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 Robert F. Hoke, Stephen D. Ramseur- Young Civil War Generals From Lincolnton

7/9/2013

 
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Marching feet,  Johnny Reb,
what's the price of heroes? ~REM


Dedicated to the Gettysburg National Military Park and the descendants and relatives of Generals Hoke and  Ramseur 


"Major tell my father I died with my face to the enemy." ~ I.E.Avery

Robert Frederick Hoke

Avery's brigade of nine hundred men quickly came to attention that 2nd day of July at Gettysburg ready to attack Cemetery Hill. Colonel Avery was riding Colonel Robert Hoke's large and faithful war-horse, Old Joe. He was in command that fateful evening of Hoke's Brigade as the usual leader of the unit, Hoke himself, was convalescing after being wounded at the previous battle in May at Chancellorsville.

It was a good thing Hoke was absent as he probably would have fallen like his replacement I.E. Avery did. As can be seen at the beginning of the story, the brave Avery wrote his final words on a scrap of paper. He certainly did  die with his face to the enemy; stoically till unconsciousness, hours later in a makeshift hospital behind the lines.
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Robert Hoke's photo via wikipedia.org
 North Carolina not only had the highest number of soldiers at Gettysburg from any Southern state but also suffered the largest number of casualties as any other there as well. (It should, of course, be remembered that the other states suffered terribly, too).  It well earned its appellation of First at Big Bethel, Foremost at Gettysburg and Last at Appomattox. Meaning it had the first southerner killed in the first land battle of the war, reached the farthest distance on the Gettysburg battle's third day during the Pickett-Pettigrew-Trimble Charge, and was the last to fire its arms at the enemy on April the 9th, 1865, the day of the surrender of  Lee's vastly depleted, but still defiant remnants of an army.

North Carolina also happened to have had one of the last state legislatures to approve an ordinance of secession from the Union. It can be said with some accuracy, to have been a torn state on whether to secede or not, and remained so throughout the war in certain places, particularly the mountains and a couple of mid-state counties largely settled by Moravian and Quaker pacifist- leaning religious folk.
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Robert Hoke was born in this house on the first floor room to the right on May the 27th, 1837. Lincolnton as the small town and capital seat of Lincoln county, N. C., in the west-central part of the Old North State, was a great place for a young boy to grow up in the mid-19th century. 

Robert and his friends, like future general Dodson Ramseur, enjoyed the fields and woods all about, especially the Revolutionary Battleground of Ramsour's Mill. (That story is on Once Upon a History and was an honor to write about.)

Robert Hoke is one of the lesser known generals of the Civil War, as he never attempted to capitalize on his fame during the years after the end of the conflict. Many others did do so by newspaper articles, books and memoirs, and back and forth arguments on battle strategy's, wrong decisions and right decisions; by generals such as Longstreet, Early, and Pickett for the South, and men like Meade, O.O. Howard, and Sickles for the North; just to name several high-ranking vets who stirred things up between themselves and others over the years after the war. Which also kept their names in front of the public through the newspapers and the time when the personal recollections and histories were initially written for future historians' source material.

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Daniel Barefoot's excellent bio of Robert Hoke which is available for purchase through the Book Shoppe





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Perhaps this is what General Hoke may have looked like, riding home on Old Joe, although the horse was black-coated.

 

Rewarded for outstanding service ... 

,TTheyCitizen-soldier Hoke's rise through the ranks was meteoric. Volunteering in June of 1861 as a second lieutenant, by June of  1864 he'd attained the rank of major general after his forces retook Plymouth, NC in April of 1864 -- becoming, at age twenty-six, the youngest Southern officer of that rank in the Rebel army. And although very magnanimous to his defeated foes at Plymouth, one very unpleasant duty of this operation for Hoke was having his sergeants pick-out turncoat rebels from the captured blue-coated ranks for a traitor's hanging. To avoid that fate, many of these unfortunate soldiers had taken overdoses of morphine but were walked off its effects. This desperate action by the men was no doubt the result of their knowledge that 22 rebel deserters, by the order of General Pickett, had been hung at Kinston the previous February.
​​
Civil War historians, and Hoke himself, realized, that if given just a day or two more in eastern Carolina, he would have cleared Union forces from the state at New Bern, returning all  its resources to the Confederacy. But it was not to be, as his 7,000 men were immediately recalled to protect Richmond after the start of Grant's many- pronged offensive in May of 1864. Hoke's troops were in the vanguard of repulsing General Ben Butler's armies in-between Richmond and Petersburg as Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia battled the massive Federal army elsewhere. His division was then pivotal, with now, nearly 8,000 men, in handing General Grant one of his worst and bloodiest field defeats of the war at Cold Harbor, thus saving Richmond and earning the accolades of the people of the capital, the South in general, and Lee himself. They were also important elements in the First and Second  battles of Petersburg, particularly the latter.

