John McCausland
Encyclopedia
John McCausland, Jr. was a brigadier general in the Confederate States Army
, famous for the ransom of Hagerstown, Maryland
, and the razing of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania
, during the American Civil War
.
on September 13, 1836, the son of an immigrant from Ireland
. He became an orphan in 1843 and went to live with relatives near Point Pleasant, Virginia
, now in Mason County, West Virginia
. He graduated with first honors in the class of 1857 at the Virginia Military Institute
, and subsequently acted as assistant professor of mathematics in that institution until 1861. In 1859 he was present with a group of VMI cadets at the execution of John Brown
at Charles Town
.
, which had been formed from the 2nd Kanawaha Regiment and part of the 3rd Kanawha Regiment which had been recruited heavily from the south-western counties of present-day West Virginia
. He was commissioned its colonel on July 16, 1861. He served in the brigade of Brig. Gen. John B. Floyd
in western Virginia and was transferred with his regiment to Bowling Green, Kentucky
, to serve in Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston
's army. He fought at the Battle of Fort Donelson
and escaped with his command before it surrendered in February 1862. For the remainder of 1862 and 1863 he fought in the Department of Southwest Virginia.
McCausland was promoted to brigadier general on May 18, 1864, and served as a cavalry brigade commander in the Valley Campaigns of 1864
, under Lt. Gen. Jubal A. Early, raiding into Maryland and Pennsylvania. Under Early's orders, on July 30, 1864, McCausland burned the town of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania
, in retaliation for the destruction of private property by Union Army
Maj. Gen.
David Hunter
in the Shenandoah Valley
, including the burning of the Virginia Military Institute
. After the failure of Early's campaign, McCausland rejoined the Army of Northern Virginia
in the Siege of Petersburg
, the Battle of Five Forks
, and the Appomattox Campaign
. He escaped with his cavalry from Appomattox Court House
before Robert E. Lee
's surrender, but disbanded his unit soon after. He was paroled in Charleston, West Virginia
, on May 22, 1865.
Ulysses S. Grant
. He acquired a tract of 6,000 acres (24 km²) in Mason County, West Virginia
, where he lived as a farmer for more than 60 years.
McCausland died at his farm, "McCausland", in Point Pleasant, West Virginia
, the last Confederate general to die. He is buried in Henderson, West Virginia
.
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...
, famous for the ransom of Hagerstown, Maryland
Hagerstown, Maryland
Hagerstown is a city in northwestern Maryland, United States. It is the county seat of Washington County, and, by many definitions, the largest city in a region known as Western Maryland. The population of Hagerstown city proper at the 2010 census was 39,662, and the population of the...
, and the razing of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania
Chambersburg, Pennsylvania
Chambersburg is a borough in the South Central region of Pennsylvania, United States. It is miles north of Maryland and the Mason-Dixon line and southwest of Harrisburg in the Cumberland Valley, which is part of the Great Appalachian Valley. Chambersburg is the county seat of Franklin County...
, 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...
.
Early life
McCausland was born in St. Louis, MissouriSt. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
on September 13, 1836, the son of an immigrant from Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. He became an orphan in 1843 and went to live with relatives near Point Pleasant, Virginia
Point Pleasant, West Virginia
Point Pleasant is a city in Mason County, West Virginia, United States, at the confluence of the Ohio and Kanawha rivers. The population was 4,637 at the 2000 census...
, now in Mason County, West Virginia
Mason County, West Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 25,957 people, 10,587 households, and 7,569 families residing in the county. The population density was 60 people per square mile . There were 12,056 housing units at an average density of 28 per square mile...
. He graduated with first honors in the class of 1857 at the Virginia Military Institute
Virginia Military Institute
The Virginia Military Institute , located in Lexington, Virginia, is the oldest state-supported military college and one of six senior military colleges in the United States. Unlike any other military college in the United States—and in keeping with its founding principles—all VMI students are...
