Customer Reviews

"Happiness Is Not My Companion": The Life of General G. K. Warren

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"Happiness Is Not My Companion" The Life of Gouverneur K Warren by David M. Jordan (Insiana University Press, 2001) is a welcome addition to Civil War literature, filling a void in the biographies of key players in the North's bid for victory.

G. K. Warren, a graduate of West point, served in the Corps of Topographical Engineers and then taught mathematics at the Point until he was named lieutenant colonel of volunteers of the Fifth New York regiment. The high point of his career occurred on July 2, 1863, at Gettysburg, when he recognized that the unoccupied Little Round Top was the key to the Federal's defense and quickly positiond troops on its summit and backside to prevent the Confederates from taking that hill and possibly destroying the entire Federal line.

As Jordan tells the rest of the story, Warren's subsequent service was characterized by arrogance, depression, a quick, sulphurous temper, and a bad habit of second-guessing his superior's orders. Just days before Lee's surrender, Warren's superior, General Phil Sheridan, relieved him of duty, casting a shadow of disgrace upon Warren's career and courage.

Unable to persuade General U S Gant to give him a court of hearing, Warren had to wait 15 years before the commanding general William T Sherman approved his application. By the time the inquiry was completed and the findings released (findings which at least partially exonerated him)Warren was dead.

The only other significant biography of Warren was published by his family in 1932, an apology vindicating the General and arguing his place in Civil War history.

Jordan's research includes the vast collection of papers which the General himself had arranged for his defense, but it is not for that reason one-sided or uncritical in its presentation of the General's personality, career, or place in history.

Everyone who today climbs to the crest of Little Round Top sees the larger than life statue of G. K. Warren, erected by the survivors of his first command. Few visitors, however, know that he was wounded there on that hot July afternoon, that he later was responsible for a meticulously exact map of the battlefield, that in spite of his success in Pennsylvania he was relieved of duty at Five Forks, Virginia, less than two years later and spent the remainder of his life trying to salvage his good name.

Jordan's book is an honest and revealing look at one of the lesser known but nonetheless significant military leaders of the war. The author's background as an attorney does influence his presentation,providing some analysis that readers may or may not accept. But this book does sit well along side his other Civil war biography on General Winfield Scott Hancock.

This biography has the ring of truth and the happy tone of justice done at last. G.K.Warren, born upstate New York 1830, West Point class of '50, brevet Major General in the Union Army, brilliant strategist at Gettysburg, later commander of the Fifth Corps, died in 1883 awaiting the results of hearings he had instigated to clear his reputation. Following one of the last Civil War battles, a Union victory at Five Forks, VA to which he had contributed, Warren was fired by General Sheridan with U. S. Grant's prior approval. With little else of interest to do for the next 18 years, Warren focussed ever more intently on restoring his good name , marching in place while his personal demon, Grant, occupied the White House. Shaara (Killer Angels) did most of the heavy lifting to unearth Warren and Joshua L. Chamberlain, letting Chamberlain stand as The Hero of Little Roundtop. Jordan, more subtle, leaves him as A Hero of Little Roundtop. (Moreover, Jordan's narrative recital of this and other battles is exceptionally coherent.) Warren is a puzzle: was he a depressive personality? an adult-onset diabetic? a Democrat-for-McClellan sore loser? just one more brilliant, touchy, odd-ball Civil War general? Jordan wisely declines any one conclusive answer and gives detailed evidence for several. The hearing commission's report published after Warren's death "cut both ways", as a lawyer (such as the author) might say. To his credit, Jordan lets the report pretty much speak for itself. If you have no stomach for ambiguity, stop with Killer Angels. Otherwise, read "Happiness is Not My Companion...."

Having just finished David M. Jordan's "Happiness in Not My Companion", a well researched biography of General G. K. Warren, I wish to congratulate the author for his thorough and readable account of the general's life, and to recommend this book to anyone interested in civil war history, american military history, or biography of an individual who should be remembered in human as well as historical terms. The first half of Warren's story, describing his civil and military achievements, including his significant role at Gettysburg, through the Army of the Potamac's campaign of 1864, describes a man of ability and leadership, although Mr. Jordan plants the seeds of his future tangles with those in military authority. His relief from command by Sheridan near the end of the war and subsequent history is described with honesty and compassion, ending with Warren's death while attempting to clear his name via a military Court of Inquiry some 18 years after the fact. Mr. Jordan's research is exhaustive and heretofore unplumbed. His extensive use of quotations advances the narrative in an organized and readable style that had this reader unable to put the book down, especially after the battle at Five Forks. The author is to be commended for his research, his objectivity, and his highly readable style.

