Major General William Starke Rosecrans

West Point, 1837-1842

West Point was known as an Episcopalian seminary heavy on the classics with the students divided by ability. Rosecrans was put in the superior group. By midterm he was 8^th in French and 5^th in math. By the end of his second year he was 5^th among 231 corps members. The nickname "Old Rosy" stuck.

Upperclassmen were Irvin McDowell, P.G.T. Beauregard, Edward Ord, Isaac Steven, Henry Halleck, George Henry Thomas and William Tecumseh Sherman. His classmates were George Sykes, Earl Van Dorn, Lafayette McLaws, Daniel Hill, Abner Doubleday, and Alexander Stewart - all became Major Generals in the Civil War. His roommate was South Carolina’s James Longstreet. Rosecrans was considered a studious Ohioan and often assisted roommate James Longstreet with classwork.
 

Cadet "Old Rosy"

William was a social and high spirited individual.  Although he felt dueling stupid, he did manage to get pulled into fighting a duel involving a lady.  Dueling was forbidden and would have met dismissal.  Fortunately the challenger apologized when the excellent marksman Rosecrans selected pistols at 6 paces. 

While West Point taught military skills like marksmanship and riding, it did not teach military strategy. Professor Dennis Hart Mahon taught engineering and started the Napoleon Club to

study Napoleon’s campaigns. Only the best cadets became members of the club and joined Professor Mahon on summer encampments where they learned strategy and put it to use. Perhaps the hand in the coat like Napoleon marked those that were in the Napoleon Club.

William excelled in planning the military maneuvers. From this time through the rest of his life he studied everything  he could  find  to read about Napoleon and

Cadet 
Rosecrans

Frederick the Great endeavoring to understand their grand strategy.

Napoleon Bonaparte

In the fall of 1841, William Ranked 5^th in his class and remained there through graduation. He was considered brilliant in mathematics and found French 'tolerably easy."  

Wikipedia Photo
from kathleenbrzezinski

During the summer of this last year, Rosecrans had his first encounter with  a  fellow Ohioan Hiram (Ulysses S.) Grant.  Lamers tells the meeting went as follows:  Rosecrans was serving as officer of the day and found Grant in the yard.  "I'm guarding the pump,"  the naive Grant explained.  "I have orders to stand here until the next call."

"You go to bed at tattoo, and douse the lights at taps." Rosecrans told him.

"But how do I know that you are not playing a trick on me too?" asked Grant.

"See my chevrons.  I'm officer of the day."   How much effect this encounter was to have on the rest of their lives is left to the reader's imagination.

When Cadets speculated who would be the most distinguished in later life, by general agreement it was "brilliant Rosy Rosecrans."

At graduation, Miss Anna Elizabeth Hegeman of New York was a house guest of Professor Jacob W. Bailey.  Graduates Gustavus Smith and William invited Misses Susan Bailey and Annie to walk to a local rendezvous spot, the Crow's Nest.  That evening William was in love with "Annie" noted Lamers.

Army Corps of Engineers

Point Comfort in Virginia. The project took a year to complete.  While he enjoyed the challenge of the work, the pay was meager, promotions were slow and the turnover was small.   It was also a distance from Annie in New York.

In April 1843 he made 1^st Lieutenant.  He served as First Assistant Engineer.

William wrote to West Point seeking a professorship which he won that summer.  He left Fortress Monroe on the 20th of August, 1843.

Ann Hegeman Marries W. S. Rosecrans

St. Paul's
Chapel

On August 24, 1843, William married Ann Eliza Hegeman in St. Paul’s Chapel in New York. (St. Paul’s Chapel is part of Trinity Episcopal Church which remained standing across the street from the twin towers when they fell during 9-11. George Washington attended that church.) Ann was the daughter of Judge Adrian Hegeman. 
 

Anne Rosecrans

Ann Eliza is usually referred to as Anne.  I suspect she was called "Ann E." to keep her straight from the others named Ann and Eliza in her family.  This was shortened to Anne  which became the General's name for her.

Since this is the General's story, I shall use his spelling of her name.

Knowing William was still just a man from a small town in Ohio who always planned everything, I decided to find out more about  his  wife. 

I quickly  discovered  the  Hegeman family was well known in New York and Anne had a brother William,  When trying to determine why the Rosecrans family moved to Cincinnati, I discovered a William Hegeman married to a Miss Niven in that area. Their daughter Elise Ann married the Honorable Chauncey M.

Depew.  Although several inquiries yielded no help, Mr. John Dobson knew the family descended of Adriaen Hegeman who was an early Dutch settler in New Amsterdam in 1652. He settled on the western side of Long Island.  

The bridegroom's ancestor Harmon Hendrick Rosenkrants came to New Amsterdam and married in 1657. Unfortunately on his wedding day his wife insulted the inn keeper who was the fire warden (an appointee) and they were deported to Holland for a year. Were the early families acquainted?  While the Rosenkrants were movers and spread across the country, the Hegemans stayed in New York. Almost 200 hundred years later the two Dutch families were joined.

Lamers read the many letters from Anne to William and from William to Anne which were kept and said they were full of love and consideration for each other.  It was also helpful for Anne to be from an old and prosperous family.  Years later after Anne's father died, her mother Eliza Hegeman came to live with William and Anne.  Her money helped the family survive in the lean years.  With characteristic Rosecrans bluntness, Sylvester said his brother was "living off his wife."   Eliza continued to make her home with them until she died in Mexico while the General was the Minister to Mexico.

West Point Assistant Professor

Search for a Religious Home

As a baby William Rosecrans was baptized by the Methodist circuit rider at his grandmother’s insistence. William’s father used the Bible as his religion but followed no formal church services. However, both Kenyan College and West Point were Episcopalian.

As an undergraduate, William was impressed by the Transcendentalists like Emerson and Thoreau.

In 1844, an Irish book peddler told William about the Catholic Church and got him to read John Milner’s The End of Religious Controversy. This was an eye opener for William. He converted to the Roman Catholic Church. In 1845 William wrote to his brother who was in his 3^rd year and Kenyon College and suggested he read the same book.

Methodist
Circuit Rider Statue in Washington
 

Later that year while Sylvester was visiting him, William again suggested he make the conversion. Before he returned home, Sylvester was baptized with William and Anne his godparents. For the remainder of the summer, Sylvester walked from Homer to Mt. Vernon (8 miles) to attend mass - often fasting so he could take communion. In the fall he transferred to a Catholic School in New York. He graduated top in his class and was recommended to attend the Propaganda in Rome to study being a priest. When he completed his studies, he was ordained into the priesthood in Rome. Meanwhile William Rosecrans carried on a long correspondence with Pope Pius IX which is now stored in the Vatican.

Stationed in Newport Harbor

In 1847 William was again in active service and sent to design and rebuild fortifications along the east coast. The family moved to Newport, Rhode Island..   William constructed a military wharf, and worked on the batteries and interior arrangements of forts. He designed a general system of permanent barracks (which was approved by Captain Robert E. Lee) that would be used for 30 years. He also invented a way to dredge 30' deep which was eight times as efficient as using diving bells, and he perfected a rapid way to pour piers underwater.

Washington Navy Yard

(04/11/2017