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| by Brian C. Brehm, Winchester Star
Capt. Henry Algernon DuPont, commander of the Artillery Brigade, VIII Corps, received the nation's highest honor for keeping Union cannon from falling into Confederate hands during the initial early-morning attack. Oddly enough, DuPont really didn't need to be there. He was one of the DuPonts, the family whose company was the primary supplier of gunpowder to the U.S. Army and Navy. “Every shot he fired was a profit for his family,” joked author and military historian Joseph W.A. Whitehorne, a history professor at Lord Fairfax Community College in Middletown and a retired Army officer. Blue-Blood Born on July 30, 1838, into a family fortune first established by his grandfather, industrialist E.I. DuPont, the young DuPont certainly had the financial resources to keep him out of military service. But he wanted to fight. “He liked being a soldier,” Whitehorne said. DuPont, of Wilmington, Del., dreamed of attending Virginia Military Institute, but enrollment was limited to state residents. Instead, he attended the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and graduated first in his class, after which he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army. DuPont was later promoted to first lieutenant, then captain. Added Responsibility In 1864, he was a colonel, overseeing all the artillery in Brig. Gen. George Crook's VIII Corps. DuPont proved himself in battle at New Market on May 15, 1864, when he used his artillery to slow the advance of Confederate forces, buying valuable time for the Federals to escape to the north. At Piedmont on June 5, 1864, DuPont's 22 guns drove back the Rebels and helped break the Confederate lines. The Union army won the day. The Valley Campaign took DuPont to Lexington on June 11 and 12, 1864, where Gen. David “Black Dave” Hunter ordered DuPont to burn VMI in retaliation for the school's cadets joining in the fight against the Federals at New Market. DuPont, who had applied to the school seven years earlier, protested the order, but Hunter overrode his objections and torched the institute. A few months later, on the morning of Oct. 19, 1864, DuPont and the rest of the Army of the Shenandoah were encamped along the banks of Cedar Creek. A few months later, on the morning of Oct. 19, 1864, DuPont and the rest of the Army of the Shenandoah encamped along the banks of Cedar Creek. Storm Center DuPont positioned his two artillery batteries between Cedar Creek and the Valley Pike, south of Belle Grove. The Confederates moved in quickly and took control of the first battery. Stationed at the second battery, DuPont ordered his men to fire on the enemy, but the thick morning fog shrouded the Confederates' positions. In desperation, he told his lieutenant: “Fire to the left in the direction of the sound.” Confederates quickly overran the federals. DuPont's priority shifted to saving his battery's remaining five cannons and keeping them out of enemy hands. “He got all his guns out,” Whitehorne said, “and then, in the course of the day, he took control of nearly every piece of artillery on the field.” The Union army survived the initial assault and then rallied to victory later in the day. Medal of Honor But it would take another 34 years for his actions to be recognized. DuPont was given the Medal of Honor in 1898. The citation states: “By his distinguished gallantry and voluntary exposure to the enemy's fire at a critical moment, when the Union lines had been broken, encouraged his men to stand to their guns, checked the advance of the enemy, and brought off most of his pieces.” Political Career DuPont remained in the Army after the war, eventually rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel. But he left his beloved military life in 1875 under pressure to join the family business. He managed shipping for the DuPont company for four years, then served as president of the Wilmington Northern Railroad Co. from 1879 to 1899. After retiring from business life, DuPont became a gentleman farmer in Delaware. In 1906, he was elected to fill an unexpired term in the U.S. Senate. He was re-elected in 1911, but lost his bid for a third term in 1917. In 1906, he was elected to fill an unexpired term in the U.S. Senate. He was re-elected in 1911, but lost his bid for a third term in 1917. Though nearly half a century had passed, DuPont never forgot the role he had played in the burning of VMI. During his time in the Senate, he successfully lobbied the government to pay $100,000 in compensation to the institute to apologize for the school's destruction during the Civil War. The money was used to build Jackson Memorial Hall, which houses the VMI Museum, in 1915. DuPont was 88 years old when he died on New Year's Eve, 1926, near his birthplace in Wilmington. He is buried in the DuPont family cemetery in Greenville, Del. Sources: “The Guns of Cedar Creek” by Thomas A. Lewis, 1988, Harper and Row Publishers Inc., “Henry Algernon DuPont: One of Delaware's Medal of Honor Recipients” by Russ Pickett, 2003, Government Information Center of Delaware, “The History of Fort Adams” by John T. Duchesneau, 1998, E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co., “Biographical Directory of the United States Congress: 1774-Present,” Office of History and Preservation, Washington, D.C. The American Battlefield Protection Program of the National Park Service and the Virginia Military Institute. |
Acts of bravery were in abundance at the Battle of Cedar Creek, but only one man was awarded the Medal of Honor.