United States Congress Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War
Encyclopedia
The Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War was a United States Congressional investigating committee created to handle issues surrounding the American Civil War
. It was established on December 9, 1861, following the embarrassing Union
defeat at the Battle of Ball's Bluff
, at the instigation of Senator
Zachariah T. Chandler
of Michigan
, and continued until May 1865. Its purpose was to investigate such matters as illicit trade with the Confederate states
, medical treatment of wounded soldiers, military contracts, and the causes of Union
battle losses. The Committee was also involved in supporting the war effort through various means, including endorsing emancipation
, the use of black soldiers, and the appointment of general
s who were known to be aggressive fighters. It was chaired throughout by Senator Benjamin Wade
of Ohio, and became identified with the Radical Republicans who wanted more aggressive war policies than those of Abraham Lincoln
.
, pitting neighbor against neighbor (and sometimes brother against brother), the loyalty of a soldier to the Union was simple to question. And since Union forces had very poor luck against their Confederate counterparts early in the war, particularly in the Eastern Theater battles that held the attention of the newspapers and Washington politicians, it was easy to accuse an officer of being a traitor after he lost a battle or was slow to engage or pursue the enemy. This politically charged atmosphere was very difficult and distracting for career military officers. Officers who were not known Republicans felt the most pressure before the Committee.
During the committee's existence, it held 272 meetings and received testimony in Washington
and at other locations, often from military officers. Though the committee met and held hearings in secrecy, the testimony and related exhibits were published at irregular intervals in the numerous committee reports of its investigations. The records include the original manuscripts of certain postwar reports that the committee received from general officers. There are also transcripts of testimony and accounting records regarding the military administration of Alexandria, Virginia
.
One of the most colorful series of committee hearings followed the Battle of Gettysburg
in 1863, where Union Maj. Gen. Daniel Sickles
, a former congressman, accused Maj. Gen. George G. Meade of mismanaging the battle, planning to retreat from Gettysburg prior to his victory there, and failing to pursue and defeat Robert E. Lee
's army as it retreated. This was mostly a self-serving effort on Sickles's part because he was trying to deflect criticism from his own disastrous role in the battle. Bill Hyde notes that the committee's report on Gettysburg was edited by Wade in ways that were unfavorable to Meade, even when that required distorting the evidence. The report was "a powerful propaganda weapon" (p. 381), but the committee's power had waned by the time the final testimony was taken of William T. Sherman
on May 22, 1865.
The war it was investigating completed, the committee ceased to exist after this last testimony, and the final reports were published shortly thereafter. The later Joint Committee on Reconstruction
represented a similar attempt to check executive power by the Radical Republicans.
Hannibal Hamlin
; House members were selected by Speaker of the House
Galusha Grow.
. Part 2 covered the Union's 1861 Eastern Theater
losses at First Bull Run
and at Ball's Bluff
. Part 3 covered the war's Western Theater
.
The Committee on the Conduct of the War is considered to be the toughest congressional investigating committee in history. While a senator from Missouri, future President Harry S. Truman
cited this committee's style as an example he did not want to follow in leading the "Truman Committee", which investigated military appropriations during World War II
. Truman stated that he did not want to second guess war strategy. His committee succeeded in demonstrating government waste and inefficiency in order to assist the war effort.
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...
. It was established on December 9, 1861, following the embarrassing Union
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...
defeat at the Battle of Ball's Bluff
Battle of Ball's Bluff
The Battle of Ball's Bluff, also known as the Battle of Harrison’s Island or the Battle of Leesburg, was fought on October 21, 1861, in Loudoun County, Virginia, as part of Union Maj. Gen. George B...
, at the instigation of Senator
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
Zachariah T. Chandler
Zachariah Chandler
Zachariah Chandler was Mayor of Detroit , a four-term U.S. Senator from the state of Michigan , and Secretary of the Interior under U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant .-Family:...
of Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
, and continued until May 1865. Its purpose was to investigate such matters as illicit trade with the Confederate states
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...
, medical treatment of wounded soldiers, military contracts, and the causes of 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...
battle losses. The Committee was also involved in supporting the war effort through various means, including endorsing emancipation
Abolitionism
Abolitionism is a movement to end slavery.In western Europe and the Americas abolitionism was a movement to end the slave trade and set slaves free. At the behest of Dominican priest Bartolomé de las Casas who was shocked at the treatment of natives in the New World, Spain enacted the first...
, the use of black soldiers, and the appointment of general
General
A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....
s who were known to be aggressive fighters. It was chaired throughout by Senator Benjamin Wade
Benjamin Wade
Benjamin Franklin "Bluff" Wade was a U.S. lawyer and United States Senator. In the Senate, he was associated with the Radical Republicans of that time.-Early life:...
of Ohio, and became identified with the Radical Republicans who wanted more aggressive war policies than those of 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...
.
History
Union officers often found themselves in an uncomfortable position before the Committee. Since this was a civil warCivil war
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same nation state or republic, or, less commonly, between two countries created from a formerly-united nation state....
