Robert Schenck was an officer in the Civil War and served under President Ulysses S Grant during as Minister to Great Britain. He was at the First and Second Battles of Bull Run and took part in Jackson's Valley Campaign of 1862 and the Battle of Cross Keys. His eldest brother, James Findlay Schenck, was a rear admiral in the United States Navy.
Early Life
- Robert Schenk was born in Franklin, Ohio. His father was William Cortenus Schenk and Elizabeth Rogers.
- He had strong Dutch ancestry and was born in Monmouth County, New Jersey.
- His father was a land speculator and an important early settler of Ohio. He had also served in the War of 1812.
- When Robert was 12 years old, his father died, and he was put under the guardianship of General James Findlay.
- In 1824, Robert Schenck entered Miami University as a sophomore and graduated with a bachelor of arts degree with honors in 1827, but remained in Oxford, Ohio, employing his time in reading and as tutor of French and Latin, until 1830, when he received the degree of Master of Arts.
- He began to study law and was admitted to the bar in 1831.
- He moved to Dayton, Ohio, and became successful in his vocation.
- On August 21, 1834, Schenck was married to Miss Renelsche W. Smith at Nissequogue, Long Island, New York. Six children were born to the union, all girls. Three of them died in infancy. Three daughters survived him. His wife died of tuberculosis in 1849 in Dayton, Ohio.
- In 1838, Schenk ran for the State Legislature and lost but gained a term in 1841.
- He was a prominent Whig known for his speaking ability. He gained much recognition for his ability during the Presidential Campaign of 1840.
- He was opposed to the Mexican-American War
- In March 1851, was appointed by President Millard Fillmore, Minister to Brazil and also accredited to Uruguay, Argentine Confederation, and Paraguay.
- He was directed by the Government to visit Buenos Aires, Montevideo, and Asunción and make treaties with the republics around the Río de la Plata and its tributaries.
- Several treaties were concluded with these governments.
- Schenck became an early advocate for Abraham Lincoln.
The Civil War
- Robert Schenck joined the Union Army after the firing on Fort Sumter.
- Although not a military man, he was commissioned brigadier general of volunteers.
- On June 17, 1861, Union Army Major General Irvin McDowell sent the 1st Ohio Volunteer Infantry Regiment under the overall command of Schenck and the immediate command of Col. Alexander McDowell McCook to expand the Union position in Fairfax County, Virginia.
- Schenck took six companies over the Alexandria, Loudon, and Hampshire Railroad line, dropping off detachments to guard railroad bridges between Alexandria, Virginia, and Vienna, Virginia. As the train approached Vienna, about 4 miles north of Fairfax Court House and 15 miles from Alexandria, 271 officers and men remained with the train.
- On the same day, Confederate States Army Col. Maxcy Gregg took the 6–month 1st South Carolina Infantry Regiment, about 575 men, two companies of cavalrymen (about 140 men) and a company of artillery with two artillery pieces (35 men), about 750 men in total, on a scouting mission from Fairfax Court House toward the Potomac River On their return trip, at about 6:00 p.m., the Confederates heard the train whistle in the distance.
- Gregg moved his artillery pieces to a curve in the railroad line near Vienna and placed his men around the guns. Seeing this disposition, an elderly local Union sympathizer ran down the tracks to warn the approaching train of the hidden Confederate force. The Union officers mostly ignored his warning, and the train continued down the track. In the only response to the warning, an officer was placed on the forward car as a lookout.
- The Union soldiers spotted the Confederates, but not before the Confederates could unload their hidden cannons, which inflicted casualties. The Union soldiers dispersed and avoided more casualties.
- Schenck ordered Lieutenant William H. Raynor to go back to the engine and have the engineer take the train out of range in the other direction. Schenck quickly followed Raynor. Raynor had to help loosen the brakes. Since the brakeman had uncoupled most of the cars, the engineer left them. He did not stop for the Union soldiers to catch up but continued all the way back to Alexandria.
- Schenck now had no means of communication and had to have the wounded men carried back to their camp in blankets by soldiers on foot. The regiment's medical supplies and instruments had been left on the train.
- Many of the Union infantrymen took shelter behind the cars and tried to return fire against the Confederate force amid a confusion of conflicting orders. McCook reorganized many of them in the woods. The two forces were slightly out of effective musket range, and few shots were taken by either side.
- As darkness fell, the Union force was able to retreat and to elude Confederate cavalry pursuers in the broken terrain. The Confederate pursuit also was apparently called off early due to apprehension that the Union forces might be only the advance of a larger body of troops and because the Confederate force was supposed to return to their base that night.
- Schenck commanded a brigade in Brig. Gen. Daniel Tyler's division at the First Battle of Bull Run.
- After the tide of battle turned against the Union force and many units began to flee the battlefield, parts of Schenck's brigade, along with the United States Regulars under Maj. George Sykes, the brigade of three regiments of Germans under Col. Louis Blenker, the brigade of Col. Erasmus Keyes, and the 1st and 2nd Rhode Island Infantry Regiments left the field in relatively good order as the remainder of the Union Army retreated in disorder.
- Schenck took part in the Jackson's Valley Campaign of 1862 in the Shenandoah Valley, the Battle of Cross Keys, and was, for a time, commander of the I Corps in Maj. Gen. Franz Sigel's absence. Ordered to join the Army of Virginia, then under Maj. Gen. John Pope joined it just before the Second Battle of Bull Run and was in the thick of the fighting of the two days that followed, being severely wounded on the second day and his right arm permanently injured. He was promoted to major general on September 18, 1862, to rank from August 30, 1862.
- His wound left him unfit for duty in the field.
- He was assigned to the tough job of keeping the peace in Maryland and repressing all turbulence. He was not popular among the dissenters.
- He resigned his commission to take his seat in Congress.
Post-Civil War
- He resumed his work in Congress until 1871
- Schenck was appointed by President Ulysses Grant as Minister to the United Kingdom, and he sailed for England in July 1871. As a member of the Alabama Claims Commission, he took part in settling the claims arising from the exploits of Raphael Semmes and his Confederate raider
- He was instrumental in backing the dollar with gold rather than gold and silver.
- He served as Minister to Great Britain from 1871 - 1876 for President Ulysses S. Grant.
- Upon his return from England later that year, he resumed his law practice in Washington, D.C.
- He also published a book on draw poker, Draw. Rules for Playing Poker.
- Schenck was an accomplished scholar, thoroughly informed on international and constitutional law, well versed in political history, and familiar with the whole range of modern literature, English, French, and Spanish.
- Schenck died in Washington, D.C., on March 23, 1890, aged 80, and was interred in Woodland Cemetery, Dayton, Ohio.