John Pope (military officer)

John Pope (military Officer)

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John Pope (military officer)

John Pope (March 16, 1822 – September 23, 1892) was a career United States Army

United States Army

The United States Army is the branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for Army operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S....
officer and Union

Union Army

The Union Army was the army that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S....
general in the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War , also known as the War Between the States and several Naming the American Civil War, was a civil war in the United States....
. He had a brief but successful career in the Western Theater

Western Theater of the American Civil War

This article presents an overview of major military and naval operations in the Western Theater of the American Civil War....
, but he is best known for his defeat at the Second Battle of Bull Run

Second Battle of Bull Run

Eastern Theater of the American Civil War

This article presents an overview of major military and naval operations in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War....
. After the Civil War, he resumed a successful military career in the Indian Wars

Indian Wars

Indian Wars is the name generally used in the United States to describe a series of conflicts between the colonial or federal government and the indigenous peoples of North America....
.
was born in Louisville, Kentucky

Louisville, Kentucky

Louisville is Kentucky's largest city and county seat of Jefferson County, Kentucky. The city's estimated population as of 2006 is listed as 557,789, with a population of 1,233,733 in the Louisville-Jefferson County, KY-IN Metropolitan Statistical Area....
, the son of Nathaniel Pope

Nathaniel Pope

Nathaniel Pope was a politician and jurist from the U.S. state of Illinois.Pope was born in Louisville, Kentucky to a prominent family in regional politics....
, a prominent Federal judge in early Illinois Territory

Illinois Territory

Illinois Territory was a historic, Territories of the United States of the United States established on March 1, 1809. A portion of the area was accepted into the Union as the State of Illinois on December 3, 1818, at which time the Territory ceased to exist....
and a friend of lawyer Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States. He successfully led the country through its greatest internal crisis, the American Civil War, preserving the Union and ending slavery....
.

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John Pope (March 16, 1822 – September 23, 1892) was a career United States Army

United States Army

The United States Army is the branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for Army operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S....
officer and Union

Union Army

The Union Army was the army that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S....
general in the American Civil War

American Civil War

Western Theater of the American Civil War

Second Battle of Bull Run

Eastern Theater of the American Civil War

Indian Wars

Indian Wars is the name generally used in the United States to describe a series of conflicts between the colonial or federal government and the indigenous peoples of North America....
.

Early life

Pope was born in Louisville, Kentucky

Louisville, Kentucky

Nathaniel Pope

Illinois Territory

Abraham Lincoln

Manning Force

Manning Ferguson Force was a lawyer, judge and soldier from Ohio. He became known as the commander of the 20th Ohio Volunteer Infantry in the Union Army during the American Civil War, and was a recipient of the Army Medal of Honor for gallantry in action....
and second cousin-in-law of Mary Todd Lincoln

Mary Todd Lincoln

Mary Ann Todd Lincoln was the wife of the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, and was First Lady of the United States from 1861 to 1865....
. He graduated from the United States Military Academy

United States Military Academy

The United States Military Academy at West Point is a four-year coeducational United States Service academies located at West Point, New York, New York....
in 1842, and was commissioned a brevet

Brevet (military)

In the U.K. and U.S. military, brevet referred to a warrant authorizing a commissioned officer to hold a higher Military rank temporarily, but usually without receiving the pay of that higher rank....
second lieutenant

Second Lieutenant

Second Lieutenant is the lowest Officer military rank in many armed forces.In British English the rank is pronounced second /l?f't?n?nt/ , while in American English it is pronounced second /lu't?n?nt/ ....
in the Topographical Engineers. He served in Florida

Florida

Florida is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States of the United States, bordering Alabama to the northwest and Georgia to the northeast....
and then helped survey the northeastern border between the United States

United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
and Canada

Canada

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
. He fought under Zachary Taylor

Zachary Taylor

Zachary Taylor was an Military of the United States and the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States.Known as "Old Rough and Ready", Taylor had a 40-year military career in the United States Army, serving in the War of 1812, Black Hawk War, and Seminole Wars before achieving fame leading U.S....
in the Battle of Monterrey

Battle of Monterrey

In the Battle of Monterrey during the Mexican-American War, General Pedro de Ampudia and the Mexico Army of the North was defeated by U.S. forces under the command of Zachary Taylor....
and Battle of Buena Vista

Battle of Buena Vista

The Battle of Buena Vista , also known as the Battle of Angostura, saw the United States United States Army use artillery to repulse the much larger Mexico army in the Mexican-American War....
during the Mexican-American War, for which he was brevetted to first lieutenant

