Warren, G. K. (Gouverneur Kemble), 1830-1882

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Warren was born in Cold Spring, Putnam County, New York, and named for Gouverneur Kemble, a prominent local Congressman, diplomat, industrialist, and owner of the West Point Foundry. His sister, Emily Warren Roebling, would later play a significant role in the building of the Brooklyn Bridge. He entered the United States Military Academy across the Hudson River from his hometown at age 16 and graduated second in his class of 44 cadets in 1850. He was commissioned a brevet second lieutenant in the Corps of Topographical Engineers. In the antebellum years he worked on the Mississippi River, on transcontinental railroad surveys, and mapped the trans-Mississippi West. He served as the engineer on William S. Harney's Battle of Ash Hollow in the Nebraska Territory in 1855, where he saw his first combat.

He took part in studies of possible transcontinental railroad routes, creating the first comprehensive map of the United States west of the Mississippi in 1857. This required extensive explorations of the vast Nebraska Territory, including Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, part of Montana, and part of Wyoming.

One region he surveyed was the Minnesota River Valley, a valley much larger than what would be expected from the low-flow Minnesota River. In some places the valley is 5 miles (8 km) wide and 250 feet (80 m) deep. Warren first explained the hydrology of the region in 1868, attributing the gorge to a massive river, which drained Lake Agassiz between 11,700 and 9,400 years ago. The great river was named Glacial River Warren in his honor after his death.

At the start of the war, Warren was a first lieutenant and mathematics instructor at the United States Military Academy at West Point. He helped raise a local regiment for service in the Union Army and was appointed lieutenant colonel of the 5th New York Infantry on May 14, 1861. Warren and his regiment saw their first combat at the Battle of Big Bethel in Virginia on June 10, arguably the first major land engagement of the war. He was promoted to colonel and regimental commander on September 10.

In the 1862 Peninsula Campaign, Warren commanded his regiment at the Siege of Yorktown and also assisted the chief topographical engineer of the Army of the Potomac, Brig. Gen. Andrew A. Humphreys, by leading reconnaissance missions and drawing detailed maps of appropriate routes for the army in its advance up the Virginia Peninsula. He commanded a small brigade (3rd Brigade, 2nd Division, V Corps) during the Seven Days Battles consisting of his own 5th New York along with the 10th New York. At Gaines Mill, he was bruised in the knee by a shell fragment, but remained on the field. He continued to lead the brigade at the Second Battle of Bull Run, suffering heavy casualties in a heroic stand against an overwhelming enemy assault, and at Antietam, where the V Corps was in reserve and saw no combat.

Commanders of the Army of the Potomac, Gouverneur K. Warren, William H. French, George G. Meade, Henry J. Hunt, Andrew A. Humphreys and George Sykes in September 1863 Warren was promoted to brigadier general on September 26, 1862, and he and his brigade went to the Battle of Fredericksburg in December, but again were held in reserve and saw no action. When Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker reorganized the Army of the Potomac in February 1863, he named Warren his chief topographical engineer and then chief engineer. As chief engineer, Warren was commended for his service in the Battle of Chancellorsville.

At the start of the Gettysburg Campaign, as Confederate General Robert E. Lee began his invasion of Pennsylvania, Warren advised Hooker on the routes the Army should take in pursuit. On the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg, July 2, 1863, Warren initiated the defense of Little Round Top, recognizing the importance of the undefended position on the left flank of the Union Army, and directing, on his own initiative, the brigade of Col. Strong Vincent to occupy it just minutes before it was attacked. Warren suffered a minor neck wound during the Confederate assault.

Promoted to major general after Gettysburg (August 8, 1863), Warren commanded the II Corps from August 1863 until March 1864, replacing the wounded Maj. Gen. Winfield S. Hancock, and distinguishing himself at the Battle of Bristoe Station. On March 13, 1865, he was brevetted to major general in the regular army for his actions at Bristoe Station. During the Mine Run Campaign, Warren's corps was ordered to attack Lee's army, but he perceived that a trap had been laid and refused the order from army commander Maj. Gen. George G. Meade. Although initially angry at Warren, Meade acknowledged that he had been right. Upon Hancock's return from medical leave, and the spring 1864 reorganization of the Army of the Potomac, Warren assumed command of the V Corps and led it through the Overland Campaign, the Siege of Petersburg, and the Appomattox Campaign.

During these Virginia campaigns, Warren established a reputation of bringing his engineering traits of deliberation and caution to the role of infantry corps commander. He won the Battle of Globe Tavern, August 18 to August 20, 1864, cutting the Weldon Railroad, a vital supply route north to Petersburg. He also won a limited success in the Battle of Peebles' Farm in September 1864, carrying a part of the Confederate lines protecting supplies moving to Petersburg on the Boydton Plank Road.

