The Letters of General Richard S. Ewell: Stonewall’s Successor

2. Dragoon in Training, 1840–1846

Chapter 2 Dragoon in Training, 1840–1846 Dick Ewell graduated from West Point in 1840 and began his career as an officer in the 1st United States Dragoons. Forerunner of the cavalry, so famous in later wars, the dragoons typically occupied posts on the western frontier. Before being assigned to such duty, however, recruits and new officers had to undergo training at Carlisle Barracks, a military installation in south-central Pennsylvania. The commander at Carlisle was Captain Edwin V. Sumner, a forty-three-year-old veteran of the Black Hawk War who later became a major general in the Union army. Under Sumner’s tutelage Ewell learned the nuts and bolts of military life. After six months, Second Lieutenant Ewell and other new officers received orders to report to their commands. The War Department assigned Ewell to Company A, which was then on duty at Fort Gibson in Cherokee Territory, near modern Muskogee, Oklahoma. By the time the Virginian reached Fort Gibson, however, his company had transferred to Fort Wayne, seventy miles farther north. Ewell joined it there on December 19, 1840. Less than two years later the company moved again, this time to Fort Scott, a new post just west of the Missouri border and located roughly one hundred miles south of Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. While stationed at Fort Scott, Ewell took part in two notable expeditions: Captain Philip St. George Cooke’s 1843 trek down the Santa Fe Trail and Colonel Stephen W. Kearny’s 1845 journey down the Oregon Trail. The expeditions tested Ewell’s mettle and sparked his sense of adventure. He saw herds of buffalo, battled prairie fires, and learned to survive in harsh conditions imposed by the desert and the prairie. They were times to remember. Between expeditions Ewell was assigned to the less exciting task of enlisting new soldiers for the regiment. His recruiting duty took him first to Fort Leavenworth and later to Louisville, Kentucky, and Madison, Indiana. At these places the young officer indulged his social appetite, paying visits to young ladies at their homes and attending dances and teas. The grim business of war lay in the future; for now Ewell enjoyed the fruits of peace. Dragoon in Training, 1840–1846 22 8. To Benjamin Ewell Carlisle Barracks Oct 21st 1840 Dear Ben I recd your letter this evening and applied to Capt Sumner1 sur le Champ2 who gave me leave without the slightest hesitation to go to York on the 26th. I am very sorry to learn that you are disappointed as to the College.3 Alvord4 is the last man I should suppose to be Prof. as he can scarcely be understood when he is talking common sense & must be perfectly unintelligible when he undertakes Math or Phil. When I was coming here I met Lieut Robertson5 an Officer of my Regt in the D.C.6 who advised me[,] as I was not certain at what time my uniform would be here to hasten on so that I might go to N.Y. for it if it were not here which made me unable to spend more than 30 min in York instead of the 24 hrs I intended otherwise to have staid there so that I only had time to take leave of Julia.7 I was disappointed in not finding my uniform here but the Capt prefered my staying as it made but little difference so that my leave. . . . [I am more pleased]8 than otherwise with my situation though I am working harder than I ever did in my life having to be in the stable from Reveille to Breakfast, then drilling & reciting Tactics untill Dinner and drilling & stable duty untill Retreat. So far from disliking the duties I would not care if they were increased Julia McIlvaine was Benjamin Ewell’s wife and the mother of his daughter, Lizzie. Julia possessed an uneven temperament, and she and her husband separated when Lizzie was still a child. (Courtesy Stan Aylor) Dragoon in Training, 1840–1846 23 as I spend the time more agreeably. Thus far I am very much pleased with Capt Sumner who is strict with himself as well as with us. Tattoo is sounding and this must be in the office to night. I congratulate Mr Snap9 upon his prowess. Respects to Julia & family. Yrs &c Rich S Ewell I shall be down early; Should I not get your watch I shall some...