Donald A. Clark has written articles for Filson Club History Quarterly, the Northern Kentucky Encyclopedia, and Civil War Historian.
"'Bull' Nelson was a big man who lived a full life and died a
surprising death. Donald A. Clark tells his story well and helps us
understand the man and his motivations."
--James C. Klotter, author of William Goebel: The Politics of
Wrath
"Nelson, a rotund, bellicose, and erratic man who showed signs of
greatness but often displayed a cruel, mean, and confrontational
nature that brought him into conflict with many of those for whom
and with whom he served, remains one of the most enigmatic and
controversial figures in Kentucky history and in the history of the
Civil War, yet no biography has ever been written about him.
Clark's important and well-researched biography will instantly
appeal to history buffs, Civil War scholars, and a host of
individuals in the Kentucky and Ohio River Valleys interested in
the history of their regions." -Kent Masterson Brown, author of
Retreat from Gettysburg: Lee, Logistics, and the Pennsylvania
Campaign "This Navy man turned general, this man called 'Bull'
Nelson, played an important role in the Civil War. Previously, only
parts of his story had appeared. Now, after digging through the
historical sources, Donald Clark tells Nelson's full history and
tells it well. In so doing, he shows Nelson's role in keeping the
important state of Kentucky in the Union, helps us understand the
many sides of Nelson, and explains why a Union general named
Jefferson Davis would aim a pistol at Nelson during the conflict,
and pull the trigger." -James C. Klotter, author of William Goebel:
The Politics of Wrath "The Notorious 'Bull' Nelson: Murdered Civil
War General is an insightful and judicious analysis of one of the
Civil War's most interesting Union commanders. It provides a
wonderful addition to our understanding of the war in the West."
-Stephen D. Engle, author of Don Carlos Buell: Most Promising of
All
If Maj. Gen. William Nelson is mentioned at all by Civil War buffs,
it is usually only as the answer to the trivia question, "Name the
Union general murdered by the other Jefferson Davis." This is
unfortunate because "Bull" Nelson (all six-foot four-inches and 300
pounds of him) deserves to be remembered for more than his
unfortunate encounter with Indiana Maj. Gen. Jefferson Columbus
Davis.Born in eastern Kentucky in 1824, Nelson began a career in
the U.S. Navy in 1840. Following a long period of active duty,
(including the 1847 Siege of Veracruz during the Mexican War, he
engaged in escorting and rallying support for Hungarian
revolutionary Louis Kossuth. The majority of this well-written
biography quite properly deals with Nelson's invaluable service to
the Union during the Civil War. When the war began, Lincoln
personally dispatched Nelson to his home state with thousands of
weapons to arm Kentucky's Home Guards. The aggressive naval officer
quickly established Camp Dick Robinson, a training camp for the
state's Unionists. Named a brigadier general of volunteers in
September 1861, Nelson advanced with a force into eastern Kentucky
that fall. There he scored a victory at Ivy Mountain and dispersed
Confederate units in his wake. In the spring of 1862, Army of the
Ohio division commander Nelson marched his men across Tennessee
from Nashville to Pittsburg Landing, where they performed well
during the second day of the Battle of Shiloh. Following the Siege
of Corinth, Nelson was promoted to major general.In his last test
under fire, Nelson had the unenviable job of leading raw Union
forces during the disastrous Battle of Richmond, Ky. He was killed
by Jeff Davis only a month later.Donald Clark faced a daunting
challenge in crafting this biography since no sizeable collection
of Nelson's papers exists. Nevertheless, he does a very good job
pulling together a significant amount of information, including
"the words of those who knew him well," to explain this polarizing
character.It is readily apparent from Clark's study that Nelson was
both a capable and energetic battlefield commander and, quite
often, a less than personable individual when dealing with
subordinates. Described as a "burly brute with the boatswain's
voice," Nelson could quite literally "swear like a sailor." His
encounters with enlisted men and other officers became part of the
Nelson legend.Clark also thoroughly examines the fatal Davis-Nelson
encounter from all angles. What to some might appear to be a
clear-cut case of assassination is instead a nuanced event in which
both men escalated tensions and contributed to the unfortunate
outcome. Clark's extensive notes conclude a very readable and
entertaining study of one of Kentucky's most colorful officers.
