GENERAL EDWARD S. GODFREY*
By HON. CALVIN POMEROY GODFREY
It sadly befalls one this week (as of
April fifteenth)
to record in fidelity the demise of a
noble man, Putnam
County's greatest military figure,
another of the dis-
tinguished martial sons of
Ohio--Brigadier General
Edward S. Godfrey, U.S.A. (Retired).
That mortal
and painless end of a quite meritorious
and notable
career occurred at the home in
Cookstown, Burlington
County, New Jersey, at seven o'clock
the evening of
Friday, April 1, 1932.
Thus, another great cavalryman of the
old school
has passed on. Another military star
has set!
Thus, a contemporary and a comrade of
men who
in their hour of destiny were of the
most virile and
staunch guardians and champions of all
our blessed
flag symbolized, has in spirit gone
over to the Silent
Host to await the Call of the Great
Reveille!
Thus, there may be writ on the honor
scroll of the
Nation's departed brave the name of
another who served
faithfully and strove dauntlessly in
eventful times and
in trying capacities!
Thus, his great native Commonwealth may
add to
her splendid chronology the completed
chapter of
another son, who spoke for her
greatness and who acted
for her honor fervently and always!
* Reprinted through the courtesy of the Putnam
County (Ohio) Gazette,
March 16, 1933.
(61)
62 Ohio Arch. and Hist.
Society Publications
And thus will this peaceful community
of his birth,
of his beloved early associations, and
of his intermittent
later though brief sojourns that
uniformly were happy
ones, treasure with sorrowful pride a
recollection of the
virtues and of the activities of a pure
man, an upright
citizen, an able soldier, an honored
commander, who had
feared nothing and had dared all!
Edward Settle Godfrey, elder son by the
first mar-
riage of Doctor Charles Moore Godfrey,
was born in
Kalida, Putnam County, Ohio, October
10, 1843, to a
long and honorable American family
line, and to a
goodly heritage of military spirit from
father, maternal
grandfather and paternal
great-grandfather. He was
a first son and a first child. His
father, however, was
a ninth child, his grandfather a third,
and his great-
grandfather also a ninth. But each of
those forebears
was a second son.
His great-great-grandfather, Thomas
Godfrey,
"tailor and yeoman," was born
June 15, 1676, a native
of Kent, England, "one of the
strongholds of the God-
freys." He married a native Welsh girl Jane -------
(family name not yet ascertained) and
they with two
other couples (the three couples were
married at the
same time, "all having three times
been announced in
church") embarked for America in
1704 or 1705 to
establish a home on the 40,000 acre
Welsh Tract in
Pennsylvania Province. The young
couple's first child,
the daughter named Seaborn, was born and
died aboard
ship on that eight months' voyage,
their vessel having
been blown off course and south to the
West Indies.
They settled, a map showing him to have
been an
original settler, in Tredyffrin
Township, Chester
General Edward Godfrey 63
County, one of the only three counties
then in that Prov-
ince, where he served as road
supervisor, as constable,
very probably as overseer of the poor,
and where they
were blessed by a family of eight, two
sons and six
daughters. The father and the mother
died in the years
1756 and 1771 respectively. Doubtless
both were laid to
rest in the St. David's Churchyard, but
the headstone
for only the former stands now. In the
eternal slum-
ber they form company with Revolutionary
soldiers
who died in nearby farm homes of wounds
after the
battle of the Brandywine, twenty miles
away, and very
probably with Continentals who
succumbed to the pri-
vations of Valley Forge, six miles
away. And that
God's Acre affords the final rest also
to Major General
Anthony Wayne.
Both long had been communicants in St.
David's
Church, "preeminently the
ecclesiastical landmark of the
State," the visit to which by
Henry Wadsworth Long-
fellow inspired in 1880 the poem
"Old St. David's at
Radnor." Then sixteen it now is
but nine and one-half
miles from Philadelphia, and "it
bears convincing evi-
dence in itself--beside the Swedish
testimony--that the
stones of its walls were 'laid
according to the directions
of the master mason.'" Except when occupied by
American or British troops in the
Revolutionary War
it has been used for public and
congregational purposes
ever since its erection two hundred and
seventeen years
ago, and today is in excellent physical
condition and in
regular devotional use. Tradition
states it was there,
at the instance of the Reverend William
Currie, in June,
1763, the neighborhood folk met to
organize to protect
the families from apprehended attack by
Indians under
64
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
Pontiac, the greatest and the cruelest
of the Ottawas.
And that the sermon text for that day
was from Eccle-
siastes 7:14--"In the day of
prosperity be joyful, but in
the day of adversity consider."
Its records show that
Thomas Godfrey was listed as a
communicant in the
year 1721-22; that upon formal
organization of the first
vestry in April, 1725, he became
a vestryman and con-
tinued as such to 1749; also that in
1740 he was a war-
den. The daughter Lucy, widow of David
Jones, son of
Hugh Jones, married the last of its
Church of England
rectors the Reverend William Currie, a
widower with
family, a graduate of the University of
Glasgow, Scot-
land, and the last missionary to St.
David's Church
from the (English) Society for the
Propagation of the
Gospel in Foreign Parts. And he wrote
that she was "a
remarkable good manager." Because
the congregation
would no longer tolerate prayers for
the Royal Family
of England, and he felt the clerical
oath of allegiance
imposed them, a formal resignation as
rector was ten-
dered May 16, 1776. However, certain
official ministra-
tions were continued by him until
October 12, 1785,
when his church relations there were wholly
severed
forty-eight years after they began. He
died October 26,
1803, at the age of ninety-three.
General Godfrey's great-grandfather,
William God-
frey, ninth child and second son of
Thomas and Jane
Godfrey, was born January 23, 1726, in
Tredyffrin
Township, Chester County, and died
March 31, 1812,
in Franklin Township, York County,
Pennsylvania. He
first was wedded to Mary Davis, who
died in 1765 at
the age of thirty-three. He next was
wedded to Hannah
Moore, who was born September 6, 1741,
and died June
General Edward Godfrey 65
9, 1819. That union was blessed by nine
children, four
sons and five daughters. One of the
latter was Rachel,
whose grandson married into the Gratz
family, the
famed and lauded member of which was
Rebecca Gratz,
wealthy maiden Jewess of Philadelphia,
the recital of
whose beauty and virtues by Washington
Irving in 1817
so impressed Sir Walter Scott that they
largely were
embodied in the "Rebecca" of
his Ivanhoe. In 1819 he
wrote his author friend--"How do
you like your Re-
becca? How does the Rebecca I have
pictured compare
with the pattern given?" She died
in the year 1869 at
the age of eighty-eight.
William Godfrey under his father's will
inherited
the homestead of 292 acres, which in
1773, for the sum
of nineteen hundred pounds, he sold to
Isaac Potts, a
Quaker ironmaster, owner and operator
of historic Val-
ley Forge, and a heavy landowner. That
farm now is
part of Valley Forge State Park, for
which is planned a
series of structures that will
constitute one of the world's
outstanding memorials. One of the Potts
farms was
headquarters for General George
Washington during
the memorable Valley Forge encampment
of 1777-78,
and therein, the owner averred, he saw
General Wash-
ington at prayer kneeling in a thicket.
A map shows
that at the time of that encampment
William Godfrey
was tenant on the Thomas Waters farm,
which ad-
joined that of the Commander-in-Chief
and was head-
quarters for Quartermaster General
Thomas Mifflin.
