Download Our Best Men: Patrick Ronayne Cleburne

Our Best Men: Patrick Ronayne
Cleburne
Many soldiers of foreign origin fought on
both sides of the American Civil War.
Franz Sigel, Thomas
Michael
Corcoran
Francis Meagher,
and
Prussian
officer Heros von Borcke were just a few
of the 2.2 million men who fought on both
sides. In fact about 25% of the white
people who served in the Union Army were
foreign-born.
On the Southern side perhaps the best know was Patrick Ronayne
Cleburne, an Irish-born officer in the Confederate States
Army. Cleburne was born in County Cork, Ireland in 1828 and
emigrated to the United States in 1849. Settling at first in
Ohio, he shortly moved to Helena, Arkansas where he was
employed as a pharmacist.
When the Secession Crisis began Cleburne joined the local
militia company as a private soldier. He had some military
experience as a soldier in the 41st Regiment of Foot of
the British Army and was soon elected its captain. He led the
company in the seizure of the U.S. Arsenal in Little Rock in
January 1861. When Arkansas seceded his unit became part of
the 1st Arkansas Infantry, later designated the 15th Arkansas.
Cleburne was elected as colonel of the regiment.
By March 1862, Cleburne was promoted to brigadier general. He
led his brigade at the Battles of Shiloh, Richmond (Kentucky)
and Perryville. He was wounded in the face at Richmond. After
Perryville, he was promoted to division command. He was
elevated to major general on December 13, 1862. He led his
division in his now-aggressive style at the Battle of Stones
River where they pushed the enemy back three miles and routed
their right wing.
During 1863, Cleburne and his division fought bravely and with
determination at the battles of Chickamauga, Wauhatchie,
Missionary Ridge and Ringgold Gap. At Wauhatchie they
conducted a rare night assault. At Ringgold Gap they protected
the Confederate rear as the Army of Tennessee withdrew from
battle. For that action they received the thanks of
Confederate Congress.
Cleburne’s fame had spread throughout the South and into the
North. General Robert E. Lee referred to him as “a meteor
shining from a clouded sky” Cleburne’s use of terrain, his
ability to hold ground, and his talent in foiling the
movements of the enemy gained him the nickname “Stonewall of
the West.” Federal troops were quoted as dreading to see the
blue flag of Cleburne’s Division across the battlefield.
Cleburne had joined the Confederate Army because of his love
for the people of Arkansas who welcomed him into their
community. By late 1863, he could see that the Confederacy had
a serious issue with manpower limitations. In early 1864 he
made a proposal to emancipate slaves and enlist them in the
Confederate Army to secure Southern independence to his fellow
officers of the Army of Tennessee.
His proposal was met with polite silence by his fellow
commanders. Eventually, word leaked out to the public at
large. However, it was never officially recognized. Here is a
portion of his proposal:
Satisfy the negro that if he faithfully adheres to our
standard during the war he shall receive his freedom and that
of his race … and we change the race from a dreaded weakness
to a position of strength.
Will the slaves fight? The helots of Sparta stood their
masters good stead in battle. In the great sea fight of
Lepanto where the Christians checked forever the spread of
Mohammedanism over Europe, the galley slaves of portions of
the fleet were promised freedom, and called on to fight at a
critical moment of the battle. They fought well, and
civilization owes much to those brave galley slaves … the
experience of this war has been so far that half-trained
negroes have fought as bravely as many other half-trained
Yankees.
It is said that slavery is all we are fighting for, and if we
give it up we give up all. Even if this were true, which we
deny, slavery is not all our enemies are fighting for. It is
merely the pretense to establish sectional superiority and a
more centralized form of government, and to deprive us of our
rights and liberties.
Patrick Ronayne Cleburne met his end at the Battle of Franklin
on November, 1864. The Union Army of the Ohio commanded by
Maj. Gen. John M. Schofield had
built up a formidable defensive
line in a semi-circle around the
town,
from
northwest
to
southeast.
Attacking infantry would be confronted by a ditch about four
feet wide and two–three feet deep, then a wall of earth and
wooden fence rails four feet above the normal ground level,
and finally a trench three–four feet deep in which the
defenders stood, aiming their weapons through narrow “head
gaps” formed by logs.
The armies were evenly matched with each having about 27,000
men. Lt. Gen. John Bell Hood, the Confederate commander,
ordered a series of frontal assaults against the
works. Cleburne observed the enemy fortifications as
formidable, but he told the commanding general that he
either take the enemy’s works or fall in the attempt. He
remarked to Brig. Gen. Daniel C. Govan, “Well, Govan,
are to die, let us die like men.”
Union
being
would
later
if we
Cleburne’s division was positioned almost in the center of the
Confederate line. They were able to cause a breach in the
Union line with two other divisions. Collectively, they were
able to penetrate the enemy’s line 50 yards deep in the
center.
Led by Colonel Emerson Opdycke‘s brigade, the Union soldiers
counterattacked and they were able to seal the breach. The
fighting was hand-to-hand with bayonets, rifle butts,
entrenching tools, axes, and picks used as weapons. The
fighting continued for several hours around the Carter House
and gardens. In one of the Confederate attacks, Cleburne was
killed. Fourteen of his brigade and regimental commanders were
also casualties.
Later accounts said that he was found just inside the Union
lines. His men carried him back to an aid station where he
died of a gun shot wound to the abdomen. When his body was
found, his boots were gone, as were his sword, watch, and
anything else of value.
Patrick Cleburne was buried at St. John’s Episcopal
Church near Mount Pleasant, Tennessee, where they remained for
six years. In 1870, he was disinterred and returned to his
adopted hometown of Helena, Arkansas, with much fanfare, and
buried in Maple Hill Cemetery, overlooking the Mississippi
River.
Patrick Cleburne may have been the finest division commander
on either side during the Civil War. His loss at Franklin was
a serious blow to the Army of Tennessee. He was simply
irreplaceable as an aggressive leader and field commander.