Henry Wager Halleck

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Henry Wager Halleck (January 16, 1815 – January 9, 1872) was a U.S. Army officer, scholar, and lawyer. He served as general-in-chief of all U.S. armies for part of the American Civil War.

Born in Westernville, New York, Halleck was the grandson-in-law of Alexander Hamilton. He attended Hudson Academy and Union College, then graduated from the U.S. Military Academy in 1839 as a second lieutenant of engineers. He remained at West Point for two years as an assistant professor of engineering. In 1844, he traveled in Europe to study the French military and, upon returning, used his experience with French methods to write Elements of Military Art and Science, which was well received by his military colleagues and was considered one of the definitive tactical treatises used by officers in the coming Civil War. His scholarly pursuits earned him the (later derogatory) nickname "Old Brains".

During the Mexican War, Halleck served in California. Resigning from the Regular Army in 1854, he became a highly successful San Francisco lawyer and publisher, involved in the writing of the California Constitution and a noted collector of "Californiana". He was a director of the Almaden Quicksilver ( mercury) Company in San Jose, president of the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad, a builder in Monterey, and owner of the 30,000 acre (120 km²) Rancho Nicasio in Marin County, California. But he remained involved in military affairs, earning the trust of respected general Winfield Scott. By 1860 he was a major general of the California Militia.

At the beginning of the American Civil War, Halleck earned the rank of major general in the Union Army. He commanded the Department of the Missouri and the Department of the Mississippi, in charge of all military activities in the Western Theater. The pinnacle of his military career was his appointment as the general in chief of all the Union armies on July 23, 1862. President Abraham Lincoln had become dissatisfied with George B. McClellan's conduct of the war in the east and was impressed by Halleck's record of success in the west (victories at Fort Henry, Fort Donelson, Shiloh, and Corinth).

On March 12, 1864, after Ulysses S. Grant, Halleck's former subordinate in the west, was promoted to lieutenant general and general in chief, Halleck was relegated to chief of staff, responsible for the administration of the vast U.S. armies. He held various commands of the James River after General Grant forced General Robert E. Lee to surrender at Appomattox Court House. He was a pall-bearer at Lincoln's funeral. After the war he commanded the Military Division of the Pacific in California.

Although Halleck was a gifted tactician and organizer, he was not aggressive enough in field campaigns. He effectively communicated President Lincoln's orders, so much so that Lincoln was quoted as saying Halleck was effective as his "chief clerk". He had no aptitude for directing subordinate generals, such as McClellan and Joseph Hooker, to follow his strategic orders. In his only campaign directly commanding troops in the field (that of Corinth, Mississippi), he advanced at a very slow pace (about one mile a day), then entrenched. His subordinates' victories (especially those of Grant's) earned him his promotions. He was effective in his position as chief of staff, although he was known as the "most hated man in Washington" for his surly disposition and his open disdain for politicians.

Henry Halleck died in Louisville, Kentucky, while commanding the Department of the South. He is buried in Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York. He is memorialized by a street named for him in San Francisco and a statue in Golden Gate Park.

Works

• International law, or, Rules regulating the intercourse of states in peace and war (1861)
• Elements of Military Art and Science (1856)
• Mexican War in Baja California: the memorandum of Captain Henry W. Halleck concerning his expeditions in Lower California, 1846–1848
• Tr. Life of Napoleon by Baron Jomini

References

• Eicher, John H., & Eicher, David J.: Civil War High Commands, Stanford University Press, 2001, ISBN 0-8047-3641-3

Preceded by: George B. McClellan

Commanding General of the United States Army 1862–1864

Succeeded by: Ulysses S. Grant