Henry Kyd Douglas

{{Short description|Confederate States Army officer (1838–1903)}} {{Infobox military person | name = Henry Kyd Douglas | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1838|9|29}} | death_date = {{Death date and age|1903|12|18|1838|9|29}} | birth_place = [[Shepherdstown, West Virginia]] | death_place = [[Hagerstown, Maryland]] | burial_place = [[Elmwood Cemetery (West Virginia)|Elmwood Cemetery, Shepherdstown]] | burial_label = Place of burial | image = File:Major Henry Kyd Douglas, CSA.jpg | caption = | nickname = | allegiance = [[Confederate States of America]] [[United States of America]] | branch = [[Confederate States Army]] [[Maryland National Guard]] | service_years = 1861–1865 1876-1896 | rank = [[Major (rank)|Major]], CSA [[Major general]], MNG | commands = [[A History of the Adjutants General of Maryland|Adjutant General of Maryland]] | unit = | battles = [[American Civil War]] *[[First Battle of Bull Run]] *[[First Battle of Kernstown]] *[[Battle of McDowell]] *[[Battle of Front Royal]] *[[First Battle of Winchester]] * [[Battle of Cross Keys]] *[[Battle of Port Republic]] *[[Battle of Gaines's Mill]] *[[Battle of White Oak Swamp]] *[[Battle of Malvern Hill]] * [[Battle of Cedar Mountain]] * [[Second Battle of Bull Run]] *[[Battle of Harpers Ferry]] * [[Battle of Antietam]] * [[Battle of Chancellorsville]] *[[Second Battle of Winchester]] * [[Battle of Gettysburg]] [[Wounded in Action|WIA]] [[POW]] * [[Battle of the Wilderness]] *[[Battle of Spotsylvania Court House]] *[[Battle of Cold Harbor]] * [[Battle of Lynchburg]] *[[Battle of Monocacy]] * [[Battle of Fort Stevens]] * [[Second Battle of Kernstown]] *[[Third Battle of Winchester]] *[[Battle of Fisher's Hill]] *[[Battle of Cedar Creek]] *[[Battle of Hatcher's Run]] *[[Battle of Fort Stedman]] * [[Battle of Sailor's Creek]] *[[Battle of Appomattox Court House]] | awards = | spouse = | relations = | signature = }} '''Henry Kyd Douglas''' (September 29, 1838 – December 18, 1903) was a [[Confederate States Army|Confederate]] staff officer during the [[American Civil War]]. He participated in most of the battles of the [[Second Corps, Army of Northern Virginia]]; serving on the staffs of [[Stonewall Jackson]] and his successors. Severely [[wound]]ed on the third day of the [[battle of Gettysburg]], he became a [[prisoner of war]] for almost ten months. At the end of the war, he commanded a brigade at the last battle of the war. After the war he returned to his civilian occupation as a [[lawyer]], got involved in state politics, later as a [[Gold Democrats|Gold Democrat]], and became an officer in the [[Maryland Army National Guard|Maryland National Guard]], eventually holding the appointment as [[A History of the Adjutants General of Maryland|Adjutant General]]. Today Douglas is foremost known for his wartime [[memoir]], ''I rode with Stonewall'', first published in 1940.

==Early life== [[File:Henry Kyd Douglas - NPS.jpg|thumb|150px|left|Henry Kyd Douglas as a young man.]] Douglas was the son of the Scottish born [[Minister (Christianity)|minister]], Robert Douglas and his wife Mary, born Robertson. The Reverend Douglas was a [[nephew]] of the [[Attorney General of Pennsylvania]] [[Samuel Douglas]], and studied theology at the Theological Seminary at [[York, Pennsylvania]], before being admitted to the ministry in the [[German Reformed Church]].<ref>Marshall 1869, p. 157.</ref> Henry Kyd Douglas grew up on [[Ferry Hill Plantation|Ferry Hill Place]], on the opposite site of the [[Potomac River]] from [[Shepherdstown, West Virginia|Shepherdstown]], then in [[Virginia]], not far from [[Sharpsburg, Maryland]].<ref>Green 1989, p. 334.</ref> His home not being more than two miles from [[Harpers Ferry]], he watched the storming of the engine house by the [[United States Marine Corps|Marines]] that ended [[John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry|John Brown's raid]], and later witnessed the [[treason]] trial that followed.<ref>Douglas 1989, pp. 15-16.</ref> Douglas graduated from [[Franklin & Marshall College]] in [[Pennsylvania]] 1858, studied law in [[Lexington, Virginia]], and was admitted to the [[Bar (law)|bar]] at [[Charleston, West Virginia|Charleston]], then in Virginia, 1860. Having moved to [[St. Louis]], he returned to Virginia at the outbreak of the civil war.<ref>Onofrio 1999, p. 69.</ref>

