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 General Joseph Bailey - Evergreen Cemetery - Fort Scott, Ks Posted by:  iconions
N 37° 47.676 W 094° 42.946
15S E 348935 N 4184412
This marble column is located in section 5 of Evergreen Cemetery. The cemetery is located at 914 215th Street, which is southwest of town.
Waymark Code: WM86GT
Location: Kansas, United States
Date Posted: 02/07/2010
Views: 4
This is a rather unassuming headstone in a cemetery where there are some very impressive stones. Text on the Headstone reads: Gen'l Joseph Bailey Born in Ohio May 6, 1825 Died Mar. 22, 1867 in Nevada, Mo. Co. D 4th Wisconsin From Wikipedia: ( visit link) Bailey entered the Union Army at the beginning of the war as captain of Company D of the 4th Wisconsin Volunteer Regiment. He served as part of Major General Benjamin F. Butler's Army of the Gulf, which occupied New Orleans after Admiral David Farragut captured the city in April 1862. Bailey was named acting chief engineer for the city of New Orleans shortly after its occupation. Promoted to major in May 1863, Bailey contributed to the Union Army's engineering activities in support of the Siege of Port Hudson. In August 1863, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel when the regiment was redesignated as the 4th Wisconsin Cavalry Regiment. Bailey's engineering skills during Major General Nathaniel P. Banks' ill-fated 1864 Red River Campaign are considered the reason the campaign did not result in the loss of the entire 30,000-man Army of the Gulf. Having landed his forces at Simmesport, Louisiana in March with the intention of moving north along the Red River some 200 miles to capture Shreveport, the headquarters of Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith, Banks was repulsed at the Battle of Mansfield on April 8, 1864, by Confederate General Richard Taylor and his force of just 12,000 men. Retreating down the Red River, Banks found the low river level at Alexandria prohibited the passage of Commander David Dixon Porter's fleet of ten Federal gunboats, part of the Union Army's Mississippi Squadron. Hounded by Taylor's forces in the rear, Banks faced the humiliating necessity of abandoning Porter's fleet. Without the fleet's supporting fire power, his entire Army would risk capture before it could return to safety in New Orleans. Resigned to his fate, Banks reluctantly listened to Porter's suggestion to give Bailey's idea a try. Bailey suggested building a winged dam, similar to those he had built as a Wisconsin lumberman. The dam, Bailey argued, would raise the level of the river. When it was high enough to carry Porter's fleet over the falls, Bailey would blow up the dam, and the fleet would be saved. Persuaded by Porter, Banks agreed to the plan. For ten days, 10,000 troops worked feverishly on both banks of the River to build the dam. Finally, on May 10, 1864, the river rose, the dam was broken, and the fleet floated past. Porter's fleet and Banks' army were saved. The ruins of "Bailey's Dam" can be seen to this day in Alexandria. A grateful United States Congress voted Bailey the Thanks of Congress, making him only one of fifteen men to receive such an honor during the Civil War. He was the only person to receive the honor who did not command a corps or division at the time.
Description:
More information on Bailey's Dam - website sited below:
Measured against the backdrop of the entire Civil War, the results of the Red River Campaign cannot be considered critical to either side. Overall, the end of the war simply had been delayed. Some of the Federal troops on the expedition were from Sherman's army and could have been of great help to him. Furthermore, an attack against Mobile, Alabama, which General Grant wanted, was postponed for 10 months by the Red River escapade.
The campaign had also cost the Union army 5,200 men and 21 artillery pieces. The navy lost some 320 men, two pump boats, one ironclad, two tinclads, and four transports. Yet Banks still had his army relatively intact, and just as importantly, the fleet was saved, thanks to Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Bailey.
On the other hand, the campaign was of tremendous significance to Louisiana. The invasion brought the war home to thousands of Red River settlers, destroying their property, economy, and lives. Beyond civilian casualties, 4,000 Confederate troops were lost. On the positive side, victory at Mansfield and the failure of the Union expedition must have helped to strengthen Southern resolve.
For Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Bailey, the campaign brought fame. Porter praised Bailey in newspapers and wrote letters of thanks and approval. Congress gave Bailey a gold medal, Porter personally gave him a gold inlaid sword, and other naval officers gave him a silver punch bowl.
Eventually, Bailey's distinguished military career earned him a promotion to brigadier general. But after the war, the hero of the Red River campaign met a tragic end. On March 21, 1867, Sheriff Joseph Bailey, of Vernon County, Missouri, was murdered by two prisoners he was taking to jail. Today, Joseph Bailey is buried in Evergreen Cemetery, at Fort Scott, Kansas.
Historian Michael Robinson best summed up the significance of Bailey's Dam when he wrote:
Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of Bailey's Dam was the toil expended by the Union soldiers.... Through the hot days and chilly nights they labored diligently despite harassment from the enemy; the depression and fatigue of a long, failed campaign. . . . In many respects, their efforts offer some basis for Porter's claim that Bailey's Dam was "without doubt the greatest engineering feat ever performed" (Robinson 1985:66- 67).
Today, "the dam still remains intact as we left it, and bids fair, if undisturbed, to stand a hundred years-an imperishable monument of American energy, ingenuity, and skill" (Moore 1868:13-14).
Date of birth: 05/06/1825
Date of death: 03/21/1867
Area of notoriety: Military
Marker Type: Headstone
Setting: Outdoor
Visiting Hours/Restrictions: Daytime
Fee required?: No
Web site: [Web Link]
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