Part I: Meet General Barstow
by Steve French
His Death and Burial
On the afternoon of July 24, 1882, retired U.S. Army Bvt. Brig. Gen. Simon Forrester Barstow, his wife Maria and two servants arrived at the Oakland, Md. train station. Not long afterward, the party checked into the B&O Railroad’s luxurious Oakland Hotel.
For the last three weeks, the general had been suffering from a number of serious complaints. Thinking that western Maryland’s cool mountain breezes would improve his health and boost his flagging spirits, he departed from his mother-in-law’s, M.L. Peters, residence, boarded the train at Sir John’s Run, and began the three-hour ride west.
For a few days, the change of altitude and cooler temperatures helped, but then the general suffered a sudden relapse. On July 31, the 64-year-old Barstow finally “crossed over the river” with Maria and close family friend Philip Pendleton at his bedside. In a show of respect for the old soldier, the hotel’s manager called off that evening’s scheduled ball.
Recently, researchers Terry Golden and David O’Connell have discovered that his wife interred the general at Old English Cemetery. In 1903, however, his brother-in-law, Samuel W.M. Peters had Barstow’s remains moved to his large plot in Greenway.
Today, only Barstow and Samuel Peters, who passed away on December 18,1906, are buried there. Maria Barstow died 12-years after her husband’s death and lies in Congressional Cemetery in Washington, D.C.
Early Years
On December 16, 1817, Simon was born into a prominent six-generation Salem, Mass. family that over the years had produced a number of accomplished individuals including his father Gideon, a former U.S. congressman. His mother Nancy, a cousin of eminent American author Nathanial Hawthorne, named the infant after her father, the famed sea captain Simon Forrester. Like his many siblings, Barstow received an excellent education. In 1841, he graduated from Harvard Law School and eventually established a successful legal practice in Boston.
Aide to Lander
Salem native Frederick West Lander was a renowned western North American explorer and road builder, who at the beginning of the Civil War had offered his services to Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan as a private citizen.
Soon, Lander added to his considerable reputation for courageous exploits at the June 3, 1861 Battle of Philippi and the July 11, Battle of Rich Mountain, both important Federal victories in northwestern Va. When Pres. Lincoln called McClellan east to command the Army of the Potomac, the War Dept. also promoted Lander, now enlisted in the army, to the rank of Brig. Gen. Lander soon tapped Barstow, a long-time, hometown friend, to be his liaison with Mass. Gov. John A. Andrew.
Not knowing that his decision to help the general would lead to a new and exciting career, the patriotic 43-year-old bachelor accepted Lander’s request and left his law practice. While with “Old Grizzly,” Barstow did not join the army but worked as a civilian aide to the brigadier.
In October, Simon joined the general as his chief of staff. Barstow’s main duties were to coordinated activities at headquarters, copy Lander’s orders, and send dispatches. In a skirmish along the Potomac at Edward’s Ferry later that month, however, Lander was shot in the leg and put out of action for a time. Although at first, doctors considered the wound minor, a stubborn infection set in and directly contributed to his untimely death five months later.
By late December, the War Department ordered the still-ailing Lander west to replace the ill Brig. Gen. Benjamin F. Kelley, who commanded a large contingent of troops occupying Romney, Va. Along the way, the general arrived in Hancock, Md. just in time to take charge of troops there and help thwart Stonewall Jackson’s January 5, 1862 attempt to cross the Potomac and capture the town.
Meanwhile, Barstow remained in D.C. waiting on Lander’s wife, the celebrated English-actress Jean Davenport, to raise needed funds to help her husband meet his new command’s expenses. A few weeks later, he arrived at Lander’s Patterson Creek camp along the B&O near Cumberland, Md., bringing a much-needed $800.
On January 31, Barstow sent a letter to Mass. Congressman Samuel Hooper giving the representative an update on the problems facing the command.
Commenting on Lander’s many trials, Simon wrote, “Shelled in one town, frozen almost in crossing the mountains, arriving in Romney in time to withdraw the troops, a twenty-hour march in a pitiless storm over cross roads knee deep in mud & fording swollen streams… Add to an army to create out of an armed mob… And so many men ignorant of duties claiming rights.”
Over the next month, Lander used his men and track gangs to repair burned bridges and wrecked rail line eastward to Hancock. By February 8, the general had established Camp Chase in and around the small railroad hamlet of Paw Paw, Va. Now, Lander waited anxiously on orders from McClellan to march his 11,000-man Western Division to Winchester and give battle to Jackson.
Upon arrival in the village, Barstow established the general’s headquarters in a dwelling close to the B&O station. A nearby schoolhouse served as the division’s telegraph office.
Unfortunately, Simon soon contracted a case of measles and ended up in a Cumberland hospital. It took him a few weeks to recover and return to duty. While he was away, on February 14 Lander scored a lopsided victory over some Virginia militia guarding Bloomery Gap, a narrow mountain pass commanding the road from Romney to Martinsburg.
By the 22nd, Barstow was back at headquarters and present for Lander’s “Grand Review” of his troops in celebration of George Washington’s Birthday, a holiday that in those times rivaled the Fourth of July in Americans’ hearts. The military pageantry and following festivities stretched from before noon to well after dark. To this day, it was undoubtedly the most spectacular event in Paw Paw’s history.
map courtesy of Steve French
On March 1, Lander, who had been afflicted the past week with another attack of “congestive chills,” ordered his soldiers eastward to coordinate with Maj. Gen. Nathanial Banks in an advance up the Shenandoah Valley. As his lead units marched out the next day, however, the general, sedated heavily by doses of morphine, lay unconscious.
Barstow remained confident that his friend would rally and recover but soon received bad news. Arriving on the scene, Dr. George Suckley took one look at the patient and said his passing was only a question of time. Lander joined “The Great Majority” later that afternoon. Presently, Simon wired McClellan that, “Gen. Lander has just died without suffering. This campaign killed him for he held on in spite of failing health and strength, to the last.”
Barstow accompanied the body first to Washington and then to its final resting place in Salem. Afterward, Simon decided to enlist in the army. Before long, Gov. Andrew appointed him a captain of Massachusetts Volunteers.
