Philip Kearny

This is a stub article. You are encouraged to add content and remove the stub notation {{Stub}} when you feel it has enough content to qualify as a full article.

General Philip Kearny

Philip Kearny (1815-1862) - Born 1 Jun 1815, New York City. , Died 1 Sep 186, Manassas, Virginia (2nd battle of Bull Run)

Philip Kearny was born on 1 Jun 1815, at 3 Broadway on Manhattan Island. His parents were Philip Kearny, a well-to-do financier, and Susan Watts Kearny, the daughter of the immensely wealthy John Watts.

Phil expressed an early desire to enter the military but his father and grandfather intended for him to study for a career in law. Kearny studied for the law and graduated in 1834 and entered the law firm of Peter Augustus Jay in New York City.

His grandfather John Watts died in 1836 at the age of 87 and left the 22 year old Kearny a millionaire in his own right. So when Kearny announced he was joining the army, there was nothing the senior Kearny could do.

Kearny called on the assistance of his uncle, Lieutenant Colonel Stephen Watts Kearny, as well as the even more prestigious General Winfield Scott, who he had met and impressed while in school. The newly commissioned 2nd Lt. reported to his uncle at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas, on 10 Jun 1837, and served with the 1st U.S. Dragoons for the next two years protecting settlers and pioneers traveling west.

Kearny was a popular, if eccentric officer. He was, of course, a fine horseman, and was quick to praise and reward those under his command. His fellow soldiers could never understand why someone of his wealth and background would volunteer for the rigors of army life, but they enjoyed the benefits of serving with him, as he often used his tremendous wealth to ensure his unit was the best outfitted and supplied one in the United States Army. After a few years in the field he was assigned as an aide-de-camp to the military district commandant, Brigadier-General Henry Atkinson. Kearny may not have been too happy about his new assignment, but it did have one important benefit; the commandant's beautiful sister-in-law, Diana Bullitt.

There was an instant attraction between Diana and Phil, and soon the two were inseparable. The assumption by most was that a marriage would soon occur. Kearny, however, had other plans. To the shock of everyone (including Diana) he accepted an assignment overseas to study cavalry tactics with the French forces. Kearny was one of those chosen, perhaps due to the fact that his uncle Stephen made the selections. He arrived in France in 1839, just in time to join the Duke of Orleans Expeditionary Force to Algiers where he performed brilliantly, earning the nickname 'Kearny le Magnifique.'

With the death of his father, he inherited a second fortune and was now one of the richest men in America. When he returned to active service, fresh from the excitement of Algiers, he requested a field assignment out west, but was instead sent to Washington D.C. Diana Bullitt must have forgiven him for his abrupt departure, for they resumed their romance and on June 24, 1841, they were married in a lavish ceremony.

As Diana settled more and more into Washington society, relishing her role as the national capital's leading hostess, Kearny became more and more despondent at his role. He described it as, "A highly placed flunky." Not even the birth of three children (the first of whom died at nine months of age) could improve his disposition. The violent temper of his youth reappeared and was directed not only at the army, but at his wife as well. Finally, his superiors tired of his temperament and behavior and in 1844 transferred his to his old outpost at Fort Leavenworth. As thrilled as Phil was with the new assignment, his wife was just as appalled. She had no intention of leaving the comfort of Washington for the rigors of frontier life, especially with two young children to care for. When he departed for the West, he left his family behind.

Kearny found the next two years as unfulfilling as the previous ones spent in Washington. He won no major battles or accolades and his dissatisfaction with the army grew. Not even the birth of his first son in 1845 could raise his spirits or heal the widening rift with Diana. Finally in 1846, he decided he had had enough with army life and decided to settle down in New York City. Diana was ecstatic and confided to a friend, "I have won back my husband." Her victory was short lived. When war broke out between the United States and Mexico Kearny withdrew his resignation. He was "gloriously overjoyed" to fight again in a real war. Diana was crushed by his decision. She wrote her sister, "I want for nothing except the love of father and husband." Phil was unmoved by her distress. "Wife, children, home ties, were merely leaden weights hobbling Kearny, the warrior," wrote Cortland Parker, his attorney.

To his utter despair Kearny once again found himself attached to headquarters, this time in Mexico under the command of General Winfield Scott. "Honors are not won at headquarters," he complained, adding, "I would give my arm for a brevet (promotion)." Just a few weeks later his wish would be granted.