First Lieutenant

First Lieutenant is a military rank.The rank of Lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations , but the majority of cases it is common for it to be sub-divided into a senior and junior rank....
and captain

Captain (Land)

The army rank of Captain is an officer rank historically corresponding to command of a company of soldiers. The rank is also used by some air forces and Marine ....
, respectively. After the war Pope worked as a surveyor in Minnesota. In 1850 he demonstrated the navigability of the Red River

Red River (Mississippi watershed)

The Red River is one of Red River. It rises in two branches in the Texas Panhandle and flows east forming the border between Texas and Oklahoma, and briefly between Texas and Arkansas....
. He served as the chief engineer of the Department of New Mexico from 1851 to 1853 and spent the remainder of the antebellum years surveying a route

Pacific Railroad Surveys

The Pacific Railroad Surveys explored possible routes for a transcontinental railroad across North America. Substantial collection of natural history material was made during the surveys as well....
for the Pacific Railroad

First Transcontinental Railroad

The First Transcontinental Railroad is the popular name of the United States rail transport line completed in 1869 between Council Bluffs, Iowa/Omaha, Nebraska and Alameda, California....
.

Civil War

Pope was serving on lighthouse duty when Abraham Lincoln was elected and he was one of four officers selected to escort the president-elect to Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C. , formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D.C., is the Capital of the United States, founded on July 16, 1790....
He offered to serve Lincoln as an aide, but on June 14, 1861, he was appointed brigadier general

Brigadier general (United States)

A brigadier general in the United States Army, United States Air Force, and United States Marine Corps, is a 1 star rank general officer, with the U.S....
of volunteers (date of rank effective May 17, 1861) and was ordered to Illinois to recruit volunteers. In the Western Department

Department of the West

The Department of the West, later known as the Western Department, was a major command of the United States Army during the 19th century....
of Maj. Gen.

Major general (United States)

In the United States Army, United States Marine Corps, and United States Air Force, major general is a 2 star rank general officer rank, with the U.S....
John C. Frémont

John C. Frémont

John Charles Fr?mont , was an United States military Commissioned officer, List of explorers, the first candidate of the History of United States Republican Party for the office of President of the United States, and the first presidential candidate of a major party to run on a platform in opposition to slavery....
, Pope assumed command of the District of North and Central Missouri in July, with operational control along a portion the Mississippi River

Mississippi River

The Mississippi River is the longest river in the United States, with a length of from its source in Lake Itasca in Minnesota to its mouth in the Gulf of Mexico....
. He had an uncomfortable relationship with Frémont and politicked behind the scenes to get him removed from command. Frémont was convinced that Pope had treacherous intentions toward him, demonstrated by his lack of action in following Frémont's offensive plans in Missouri. Historian Allan Nevins

Allan Nevins

Allan Nevins was an United States historian and journalist.Nevins earned an M.A. in English in 1913 from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign....
wrote, "Actually, incompetence and timidity offer a better explanation of Pope than treachery, though he certainly showed an insubordinate spirit." Pope eventually forced the Confederates

Confederate States Army

The Confederate States Army was a military organization whose primary mission was to provide the necessary forces and capabilities to support the National Security and defense of the Confederate States of America during its brief existence from 1861 to 1865....
under Sterling Price

Sterling Price

Sterling Price was a lawyer, politician, and militia General officer from the U.S. state of Missouri, an United States Army general during the Mexican-American War, and a Confederate States Army History of Confederate States Army Generals#major general during the American Civil War....
to retreat southward, taking 1,200 prisoners in a minor action at Blackwater, Missouri

Blackwater, Missouri

Blackwater is a city in Cooper County, Missouri, Missouri, along the Blackwater River . The population was 199 at the 2000 census....
, on December 18. Pope, who established a reputation as a braggart early in the war, was able to generate significant press interest in his minor victory, which brought him to the attention of Frémont's replacement, Maj. Gen. Henry W. Halleck.

