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Henry Jackson Hunt | |
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 Huntc. 1860–1865 | |
| Born | (1819-09-14)September 14, 1819 |
| Died | February 11, 1889(1889-02-11) (aged 69) Washington, D.C., US |
| Place of burial | |
| Allegiance | United States Union |
| Branch | United States Army Union Army |
| Years of service | 1839–1883 |
| Rank | Brigadier General BrevetMajor General |
| Commands | Chief of Artillery Army of the Potomac 5th U.S. Artillery |
| Battles / wars | |
| Signature |  |
Henry Jackson Hunt (September 14, 1819 – February 11, 1889) was Chief ofArtillery in theArmy of the Potomac during theAmerican Civil War. Considered by his contemporaries the greatest artillerytactician andstrategist of the war, he was a master of the science of gunnery and rewrote the manual on the organization and use of artillery in early modern armies. His courage and tactics affected the outcome of some of the most significant battles in the war, includingMalvern Hill,Antietam,Fredericksburg, and most notably atGettysburg, where his operational decisions regarding strategic cannon placement and conservation of ammunition for the Confederate main assault, contributed greatly to the defeat ofPickett's Charge.
Hunt was born in the frontier outpost ofDetroit to Samuel Wellington Hunt, an Armyinfantry officer who entered West Point in 1814 and died in 1829. He was named after his uncle,Henry Jackson Hunt, who was the second mayor of Detroit. His grandfather was ColonelThomas Hunt, who served with distinction in theContinental Army throughout theAmerican Revolution and served in the United States Army after the war until his death in 1808. Thus, Hunt was a hereditary member of the MassachusettsSociety of the Cincinnati by right of his grandfather's service.
As a child in 1827, he accompanied his father on the expedition to the futureKansas Territory that foundedFort Leavenworth.
His brother,Lewis Cass Hunt, served throughout the Civil War in the infantry, becoming a brigadier general of volunteers in 1862, and brevet brigadier general in the Regular Army in 1865.
He graduated from theUnited States Military Academy in 1839 as abrevetsecond lieutenant in the 2nd U.S. Artillery. He served in theMexican War underWinfield Scott, and was appointed a brevetcaptain for gallantry atContreras andChurubusco and tomajor atChapultepec. Hunt was a veteran member of theAztec Club of 1847 and a First Class Companion of theMilitary Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States which were military societies of United States officers who had served in the Mexican War and Civil War respectively.
On October 5, 1856, Brevet Major Hunt commanded Company M, 2nd U.S. Artillery from Fort Leavenworth, that protected the polls atEaton, Kansas, during the territorial legislature elections. Hunt served with the same unit during theUtah War in 1857 against the Mormons. His permanent (regular army) promotions to captain and major were in 1852 and 1861, respectively.
In 1856 Hunt was a member of a three-man board that revisedfield artillery drill and tactics for the army. TheInstructions for Field Artillery manual written by the three (Hunt,William H. French, andWilliam F. Barry) was published by the War Department in 1861 and was the "bible" of Northern field artillerists during the war. He was a principal proponent of the organizational doctrine that allowed infantrybrigades to retain artillerybatteries for close-in support, but that moved batteries formerly assigned todivisions andcorps to an Artillery Reserve at the army level for more strategic control.
Hunt achieved some fame in theFirst Battle of Bull Run in 1861, when his four-gun battery covered the retreat of aUnion force with a close-in artillery duel. He soon afterward became chief of artillery in the Department of Northeast Virginia, defendingWashington, D.C.
As acolonel on the staff ofMaj. Gen.George B. McClellan, Hunt organized and trained the artillery reserve of the Army of the Potomac and fought with it in thePeninsula Campaign. Throughout the war he contributed more than any officer to the effective employment of the artillery arm. With the artillery reserve at theBattle of Malvern Hill, his 250 guns repelled repeated Confederate infantry assaults with such gruesome efficiency that the Union infantry had little to do. He personally commanded a group of 60 guns that he employed as if they were a single battery (usually Union batteries contained six guns).
On September 15, 1862, the day after theBattle of South Mountain, Hunt was promoted tobrigadier general of volunteers and McClellan assigned him as chief of artillery in the Army of the Potomac for the imminentBattle of Antietam, where he deployed the Artillery Reserve to great effect. At theBattle of Fredericksburg in December, his gun emplacements on Stafford Heights effectively eliminated any possibility that Gen.Robert E. Lee could counterattack Union forces across theRappahannock River.
