General Joseph Warren Revere: The Gothic Saga of Paul Revere's Grandson

General Joseph Warren Revere: The Gothic Saga of Paul Revere’s Grandson

© 2013 William R. Chemerka. All Rights Reserved.

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ISBN 978-1-59393-241-1

Cover Design by Allan T. Duffin.

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Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Prologue

Chapter One: Beginnings

Chapter Two: Circumnavigating the Globe

Chapter Three: The Mexican War

Chapter Four: The San Geronimo Scandal

Chapter Five: More Adventures in San Geronimo

Chapter Six: The Willows

Chapter Seven: The Seventh New Jersey

Chapter Eight: On the Road to Richmond

Chapter Nine: The Battle of Chancellorsville

Chapter Ten: The Court-Martial

Chapter Eleven: The Fight to Restore his Good Name

Chapter Twelve: From Whom All Blessings Flow

Chapter Thirteen: Legacy

Appendix A

Appendix B

Appendix C

Bibliography

Endnotes

Dedicated to Harry G. Carpenter,

Founder and first President of the North Jersey Civil War Round Table

Acknowledgments

Many people have provided assistance of one kind or another in the making of this book. First and foremost, I thank all those individuals who are associated with The Willows, the home of Joseph Warren Revere, at Fosterfields Living Historical Farm in Morristown, New Jersey. The farm complex is part of the Morris County Park Commission, an authority dedicated to develop and preserve a dynamic and unique system of diverse natural, cultural and historic resources, and to provide innovative education and recreation opportunities of regional value, while exercising environmental and fiscal responsibility.

The staff members and volunteers at Fosterfields have been particularly gracious. Special thanks to Lynn Laffey, Assistant Director of Historic Sites/Division of Culture and Environmental Resources, who granted me access to the Revere Family Papers and the Revere Research Files. Lynn, who also serves as Curator of Collections and Exhibits, provided me with important comments and suggestions regarding the manuscript. Thanks also Joan Schaible, Senior Historical Program Specialist/Volunteer Coordinator, who supplied me with copies of important Revere documents during events held at The Willows in the 1990s and made me more aware of Revere’s complex and interesting life. And thanks to Mark Texel, former Director of Historic Sites. He now serves as Director of State Park Service, New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry.

Among others associated with Fosterfields who should be recognized include Nancy E. Strathearn, Roberta Bramhall, Nick and Mary DeRose, Bruce Hunter, Eleanor Kennedy, Heather Dempsey, Rebecca Kirkman, Sharon Carroll, Terry Kenneweg, Peter Doroshenko, Kathie Cirelli, Tom Coulter, Becky Hoskins, Peggy Kelly, Sue Youngman, Marilyn Franey-Austin, Jennifer Friedland, Delores Durso, Eleanor Kappock, Sherry Morse, Susan Martin, Cathie Sandbach, Laura Balogh, Shirley Vanderhoof, Merrie Tuttle, Rita Guibert, Mary Chatfield, Linda Barsch, Maryanne Rettino, Mary Darter, Joe Youngman, P. Gordon, C. Glacken, Gioia Weber, Keith Bott, Marie Ruzicka, Martha Bostick, Linda French, Peter and Madeleine Brennan, Jean Hanley, Rob Kibbe, Dorothy Swid, Christine Glazer, Chris Rain, and photographer Ralph Iacobelli.

I must acknowledge the late Caroline Foster, the daughter of Charles Grant Foster, who bought The Willows and the surrounding eighty-eight acres of land from Revere’s widow, Rosanna, in 1881. Like her father, Caroline Foster maintained the wonderful house in its mid-nineteenth century appearance, although a number of upgrades — from central heating and electricity to room renovations — were performed over the years. The remarkable Ms. Foster willed the land and buildings to the Morris County Park Commission in 1979, the year she died — at age 102. The Revere Family Papers were donated to the Morris County Park Commission as part of Caroline Foster’s estate after her death.