Halleck appointed Pope to command the Army of the Mississippi

Army of the Mississippi

Army of the Mississippi was the name given to two Union Army armies that operated around the Mississippi River, both with short existences, during the American Civil War....
(and the District of the Mississippi, Department of the Missouri) on February 23, 1862. Given 25,000 men, he was ordered to clear Confederate obstacles on the Mississippi River

Mississippi River

The Mississippi River is the longest river in the United States, with a length of from its source in Lake Itasca in Minnesota to its mouth in the Gulf of Mexico....
. He made a surprise march on New Madrid, Missouri, and captured it on March 14. He then orchestrated a campaign to capture Island No. 10

Battle of Island Number Ten

The Battle of Island Number Ten was an engagement at the New Madrid Bend or Kentucky Bend on the Mississippi River during the American Civil War, lasting from February 28 to April 8, 1862....
, a strongly fortified post garrisoned by 12,000 men and 58 guns. Pope's engineers cut a channel that allowed him to bypass the island, then, assisted by the gunboats of Captain Andrew H. Foote, he landed his men on the opposite shore, which isolated the defenders. The island garrison surrendered on April 7, 1862, freeing Union navigation of the Mississippi as far south as Memphis

Memphis, Tennessee

Memphis is a city in the southwest corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County, Tennessee. Memphis rises above the Mississippi River on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff just south of the mouth of the Wolf River ....
. Pope's outstanding performance on the Mississippi earned him a promotion to major general, dated as of March 21, 1862. During the Siege of Corinth

Siege of Corinth

The Siege of Corinth was an American Civil War battle fought from April 29 to June 10, 1862, in Corinth, Mississippi....
, he commanded the left wing of Halleck's army, but he was soon summoned to the East by Lincoln. After the collapse of Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan

George B. McClellan

George Brinton McClellan was a Major general during the American Civil War. He organized the famous Army of the Potomac and served briefly as the general-in-chief of the Union Army....
's Peninsula Campaign

Peninsula Campaign

The Peninsula Campaign of the American Civil War was a major Union operation launched in southeastern Virginia from March through July 1862, the first large-scale offensive in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War....
, Pope was appointed to command the Army of Virginia

Army of Virginia

The Army of Virginia was organized as a major unit of the Union Army and operated briefly and unsuccessfully in 1862 in the American Civil War. It should not be confused with its principal opponent, the Confederate States Army Army of Northern Virginia, commanded by Robert E....
, assembled from scattered forces in the Shenandoah Valley

Shenandoah Valley

The Shenandoah Valley is both a geographic valley and cultural region of western Virginia and West Virginia in the United States. The valley is bound to the east by the Blue Ridge Mountains, to the west by the eastern front of the Ridge-and-valley Appalachians , to the north by the Potomac River and to the south by the James River ....
and Northern Virginia

Northern Virginia

Northern Virginia consistsof several County and independent cities in the U.S. state of Virginia in a widespread region generally radiating southerly and westward from Washington, D.C....
. This promotion infuriated Frémont, who resigned his commission. Pope brought an attitude of self assurance that was offensive to the eastern soldiers under his command. He issued an astonishing message to his new army on July 14, 1862, that included the following:

Despite this bravado, and despite receiving units from McClellan's 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 of the American Civil War....
that swelled the Army of Virginia to 70,000 men, Pope's aggressiveness exceeded his strategic capabilities, particularly since he was now facing Confederate General Robert E. Lee

Robert E. Lee

Robert Edward Lee , was a career United States United States Army officer , an engineer, and among the most celebrated generals in American history....
. Lee, sensing that Pope was indecisive, split his smaller (55,000 man) army, sending Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson

Stonewall Jackson

Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson was a Confederate States Army general during the American Civil War, and probably the most well-known Confederate commander after General Robert E....
with 24,000 men as a diversion to 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, Virginia, as part of the American Civil War....
, where Jackson defeated Pope's subordinate, Nathaniel Banks. As Lee advanced upon Pope with the remainder of his army, Jackson's swung around to the north and captured Pope's main supply base at Manassas Station

Manassas, Virginia

Manassas is an independent city located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The population was 35,135 at the United States Census 2000. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the city of Manassas with Prince William County, Virginia for statistical purposes....
. Confused and unable to locate the main Confederate force, Pope walked into a trap in the Second Battle of Bull Run

Second Battle of Bull Run

The Second Battle of Bull Run, or, as it was called by the Confederate States of America, the Battle of Second Manassas, was fought August 28–30, 1862, as part of the American Civil War....
. His men withstood a combined attack by Jackson and Lee on August 29, 1862, but on the following day Maj. Gen. James Longstreet

James Longstreet

James Longstreet was one of the foremost Confederate States Army General officers of the American Civil War and the principal subordinate to General Robert E....
launched a surprise flanking attack and the Union Army was soundly defeated and forced to retreat. Pope compounded his unpopularity with the Army by blaming his defeat on disobedience by Maj. Gen. Fitz John Porter

