Encyclopedia
Edward Richard Sprigg Canby was a career
U.S. Army officer and a
Union general in the
American Civil War and
Indian Wars.
Early life
Canby was born in Piatt's Landing, Kentucky to Israel T. and Elizabeth Canby. He attended Wabash College, but transferred to the
U.S. Military Academy, from which he graduated in 1839. He was commissioned a
second lieutenant in the 2nd U.S. Infantry and served as the regimental adjutant. He married Louisa Hawkins at Crawfordsville, Indiana, August 1, 1839. Although often referred to as Edward Canby, a biographer has suggested that he was known as "Richard" during childhood and to some friends for most of his life. He was called "Sprigg" by fellow cadets at West Point, but during most of his career, he was generally referred to as E.R.S. Canby, sometimes signing his name "Ed.R.S. Canby."
Early military career
During his early career, he served in the
Seminole War in Florida and saw combat during the
Mexican-American War, where he received three brevet promotions, including to major for
Contreras and
Churubusco and lieutenant colonel for
Belén Gates. He also served at various posts, including
Upstate New York and in the adjutant general's office in
California from 1849 until 1851, covering the period of the territory's transition to statehood. Against his own wishes, he was ordered to serve in what was supposed to be the civilian post of custodian of the California Archives from March 1850 until he left California in April 1851. The Archives included records of Spanish and Mexican governments in California as well as Mission records and land titles. Evidently, Canby had some knowledge of the Spanish language, which came in handy during this period.
He served in Wyoming and Utah
Civil War
At the start of the Civil War, Canby was in command of
Fort Defiance, New Mexico Territory. He was promoted to colonel of the 19th U.S. Infantry on May 14 1861, and the following month commanded the Department of New Mexico. Although defeated by Confederate Brigadier General Henry Hopkins Sibley at the Battle of
Valverde, his troops eventually forced the Confederates to retreat to
Texas after the decisive Union victory at the
Battle of Glorieta Pass . Canby was promoted to brigadier general on March 31 1862, immediately following this battle. Canby's achievement was largely in planning an overall defensive strategy. He and Sibley both had limited resources. Though Canby was a little better supplied, he saw that defending the entire territory from every possible attack would stretch his forces too thinly. Realizing that Sibley had to attack along a river, especially since New Mexico was in the middle of a long drought, Canby made the best use of his forces by only defending against two possible scenarios: an attack along the Rio Grande and an attack by way of the Pecos and Canadian rivers. Moreover, the latter defenses could easily be shifted to protect Fort Union should the enemy attack come by way of the Rio Grande, as it did. Canby also took initiative in persuading the governors of both New Mexico and Colorado to raise volunteer units to supplement regular Federal troops; the Colorado troops proved helpful at both Valverde and Glorieta . It was Sibley's campaign to win or lose, and in spite of occassional superior soldiering by Confederate troops and junior commanders, Sibley's sluggishness and vacilation in executing an extremely risky plan led to an almost inevitable Confederate collapse.
It should be noted that Canby was born in Kentucky and that his father had once owned slaves. Some of Canby's cousins fought for the Confederacy, and one of these was taken prisoner of war. The man's father wrote to Canby asking the general to use his influence to parole his son, but Canby declined on the grounds that he felt he was not entitled to use his influence to benefit family members.
Canby became "commanding general of the city and harbor of
New York" on July 17 1863. This was immediately following the
New York Draft Riots. He remained in that post until November 9, not only restarting the draft, but overseeing a prisoner of war camp in New York Harbor. He then went to work in the office of the Secretary of War, unofficially describing himself in correspondence as an "Assistant Adjutant General." In May 1864, Canby was promoted to
major general and returned to the West, where he commanded the Military Division of Western Mississippi. He was wounded in the hip and groin by a sharpshooter while aboard the gunboat
USS Cricket on the White River, Arkansas, on November 8 1864. Canby commanded the Union forces at the
Battle of Fort Blakely, which led to the fall of
Mobile in April 1865. Canby accepted the surrender of the Confederate forces under General Richard Taylor, on May 4, 1865, and those under General E. Kirby Smith west of the Mississippi River on May 26, 1865.
Canby was generally regarded as a great administrator, but opinion was mixed as to whether or not he was a great warrior.
Ulysses S. Grant thought him not aggressive enough. In a telling incident, Grant sent Canby an order to "destroy [the enemy's] railroads, machine-shops, &c." Ten days later, Grant reprimanded him for requesting men and materials to build railroads. "I wrote... urging you to... destroy railroads, machine-shops, &c., not to build them," Grant said pointedly. The story is instructive regarding Canby's character: although he could be a destroyer when he felt he had to be, he clearly preferred the role of builder. Today, he might be considered a "policy wonk" because he was expert in the minutiae of administration. If someone had a question about army regulations or even Constitutional law affecting the military, Canby was the man to see. Grant himself came to appreciate this in peace time, once complaining vigorously when President
Andrew Johnson proposed to assign Canby away from the capital where Grant considered him irreplaceable.
