Compassion and Chivalry in War: Civil War and WW2

Introduced by Daniel Mallock

The horror, violence, and cruelty of war is occasionally interrupted by deeds of extreme humanitarian bravery and compassion. When these stories are shared, they raise the hairs on the back of one’s neck, and can bring one to tears.

In particular when men show compassion to their enemies it tends to reawaken the soul and remind one that in the midst of war and bloodshed and cruelty, the human heart – the foundation of civilization – is still alive and still motivates men to do deeds of valor for those they would otherwise destroy.

The Civil War is rife with such stories. Three come to mind: First, the selfless bravery and compassion of Sergeant Kirkland at Fredricksburg who will forever be remembered as the “Angel of Mayre’s Heights”. Risking his life to bring water to his wounded foes in blue, Confederate Sgt. Kirkland showed everyone there and thereafter that compassion did not die in the War.

Confederate Lt. James Graves has a special yet largely unknown place in Civil War history. After the Battle of Glasgow, Missouri, late in October of 1864 Lt. Graves was commanding a detachment of Confederate Cavalry escorting Union prisoners to a place of parole. Graves had some 50 mounted men with him to escort the approximately 25 Union officer prisoners in his charge.

He was soon challenged by Bloody Bill Anderson, the notorious bushwhacker and murderer of Centralia infamy. Anderson demanded that Graves surrender the Union officers to him and his men. It was clear that Anderson was planning to kill the Federals. Graves refused.

What happened next is one of the most astounding and special events of the entire War. Graves approached the Union prisoners and told them that Anderson, who they all knew for the cruel man that he was, had demanded them, and that Graves had refused. He informed the Union men that he would fight Anderson and his men, who Graves considered outlaws, rather than surrender his Union escort.

Graves gave the men in blue weapons and a Union flag. The Confederate cavalry escort and the Union officers formed a line of battle together and faced Anderson’s 300. As they advanced, the bushwhackers withdrew, and the Union men were delivered safely to their destination. Never before or since had Union and Confederate soldiers been in line of battle together.

Documentation regarding this event is available in the Official Records and elsewhere though it is scant and difficult to locate. A medal was struck after the War and presented to Graves by these Union officers. Graves traveled from the South to St. Louis to accept this, from what I understand to be, astonishingly beautiful medal.

Someday soon I hope that this superb and very important story will be told in its entirety so that the entire country can learn of the special qualities of our Civil War soldiers of both sides. Most importantly in this time of political division, war, and the ongoing threat of terror it is important for all Americans to see that our history has superb examples of cooperation, compassion, bravery, and a central unifying idea of what is right and what is so very wrong. Identifying a direct threat to both his own command and his escort of enemy officers, Graves defended them rather than walk away and give them up to be killed. This astonishing act of bravery and thoughtfulness is largely unknown, but it deserves a much wider audience.

Another superb example of Civil War compassion under fire comes from Kennesaw Mountain, June 27, 1864:

“It was during this battle that one of the noblest deeds of humanity was performed. Colonel W. H. Martin of the First Arkansas of Cleburne’s division seeing the woods in front of him on fire and burning the wounded Federals, tied a handkerchief to a ramrod and1 amidst the danger of battle mounted the parapet and shouted to the enemy: “We wont fire a gun till you get them away. Be quick.” And with his own men he leaped over our works and helped to remove them. When this was done, a Federal major was so imprssed’ by such magnanimity that he pulled from his belt a brace of fine pistols and presented them to Colonel Martin with
the remark,

“Accept them with my appreciation of the nobility of this deed.”

(Battles and Sketches of the Army of Tennessee, B.L. Ridley, 1906, p319)

Our Civil War seems to have many such stories of compassion and care that one side showed to the other. In fact, an excellent book was written recently on this subject, and I recommend it: My Brother’s Keeper: Union and Confederate Soldiers’ Acts of Mercy During the Civil War by Daniel Rolph (Stackpole, 2002).