The aggressive Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan, a key subordinate of Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, was dissatisfied with Warren's performance. He was angry at Warren's corps for supposedly obstructing roads after the Battle of the Wilderness and its cautious actions during the Siege of Petersburg. At the beginning of the Appomattox Campaign, Sheridan requested that the VI Corps be assigned to his pursuit of Lee's army, but Grant insisted that the V Corps was better positioned. He gave Sheridan written permission to relieve Warren if he felt it was justified "for the good of the service." Grant later wrote in his Personal Memoirs,

I was so much dissatisfied with Warren’s dilatory movements in the battle of White Oak Road and in his failure to reach Sheridan in time, that I was very much afraid that at the last moment he would fail Sheridan. He was a man of fine intelligence, great earnestness, quick perception, and could make his dispositions as quickly as any officer, under difficulties where he was forced to act. But I had before discovered a defect which was beyond his control, that was very prejudicial to his usefulness in emergencies like the one just before us. He could see every danger at a glance before he had encountered it. He would not only make preparations to meet the danger which might occur, but he would inform his commanding officer what others should do while he was executing his move.

— Ulysses S. Grant, Personal Memoirs

At the Battle of Five Forks on April 1, 1865, Sheridan judged that the V Corps had moved too slowly into the attack, and criticized Warren fiercely for not being at the front of his columns. Warren had been held up, searching for Samuel W. Crawford’s division, which had gone astray in the woods. But overall, he had handled his corps efficiently, and their attack had carried the day at Five Forks, arguably the pivotal battle of the final days. Nevertheless, Sheridan relieved Warren of command on the spot. He was assigned to the defenses of Petersburg and then briefly to command of the Department of Mississippi.

Humiliated by Sheridan, Warren resigned his commission as major general of volunteers in protest on May 27, 1865, reverting to his permanent rank as major in the Corps of Engineers. He served as an engineer for 17 years, building railroads, with assignments along the Mississippi River, achieving the rank of lieutenant colonel in 1879. But the career that had shown so much promise at Gettysburg was ruined. He urgently requested a court of inquiry to exonerate him from the stigma of Sheridan's action. Numerous requests were ignored or refused until Ulysses S. Grant retired from the presidency. President Rutherford B. Hayes ordered a court of inquiry that convened in 1879 and, after hearing testimony from dozens of witnesses over 100 days, found that Sheridan's relief of Warren had been unjustified. Unfortunately for Warren, these results were not published until after his death.

Warren's last assignment in the Army was as district engineer for Newport, Rhode Island, where he died of complications from diabetes on August 8, 1882. He was buried in the Island Cemetery in Newport in civilian clothes and without military honors at his own request. His last words were, "The flag! The flag!"

A bronze statue of Warren stands on Little Round Top in Gettysburg National Military Park. It was created by Karl Gerhardt (1853–1940) and dedicated in 1888. Another bronze statue, by Henry Baerer (1837–1908), was erected in the Grand Army Plaza, Brooklyn, New York. It depicts Warren standing in uniform, with field binoculars on a granite pedestal, made of stone quarried at Little Round Top.

Reflecting a pattern of naming many Washington, DC streets in newly developed areas in the Capital after Civil War generals, an east–west street in the Northwest quadrant is named Warren Street, NW.

The G. K. Warren Prize is awarded approximately every four years by the National Academy of Sciences. It is funded by a gift from his daughter, Miss Emily B. Warren, in memory of her father.