, pitting neighbor against neighbor (and sometimes brother against brother), the loyalty of a soldier to the Union was simple to question. And since Union forces had very poor luck against their Confederate counterparts early in the war, particularly in the Eastern Theater battles that held the attention of the newspapers and Washington politicians, it was easy to accuse an officer of being a traitor after he lost a battle or was slow to engage or pursue the enemy. This politically charged atmosphere was very difficult and distracting for career military officers. Officers who were not known Republicans felt the most pressure before the Committee.
During the committee's existence, it held 272 meetings and received testimony in Washington
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
and at other locations, often from military officers. Though the committee met and held hearings in secrecy, the testimony and related exhibits were published at irregular intervals in the numerous committee reports of its investigations. The records include the original manuscripts of certain postwar reports that the committee received from general officers. There are also transcripts of testimony and accounting records regarding the military administration of Alexandria, Virginia
Alexandria, Virginia
Alexandria is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of 2009, the city had a total population of 139,966. Located along the Western bank of the Potomac River, Alexandria is approximately six miles south of downtown Washington, D.C.Like the rest of northern Virginia, as well as...
.
One of the most colorful series of committee hearings followed the Battle of Gettysburg
Battle of Gettysburg
The Battle of Gettysburg , was fought July 1–3, 1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The battle with the largest number of casualties in the American Civil War, it is often described as the war's turning point. Union Maj. Gen. George Gordon Meade's Army of the Potomac...
in 1863, where Union Maj. Gen. Daniel Sickles
Daniel Sickles
Daniel Edgar Sickles was a colorful and controversial American politician, Union general in the American Civil War, and diplomat....
, a former congressman, accused Maj. Gen. George G. Meade of mismanaging the battle, planning to retreat from Gettysburg prior to his victory there, and failing to pursue and defeat 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 army as it retreated. This was mostly a self-serving effort on Sickles's part because he was trying to deflect criticism from his own disastrous role in the battle. Bill Hyde notes that the committee's report on Gettysburg was edited by Wade in ways that were unfavorable to Meade, even when that required distorting the evidence. The report was "a powerful propaganda weapon" (p. 381), but the committee's power had waned by the time the final testimony was taken of William T. Sherman
William Tecumseh Sherman
William Tecumseh Sherman was an American soldier, businessman, educator and author. He served as a General in the Union Army during the American Civil War , for which he received recognition for his outstanding command of military strategy as well as criticism for the harshness of the "scorched...
on May 22, 1865.
The war it was investigating completed, the committee ceased to exist after this last testimony, and the final reports were published shortly thereafter. The later Joint Committee on Reconstruction
United States Congress Joint Committee on Reconstruction
The Joint Committee on Reconstruction, also known as the Joint Committee of Fifteen, was a joint committee of the United States Congress that played a major role in Reconstruction in the wake of the American Civil War...
represented a similar attempt to check executive power by the Radical Republicans.
37th Congress
The committee's original Senate members were selected by the Vice-PresidentVice President of the United States
The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...
Hannibal Hamlin
Hannibal Hamlin
Hannibal Hamlin was the 15th Vice President of the United States , serving under President Abraham Lincoln during the American Civil War...
; House members were selected by Speaker of the House
Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
The Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, or Speaker of the House, is the presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives...
Galusha Grow.
| Majority | Minority | |
|---|---|---|
| Senate members |
|
Andrew Johnson Andrew Johnson was the 17th President of the United States . As Vice-President of the United States in 1865, he succeeded Abraham Lincoln following the latter's assassination. Johnson then presided over the initial and contentious Reconstruction era of the United States following the American... (D-TN) Joseph A. Wright Joseph Albert Wright was the tenth Governor of the U.S. state of Indiana from December 5, 1849 to January 12, 1857, most noted for his opposition to banking. His positions created a rift between him and the Indiana General Assembly who overrode all of his anti-banking vetoes... (D-IN) |
| House members |
George Washington Julian George Washington Julian was a nineteenth century politician, lawyer and writer who served in Congress from Indiana. He was the son-in-law of Joshua Reed Giddings.-Biography:... (R-IN) John Covode John Covode was a United States Congressman and abolitionist.-Early life:Covode was born in West Fairfield, Pennsylvania. After serving an apprenticeship to a blacksmith, he became involved in the Westmoreland Coal Company, serving as the first president of the company in 1854... (R-PA) Daniel W. Gooch Daniel Wheelwright Gooch was a United States Representative from Massachusetts. Gooch, the son of John and Olive Gooch, was born in Wells, Maine on January 8, 1820. He attended the public schools, Phillips Academy, and graduated from Dartmouth College... (R-MA) |
|
38th Congress
In January, 1864, committee chairman Wade introduced a resolution broadening the committee's powers to include the oversight of military contracts. Both the House and Senate passed like resolutions by mid-January.| Majority | Minority | |
|---|---|---|
| Senate members |
|
Benjamin F. Harding Benjamin Franklin Harding was an American attorney and politician born in Pennsylvania. He held political offices in the Oregon Territory and later served as a United States Senator from the state of Oregon.-Early life:... (D-OR) Charles R. Buckalew Charles Rollin Buckalew was an American lawyer and Democratic party politician from Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania. He served in the state senate and represented Pennsylvania in both the U.S. House and Senate. He was a graduate of Harford Academy, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, where he studied law... (D-PA) |
| House members |
George Washington Julian George Washington Julian was a nineteenth century politician, lawyer and writer who served in Congress from Indiana. He was the son-in-law of Joshua Reed Giddings.-Biography:... (R-IN) Daniel W. Gooch Daniel Wheelwright Gooch was a United States Representative from Massachusetts. Gooch, the son of John and Olive Gooch, was born in Wells, Maine on January 8, 1820. He attended the public schools, Phillips Academy, and graduated from Dartmouth College... (R-MA) |
Benjamin F. Loan Benjamin Franklin Loan was a U.S. Representative from Missouri, as well as a Union General during the American Civil War.-Biography:... (UU-MO) |
Reports
The committee took testimony from witnesses, mostly Union Army officers, in private session, often when a quorum of members weren't present. The committee had been active for over a year before its first report was published in 1863.1863
The committee's first report was issued in three parts. Part 1 covered the Army of the PotomacArmy of the Potomac
The Army of the Potomac was the major Union Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War.-History:The Army of the Potomac was created in 1861, but was then only the size of a corps . Its nucleus was called the Army of Northeastern Virginia, under Brig. Gen...