Some time after selling the inherited
land he purchased
an 800-acre tract lying on what now is
the Adams-
York county boundary line.
Vol. XLIII--5
66
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
He, also, was a vestryman and a warden
in St.
David's Church, the former from 1755 to
1769, and the
latter from 1757 to 1771. A
church gallery subscription
list signed by him in 1771 for five
pounds bears also the
names of Anthony Wayne and Isaac Wayne
respec-
tively, but for fourteen pounds. A
commission to him as
Ensign in the Provincial service, dated
1754 and signed
by the Lieutenant Governor, was seen by
a grandson,
Charles Moore Godfrey, the latter
stated, but it has not
yet been located. He was a private
under Captain James
Moffet in the Fifth Company of the
Sixth Battalion of
the York County Militia commanded by
Colonel James
Ross, as shown by the muster return
April 26, 1778. He
was a Representative from York County
in the Four-
teenth General Assembly of the
Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania in 1789-90, and attended
its three sessions.
Tax returns show that he was a
storekeeper and an
owner of colored servants.
General Godfrey's grandfather, Thomas
Godfrey,
third child and second son of William
and Hannah
(Moore) Godfrey, was born in Tredyffrin
Township,
Chester County, June 6, 1770, and died
in Lattimore
Township, Adams County, Pennsylvania,
November 8,
1831. He was a miller by trade, owner
and operator of
a grist mill and a distillery, a large
landowner, and a
justice of the peace. On June 14, 1798,
he was married
to Mary (Polly) Settle, who was born
October 14, 1779,
and died February 17, 1841. She was a
daughter of
Francis Settle, a farmer of Culpeper
County, Virginia,
where Thomas Godfrey for a time leased
from a Mr.
Beverly and operated the Darby Grist
Mill, located on
Ruffins Run one-half mile from
Beverly's Ford on Hazel
General Edward Godfrey 67
(Hedgman) River, a branch of
Rappahannock River.
It was stated a few years ago that the
foundation lines
of that mill and of its water race were
yet showing.
That couple was blessed by a family of
eleven, three sons
and eight daughters.
His father, Charles Moore Godfrey,
ninth child and
second son of Thomas and Mary (Settle)
Godfrey,
was born in Lattimore Township, Adams
County, Penn-
sylvania, June 17, 1816, and died in
Ottawa, Putnam
County, Ohio, May 8, 1895. When twenty-one
years
of age he left the Pennsylvania
homestead and located
in Ottawa, where and elsewhere in the
county and in the
State he early and long was diligent
and prominent in
social, civic, political, professional
(medical) and fra-
ternal (Free Masonry) activities.
December 8, 1842,
he wedded Mary Chambers who was born
May 8, 1822,
and died January 24, 1845. (Their
wedding occurred
in the evening, and that afternoon in
Ottawa occurred
the wedding of a brother, Francis
Settle Godfrey to
Elizabeth Row, a daughter of Michael
and Hannah
Row of that village. And all guests at
the first nuptial
affair attended the second.) She was a daughter of
Matthew and Mary Chambers, Gilboa,
Putnam County,
Ohio. The father was a citizen of high
character and
local prominence, one of northwestern
Ohio's very
earliest merchants, innkeepers and
heavy landowners, and
a soldier in the War of 1812. To that
couple came two
sons of whom Edward Settle Godfrey was
the older and
Bartholomew Chambers Godfrey was the
younger, the
latter being born January 24, 1845, and
surviving but
seven days.
In 1869, June 15, at Hayesville,
Ashland County,
68
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
Ohio, Edward Settle Godfrey was united
in marriage to
Miss Mary J. Pocock, who passed away at
West Point,
New York, February 28, 1883. To them
came one
daughter and three sons all but one of
whom--a son--
survive. In 1892, October 6, at
Cookstown, Burlington
County, New Jersey, he was united in
marriage to Miss
Ida D. Emley.
The bereft ones of immediate connection
are Mrs.
Godfrey, Cookstown, N. J.; Miss Mary
Godfrey, Wash-
ington, D. C.; Dr. and Mrs. Edward S.
Godfrey and
two sons, Albany, N. Y.; Mr. and Mrs.
David E. God-
frey, Mrs Florence H. Godfrey, Mr. and
Mrs. Russell
Godfrey and son, Los Angeles,
California; Mrs. Zoe G.
Ogle, Ottawa, Ohio; Mr. and Mrs. Calvin
P. Godfrey,
Toledo, Ohio.
While those bereft thus have
experienced the in-
evitable adversity, saddest of the
earthly lot, they rightly
may feel some mitigation of loss and
grief in an assured
and wide circle of those who
sympathize; and to a far
greater degree in precious remembrance
of the stainless
life, high ideals, extolled prowess,
and professional
prestige of the one their circle no
longer will know.
His years of infancy, boyhood and young
manhood
respectively were lived in Kalida,
Gilboa and Ottawa,
Putnam County, Ohio, and in Bluffton,
Allen County,
Ohio. Truly no person could cherish
with more warmth
than did he, memories of the companions
and of the so-
cial incidents of those most
impressionable periods. For
the associations were plain and
constant, the companion-
ships lively and wholesome, the
friendships strong and
enduring. And his fondness for them
never waned.
The local ungraded public schools were
attended, as
General Edward Godfrey 69 |
|
70 Ohio Arch. and Hist.
Society Publications
was the select school conducted by
James R. Linn in
Ottawa during the winter of 1859-60. In
1862 Ver-
milion Institute, Hayesville, Ashland
County, Ohio, was
patronized six months. He chose that
Institute because
it was under Presbyterian control, and
also had been
attended by the Rices and the Spencers,
boyhood friends
belonging to two of the leading pioneer
families of Ka-
lida, where he lived most of his first
fourteen years.
He there was chosen to be spokesman for
a student
majority who resented what they deemed
to be not only
a selfish but an unpatriotic resolution
by the Board of
Trustees, regarding the Ashland County
war draft
quotas. The trustees were unalterably
determined that
the entire student body should be
enumerated there and
thus be available for government drafts
against that
county. The consequence was, most of
those students
voluntarily withdrew and thus was
marked the begin-
ning of the Institute's decadence. As a
scholastic try-
out he in 1862 attended the Putnam
County Teachers'
Examination in Kalida and was awarded a
three-year
certificate, the highest then
obtainable. On that certifi-
cate he taught during the three months
winter term of
1862-'63 a school one and one-half
miles north of Colum-
bus Grove in the home county. He
learned typesetting,
most probable in the office of John
McElroy who con-
ducted a newspaper venture in
Ottawa--the Telegram
in the year 1862, and who became widely
known as an
author and as editor of the National
Tribune, Washing-
ton, D. C.
All of that was preliminary to and in
preparation for
entrance to the United States Military
Academy, West
Point, N. Y., the great goal of his
youthful ambition.
General Edward Godfrey 71
The first effort for appointment
failed, the prize having
already been promised to a Wood County
boy. But hope
was clung to and finally rewarded by
favor of Honor-
able James M. Ashley, then Putnam
County's congres-
sional representative, who wrote that
the Wood County
boy had been killed in the second Bull
Run battle. All
the efforts for that preferment were
wholly unaided.
And not until appointment became
assured was the mat-
ter mentioned at home and parental
approval asked for.
His first meeting with Governor Ashley
after that was
many years later and on a New
York-Brooklyn ferry
boat.
