The Popular Version of McPherson's Death Comes From a Confederate. Here's the Union Version.

The particulars behind the death of Maj. Gen. James Birdseye McPherson during the Battle of Atlanta on July 22, 1864, are well known to students of the Civil War. Happening upon enemy soldiers, a polite tip of his hat before he dashed off on his horse, and instant death by a bullet. The origins of this story come from a Confederate soldier. The original letter is a fascinating read. And so is the Union side of the story, which has been largely lost in time.
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Image: Tom Glass Collection.
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[@1961OnRock]

Every one who enjoys Ron's presentations please give him a thumbs up! And recommend him to your friends who enjoy U.S. Civil War history. His great work should get more attention.

[@McPherson952]

James “Birdsey” pronounced “Bird see”, a surname of one of his father’s friends. McPherson indeed is a forgotten hero, as is the name of a book written about him. He finished 1st in his class at West Point. If he had survived the war, he may have been a President. The McPherson name is pronounce Mac Fur son, a Scottish surname meaning son of the parson, deriving from Kenneth, the son of the Parson of Kingussie, Scotland.

[@peddler38501]

As a student of the Civil War, it really freaked me out to find myself living about 100 feet from McPherson's monument in the 1990s. I was like, how unreal is this?! Grant and Sherman loved this guy, and he died right here! At the time, the neighborhood was very much blue collar working class, everyone off on the 6 AM bus to get to work, but recent street views show it's been gentrified.

[@douglasturner6153]

Good episode. Soldier's on both sides rifled the pockets, bodies and knapsacks of dead enemies for valuables. Even live one's. The Rebs had a clothing shortage and were more likely to take boots, hats etc. But rarely stripped a body naked. General's riding boots would have been a real find to trade with. That first Union story looks like propaganda to make the men appear more heroic and the Rebs dastardly. "Bushwackers" on the battle line"? Come on! The events Captain Beard described sound credible. Union soldier's behind him wouldn't have seen all of the quick confrontation. Captain Beard was remiss though in not immediately taking McPherson's Order Book and other intelligence on him to the rear for his own high commands knowledge.

[@brianhillis3701]

The national paper's version is sensational 4th hand at best. Guess the press was inacurate then too.

[@DoyleHargraves]

Crazy thing is, there is a tragic story to be told about every single death in that war. We only get to know the famous ones, but each death was it's own story as sad as this one. His death reminds me of Kearny's at Chantilly. Two great Union men.

[@Kenneth-c4j]

Yes they were.Two fins Soldiers as well

[@kennethswain6313]

Such a great presentation. I really appreciate your well documented presentations 👍

[@peterschief9778]

Great piece of research mate. Thanx

[@SteveW-qb5ue]

My experience with reporters is that they will invent things that were not said in order to make the article more interesting to the reading public. That version with the bushwacker comment sounds like an attempt to dramatize the death of a brave man by playing to the perceived prejudices of their particular audience.

[@manilajohn0182]

SPOT ON.

[@craigcook1571]

It would appear that reporters were just as apt to lie, stretch the truth and only give bits and pieces back then as they are today 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@Kenneth-c4j]

Very true.

[@cheesecrackers3928]

It was way worse back then.

[@hobartbrown4441]

Thanks for telling us about James McPherson (Union version). What was the title of the book about General McPherson again?

[@secretgoldfish]

Never let the truth get in the way of propaganda!

[@davidbowman4259]

Indeed. Tell that to the orange cultists. And Faux Noise.

[@secretgoldfish]

@@davidbowman4259 The cult (and mental spectrum) of overly-simpleton and binary-based side-taking sadly goes both ways unfortunately.

[@Kenneth-c4j]

​@@davidbowman4259The only cult is the Communist cult AKA the Democrat Party.

[@WhaleGold]

Thanks for putting this up. I used to live (2 times) on McPherson Ave. in Richland, WA. a town built in WWII to house the people working at Hanford Nuclear reservation where the Plutonium was made for the "Fat Man" bomb dropped on Nagasaki. All the streets were named after Army Engineers. I knew a little about him from the published indexes about the street names, but they were only about a paragraph long and I had never before seen a photo of him. Second time I lived there I took photos of the ash cloud from Mt. St. Helens going overhead.