In the run-up to theBattle of Chancellorsville in May 1863, Hunt fell out of favor of Army of the Potomac commander Maj. Gen.Joseph Hooker and lost direct command of the Artillery Reserve, reducing him in effect to an administrative staff role. The lack of coordination of the artillery forces that resulted from this snub were well recognized as a contributing factor in the embarrassing Union defeat. Although Hooker restored Hunt's command after three days of battle, it was too late to affect the outcome.
Hunt was also a proponent of artillery practices that reflected his conservative nature. Although acknowledging the power of massed batteries to repel infantry assaults (such as atMalvern Hill or againstPickett's Charge in theBattle of Gettysburg), he urged his gun crews to fire slowly and deliberately and reprimanded them if they exceeded an average of one shot per minute. He believed that faster rates impaired accurate targeting and depleted ammunition faster than could be replenished. A story often told about Hunt was when he exclaimed to a gunner of a fast-firing gun, "Young man, are you aware that every round you fire costs $2.67?" Fast firing also implied to him that the gun crew was not brave enough to stand fast on the battlefield, wanting to get back behind the lines for resupply.
Hunt's most famous service in the war was at theBattle of Gettysburg in July 1863. His new commander, Maj. Gen.George G. Meade, had considerably more respect for Hunt than Hooker did and not only gave him great latitude in directing the artillery, but also used him on occasion as his personal representative. For example, on July 2, Meade sent Hunt to visitIII Corps commander Maj. Gen.Daniel E. Sickles in an attempt to get his defensive lines to conform to orders. (Sickles' insubordinate movement fromCemetery Ridge, where he had been ordered to defend, to thePeach Orchard caused considerable difficulty for the entire Union defense.) Hunt was unable to influence the irasciblepolitical general, but his masterful analysis of terrain and placement of batteries on the ridge were important factors in the Union's eventual success on the second day.
His handling of the artillery was conspicuous in the repulse ofPickett's Charge on July 3. During a morning inspection, Hunt observed activity in the Confederate lines and rightly concluded an assault was being readied. Later, with the Union line on Cemetery Ridge under massive bombardment from Longstreet's corps artillery chief, Col.Edward Porter Alexander, Hunt was able to resist command pressure from fieryII Corps commander Maj. Gen.Winfield S. Hancock who had demanded Union fire to lift the spirits of the infantrymen pinned down under Alexander's bombardment. Hunt ordered that counter-battery fire cease to conserve ammunition, reserving sufficient amounts for anti-personnel fire in the attack he knew was coming. Hunt also directed his cannons to cease fire slowly to create the illusion that they were being destroyed one by one, which fooled the Confederates into thinking his batteries were destroyed and triggered their disastrous charge. His concealed placement of Lt. Col.Freeman McGilvery's batteries north ofLittle Round Top caused massive casualties in the infantry assault. Hunt was rewarded for his service with the brevet ofcolonel in theRegular Army. Hunt reported in detail on the artillery's role at Gettysburg. He always maintained that the Confederate attack would never have happened had he been allowed to do what he'd intended—conserve his long-range ammunition during the initial southern bombardment, then hit them with everything he had when they lined up for their advance.[1]
In addition toInstructions for Field Artillery, Hunt was the author of papers on Gettysburg in theBattles and Leaders series.
The rest of the war was an anticlimax for Hunt. He served inVirginia to the end of the war, managing the siege operations ofPetersburg in 1864 and 1865. He was breveted major general both in the volunteers and in the Regular Army.
When the U.S. Army was reorganized in 1866, Hunt becamecolonel of the 5th U.S. Artillery. He served as commanding officer ofFort Adams inNewport, Rhode Island, from May 20, 1869, until November 10, 1875, and as president of the permanent Artillery Board. Hunt held various commands until retirement from the Army in 1883.
Upon retirement in 1883, Hunt become governor of theSoldiers' Home inWashington, D.C. He died in 1889 and is buried in theSoldiers' Home National Cemetery.Fort Hunt Park in Northern Virginia is named after Hunt.[2]
Hunt is featured prominently in thealternate history novelGettysburg: A Novel of the Civil War byNewt Gingrich andWilliam R. Forstchen. He also appears in the sequel novels of the series,Grant Comes East andNever Call Retreat: Lee and Grant: The Final Victory.
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