Hoke's military war record was generally outstanding and, varied, fighting in the war's first action at Big Bethel, Virginia, to one of the war's last major battles leading his by then much respected veteran division of two North Carolina brigades (which included the brave and hard-fighting, but sometimes scared, teenage Junior Reserves),  plus Hagood's South Carolina brigade and Colquitt's Georgia one,  at Bentonville, North Carolina. As mentioned previously, he missed the mighty struggle at Gettysburg due to his wounding at the battle of Chancellorsville, perhaps, something that was meant to be as he most likely would have died there leading his, then, brigade. Fate apparently had a different plan in store for this remarkable and beloved American soldier.

Many considered during the war that Robert F. Hoke was thought highly enough by Robert E. Lee to become his protégé during the autumn of 1864. They were certainly close and what an intriguing thought and outstanding achievement to think that Lee might have considered giving command of the Army of Northern Virginia to a man but 27 years old in case of his death or disability. Come the winter, though, Lee reluctantly sent Gen. Hoke's division, certainly one of the finest in his army, to defend Fort Fisher. After that he held up the Yankee advance on Wilmington(where he evacuated crucial supplies on the eve of its fall , delaying the inevitable, but allowing the South to fight on in NC), and later brilliantly led his division in battle at Wise's Forks and Bentonville.

In his later years, Hoke was to take on an almost uncanny resemblance to ole Marse Robert, too,  one of the  greatest war commanders in history and most venerated by his troops and fellow citizens, including his soldier opponents and many others in the North, and, world-at-large for that matter.
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The photo at left was formerly called the Pleasant Retreat Academy ( now called Memorial Hall) and both Hoke and boyhood friend Dodson Ramseur were taught here as youngsters.

After the surrender of Joe Johnston's army at Bennet's Place in NC  to Sherman (almost three weeks after Lee's surrender), Robert returned home to a devastated Lincolnton. Union general Stoneman's cavalry raid and occupation had seen to that in spades. But Hoke returned home with hope. He refused to wallow in melancholy like many others were.

He quickly hitched his faithful war horse Old Joe to the plow and started growing crops on the Hoke's family land. The man also set about to rebuilding his State and the South in general, and even at one point was offered high honors and the governorship of N.C. on a platter, all of which this modest and highly respected Cincinnatus -like man turned down. He later helped rebuild the industry of NC and opened a resort and spring water bottling company near-by to Lincolnton, where he was to live and pass away on July the 12th, 1912.

 Hoke was buried with full military honors in Raleigh's Oakwood cemetery. His goal was to leave the war behind and reunite the country and help his State recover during the harsh years of Reconstruction and beyond. Hoke rarely gave newspaper or magazine interviews, never wrote books or a memoir, thus avoiding the second-civil-war of words that went on through the years amongst so many other veterans from both sides.

He married Lydia Ann Maverick Van Wyck in 1869, producing children which included Dr. Michael Hoke, famed pioneer orthopedic surgeon and founder of the Scottish Rite Children's Hospital, one of the five orthopedic consultants in developing the Shriners' Hospital for Children. He was also a close adviser to President Franklin D. Roosevelt in these matters.

Stephen Dodson Ramseur

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Stephen Dodson Ramseur
Photo via wikipedia.org
Ramseur graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1860 as a second lieutenant. He was also a close childhood friend of Robert Hoke as mentioned previously.

Dodson fought in the 1862 early summer battles called The Seven Days series of battles where he was badly wounded but noticed by General Lee and was also elected by his men the commander of the 49th NC regiment, after which he was sent home to heal. 

 Lincoln County and its environs were where men like these hunted, walked or rode,  swam, and learned the ways of nature as boys. In short, it was their land, their heritage, their country. And when the call came to defend it, they answered that call patriotically. 
The middle and western parts of NC had a low ratio of bonds-people to the white population and many unionist-leaning folk in its regions. But most men, at least in the beginning, answered the call of duty in their mostly insular communities as they still do today in this world of instant communication. It was a smaller world back then - no instant news to most of the populace via TV or internet, and of that fact we should well remember. Although telegraphs were in use, they were generally utilized by commanders to Richmond or Washington. 