, and subsequently acted as assistant professor of mathematics in that institution until 1861. In 1859 he was present with a group of VMI cadets at the execution of John Brown
John Brown (abolitionist)
John Brown was an American revolutionary abolitionist, who in the 1850s advocated and practiced armed insurrection as a means to abolish slavery in the United States. He led the Pottawatomie Massacre during which five men were killed, in 1856 in Bleeding Kansas, and made his name in the...
at Charles Town
Charles Town, West Virginia
Charles Town is a city in and the county seat of Jefferson County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 2,907 at the 2000 census. Due to its similar name, travelers have sometimes confused this city with the state's capital, Charleston.-History:...
.
Civil War
Immediately after the start of the Civil War, McCausland was placed in command of the 36th Virginia Infantry Regiment36th Virginia Infantry
The 36th Virginia Volunteer Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment raised in Virginia for service in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. It fought mostly in western Virginia, Tennessee, and Kentucky....
, which had been formed from the 2nd Kanawaha Regiment and part of the 3rd Kanawha Regiment which had been recruited heavily from the south-western counties of present-day West Virginia
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
. He was commissioned its colonel on July 16, 1861. He served in the brigade of Brig. Gen. John B. Floyd
John B. Floyd
John Buchanan Floyd was the 31st Governor of Virginia, U.S. Secretary of War, and the Confederate general in the American Civil War who lost the crucial Battle of Fort Donelson.-Early life:...
in western Virginia and was transferred with his regiment to Bowling Green, Kentucky
Bowling Green, Kentucky
Bowling Green is the third-most populous city in the state of Kentucky after Louisville and Lexington, with a population of 58,067 as of the 2010 Census. It is the county seat of Warren County and the principal city of the Bowling Green, Kentucky Metropolitan Statistical Area with an estimated 2009...
, to serve in Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston
Albert Sidney Johnston
Albert Sidney Johnston served as a general in three different armies: the Texas Army, the United States Army, and the Confederate States Army...
's army. He fought at the Battle of Fort Donelson
Battle of Fort Donelson
The Battle of Fort Donelson was fought from February 11 to February 16, 1862, in the Western Theater of the American Civil War. The capture of the fort by Union forces opened the Cumberland River as an avenue for the invasion of the South. The success elevated Brig. Gen. Ulysses S...
and escaped with his command before it surrendered in February 1862. For the remainder of 1862 and 1863 he fought in the Department of Southwest Virginia.
McCausland was promoted to brigadier general on May 18, 1864, and served as a cavalry brigade commander in the Valley Campaigns of 1864
Valley Campaigns of 1864
The Valley Campaigns of 1864 were American Civil War operations and battles that took place in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia from May to October 1864. Military historians divide this period into three separate campaigns, but it is useful to consider the three together and how they...
, under Lt. Gen. Jubal A. Early, raiding into Maryland and Pennsylvania. Under Early's orders, on July 30, 1864, McCausland burned the town of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania
Chambersburg, Pennsylvania
Chambersburg is a borough in the South Central region of Pennsylvania, United States. It is miles north of Maryland and the Mason-Dixon line and southwest of Harrisburg in the Cumberland Valley, which is part of the Great Appalachian Valley. Chambersburg is the county seat of Franklin County...
, in retaliation for the destruction of private property by Union Army
Union Army
The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
Maj. Gen.
Major general (United States)
In the United States Army, United States Marine Corps, and United States Air Force, major general is a two-star general-officer rank, with the pay grade of O-8. Major general ranks above brigadier general and below lieutenant general...
David Hunter
David Hunter
David Hunter was a Union general in the American Civil War. He achieved fame by his unauthorized 1862 order emancipating slaves in three Southern states and as the president of the military commission trying the conspirators involved with the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.-Early...
in 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...
, including the burning of the Virginia Military Institute
Virginia Military Institute
The Virginia Military Institute , located in Lexington, Virginia, is the oldest state-supported military college and one of six senior military colleges in the United States. Unlike any other military college in the United States—and in keeping with its founding principles—all VMI students are...