Fitz John Porter

Fitz John Porter was a career United States Army officer and a Union Army General officer during the American Civil War. He is most known for his performance at the Second Battle of Bull Run and his subsequent Court-martial of Fitz John Porter....
, who was found guilty by court-martial and disgraced

Court-martial of Fitz John Porter

The court-martial of Fitz John Porter was a major event of the American Civil War in which Major general Fitz John Porter was found guilty of disobeying a lawful order and misconduct in front of the enemy and removed from command based on internal political machinations of the Union Army....
. Pope himself was relieved of command on September 12, 1862, and his army was merged into the Army of the Potomac under McClellan. He spent the remainder of the war in the Department of the Northwest in Minnesota

Minnesota

Minnesota is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States of the United States. The twelfth largest state by area in the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with just over five million residents....
, dealing with the Dakota War of 1862

Dakota War of 1862

The Dakota War of 1862 was an armed conflict between the United States and several bands of the eastern Sioux or Dakota people which began on August 17, 1862, along the Minnesota River in southwest Minnesota and ended with a mass capital punishment of thirty-eight Dakota on December 26, 1862, in Mankato, Minnesota....
. His months campaigning in the West paid career dividends because he was assigned to command the Military Division of the Missouri (subsequently named the Department of the Missouri) on January 30, 1865, and received a brevet promotion to major general in the regular army on March 13, 1865, for his service at Island No. 10.

Postbellum

In April 1867, Pope was named governor of the Reconstruction Third Military District

Third Military District

The Third Military District existed in the American South during the Reconstruction era of the United States era that followed the American Civil War....
and made his headquarters in Atlanta

Atlanta, Georgia

Atlanta is the Capital and most populous city in Georgia , as well as the 33rd largest city in the United States of America with a population of 519,145....
, issuing orders that allowed African Americans to serve on juries, ordered Mayor James Williams to remain in office another year, postponing elections, and banned city advertising in newspapers that did not favor Reconstruction. President

President of the United States

The President of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in the United States by influence and recognition....
Andrew Johnson

Andrew Johnson

Andrew Johnson was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States , succeeding to the Presidency upon Abraham Lincoln assassination of Abraham Lincoln....
removed him from command December 28, 1867, replacing him with George G. Meade. Pope returned to the West and served with distinction in the Apache Wars

Apache Wars

The Apache Wars were fought during the nineteenth century between the U.S. military and many tribes in what is now the southwestern United States....
. He made political enemies in Washington recommending that the reservation system would be better administered by the military than the corrupt Indian Bureau

Bureau of Indian Affairs

The Bureau of Indian Affairs is an agency of the federal government of the United States within the United States Department of the Interior charged with the administration and management of 55.7 million acres of land held in trust by the United States for Native Americans in the United States, List of Native American Tribal Entities and A...
. He engendered controversy by calling for better and more humane treatment of Native Americans

Native Americans in the United States

Native Americans in the United States are the Indigenous peoples of the Americas from the regions of North America now encompassed by the continental United States United States, including parts of Alaska and the island state of Hawaii....
.

Pope's reputation suffered a serious blow in 1879 when a Board of Inquiry led by Maj. Gen. John Schofield

John Schofield

John McAllister Schofield was an United States soldier who held major commands during the American Civil War. He later served as U.S. Secretary of War and commanding general of the United States Army....
concluded that Fitz John Porter had been unfairly convicted and that it was Pope himself who bore most of the responsibility for the loss at the Second Battle of Bull Run. The report characterized Pope as being reckless and dangerously uninformed about the events on the battle, and credited Porter's perceived disobedience with saving the army from complete ruin. John Pope was promoted to major general in 1882 and retired in 1886. He died at the Ohio Soldiers' Home near Sandusky, Ohio

Sandusky, Ohio

Sandusky is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Erie County, Ohio. The municipality is located in northern Ohio and is situated on the shores of Lake Erie, almost exactly half-way between Toledo, Ohio to the west and Cleveland, Ohio to the east....
. He is buried in Bellefontaine Cemetery, St. Louis, Missouri

St. Louis, Missouri

St. Louis is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri, located near the confluence of the Mississippi River and the Missouri River. St....
.

External links

at
, September 13, 1862

John Pope (military officer)

Early life

Civil War

Postbellum

See also

Further reading

External links