Unless some hidden cache of personal papers is discovered, it is
likely that Donald Clark has produced the definitive account of the
life and work of this Union sailor-turned-soldier.--Jeff Patrick
"Civil War" (6/1/2011 12:00:00 AM)
"Like a great many Civil War generals, William "Bull" Nelson is
most famous for the circumstances of his death. Nelson did not die
on the field of battle, but instead was shot and killed on
September 29, 1862, by the unfortunately named Union general
Jefferson C. Davis. Donald A. Clark's The Notorious "Bull" Nelson
examines the victim's life in totality, explaining not only
Nelson's death, but also the relative lack of controversy that
followed. Along the way, Clark provides a wealth of information
regarding Nelson's experience with antebellum military and
political affairs, as well as his vital role in keeping Kentucky in
the Union. Nelson, in Clark's view, is a complex figure: a martyr
to political expediency and a victim of his own volatile
temperament.Nelson was born in Maysville, Kentucky, the third child
of Dr. Thomas Nelson. The elder Nelson was well connected within
the region, serving in the state legislature and on the Board of
Trustees of Transylvania University. There, he came into contact
with Captain Alden Partridge, whose ideas for a military academy
led to the foundation of Norwich University, where young William
enrolled in 1837. After finishing at Norwich in 1840, Nelson joined
the navy as a midshipman, where, Clark stresses, he faced an
undoubtedly rough life. In 1845, Nelson belonged to the first
classes to go through the new Naval Academy founded in Annapolis.
He served through the Mexican War, including the 1847 siege of
Veracruz.Following the war, Nelson remained with the navy, sailing
through the Mediterranean. In the early 1850s, he served on board
the USS Mississippi, picking up the Hungarian radical Louis
Kossuth. Later, Nelson would serve as an escort to Kossuth and his
family on a tour of the United States. The young officer also spent
time in Chile, furthering America's relationship with that newly
democratic South Amer- ican government. In 1857, Nelson sailed with
the USS Niagara to Liberia, transporting over three hundred slaves
taken from the Echo.Clark's sources in these chapters are sparse,
but his use of them demonstrates how to uncover information about
less well-known figures in history. Nelson, it appears, wrote
little, and Clark constructed his narrative through glancing
mentions in newspapers and the letters and journals of other
characters. Nelson's presence during the critical transition
between the old and new United States navies and his interest in
contemporary political unrest in Europe would make him a
fascinating study for the various transnational aspects of American
politics during the years of growing sectional crisis. Clark hints
at these links while discussing Nelson's relationship with Kossuth
and the time spent in Chile, but ultimately, the author does not
delve much deeper into them as he is more interested in the Civil
War. More important for the book's narrative, these years of naval
service provided Nelson with strict definitions of duty and
obedience, which proved both helpful and troublesome during the
Civil War.Clark also discusses Nelson's role in the disastrous
beginning to the Battle of Shiloh. The eventual success of Union
forces was overshadowed by their early reversals and the battle's
infamously high casualties. Nelson blamed Grant and Buell for the
army's lack of preparation, and also took credit for the Union
stand on the morning or April 2, claiming to have saved the army.
Grant noted that Nelson himself had not actually arrived at the
battlefield until after the firing had stopped, while William
Sherman erroneously believed Nelson to be the source for the
infamous report that Union soldiers had been surprised while
sleeping in their beds. Clark writes that, on the whole, Grant's
view of the situation comes the closest to being accurate, but even
his account was "far from accurate" (p. 106). Though no Union
officer came out of Shiloh with his reputation intact, Nelson's
inability to deal with the press led to stories circulating about
his short temper and profane manner, even though some stories
occasionally credited him with a great deal of courage.This courage
would be tested in late August, when Nelson's force confronted
Kirby Smith at Richmond. An undermanned Union force attempted to
hold the region in an attempt to block Smith's advance into
Kentucky while simultaneously maintaining communication with Buell,
Nelson's superior officer. Staying near a telegraph prevented
Nelson from spending enough time with his men, overseeing their
training, and making sure subordinate commanders obeyed his orders.