Thanks also to Dr. Cynthia Levine, Stephanie Levine, Jon Levine, and Sarah Levine for their support during living history programs at The Willows.

A salute of gratitude goes to all the historical interpreters — past and present — of the recreated Seventh New Jersey. Thanks to Lou Kaufer and the members of the Seventh New Jersey, Company A, and Fred Mossbrucker and the members of the Seventh New Jersey, Company D, who bring Joseph Warren Revere’s regiment to life at various living history events and Civil War reenactments.

Thanks also to Mike Boldt, Earl Sutton, illustrator Wade Dillon, Robert Jones of the recreated Thirty-third New Jersey Volunteer Infantry, Jude Pfister of Morristown National Historical Park, and Francine Becker, Aide-de-Camp of the Washington Association of New Jersey.

I appreciate the help and encouragement of Donald Pfanz, a staff historian at Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park. Pfanz, who authored Abraham Lincoln at City Point and Richard S. Ewell: A Soldier’s Life, reviewed select portions of the manuscript.

Steward T. Henderson, President/Corporal of the recreated Twenty-third United States Colored Troops, was kind enough to provide assistance at the historic Chancellorsville Battlefield Visitors Center. Thanks also to the United Kingdom’s Joe Irving, who served as an intern at Chancellorsville in 2012.

Thanks to Jim Burgess, Museum Specialist, Manassas National Battlefield Park, for his guidance regarding select sections of the manuscript.

Colonel Kevin Farrell, Academy Professor, Military Division Chief of the Department of History at the United States Military Academy, was also kind enough to examine portions of this work.

I appreciate Dr. David G. Martin of Longstreet House publications, who supplied me with a courtesy copy of Louis Raymond Francine Brevet Brigadier-General U.S. Volunteers, which was originally published in 1910. Thanks also to Joseph G. Bilby, author of Remember You Are Jerseyman!, A Military History of New Jersey’s Troops in the Civil War.

A proper acknowledgment must go to Harry G. Carpenter, Founder and First President of the North Jersey Civil War Round Table (NJCWRT), to whom this book is dedicated, and to Norman Tomlinson, a co-founder of the NJCWRT. Thanks also to Rich Rosenthal, current President of the NJCWRT, Jim Lamason, and Jonathan Lurie, Professor of History emeritus at Rutgers University, for their help.

I appreciate the assistance provided by Sue Verzella, the business manager of the Victorian Society in America; James Amemasor, Library Reference Associate at the New Jersey Historical Society; Patricia Keats, Director of Library and Archives at the Society of California Pioneers in San Francisco; Andrea Cronin, Library Assistant at the Massachusetts Historical Society; and Gabriel Swift, Reference Librarian for Special Collections, Rare Books and Special Collections at Princeton University’s Firestone Library.

Thanks also to Kate and Jim Malcolm of the Madison (NJ) Historical Society. Jim edited The Civil War Journal of Private Heyward Emmell, Ambulance and Infantry Corps: A Very Disagreeable War.

I am grateful for efforts provided by the staff of the Morristown and Morris Township Public Library’s North Jersey History and Genealogy Center. And thanks to Sara Weissman, head of the reference department at the Morris County (NJ) Library, and the staffs of the Barnegat and Toms River branches of the Ocean County (NJ) Library.

I value the help provided by Diana Loughman, Cemetery Director of the Holy Rood Cemetery in Morris Township, New Jersey, where Joseph Warren Revere and members of his family are buried. Thanks also to George and Mary Ann Johnston.

Thanks to Joanne Cosh, Northern District Director, New Jersey Daughters of the American Revolution and Katherine D. Bowers, State Historian, New Jersey Daughters of the American Revolution.

Legal questions concerning the estate of Joseph Warren Revere and his family were answered by Charles S. Bargiel.Thanks again, Chuck.

Thanks also to editor Tom Soter [www.tomsoter.com], who also provided generous assistance with Fess Parker: TV ’s Frontier Hero.