==Civil War== In April 1861, Douglas [[Enlistment|enlisted]] at Harpers Ferry as a [[private (rank)|private]] in Company B, [[2nd Virginia Infantry|2nd Virginia Volunteer Infantry Regiment]] which formed part of what was later to become the [[Stonewall Brigade]]. The reality of war struck home when the Virginia forces retreated and he was among the men detailed to burn the bridge over the Potomac at Shepherdstown, in which his father owned [[stock]]. Douglas rose through the ranks, fighting at [[First Battle of Bull Run|Bull Run]] as a [[first sergeant]], and commanding his company as a [[lieutenant]] at [[First Battle of Kernstown|Kernstown]]. In the spring of 1862 he was, through the intervention of his friend [[Sandie Pendleton]], detailed on special duty at [[Stonewall Jackson]]'s [[headquarters]].<ref>Douglas 1989, pp. 18, 20, 48.</ref><ref name="Sifakis80">Sifakis 1988, p. 80.</ref> Soon after having joined Jackson's HQ, Douglas made an extraordinary ride of 103 miles, from [[Mount Jackson, Virginia|Mount Jackson]] to [[Brandy Station]], crossing the [[Blue Ridge Mountains]] in a heavy [[rainstorm]], with orders from Stonewall to [[Richard S. Ewell|General Ewell]].<ref>Onofrio 1999, p. 61.</ref> As a reward for his efficient fulfillment of duty, he was, the day after his return to HQ, made [[Office of Inspector General (United States)|assistant inspector general]] on Jackson's staff.<ref>Douglas 1989, p. 54.</ref><ref>Robertson 1997, p. 360.</ref>

Douglas' task as inspector general was to see to the proper execution of orders and commands given. When Stonewall's men were destroying a section of the [[Baltimore and Ohio Railroad|B&O]] railroad, it was his job to check its thorough completion; being in the saddle all day and inspecting the whole stretch to be demolished. In battle, he rode with orders and reports. At [[Battle of Antietam|Antietam]], he wore out two horses and fainted of exhaustion already at noon. A delicate task that once fell upon Douglas was when ordered to relieve General [[A. P. Hill]] from his command, due to his division's tardiness. Hill's vehement protests eventually led to his [[arrest]] by order of Stonewall. Another time, Douglas was approached by [[Belle Boyd]], whom he knew since before the war, in the afternoon just before the [[battle of Front Royal]], who urged him to inform General Jackson that the enemy force was very small and easy to defeat through a rapid advance.<ref>Boyd 1865, pp. 127-128.</ref><ref>Douglas 1989, pp. 59-60, 147, 167, 183.</ref><ref>Robertson 1997, p. 395.</ref>