His first military experience, however,
was in the
so-called three months' service in the
Civil War, in Com-
pany D, Twenty-first Ohio Volunteer
Infantry, that
lasted from April 26 to August 12,
1861. That Com-
pany was mustered in at Camp Taylor,
Cleveland, Ohio,
May 21, 1861, and was mustered out at
Columbus, Ohio,
August 12 following. It was recruited
in and near Ot-
tawa by Lawyer Thomas Godfrey Allen,
who became
captain, and the volunteers mainly were
enrolled by him
at the railway station and on the
street. The drilling
was done on the village common, just
east of the Blan-
chard River and just north of the Ottawa-Kalida
road.
The drill instructor was Jacob Wolf, a
recently dis-
charged regular army sergeant from
Delphos, Ohio,
who was visiting in Ottawa, was
persuaded to enroll for
the Company, and was made a corporal.
During the
last few days before entraining for
Cleveland, camp was
made at the large barn of Dr. Calvin T.
Pomeroy just
south of the village and just north of
Williamstown
road. Before being mustered in our
young volunteer
72 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
experienced two rejections before
acceptance could be
had. He there stood in the physical
examination line
three times, going immediately from the
head to the
foot twice. Finally and although his
age was below the
minimum, persistence and
resourcefulness won over the
examining surgeon--Dr. Miller. And in
vindication it
may be noted that during that Company's
sole engage-
ment, at Scarey Creek, West Virginia,
July 17, 1861,
Private Godfrey while under fire
carried water to the
wounded. And he assisted in carrying
from the field
Second Lieutenant Guy Pomeroy. For a
time that
wounded officer was carried in a
blanket, so that event-
ually the carriers' fingers were much
pained. Arriving
at a tobacco shed and finding therein a
ladder, imme-
diately there was discussion as to the
right and the
wrong of taking and utilizing it for
litter purposes to
ease the injured one and his comrades.
As a result the
ladder was not left.
In Company D was a family connection of
twelve
cousins and one uncle. Seven of them
were officers.
And they sustained the only casualties
in the only en-
gagement the Company had, Second
Lieutenant Guy
Pomeroy being fatally wounded and
Captain Thomas G.
Allen being killed. The former expired
on an Ohio
River steamboat while being taken to
Gallipolis, Ohio,
but Sergeant J. l'H. Long. Captain
Allen had said--
"If I am killed I want to be shot
right here," placing a
finger at the center of his forehead.
And that was
where the bullet struck. First
Lieutenant Charles Wil-
liam Allen, a student of medicine under
Dr. Charles
Moore Godfrey and brother of the
Captain, reenlisted
and died at home of wounds received at
the battle of
General Edward Godfrey 73
Chickamauga in September, 1863. Those
brothers lie
under a double monument erected in
Pomeroy Cemetery,
Ottawa, Ohio, and Second Lieutenant Guy
Pomeroy also
lies nearby. Captain Allen had
bequeathed his sword to
Ottawa Lodge No. 325 F. A. M., Ottawa,
Ohio. Many,
many years afterward the writer of this
delivered to the
widow of Lawyer Guy Pomeroy letters
that had been
written by him to Thomas G. Allen. She
instantly
recognized the handwriting and
expressed sweet grati-
tude. He was one of the committee that
acted for resi-
dent voters to petition the county
commissioners for
incorporation of Ottawa Village, the
other members be-
ing Lucius Hubbard and Dr. Charles
Moore Godfrey.
And their petition was allowed February
13, 1861.
An enthusiastic reception was accorded
members of
the Company upon their return to
Ottawa. It took
place on the vacant lots at the
northeast corner of the
present Main and Walnut Streets, and
was featured by
banners, speeches and a big dinner.
Private Godfrey
arrived atop a box car near the
locomotive and was car-
ried past the station unseen by his
father, who so anx-
iously looked for him and was so joyed
upon seeing him
as to deeply affect the son. After that
return his father
asked him for and was given a promise,
viz: that he
would not re-enlist without his
father's consent. But in
September, 1862, he was deeply stirred
by Governor
David Tod's urgent call to every
squirrel hunter in the
State to go immediately to Cincinnati
to defend that city
against expected Confederate attack by
General Kirby
Smith, who then was advancing upon it
through Ken-
tucky.
That call read in part as follows: "Our
southern border is threatened with
invasion. Gather up
74 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
all the arms and furnish yourselves
with ammunition
for the same. Do not wait. None but
armed men will
be received." So he shouldered one of the family shot-
guns and started for the Dayton and
Michigan
(now Baltimore and Ohio) railway
station enroute to
Cincinnati. For he felt he would not
thereby enlist in
the army, so would not break the
promise, yet would
perform a patriotic duty. However, he
and his father
met on the street, and after some
pertinent inquiries
and answers had been made the shotgun
was handed
to his father and the objective was
abandoned.
He entered the United States Military
Academy in
July of 1863. During the earlier days
there and despite
conscientious and constant endeavor to
carry the Acad-
emy work, he apparently was unable to
prevent or avoid
a steady accumulation of demerit marks.
However, it
eventually developed that a cadet
officer detestably was
trying to discredit him by reporting and
exaggerating
his every trivial delinquency and
infraction. Upon be-
ing assured of the malicious telltale's
identity the vic-
tim cadet promptly challenged him,
soundly whipped
him, won the respect of all, and
thereafter made normal
progress in the work. Other trouble
impended when a
clique of his classmates after inquiry
as to his politics
applied to him their self-styled stigma
of "Black republi-
can and damned abolitionist,"
followed up by discourte-
ous and threatening treatment. But all
that immediately
ceased when an upper classman from
Marysville, Ohio,
said, "Gentlemen, Mr. Godfrey is
going with me to my
room." Prior to that the same
upper classman had said
to him, "That's right, plebe,
stand up for your princi-
ples." Besides, in that period hazing
was an almost
General Edward Godfrey 75
unquestioned feature of Academy
experiences, and he
pluckily took his allotment of it. One
night of the first
summer encampment he was eighty times
pulled from
his tent and fifteen times sent rolling
down Fort Clinton
ditch.
He graduated from West Point as Second
Lieuten-
ant June 17, 1867, joined the Seventh
Cavalry at Fort
Harker, Kansas, October 3 and commanded
a Gatling
battery in the field October 8 to
November 18 that year.
He was at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas from
the latter
date to April 4, '68, in command of
Troop K; and in the
field from then until November 30,
during the last two
months being with General Sully's
expedition south of
Arkansas River engaging in actions
against hostile In-
dians at the Cimarron, North Fork of
Canadian River
and Sand Hills.
He was with General Sheridan's
expedition against
hostile Indians November, '68 to April,
'69, engaging
under General Custer in the battle of
the Washita, No-
vember 26-27. A lengthy circumstantial
narrative of
that campaign and battle was
contributed by him to the
Cavalry Journal, October, 1928. He was then the sole
surviving officer of that eventful
engagement. So, aside
from the official report by General
Custer, his probably
will remain as the only participant's
full account of that
hand-to-hand victory. During that
battle he specially
was ordered to destroy all property and
permit no loot-
ing. While thus engaged there was
brought to him an
exceptional and very beautiful article
of squaw's apparel,
a bridal gown of antelope skins, soft
as finest broadcloth
and decorated entire with beads, elk
teeth, and painted
designs. But it was not spared from the
fateful order.
