Originally aired on May 30, 1997 - In part 144 of our Civil War series, Virginia Tech history professor James Robertson profiles the colorful character, Judson Kilpatrick, who was the first regular Army officer to be injured in a civil war and a Brigadier General at the age of 26.
#144 – General Judson Kilpatrick
It is time again to look at a real character of the Civil War. Today’s candidate is among the 3-4 major figures sent to the war by New Jersey. He was a cavalryman, which adds to the flamboyance. His name was Judson Kilpatrick.
Born on a farm in January, 1836, he had little formal education. Somehow he obtained an appointment to West Point; somehow he completed the studies and graduated in the middle of the Class of 1861. Civil war had just exploded.
Kilpatrick immediately became a captain in the 5th New York. A month later, he took part in the skirmish at Big Bethel, Virginia. In this opening land action of the war, Kilpatrick was wounded and thereafter had the distinction of being the first Regular Army officer injured in a Civil War battle.
That explained his dazzling climb through the ranks. In September, 1861, he was appointed lieutenant colonel of the 2nd New York Cavalry. Three months later, he was regimental colonel. Six months after that, Kilpatrick got his star as a brigadier general. He was twenty-six.
Kilpatrick was in every major cavalry battle on the Eastern theatre during the 1862-1863 period. He never let anyone forget it. Given to high-flown oratory on every occasion, appropriate or inappropriate, he exaggerated his activities in battle reports, looked with disdain on fellow officers, and possessed both a vanity and an ambition at times uncontrollable. Kilpatrick earnestly wanted to be governor of New Jersey because he thought that would be the most logical steppingstone to his ultimate goal: the White House.
A setback came in an 1863 raid he led on Richmond for the purpose of freeing Union prisoners of war. The action was a fiasco; and when General John Buford won top honors among Union cavalrymen weeks later at Gettysburg, Kilpatrick’s star momentarily dimmed. Yet his appearance and demeanor were still the talk of the army.
One of General George Meade’s staff officers said it was difficult to look at Kilpatrick without laughing. A restless, lanky little man with stringy side whiskers, he also had a lantern jaw and black eyes. He looked woefully out of place in an army of grown men. While Kilpatrick neither smoked nor drank, his reputation as a womanizer was equaled by few if any officers in the Civil War. A complete disregard for the welfare of his horses earned Kilpatrick the uncomplimentary nickname of “Kill Cavalry”.
In 1864 General U. S. Grant sent Kilpatrick to William T. Sherman’s army in Georgia. Sherman welcomed him with the observation: “I know that Kilpatrick is a….damned fool, but I want just that sort of man to command my cavalry”.
Much of the unwarranted destruction that occurred on the March to the Sea and Carolina campaigns was the result of Kilpatrick’s stern hand. On one occasion, he barely escaped capture when Southern horsemen swooped down on his headquarters. The Union general was in the arms of an indiscriminate Southern girl at the time and fled to safety in his underwear.
Kilpatrick left the army a major general. During 1865-1868 he was American ambassador to Chile. He returned to New Jersey and twice ran unsuccessfully for Congress. In 1881 President Chester Arthur reappointed Kilpatrick to be minister to Chile. He spent most of his time arguing with the American ambassador to Peru. After his death late that year, Kilpatrick was buried at West Point.
Thus passed a man whose chief talents were a reckless bravery and a gift for combat leadership, unmatched by either sound judgment or the intellect needed for high command. While a fellow officer thought Kilpatrick a “frothing braggart without brains”, another compatriot dismissed his as “a brave, injudicious boy, much given to blowing” his own horn.