 The small group of elitist lawmakers of the South were mostly large acreage agriculturists, but were still wrong to hold on to the practice of African bondage when others had abandoned it for moral reasons, as well as barely living-wage industrialization and yeomanry farming. And we should also realize it had not been all that many decades before, that the institution ( though fought over at the Articles of Confederation in 1787 & subsequently) had been legal and tolerated in many states outside the South and even countries like France and Great Britain.

Of course places like the New and old England had a much different ratio of whites to blacks, which also factors in when we consider the history of the subject going way back before even the Declaration of Independence, particularly in states like SC and later Mississippi. What is generally unknown is the number of Carolinian's in power positions, like the Laurens, for example, who tried to end the practice starting in the Revolutionary War years. Those who followed in their footsteps were finally defeated in this desire by a small cabal of powerful politicians and plantation owners around the 1830s.

The NC soldiers often grumbled about " a rich man's war and a poor man's fight",  but the average Southerner able to bear arms fought for what he considered a direct military threat to his land, his family, neighbors, and constitutional rights. Abraham Lincoln's call for 75,000 volunteers, including some thousands from NC, to put down the rebellion, seemed to seal the deal for succession; not to mention the fact that that would have meant North Carolinian's would be fighting against their fellow southerners if the nicknamed Tar Heel State actually did stay in the Union..

​ The appellation of Tar Heel is thought to do with  NC soldiers tendency to stick to their ranks like they had tar upon their heels. In other words - hard-fighters who tended to bravely hold together, stand fast as it were, in the fiercest battles.  An irony, in a sense, because the highest desertion rates also came from NC. And in addition was the fact that one of the state's important industries, for quite some time, had been tar extraction from its many, thick stands of pine trees.

Promoted by the Commander himself 

After the battle at Sharpsburg, or Antietam, the bloodiest single day in American history, Dodson returned to the army recovered from his wound received at the Seven Days' Battle as colonel of the 49th N.C. regiment, only to find himself promoted to brigade command and given his brigadier general's star on Nov. 1st, 1862. At the youthful age of twenty-five, he was the youngest general in the army on that day, which apparently had been promoted by none other than the commanding general of the Army of Northern Virginia himself,  Robert E. Lee.

In one of the South's greatest victories of the war at Chancellorsville, in May of 1863, Ramseur's, then, brigade, was in the lead of Stonewall Jackson's stun-ning, victorious flanking attack. General Dodson's men were fated to suffer 50% casualties in that very famous surprise assault.

Ramseur fought on bravely again at the titanic struggle of Gettysburg, through to the next year's sanguinary two day Battle of The Wilderness, and the following bloody contest on May the 12th, defending the lines at  Spotsylvania Courthouse; here he was wounded again but refused to leave the battlefield.

Ramseur was promoted to major general and took over Early's division after Spotsylvania, which made him the youngest major general to ever graduate West Point. He fought from there at places like Cold Harbor, against Grant's massive army attempting to take Richmond on the run.

​And he later followed General Early's small Army of the Shenandoah on its desperate invasion of the North in an attempt to draw off some of the federal army besieging Petersburg and Richmond -- with perhaps a chance at freeing prisoners-of-war at Point Lookout in Maryland or even taking, relatively speaking, a lightly defended Washington City itself.

Stephen Dodson Ramseur was to later, bravely, fall mortally wounded with Early's Shenandoah Valley army trying to rally his out-numbered  and retreating men in Oct. of 1864 at the battle of Cedar Creek, Va. His remains were sent home for an honored burial.


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Ramseur's grave in St. Luke's Episcopal Cemetery, with his wife and child buried beside him.

The general's original monument was destroyed during hurricane Hugo.  The Daughters of the American Revolution replaced it with the one shown here.



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Historic St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Lincolnton, NC where Ramseur is buried.

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Union and Confederate military veterans gathered in Gettysburg in 1913, on the 50th anniversary of the end of the battle to remember the fallen and attempt personal reconciliations which were successful. At least for many of the vets closure had come at last; after all, in the end they were both just American soldiers doing their patriotic duty as they saw it. 

Photo via wikipedia.org.

femmeflashpoint link
7/9/2013 01:15:15 pm

Alastar,

Awesome post!

When sharing the link on facebook earlier, I commented about how great you are at remembering the significant folks from US history that are often lost in the shuffle.

I don't remember learning of these two guys in US History class, high school or college, so many thanks for bringing them to light!

femme

alastar packer link
7/10/2013 12:55:32 am

Thank you Angelia! You know Hoke has a good call on being NCs favorite son. Yet few are aware of this hero and model citizen who really moved not only NC forward after the war but the whole South. Lee's modest warrior wanted it that way and that is at least one sign of greatness in my book.