On 20 Aug 1847, General Scott confronted the enemy at this heavily fortified village, a suburb of Mexico City. Kearny and his men were finally allowed to fight. Leading about 100 cavalrymen across a causeway he slammed into the retreating enemy at the very gates of the city. Although vastly outnumbered, Kearny and his men fought valiantly. He charged into the thick of the Mexican forces swinging his saber like a madman. A bugle sounded retreat and many of his men gave way, but Kearny and a few dozen continued the fight. Finally they were overwhelmed and Kearny raced back over the causeway on foot and quickly mounted a rider less horse. The enemy fired at the now retreating cavalry, and one bullet found its mark on Kearny. His left arm was badly wounded and later that day, as Brigadier General Franklin Pierce (later President) held him down, his arm was amputated. "I forsaw this," Kearny told him. Kearny received his brevet at a terrible cost, and was granted a battlefield promotion to Major.

Major Philip Kearny spent the next six months at home in New York, but he did take the honorable discharge the army offered. He was given a hero's welcome and for the next three years served as recruiting chief in the city. This time, however, his wife Diana did not so easily forgive what she considered desertion on his part. As Kearny rehabbed and learned to function with only one arm, their troubles escalated. Not even the birth of another daughter could stop the constant bickering between them. Finally almost exactly two years to the day of his wounding in Mexico, she left New York. Although it was thought at the time to be temporary, they never again lived together. After only eight years of marriage, she had had enough.

If the loss of his wife affected Kearny he did not show it. He continued his recruiting duties and rehabilitation, and eventually was able to overcome his disability, even riding a horse with his old abandon holding the reins in his mouth while he used his right hand to hold his sword. His dissatisfaction with the army continued unabated. He complained that he was never rewarded properly for his heroism in Mexico, and now he felt shunted aside unable to get back in the field.

Finally in July, 1851, Kearny received orders to rejoin his old command in California, just in time to confront the Rouge River tribe that had gone on a rampage attacking farms and settlers. Kearny marched his men to Oregon and routed the warriors ending hostilities.

By now the army was fed up with him and his temperament. Never an easy man to deal with, he had become increasingly hostile and ambivalent to his superiors, openly questioning their judgment and qualifications. It may not have helped matters that his estranged wife was the sister-in-law of the respected, late General Henry Atkinson. Not even his mentor and friend, General Winfield Scott could assist him with his ambitions. Finally, Kearny admitted defeat and resigned his commission in October, 1851.

Kearny's military career may have been over, but he was still young (36) and rich. He immediately began a world tour which eventually culminated in his beloved Paris, where he had so enjoyed himself a decade earlier. His heroic reputation there, first formed from his adventures in Algiers, had only increased with the news of his courage in Mexico and Oregon. It was there he came upon a young twenty year old engaged woman by the name of Agnes Maxwell. She was visiting Paris from her home in New York City. Kearny forgot about his wife and four children, and Agnes forgot about her husband-to-be, and they began openly living together in Paris. His legal and embarrassed wife, Diana, angrily refused a divorce when he visited her in 1854 to request one.

By 1855, Agnes and Kearny had left New York to settle in his new mansion, Bellegrove, overlooking the Passaic River in what is now Kearny, New Jersey. They had come here to escape the disapproving tongues of New York society. Bellegrove was located only a short distance and across the river from his family's old manor in Newark.

In 1858, Diana finally acceded to his demands for a divorce, but so angry was she at her young replacement, she stipulated in the divorce decree that he could never marry again as long as she lived. As soon as the divorce was granted, Kearny began to look for a way around Diana's unusual stipulation. He found it when his lawyers argued that it was only valid in New York State, and Kearny was free to marry Agnes in New Jersey where they now lived. However, New York did not agree with this interpretation, and for a time Kearny would avoid his native city for fear of arrest on the charge of bigamy.

In 1859 he traveled to France again and volunteered for the campaign against Austria that year. He fought with tremendous courage and distinction and when again offered the Legion of Honor, he accepted becoming the first American so honored. He stayed in Paris until 1861, when the outbreak of the U.S. Civil War spurred him to returned home to offer his service to the Union.

His reputation for difficulty seemed to overshadow his reputation for courage and leadership. When he realized he was not going to be granted a commission in the army he tried to join as a lowly private, but was again rejected because of his infirmity.