Post War assignments
After the war, Canby served as commander of various military departments, remaining in charge in Louisiana from 1864 to May 1866; the Department of Washington from June 1866 until August 1867, when he was appointed to command the Second Military District comprising North and South Carolina. In August 1868, he briefly resumed command in Washington, but was off to the Fifth Military District in November. There he focused primarily on the reconstruction of Texas. He left Texas for Virginia, the First Military District, in April 1869, serving there until July 1870. Each of these postings occurred during
Reconstruction and put Canby at the center of conflicts between Republicans and Democrats, whites and blacks, state and federal governments. New state constitutions were either being written, ratified or put into effect in each district that he commanded, and he could not help but offend one side or the other . Nevertheless, Charles W. Ramsdell called Canby "vigorous and firm, but just." Even political opponents like Jonathan Worth, governor of North Carolina, had to admit that Canby was sincere and honest.
Final assignment and death
On July 21, 1870, Canby was awarded an honorary doctor of laws degree by
Wesleyan University in
Middletown, Connecticut. In August, he was posted to command the
Pacific Northwest. One of the problems he soon faced was that the
Modoc tribe, which had previously lived in northern
California, had been compelled to live on the same reservation in Oregon with the Klamath tribe with whom they did not get along. The government would not give them their own reservation in California, so the Modocs returned to their old territory illegally. In 1872, the Modoc War broke out. The Modocs, entrenched in
Captain Jack's Stronghold south of
Tule Lake, resisted army attacks, fighting to a stalemate.
General Canby had received conflicting orders from Washington as to whether to make peace or war on the Modocs, and he expressed conflicting impulses about the matter himself. Since war was not working, the federal government authorized a peace commission and assigned Canby a key position on it. The purpose of the commission was undermined by the fact that there were many lines of communication between the Modocs and whites. At one point, someone in touch with Captain Jack alleged that the governor of Oregon intended to hang nine Modocs, apparently without trial, as soon as they surrendered. This caused the Modocs to break off scheduled talks. This frustrated and infuriated Canby because, as far as he was concerned, his own authority trumped the governor's and made the threat irrelevant because Canby had no intention of allowing the Modocs to be molested if they surrendered, especially without a trial.
On April 11, 1873, after months of false starts and aborted meetings, Canby went to another parlay, unarmed and with some hope of final resolution; however, Judge E. Steele of Yreka, California maintained that when he warned Canby that the Modocs were volatile and apt to kill the peace commissioners at the slightest provocation, Canby replied, "I believe you are right, Mr. Steele, and I shall regard your advice, but it would not be very well for the general in command to be afraid to go where the peace commissioners would venture." The talks were held midway between the army encampment and Captian Jack's Stronghold near Tule Lake. Two members of Canby's party brought concealed weapons, but, as it turned out, even more of the Modocs were armed. Frustrated by the negotiations
Captain Jack, leader of the Modocs, along with Ellen's Man, one of his lieutenants, shot Canby twice in the head and cut his throat. He was the first, and only, general killed during the
Indian Wars. Other members of Canby's party were killed, including Reverend Eleazar Thomas. Others were wounded. According to Jeff C. Riddle, author of
Indian History of the Modoc War , Canby provoked Captain Jack by claiming that he had no authority to withdraw the 1,000 troops he had positioned nearby.
Following Canby's death, there was a severe backlash against the Modocs. Eastern newspapers called for blood vengeance. E.C. Thomas, son of the murdered peace commissioner, demonstrated the extent and limitation of moderation when he accepted the inevitability and even desirability of reprisals against Captain Jack and his men, but reminded people that his father's memory would be dishonored by generalized malice toward Native Americans: "To be sure, peace will come through war, but not by extermination." Eventually, Captain Jack and others were tried for murder and executed. The Modocs were sent to reservations.
After services were performed on the West Coast, Canby was returned to Indiana and buried in Crown Hill Cemetery,
Indianapolis, Indiana on May 23, 1873. Attending the final funeral service in Indianapolis were at least four Union generals:
William Tecumseh Sherman,
Philip Sheridan,
Lew Wallace, and
Irvin McDowell, the last two serving among the pall bearers. A reporter noted that, although the funeral procession was generally reserved, "more than once, expressions of hatred toward the Modoc" marred the silence.
In recognition of his assassination, Canby's Cross monument was erected in
Lava Beds National Monument. The towns of Canby in
Clackamas County, Oregon,
Canby in
Yellow Medicine County, Minnesota, and Canby in
Modoc County, California, are named for him.
Movie trivia
Colonel Canby is mentioned in the script of
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly,
Sergio Leone's stylish
Spaghetti Western, although Canby never appears as a character.
References
- Eicher, John H., & Eicher, David J.: Civil War High Commands, Stanford University Press, 2001, ISBN 0-8047-3641-3.
- Heyman, Max L., Jr.: Prudent Soldier: A Biography of Major General ERS Canby, 1817-1873, Frontier Military Series III, Glendale, CA: The Arthur H. Clark Co., 1959.
- Filson Historical Society Library: MS #118. "Canby, Edward Richard Sprigg, 1819[sic]-1873. Papers, 1837-1873." A\C214 .
