John W. Phelps

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John Wilder Phelps (November 13, 1813 – February 2, 1885), was a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War, an author, an ardent abolitionist and presidential candidate.

Phelps was born in Guilford, Vermont, the son of Judge John and Lucy (Lovell) Phelps. He was appointed to the U.S. Military Academy on July 1, 1832, and graduated on July 1, 1836, with the brevet rank of Second Lieutenant, and was assigned to the 4th U.S. Artillery. He was promoted to Second Lieutenant on July 28, 1836. He was promoted to First Lieutenant on July 7, 1838, and Captain on March 31, 1850. He resigned from the army on November 2, 1859. During this period he served in the Seminole Wars in Florida and the Mexican-American War.

Until the beginning of the Civil War, he resided in Brattleboro, Vermont, where he wrote forceful articles pointing out the danger of the constantly increasing political influence of the slave states.

On May 2, 1861, Phelps was appointed Colonel of the 1st Vermont Infantry and was mustered into U.S. service on May 8. His regiment arrived at Fortress Monroe, Virginia on May 13. On May 27, commanding the 1st Vermont Infantry, 4th Massachusetts Infantry and 7th New York Infantry, Phelps moved 10 miles to Newport News, at the mouth of the James River. He was promoted to brigadier general on August 9, 1861, to rank from May 17, 1861, and remained at Fortress Monroe when his three months' regiment returned to Vermont. In late 1861, Phelps was transferred to the Department of the Gulf with Major General Benjamin F. Butler, commanded Ship Island, Mississippi, for a while, and cooperated with Commodore David Farragut's efforts to open the lower Mississippi River in April and May 1862.

General Phelps was stationed at Camp Parapet in Carrolton, seven miles from New Orleans. Many fugitive slaves arrived at the camp seeking refuge. General Phelps organized the black men of military age into companies. He then formally asked his commanding officer, General Butler, for arms for the blacks. Phelps thought he could organize three regiments of Africans to help defend his camp. General Butler ordered Phelps to put the Negros to work cutting down trees around the camp, and instead of furnishing guns, ordered his quartermaster to send axes and tents for the fugitive slaves. General Phelps was unwilling to employ the Africans as mere laborers, becoming what he viewed as their slave-driver, "having no qualification that way," and offered his resignation on August 21, 1862. General Butler refused to accept it. Later that August, General Phelps returned his commission to President Abraham Lincoln.

After Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1963, the federal administration adopted a policy of organizing Negro troops. The President offered General Phelps a Major General's commission. General Phelps wanted the commission backdated to the day of his resignation the prior year. The President could not allow the implied contravention of General Butler's original orders, which were in good standing for that time, and would not agree to General Phelps' terms.

Phelps returned to Brattleboro, Vermont, where he resided until 1883. During 1883 he married Anna Bardwell Davis, and they then moved to Guilford. He authored and translated several works of literature and was the candidate for the American Party for president in 1880. He was vice president of the Vermont Historical Society from 1863 to 1885 and the Vermont Teacher's Association from 1865 to 1885. He died in Guilford in 1885.

[edit] References

• Boatner, Mark M., The Civil War Dictionary. New York: David McKay Co., 1959.
• Peck, Theodore S., compiler. Revised Roster of Vermont Volunteers and lists of Vermonters who served in the Army and Navy of the United States During The War of the Rebellion, 1861-66. Montpelier, Vt: Press of the Watchman Publishing Co., 1892.
• Sifakis, Stewart, Who Was Who in the Union. New York: Facts on File, Inc., 1988.
• Waite, Major Otis F. R., Vermont in the Great Rebellion: Containing Historical and biographical Sketches, Etc. 1869. pp. 258-261.
• Warner, Ezra, Generals In Blue. Louisiana State University Press, 1964.

Preceded by James B. Walker

American Party presidential candidate 1880 (lost)

Succeeded by (none)