In July, 1861, New Jersey recognized the War Department's folly and commissioned him as a Brigadier General, and placed him in command of the New Jersey Brigade stationed near Alexandria, Virginia. He found his new brigade barely trained and undisciplined. He immediately began to change that with constant drills and marches while awaiting the seemingly never to be fought battles. He was tough, but he was fair, and he always looked out for his men, making sure they were properly fed and outfitted even at his own personal expense. He urged General George McClellan, head of the Union forces to attack Richmond, the Southern capital, and possibly end the war quickly, but McClellan held the army back. The longer McClellan hesitated, the more frustrated Kearny became, finally culminating in series of published letters criticizing the commander. The army was again outraged. But what made the army hate Kearny, made his men love him. They too were clamoring for battle.

Finally in Mar 1862, McClellan began the Peninsula Campaign in an effort to advance towards Richmond. Kearny and his men gained honor in the campaign and in May he was appointed commander of the 3rd Division as the Union Army continued to advance slowly up the Virginia Peninsula. Boasting that he could, "Make my men follow me to hell," he made good his claim, rushing his troops to the aid of General Joe Hooker at Williamsburg. At one point his troops were bogged down by enemy gunfire in a heavily wooded area. When he told them to return fire, they replied that they could not see the enemy. He charged forward on his horse, his reins in his mouth, drawing the southern troops out of hiding to shoot at him. Racing back to his own line he shouted, "Now you know where they are boys! Go get them!" Twice he escaped ambushes and he had at least one horse shot from under him during the campaign. Southern soldiers in a mix of amazement and admiration began referring to him as, "The One-Armed Devil."

Despite Kearny and his troops' brilliant performance, the Peninsula Campaign was a dismal failure, as he had earlier predicted. In July, McClellan ordered a retreat. That same month, Kearny was promoted to Major General, and whispers began in Washington about replacing McClellan with a more aggressive commander. Kearny was rumored to be the leading candidate.

In late August the army began to push towards Manassas, Virginia, for the disastrous second battle of Bull Run under the command of General John Pope. On August 29, Kearny led his division on a desperate charge at the Confederate left at Groveton. He almost won, but was forced back by superior forces. The following day, Stonewall Jackson battered the Union lines on all fronts and as night fell only a few troops fought on. Kearny's men were one of those few. As even they finally retreated he was heard shouting, "Are there only imbeciles to lead us?"

The South continued the pressure the following day as a terrific rain storm raged. As night approached the Confederate troops tried to flank the Union army at Chantilly. Kearny, who often acted as his own scout, rode out to survey the area ahead. He galloped straight into a Southern outpost. The order was given to halt and surrender, but Kearny had escaped from more difficult situations. Rearing his horse he galloped away as the soldiers fired after him. Witnesses remembered him shouting, "They can't hit a barn!" A single bullet proved him wrong. It entered the base of his spine and ended his life.

The day following his death, the body of General Philip Kearny was transported by under a flag of truce and with an honor guard back to the Union front. The body was then sent to Washington for embalming, and then to his home, Bellegrove where it lay in state. On 8 Sep 1862 Kearny was paraded and honored for a final time, first in Newark and then in Jersey City. He was then brought by ferry to New York City and after services buried in the family crypt at Trinity Church. In 1912 his body was moved to Arlington National Cemetery where an elaborate memorial was built.

---

Father: Philip Kearny (-)

Mother: Susan Watts (-abt 1822)

Marriage:

• Diana Bullitt (-) married 24 Jun 1841
• Agnes Maxwell (abt 1831-)

Children:

• John Watts Kearny (-)

Assignments:

• (1837-1839) 2nd Lt., 1st U.S. Dragoons, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas
• (1839-????) 2nd Lt., Duke of Orleans Expeditionary Force to Algiers
• (1844-1846) 2nd Lt., 1st U.S. Dragoons, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas
• (1846) resigned from U.S. Army
• (1847-1847) Bvt. Maj.(Aug 1847), Mexican War, lost arm at Churubusco
• (1847-1850) Bvt. Maj., recruiting chief for New York City.
• (1851-1851) Bvt. Maj., Rogue River Indian War, California and Oregon
• (1851) resigned from U.S.Army

Personal Description:

• Height:
• Build:
• Hair Color:
• Eye Color:

Source:

• Biography