E. T. H. Warren
Encyclopedia
Edward Tiffin Harrison Warren (June 19, 1829 – May 5, 1864) commanded a Virginia infantry regiment and occasionally held interim brigade command in the Army of Northern Virginia
during the American Civil War
.
, where he practiced law before the war. He married Virginia Magruder, known as Jennie, in 1855. They lived, beginning in 1856, at what is now the E.T.Warren-Sipe House. (The house served as a hospital following the Gettysburg Campaign
. Joseph W. Latimer
, the "boy major," a Confederate artillerist, died there on August 1, 1863.) Their son, James Magruder Warren, became a prominent local physician in the late nineteenth century.
Edward Warren became a lieutenant in the Valley Guards, a local militia
company. In that role, he attended the trial and execution of John Brown
in 1859. He was elected to the town council the next year but resigned after the outbreak of war.
after the war began. Warren was commissioned lieutenant colonel of the 10th Virginia on August 1, 1861. As lieutenant colonel, Warren served at the First Battle of Bull Run
, where the regiment served in the brigade of Brig. Gen. Edmund Kirby Smith
. He became colonel
on May 8, 1862, after Colonel Simeon B. Gibbons was killed at the Battle of McDowell
in May 1862.
The 10th Virginia served under Stonewall Jackson
in Jackson's Valley Campaign. At the First Battle of Winchester
on May 25, 1862, Warren took his regiment to Brig. Gen. Richard Taylor
's left flank to support his attack on the Union left. He was serving at the time under Col. Samuel V. Fulkerson in the absence of ailing Brig. Gen. William B. Taliaferro
. Under Taliaferro's command, Warren's regiment also helped stop Col. Samuel S. Carroll
's raid on Port Republic prior to the Battle of Port Republic
on June 9, 1862.
Warren missed the Battle of Cedar Mountain
, in which the regiment was commanded by Maj. Joshua Stover and the Second Battle of Bull Run
, where it was commanded by Lt. Col. Samuel T. Walker. Warren commanded Taliaferro's brigade in the early stages of the Maryland Campaign
of 1862, but his regiment was left to garrison Martinsburg, West Virginia
, after the Federals abandoned the town. Col. James W. Jackson
commanded the brigade at the Battle of Antietam
.
Warren led the brigade at Fredericksburg
and Chancellorsville
. Warren's brigade of Taliaferro's division was in reserve at Fredericksburg, supporting A.P. Hill's Light Division. After the breakthrough of the Pennsylvania Reserves
, his command was brought forward to help fill a gap in the line. Brig. Gen. Raleigh E. Colston
was assigned the brigade, but he led the division at Chancellorsville. Consequently Warren returned to brigade command, and his brigade was in the second line of Stonewall Jackson's surprise attack on the Union XI Corps on May 3, 1863. Brig. Gen. Robert Rodes, commanding the first line, called the brigade forward to help overcome Federal resistance near Wilderness Church. Col. Warren was severely wounded while leading an attack.
At Gettysburg
, Warren led his regiment under Brig. Gen. George H. Steuart in the attack on Culp's Hill
. Steuart's brigade was at the left of the attack by Maj. Gen. Edward "Allegheny" Johnson
on the position of the Union XII Corps on July 2, 1863. Warren's 10th Virginia was on the left of Steuart's line, and his unit advanced into a portion of the federal position left empty when troops were pulled out to go to the embattled left flank of the Army of the Potomac
. Warren's report suggests that he was confused by the gathering dark and did not realize how near he was to the Federal supply line on the Baltimore Pike. On the next day, Warren's regiment was deployed as skirmishers to protect the left flank when Johnson renewed his failed attack on Culp's Hill. The regiment lost nearly 40% of about 150 troops engaged.
Warren's 10th Virginia was not engaged in the Bristoe Campaign
in the fall of 1863, but it did fight in the Battle of Mine Run
. It was involved in an engagement with the Union III Corps at the Battle of Payne's Farm.