For Civil War readers, Gouverneur Kemble Warren is not an unfamiliar name. He is most associated for his slow response in the Wilderness campaign where he was dismissed without, as we read, justifiable cause. This action was driven more by spite and the ego issues of Phil Sheridan, who failed to understand the issues causing Warren's delay at Five Forks. And then there was U.S. Grant's rigid blind faith in Sheridan that led him to summarily dismiss Warren, also without knowing all the facts. Jordan does a good job of showing the many facets of a general who was not only competent but ethical in his conduct of the war. While admittedly cautious and slow at times, he was still able to win battles and not needlessly compromise his men's lives. As a psychotherapist, it was personally interesting to see the psychology of this complex man, from his highs to his rages and deep depression. He was without question, intelligent and with great courage. He did have issues that could compromise his "generalship" at times but then shine at others. Yet, his leadership of men was done with character and ethical responsibility and discipline. I highly recommend this book as not only a means to understanding an excellent civil war general but also as a way to see how circumstances create decisions, both good and bad. To see how incompetent leaders can manage to survive and highly competent ones fall, all in a flash. The book, from the early days of Warren, through his Civil War battles, court of inquiry trial and, ultimately, his lonely and sad death, is well written, easy to read and, like a complex movie, shows us pieces of the war and its many unseen still frames that are so easily missed. The reader will come away with a greater understanding of G.K. Warren as well as the civil war. David L Mazzola

I'm coming to the conclusion that engineers do not make very good field generals - at least not in the Civil War. They are too careful, too conservative to seize opportunities when quick action is needed. This seems to be an overall problem with Gouverneur Kemble Warren (as it was with William B. Franklin, another engineer promoted to field command), though ironically it's for a prompt (some might say even impulsive) decision at Gettysburg that he is best remembered.

Warren saw action throughout the eastern theatre. He was wounded at Gaines Mills and fought at Antietam and Fredericksburg. At Gettysburg he noticed that Little Round Top at the extreme Union left was unoccupied; he ordered troops to form a defensive line there, just in time to thwart an attack by Longstreet. It was the high point of his military career. At the Wilderness in May 1864, he had his first run-in with Phil Sheridan when he criticized the cavalry and then possibly suffered "something like a nervous breakdown" (according to Sheridan's biographer, Roy Morris). Both Sheridan and Grant, who had been tipped off about Warren by Sheridan, were suspicious of him at Five Forks in April 1865, and Sheridan found him "despondent" and slow to respond to orders. For this he relieved Warren of his command after the battle. For years after the war Warren made requests to have his dismissal at Five Forks investigated; finally in 1879 a court of inquiry was held and Warren was exonerated.

Apparently, Jordan believes, Warren suffered from chronic depression. He was always quick-tempered and often criticized orders. He also saw disaster wherever he looked. But he was intelligent and brave, and looked out for his men. Jordan's account of Warren's life is excellent. It's scholarly but not pedantic, and he writes clearly and with style. The book is a joy to read and I recommend it highly to all Civil War enthusiasts.

Having had little information on the life of my great, great, great grandfather this book was facinating. I had no idea he had participated critically in so much of the civil war. Not only Warren's genius of analysis of conditions in battle, but his engineering skills were also very notable, indeed his accomplishment in cartography and engineering of the Rock Island bridge some could say eclipsed anything he did during the war between the states. The book is a facinating inside look at relationships between men of high rank and served to show that patriotism was not the sole factor in their decisions and exploits. Great leaders, sadly, usually have great egos and Warren was no exception. I also thought the final analysis of why Warren, though brillant, failed to achieve the greatness he was surely capable of achieving, to be profoundly accurate, in light of previous chapters of each battle. His broad understanding of the big picture came into direct conflict with men of lesser intellect, but higher rank, who had the "tunnel" vision to stay the course and simply overwhelm the enemy with shear numbers. I applaud this work of David Jordan and for taking so much time to research and write about a man the world did it's best to defame and hide in obscurity.