. Part 2 covered the Union's 1861 Eastern Theater
Eastern Theater of the American Civil War
The Eastern Theater of the American Civil War included the states of Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, the District of Columbia, and the coastal fortifications and seaports of North Carolina...
losses at First Bull Run
First Battle of Bull Run
First Battle of Bull Run, also known as First Manassas , was fought on July 21, 1861, in Prince William County, Virginia, near the City of Manassas...
and at Ball's Bluff
Battle of Ball's Bluff
The Battle of Ball's Bluff, also known as the Battle of Harrison’s Island or the Battle of Leesburg, was fought on October 21, 1861, in Loudoun County, Virginia, as part of Union Maj. Gen. George B...
. Part 3 covered the war's Western Theater
Western Theater of the American Civil War
This article presents an overview of major military and naval operations in the Western Theater of the American Civil War.-Theater of operations:...
.
1864
The 1864 report was given in two parts. The first presented reports and testimony taken involving the alleged Confederate mistreatment of USCT soldiers following their surrender at Fort Pillow. The second part related to the condition of returned Union soldiers after their imprisonment in Confederate POW camps.1865
The 1865 report was more comprehensive than the first two years' works. the report covered a wide variety of issues: The Mine Crater incident during the Siege of Petersburg, the Fort Pillow episode, the military expeditions at Fort Fisher and up the Red River. Extensive testimony was taken on the subject of ordnance, contracts to supply ice for the war effort, turreted Monitor-class warships, and the massacre of friendly Cheyenne Indians at Sand Creek, Colorado.1866
A two-volume supplement was published in 1866 in order to present reports of several witnesses: major generals Sherman, Thomas, Pope, Foster, Pleasanton, Hitchcock, Sheridan, and brigadier general Ricketts.Legacy
Tap shows that Radical republicans challenged Lincoln's role as commander-in-chief through the the Joint Committee. During the 37th and 38th Congresses, it investigated every aspect of Union military operations, with special attention to finding the men guilt of military defeats. They assumed an inevitable Union victory, and failure seemed to them to indicate evil motivations or personal failures. They were skeptical of military science and especially the graduates of the US Military Academy at West Point, many of alumni of which were leaders of the enemy army. They much preferred political generals with a known political record. Some committee suggested that West Pointers who engaged in strategic maneuver were cowardly or even disloyal. It ended up endorsing incompetent but politically correct generals. Tap finds, "the committee's investigations, its leaks to the press, and its use of secret testimony to discredit generals such as McClellan certainly were instrumental in creating hostility between the army's West Point officers and the nation's civilian leaders." Finally, because of its collective ignorance of military science and preference for the heroic saber charge, "the committee tended to reinforce the unrealistic and simplistic notions of warfare that prevailed in the popular mind," writes Tap.The Committee on the Conduct of the War is considered to be the toughest congressional investigating committee in history. While a senator from Missouri, future President Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States . As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice president and the 34th Vice President of the United States , he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his...
cited this committee's style as an example he did not want to follow in leading the "Truman Committee", which investigated military appropriations during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Truman stated that he did not want to second guess war strategy. His committee succeeded in demonstrating government waste and inefficiency in order to assist the war effort.
External links
- National Archives Records of Congress
- U.S. Senate
- Report of the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War, 1863 at Making of America, University of MichiganUniversity of MichiganThe University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
- Report of the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War, 1864 at Making of America, University of MichiganUniversity of MichiganThe University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
- Report of the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War, 1865 at Making of America, University of MichiganUniversity of MichiganThe University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
- Supplemental Report of the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War, 1866 at Making of America, University of MichiganUniversity of MichiganThe University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...