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Gibbon, John, MGEN.
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Contact Info
Home Town Holmesburg, Philadelphia
Date of Passing Feb 06, 1896
Location of Interment Arlington National Cemetery (VLM) - Arlington, Virginia
The Iron Brigade, also known as the Iron Brigade of the West or the Black Hat Brigade, was an infantrybrigade in the UnionArmy of the Potomac during the American Civil War. Although it fought entirely in the Eastern Theater, it was composed of regiments from Western states (states that are today considered Midwestern). Noted for its strong discipline, its unique uniform appearance, and its tenacious fighting ability, the Iron Brigade suffered the highest percentage of casualties of any brigade in the war.
The nickname "Iron Brigade", with its connotation of fighting men with iron dispositions, was applied formally or informally to a number of units in the Civil War and in later conflicts. The Iron Brigade of the West was the unit that received the most lasting publicity in its use of the nickname. John Gibbon[1] (April 20, 1827 – February 6, 1896) was a career United States Army officer who fought in the American Civil War and the Indian Wars.
When war broke out between the states, Gibbon was serving as a captain of Battery B, 4th U.S. Artillery at Camp Floyd in Utah. Despite the fact that his father was a slaveholder and that three of his brothers, two brothers-in-law and his cousin J. Johnston Pettigrew served in the Confederate military, Gibbon decided to uphold his oath to the Union.[5] Upon arrival in Washington, Gibbon, still in command of the 4th U.S. Artillery, became chief of artillery for Maj. Gen.Irvin McDowell. In 1862, he was appointed brigadier general of volunteers and commanded the brigade of westerners known as King's Wisconsin Brigade. Gibbon quickly set about drilling his troops and improving their appearance, ordering them to wear white leggings and distinctive black 1858 regular armyHardee hats. The hats earned them the nickname The Black Hat Brigade. He led the brigade into action against the famous ConfederateStonewall Brigade at the Battle of Brawner's Farm, a prelude to the Second Battle of Bull Run.[6] He was in command of the brigade during their strong uphill charge at the Battle of South Mountain, where Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker exclaimed that the men "fought like iron". From then on, the brigade was known as the "Iron Brigade". Gibbon led the brigade at the Battle of Antietam, where he was forced to take time away from brigade command to personally man an artillery piece in the bloody fighting at the Cornfield.
Gibbon (far left) at Lee's surrender at Appomattox (Zoom)
Other Comments:
Gibbon was promoted to command the 2nd Division, I Corps at the Battle of Fredericksburg, where he was wounded. The wound was minor but kept getting infected, so Gibbon was out of action for a few months. Shortly after returning to duty he learned of the sudden death of his son, John Gibbon, Jr. Gibbon returned for the Battle of Chancellorsville, but his division was in reserve and saw little action. At the Battle of Gettysburg, he commanded the 2nd Division, II Corpsand temporarily commanded the corps on July 1 and July 2, 1863, while Maj. Gen. Winfield S. Hancock was elevated to command larger units. At the end of the council of war on the night of July 2, army commander Maj. Gen. George G. Meade took Gibbon aside and predicted, "If Lee attacks tomorrow, it will be on your front."[7] And his division did bear the brunt of fighting during the defense against Pickett's Charge on July 3, when Gibbon was again wounded.[8] While recovering from his wounds, he commanded a draft depot in Cleveland, Ohio, and attended the dedication of Soldiers' National Cemetery and heard Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address with his close friend and aide Lt. Frank A. Haskell.[9]
Gibbon stayed in the army after the war. He reverted to the regular army rank of colonel and was in command of the 7th Infantry at of the Montana Column consisting of the F,G,H,L of the 2nd Cavalry under Jams S. Brisbane from Fort Ellis and of his own regiment of 7th Infantry stationed at Shaw, Baker and Ellis in the Montana Territory, during the campaign against the Sioux in 1876. Gibbon, General George Crook, and General Alfred Terry were to make a coordinated campaign against the Sioux and Cheyenne, but Crook was driven back at the Battle of the Rosebud, and Gibbon was not close by when Lt. Col. George A. Custerattacked a very large village on the banks of the Little Bighorn River. The Battle of the Little Bighorn resulted in the deaths of Custer and some 261 of his men. Gibbon's approach on June 26 probably saved the lives of the several hundred men under the command of Major Marcus Reno who were still under siege. Gibbon arrived the next day and helped to bury the dead and evacuate the wounded.
