Bio's : Gen Barnes, Barnes, Barnard, Barlow, Barksdale,

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Here's my pass at my first 5 Generals ......

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William Barksdale
William Barksdale (b. 1821, d. 1863). Barksdale hailed from Tennesee, graduating from the University of Nashville before practicing Law in Mississippi. Having become bored with law practice, he became the editor of the Columbus (Mississippi) Democrat, a pro-slavery publication. He served in the 2nd Mississippi during the Mexican-American War as a captain and quartermaster, though was often involved in the fighting along side the infantry. After the war, he was elected to the House of Representatives gaining national prominence as a States’ Right Democrat and reportedly standing next to Representative Preston S. Brooks as Brooks attacked Massachusetts abolitionist Senator Charles Sumner in the Senate chamber with a cane.

After Mississippi seceded, Barksdale resigned from Congress to become adjutant general, and then quartermaster general, of the Mississippi Militia, at the rank of brigadier general. In May 1861 he was appointed colonel in the Confederate States Army of the 13th Mississippi Infantry, a regiment that he led in the First Battle of Bull Run that summer. The following spring, he took his regiment to the Virginia Peninsula and fought in the Peninsula Campaign and the Seven Days Battle. When his brigade commander, Brig. Gen. Richard Griffin, was mortally wounded at the Battle of Savage's Station on June 29, 1862, Barksdale assumed command of the brigade and led it in an heroic, but bloody and futile, charge at the Battle of Malvern Hill. The brigade became known as "Barksdale's Mississippi Brigade." He was promoted to brigadier general on August 12, 1862.

Barksdale’s Mississippi Brigade distinguished itself in most of the major battles leading up to Gettysburg, which included Maryland Heights, Antietam, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville. At Gettysburg, Barksdale Brigade was given the task of attacking the Union troops in the Peach Orchid. What transpired has been described as one of the most breathtaking spectacles of the Civil War. A Union colonel was quoted as saying, "It was the grandest charge that was ever made by mortal man." The Confederates smashed the Union brigade manning the Peach Orchard line, wounding and capturing the Union brigade commander himself. Barksdale Brigade proceeded with the advance for nearly a mile before being counterattacked. Barksdale was hit in his left knee followed by a cannonball to his foot before being mortally wounded with a shot to the chest that finally knocked him off his horse. His troops were forced from the area, leaving Barksdale for dead. He was captured and died the following day in a Union field hospital.

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Francis Channing Barlow
Francis Channing Barlow (b.1834 d. 1896). A graduate of Harvard, he practiced law in New York prior to the outbreak of the war when he enlisted as a private in the 12th New York. By the Peninsula Campaign, he had risen to the rank of Colonel and was later seriously wounded at Antietam. Appointed a Brigadier General in 1862, his brigade was routed by a Stonewall Jackson’s troops at Chancellorsville. He was captured at Gettysburg after being wounded, temporarily paralyzed and left for dead by his own troops. Confederate Brig. Gen. John B. Gordon took care of Barlow until he recovered, at which point Barlow returned to service in the Union Army. One of Barlow's major accomplishments was to lead his troops in a charge of the "Mule Shoe" at Spotsylvania. They succeeded in capturing 3,000 Confederates, 2 generals, 20 guns and 30 regimental colors. Barlow was called one of the "boy generals" because he kept himself clean-shaven, unlike the predominant practice of sporting a beard or mustache. Although he was frail-looking and pale, he was an intense fighter and strict disciplinarian. After the siege of Petersburg, Barlow's heath failed, although he returned to the army to lead a division at Sayler's Creek and Farmville. He was commissioned a major general on May 25, 1865. After the war, Barlow returned to his law practice, and was one of the founders of the American Bar Association. Serving as New York State attorney general,