Late in the fall of 1862, when the army was about to go into winter camp, a delegation from his old company approached Douglas and wanted him to take command of the company. After consulting with Stonewall, he accepted a commission as captain of Co. B, 2nd Virginia Vols. Soon thereafter, he also became assistant inspector general of the Stonewall Brigade, while keeping his company command. When Stonewall Jackson fell wounded at [[Battle of Chancellorsville|Chancellorsville]], Douglas visited him and spent an hour talking about the recent battle. After Stonewall's death, Douglas accompanied [[Mary Anna Jackson|Mrs. Jackson]] and the staff with the general's body on the train to [[Richmond, Virginia|Richmond]]. In the funeral procession, he sat with the other staff officers in the carriage behind Mrs. Jackson and President [[Jefferson Davis]], and saw Stonewall's earthly remains put on [[lit de parade]] in the [[Virginia State Capitol|Confederate Capitol]]. When Douglas returned from Richmond, he accepted an offer from [[Edward Johnson (general)|General Edward Johnson]], the new [[commanding officer]] of the Stonewall Division, to be [[assistant adjutant general]], with the rank of [[Major (rank)|major]], on his staff.<ref name="Sifakis80"/><ref>Douglas 1989, pp. 197, 204, 219, 222.</ref><ref>Gwynne 2014, p. 555.</ref> [[File:Henry Kyd Douglas, CSA.jpg|thumb|Henry Kyd Douglas as a Confederate officer.]] On the third day of the [[battle of Gettysburg]], Douglas was severely [[wound]]ed in his left shoulder, for a time [[paralyzed]] in his left arm, while guiding [[William Smith (Virginia governor)|Extra-Billy Smith's]] brigade into position during an early morning attack on [[Culp's Hill]]. He was taken several miles towards [[Hunterstown, Pennsylvania|Hunterstown]], and left in the house of the Henry Picking farm, that served as a Confederate field hospital, while quite a number of wounded soldiers had been left in the [[barn]]. His mother and sister, who at the news of his wounding had travelled through the lines, soon came to visit him. After a few days, a [[Samuel Baldwin Marks Young|major of the 4th Pennsylvania Cavalry]] [[paroled]] Douglas and the soldiers in the barn. Tendered with care by the Picking family he soon could receive visits from friends he had known in college. After a fortnight, Douglas was moved to the [[Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg|Gettysburg Theological Seminary]]. His doctor there was an old college chum, Henry Leaman, and Douglas complimented the care with which he was treated. He could now walk about and visited the town in female company. In Gettysburg, Douglas remained for a month before he was taken to [[Baltimore]] hospital. As he was held as a [[prisoner of war]], Douglas began a lengthy correspondence with the [[United States Army]] in order to convince it to honor his parole. That was denied, however, on the grounds of it being issued by an officer who had exceeded his powers. After a couple of months in Baltimore, Douglas had recovered enough to be transferred to the [[Prisoner-of-war camp|prison camp]] for Confederate officers at [[Johnson's Island]]. He found the camp cold, very cold, the food sufficient, the treatment, although not as friendly as in Baltimore, kind enough. In February 1864, Douglas was transferred to the [[Point Lookout State Park|Point Lookout prison camp]] in southern [[Maryland]]. Ill from the cold at Johnson's Island, he was hospitalized in the new camp.<ref>Douglas 1989, pp. 197, 204, 219, 222, 241-249, 251-255.</ref><ref>Dreese 2002, pp. 106-107, 133.</ref><ref>Fraser 2008, p. 99.</ref>

At the end of March 1864, Douglas, through the intervention of [[Benjamin Butler|General Benjamin Butler]], was sent home, although not formally exchanged. On the southbound steamer were not only a number of properly exchanged officers and soldiers, but also one of [[Abraham Lincoln|President Lincoln's]] [[sister-in-law|sisters-in-law]], who returned to [[Alabama]] with a special pass from the president. On parole, Douglas could go back to the army before being formally exchanged. It was not until the first day of the [[battle of the Wilderness]] that Douglas returned to the service, as assistant adjutant general (AAG) of [[Edward Johnson (general)|General Edward Johnson's]] division, fighting at the [[Battle of the Wilderness|Wilderness]] and at [[Battle of Spotsylvania Court House|Spotsylvania]], where he managed to escape when the general and 3,000 of his men were captured. During the rest of the battle, Douglas served on [[John Brown Gordon|General Gordon's]] staff, later being transferred to [[Jubal Early|General Early's]] division as AAG. Early took command of the [[Second Corps, Army of Northern Virginia]] at [[Battle of Cold Harbor|Cold Harbor]], taking his staff officers with him to the new command, Douglas becoming the AAG of that corps.<ref name="Sifakis80"/><ref>Douglas 1989, pp. 257-262, 264, 266-274.</ref><ref>Berry 2007, pp. 163-164.</ref>

