will wonders never cease ~

late breaking research info from an innerliberry loan source that just came in: i was under the impression that Poppet resigned his commission in spite of being offered a promotion due to his poor health (maybe this is his story?).

an account by William Hyndman in History of a Cavalry Company tells another story entirely. it's a story in which company elections were "bought" out by someone (George Covode ~ boo hiss) by means of "wire-pulling and political chicanery" (naturally: Wads was dead, Poppet no longer had his sage support ~ how much do we want to wager that all this doing was payback for Poppet not making a whole lot of friends trying to keep D.C. honest while acting provost?).

to offset the insult, the brass offered Poppet a promotion to another regiment. even though this was his own ~ he'd raised it and he'd already been wiled away from it once before! but they went and gave it to someone else ~ a complete stranger no less? fie! so Poppet basically resigned "with a proper manly spirit" in disgust. i don't blame him. he deserved better.

says hyndman:

he had borne himself, throughout, with that firm bravery and fine sense of honor which so richly adorn the soldier and gentleman. There was no stroke of misfortune, to which the regiment had been subjected for a long time, which was so keenly felt as this.

hyndman goes on to say "Republics are ungrateful" and that this was perhaps "one of those inscrutable designs of Providence" since Covode ate it at their next battle outing. if it had been Poppet at the fore, he'd have been the one to take the bullet.

in his dedication, hyndman inscribes the book to the "officers and members of Company "A" 4th Penna. Cavalry ~ and specially to Col. [dropping the Lt. part obviously intentional here] Wm. E. Poppet, through whose energy and tact the Company was originally organized, and through whom its discipline and efficiency were perfected." he tempers his walks-on-water praise by saying Poppet was a strict disciplinarian and at first he took some getting used to, but Poppet was clearly sensible about drill, orderliness, and keeping his troops from being idle or falling into bad habits. when they had long spells of nothing to do, he organized sporting events to keep them entertained. "Gallant, courteous, vigilant, and energetic, he was idolized by his men." i find it appalling that such glowing praise has heretofore been absent with regards to Poppet. it's kind of nice to know there is another side to the aftermath of condemnations resulting from the trial (mostly on the part of careless historians ~ and i will confess, again, to once being one of those critics ~ but i stand corrected on all counts).

since Poppet never talks about himself in any of his writing, it's impossible to know how he felt about all of this. typical of his good taste, he never mentions any of this directly in his non-memoir (though i will go back and see if there are intimations). if he was at all bitter about it, it didn't stop him from being a huge advocate for the veteren association (for which he served at least some years as president). my impression: Poppet had so much disappointment just prior to and during the war that i think he just took these things in stride.

about the author hyndman, not a whole lot is known ~ he enlisted in Poppet's Company A at 19 in 1862 and rose up in the ranks to eventually be captain himself by the end of the war. after he published his history in 1870, he pretty much vanished (his widow applied for pension in 1894, which i guess may well be when he died).

of note: the regiment was officially disbanded on July 8, 1865 ~ the day after the execution.

i wonder if Poppet noticed.



an anonymous undated painting of the 4th Penn. Cav.
at its earliest proving grounds outside of d.c.
Poppet would be one of those officers
after that cluster at the front.