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| George Crook |
It all started by reading George Crook's Autobiography.
“About ten a.m.,” Crook remembered, “Capt. Christ on Gen. Cox' staff came to
see me, and said, ‘The General wishes you to take the bridge.’ I asked him what
bridge. He said he didn't know. I asked him where the stream was, but he didn't
know. I made some remarks not complimentary to such a way of doing business,
but he went off, not caring a cent. Probably he had done the correct thing.”[i]
This story of miscommunication and poor intelligence has always astounded me.
How could Crook, who had two companies of the 11th Ohio Infantry overlooking
the Burnside Bridge since 7:00 a.m., not know where the bridge was located? And
how could a staff officer of corps commander Jacob Cox not know the location of
Antietam Creek or have an answer to Crook’s query? Attempting to answer these
questions is beyond this post (if they are even answerable) but my affinity for
staff officers in Civil War armies forced me to look into this Capt. Christ.
In his after-action report of the Battle of South Mountain,
Cox personally thanks S. L. Christie and one other staff officer “for the
devotion and courage displayed by them in the laborious and hazardous duties of
the day.”[ii]
Crook got the name wrong in his autobiography, but not by much. Thanks to some
Googling and searching through various books in my library, I was able to find
a Samuel L. Christie, born in 1837 and listed as a Captain of the 1st Kentucky
Infantry.[iii]
Fold3 has all Kentucky’s Compiled Service Records (CSR) digitized; I obtained
more information about Christie here.
At 23 years old, Samuel L. Christie was commissioned as a 1st Lt. in Co. H, 1st Kentucky Infantry for three years in Pendleton, Ohio. He signed up early, having enrolled on May 10, 1861. However, he did not remain with his regiment for long. On July 23, 1861, while serving in western Virginia, 1st Lt. Christie became a member of Jacob Cox’s staff. He remained on Cox’s staff until August 11, 1863, when he resigned (more on that below).[iv]
Besides this information and a few mentions in Jacob Cox’s Reminiscences
of the Civil War, I thought I was lucky enough to simply have figured out
who carried the attack order from Cox to Crook on September 17, 1862. But like
your favorite infomercial, wait, there’s more!
On September 5, 1862, at the outset of the Maryland
Campaign, Jacob Cox received a copy of the War Department’s General Orders No.
125. It reads: “The following named officers are, by direction of the
President, dismissed from the service of the United States, for being absent
without proper leaves from their respective commands, while the armies to which
they belonged were fighting the enemy in the field,” likely a reference to the
Second Manassas Campaign. The sixth name on the list was that of Lt. Christie,
listed simply as “Aide-de-Camp.” Was this the same Christie that served on Cox’s
staff?[v]
The September 16, 1862 edition of the New York Tribune
affirmatively confirmed this. Cox, who thought highly of Christie, appealed to
have Christie’s case revoked. Cox stated his case to Secretary of War Edwin
Stanton:
The simple fact was, that he was detained in Washington
against his will, and in spite of his efforts to report for duty, and would
never have remained there an hour behind his command, had not first severe
disease, and then a serious accident, made him incapable of walking or riding.
As it was he reported for duty before he was fit to ride, and is still
suffering from a lameness which his seal in the service prevented his taking
time to cure. He is a young officer who has never avoided a duty or sought for
leave of absence, but has been exemplary in industry and zeal, and as I personally
know, chafed exceedingly at the circumstances which prevented his leaving the
city with the command, the authority of the Surgeon being used to make him keep
his room long enough, even for a partial recovery.
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| Jacob Cox |
Cox’s pleas worked. On September 12, the War Department issued Special Orders No. 236 revoking Christie’s cashiering from the service. Christie served alongside Cox at South Mountain and, after Cox’s elevation to command of the Ninth Corps, at Antietam.[vi]
Cox expressed concern about the size—not the competency—of his
staff, believing it was too small to handle a division. Burnside promised to
support Cox’s staff with his own and the muddled command structure of the Ninth
Corps was settled.[vii]
Despite receiving help from his superior officer, Cox clearly still relied on
his own staff first, as evidenced by him sending Lt. Christie to Crook’s
brigade with orders to secure the Burnside Bridge. One has to wonder if
Christie’s poor health might have led to the confusion and misunderstanding
expressed between himself and Crook.
The Battle of Antietam did not end Christie’s service by Cox’s
side. He continued in that role for nearly one more year past the Maryland
Campaign and temporarily served as Cox’s Acting Assistant Adjutant General.[viii]
However, Christie’s health further deteriorated. On May 27, 1863, he wired Cox
from Parkersburg, Virginia: “Was too unwell to leave today. Will start in the
morning.”[ix]
According to Cox, consumption contracted “through exposure in the field”
affected Christie.[x]
On August 8, 1863, Christie submitted his resignation from
the service. Cox claimed he did so “to prolong his life.”[xi]
Christie cited three reasons for his decision: “Private business requiring my
personal attention, Ill health unfitting me for active military duty, The
support of a widowed mother.” Cox approved Christie’s resignation three days
later, and it became official the same day, August 11, 1863.
In forwarding Christie’s resignation, Cox again spoke highly
of Capt. Christie (he was promoted to this rank on October 19, 1862). “I deeply
regret the necessity which compels Capt. Christie to resign,” Cox wrote, “he
having served on my staff more than two years with great credit to himself
& advantage to the service, but I am satisfied the reasons which drive his
course are sufficient.”[xii]
Sadly, Christie’s resignation from the army did not extend
his life greatly. He died on October 30, 1870 (Cox said consumption killed him)
and rests in Omaha, Nebraska.[xiii]
[i] Schmitt, General George
Crook: His Autobiography, 97.
[ii] OR, vol. 19, pt.
1, 460.
[iii] https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/202057449/samuel-l.-christie.
[iv] Samuel L. Christie CSR.
[v] General Orders of the
War Department, Embracing the Years 1861, 1862 & 1863, 1:385-86.
[vi] “The Cases of Lieut. John
Simpson and S. L. Christie, Aid-de-Camp,” New York Tribune, September
16, 1862.
[vii] Cox, Military
Reminiscences, 1:303.
[viii] “Department of the
Ohio,” The Press (Philadelphia, PA), April 24, 1863.
[ix] Samuel L. Christie CSR.
[x] Cox, Military
Reminiscences, 2:68.
[xi] Ibid.
[xii] Samuel L. Christie CSR.
[xiii] Cox, Military
Reminiscences, 2:68; https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/202057449/samuel-l.-christie.
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