John W. Phelps | |
|---|---|
.jpg) John Wolcott Phelps | |
| Birth name | John Wolcott Phelps |
| Born | (1813-11-13)November 13, 1813 |
| Died | February 1, 1885(1885-02-01) (aged 71) Guilford, Vermont |
| Place of burial | Christ Church Cemetery, Guilford, Vermont |
| Allegiance | United States of America Union |
| Branch | United States Army Union Army |
| Service years | 1836–1859; 1861–1862 |
| Rank |  Brigadier General |
| Unit | 4th U.S. Artillery |
| Commands | 1st Vermont Infantry |
| Conflicts | Seminole Wars Mexican–American War Utah War American Civil War |
John Wolcott Phelps (November 13, 1813 – February 1, 1885) was a general in theUnion Army during theAmerican Civil War, an author, an ardentabolitionist and presidential candidate.
Phelps was born inGuilford, Vermont, the son of Judge John and Lucy (Lovell) Phelps. He was appointed to theUnited States Military Academy on July 1, 1832, and graduated on July 1, 1836, with thebrevet rank ofSecond Lieutenant, and was assigned to the 4th U.S. Artillery. He was promoted to Second Lieutenant on July 28, 1836. He fought in the Creek andSeminole War in 1838, and participated in theTrail of Tears that same year.[1][2]
He was promoted toFirst Lieutenant on July 7, 1838, andCaptain on March 31, 1850. During this period he served in theSeminole Wars in Florida, theMexican–American War, and spent 1857–1859 with theMormon Expedition. In his diaries, he wrote about theMormon faith with extreme disdain. "Where else than in America could such a flat and puerile invention become enshrined as an established belief. From what trunk except one of the most vigeorous of free institutions could such a fungus of absolutism arise?" In a December 1857 letter he compared Mormonism to a "snake coiled in the desert and concluded that it, like the snake, should be smitten immediately." He was a strong advocate for use of military means to suppress what he viewed as the Mormon threat to American republicanism.[1]
He resigned from the army on November 2, 1859. At the beginning of the Civil War, he resided inBrattleboro, Vermont, where he wrote forceful articles pointing out the danger of the constantly increasing political influence of theslave states.
On May 2, 1861, Phelps was appointedColonel of the1st Vermont Infantry and was mustered into U.S. service on May 8. His regiment arrived atFortress Monroe, Virginia, on May 13. On May 27, commanding the1st Vermont Infantry,4th Massachusetts Infantry and7th New York Infantry, Phelps moved 10 miles toNewport News, at the mouth of theJames River.
He was promoted tobrigadier general on May 27, 1861. In November, 1861, he was transferred to the Department of the Gulf underMajor GeneralBenjamin F. Butler, and Phelps left on an expedition to the Gulf of Mexico where his regiment took military possession ofShip Island, Mississippi. His regiment supported CommodoreDavid Farragut's fleet in forcing open theLower Mississippi in April, 1862. They participated in taking possession of Fort Jackson and St. Philip, Louisiana at theBattle of Forts Jackson and St. Philip, which was instrumental in the capture of New Orleans, the largest city of theConfederacy, on May 1, 1862.[2]
General Phelps was afterward stationed at Camp Parapet inCarrollton, seven miles fromNew Orleans. Many fugitive slaves arrived at the camp seeking refuge. General Phelps organized the black men of military age into companies. He then formally asked his commanding officer, General Butler, for arms for the blacks. General Phelps thought he could organize three regiments of Africans to help defend his camp. General Butler ordered Phelps to put the Negros to work cutting down trees around the camp, and instead of furnishing guns, ordered his quartermaster to send axes and tents for the fugitive slaves. General Phelps was unwilling to employ the Africans as mere laborers, becoming what he viewed as their slave-driver, "having no qualification that way," and offered his resignation on August 21, 1862. General Butler refused to accept it. Later that August, General Phelps returned his commission to PresidentAbraham Lincoln.[3]
David Dixon Porter who had assisted Commodore Farragut in capturing New Orleans, branded General Phelps "a crazy man," and Butler called him "mad as a March Hare on the 'nigger question.'"[4]
After Lincoln issued theEmancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, the federal administration adopted a policy of organizingUnited States Colored Troops. The President offered General Phelps a Major General's commission. General Phelps wanted the commission backdated to the day of his resignation the prior year. The President could not allow the implied contravention of General Butler's original orders, which were in good standing for that time, and would not agree to General Phelps' terms.[3]
At New Orleans, Phelps had organized a few squads of Negroes and drilled them daily. . . . Not knowing what to do with so many Negroes, Butler at first returned the runaway slaves to their masters. But still the contrabands came. Some of them were employed as cooks, nurses, washwomen, and laborers. . . . [Finally] Butler ordered . . . the exclusion of all unemployed Negroes and whites from his lines.[5]
For his organization of and attempt to arm escaped slaves, Confederate PresidentJefferson Davis issued an order on August 21, 1862, declaring Phelps an outlaw, for having "organized and armed negro slaves for military service against their masters, citizens of the Confederacy." Black Federal soldiers were condemned by the Confederacy as robbers and criminals, punishable by death. Many were warned by their officers before going into battle that they would be executed if captured.[3]
Leaving military service, Phelps returned toBrattleboro, Vermont, where he became President of the Vermont Teacher's Association from 1865 to 1885. He lived in Brattleboro until 1883, when he married Anna Bardwell Davis. They moved back to his birthplace,Guilford, Vermont. He traveled across Europe and the United States, developing a reputation as a scholar and linguist. He authoredPhelps Elementary Reader for Public Schools Good Behavior (1876), and translated from the French three books: theLucien de la Hodde'sThe Cradle of Rebellions: A History of the Secret Societies of France,The Island of Madagascar: A Sketch, Descriptive and Historical (1885), andThe Fables ofFlorian (1888). He became very active in theVermont Historical Society.[1]
Phelps was the candidate for theAnti-Masonic Party forpresident in1880.[6][a] His running mate wasSamuel C. Pomeroy of Kansas who four years later in 1884 would seek the White House as the presidential candidate of the American Prohibition National Party. In the 1880 race, the Phelps/Pomeroy ticket garnered only 1,045 votes nationwide. They ran on an eleven-point platform calling for such things as the prohibition of alcoholic beverages, the prohibition of all secret lodges, justice for Indians, demanding the Bible be a required text in all educational institutions; and the abolition of the electoral college.
He was vice president of theVermont Historical Society from 1863 to 1885, and reported on the discovery ofmammoth remains in Brattleboro andRichmond.
Phelps died in Guilford on February 1, 1885.
| Preceded by | Anti-Masonic Partypresidential candidate 1880 (lost) | Succeeded by (none) |
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