fiddlers green moses harris

Fiddler's Green: Moses Harris

Thanks to Chris Swift for posting about Harris last week and bringing

this post back to mind.

Moses Harris was born in Andover, New Hampshire on September 6, 1839.

He enlisted in Company G, 1st Cavalry Regiment from New Hampshire in

1857, which became the 4th Cavalry Regiment in August 1861. He served

in the company as a private, corporal and sergeant in the western

theater until 1864.

He was appointed a second lieutenant in the 1st Cavalry Regiment on

May 18, 1864, and moved to the eastern theater to join his regiment.

Harris was promoted to first lieutenant in the same regiment on August

15, 1864, assuming command of a company.

Two weeks later, during an engagement at Smithfield, West Virginia,

Harris was serving as the second in command of the regiment's reserve

squadron under the command of a Captain Hoyer. The squadron of

approximately 150 troopers was ordered to charge a Confederate cavalry

brigade that had broken through the line. Captain Hoyer was mortally

wounded during the approach, so Lieutenant Harris assumed command and

ordered the charge in a column of fours. His squadron broke and routed

the Confederate brigade. Harris was later awarded the Medal of Honor

on January 23, 1896 "for most distinguished gallantry in action at

Smithfield, West Virginia, August 28, a864, where in an attack on a

largely superior force his personal gallantry was so conspicuous as to

inspire the men to extraordinary effort resulting in the complete rout

of the enemy."

A month later, Lieutenant Harris was brevetted captain on September

19, 1864 "for gallant and meritorious service in the battle of

Winchester, Virginia." His squadron had stubbornly resisted the

advance of Confederate General Early's troops after the VI Corps broke

during the early phases of the battle.

Moses Harris remained in service after the war, and was promoted to

captain in the 1st Cavalry on June 20, 1872. His post-war experiences

were somewhat different than those of many of his peers.

On August 13, 1886, Captain Harris received an unusual order. He was

ordered by General Sheridan himself to take his cavalry troop to

Yellowstone National Park and assume command of the park from the

departing civilian superintendent and his staff. He was charged to

protect and administer the park. Elements of the cavalry remained in

the park for the next 32 years.

Harris arrived at Mammoth Hot Springs on August 20 at the head of his

column. Troop M, 1st Cavalry consisted of himself, two lieutenants,

twenty enlisted men, 56 horses, 17 mules, three wagons, and an

ambulance. His first order was to combat a wildfire burning nearby.

His second was to begin the construction of Fort Sheridan (later

renamed Fort Yellowstone) between Mammoth Hot Springs and the Gardiner

River.

After his service in Yellowstone, Harris penned two articles for the

Journal of the United States Cavalry Association that contain valuable

information for Civil War cavalry researchers. With The Reserve

Brigade, in 1890 and 1891, was a four part series that covered the

service of the Reserve Brigade from July 1864 through Appomatox in

detail. The Union Cavalry, published in 1892, is a shorter, more

general work covering cavalry service during the entire war.

Moses Harris was promoted to major in the 8th Cavalry Regiment on July