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James Barnes
James Barnes (b.1801, d.1869). Born in Massachusetts, he was a graduate of West Point from the Class of 1829. He was one of the oldest graduates at the age 28. Though commissioned a 2nd Lt. in the 4th Artillery, he spent most of his early army career teaching tactics and French back at West Point. Barnes resigned his commission in 1836 to become a railroad civil engineer. Within 3 years, he became the superintendent of the Western Railroad. He held this position at the outbreak of the war when he was commissioned a Colonel in the 18th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment. His unit was involved in the Peninsula Campaign and the Seven Days battle, though he saw no action. He became the 1st Brigade commander when his superior was relived of duty. For unknown reasons, he was not present when his unit marched into the Second Battle of Bull Run. His unit was involved in, but saw no action at Antietam.
His first taste of battle came about when his unit ran into the rear guard of Lee’s army during its retreat back to Virginia which resulted in 200 of his men shot or drown in the Potomac and another 100 captured. Despite his pathetic record, he was promoted to Brigadier General in Nov, 1862. At the Battle of Fredrickburg, Barnes apparently impressed his Divisional commander for his coolness under fire when leading brigade in one of the final assaults on Marye’s Heights. The Battle of Chancellorsville saw his unit held in reserve once again. After his division commander fell ill, Barnes assumed command of the 1st Division. The Battle of Gettysburg proved to be the most influential in his career. At 61 years old, he was one of the oldest generals. He arrived with his unit early on the 2nd day of battle with the rest of V Corps. He personally ordered 2 of his brigades to withdraw from their defensive positions in Wheatfield without permission and over the protests of the generals on his flanks. When reinforcements from the II Corps arrived, Maj. Gen. David B. Birney gave orders for Barnes's men to lie down while the brigade of Colonel Samuel K. Zook marched over them. Later that same day, as one of Barnes brigades was being attacked by a Confederate charge, aides were unable to locate Barnes. When he did turn up later in the day, he suffered a leg wound. He never returned to combat duty, spending the remainder of the war on garrison duty in Virginia and North Carolina and a POW camp commander at Point Lookout, Maryland. Just before the end of the war he received a brevet promotion to major general. After the war, Barnes returned to his profession of railroad civil engineering and was a member of the government commission that supervised the building of the Union Pacific Railroad.

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Joseph K. Barnes
Joseph K. Barnes (b. 1817, d. 1883). Joined the Army in 1840 after graduating from Harvard and the Univeristy of Pennsylvania Medical School. He served in the Medical Corp in the Seminole and Mexican Wars. He was recalled to the Washington D.C. area at the outbreak of the war to be a surgeon but was quickly promoted to colonel and named as the acting Surgeon General after the controversial Brig Gen Hammond was ousted by Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton in 1862. Unnoticed by the Department of War, Barnes continued many of Hammonds reforms improving the available medical services for the Northern Armies. As a result of his work, medical appropriations increased from $9 million to $20 million between 1863 and 1864. Barnes was appointed a Brigadier General and Surgeon General in 1864. Barnes was brevetted a Major General in the Regulars in 1865. Joseph Barnes had the dubious honor of being the attending physician for both President’s Lincoln and Garfield after each was mortally wounded by assassins.

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John Gross Barnard
John Gross Barnard (b. 1815, d. 1882). Born in Massachusetts, he was a graduate of West Point, Class of 1833 standing 2nd in his Class. Upon graduation, he entered the Corp of Engineers. He was sent to New Port and then to the Gulf Coast. He was directly involved in the fortifications of Pensacola and New Orleans. Barnand was Superintendent of West Point from 1855 to 1856 succeeding another Corp of Engineers officer who also finished 2nd in his Class (1829) at West Point, Robert E. Lee. Though hampered by being nearly deaf, Barnard was considered a fortifications genius. He served as chief engineer of the department of Washington from April to July 1861, and then as chief engineer to General McDowell in the first Bull Run campaign. Next, with the rank of Brigadier-General, he acted as chief engineer to the Army of the Potomac in the Virginia peninsular campaign of 1862. When the confederate army advanced into eastern Virginia, he was appointed chief engineer of the defenses of Washington, and was promoted Lieutenant-Colonel of engineers in March 1863. In January 1864, he was appointed chief engineer, and was on the staff of General Grant in the Richmond campaign. He was made a member of the joint board of army and navy officers on harbor defenses and served as senior member of the board of engineers for permanent fortifications. He was one of the original incorporators of the national academy of sciences appointed by act of congress, 3 March 1863. His works include "Survey of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec" (1852); "Phenomena of the Gyroscope" (1858); " Dangers and Defenses of New York" (1859); "Notes on Sea-coast Defence" (1861) ; " The Confederate States of America and the Battle of Bull Run" (1862); "Reports of the Engineer and Artillery Operations of the Army of the Potomac" (1863); "Eulogy on General Totten" (1866); and many scientific and military memoirs and reports.