Special thanks to the talented and highly respected George Skoch, who created the Chancellorsville battlefield map, and John W. Kuhl for the use of Civil War images from his impressive collection.

I am grateful to the late Sharon Reider, who devoted many hours to the Morris County Trust for Historic Preservation. Sharon also portrayed Rosanna Duncan Lamb Revere at The Willows for a number of years. After Sharon’s passing, my wife, Deborah, portrayed Revere’s wife at The Willows. Of course, thanks again, Deb!

Thanks to Ben Ohmart, Sandra Grabman, Brian Pearce, Allan Duffin, Jessica Fries, and the rest of the staff at BearManor Media for their continued support and guidance.

Prologue

May 14, 1863

Headquarters Army of The Potomac Camp near Falmouth, Virginia

Brigadier General Joseph Warren Revere stood at attention. He looked straight ahead and said nothing. Revere appeared impressive. His short, dark hair was carefully parted on the left side; his uniquely styled beard flared into three separate points — the center section reaching a horizontal plane on his wool uniform, where he proudly displayed three medals that had been issued to him prior to the Civil War: the first from the United States, the second from Spain, and the third from Mexico. And he had been honored by other nations as well. He was an author and an artist, a husband and a father, the commander of his home county’s militia, and a well-respected man in his community.

Revere had served many years as an officer in the U.S.Navy and was later appointed colonel in the Seventh New Jersey Volunteer Infantry months after the Civil War began. He was appointed a brigadier general in 1862 and was wounded at the Second Battle of Bull Run. Above all, he had been acknowledged by Major General Joseph Hooker, the commander of the Army of the Potomac, who had called him the best disciplinarian in the service.

In three days, Revere would turn fifty-one years old. But thoughts of a birthday celebration with his family at his home in Morristown, New Jersey, or a return to his field command had been replaced by the moment at hand: the verdict in his court-martial. Revere had said that his military reputation was founded upon twenty-five years of service of the United States. And he was proud of that. But more than his military reputation was at stake.

Revere faced two charges: Misbehavior before the enemy and Neglect of duty, to the prejudice of good order and military discipline during the dramatic Battle of Chancellorsville in Virginia. Revere understood that the carefully worded charges translated simply to acts of cowardice. If he were to be found guilty of either charge or both, he could be dismissed from service or imprisoned — a disgraceful end to his military career. And the historical Revere name would be tarnished forever.

Perhaps, as he stood before the court, his amazing, adventurous life flashed before him.

Chapter One

Beginnings

I always look back to this period of my life with pleasure.

The United States was on the eve of war with Great Britain when Joseph Warren Revere was born in Boston on May 17, 1812. His father, Dr. John Revere, was a son of Revolutionary War figure Paul Revere and his wife, Rachel. [1] Joseph Warren Revere, like one of his uncles, was named after Paul Revere’s good friend Joseph Warren, a Revolutionary War hero who died at the Battle of Bunker Hill in 1775.

Dr. John Revere graduated from Harvard College in 1807 and traveled to Scotland, where he studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh. Following his return to the United States, he and his wife, Lydia LeBaron Goodwin, briefly resided in Maine.

The couple’s first child, Helen Louisa, was born on February 22, 1809, in Portland. Dr. John Revere suffered from bronchitis, and some of his colleagues suggested he move to a warmer part of the country. After Joseph Warren Revere’s birth, the family moved to Richmond, Virginia, and later to Baltimore, Maryland.

The Reveres moved back to Boston, where John Frederick was born on September 7, 1815; however, he died less than two years later on May 2, 1817. Two days before Joseph Warren Revere’s sixth birthday, his famous 83-year-old grandfather died in his Boston home. Lydia Revere gave birth to another son, Frederick Ballestier, on October 27, 1823, while residing in Baltimore. Eight years later in Philadelphia, Dr. John Revere was appointed professor of medicine in the Jefferson College of that city. [2]

Over a period of fourteen years, the Reveres lived in Massachusetts, Maine, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New York. Each residence shared a common element: a port city.

