A Review, Oranges, and the Long Shadow of Gettysburg Day 1: Alfred Iverson, Jr.
Reviving an old series, “Tales from the Tombstone.”
With a quick glance at the title, you may be wondering what those three things have in common. Keep reading.
As I was starting out as a historian, I had a general conversation after a program one day and the story was a bit shorter, an introduction was made and I was asked to do a book review. The title was about Alfred Iverson, Jr. and his brigade at the Battle of Gettysburg. Due to a rash decision, Iverson’s Brigade was slaughtered around Oak Hill, suffering upwards of 900 killed, wounded, or captured out of an approximate 1,350 that came onto the field of battle that day. Deemed unfit to continue command because of the carnage of July 1, Iverson’s survivors were nominally attached to the command of Brigadier General Stephen D. Ramseur.
As a biography of Iverson reads, Gettysburg would prove to be the apex of his military command. General Robert E. Lee, overlooking that Iverson led his brigade skillfully at Hagerstown, assigned the Georgian as a temporary provost marshal of Williamsport, Maryland, a removal from active field command. By October 1863, Iverson’s stay with the Army of Northern Virginia was over as orders sent him back to Georgia to a position in command of state troops. He returned to active command in charge of a brigade of cavalry, successfully thwarting Federal General George Stoneman at Macon on July 29, 1864. When the war came to a close, Iverson was in command at Greensboro.
After the American Civil War, Iverson tried his hand in business before venturing further south, settling in central Florida where he grew oranges from 1877 onwards. He did eventually return to Atlanta where he died on March 31, 1911 at the age of 82. He is buried in Oakland Cemetery near fellow Confederate generals John B. Gordon and Clement A. Evans.
What to make of Alfred Iverson, Jr.? A soldier from the age of 17, when he became a second lieutenant in a unit raised by his father, earning a first lieutenant commission in the 1st United States Cavalry as a result of his service. He was stationed in Kansas during the 1850s at the height of what would become known as “Bleeding Kansas.” His Civil War career was more checkered. Won recognition for bravery leading his regiment at Gaines Mills in June 1862 where he suffered a grievous wound. But, Gettysburg was his breaking point, yet he rallied in 1864 and saw the war out in North Carolina.
I was intrigued by Iverson when I did the review, which was centered on the Battle of Gettysburg. I am still intrigued about whether a fatal error or was the stress of command, the stinging of being looked over at Chancellorsville for his action there, and the rashness (the word used in the title of said book about Gettysburg), that led to a disastrous outcome at the most inconvenient time. Just conjecture as we will never know.
Let the discussion continue though, right? A break for breakfast though, orange juice sounds fitting.
I wonder if the terrible day Generals Rodes and Ewell had played a part. It’s also very curious Iverson didn’t advance skirmishers. What do you think?
I read somewhere Iverson was drunk at Gettysburg
Early in my days of reading about the Civil War, the Blue Gray Magazine had a piece about Iverson. It made an impact on me, because from that time on, I always thought poorly of the General. When I stand on Oak Ridge and look across those fields, I think of the slaughter and his reckless handling of his brigAde.
On that first day of July at Gettysburg there generally was the fog of war experienced by other commanders during the many separate battles . Not to blame Iverson but to understand his bravery and those who fought with him against a superior force.