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btw,


Learned alot from these guys .... Looking forward to others ...

[Gil R.]

These look good. I'll have more comments later, but in the meantime, let me know your preferences in terms of the next batch of generals.

[scout1]

Preferences ,,,,,,

After these guys, prefer the "un-generals" as they appear to be more fun to research. So if possible, don't give me any of the BIG boys ..... Kinda like the little guys

[jimwinsor]

It's also not a bad idea to give your assessment as to what game ratings to assign to these generals, while you guys are at it.

[scout1]

Yeah I thought of that, just feel bad about rating James Barnes honestly .... In case there are any relatives about ...

[jchastain]

ORIGINAL: scout1

Yeah I thought of that, just feel bad about rating James Barnes honestly .... In case there are any relatives about ...

I'm guessing no one will read your ratings who was close enough to the man to be offended by them. [;)] Give it a whirl. What do you really think they should be?

[scout1]

Before I go there, just an interesting observation ....
Of the 5 general I got only 3 of them were really combat types. Barlow and Barksdale were fighters, Barnes was a loser and the other 2 were the Surgeon General and Chief Engineer. So not all the "available" generals really have much to do about leading the boys into battle. Probably ought to have some way some separating out the combat generals from the rest ,,,,,,

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General Initiative Leadership Tactics Command Calvary
Barksdale 8 8 7 8 5
Barnes, Joseph 4 4 4 4 2
Barnes, James 2 1 1 1 1
Barlow 6 6 7 7 2
Barnard 5 6 7 6 2

My guess given the constraints as to ratings .... Basically, Joesph Barnes and Barnard should be removed from combat commands. ......

[marecone]

Very nice bios. Keep up the good work [&o]

[Gil R.]

Okay, I've just finished going through these carefully, and am quite pleased with them. I've made some minor changes here and there, but otherwise these are ready to go in. I do hear you on the fact that two of these guys never led troops in combat, but I think it's fine to pretend they could have for the purpose of a game: the only way to include these individuals in FOF is to have them appear as generals, and I prefer that to leaving them out altogether.

One minor critique is that the ratings you provided seemed a bit too generous by one or two levels, so I'll adjust them downwards a bit. Also, there's no need to provide cavalry ratings if the guys weren't cavalry leaders, since we just give them a zero then.

Here's the first, reflecting my changes:

