Frank Everett White Jr. is trying to correct history.
Three days before Robert E. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox ended the Civil War, his son George Washington Custis Lee was captured at the Battle of Sailor’s Creek in Virginia.
The U.S. Army later awarded the medal of honor to Harris Hawthorn of New York for the capture of Lee, a major general in the Confederate Army. According to White, the medal really belongs to his great-great-grandfather, David Dunnels White, a farmer and soldier from Hawley, Mass.
“If he really did do this and there’s a medal of honor out there for him, he should get it,” said Frank White, a resident of Clinton whose research led him to write a book on the controversy.
David D. White of the Massachusetts regiment (Courtesy Frank White)
He met with Army officials at the Pentagon last month to get them to reconsider an earlier decision to deny the medal to his ancestor.
Those efforts are being supported by Rep. Leonard Lance (R-7th Dist.), who has introduced legislation with Rep. Richard Neal (D-Mass.) to give the Massachusetts farmer the medal.
Other supporters include Republican U.S. Sens. John McCain of Arizona, himself a war hero, and James Inhofe of Oklahoma; and Massachusetts Democratic U.S. Sens. Edward Markey and Elizabeth Warren.
“This is a matter that should be rectified historically,” Lance said. “I would not be involved if I didn’t think there was overwhelming evidence that this should be addressed.”
The Army does not comment on medal of honor awards until one is approved, spokesman Wayne Hall said.
The Battle of Sailor’s Creek was the last major engagement in the Civil War before Lee’s surrender to General Ulysses S. Grant. Union forces routed the Confederate troops, taking 7,700 of them into custody along with six generals, including Custis Lee.
White, fighting with the 37th Massachusetts Regiment, was the soldier who actually brought down Lee, according to accounts reviewed by Frank White. Lee handed over his sword and his revolver.
As the captured troops were being processed, Lee may have tried to escape and then was caught by Hawthorne. According to Frank White, Lee told Hawthorne that he didn’t even have a jackknife on him. That’s because Lee already had handed over his possessions when White captured him, Frank White said.
David White never sought recognition for his deeds, but Hawthorn requested and received a medal of honor in 1894 for the capture of Lee.
“He didn’t like to be in the spotlight,” Frank White said. “He probably told veterans organizations, ‘Just leave it alone.'”
Maj. Gen. George Washington Custis Lee, son of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee (Courtesy Frank White)
Nevertheless, the 37th Massachusetts Regiment Veterans Association in 1897 protested the award, claiming that David White accomplished the deed. The Lance legislation said the group “provided a plethora of eyewitness testimony, sworn affidavits, and physical evidence during their formal protest to support their assertion.” Their efforts went for naught.
“This is sort of like the Red Sox versus the Yankees,” Frank White said. “It’s a Massachusetts regiment versus the New York regiment.”
Fast forward to 2011 when, according to Lance’s bill, the Army’s Center of Military History concluded that “Corporal David Dunnels White of the 37th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, rather than Harris S. Hawthorn, was the actual captor” of Lee.
Army officials remained unconvinced.
“There might be a bureaucratic view to uphold an erroneous decision reached previously, even if that decision was reached 100 years ago,” Lance said. “I think the Army should reach the accurate conclusion without there having to be legislation. However, I’m in the legislative branch of government.”
Frank White, whose grandfather moved to New Jersey from Massachusetts, said he first came across the story of his Civil War ancestor when he began researching his family history 30 years ago.
“I’ve come to know David White as if he was my grandfather, sitting next to me,” he said.
His father, Frank White Sr., served in the Army during World War II and his son, Ethan, attends the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md. A blue-and-gold “Go Navy” banner hangs on his mailbox.
“We have an appreciation of military service and honor,” Frank White said. “This case really compromises what we call the earned title of the medal of honor. It is such a sacred medal that if there is a bogus one, they need to correct that.”
—NJ.com