Warren was killed in the Battle of the Wilderness
on May 5, 1864. He was buried at the Woodbine Cemetery in Harrisonburg. His papers can be found in the Small Special Collections Library of the University of Virginia
. Warren had strong opinions, expressed in letters to his wife. He dismissed Turner Ashby as "rather a humbug." Warren also complained how many of his men Stonewall Jackson had gotten killed.
Army of Northern Virginia
The Army of Northern Virginia was the primary military force of the Confederate States of America in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War, as well as the primary command structure of the Department of Northern Virginia. It was most often arrayed against the Union Army of the Potomac...
during the American Civil War
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...
.
Pre-War
Warren was born in Harrisonburg, VirginiaHarrisonburg, Virginia
Harrisonburg is an independent city in the Shenandoah Valley region of Virginia in the United States. Its population as of 2010 is 48,914, and at the 2000 census, 40,468. Harrisonburg is the county seat of Rockingham County and the core city of the Harrisonburg, Virginia Metropolitan Statistical...
, where he practiced law before the war. He married Virginia Magruder, known as Jennie, in 1855. They lived, beginning in 1856, at what is now the E.T.Warren-Sipe House. (The house served as a hospital following the Gettysburg Campaign
Gettysburg Campaign
The Gettysburg Campaign was a series of battles fought in June and July 1863, during the American Civil War. After his victory in the Battle of Chancellorsville, Confederate General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia moved north for offensive operations in Maryland and Pennsylvania. The...
. Joseph W. Latimer
Joseph W. Latimer
Joseph White Latimer , "The Boy Major," was a promising young officer in the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia's artillery branch during the American Civil War. He was mortally wounded at the Battle of Gettysburg....
, the "boy major," a Confederate artillerist, died there on August 1, 1863.) Their son, James Magruder Warren, became a prominent local physician in the late nineteenth century.
Edward Warren became a lieutenant in the Valley Guards, a local militia
Militia
The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...
company. In that role, he attended the trial and execution of John Brown
John Brown (abolitionist)
John Brown was an American revolutionary abolitionist, who in the 1850s advocated and practiced armed insurrection as a means to abolish slavery in the United States. He led the Pottawatomie Massacre during which five men were killed, in 1856 in Bleeding Kansas, and made his name in the...
in 1859. He was elected to the town council the next year but resigned after the outbreak of war.
Civil War
The Valley Guards were incorporated into the 10th Virginia Infantry10th Virginia Infantry
The 10th Virginia Volunteer Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment raised in Virginia for service in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. It fought mostly with the Army of Northern Virginia....
after the war began. Warren was commissioned lieutenant colonel of the 10th Virginia on August 1, 1861. As lieutenant colonel, Warren served at the First Battle of 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...
, where the regiment served in the brigade of Brig. Gen. Edmund Kirby Smith
Edmund Kirby Smith
Edmund Kirby Smith was a career United States Army officer and educator. He served as a general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War, notable for his command of the Trans-Mississippi Department of the Confederacy after the fall of Vicksburg.After the conflict ended Smith...
. He became colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
on May 8, 1862, after Colonel Simeon B. Gibbons was killed at the Battle of McDowell
Battle of McDowell
The Battle of McDowell, also known as Sitlington's Hill, was fought May 8, 1862, in Highland County, Virginia, as part of Confederate Army Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's Campaign through the Shenandoah Valley during the American Civil War...
in May 1862.