Joshua Hoke
3/19/2015 01:54:15 am

I found out about 6 months ago that i am a direct descendent of Robert Hoke. I am so proud of him! Thank you all for the kind sentiments to my beloved family member, i will always think of him and his love for his country! He is an inspiration to many! He inspired me to be a better stronger member of this wonderful country that so many brave men and women have died for! Thank you so much!

Alastar Packer link
3/19/2015 07:12:21 am

Joshua, what a pleasure to hear from you! Thank you so much my friend. This article is one of the most viewed on the history pages- and from all around the world at that. Your ancestor was a remarkable man and soldier and his story needs to be better known. Your a fortunate fellow to have such a general from the War Between the States and so cool you recently found out about it..My friend, it was a pleasure to publish his...and his boyhood's friend Dodson on The Carolinian's Archives. Please post again sometime on anything at all. Thank you!

femmeflashpoint
7/10/2013 12:28:10 am

Alastar,

My apologies. I forgot to add that your photo inclusions are excellent!

I have always loved a read with pictures. They're especially helpful in regards to historical non-fiction. They aren't a necessity, but they make an awesome enhancement for most posts of any sort.

They worked great in this one! :)

femme

alastar packer link
7/10/2013 12:58:57 am

Ha thanks again, Femme. Spent an entire Sunday getting them. That Lincolnton is really an historic state. They do indeed make an awesome enhancement for stories.:)

alastar Packer link
7/10/2013 01:00:57 am

Make that a really historic place!

Randy Godwin
7/12/2013 10:36:09 pm

Another great article about our historic past, Alastar! It's tales like this that make me so proud my ancestors on both sides of my family hailed from North Carolina.

Like femme, I wasn't aware of the two gentlemen who played such an important part of the tragic war. Your recounting of their personal stories and great pics bring to life their patriotic past. Keep 'em coming!

alastar packer link
7/13/2013 12:14:38 pm

Thanks for that Randy, it really is special to hear from one that is interested and family roots go so far back into our history on this continent. What a pleasant surprise to learn you had ancestors from the Old North State! Yes to the generals too. Especially Hoke who did so much in the war and so much more to help heal the damage afterwards. Offered the governorship of N.C. on a platter and turned it down, lets one know where he was coming from and it was the higher realms to be sure, You ought to see a pic of him in his senior years, almost a carbon copy of Robert E.Lee! Look forward to your guest piece soon and will be in contact about that tomorrow with you.

Cynthia Marsh link
7/13/2013 03:20:49 am

Hi Alastar, another great article from you about two very brave young men. It is quite something that they had to handle so much responsibility at such a young age in circumstances that would have most of the rest of us quivering in a heap in the corner. It reminds me of all the young second lieutenants in the First World World War who had to lead their men over the top at the age of 19 or 20.

alastar packer link
7/13/2013 12:21:48 pm

Hi to you Cynthia! So good to see your comment from across that big ol' pond! In many ways the War Between the States and WW1 have so much in common, it's just that 49 years on the War Gods had gotten much better at the destruction. How many young officer Brits fell on the first day at The Somme for example. You have a unique insight to these matters(and so many others) my friend and its always great to see you.

robin johnson
4/9/2014 10:42:51 am

Enjoyed your history of Robert F. Hoke. Are you from Lincolnton? I notice the newer pic of Pleasant Retreat Academy/Memorial Hall. Have you been inside the Hall?

alalstar link
4/10/2014 11:04:16 am

Glad to hear you liked it, Robin. I live nearby to Lincolnton. How about you ? The Pleasant Retreat was locked that day but sure would like to get inside! Thank you, Robin.:)

Phyllis Doyle link
4/11/2014 05:52:34 am

Alastar, thank you so much for introducing Hoke and Ramseur to those like me who never before heard of their great contribution to their homelands and to the war. What fine gentlemen they were, too. You do such a great service to forgotten or unknown heroes and it is an honour to read your articles on them. I always learn so much from you by reading your articles on history. The images you used to enhance the article do so much to bring it all alive and close to the heart. Thank you.

alastar link
4/14/2014 06:06:09 pm

Phyllis,thank you and please do forgive my tardiness in answering. So many things going on now you know.

Robert Hoke was a special and beloved man who sought no fame from his CW exploits as so many others did, North and South. His goal was to re-build his ravaged state and leave the war behind. In this he was successful.