76 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
In the Cavalry Journal article
he stated: "As the last of
the tepees and property was on fire,
the General ordered
me to kill all the ponies except those
authorized to be
used by the prisoners and given to
scouts. We tried to
rope them and cut their throats, but
the ponies were
frantic at the approach of a white man
and fought
viciously. My men were getting very
tired so I called
for reinforcements, and details from
other organizations
were sent to complete the destruction
of about eight
hundred ponies. As the last of the
ponies were being
shot nearly all the hostiles left. This
was probably be-
cause they could see our prisoners and
realized that any
shooting they did might endanger
them."
Yet in one instance while on the march,
discipline
was relaxed as further stated, he
having been detailed
to guard and conduct the prisoners.
"One day on the
march through a mesquite forest
Mahwissa (Black
Kettle's sister) who was my go-between
for the pris-
oners, came to me for permission for a
squaw to fall out.
This I granted and detailed a guard to
remain with her.
To this she objected and Mahwissa
strenuously sus-
tained the objection and assured me it
would be all right
to let the woman go alone. With great
reluctance I
consented. At our next halt I was
pacing back and forth
with anxious looks on the back trail. I
was perturbed
not only with the prospective loss of a
prisoner, but
official action in consequence.
Mahwissa came to me as
if to reassure me, but receiving scant
attention she
turned away with a look of
disappointment. Soon there
was a shout from the prisoners, and
looking at the back
trail to my great relief I saw my
prisoner galloping to-
ward us. Her countenance was beaming
and as she
General Edward Godfrey 77
passed me I saw the black head of a
pappoose in the
folds of a blanket at her back swaying
with the motions
of the galloping pony. The prisoners
gave her a dem-
onstrative welcome."
He commanded a detachment escorting
Arapahoe
Indians to Fort Sill, Kansas, February,
'69, and com-
manded Troop K and Squadron Seventh
Cavalry under
General Custer in pursuit of hostile
Indians February
to May, '69.
He was on leave May 15 to July 15 that
year; on
Saline River, Kansas, guarding the
frontier July to
December; at Fort Harker, Kansas,
December, '69, to
February, '70; in the field February 11
to June 22, '70,
as quartermaster, commissary and
adjutant of the troops
guarding the Kansas frontier; in the
field near Forts
Hays and Wallace June 22 to December 6,
'70, except
while sick and on leave of absence from
July 23 to Octo-
ber 1; and at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas,
December,
'70 to March, '71.
He was stationed in South Carolina
during the Ku
Klux troubles from March, '71 to March,
'73: was in
the field escorting Northern Pacific
Railroad Survey
April to October, '73, engaging in
action against hostile
Sioux on August 11; at Fort Rice,
Dakota, October 13,
'73, to June 18, '74; and with General
Custer June to
September, '74, as assistant to the
Engineer officer ex-
ploring the Black Hills, Dakota.
He was in Louisiana and Mississippi
during the
White League troubles September, '74,
to April,'76,
commanding United States troops at
Colfax, Louisiana
and McComb City, Mississippi. He
commanded troops
in the campaign against hostile Indians
in Dakota and
78 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
Montana May to November, '76, engaging
in the battle
of the Little Big Horn ("Custer
Massacre") June 25-26.
He was on leave November 15, '76, to
March 3, '77;
in the field against hostile Indians
April to October, '77,
engaging in the battle of Bear Paw
Mountains in Sep-
tember; at Fort Rice, Dakota, October
15, '77, to June,
'78, being disabled to January 2; at
Standing Rock In-
dian Agency disabled from wounds June 2
to November
25, '78; and on duty with his Troop to
July, '79, except
when absent as a witness before the
Reno Court of In-
quiry at Chicago, Illinois, in January,
'79.
He was instructor in cavalry tactics at
West Point
Military Academy July, '79, to October,
'83; was at
Fort Yates, Dakota, October, '83, to
October, '86, be-
ing an inspector of Indian supplies
from July on; at
Fort Meade, Dakota, October, '86, to
July, '87; at Fort
Riley, Kansas, July, '87, to February,
'88; at Washing-
ton, D. C. and Leavenworth, Kansas, as
member of the
Tactical Board United States Army,
devising a system
of Drill Regulations, February, '88, to
December, '90.
Upon his own request he was relieved
from that
board to join his troop in the field
against hostile Sioux
under Chief Big Foot in the Pine Ridge
campaign en-
gaging in the actions at Wounded Knee
and Drexel Mis-
sion, Dakota, December 29-30, 1890. He
was in hos-
pital and on sick leave from injuries
received in a rail-
road wreck while returning from that
campaign Janu-
ary 24 to October 26, '91 (that wreck
resulted from a
collision of trains. Captain Godfrey
was in the loco-
motive cab of his, and when the
approaching one was
seen he was told by the engineer to
jump, and he did
so. He landed on a wet clay slope, with
the result that
General Edward Godfrey 79
one limb was so side stressed and its
ligaments so in-
jured that he long was incapacitated
for field service,
and the limb never after was quite as
it normally would
have been); in Washington, D. C.
publishing Drill
Regulations, formulating the Guard Manual, and in
charge of recruiting service to June,
'93, except during
March and June, '92, when instructing
the New Hamp-
shire National Guard; at Fort Riley,
Kansas, command-
ing Troop and Squadron June, '93, to
February, '95, and
on the Board Revising Cavalry Drill
Regulations; at
Forts Grant and Apache, Arizona, May,
'95, to April,
'98, except from July to August, '95,
when in Denver,
Colorado, on the Board to consider and
recommend an
Emergency Ration for troops in the
field, and in the
field during October, '95, testing that
Emergency Ration.
During September and October, '97, he
was in com-
mand of troops from Forts Apache,
Arizona, and Win-
gate, New Mexico, to arrest Zuni
Indians who in per-
formance of tribal ceremonies had
murdered two of the
tribe. The objective finally and
bloodlessly was attained
by a bold and outstanding resort. For
upon approach-
ing the Indian village and despite
advice and warning
to the contrary, he went alone on foot
to the village, im-
pressed his point of view upon the
tribe "Governor"
and returned to camp to await
developments. And that
procedure was wholly vindicated the
next day, when the
"Governor" delivered at the
camp the wanted ones, who
soon were en route to Santa Fe for
trial.
In April, '98, he was transferred to
Fort Du Chesne,
Utah, where he commanded till October,
'98. From
October, '98, to January, '99, he was
stationed at Hunts-
ville, Alabama, and Macon, Georgia, and
in January,
80
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
'99, at Havana and Pinar del Rio, Cuba,
commanding
United States troops at Pinar del Rio
and the district
of that Province May to August, 1900.
In August,
1900, he was transferred to Columbia
Barracks (near
Havana) Cuba, where he was stationed
till March, '01,
when he was promoted
Lieutenant-Colonel, Twelfth
Cavalry, after nearly thirty-four
years' service in the
Seventh Cavalry.
He was in all the campaigns against
Indians in
which the latter than had participated,
also in all its
principal engagements, and under
General Custer until
that commander was slain. And he was
the last sur-
vivor of those who filled original
vacancies in that regi-
ment following its organization in
1866. He was next to
the last survivor of its commissioned
personnel as of
June, 1876. The present sole survivor is Colonel
Charles A. Varnum U. S. A. (Retired),
who at the
battle of the Little Big Horn was a
First Lieutenant in
command of a detachment of Indian
Scouts. Cyrus
Townsend Brady wrote: "The officers of the regi-
ment were a set of unusual men. Custer
himself was
allowed considerable voice in the
selection of them, and
such a body of officers had been rarely
assembled in
one command. Custer and his officers by
a judicious
weeding out and a rigorous course of
discipline, soon
gathered a body of troopers than which
there were none
finer in the service of the United
States, nor, in fact, in
any other service." Also that
"General G. A. Forsyth
writes me that he considers Colonel
Godfrey one of the
ablest officers in the United States
army--in which opin-
ion I concur."