As the [[Union Army]] drove the Confederates up the [[Shenandoah Valley]], [[Robert E. Lee|General Lee]], June 12, 1864, ordered Early and his corps to strike at the Union forces, proceed down the Valley and threaten [[Washington, DC|Washington]], with the hope of [[Ulysses S. Grant|Grant]] diverting his forces in order to protect the [[Capital city|capital]].<ref>Schairer 2008, p. 56.</ref> Outside Washington, Douglas rode by [[Silver Spring, Maryland|Silver Spring]], [[Francis Preston Blair|Francis P. Blair's]] home, saw the house full of Confederate stragglers, and chased them away. It then became headquarters for Early, at least for a night. Having failed to make any permanent impression on the defenses of Washington, Early's corps returned to the Shenandoah, in order to fight [[Phil Sheridan|Sheridan's]] advancing army. General [[John Brown Gordon|John B. Gordon]] took command of the Second Corps, November 11, with Douglas remaining as AAG. The corps was now transferred to the trenches of [[Petersburg, Virginia|Petersburg]], making a failed but bloody attack on [[Battle of Fort Stedman|Fort Stedman]], March 25. Douglas now became commander of the much depleted [[Appomattox Campaign Confederate order of battle#Second Corps|Walker's Brigade]], which he led at [[Battle of Sailor's Creek|Sailor's Creek]] and at the last battle of the civil war in Virginia, at [[Battle of Appomattox Court House|Appomattox Court House]], and at the final surrender.<ref name="Sifakis80"/><ref>Douglas 1989, pp. 282-283, 307, 313-317.</ref>

==Postbellum== [[File:HENRY KYD DOUGLAS.jpg|thumb|Henry Kyd Douglas as an officer in the Maryland National Guard.]] Immediately after he had returned from the war, Douglas ran into trouble with the United States military authorities. He was [[Arrest|arrested]] and sentenced to three months in [[prison]], because he was photographaed in his confederate uniform. The negative was confiscated by Captain Seidenstricker of the Union Army and was not returned until long after the war. Douglas did not serve the full term of the [[Sentence (law)|sentence]], but was dragged into the [[Criminal investigation|investigation]] after the [[Assassination of Abraham Lincoln|assassination of President Lincoln]], taken to Washington as a [[witness]] before the [[Military tribunals in the United States|military commission]] that tried the [[Assassination|assassins]]. After his release in Washington he was arrested, and discharged several times, before taken to [[Fort Delaware]] where he after some time in confinement was set free by military orders.<ref>Douglas 1989, pp. 321-333.</ref> Douglas practiced law, at first in [[Winchester, Virginia|Winchester]], but after two years, he moved his law office to Hagerstown, where he remained for the rest of his life. Douglas was a successful lawyer and an effective speaker. He ran for Congress in 1886, and was leader of the [[Gold Democrats]] in Maryland 1896. He was appointed [[associate justice]] of the [[Maryland Court of Appeals]] by [[Elihu Emory Jackson|Governor Jackson]], but was not confirmed in the [[judicial election]]s in November the same year. Douglas kept his military interest alive; in 1876 appointed [[colonel]] on the staff of [[John Lee Carroll|Governor Carrol]]. During the [[Great Railroad Strike of 1877|railway strike of 1877]], Douglas commanded the Maryland forces in the Western Department of the state. His commission expiring with the outgoing governor, Douglas in 1880 became captain of a Hagerstown [[militia]] company (Hagerstown Light Infantry), and the following year [[lieutenant colonel]] of the 1st Infantry Battalion, [[Maryland Army National Guard|Maryland National Guard]], and [[colonel]] of the 1st Infantry Regiment, Maryland National Guard 1886 until 1891. Douglas was appointed [[A History of the Adjutants General of Maryland|adjutant general of Maryland]] 1892, and served under [[Frank Brown (governor)|Governor Brown's term]], until 1896. During the [[Spanish–American War]], he was offered a commission as [[brigadier general]] of [[United States Volunteers|volunteers]], but had to decline due to ill health. Douglas died in Hagerstown of [[tuberculosis]] in 1903.<ref>Adjutant General of Maryland 1908, pp. 285, 299.</ref><ref name="Onofrio62">Onofrio 1999, p. 62.</ref><ref>Green 1989, p. 339-340.</ref>

