorgiaBartow County, GeorgiaBartow County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 100,157. According to the U.S. Census Bureau's July 1, 2009 estimate, the county's explosive growth resulted in a population of 96,217, a 26.5% increase in less than ten years...
- Bartow, GeorgiaBartow, GeorgiaBartow is a town in Jefferson County, Georgia, United States. The population was 223 at the 2000 census. Initially the town was known as "Spier's Turnout", but was changed to honor the first Confederate officer to die in battle, Colonel Francis S...
- Bartow, FloridaBartow, FloridaBartow is the county seat of Polk County, Florida, United States. Founded in 1851 as Fort Blount, the city was renamed in honor of Francis S. Bartow the first brigade commander to die in combat during the American Civil War. According to the U.S. Census Bureau 2000 Census, the city had a...
- Bartow, West VirginiaBartow, West VirginiaBartow is an unincorporated census-designated place in Pocahontas County, West Virginia, USA. As of the 2010 census, its population was 111.Bartow is situated along U.S. Route 250 and West Virginia Route 92 and on the East Fork Greenbrier River about east of Durbin. It has a post office with ZIP...
- Bartow Elementary School, a school in Savannah which opened in 1963.
- Francis S. Bartow - Liberty shipLiberty shipLiberty ships were cargo ships built in the United States during World War II. Though British in conception, they were adapted by the U.S. as they were cheap and quick to build, and came to symbolize U.S. wartime industrial output. Based on vessels ordered by Britain to replace ships torpedoed by...
2447 - Francis Bartow Homes- an apartment community in Savannah, Ga. located directly in front of the school mentioned above.
During the Civil War, several Georgia companies carried Bartow's name:
- Macedonia Silver Grays
- Company B, 10th Battalion Georgia Cavalry - Bartow Mounted Infantry
- Company C, 10th Battalion Georgia Cavalry - Bartow Raid Repellers
- Georgia Volunteer Infantry
- Company A, 23rd Regiment - Bartow Yankee Killers
- Company B, 40th Regiment - Bartow Sentinels/Howard Guards
- Company I, 40th Regiment - Bartow Rangers
The Francis S. Bartow Camp No. 93 of the Sons of Confederate Veterans
Sons 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...
. The Georgia General Assembly recently acknowledged the work of this organization, citing them "for their role in protecting and preserving Confederate heritage" (LC 21 7026, House Resolution 1524).
See also
- List of American Civil War generals