He was at Fort Sam Houston, Texas,
March, '01, to
General Edward Godfrey 81
July 16, '01, organizing and commanding
the Twelfth
Cavalry; was promoted Colonel Ninth
Cavalry June 26,
'01; joined the regiment at Legaspi,
Philippine Islands,
November 7, '01, commanding Regiment,
Post and Dis-
trict to April 30, '02; at San Pablo,
Laguna Province
to May 27, '02; at Iloilo, Panay, until
September 2, '02,
commanding Fifth Brigade and then
Regiment and
Post; en route to the United States
with Regiment Sep-
tember 2 to October 13, '02, and at
Fort Walla Walla,
Washington, commanding the Post and
Regiment to
October 19, '04.
He commanded the Department of the
Columbia in
May and June, '04; commanded the First
Brigade,
Maneuver Camp, American Lake,
Washington, July,
'04; and was at Fort Riley, Kansas,
commanding Regi-
ment, Post and School of Application
for Cavalry
and Field Artillery, July, '04, to
January 17, '07. (He
had the name of that school changed to
"The Mounted
Service School.") On the last date
he was promoted
Brigadier General. However, he
continued one month
longer in charge of the aforementioned
school, then
commanded the Department of the
Missouri until retire-
ment by age regulation, October 9,
1907. And nearly
ten years later upon entrance of our
country into the
World War he immediately but
unavailingly offered to
the Department of War whatever of
possible service he
then might render.
He ranked as follows: Second Lieutenant
Seventh
Cavalry, June 16, 67, to February 1,
'68; First Lieuten-
ant, February 1, '68, to December 9,
'76; Captain, De-
cember 9, '76, to December 8, '96;
Major First Cavalry,
December 8, '96, to January 7, '97; and
of Seventh
Vol. XLIII--6
82 Ohio Arch. and Hist.
Society Publications
Cavalry, January 7, '97, to February 2,
'01; Lieutenant-
Colonel Twelfth Cavalry, February 2,
'01, to June 26,
'01; Colonel Ninth Cavalry, June 26,
'01, to January
17, '07; Brigadier General, January 17,
'07, to retire-
ment October 9, 1907. (When as Second
Lieutenant
on the expedition against the Southern
Plains Indians
he was on August 28, 1868, ordered to
go to Fort
Larned, Kansas, to get the mail, he was
highly pleased
there to be handed his commission as
First Lieutenant
to date from February 1 preceding. The
long delay had
resulted from the political differences
between President
Andrew Johnson and the U. S. Senate,
the latter having
refused to hold an executive session to
confirm appoint-
ments.
Also, he was made Brevet Major United
States
Army and awarded a Congressional Medal
of Honor
on February 27, 1890, on recommendation
of General
Nelson A. Miles "for most
distinguished gallantry in
action against hostile Nez Perce
Indians at Bear Paw
Mountains, Montana, September 30, '77,
in leading his
command into action, where he was
severely wounded."
In that fight he verily courted death.
For though
the troopers were for better protection
ordered to dis-
mount from their black horses he
remained on his white
one (an Indian's captured by him soon
after the battle
of the Little Big Horn), probably the
better to observe
and to be an example, thus to inspirit
the men. Two
shots were fired at him point blank
from a distance of
about twenty-five yards and each time
he saw the Indian
kneel, aim and fire. The first time he
felt no apprehen-
sion as to being killed, but thought he
might be wounded.
The second time, however, he felt (to
quote him) he
General Edward Godfrey 83
"would be a goner." The first
shot killed the horse,
which was swerved as the Indian fired,
and in going
down it pitched the rider onto his head
and right shoul-
der, resulting in a slight stun and
partly paralyzed right
arm. Notwithstanding all that he yet
gripped a re-
volver and another remained in his
right boot. Calling
to his trumpeter for another mount a
slain sergeant's
horse with bloody saddle and blanket
was brought up.
First having the saddle wiped he got
into it, but soon
was hit by the second bullet. No severe
shock or pain
was felt, but he found himself drooping
forward. He
then dismounted, unbuckled his belt,
felt blood running,
rebuckled very tightly, remounted, was
up but a short
while, slumped to the ground, and
walked to the rear by
holding on to one of the stirrups, the
faithful horse very
carefully changing pace, or stopping,
to suit the need.
The surgeon remarked as he began work:
"A quarter
of an inch over and your backbone would
have been hit
and you done for." And his subject
said: "Hold on.
Something's wrong. You'll make a new
hole. Probe
from the other side." That was
done and iodine ap-
plied throughout. The wound healed
rapidly, and the
surgeon was nonplussed by the remarkable
recovery.
In that fight the Nez Perces carefully
picked off the
officers, killing or wounding all but
one of the commis-
sioned officers, and many of the
non-commissioned of-
ficers.
Seldom indeed has it been in the career
of a typical
military personage to be as intimately
and as conspicu-
ously identified with so many of such
events of note as
was he. For his service spanned that
period of our
country's relatively most rapid and
really phenomenal
84
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
agrarian development, by and during
which the wonder-
ful West emerged from its straits of
semi-lawlessness,
ofttimes bald savagery, to come wholly
under the rule of
institutions of law, and tribal sway
expired with the
birth of commonwealths. That greatest
of all Ameri-
can evolutions truly was an ideally
staged empire drama
of adventure, of privation, of
encounter, of conquest,
and of settlement.
He therefore necessarily was an actor
in the popu-
larly outstanding chapters of American
history that
mainly treat of the earlier great land,
and of the later
great gold and silver, lures; of
exploits of noted scouts;
of achievements of the pony express; of
thrills of the
buffalo chase (once when asked how many
buffaloes he
had seen, General Godfrey
answered--"Millions." In
one instance he was three days getting
his Troop
through a herd of them); of the take
and give of out-
lawry and ruthless reprisal; of
adventures and sacri-
fices of the overland bold; of
transcontinental railway
victories over savage and beast and
stubborn vasts of
virgin domain. They were of a period
that brought
forth whatever of the real man all its
actors had; that
mixed in the high colors for depiction
of our country's
great composite development; was a
marvelous oppor-
tunity for industry, invention and
wealth; and an
epochal one for home, for school and
for church. And
midst dangers both many and great he
more or less
aided in running into and through all
those chapters the
fadeless line of Army blue, that traced
an almost con-
tinuous struggle for the white and
against the red, over
and through trackless plains and
forbidding canyons, as
General Edward Godfrey 85
well in parching as in benumbing
blasts. And to it all
he measured up unfailingly.
And so it was that in line of duty and
by circum-
stance he figured in some quite
exceptional events, both
of professional importance and of
historic consequence;
he contacted every kind of plains and
mountain Indian
this country knows; he was in forty
Indian fights be-
fore he was ten years in the saddle; he
participated in
three of the greatest Indian campaigns
of later history,
and was in their respective severest
engagements.
The first was at Washita River, Indian
Territory,
in 1868, when after cold dawn the
Seventh charged from
all four sides onto the Indian village.