Douglas maintained an interest in the history and memory of the civil war all his life. He was a member of the [[Society of the Army and Navy of the Confederate States in the state of Maryland]], and had a special interest in the [[Washington Confederate Cemetery]] and the [[Oak Grove Cemetery (Lexington, Virginia)|Oak Grove Cemetery]]. During the war, Douglas kept a [[diary]], which he used after the war as a source for a large [[manuscript]] [[memoir]] finished about 1867. The manuscript was later used in writing his two contributions to [[Official Records of the War of the Rebellion#Other historical sources|''Battles and Leaders of the Civil War'']]: "Stonewall Jackson's Intentions at Harper's Ferry" and "Stonewall Jackson in Maryland". In 1899, Douglas reworked the manuscript. At his death, his [[nephew]] inherited the manuscript, and it was not published until 1940, as ''I Rode with Stonewall'', by the University of North Carolina Press.<ref name="Onofrio62"/><ref>Society of the Army and Navy of the Confederate States in the state of Maryland 1883, p. 18.</ref><ref>Green 1989, p. 339.</ref><ref>Stern 1989, p. viii.</ref><ref>[https://lccn.loc.gov/40035490 "Catalog post." ''Library of Congress Catalog.''] Retrieved 2018-01-24.</ref>

==References== ===Notes=== {{reflist}}

===Cited literature=== * Adjutant General of Maryland (1908). ''Report of the Adjutant General of Maryland 1906-1907.'' Baltimore. *Berry, Stephen (2007). ''House of Abraham.'' Houghton Mifflin Company. * Douglas, Henry Kyd (1989). ''I rode with Stonewall.'' Mockingbird Books. * Dreese, Michael A. (2002). ''The Hospital on Seminary Ridge at the Battle of Gettysburg.'' McFarland & Company. *Fraser, Chad (2008). ''Lake Erie Stories.'' Dundurn Press. *Green, Fletcher M. (1989). "The Author and His Book." In: Douglas, Henry Kyd. ''I rode with Stonewall.'' Mockingbird Books. *Gwynne, S.C. (2014). ''Rebel Yell.'' Scribner. *Marshall, John A. (1869). ''American Bastille.'' Philadelphia. * Onofrio, Jan (1999). ''West Virginia Biographical Dictionary.'' Somerset Publishing. *Robertson, James I., Jr. (1997). ''Stonewall Jackson.'' Macmillan Publishing USA. * Society of the Army and Navy of the Confederate States in the state of Maryland (1883). ''Roster of the Society of the Army and Navy of the Confederate States in the state of Maryland.'' Baltimore. *Schairer, Jack E. (2008), ''Lee's Bold Plan for Point Lookout.'' McFarland & Company. * Sifakis, Stewart (1988). ''Who was Who in the Confederacy.'' New York. *Stern, Philip Van Doren (1989). "Introduction." In: Douglas, Henry Kyd. ''I rode with Stonewall.'' Mockingbird Books.

==External links== *{{commons category-inline}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Douglas, Henry Kyd}} [[Category:1838 births]] [[Category:1903 deaths]] [[Category:19th-century American lawyers]] [[Category:Adjutants General of Maryland]] [[Category:Confederate States Army officers]] [[Category:Lawyers from Shepherdstown, West Virginia]] [[Category:Military personnel from Shepherdstown, West Virginia]] [[Category:People from Hagerstown, Maryland]] [[Category:People of Maryland in the American Civil War]] [[Category:Stonewall Brigade]] [[Category:West Virginia lawyers]]