WW2 may have similar numbers of stories of compassion and mercy between enemies, but they seem few and far between.

I was sent an email by a friend the other day that I would like to share with you. It originated from a North Carolina shop’s Web Site (Classic Arms) to which I give credit and appreciation here.

I present this story in it’s entirety, and unedited. It is a special thing, and I hope that you will be as affected by it as I was. It is comforting to know that in the middle of the horrific brutality that was the Civil War and WW2 there were warriors on all sides who retained their sense of humanity and compassion and were able to see, if only for a short moment, a brief yet very important moment, that those on the other side were human just like them, and deserving of something better than death. More importantly still, these heroes were brave enough to risk their own lives to help their fellow men even in the midst of mortal combat.

-Daniel Mallock

Chivalry In The Air
As told by Jim Brodie
For Military Appreciation Day
Florida House of Representatives
April 19, 2007

I would like to tell you a story.

A true story of Chivalry, Gallantry, Courage and Compassion.

I hope you will enjoy it and share it with the special people in your life.

At Dawn on the morning of December 20, 1943, American Army Lieutenant Charlie Brown piloted his B-17 bomber into formation and joined nearly 400 others from the 8th Air Force in England to bomb a German fighter factory in Bremen. It was his first mission as pilot in command of this 30 ton 4 engine heavy.

Charlie was 21 years old. His crew of ten were all in their late teens and early twenties. They had worked together and they had trained together…they were more than a crew… they were a team.

The bomber stream crossed the North Sea with American P-47 fighters as escorts. The fighters would stay with them for as long as they had range. But when the fighters turned back to refuel the bombers were on their own.

As they crossed the German coast they were attacked by defending ME 109 fighters.

The Messerschmitt ME 109 fighter was a world class, single engine aircraft, …fast, maneuverable and deadly … armed with machine guns and cannon. The two forces clashed and fought all the way to the outskirts of Bremen. During the action Charlie’s bomber sustained numerous hits wounding several of the crew and knocking out one engine. They were able to stay with the formation but as they approached the target, German anti-aircraft guns opened up. Charlie’s plane was hit again, destroying the Plexiglas nose and wounding the bombardier.

They could have turned back,
they should have turned back
but that’s not what THIS crew was all about.

They stayed with the mission and dropped their bombs directly on the target.

They were unable to keep up with the formation as it turned back toward England.

Alone as a straggler they were an easy target. Once again the German fighters attacked. Machine gun and cannon fire tore through the airplane.

The American gunners fought back bravely …all 10 machine guns blazing. Charlie flying his bomber directly into the oncoming Germans as if it were a fighter, employing tactics no bomber was built for.

The one sided battle lasted far longer than anyone could have expected, one German fighter destroyed, another probable…but the flying fortress and the crew were being shredded…Charlie was hit in the right arm.

At 25 thousand feet the controls of a second engine were shot away and the bomber’s oxygen supply was destroyed. Without oxygen the crew and pilot lost consciousness and the bomber spiraled toward earth 5 miles below.

The Germans scored it as another kill and raced off after the main bomber formation. Charlie’s B-17 continued its lumbering death spiral.
Miraculously the out of control bomber was spiraling slowly enough that the pilot regained consciousness in time to get control of the airplane and leveled off at 150 feet.

Charlie ordered his co-pilot to prepare the crew to bail out if he could get enough altitude for the parachutes to open. The co-pilot came back and told him of the dead and wounded crew and the horribly damaged airplane. They were in no condition to bail out.

Charlie replied, “that’s okay, I can’t get any altitude anyway”,…throw everything overboard to lighten the load”…parachutes, life rafts, machine guns. A third engine was now acting up.

As they flew, their course took them, unknowingly, over a Luftwaffe fighter base.

On the ground German fighter Ace, Lt. Franz Stigler was having his Messerschmitt fighter re-armed and re-fueled. He had already shot down two of the American bombers that morning adding to his long list of what would be 28 aerial victories.