"The Trumpeter
sounded the charge and the band began
to play "Garry
Owen' (the regiment's band piece), but
by the time they
had played one strain their instruments
froze up," as
stated in his narrative. The foe were
Cheyennes, Ara-
pahoes and Kiowas led respectively by Chiefs
Black
Kettle, Little Raven and Satanta. All
were under Black
Kettle who with one hundred and three
warriors was
there slain, as was also his daughter
unknowingly, as
in trying to escape she rode astride
and had on a war-
rior's blanket.
General Order No. 6 by Major General
Philip H.
Sheridan who at that time commanded the
Department
of the Missouri, announced that in
addition to the war-
riors slain in that battle the Seventh
accomplished the
capture of "fifty-three squaws and
children; eight hun-
dred and seventy-five ponies; eleven
hundred and
twenty-three buffalo robes and skins;
five hundred and
thirty-five pounds of powder; one
thousand and fifty
pounds of lead; four thousand arrows;
seven hundred
86
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
pounds of tobacco; besides rifles,
pistols, saddles, bows,
lariats, and immense quantities of
dried and other win-
ter provisions; the complete
destruction of their village,
and almost total annihilation of this
Indian band." Fur-
thermore, that "the energy and
rapidity shown during
one of the heaviest snowstorms that has
visited this
section of the country, with the
temperature below the
freezing point, and the gallantry and bravery
displayed,
reflect the highest credit upon both
the officers and the
enlisted men of the Seventh
Cavalry." And General
Godfrey in the Cavalry Journal contribution
on the
battle of the Washita states--"We
had the satisfaction
that we had punished Black Kettle's
band, whose war-
riors were the confessed perpetrators
of the attacks and
outrages on the Kansas frontier
settlements of August
10th--the originators of the Indian War
of 1868."
I can tell you, it was a mighty
strenuous day. On
the go from daylight November 26 till
midnight on the
27th," as was written by him on
the sixty-first anniver-
sary of that battle. The Seventh lost
two officers and
nineteen enlisted men. One of the
former was Captain
Lewis M. Hamilton, grandson of Alexander
Hamilton.
As officer of the day his duty was to
command the main
train guard. He was much distressed
thereat, and
begged to go with and command his
squadron. The re-
quest was refused unless another
officer would ex-
change, and that was done by an officer
who had be-
come snowblind. Thus the Captain went
to his end.
The second campaign referred to
culminated in the
battle of the Little Big Horn River,
Montana, June 26,
1876, when gallant General George A.
Custer and 265
troopers of the fearless and feared
Seventh Cavalry
General Edward Godfrey 87
were victims of Chief Gall with Crazy
Horse and Crow
King and their swarming Sioux. Captain
F. W. Ben-
teen commanded a squadron of three
Troops, that of K
being led by Lieutenant Godfrey. Those
with four other
Troops and Indian Scouts united under
Major Marcus
A. Reno. General Custer had five
Troops. The slain
were discovered June 27 by Lieutenant
James H. Brad-
ley, Seventh Infantry in command of
Indian Scouts. He
was the first to arrive at the bluff to
which Major Reno
had retreated, and he first asked for
Lieutenant Godfrey
whose first words were--"Where is
Custer?" and then
the stunning news became known. That
afternoon
Lieutenant Bradley and a party from
Major Reno's
command went over the battlefield, and
the next morn-
ing all went to bury the slain.
In the Cavalry Journal of July
1927 General Godfrey
stated as to that--"During the
ceremony I was sent for
by Major Reno to help identify the dead
on Custer Hill.
The first body I was taken to was that
of General Cus-
ter. The body was naked. I examined it
carefully.
There were two bullet wounds, one in
the left breast,
and the other in the left temple,
either of which, it
seemed to me, would have been fatal.
There was sur-
prisingly little blood from either
wound; and there were
no powder marks on his person nor any signs of mu-
tilation. He had not been
scalped." (In that campaign
and contrary to general belief, General
Custer had his
hair cut short.)
History must record that the
precipitate and costly
retreat ordered by Major Reno afforded
a fine and rare
instance of full vindication for
disobedience to a mili-
tary order in time of extreme urgency.
For "Lieutenant
88
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
Godfrey of K Troop, the rear guard,
without orders
deployed and dismounted his men, and
ably seconded by
his junior, Lieutenant Luther R. Hare,
by hard fighting
kept off the Indians till the retreat
was safely made by
the rest, whom he and his troopers
succeeded in joining.
It was well that he did this, for his
coolness and courage
saved the command." (Brady.) Later
Brigadier Gen-
eral Luther R. Hare wrote: "I have
always thought that
this movement saved the command, as,
had they (the
Indians) been able to charge in on the
troops on Reno
Hill without being delayed the result
would have been
the same as on Custer Ridge."
Brigadier General Edward J. McClernand
in the
Cavalry Journal of January, 1927, stated in his account
of that retreat as follows--"The
hasty withdrawal and
close pursuit, if it had been
unchecked, might have
brought disaster to the entire command,
but fortunately
Godfrey properly appraised the
situation, and dismount-
ing one troop, of Reno's seven, he
opened fire, compelling
the enemy to halt and take cover. He
received a second
order to rejoin, and slowly retreated,
firing as he fell
back. The enemy's fire was increasing
and soon Indians
began to appear from cover. Godfrey's
men began to
bunch,' slacken their fire and move
faster; and to pre-
vent their getting out of hand, he
ordered a halt, re-
quired 'intervals' to be retaken, and
the fire to be de-
livered with greater calmness. After
once more forcing
the Indians to take cover, he renewed
the retreat and
finally reached the main lines, the
establishment of which
must have been aided materially by his
taking upon him-
self the checking of the pursuit."
That account further
stated--"All who know Godfrey will
accept implicitly
General Edward Godfrey 89
his statement of facts that fell under
his observation."
And so it was that during a long
survival of that battle
--a period lacking but eighty-five days
of fifty-six years
--he frequently was called upon or
referred to for
related opinion, version or judgment,
both by individuals
and by the War Department, all of which
imposed a
large though willingly borne burden of
correspondence.
The third campaign battle was at Bear
Paw Moun-
tains, Montana, in 1877, when wily
Chief Joseph and his
disciplined Nez Perces were defeated
and captured after
a 2000-mile retreat and a
six-day siege. Unusual to
relate, those Indians at night gave
water to wounded
soldiers. "Chief Joseph was famous
for his face and
figure. He was tall, straight as an
arrow, and wonder-
fully handsome, his features being as
clear cut as
chisled marble" (N. Y. Sun, 9-24-04.)
He "whose cele-
brated retreat has been compared to
that of Xenophon
and his Ten Thousand was one of the
most remarkable
Indians of his time. He was the last
Indian leader who
dared put up a real fight against
civilization and, con-
sidering the relative sizes of the
forces engaged, none of
his predecessors made such a good
showing." (Mc-
Clernand.) "During the long
retreat he fought eleven
engagements, five being pitched
battles, of which he had
won three, drawn one and lost one. Some
of the troops
in pursuit of him had marched sixteen
hundred miles.
His own march had been at least two
thousand miles.
This constitutes a military exploit of
the first magnitude,
and entitled the great Indian to take
rank among the
great Captains" (Brady.) "It
was nearly sunset Octo-
ber 4, 1877, when Joseph came to
deliver himself up.
He rode from his camp in the little
hollow. His hands
90
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
were clasped over the pommel of his
saddle, and his rifle
lay across his knees; his head was
bowed down. Press-
ing around him walked five of his
warriors; their faces
were upturned and earnest as they
murmured to him;
but he looked neither to the right nor
to the left, yet
seemed to listen intently. So the
little group came slowly
up the hill to where General Howard
with an aide-de-
camp, and General Miles waited to receive
the surrender.