The larger towns’ harbors were filled with commercial sailing ships, naval vessels, fishing boats, and assorted sloops, schooners, and skiffs. And the portside taverns, inns, shops, and warehouses were filled with diverse souls who punctuated their daily activities with lively conversations of the sea — topics ranging from legendary storms and the whaling industry to memorable journeys and the War of 1812’s international naval battles. The atmosphere of the places was vibrant and exciting. Even from outside, one could smell the tobacco smoke and hear the sounds of boisterous rum-fueled laughter and the clash of clanking tankards and tin cups. Along the docks, veteran seamen shared their stories and tall tales to anyone who was willing to listen — and young Joseph Warren Revere was eager to hear them. He seemed to be particularly fond of the adventurous tales that described long-distance journeys to places that he had never heard of.

In time, Revere went to sea.

"Following the bent of an early predeliction for foreign travel, I entered the United States navy at the age of fourteen years, as a midshipman; and, after a short term spent at the Naval School at the New-York Navy Yard, I sailed on my first cruise to the Pacific Ocean on board the Guerrière, bearing the pennant of Com. Charles B. Thompson, the summer of year 1828," explained Revere, who was nearly sixteen years old when he was appointed to the rank of midshipman, the lowest ranking naval officer, on April 1, 1828. [3] The USS Guerriere shared the name of HMS Guerrière, the 49-gun British frigate that had been destroyed by the USS Constitution during the War of 1812. [4] The USS Guerriere was an impressive ship. Manned by a crew of approximately 400, the frigate was armed with over fifty guns — thirty-three 24-pounders and twenty 42-pounder carronades. In 1830, Revere received an additional $68.40 for traveling expenses incurred on his voyages. [5]

For three years I served in the Pacific squadron, and was duly initiated into the tough discipline then in vogue in our navy, the rigorous practice of which had been in vogue during the war of 1812, noted Revere. [6] The most infamous example of tough discipline at the time was the use of flogging, the beating or whipping of a sailor. However, Revere never condemned the harsh discipline policies, which were widely criticized. [7] In fact, he appreciated the impact that such regulations had on crew effectiveness. Decades later, he would employ similar policies as an officer in the U.S. Army.

In November and December of 1832, Revere attended a naval school in Norfolk, Virginia. The so-called naval schools at the navy yards [lasted] from six weeks to three months and were places where young officers were sent prior to examination for promotion. [8] He was assigned to the celebrated USS Constitution, which was commanded by Captain Jesse Duncan Elliott. Launched in 1797, the 44-gun Constitution defeated four British ships during the War of 1812 and had earned the nickname Old Ironsides. Following an end to the conflict, the USS Constitution and other American ships operated in the Mediterranean. I served for several years on this station in different ships, and, during the time, visited almost every port in that classic sea, besides making a trip to the Baltic, wrote Revere. [9] I always look back to this period of my life with pleasure; for I had many fine opportunities of seeing places and persons of historic interest.

Service in the U.S. Navy comprised sea service and other duty, which included extended periods of time on land, and Revere took advantage of the time he spent away from his assigned ship. Among the notable personalities that Revere met on his other duty travels were Czar Nicolas of Russia (the handsomest man I ever saw in any country, and the most perfect embodiment of the regal power and dignity that the imagination can picture); Letizia Romolino, Napoleon’s mother (the lines of her mouth and chin gave an expression of firmness, courage, and determination to a fine physiognomy); King Otto of Greece (the young king has just ascended to the throne); Mahud II, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire (in full health and strength and had a considerable share of good looks); international sojourner Lady Hester Lucy Stanhope, niece of William Pitt the Younger (her mind was somewhat unsettled in consequence of the death of her affianced husband, Sir John Moore); and Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt (he was of a restless and uneasy temper), among others.

