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Lot 177
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New Mexico Hero on Recruiting Duty in Washington 1863, Blasts Copperheads as “Cowards”
New Mexico Hero on Recruiting Duty in Washington 1863, Blasts Copperheads as “Cowards”
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Military Heroes



New Mexico Hero on Recruiting Duty in Washington 1863, Blasts Copperheads as “Cowards”

“they prefer to see the Stars and Stripes float over their homes and lands, while at heart they despise the noble banner, and...would glory in the rebel rag. A fig for such poltroons!”

 

Major Gurden Chapin, ill from injuries, reviewed candidates for the signal corps in Washington, D.C. through much of 1863. He writes to a friend to urge former and future U.S. Congressman John Covode of Pennsylvania to write a letter to President Lincoln supporting his promotion to brigadier general for bravery in New Mexico.

 

GURDEN CHAPIN, Autograph Letter Signed, to “My Dear friend,” April 5, 1863, Georgetown, D.C. 4 pp., 5" x 8.25". Expected folds, very good.

 

Excerpts

“I hear from the Army every few days, and the state of affairs is encouraging indeed; and as soon as the companies in the field get well filled up, the Army of the Potomac will be a hard road to travel over. Hooker takes well; he has fed the men well, and kept up a good state of discipline, and when the [?nd?] ‘forward’ is given the hills of the Rappahannock will tremble in their boots.”

 

“There is one thing however which the Army cant see, and that is why people within our lines are allowed to hold property, who openly avow that that [sic] wont take the oath of allegiance, and who gloat over every disaster, or accident which befals our arms. I would like to see the oath of allegiance branded on all such persons, who protect their homes by a living lie, and who have not the manhood to go South to fight for the cause which they love, because their pockets would flap against their empty stomachs. No they prefer to see the Stars and Stripes float over their homes and lands, while at heart they despise the noble banner, and if their pockets and courage were not in the way they would glory in the rebel rag. A fig for such poltroons! They should be expatriated lest their offspring should contaminate us—let men be men: if they love the South let them give up their homes and fight for the South: if they love the Union, let them sacrifice all as I have done, and take the field for their Country, or they place themselves in the unpleasant neutral position of coward—I mean all Copperheads.”

 

“My name is now on the Presidents table for Brig Gen. for Bravery in the field in New Mexico. Will you get Mr Covode to write to the President & request the appt to be made. Judge Bates, Gen Slough & Gen. Canby have done so.”

 

“I am getting better, and shall be off to the field as soon as I can.”

 

Historical Background

On March 30, 1862, Colonel John P. Slough wrote from New Mexico to Adjutant General Lorenzo Thomas in Washington to provide a report on the Battle of Glorieta Pass. In that report, Slough wrote, “I desire to notice the members of my staff for the efficient manner in which they assisted me in the battle of Pigeon’s Ranch, and especially Captain Chapin, U.S. Army, assistant adjutant general.... In conclusion, I would add that to Captain Chapin, whose connection with me was the most intimate, and upon whom fell the burden of duty, I owe and return especial thanks.”

Gurden Chapin (1831-1875) was born in Virginia and graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1851. He served on frontier duty in the 1850s. He divorced his first wife under “particularly atrocious circumstances” and married Julia E. Paul (1837-1881) in 1858. He later discovered “an intimacy between her & one of the officers of his Regiment.” According to Major Samuel P. Heintzelman, “Everybody says he is served right.” Chapin was at Fort Buchanan, Arizona, when the Civil War began. He convoyed wagon trains to Fort Craig on the Rio Grande through enemy lines in July and August 1861. By January 1862, Chapin was in command of a small garrison at Fort Marcy, overlooking Santa Fe, New Mexico, awaiting news from Fort Craig. Chapin required Santa Fe citizens to swear an oath of allegiance. There was to be “no half-way business” and Chapin told his men to let “the blood flow where it should.” In March and April 1862, Chapin led troops in the battles surrounding the Union victory at Glorieta Pass, New Mexico, that stopped Confederate General Henry Hopkins Sibley’s New Mexico Campaign. Sibley had hoped to gain access to the gold and silver mines of Colorado and California. For his actions at Peralta, during Sibley’s retreat to Texas, Chapin was promoted to brevet Major. In November and December 1862, he organized Pennsylvania draftees for the Army of the Potomac and served with that army for the first three months of 1863. From April to November 1863, he examined candidates for appointment to the signal corps and participated in the defense of New York harbor for most of 1864. Promoted to Major in May 1864, he guarded prisoners at Elmira, New York, from December 1864 to January 1865, then participated in recruiting in Connecticut until the end of the war. After the war, he commanded a fort in Arizona and recruited troops in California until his retirement in January 1869, for disability contracted in the line of duty. He died in Virginia.

 

 



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