As he neared them, Joseph sat erect in
the saddle, then
with grace and dignity swung himself
down from his
horse, and with an impulsive gesture
threw his arm to
its full length and offered his rifle
to General Howard.
The latter motioned him toward General
Miles, who
received the token of submission.
Joseph then said--
'From where the sun now stands I fight
no more against
the White Man'! Those present shook
hands with
Joseph, whose worn and anxious face
lighted with a sad
smile as silently he took each
proffered hand. Then
turning away he walked to the tent
provided for him."
(Wood.) On September 22, 1904, he dropped dead at
his camp fire at Nespilem, Colville
Reservation of
Moses Indians, Washington. An imposing
monument
marks his grave there.
General Godfrey was a member of the
first govern-
ment expedition to Yellowstone Park,
Montana; was in
the escort of the Indian Peace
Commission in 1867; was
with the exploring expedition that in
1874 announced
the gold of Black Hills, Dakota;
secured in South Caro-
lina the original constitution and
by-laws of the then
Ku Klux Klan, and was the first witness
in the trials
that eventually caused disbandment of
that organiza-
tion; ended a reign of terror in
Louisiana by refusing
General Edward Godfrey 91
to advantage the White League there by
use of govern-
ment troops in politics; was a witness
in the proceedings
against Major Marcus A. Reno for
cowardly action
during the fearful slaughter in the
valley of the Little
Big Horn; was the first and doubtless
the only army
officer to whom alone later on that
field in 1886 Chief
Gall in dramatic action ever described
the strategy and
events of that black day, and who upon
being then and
there asked why General Custer had not
been scalped,
as had all the other dead, answered,
"He did not know
unless it was because he (Custer) was
the Big Chief and
that they respected his rank and
bravery." (South Da-
kota recorded both birth and death of
Chief Gall. The
year of the Little Big Horn battle he
was thirty-six,
and at the time of death, December 5,
1894, he was fifty-
four. He "was possessed of
military genius of high
order," and "had the quality
of leadership in the field
that was lacking in his
chief"--Sitting Bull. In time he
denounced the latter as a coward and a
fraud, made
peace with the whites, and from 1889
was a judge of
Indian offenses at Standing Rock Indian
Agency.)
General Godfrey wrote for the Century
Magazine
of January, 1892, a most authoritative
account of that
Seventh Cavalry tragedy. (That account
was added to
by him and republished in pamphlet form
by Mrs. Eliza-
beth B. Custer, widow of General George
A. Custer,
in 1921.) He was the most prominent and widely
listened-to speaker upon that matter;
(Once after hav-
ing given a two-hour talk upon the
subject, he wrote--
"It seems that that campaign and
battle continue to hold
interest not only in the West, where it
rather increases
judging from the correspondence, but in
the East");
92
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
was featured on the screen in
"Custer's Last Battle";
was national chairman of the
organization to commem-
orate the semi-centennial of the
battle; was present
during the ceremonies in Montana, and
was prominently
mentioned and shown in newspaper,
magazine, and
screen accounts thereof; and was active
on the plan to
have the "Custer Battlefield
National Cemetery" area
correctly defined and the graves
therein properly desig-
nated.
For the remarkable and impressive
observance of
the only disaster ever suffered since
its organization the
Seventh Cavalry regiment entire was
ordered from Fort
Bliss, Texas, a distance of fifteen
hundred miles, to per-
form a part in it. On June 25, 1926, in
the presence of
35,000 spectators General Godfrey led
it over the old
battlefield and met Chief White Bull
and the Sioux.
"Near the monument the two parties
met. White Bull
held up his hand making the sign of
peace. General
Godfrey replied by dropping his
unsheathed sword into
the scabbard as he rode forward to meet
the Indian.
They clasped hands, and to cement the
friendship White
Bull presented to the General a prized
possession--his
blanket, while the General gave to
White Bull a large
American flag." (Ostrander.)
He was the first American commander to
make a
field test of an army emergency ration;
"was a pioneer
in army equitation" and introduced
in West Point cav-
alry drills Indian offensive and
defensive riding feats;
organized a regular army cavalry
regiment; began ex-
periments that resulted in establishing
the army Cook-
ing and Baking Schools in this and
other countries;
established a training school for
saddlers; initiated the
General Edward Godfrey 93
regimental steam laundry when in Cuba;
recommended
long before adoption the adjustable
quarterstrap for
cavalry saddles; recommended the
increase in caliber
of the cavalry service revolver,
"to bring the horse
down," he stated; pioneered in
experimenting with fire-
less cookery, using baled hay for
insulation.
Special assignments and details all
were complimen-
tary recognitions of his academic and
technical experi-
ence and judgment. Besides and upon
several occasions
his military worth and achievements
publicly evoked
special and high commendation. As when
he was
brevetted Major and awarded a
Congressional Medal
of Honor "for most distinguished
gallantry" at Bear
Paw Mountains; when he was mentioned by
the Board
of Visitors of the United States
Military Academy, for
"signal service" in placing
the cavalry branch in "its
present creditable condition";
when he was reported by
the Inspector General as having
"shown special effi-
ciency" as Squadron Commander of
the Fort Riley
(Kansas) Cavalry and Field Artillery
School of Appli-
cation.
But none of those evidences of
appreciation so fully
bespoke the traits that impelled him,
nor were they so
deeply felt by him, as was the one
merely of respect and
esteem when Troop H Seventh Cavalry,
twenty years
under his command, presented to him a
gold-mounted
saber upon the occasion of his
promotion in 1896. For
the conveying address stated the gift
was but a "slight
token of the esteem in which we hold
him who by his
unswerving devotion to duty, combined
with justice
tempered by mercy, has not only made us
more loyal and
faithful soldiers, but better
men."
94
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
As to personal attributes he in later
years was
spoken of as being "an ideal
cavalry officer" and as
"the most military looking officer
in the army." His
seat, poise and horsemanship when
displayed on the
beautiful black mare Pandora at West
Point so inspired
cadets that numbers of them were
induced to apply for
the cavalry branch. So that upon all
occasions appro-
priate there subsequently were
enthusiastic and affec-
tionate reminiscences of that sight in
old Academy
Days. When the French Commissioners
were there in
the early '80's of his detail as
Instructor in Cavalry Tac-
tics, the proud mount as if to befit
the occasion fairly
outdid herself in the review when
prancing to the band's
"Marseillaise." One observer
and admirer then said to
him, "I never saw a more beautiful
picture in my life
than your appearance today." And Major General
George H. Cameron, who was his
secretary at Fort
Riley, says of him--"The picture
those who were for-
tunate enough to serve with him love to
recall is when
he was riding close behind the hounds
at a coyote hunt,
his long mustache swept by the wind and
his eyes spark-
ling. This, at the age of
sixty-two."
Quite naturally such a career marked
him for promi-
nent connections and responsibilities
in post-war mili-
tary organizations. Thus he was Member
of National
Council of Administration G. A. R. from
Arizona;
Commander of the Department of Arizona
G. A. R.;
Commander George A. Custer Post G. A.
R. Fort Yates,
North Dakota; Member Council-in-Chief,
Senior Vice
Commander-in-Chief, and Commander
Kansas Com-
mandery, Military Order Loyal Legion;
Commander,
Senior Vice Commander and Historian,
Military Order
General Edward Godfrey 95
of Indian Wars; Commander of the Army
and Navy
Legion of Valor. (He was in command of
the Legion
of Valor section in the march November
11, 1921, upon
occasion of the burial of the Unknown
Soldier in Ar-
lington Cemetery.) And he was modestly
yet proudly
remembered in the naming of General E.