Gibbon was still in command in Montana the following year when he received a telegraph from General Oliver O. Howard to cut off the Nez Percé who had left Idaho, pursued by Howard. (See Nez Perce War) Gibbon found the Nez Perce near the Big Hole River in western Montana. At the Battle of the Big Hole Gibbon's forces inflicted and suffered heavy casualties, and Gibbon became pinned down by Indian sniper fire. The Nez Perce withdrew in good order after the second day of the battle. In response to Gibbon's urgent call for help, General Howard and an advance party arrived the next day at the battlefield. Gibbon, because of his casualties and a wound he suffered, was unable to continue his pursuit of the Nez Perce.[10]
Nez Perce War
From Month/Year
June / 1877
To Month/Year
October / 1877
Description The Nez Perce War was an armed conflict between several bands of the Nez Perce tribe of Native Americans and their allies, a small band of the Palouse tribe led by Red Echo (Hahtalekin) and Bald Head (Husishusis Kute), against the United States Army. The conflict, fought between June–October 1877, stemmed from the refusal of several bands of the Nez Perce, dubbed "non-treaty Indians", to give up their ancestral lands in the Pacific Northwest and move to an Indian reservation in Idaho. This forced removal was in violation of the 1855 Treaty of Walla Walla, which granted the tribe 7.5 million acres in their ancestral lands and the right to hunt and fish in lands ceded to the government.
After the first armed engagements in June, the Nez Perce embarked on an arduous trek north initially to seek help with the Crow tribe. After the Crows' refusal of aid, they sought sanctuary with the Lakota led by Sitting Bull, who had fled to Canada in May 1877 to avoid capture following the 1876 Battle of the Little Bighorn.
The Nez Perce were pursued by elements of the U.S. Army with whom they fought a series of battles and skirmishes on a fighting retreat of 1,170 miles (1,880 km). The war ended after a final five-day battle fought alongside Snake Creek at the base of Montana's Bears Paw Mountains only 40 miles (64 km) from the Canada–US border. A majority of the surviving Nez Perce represented by Chief Joseph of the Wallowa band of Nez Perce, surrendered to Brigadier Generals Oliver Otis Howard and Nelson A. Miles.[4] White Bird, of the Lamátta band of Nez Perce, managed to elude the Army after the battle and escape with an undetermined number of his band to Sitting Bull's camp in Canada. The 418 Nez Perce who surrendered, including women and children, were taken prisoner and sent by train to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
Although Chief Joseph is the most well known of the Nez Perce leaders, he was not the sole overall leader. The Nez Perce were led by a coalition of several leaders from the different bands who comprised the "non-treaty" Nez Perce, including the Wallowa Ollokot, White Bird of the Lamátta band, Toohoolhoolzote of the Pikunin band, and Looking Glass of the Alpowai band. Brigadier General Howard was head of the U.S. Army's Department of the Columbia, which was tasked with forcing the Nez Perce onto the reservation and whose jurisdiction was extended by General William Tecumseh Sherman to allow Howard's pursuit. It was at the final surrender of the Nez Perce when Chief Joseph gave his famous "I Will Fight No More Forever" speech, which was translated by the interpreter Arthur Chapman.
The New York Times wrote in an 1877 editorial on the Nez Perce War that: "On our part, the war was in its origin and motive nothing short of a gigantic blunder and a crime"