In "Happiness is Not My Companion," David M. Jordan performs his usual solid job in assembling a biography. Jordan is, as always, excellent when it comes to digging in primary sources and he does breathe a good deal of life into the rather obscure G. K. Warren. Best known for his role at Little Round Top, Warren led the 5th Corps of the Army of the Potomac during most of the Overland campaign before his removal at Five Forks. He also held a number of important staff assignments under Joe Hooker and George Meade. Jordan is able to offer an excellent account of Warren's Civil War career as well as his quest for vindication from being removed from command. Jordan also offers an excellent look at Warren's morose and often overly critical personality. There remain some problems in the book. Warren's role as an explorer is covered too quickly. The same can be said of his role as an engineer in the West after the war. Still, Jordan is excellent on Warren and the war. Anyone interested in the Union effort in the east would profit from this book about a leading and very unique general.

Solid bio on General Warren, like George Picket, known for Gettysburg and Five Forks, the latter in his casea great controversy. Warren was the opposite of the Confederacy's impetuous A. P. Hill, Warren was brave but detailed and thorough in his planning. Often thinking of his men's welfare, he frequently clashed with not only Meade but by war's end Grant and Sheridan. The author provides a healthy history of Warren's family and his time at West Point and his gallant service mapping the Black Hills among the Sioux before the war. The reader may be a little impatient to get to the Civil War and the controversy but you get there relatively quickly. Warren serves on McClellan's staff and stays as a staff officer as a topographic engineer through his famed role at Little Round Top. Warren then becomes a corps commander, although he seems ill suited personality wise for the task. His dispatches to Meade naively offer too much advice and seemimg less action than his superiors expect, which he never seems to fully appreciate. Jordan utilizes many primary resources such as reports and letters by Warren, his bombastic artillery Officer, close military friends, commanders and many other witnesses to give you a first hand perception of the man. Warren's was notable in refusing to attack Lee's fortifications at Mine Run, a little written about campaign that establishes Warren as a man considerate of his men yet suffering in the eyes of his his commander. Here the author could have offered more maps as the Mine Run campaign starts questions about Warrens propensity to inform and perhaps lecture. During the overland campaign, Warren alternately hesitates and attacks and the author describes the reasons for each, particularly the Confederate fortifications. Rhea, in his great series of books on the 1864 campaigns, probably describes best Grant and Meade's frustration with Warren but Jordan does well here in this 320 page book. Although aquiting himself well during the Petersburg siege, with some question at the Crater, Warren's 5th corps continues to actively pivot late in 1864 alternately with Hancock's 2nd to the western outside edges of Petersburg. A question worth asking here is why, if Grant and Meade already question Warren's timely ability to attack, did they not keep his corps east of Petersburg in a static position? This is not answered by Jordan but should have been explored. By late March 1865, he is ordered to maneuver around Lee's far right to support Sheridan that culminates in the battles of Dinwiddie Court House (a setback for Sheridan) and then Five Forks. This unusual collaboration between two Generals that mutually dislike each other is immediately antagonized by too many confusing orders from both Sheridan and Meade to Warren compunded by Grants independent control of Sheridan. Jordan points out well that Warren is succesful in his dificult manuevers in the face of the enemy yet Warren fails to report timely to Sheridan. Jordan covers the battle of Five Forks well, ironically Warren's best and most succesful attack, and the controversy of Sheridan sacking Warren after the battle was won. Jordan's reserach also notes Warren's colorful charge across the final breastworks with his troops happens just before his sack notice reaches him as opposed to what some historians describe as happening only after he learned he was sacked. Ed Bearss book "Five Forks" in the VA. series probably describes the battle best with an excellent map but Jordan does a fine job describing the battle. The latter parts of the book follow Warren's post war career and his unusual dedication as an military engineer refusing to leave the army for much needed income as a private engineer as he waits his day in court. Warren comes across as a festidious egineer more suited for that kind of work but his extended military career and his desire for a trial seem to aggravate his sensitive health. The trial, 16 long years later, is well covered as well as the political difficulties as Sherman, Sheridan and Grant act as roadblocks. Jordan paints Warren appropriately as a man of talent but lacking in perception that the war changed and that Grant and Sheridan were trying to bring the war to an end in a hurry, which contributed to the abrupt and disasterous decision by Sheridan ironically after the day at Five Forks was won. At Five Forks Warren was relieved not for his actions that were unknown to Sheridan at the time but for the reputation that preceded and sterotyped him in Sheridan's eyes. One of the last ranking officers who served with McClellan, it is unfortunate that Warren did not leave when Hancock did or at least recognize that Grant and Meade required less opinions but timely reports of action as did Sheridan. A sad end with a final victory, reversed court finding, coming too late as the book's title aptly professes, happiness was not be his his post war companion.