S. Godfrey
Cantonment Number 12 National Indian
War Veterans,
Clay Center, Kansas, organized April
12, 1924.
Post-Academy activities were assumed
and contin-
ued as president of the Alumni of the
Class of 1867.
And it transpired in 1927 when at the
Academy to
attend the annual Class Reunion he
chanced to be promi-
nently included in the "Dress
Parade" screen produc-
tion. There were but three living
graduates of the U. S.
Military Academy older than he, viz:
Brigadier Gen-
erals Henry H. C. Dunwoody (Retired),
William Ennis
(Retired), and John P. Pitman
(Retired). Of these
but two were older in graduation, viz:
General Ennis
of the Class of 1864, and General
Dunwoody of the
Class of 1866. Generals Godfrey and
Pitman were
Academy classmates of 1867.
He was a member of but one civil
fraternal organi-
zation, that of Free and Accepted
Masons. The re-
spective affiliations were with Ottawa
Lodge No. 325
(September 24, 1867), the brethren of
which most con-
siderately and generously observed his
masonic semi-
centenary there October 16, 1917, and
he later was
recipient of a jubilee medal from the
Grand Lodge of
Ohio; following in order were Ottawa
Chapter No. 116;
Putnam Council No. 67, all of Ottawa,
Ohio; Shawnee
Commandery Knights Templar, Lima, Ohio;
Mi-a-mi
Lodge of Perfection 14 degrees;
Northern Light Coun-
96
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
cil, Princes of Jerusalem 16 degrees;
Fort Industry
Chapter Rose Croix 18 degrees; Toledo
Consistory S.
P. R. S. 32 degrees, Toledo, Ohio.
Furthermore, he was
life member of the A. A. S. R. Bodies
Valley of Toledo.
During the year 1876 he was senior
warden in Clou-
tierville Lodge No. 103 (now Colfax
Lodge No. 259),
Cloutierville, Grant Parish, Louisiana.
The Charter of
No. 103 was forfeited in 1884 and that
of No. 259 was
granted in 1898.
Social club relations were had with the
Army and
Navy Club, Washington, D. C.; Army
Club, Fort Riley,
Kansas; Army Club, West Point, N. Y.
And so it was in his world's ways!
Therefore it followed that the fullness
and the sig-
nificance of such a life could not have
been more fit-
tingly emphasized nor the desire of
such a soul more
considerably satisfied, than that the
final resting-place
should be historic and beautiful
Arlington National
Cemetery; and that there a carven tribute
be placed for
oncoming generations to learn from. For
its sward pre-
serves in perennial greenness the most
memories of
unsurpassable deeds by America's sons;
while its shafts
carry on to posterity names and acts
that are to Liberty's
crown so many and so much of its jewels
and of its
luster. Its very atmosphere is so
peopled by shades of
the noble great that a respectful
intruder is emotionally
whelmed by a sense of their very
presences. And as one
views and reads there is felt a
quickening of heart and
an exaltation of spirit while he
retrospectively shares in
what they wrought, espouses anew the
ideals they all
lived, and many of them died for; and
reconsecrates
himself to supreme defense of those priceless
possessions
General Edward Godfrey 97
that largely are the yield of their
strivings and of their
sacrifices, viz: the freedom and the
greatness of our
government and the pledge and the honor
of its flag.
So it was there, next the Capital City
of the Nation
that on Tuesday afternoon, April fifth,
in the Chapel at
Fort Meyer, Virginia, relatives,
comrades, and friends
(mourners and tribute bearers all) met
for final observ-
ances of respect, of duty and of love.
There the last
formal word was uttered, the nearness
of kinship was
last felt, the beloved semblance was
last seen. All
arrangements were in charge of
Brigadier General
James T. Kerr (Retired). Chapel
services were con-
ducted by Reverend H. D. D. Sterrett of
All Souls
Memorial Episcopal Church at
Washington, D. C. The
pallbearers, who included two each
from the Loyal
Legion, Army and Navy Legion of Valor,
and Order
of Indian Wars, were Major General
George H. Cam-
eron, Major General Edward F.
McGlachlin, Jr., Major
General Charles D. Rhodes, Major
General William J.
Snow, Brigadier General Thomas H.
Slavens, Brigadier
General Charles J. Symmonds, Colonel
Henry C. Rizer,
Colonel Harvey H. Sheen, Lieutenant
Colonel Robert
M. Danford, Captain Robert B. Carter,
First Lieuten-
ant George E. Parker and Mr. Graham H.
Powell. All
but Colonel Henry C. Rizer, Lieutenant
Colonel Robert
M. Danford and Mr. Graham H. Powell
were "Retired."
Of these Major General Rhodes and
Brigadier General
Slavens were representatives of the-
Order of Indian
Wars; Colonel Rizer and Mr. Powell of
the Loyal Le-
gion; Colonel Sheen and Captain Carter
of the Army
and Navy Legion of Valor. The body lay
in full dress
Vol, XLIII--7
98 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications uniform; all medals and insignia were removed just before the casket was closed. Following the Chapel service full military honors were accorded during the ten-minute march and at the beautifully lined grave. The mourners were preceded by a full military band that played "Nearer, My God, to Thee" at the grave, two batteries (companies) of artillery, caisson with casket, riderless saddled horse, and the pallbearers. Cannon salutes continued during the march, and three rifle volleys at the grave marked the ceremonial end. And as all sadly withdrew, friends felt the hurt of irreparably sundered heartstrings, yet also that fond recollections of times long since gone could and would be warmly clung to; comrades felt that although gladness and pride of personal touch were to be no more, memory yet could and would share in common the record and its fame; while those the nearest felt, and those of such who unavoidably and sorrowfully were absent feel, that with the great loss there also had come to each from the life so soundly based, so rightly planned, so nobly lived, a heritage both rare and abiding and an inspiration both great and compelling, in the widely acclaimed knowledge of its honor and its virtues, of its constancy and its services, of its courage and its achievements. And so mote it be! |
|
GENERAL EDWARD S. GODFREY*
By HON. CALVIN POMEROY GODFREY
It sadly befalls one this week (as of
April fifteenth)
to record in fidelity the demise of a
noble man, Putnam
County's greatest military figure,
another of the dis-
tinguished martial sons of
Ohio--Brigadier General
Edward S. Godfrey, U.S.A. (Retired).
That mortal
and painless end of a quite meritorious
and notable
career occurred at the home in
Cookstown, Burlington
County, New Jersey, at seven o'clock
the evening of
Friday, April 1, 1932.
Thus, another great cavalryman of the
old school
has passed on. Another military star
has set!
Thus, a contemporary and a comrade of
men who
in their hour of destiny were of the
most virile and
staunch guardians and champions of all
our blessed
flag symbolized, has in spirit gone
over to the Silent
Host to await the Call of the Great
Reveille!
Thus, there may be writ on the honor
scroll of the
Nation's departed brave the name of
another who served
faithfully and strove dauntlessly in
eventful times and
in trying capacities!
Thus, his great native Commonwealth may
add to
her splendid chronology the completed
chapter of
another son, who spoke for her
greatness and who acted
for her honor fervently and always!
* Reprinted through the courtesy of the Putnam
County (Ohio) Gazette,
March 16, 1933.
(61)