The 10th Virginia served under Stonewall Jackson
Stonewall Jackson
ຄຽשת״ׇׂׂׂׂ֣|birth_place= Clarksburg, Virginia |death_place=Guinea Station, Virginia|placeofburial=Stonewall Jackson Memorial CemeteryLexington, Virginia|placeofburial_label= Place of burial|image=...
in Jackson's Valley Campaign. At the First Battle of Winchester
First Battle of Winchester
The First Battle of Winchester, fought on May 25, 1862, in and around Frederick County, Virginia, and Winchester, Virginia, was a major victory in Confederate Army Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's Campaign through the Shenandoah Valley during the American Civil War. Jackson enveloped the...
on May 25, 1862, Warren took his regiment to Brig. Gen. Richard Taylor
Richard Taylor (general)
Richard Taylor was a Confederate general in the American Civil War. He was the son of United States President Zachary Taylor and First Lady Margaret Taylor.-Early life:...
's left flank to support his attack on the Union left. He was serving at the time under Col. Samuel V. Fulkerson in the absence of ailing Brig. Gen. William B. Taliaferro
William B. Taliaferro
William Booth Taliaferro , was a United States Army officer, a lawyer, legislator, and Confederate general in the American Civil War.-Early life:...
. Under Taliaferro's command, Warren's regiment also helped stop Col. Samuel S. Carroll
Samuel S. Carroll
Samuel Spriggs "Red" Carroll was a career officer in the United States Army who rose to the rank of brigadier general during the American Civil War...
's raid on Port Republic prior to the Battle of Port Republic
Battle of Port Republic
-References:* Cozzens, Peter. Shenandoah 1862: Stonewall Jackson's Valley Campaign. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2008. ISBN 978-0-8078-3200-4....
on June 9, 1862.
Warren missed the Battle of Cedar Mountain
Battle of Cedar Mountain
The Battle of Cedar Mountain, also known as Slaughter's Mountain or Cedar Run, took place on August 9, 1862, in Culpeper County, Virginia, as part of the American Civil War. Union forces under Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks attacked Confederate forces under Maj. Gen. Thomas J...
, in which the regiment was commanded by Maj. Joshua Stover and the Second Battle of Bull Run
Second Battle of Bull Run
The Second Battle of Bull Run or Second Manassas was fought August 28–30, 1862, as part of the American Civil War. It was the culmination of an offensive campaign waged by Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia against Union Maj. Gen...
, where it was commanded by Lt. Col. Samuel T. Walker. Warren commanded Taliaferro's brigade in the early stages of the Maryland Campaign
Maryland Campaign
The Maryland Campaign, or the Antietam Campaign is widely considered one of the major turning points of the American Civil War. Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's first invasion of the North was repulsed by Maj. Gen. George B...
of 1862, but his regiment was left to garrison Martinsburg, West Virginia
Martinsburg, West Virginia
Martinsburg is a city in the Eastern Panhandle region of West Virginia, United States. The city's population was 14,972 at the 2000 census; according to a 2009 Census Bureau estimate, Martinsburg's population was 17,117, making it the largest city in the Eastern Panhandle and the eighth largest...
, after the Federals abandoned the town. Col. James W. Jackson
James W. Jackson
James W. Jackson was an ardent secessionist and the proprietor of the Marshall House, an inn located in the City of Alexandria during the time of the Civil War. During the capture of Alexandria Jackson used an English-made double-barrel shotgun to kill Col...
commanded the brigade at the Battle of Antietam
Battle of Antietam
The Battle of Antietam , fought on September 17, 1862, near Sharpsburg, Maryland, and Antietam Creek, as part of the Maryland Campaign, was the first major battle in the American Civil War to take place on Northern soil. It was the bloodiest single-day battle in American history, with about 23,000...
.
Warren led the brigade at Fredericksburg
Battle of Fredericksburg
The Battle of Fredericksburg was fought December 11–15, 1862, in and around Fredericksburg, Virginia, between General Robert E. Lee's Confederate Army of Northern Virginia and the Union Army of the Potomac, commanded by Maj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside...
and Chancellorsville
Battle of Chancellorsville
The Battle of Chancellorsville was a major battle of the American Civil War, and the principal engagement of the Chancellorsville Campaign. It was fought from April 30 to May 6, 1863, in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, near the village of Chancellorsville. Two related battles were fought nearby on...