. After the failure of Early's campaign, McCausland rejoined the Army of Northern Virginia
Army of Northern Virginia
The Army of Northern Virginia was the primary military force of the Confederate States of America in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War, as well as the primary command structure of the Department of Northern Virginia. It was most often arrayed against the Union Army of the Potomac...
in 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...
, the Battle of Five Forks
Battle of Five Forks
The Battle of Five Forks was fought on April 1, 1865, southwest of Petersburg, Virginia, in Dinwiddie County, during the Appomattox Campaign of the American Civil War. The battle, sometimes referred to as the "Waterloo of the Confederacy," pitted Union Maj. Gen. Philip H. Sheridan against...
, and the Appomattox Campaign
Appomattox Campaign
The Appomattox Campaign was a series of battles fought March 29 – April 9, 1865, in Virginia that culminated in the surrender of Confederate General Robert E...
. He escaped with his cavalry from Appomattox Court House
Appomattox Court House
The Appomattox Courthouse is the current courthouse in Appomattox, Virginia built in 1892. It is located in the middle of the state about three miles northwest of the Appomattox Court House National Historical Park, once known as Clover Hill - home of the original Old Appomattox Court House...
before Robert E. Lee
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....
's surrender, but disbanded his unit soon after. He was paroled in Charleston, West Virginia
Charleston, West Virginia
Charleston is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is located at the confluence of the Elk and Kanawha Rivers in Kanawha County. As of the 2010 census, it has a population of 51,400, and its metropolitan area 304,214. It is the county seat of Kanawha County.Early...
, on May 22, 1865.
Postbellum life
After the war, McCausland spent two years in Europe and Mexico before returning to the United States. He faced arson charges for the burning of Chambersburg, but was pardoned by PresidentPresident 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....
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th President of the United States as well as military commander during the Civil War and post-war Reconstruction periods. Under Grant's command, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military and ended the Confederate States of America...
. He acquired a tract of 6,000 acres (24 km²) in Mason County, West Virginia
Mason County, West Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 25,957 people, 10,587 households, and 7,569 families residing in the county. The population density was 60 people per square mile . There were 12,056 housing units at an average density of 28 per square mile...
, where he lived as a farmer for more than 60 years.
McCausland died at his farm, "McCausland", in Point Pleasant, West Virginia
Point Pleasant, West Virginia
Point Pleasant is a city in Mason County, West Virginia, United States, at the confluence of the Ohio and Kanawha rivers. The population was 4,637 at the 2000 census...
, the last Confederate general to die. He is buried in Henderson, West Virginia
Henderson, West Virginia
Henderson is a town in Mason County, West Virginia, United States, at the confluence of the Ohio and Kanawha Rivers. The population was 325 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Point Pleasant, WV–OH Micropolitan Statistical Area...
.
See also
- List of American Civil War generals
- Gen. John McCausland HouseGen. John McCausland HouseGen. John McCausland House, also known as "Grape Hill," is a historic home located at Leon near Pliny, Mason County, West Virginia. The main house was built in 1885, and is a two story sandstone residence. It features a full length, one story, five bay porch with fluted Doric order columns and...
- Smithland FarmSmithland FarmSmithland Farm, also known as the General John McCausland Memorial Farm, is a historic home and farm located near Henderson, Mason County, West Virginia. The main house is two-story frame structure constructed in 1869. The house a side-gabled, two-story, weatherboarded frame structure with a...
Further reading
- Cooling, Benjamin Franklin. Jubal Early's Raid on Washington, 1864. Baltimore: Nautical & Aviation Publishing Company of America, 1989. ISBN 0-933852-86-X.
- Gallagher, Gary W., ed. The Shenandoah Valley Campaign of 1864. Military Campaigns of the Civil War. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2006. ISBN 978-0-8078-3005-5.
- Gallagher, Gary W., ed. Struggle for the Shenandoah: Essays on the 1864 Valley Campaign. Kent, OH: Kent State University Press, 1991. ISBN 0-87338-429-6.