Dodson Ramsuer was a brave man among brave men. One can only wonder had he survived how he and his childhood friend Hoke could have helped the state recover together and help with the re-union as well. Both these men were American heroes to the nth degree and should never be forgotten. Bless you Phyllis Doyle.

sam tregoning
6/15/2014 12:32:48 am

Glad I found this article! On Mother's Day of this year my mother informed me her grandmother's maiden name was Hoke & was a direct descendant of this Robert F. Hoke. Since then I've only begun to research this great man & also initiate properly my maternal lineage to my great-grandfather four x's removed! Thanks for this info!

alastar link
6/15/2014 02:23:09 am

Hello Sam and thank you so much for responding to the story! Robert Hoke, his ancestors and descendants, are penultimate examples of the finest humanity our region has to offer. How euphoric your discovery of being related to Hoke's illustrious line must be my friend, very glad to hear of it. You mat want to check-out "Lee's Modest Warrior" by Daniel Barefoot at the Lincolnton library or secure it from Amazon. Thanks again, Sam!

Patrick Kehoe link
4/24/2015 03:31:34 am

I am trying to find out the type of flower (white) that Stephen Ramseur was wearing to celebrate the birth of his child at Cedar Creek the day he was mortally wounded. I have read that he was buried with the flower still adorning his lapel.
Patrick

Alastar Packer link
4/24/2015 11:08:14 am

Hi Patrick. I'll try to help you with your quest. Although I have no sure knowledge of the flower Ramseur was wearing here is the most likely one. The Gen. didn't know the gender of the coming babe so that shouldn't figure in. He probably would have been partial to white Gardenias as they are and were a popular and common flower in the General's home co. of Lincoln. They also flower in the late part of the year, I believe. Another possibility might be a daisy but my intuition says it was a gardenia. Wish could tell you for sure my friend. Thank you and if I ever do find out for sure will certainly remember to e-mail you.

Phyllis Doyle Burns link
4/25/2015 05:48:59 am

Hi Patrick and Alastar. This is interesting about the white flower. I agree that it must have been a Gardenia. A white Gardenia is symbolic of innocence and pure love - so, it seems most appropriate that he would have worn the flower for love of his wife and the the baby. This is my intuition as yours is Alastar.

Alastar Packer link
4/25/2015 06:16:56 am

Oh hi my dear friend, Phyllis! Your feelings on the true flower dRamseur was wearing are right in tune with my own, they sure are. I admit having to ask someone more familiar with flowers but they didn't add that they are symbolic of innocence and pure love. With this, I feel most confident that the Gen was indeed wearing a white gardenia. Your one of the best and most knowledgeable writers I know and have come through once again on a question. Thank you, Phyllis.

Phyllis Doyle Burns link
4/25/2015 06:51:02 am

You are most welcome, dear friend Alastar. I have a strong love of symbolism. I am in the process of writing a new article on that. The gardenia seems right to me.

Debra Allen link
4/25/2015 04:55:31 am

I could not see the flower. This is all so interesting and I now am registered to get your updates and stuff through my e-mail. Now I won't have to keep asking you for your link.

Alastar Packer link
4/25/2015 05:58:50 am

Appreciate you Debbie. You've added some good possibilities to the species of flower. Rhododendrons bloom in the summer there so that can probably be eliminated. But Magnolia! That is certainly a possibility, and fitting. Glad your following now- going to send you an e-mail soon with an idea for you to consider.

Debbie link
4/27/2015 05:33:16 am

I cannot wait. I did read you last comment to Phyllis. If I could have seen the flwer then I might of had a different opinion. Carnations are grown up here as well. Oh well better luck next time on that!
Phyllis is really good and I like her work too.

Alastar Packer link
4/27/2015 07:16:39 am

Oh hi Debbie! That picture of the Gen was probably taken couple years before Oct 1864 if you were looking for it on there. If not, my bad, apologize. I believe there is a very good chance that the flower was a gardenia after learning from Phyllis what it represents. She is good, Debbie. Hey Debbie, if you'd consider, maybe we could work a quest write from you on the site, or if you have a book present it on the Book Shoppe page. Love to have you on board!

Debbie link
4/27/2015 09:01:56 am

I would love to do the gust write thing. Tell me how to do it and what I need to do and what the quailifications or things that you want me to put in it are. I do not write books....yet, but there is a book that I have used to describe the history in my area. I do not if you can purchase it anymore or not, but the name of it is The Berkey Journal, History of Gerrardstown. I do know there is a site with all the historical and Civil War genelogy and history: http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~wvberkel/history.html
http://www.wvculture.org/arts/ethnic/easternpan.html

Alastar Packer link
4/27/2015 10:45:01 pm

That'd be great, Debbie! Tell you what, I'll shoot you an e-mail asap in a few and we can discourse at length.


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