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
referencedIn Smithsonian Archives. Spencer F. Baird Papers (Mc 2000.11).
referencedIn National Intelligencer (Washington). [Contact repository for more information].
referencedIn Frederick M. Dearborn collection of military and political Americana, Part III: The Civil War: The Union, 1804-1915. Houghton Library
referencedIn Smithsonian Institution. Office of the Secretary. Correspondence, 1865-1891 Smithsonian Institution Archives
referencedIn Custer, George Armstrong, 1839-1876. George Armstrong Custer papers, 1858-[not before 1887]. Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library
referencedIn White, John Chester, 1841-1921. John Chester White : papers, 1822-1919. The Filson Historical Society
referencedIn Stokes, William, 1833-1905. A brief account of his war record, 1866. University of Virginia. Library
referencedIn Warren, Gouverneur K. -- Major General, Carded Records Relating to Civil War Staff Officers National Archives at Washington, D.C
creatorOf Michie, Peter Smith, 1839-1901. Papers. United States Military Academy, USMA Library
referencedIn Smithsonian Archives. Ru 60: Meteorological Project, 1849 1875.
creatorOf Warren, G. K. (Gouverneur Kemble), 1830-1882. Letter, 1865 February 28, to Col. Alexander Doull. United States Military Academy, USMA Library
referencedIn Approved Pension File for Emily F. Warren, Widow of Gouverneaur K. Warren, Major General U.S. Volunteers; Lieutenant Colonel U.S. Corps of Engineers; Colonel 5th New York Infantry Regiment (WC-199602) National Archives at Washington, D.C
creatorOf Warren, G. K. (Gouverneur Kemble), 1830-1882. Scrapbook of Gouverneur Kemble Warren, 1882. Library of Congress
referencedIn National Archives And Records Administration. Rg 77: Chief Of Engineers.
referencedIn Smithsonian Archives. Ru 52: Assistant Secretary, Incoming Correspondenc.
referencedIn Philip Case Lockwood memorial collection of Civil War portraits and autographs, 1862-ca. 1886. Houghton Library
referencedIn Roebling, John Augustus, 1806-1869. Roebling Collection, 1830-1926 1844-1883. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Rensselaer Libraries
referencedIn Stanley, David Sloane, 1828-1902. Memoirs, 1848-1852. United States Military Academy, USMA Library
referencedIn Merrill, William E. Map of Nebraska and Dakota: and portions of the states and territories bordering thereon / compiled by G. K. Warren with manuscript annotations by William E. Merrill, Maj. Eng. and Brevet Col., 1869 May 21. Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library
referencedIn Vandever, Martha,. Martha Vandever papers, 1864; 1901 [manuscript]. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
referencedIn Compiled Military Service Record of Colonel Goveneur K. Warren, 5th New York Infantry Regiment National Archives at Washington, D.C
referencedIn Richard Chute and family papers., 1826-1977 (bulk 1852-1939). Minnesota Historical Society
referencedIn J. D. Graham papers, 1804-1896, 1848-1865 Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library
creatorOf Warren, G. K. (Gouverneur Kemble), 1830-1882. G.K. Warren collection of various publications of the United States Congress, House and Senate, relating to public works, 1867-1879. Minnesota Historical Society Library
referencedIn Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States Commandery of the State of Massachusetts Civil War collection, 1724-1933 (inclusive); 1861-1912 (bulk). Houghton Library
referencedIn Records of the Office of the Judge Advocate General (Army). 1792 - 2010. Maps of the Battlefield of Five Oaks, Virginia National Archives at College Park
referencedIn Gilliam family. Papers of the Gilliam family, 1834-1905. University of Virginia. Library
referencedIn Court of Inquiry of Governeur K. Warren National Archives at Washington, D.C
referencedIn Hyde, Anne Bachman, d. 1959,. Anne Bachman Hyde papers, 1826-1946 [manuscript]. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
creatorOf Rosser, Thomas Lafayette, 1836-1910. Papers of Thomas Lafayette Rosser, Jr. and the Rosser and Gordon families [manuscript] 1764 (1834-1910) 1969. University of Virginia. Library
referencedIn Stokes, William, 1833-1905. A brief account of his war record, 1866. University of Virginia. Library
referencedIn Library Of Congress, Manuscript Division. Orlando Metcalfe Poe Papers.
creatorOf Records of the U.S. Geological Survey. 1839 - 2008. Personal Letters Received National Archives at College Park
creatorOf Chute, Richard, 1820-1893. Richard Chute and family papers, 1826-1977 (bulk 1852-1939). Minnesota Historical Society Library
referencedIn Smithsonian Institution. Office of the Secretary. Correspondence, 1863-1879 Smithsonian Institution Archives