With Nelson away from the field, and his subordinate, Mahlon
Manson, refusing to attack when commanded, the Federal army faced
disaster. The battle was going poorly when Nelson arrived to rally
his men. He received a bullet in the leg for his troll- bles. Clark
describes Richmond as the most conclusive defeat for its size in
the Civil War," and attributes Nelson's errors to his strong sense
of duty (p. 136). Clark also blames Nelson's defeat on the
general's attempt to reconcile his own inclinations with Buell's,
an impossible task that invited disaster.Clark's final chapter
discusses Davis's rapid release and the dispiriting lack of closure
to the case. He highlights the mixed reaction to Nelson's death,
especially the negative reactions from Indianapolis and Cincinnati,
as well as additional hedged compliments from some northern
newspapers. Though Davis should have been court-martialed, his case
was instead handled by Jefferson County court, Clark attributes
this move to political expediency. Nelson's heavy-handed leadership
in Louisville and brusque manner with the press gave him the
appearance of a tyrant. With Confederates still fighting in
Kentucky and Lincoln about to put the unpopular Emancipation
Proclamation into effect, men like Nelson had few defenders, The
court eventually dropped the case against Davis in 1864, ending any
chance of prosecution. Throughout the book, Clark lays out Nelson's
fatal flaws, foreshadowing the general's untimely end. As Nelson's
fate is hardly unknown (indeed it is con-tamed in the book's
title), Clark's writing helpfully serves to reemphasize the point
that Nelson was a difficult man with whom to deal. On several
occasions, the author suggests- opportunities where a more
even-tempered figure might have earned sympathy and justice, even
if he could not avoid his fate. Clark faults past narratives for
succumbing too easily to contemporary complaints of tyranny and
dictatorship. Nelson, like all individuals, was a complex person,
and his quick profane temper, though instrumental to his death,
should not overshadow the generally effective and always loyal way
in which he fulfilled his duty." --Keith Altavilla, Texas Christian
University--Keith Altavilla "H-Net Reviews" (2/1/2011 12:00:00
AM)
"William "Bull" Nelson represents the type of general to whom
mission comes first and the humane treatment of subordinates is a
minor concern. Despite his well-demonstrated combat abilities,
Nelson is better remembered for enforcing harsh discipline by the
use of courts-martial, executions, corporal punishment, and public
humiliation, including profane tongue-lashings.Nelson is unique
among Civil War generals in that his early career was in the navy.
After attending Norwich, he enrolled in the first class at the
Naval Academy where, upon graduation, he saw action in the
Mexican-American War at Vera Cruz. Norwich had a long tradition of
hazing, while the navy tolerated bullying and rough fighting, and
Nelson undoubtedly acquired dubious leadership lessons from both
institutions that influenced his behavior during the Civil
War.Although he was a Democrat who came from Kentucky, he chose to
remain with the Union when war broke out. He visited with Abraham
Lincoln, who dispatched him to his native state to arm loyal
citizens. Nelson had great success preventing secession, and, by
September 1861, he had been detached from naval duty and
commissioned a brigadier general.Nelson served gallantly in many
battles, including Shiloh, but his hot temper and lack of sympathy
with subordinates ultimately brought about his demise when he
relieved Union commander Jefferson Davis, after the latter could
not provide the number of troops presumably serving under his
command. The aggrieved Davis confronted Nelson at the Galt House in
Louisville, pulling a pistol and fatally wounding Nelson. According
to army regulations, Davis should have been tried for his actions;
even insubordination or striking a fellow officer could bring harsh
punishment, much less the crime of murder.However, Davis would
escape punishment. While Salmon Chase urged the president to allow
a trial, Governor Oliver Morton of Indiana, who had accompanied
Davis to the Galt House, believed that Nelson's firing of Davis was
an affront to Indiana and that Nelson got what he deserved.
Secretary of War Edwin Stanton and the president decided to take no
action, and Davis ultimately returned to duty.There is a bit of a
mystery as to why no historian before Donald A. Clark has attempted
a full-scale biography of Nelson, for his story is interesting.
Perhaps, since biographers often come to like or admire their
subject, his hot-tempered personality repelled those who sought to
research his life. Also, although many historians now acknowledge
that the war was won in the western theater, there has still been
relatively less attention paid to western battles and
generals.Lincoln famously remarked, when asked if God was on the
Union's side, that he hoped God was, but he must have Kentucky.
"Bull" Nelson, who was so instrumental in keeping Kentucky in the
Union, has not been well served either by historians or those who
let his murderer go free. Clark has, at last, remedied this
oversight, although his attention to battle details may still make
his book more attractive to military historians than to those
looking for full coverage of Nelson's life and career."--Thomas R.
Turner, Bridgewater State University--Thomas R. Turner "The
Historian" (3/1/2009 12:00:00 AM)
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