William Barksdale
Brig. Gen. Be sure to include the general’s ultimate rank during the war. William Barksdale (b. 1821, d. 1863). Barksdale hailed from Tennessee, graduating from the University of Nashville before practicing Law in Mississippi. Having become bored with law practice, he became the editor of the Columbus (Mississippi) Democrat, a pro-slavery publication. He served in the 2nd Mississippi during the Mexican-American War as a captain and quartermaster, though he was often involved in the fighting alongside the infantry. After the war, he was elected to the House of Representatives, gaining national prominence as a States’ Right Democrat and reportedly standing next to Rep. Preston S. Brooks as Brooks attacked Massachusetts abolitionist Sen. Charles Sumner in the Senate chamber with a cane. After Mississippi seceded, Barksdale resigned from Congress to become Adjutant General, and then Quartermaster General, of the Mississippi Militia, at the rank of Brigadier General. In May, 1861 he was appointed Colonel of the 13th Mississippi Infantry in the Confederate States Army, a regiment that he led in the First Battle of Bull Run that summer. The following spring, he took his regiment to the Virginia Peninsula and fought in the Peninsula Campaign and the Seven Days Battle. When his brigade commander, Brig. Gen. Richard Griffin, was mortally wounded at the Battle of Savage's Station on June 29, 1862, Barksdale assumed command of the brigade and led it in an heroic, but bloody and futile, charge at the Battle of Malvern Hill. The brigade became known as "Barksdale's Mississippi Brigade." He was promoted to brigadier general on August 12, 1862. Barksdale’s Mississippi Brigade distinguished itself in most of the major battles leading up to Gettysburg, which included Maryland Heights, Antietam, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville. At Gettysburg, Barksdale’s brigade was given the task of attacking the Union troops in the Peach Orchard. What transpired has been described as one of the most breathtaking spectacles of the Civil War. A Union colonel was quoted as saying, "It was the grandest charge that was ever made by mortal man." The Confederates smashed the Union brigade manning the Peach Orchard line, wounding and capturing the Union brigade commander himself. Barksdale’s Mississippi Brigade proceeded with the advance for nearly a mile before being counterattacked. Barksdale was hit in his left knee, followed by a cannonball to his foot, before being mortally wounded with a shot to the chest that finally knocked him off his horse. His troops were forced from the area, leaving Barksdale for dead. He was captured and died the following day in a Union field hospital.

[Gil R.]

Maj. Gen. Francis Channing Barlow (b. 1834, d. 1896). A graduate of Harvard, Barlow practiced law in New York prior to the outbreak of the war when he enlisted as a private in the 12th New York. By the Peninsula Campaign, he had risen to the rank of Colonel and was later seriously wounded at Antietam. Appointed a Brigadier General in 1862, his brigade was routed by a Stonewall Jackson’s troops at Chancellorsville. He was captured at Gettysburg after being wounded, temporarily paralyzed and left for dead by his own troops. Confederate Brig. Gen. John B. Gordon took care of Barlow until he recovered, at which point Barlow returned to service in the Union Army. One of Barlow's major accomplishments was to lead his troops in a charge of the "Mule Shoe" at Spotsylvania. They succeeded in capturing 3,000 Confederates, 2 generals, 20 guns and 30 regimental colors. Barlow was called one of the "boy generals" because he kept himself clean-shaven, unlike the predominant practice of sporting a beard or mustache. Although he was frail-looking and pale, he was an intense fighter and strict disciplinarian. After the siege of Petersburg, Barlow's heath failed, although he returned to the army to lead a division at Sayler's Creek and Farmville. He was commissioned a major general on May 25, 1865. After the war, Barlow returned to his law practice, and was one of the founders of the American Bar Association, and served as New York State attorney general. This last sentence was unfinished, so I changed it. Let me know if you had something important you intended to include.

[Gil R.]

