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With The 11th New York Fire Zouaves |
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$30.00 |
With the 11th New York Fire
Zouaves In Camp, Battle, and Prison:
The Narrative of Private Arthur O’Neil Alcock in The New
York Atlas and Leader
Edited by
Brian C. Pohanka and Patrick A. Schroeder. Published by
Schroeder Publications in 2011. Hardcover with dust jacket, 232 pages,
index, 73 photos illustrations and maps.
The
first book-length work regarding the 11th New York Fire Zouaves.
No Federal regiment marched to war with such high expectations for
military glory than the one led by the charismatic Colonel Elmer Ellsworth
composed of members of New York City’s Fire Department—known for their
physical prowess and reckless.
Ellsworth managed to quickly equip his troops
an on April 29, 1861—sporting jaunty gray uniforms with red fire shirts and
kepis—the Fire Zouaves departed for Washington. Arriving at the capital, the
firemen’s antics and occasional depredations soon made it clear that
Ellsworth faced a considerable challenge in training and discipline.
In the predawn darkness of May 24, 1861, the
Fire Zouaves boarded transports and embarked for Alexandria.
In a move that displayed more zeal than wisdom, Ellsworth proceeded
to the roof Marshall House hotel and removed a large Confederate flag, but
was shot dead by the innkeeper on his way down the stairs. Colonel Noah Farnham took command and led the regiment into the Union
debacle at Bull Run on July 21, 1861, where the Fire Zouaves played a
controversial part in the bloody fight for Henry House Hill.
One zouave who “saw the elephant” there was
Private Arthur O’Niel Alcock. His detailed prolific accounts appeared in
The New York Atlas and New York Leader.
Alcock’s effusive columns reflected no small degree of wit and
literary ability. Initially considered for the
captaincy of Company A, Alcock chose to go to war as Colonel Ellsworth’s
military secretary. At Bull Run, he was detailed to the
regimental surgeon, Dr. Charles Gray, as acting medical orderly and
supervisor of the stretcher bearers (but entered the fight for a time). In
that capacity Alcock found himself en route to the great clash of arms that
transpired on the plains of Manassas. The journalist/soldier was taken
prisoner, eventually transferred from Richmond to Castle Pinckney,
Charleston harbor, SC, and following ten months of captivity in Southern
prisons recorded his experiences in a series of articles published in the
Atlas.
In May 1862, Alcock was exchanged.
In the months following Bull Run the 11th New York had
returned to the front but continued to suffer from disciplinary lapses that
at times brought the regiment to a condition bordering on anarchy. By late
May the entire unit was back in New York and in disbanded.
Alcock
resumed his position as Fire Editor of the Atlas. In mid
August of 1862, the paper began to serialize a account
of his experiences. He reenlisted in the 10th
New York Infantry and was mortally wounded at Laurel Hill (Spotsylvania
Court House) on May 8, 1864. The publication of Alcock’s
letters honor a sensitive and literate volunteer and after 150 years is the
first book-length narrative of the 11th New York Fire Zouaves.
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