After a brief service aboard the schooner USS Grampus, Revere spent about ten weeks at the naval school in New York in 1833. [10] He sailed in the West Indies aboard the USS St. Louis from September 1833 to February 1834 and took his exam for the rank of lieutenant and passed midshipman in Baltimore on June 14, 1834. [11] Revere was eligible for the promotion as soon as an opening for a lieutenant became available, but he would have to wait nearly seven years. In March 1835, he was ordered back to the USS Constitution. [12] Under the leadership of Captain Elliott, the ship departed from Sandy Hook, New Jersey, on March 7, but ran into a gale and returned to its place of departure two days later. Once the weather improved, the USS Constitution set sail for Europe. [13]

Revere arrived in Lisbon, Portugal, in early September 1836 and later traveled to Spain, where, at Yuste in the Extramadura area, he viewed the Convent of San Geronimo, the celebrated retreat of King Charles V, who had reigned from 1519 to 1556. I ascended to the roof of the cathedral, and stood entranced by the magnificent and smiling panorama of which is the centre; and again climbed to it on the morning of my departure to carry away with me the freshest possible memory of a spot so lovely, remarked Revere. [14] His affection for San Geronimo would remain with him for the rest of his life.

Revere’s sojourns through Spain were filled with intrigue and adventure. He successfully intervened in a man’s scheduled military execution; paid homage to the home of the legendary warrior El Cid; viewed bull fights; and was confronted by guerilla leader Martin Zurbano.

He contracted a guide, Manuel Blasco y Gusman, a one-eyed rogue and storyteller who later got into an altercation with a non-commissioned officer in the Spanish artillery over the affections of a woman. Blasco, as Revere called him, was charged with aggravated assault, a charge punishable by death. In Spain, summary executions so often follow an arrest in times like the present, that I was seriously alarmed, said Revere. Fortunately, Revere intervened on Blasco’s behalf and the weighty matter was brought to a satisfactory conclusion. [15]

Revere was fascinated with architecture and he particularly enjoyed his travels in Burgos. The venerable old town has a noble seat, rising gradually on the banks of the Alanza, with its dominating castle, and the graceful spires of its unrivalled cathedral, explained Revere. This wonderful temple is well known to all admirers of medieval architecture as among the finest specimens of florid Gothic in the world. [16] Revere was impressed and captivated by the Gothic style with its vertical lines, pointed arches, vaulted interiors, and its history.

Revere’s meeting with Martin Zubrano came during the First Carlist War, a Spanish civil war that lasted from 1833 to 1839. [17] Zubrano and his followers took up arms against the counterrevolutionary traditionalists who sought to establish and maintain the royal house of the Bourbons on the Spanish throne. Revere had accompanied Lieutenant Colonel Rafael Soler and a Carlist force of about nine hundred to Logroño, a town situated by the Ebro River in northern Spain, where the troops engaged in a skirmish and captured a number of residents who were thought to be revolutionaries. But the fight escalated and soon the Carlists were getting the worst of it and pulled back from the town.

Zurbano returned with reinforcements and retook Logroño. The guerrillas captured a number of prisoners, including Lieutenant Colonel Soler and his wife, Doña Florencia Soler. Revere, as a foreign officer, was briefly detained. But while he waited in an apartment under the protection of two guards, Revere heard the musketry of the execution squads. The Solers had been shot and Revere was appalled at Zurbano’s horrible crimes. After Zurbano and his men departed the town, Revere assisted at the burial, in consecrated ground, of the ill-fated Solers. Revere later reflected on the episode: And thus it is in all civil wars, which are notoriously more rancorous and vindictive than hostilities between rival nations. [18]

Revere traveled next to France on other duty, where he spent some time in Paris. During his stay in the French capital, he met the famous poet and songwriter Pierre-Jean de Béranger. Béranger was at that time really a power in France, said Revere. "His chansons had an immense circulation, and doubtless had a mighty influence in bringing about the revolution of 1830." The internal struggle resulted in the abdication of King Charles X. [19]

Revere returned to Spain and traveled to Gibralter, where he rejoined his