[@REM1956]

Another fantastic video giving three or four eye witness accounts of the same incident. This detail is huge in showing how actual participants views can be so extremely different, and how the view of the victor usually becomes the concrete history. This is a gloriously satisfying resource, Ron. Thanks, so much.

[@richardliles4415]

So very interesting. Thank you.

[@mikehenson819]

Propaganda was released on both sides.

[@Kenneth-c4j]

True.👍

[@superintendentchalmers8034]

McPherson tried to talk his young friend Porter Alexander from going east and fighting for the Confederacy when the two were stationed in San Francisco in 1861, telling him their cause had no chance of success. Alexander of course went on to become a brilliant artillery officer with Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. The two might have met in battle at Chatanooga but Bragg sent Longstreet's wing, with whom Alexander was part to Knoxville before it began.

[@sfwaddell]

I think we can take the confederate soldiers story and the other Union version over a newspaper's who weren't there.

[@Kenneth-c4j]

I totally agree with you 👍

[@DoyleHargraves]

Polk's death is a pretty neat investigation. My ancestors was a teamster for his HQ unit.

[@Kenneth-c4j]

Interesting!

[@OlJarhead]

The US Army would never lie about the death of any celebrated member would they?

[@clinthowe7629]

I like McPherson’s cheerful countenance.

[@jude999]

I love the backdrop on these reports. Mc-FUR-son.

[@larrydemaar409]

Yes, no fear in McPherson.

[@RichardGrant-sx7oc]

FYI: McPherson is a Scottish name and is properly pronounced as Mc fur son, not Mc fear son. The McPhersons say "There is no fear in McPherson". I truly Enjoy and appreciate your work very much. RPG

[@lifeonthecivilwarresearchtrail]

Thanks for the correct pronunciation. Will use it moving forward!

[@BrandonConley-h5z]

There is a town in Kansas, named after Birdseye McPherson, which says the exact same thing.

[@Jesusisyhwh]

He was my distant cousin.

[@Kenneth-c4j]

Cool!👍

[@Kenneth-c4j]

I grew up in Baltimore.From what I read,Gen McPherson was engaged to a Baltimore Girl named Barbara Hoffman. She never got over his death.

[@Kenneth-c4j]

I collected books about military wars from ancient times to the present.I had ancestors who served in the Union Army of the Potomac So I have always read books about the civil war.My understanding of McPherson's death is that he was eiding ahead of his trrops and happened upon advanced Confederate infantry They called on McPherson to surrender and dismount Instead,he tipped his hat,wheeled his Horse about and tried to gallop back to his own lines.He got shot in the back It was an act of war,not murder.

[@davidtvedt7597]

Appreciate your work in bringing Civil War encounters to the forefront! The human element of war is so much more revealing than the political analysis, which is argued logistically, but not necessarily accurately!

[@ArthurWright-uv4ww]

Thanks for a full account. The confederate version sounds most likely the truth.

[@erictrelz3519]

Which account do you believe is closest to the actual event?

[@lifeonthecivilwarresearchtrail]

I believe the truth sits somewhere in the middle.

[@erictrelz3519]

I believe the Rebels disturbed the body much more than admitted. Thanks for the videos!

[@pimpompoom93726]

Talk about multiple stories of events! Journalism then as now is all over the place.

[@elcastorgrande]

Truth is always the first casualty.

[@DoyleHargraves]

Sherman and Grant both thought so highly of him.

[@Kenneth-c4j]

I read that when Sherman learned of McPherson's death he broke down and cried.

[@MrBradleyDavid]

From my part of Ohio.

[@RidgeRunner-lz5ko]

Sounds like McPherson FAFO.

[@joeloren2352]

The union version doesn't begin until 14:20. This guy needs an editor.

[@waynesarf8065]

Perhaps a slightly different title? Then we could still have both Blue and Gray versions in full.

[@panthercreek60]

The Confederate officers version was lengthier and considerably more detailed, and absent sensationalism