Before I review this one, let me admit that I've never been into book length biographies, even when they concern Civil War era figures, so this is a bit of a new experience. Keep this is mind when reading these early attempts at reviewing biographies. I picked up this bio of Gouverneur Kemble Warren for two reasons. First, Indiana University Press was having an unbelievable sale, and I managed to find this one as a brand new hardback for only $6. Second, I'd been looking to get into the biography arena by looking at men who commanded at division level or higher during the siege of Petersburg.

"Happiness Is Not My Companion" takes a look at the checkered career of Gouverneur Kemble Warren, a man who was stripped of his command at the moment of his greatest triumph at Five Forks. Author David Jordan covers Warren's life in some detail, though I thought that a closer and more definitive work can probably be penned at some point in the future. With that said, I enjoyed this biography, especially the section dealing with the Petersburg Campaign. Jordan keeps the reader interested while moving the story along. The author argues that Warren was wronged by Sheridan at Five Forks, but he does candidly admit many of Warren's flaws, though I suspect he may not have gone far enough in revealing these.


Gouverneur Warren was an extremely intelligent man, but his main faults, according to author David Jordan, were his difficulty in following orders given to him while at the same time giving frequent unwanted "suggestions" to his superior officers. Jordan downplays somewhat Warren's nature to frequently act with great condescension, which is to me his greatest flaw. Warren was born on January 8, 1830 in upstate New York in the little town of Cold Spring, just a short distance from West Point. That Warren ended up at the Military Academy is hardly surprising given his birthplace and his prominent family. He graduated second in his class, and was awarded a spot in the coveted Corps of Engineers. In this role, Warren spent the better part of the 1850's on expeditions to the west, where he encountered friendly and hostile Native Americans, including the Sioux, and participated in his first military actions. Warren had accepted a position to teach mathematics at West Point by the time war broke out, but he soon became Lt. Colonel and then Colonel of the famous 5th New York, Duryea's Zouaves. He led the men of this regiment as a brigade commander in the Seven Days and at Second Bull Run, and was afterward promoted to Chief Topographical Engineer and then Chief Engineer of the Army of the Potomac. It was in this position at Gettysburg that Warren perhaps gave his greatest contribution to his country. Warren, while out scouting on the Union far left, noticed the importance of the Round Tops and the fact that Confederate infantry were approaching. He immediately found the nearest Union troops, the brigade of Colonel Strong Vincent, and sent them scurrying for the crest of Little Round Top. They barely beat the Confederates to the crest and managed to secure this vital area for the Union. Warren was promoted to Major General after the battle, and he was temporarily placed in command of the II Corps while Winfield Hancock recovered from his severe Gettysburg wound. In the Mine Run Campaign of November 1863, Warren called off an attack that he deemed suicidal on his own responsibility. Meade was at first furious that Warren had disobeyed, but he agreed with Warren's decision after taking a look at the Confederate entrenchments. This first instance of Warren questioning his orders as a corps commander was only the beginning. Meade and Grant would grow exasperated with Warren on more than one occasion during the Overland and Petersburg Campaigns. It was during this time frame, while commander of the V Corps of the Army of the Potomac, that Warren had his greatest problems as a commander. Meade and Grant were on the verge of relieving him several times for his continued questioning of orders, or in some cases, his outright disobedience of these orders. Jordan quotes the diary of Charles Wainwright, the V Corps Artillery Chief, quite often during this time period. Apparently Wainwright did not much like Warren and was constantly critical of his commander. All of this was leading up to Warren's greatest triumph...and his greatest disappointment. Warren was placed under Phil Sheridan during the attack on Five Forks. Grant, apparently having grown tired of Warren's tendency to question his orders, gave Sheridan the right to sack the v Corps commander at any point and replace him with any of the V Corps division commanders. Although Warren moved his men up in a satisfactory manner, and although the V Corps was able to flank and drive off the Confederates guarding Five Forks, Sheridan relieved Warren and sent him back to Grant. Jordan discusses Warren's unceasing efforts after the war in his quest to see a court of inquiry convened. It wasn't until the early 1880's that Warren was able to make this possible. He had known that while Grant or member of his circle were in power that his request would never be granted, so he had waited until Rutherford B. Hayes was President to press home his request. In my mind, Jordan demonstrates pretty conclusively that Warren was not at fault in any way at Five Forks, though Warren's peers who oversaw the court were rather ambivalent in their findings, perhaps to appease Sheridan, who now commanded the entire United States Army. Warren died before the findings of the court were made public. He deserved better, from Sheridan on April 1, 1865, to Grant in the intervening years concerning the granting of a court of inquiry, to the men who finally made judgments on his behavior.

