The Phantom General

     Riotous crowds recently toppled statues and defaced memorials honoring Confederate generals. Wanting to take their hostility a step further, they suggested removing the generals’ names on various military posts, such as Forts Bragg, Benning, and Hood, then replacing them with those of Medal of Honor winners.  The argument for change centers around their contention that these generals were treasonous to the Union by breaking their oaths to defend the U. S. Constitution and choosing instead to defend slavery and white supremacy.

     The winds of historical interpretation can switch directions in a moment leaving many place names under scrutiny. Here in North Dakota some pundits wrinkle their brows and question the wisdom of naming cities after dubious characters like Napoleon and Bismarck, but to this point mail still reaches residents at those towns.

     North Dakota honors a few men from the Civil War era in cities and forts, such as Lincoln, Grant, Sheridan, Sibley, and Ransom. The last man probably has the lowest name recognition outside of the state and might even be a mystery for some residents. It is his service to the Union we’ll look at closer. 

     General Thomas E. G. Ransom served honorably in the Civil War, received four wounds in as many battles. When convalescing from his last wound, he grew impatient and chose to return to the action. Unfortunately it had not yet healed properly, and he succumbed to an infection while lying on a cot in a slave’s cabin. Because he kept coming back from the dead to the battlefield after each wound, someone dubbed him “The Phantom General.”

     General William T. Sherman’s eulogy for Ransom gives us a description of the man. “His appearance was almost boyish, with blonde hair, blue eyes, a fair complexion, and though of slender form, he had the bearing of a gallant soldier.” To add to his physical description, General McLernand said of his character, “Ordinarily, he is of a quiet, modest disposition; but when in battle he becomes tiger like, fearing nothing.”

    Because his name identifies the North Dakota county where I was born and raised, I felt prompted to learn something about the man.  The deep, abiding respect he earned for his service stood out. A subordinate officer at the Battle of Vicksburg attested, “Always where the danger was greatest, always cool and confident.” General Sherman stated, “That is General Ransom, rising man, rising man; one of the best officers in the service; been shot all to pieces, but it doesn’t hurt him.”

     In 1867 as the country turned more attention to expanding westward, a line of forts was deemed necessary to protect overland travel from Minnesota to Montana. One of them, at a location chosen by General Alfred H. Terry called Bears Den Hill near the Sheyenne River, was christened Fort Ransom to honor his memory. In service for about five years, it was dismantled and hauled away to build Fort Seward near Jamestown, North Dakota. With none of the structures remaining, it still draws admiring visitors for its history and beautiful setting.

     It might come as a surprise, but one more Fort Ransom exists in the historical memory. Named for the same man, it can be found halfway between Memphis and New Orleans at the site of the Vicksburg battlefield. It never rose as one thinks of fort construction, but instead marked a temporary fortification of dirt trenches and sandbags that jutted forward from the Union line. Here Ransom and his command had found themselves in the center of the Union thrust into the Rebel positions surrounding the town of Vicksburg. Grant wanted control of this town on the Mississippi River because cannons placed on its heights could control boat traffic and choke Confederate supply lines.

     

      While Fort Ransom gave cover to Union sharpshooters, it did not prevent Confederates from returning fire and inflicting casualties in return. With a great deal of effort, Ransom’s men succeeded in dragging two cannons to their front with which they did considerable harm, but none of the Union efforts were successful. Grant stopped the attack and chose instead to intercept all food and supplies from entering the city, in effect starving them out, after which they finally surrendered.

     We don’t know how many battles Thomas E. G. Ransom fought in but certainly more than the four where he received wounds. The war consisted of 384 battles ranging over 24 states; no man could be everywhere.

     Ransom's memory was cherished by many prominent Union Generals including Grant and Sherman. The historian Edward G. Longacre notes that the stoic Grant wept upon hearing of young Ransom's death. Ransom's close friend, Grenville Dodge, recalled how, even years later, President Grant would frequently talk about young Ransom with great affection and respect.

Sherman still kept a photograph of General Ransom on the wall of his office 20 years after the war. Thomas E. G. Ransom is buried in Rosehill Cemetery in Chicago.