creatorOf Caldwell, John Curtis, 1833-1912. Index to a synopsis of military operations and data of rank and command with special reference to the military record of Lieutenant General Nelson A. Miles, U.S. Army, from the commencement of the war of rebellion in 1861 to the concentration of troops in the city of Chicago in 1894, for the purpose of protecting life and property and for the maintainace of civil law and order. United States Military Academy, USMA Library
referencedIn Philip Henry Sheridan Papers, 1853-1896, (bulk 1862-1887) Library of Congress. Manuscript Division
referencedIn Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain Papers, 1775-1913, (bulk 1828-1913) Library of Congress. Manuscript Division
referencedIn Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States Commandery of the State of Massachusetts Civil War collection, 1724-1933 (inclusive); 1861-1912 (bulk). Houghton Library
creatorOf Porter, Lucia Chauncey. Correspondence, 1853-1917. United States Military Academy, USMA Library
creatorOf Humphreys, A. A. (Andrew Atkinson), 1810-1883. U.S. explorations, with geology of the Far West. American Museum of Natural History
referencedIn University Of Missouri At St. Louis, Western Hist. Ms. Coll.. Academy Of Science Of St. Louis Records, Journals.
creatorOf Duane, James C. Letterbooks of J.C. Duane, 1864-1865. University of Virginia. Library
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith Anderson, A. person
correspondedWith Baird, Spencer F. person
correspondedWith Chamberlain, Joshua Lawrence, 1828-1914. person
associatedWith Chute, Richard, 1820-1893. person
associatedWith Custer, George Armstrong, 1839-1876. person
associatedWith Dearborn, Frederick M. (Frederick Myers), b. 1876 person
associatedWith Doull, Alexander. person
associatedWith Duane, James C. person
associatedWith Geological survey of Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota (1848-1849) corporateBody
associatedWith Gilliam family. family
associatedWith Graham, J. D. (James Duncan), 1799-1865. person
correspondedWith Hayden, Ferdinand Vandeveer person
correspondedWith Henry, Joseph, 1797-1878 person
correspondedWith Hilgard, Julius Erasmus person
correspondedWith Humphreys, A. A. (General) person
associatedWith Hunt, Henry Jackson, 1819-1889. person
associatedWith Hyde, Anne Bachman, d. 1959, person
associatedWith Lee, Robert E. (Robert Edward), 1807-1870. person
associatedWith Leidy, Joseph person
associatedWith Lockwood, Philip Case, 1844-1897 person
associatedWith Mackay, Rev. Dr. person
correspondedWith Meek, Fielding B. person
associatedWith Merrill, William E. person
associatedWith Michie, Peter Smith, 1839-1901. person
associatedWith Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States. Commandery of the State of Massachusetts, collector. corporateBody
associatedWith Pacific Railroad corporateBody
associatedWith Porter, Lucia Chauncey. person
associatedWith Roebling, John Augustus, 1806-1869. person
associatedWith Rosser, Thomas Lafayette, 1836-1910. person
associatedWith Sheridan, Philip Henry, 1831-1888. person
associatedWith Sherman, William T. (William Tecumseh), 1820-1891. person
associatedWith Stanley, David Sloane, 1828-1902. person
correspondedWith St. Louis Academy Of Science corporateBody
associatedWith Stokes, William, 1833-1905. person
correspondedWith Torrey, John person
memberOf United States. Army. Corps of Engineers corporateBody
memberOf United States. Army. Corps of Topographical Engineers corporateBody
memberOf United States. Army. New York Infantry Regiment, 5th (1861-1863) corporateBody
memberOf United States. Army of the Potomac. Corps, 2nd corporateBody
memberOf United States. Army of the Potomac. Corps, 5th. corporateBody
alumnusOrAlumnaOf United States Military Academy corporateBody
associatedWith Vandever, Martha, person
associatedWith White, John Chester, 1841-1921. person
Place Name Admin Code Country
Newport RI US
New York NY US
Nebraska NE US
West Point NY US
Mississippi River 00 US
Virginia VA US
Subject
Appomattox Campaign, 1865
Ash Hollow, Battle of, Sept. 3, 1855
Big Bethel, Battle of, Va., 1861
Bristoe Station, Battle of, Va., 1863
Bull Run, 2nd Battle of, Va., 1862
Chancellorsville, Battle of, Chancellorsville, Va., 1863
Civil War, 1861-1865
Fine Arts
Five Forks, Battle of, Va., 1865
Fredericksburg, Battle of, Fredericksburg, Va., 1862
Gaines' Mill, Battle of, Va., 1862
Geology
Gettysburg, Battle of, Gettysburg, Pa., 1863
Gettysburg Campaign, 1863
Globe Tavern, Battle of, 1864
Indians
Internal improvements
Meteorology
Mine Run Campaign, Va., 1863
Natural history
Overland Campaign, Va., 1864
Peninsula Campaign, 1862
Petersburg, Siege of, 1864-1865
Physical geography
Railroads
Scientific publications
Seven Days' Battles, Va., 1862
Smithsonian Building
Smithsonian Exchange
Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Publications
Smithsonian Weather Service
Surveys And Explorations, General
White Oak Road (Va.), Battle of, 1865
Wilderness, Battle of the, Va., 1864
Occupation
Army officers
Engineers
Soldiers
Activity

Person

Birth 1830-01-08

Death 1882-08-08

Male

Americans

English

Information

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