He could not believe his luck, here was another target and he went off to bag number three for the day which would surely earn him the Knight’s Cross presented by the Furher himself!

As Franz sped toward his target his experience told him to do it just right, even though this American was alone and a straggler, he had been shot down by B17’s before and he had the wounds to show for it.

As he approached from the rear Franz noticed how low and how strangely the bomber was flying. The closer he got the more amazed he was that it was flying at all.

It was terribly shot up. He determined he would get as close as possible…..his 30 mm cannon and machine guns ready…..his finger on the trigger. As soon as the tail gunner would raise his guns Franz would blow them out of the sky and go home a hero….once again.

Closer….still closer….yet, no reaction from the crippled bomber. The much faster fighter flew by in a wide arc without firing. Franz noticed the tail gunner was dead… blood was everywhere.

He saw the courageous American crew struggling to save their comrades and a valiant young pilot trying to keep his airplane flying.

As the German fighter passed, them the entire crew was horrified. They were helpless; they were doomed…and they knew it…they were all about to die.

The defender of the Reich circled back, still in amazement that this bomber could remain airborne. He approached again and did not fire. This time slowing down enough to fly in formation on Charlie’s right wing.

Charlie, bleeding from his wound looked in horror, could not believe what he was seeing. The two 20 something warriors stared at each other, each other, each taking the measure of the other airman…the planes just a few feet apart.

He signaled Charlie to drop his landing gear, land in Germany and surrender. Charlie, either not understanding, or still groggy, just glared back. He refused to give up his ship on his first mission as pilot in command.

Again, Franz, using hand signals, ordered the American pilot to land and be taken prisoner. Charlie refused.

Franz thought to himself, “I can’t murder this brave but helpless crew and their “cowboy ” pilot, but we are still way inside Germany and if I leave them alone they will be dropped by the next fighter or flak gun”.

So, in an act of great compassion and chivalry and risking facing a firing squad, German Lt. Franz Stigler escorted American Lt. Charlie Brown’s bomber to the North Sea coast. He pointed toward England…then he saluted, said “happy birthday cowboy” rolled his fighter into a hard right turn and headed back to base never to breathe a word of what had happened.

He flew an incredible 480 combat missions… was credited with 28 victories and 40 more probables. He survived bring shot down 17 times.

Charlie and the crew were in total disbelief. This gallant German knight had given them life. They continued across the North Sea, crash landing on the coast of England.

Charlie continued to serve his country throughout the war flying 30 more combat missions over Germany and retired from the Air Force as a Lt. Colonel. He and his crew related their story to the Army brass and were told, “Bury it”, your mission is classified Secret “we are at war, son… there are no gallant Germans”. But Charlie and the crew never forgot the chivalrous airman who gave them back their lives.

That should be the end of the story…but it’s not.

Forty five years later in 1988, Charlie attended a reunion of his WWII bomber squadron and told his story. Fifty seven children and grandchildren had been born to the surviving crew of Charlie’s bomber. The press was there and a reprint of the story was eventually published in a German fighter pilot’s magazine.

A year later, in December of 1989, Charlie received a five page type written letter postmarked Surrey, British Columbia. In the letter was a precise description of the air action over Bremen Germany on December, 20 1943…details that only Charlie knew, such as aircraft markings, time of day, precise battle damage and even the wave salute.

Charlie couldn’t believe it; how could this be possible? He was suspicious, but the details were accurate, the same story told from a totally different perspective. He telephoned Canada; for an hour the two spoke; every detailed was described. Charlie and his wife Jackie flew to British Columbia and met Franz and his wife Helga. In the airport in Canada the two old warriors, now in their 70’s, once again came face to face. They stared at each other; fears and memories that had been locked away came rushing back. With tears in their eyes they embraced.

Franz said, “Happy Birthday Cowboy”, for it was December 20th, 1989.

Franz and Charlie have remained friends ever since and have become as close as brothers.