Hi,

As you all know, Col. Graham Newell Fitch commanded the Union land forces at St. Charles and throughout the White River relief expedition. It was his Hoosier soldiers who overran Lt. Fry's position after his gunners shot up the Mound City (Fry was later parolled and commanded Confederate forces at the Post of Arkansas in January 1863). Col. Fitch was the first Yankee soldier to introduce the counterinsurgency policy that held civilian populations responsible for guerrilla activities. He was also the older half brother of Lt. Cmdr. Le Roy Fitch, who became something of a Federal navy leader in the application of anti-guerrilla warfare tactics. Because there is a distinct possibility that the younger brother may have communicated with his sibling on White River lessons during the period along about August-September 1862, I have included the White River Mound City story in my book "Le Roy Fitch: The Civil War Career of a Union River Gunboat Commander" (McFarland, 2007).