The War of the Rebellion: a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies or as often truncated to The Official Records is a valuable resource for a detailed history of the war. However, when reading it one has to consider the secondary gain involved for the officers writing the reports. These reports were often leaked to newspaper reporters by the officers or their supporters as a means of career advancement. I use them primarily for factual events such as where were regiments placed, what time did an event occur, where were their headquarters etc. The size of the opposing force, however, was often exaggerated especially in defeat. Things such as battle strategy written after the fact could be altered in such a way as to cast a more favorable light on the writer. In addition, details could also be left out that might cast the writer in an unfavorable light.

An example of the this is shown below in the report filed by Brigadier General James Shields after the Battle of First Kernstown. I have highlighted in yellow those parts of the report that were either stretching the truth or downright falsehoods written by Shields to cast himself in a more positive light. His men were aware of these falsehoods which they stated in letters they wrote home. Shields was injured on March 22, 1862, the day before the battle in a skirmish with Confederates commanded by Colonel Turner Ashby. A shell fragment from one of Captain Roger Chew’s guns struck General Shields just above the left elbow fracturing his humerus and injuring his chest and left shoulder, knocking him off his horse. He was carried first to a house near Parkin’s Mill and then transported by ambulance to the Seevers’ home in Winchester. Private Jacob Yeager was killed by the same shell. Command in the field fell to Colonel Nathan Kimball. The next day the Battle of First Kernstown was fought with Shields in Winchester, five miles away.

On the page below Shields attaches a strategy to events that occurred prior to the battle that cast him in a favorable light as if they were part of a grand strategy to deceive Jackson into attacking. Although these events occurred they were not part of a deception. If Jackson was deceived into attacking a larger force the blame lies at the feet of his cavalry commander Colonel Turner Ashby whose faulty intelligence emboldened Jackson.

On the page below Shields acknowledges that he thought that Jackson was nowhere near the battlefield but somehow had planned for him to suddenly appear. He also states that Colonel Nathan Kimball, the Union commander on the field, requested direction on where to place his troops. This is completely false. Kimball made all of the troop deployment decisions on the day of the battle. Shields was unaware that a full fledged battle was underway until 3:00 PM.

Kimball on several occasions ignored orders from Shields that he felt were inadvisable based on conditions on the battlefield. On the bottom of the page below in yellow is outlined a Confederate plan to reinforce Jackson that is completely untrue.

Shields overestimates Jackson’s force by a factor of two. Shields makes it appear he was directing the battle and Kimball was merely following his orders. Once again this was not the case.

In his report Shields makes it appear that he designed a master plan to entrap Jackson into fighting a battle that he planned and directed. This was not true. On May 22, 1862, the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War conducted an unusual meeting to investigate a Union victory! Four witnesses were called to provide testimony on actions that occurred the day of the Battle of First Kernstown. They were Colonel John Mason, General Jeremiah Sullivan, Colonel William Harrow and Dr. H. M. McAbee. Their testimony established that: Shields felt that Jackson was nowhere near Kernstown the morning of the battle; he became aware Jackson was on the battlefield sometime after 3:00 PM; Colonel Nathan Kimball directed all actions on the field; and that no strategy by the upper Union command (Shields or Banks) led to the victory. Dr. McAbee’s testimony was particularly damaging. He stated that when he asked Shields for permission to leave his headquarters to tend to injured soldiers from the battle Shields insisted that he remain at his bedside. At the time there was a nomination in the Senate to approve a promotion for Shields to Major General. The nomination was rejected. Shields would never again command in the field. He resigned from the army on March 28, 1863.

Shields was obviously a very courageous man and dedicated soldier (he suffered a severe wound in the Mexican War) but like others during the war a self promoter whose military career would suffer for it. It should also be pointed out, in fairness to Shields, that the Joint Committee Committee on the Conduct of the War had its own biases. Shields was a Democrat and the Joint Committee was run by Republicans and Shields was also an immigrant (born in Ireland to Catholic parents). Factors that did not help his cause. He is the only person in U.S. history to have served as a Senator from three different states. He represented Illinois from 1849 to 1855, Minnesota from 1858 to 1859, and Missouri in 1879 (he died that year). A bronze statue of Shields represents the state of Illinois in the National Statuary Hall. Another statue of him sits on the grounds of the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul.

Source

The Official Records of the War of the Rebellion Volume 12, Chapter 24, Part 1 Pages 338-343.

Next- The First Battle of Kernstown- Battlefield Tour Part 1- Kernstown Battlefield Park