Maj. Gen. James Barnes (b. 1801, d. 1869). Born in Massachusetts, Barnes was a graduate of West Point from the Class of 1829. He was one of the oldest graduates at the age 28. Though commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the 4th Artillery, he spent most of his early army career teaching tactics and French back at West Point. Barnes resigned his commission in 1836 to become a railroad civil engineer. Within three years, he became the superintendent of the Western Railroad. He held this position at the outbreak of the war, when he was commissioned a Colonel in the 18th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment. His unit was involved in the Peninsula Campaign and the Seven Days battle, though he saw no action. He became the 1st Brigade commander when his superior was relived of duty. For unknown reasons, Barnes was not present when his unit marched into the Second Battle of Bull Run. His unit was present at Antietam, but saw no action. His first taste of battle came about when his unit ran into the rear guard of Lee’s army during its retreat back to Virginia, which resulted in two hundred of his men being shot or drowned in the Potomac and another hundred captured. Despite his pathetic record, he was promoted to Brigadier General in Nov, 1862. At the Battle of Fredrickburg, Barnes apparently impressed his divisional commander for his coolness under fire when leading his brigade in one of the final assaults on Marye’s Heights. The Battle of Chancellorsville saw his unit held in reserve once again. After his divisional commander fell ill, Barnes assumed command of the 1st Division. The Battle of Gettysburg proved to be the most influential in his career. At 61 years of age, he was one of the oldest generals. He arrived with his unit early on the second day of battle with the rest of V Corps. He personally ordered two of his brigades to withdraw from their defensive positions in the Wheatfield without permission and over the protests of the generals on his flanks. When reinforcements from the II Corps arrived, Maj. Gen. David B. Birney gave orders for Barnes's men to lie down while the brigade of Col. Samuel K. Zook marched over them. Later that same day, as one of Barnes’s brigades was being attacked by a Confederate charge, aides were unable to locate Barnes. When he did turn up later in the day, he suffered a leg wound. He never returned to combat duty, spending the remainder of the war on garrison duty in Virginia and North Carolina and as a P.O.W. camp commander at Point Lookout, Maryland. Just before the end of the war he received a brevet promotion to major general. After the war, Barnes returned to his profession of railroad civil engineering and was a member of the government commission that supervised the building of the Union Pacific Railroad.

[Gil R.]

Maj. Gen. Joseph K. Barnes (b. 1817, d. 1883). Barnes joined the Army in 1840 after graduating from Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania Medical School. He served in the Medical Corp in the Seminole and Mexican Wars. He was recalled to the Washington D.C. area at the outbreak of the Civil War to be a surgeon, but was quickly promoted to Colonel and named as the acting Surgeon General after the controversial Brig. Gen. Hammond was ousted by Secretary of War Edwin Stanton in 1862. Unnoticed by the Department of War, Barnes continued many of Hammonds’s reforms, improving the available medical services for the Northern Armies. As a result of his work, medical appropriations increased from $9 million to $20 million between 1863 and 1864. Barnes was appointed a Brigadier General and Surgeon General in 1864, and was brevetted a Major General in the Regulars in 1865. Joseph Barnes had the dubious honor of being the attending physician for both Pres. Abraham Lincoln and Pres. James Garfield after each was mortally wounded by assassins.

[Gil R.]

Brig. Gen. John Gross Barnard (b. 1815, d. 1882). Born in Massachusetts, Barnard was a graduate of West Point, Class of 1833, finishing second in his class. Upon graduation, he entered the Corp of Engineers. He was sent to New Port Just making sure, this is not meant to be “Newport,” right? and then to the Gulf Coast, where Barnard was directly involved in the fortifications of Pensacola and New Orleans. Barnard subsequently served as Superintendent of West Point from 1855 to 1856, succeeding another Corp of Engineers officer who also finished second in his Class (1829) at West Point, Robert E. Lee. Though hampered by being nearly deaf, Barnard was considered a fortifications genius. He served as chief engineer of the department of Washington from April to July 1861, and then as chief engineer to General McDowell in the first Bull Run campaign. Next, with the rank of Brigadier General, he acted as chief engineer to the Army of the Potomac in the Peninsular Campaign of 1862. When the Confederate army advanced into eastern Virginia, he was appointed chief engineer of the defenses of Washington, and was promoted Lieutenant Colonel of engineers in March, 1863. In January 1864, he was appointed chief engineer, and was on the staff of Gen. Ulysses S. Grant in the Richmond campaign. He was made a member of the joint board of army and navy officers on harbor defenses and served as senior member of the board of engineers for permanent fortifications. Barnard was one of the original incorporators of the National Academy of Sciences appointed by Act of Congress on March 3, 1863. His works include "Survey of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec" (1852); "Phenomena of the Gyroscope" (1858); " Dangers and Defenses of New York" (1859); "Notes on Sea-coast Defence" (1861); "The Confederate States of America and the Battle of Bull Run" (1862); "Reports of the Engineer and Artillery Operations of the Army of the Potomac" (1863); "Eulogy on General Totten" (1866); and many scientific and military memoirs and reports.