. Warren's brigade of Taliaferro's division was in reserve at Fredericksburg, supporting A.P. Hill's Light Division. After the breakthrough of the Pennsylvania Reserves
Pennsylvania Reserves
The Pennsylvania Reserves were an infantry division in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Noted for its famous commanders and high casualties, it served in the Eastern Theater, and fought in many important battles, including Antietam and Gettysburg....
, his command was brought forward to help fill a gap in the line. Brig. Gen. Raleigh E. Colston
Raleigh E. Colston
Raleigh Edward Colston was a French-born American professor, soldier, cartographer, and writer. He was a controversial brigadier general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War...
was assigned the brigade, but he led the division at Chancellorsville. Consequently Warren returned to brigade command, and his brigade was in the second line of Stonewall Jackson's surprise attack on the Union XI Corps on May 3, 1863. Brig. Gen. Robert Rodes, commanding the first line, called the brigade forward to help overcome Federal resistance near Wilderness Church. Col. Warren was severely wounded while leading an attack.
At 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...
, Warren led his regiment under Brig. Gen. George H. Steuart in the attack on Culp's Hill
Culp's Hill
Culps Hill is a Battle of Gettysburg landform south of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, with a heavily wooded summit of . The east slope is to Rock Creek , 160 feet lower in elevation, and the west slope is to a saddle with Stevens Knoll with a summit lower than the Culps Hill summit...
. Steuart's brigade was at the left of the attack by Maj. Gen. Edward "Allegheny" Johnson
Edward Johnson (general)
Edward Johnson , also known as Allegheny Johnson , was a United States Army officer and a Confederate general in the American Civil War.-Early life:...
on the position of the Union XII Corps on July 2, 1863. Warren's 10th Virginia was on the left of Steuart's line, and his unit advanced into a portion of the federal position left empty when troops were pulled out to go to the embattled left flank of the Army of the Potomac
Army 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...
. Warren's report suggests that he was confused by the gathering dark and did not realize how near he was to the Federal supply line on the Baltimore Pike. On the next day, Warren's regiment was deployed as skirmishers to protect the left flank when Johnson renewed his failed attack on Culp's Hill. The regiment lost nearly 40% of about 150 troops engaged.
Warren's 10th Virginia was not engaged in the Bristoe Campaign
Bristoe Campaign
The Bristoe Campaign was a series of minor battles fought in Virginia during October and November 1863, in the American Civil War. Maj. Gen. George G. Meade, commanding the Union Army of the Potomac, began to maneuver in an unsuccessful attempt to defeat Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern...
in the fall of 1863, but it did fight in the Battle of Mine Run
Battle of Mine Run
The Battle of Mine Run, also known as Payne's Farm, or New Hope Church, or the Mine Run Campaign , was conducted in Orange County, Virginia, in the American Civil War....
. It was involved in an engagement with the Union III Corps at the Battle of Payne's Farm.
Warren was killed in the Battle of the Wilderness
Battle of the Wilderness
The Battle of the Wilderness, fought May 5–7, 1864, was the first battle of Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's 1864 Virginia Overland Campaign against Gen. Robert E. Lee and the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. Both armies suffered heavy casualties, a harbinger of a bloody war of attrition by...
on May 5, 1864. He was buried at the Woodbine Cemetery in Harrisonburg. His papers can be found in the Small Special Collections Library of the University of Virginia
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...
. Warren had strong opinions, expressed in letters to his wife. He dismissed Turner Ashby as "rather a humbug." Warren also complained how many of his men Stonewall Jackson had gotten killed.
Further reading
- Allardice, Bruce S., Confederate Colonels: a Biographical Register, University of Missouri Press, 2008, ISBN 0-8262-1809-1.
External links
- aotw.org Antietam on the Web site biography of Warren.
- the10thvirginia.org 10th Virginia Volunteer Infantry Regiment site biography of Warren.
- mqamericana.com Museum Quality Americana site entry for Warren.