As I stated in the introduction, this is a good but not great book. Jordan goes into considerable detail, but I couldn't help feeling that even more could have been done. He also seems to go a little easy on Warren in some cases, especially when it concerns Warren's difficulty in dealing with subordinates and superiors who he felt were not as intelligent as he was. One trait I dislike more than most in my fellow human beings is condescension. Warren was filled to overflowing with condescension for quite a few people, and I would have liked to see the author get into this in more detail. Other than that, I thought he tried to be impartial, as a good biographer always should. The maps that accompanied the text were solid, and really a bit of an unexpected bonus as far as a biography goes. Anyone interested in biographies of Civil War generals will not be disappointed in this one. Those interested in G. K. Warren or in the later campaigns of the Army of the Potomac will also want to give this one a look.

Happiness Is Not My Companion is an apt title for David Jordan's 2001 biography of General Gouverneur K. Warren, hero of Little Round Top at Gettysburg, commander of the II and V Corps for the Army of the Potomac, and most famously relieved of command by Major General Philip Sheridan following the Battle of Five Forks in April of 1865. That relief, coming scant days before the surrender of Robert E. Lee at Appomattox, sparked controversy and an eventual court of inquiry into the appropriateness of the relief.

This biography, long overdue and very much needed, goes far towards painting a picture of the enigma that was G.K. Warren. Get two Civil War buffs together, and you will likely have conflicting thoughts about what made the man tick. Author Jordan does a very nice job of culling the extensive Warren papers and presenting the various sides of "Gouv," and further includes snippets from the letter of his wife to flesh out his subject.

Warren himself is often treated by historians as something of a loaner for whom the trials of war drove him more and more towards despondency and depression. This is much of what Jordan presents, although I found the work somewhat lacking in analysis of the subject's character. For example, one could fairly easily extrapolate that Gouverneur Warren may well have suffered from bi-polar disorder, a malady not uncommon to brilliant men. Jordan's descriptions of Warren's seeming inability to complete after the war his Midwest mapping projects from the antebellum period, and the seeming mountains of work associated with the projects, allows us to see the loaner sitting in his work area with mounds of paper strewn about. That Warren spent most of his life away from his wife speaks volumes.

Jordan does an excellent job presenting Warren's mood swings. Periods of inactivity seemed to drive the downward spiral for Warren's moods, although almost any pretense of activity could perk the general up. What also comes through beautifully is the somewhat odd love affair between Warren and his wife Emily, one that lasted through his lifetime, yet saw the two living apart for so much of their time together.

Jordan further does a good job of chronicling the Warren Court of Inquiry, presenting what is most likely a more balanced side of the Court than Phil Sheridan probably deserved.

Like many military biographies, Jordan spends more time filling in the military history surrounding Warren than looking at the man himself - not too unusual for Civil War biography - but still leaving so much interpretation open to the reader. And that, in and of itself, is not too large a problem, for the reader can draw his or her own conclusions regarding what drove Gouverneur K. Warren, and what led to his premature death at the age of 53.

All-in-all, an excellent work, and well worth the purchase and read.