Ulric Dahlgren (April 3, 1842 – March 2, 1864) was an American military officer who served as colonel in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He was the son of Union Navy Rear Admiral John A. Dahlgren and nephew to Confederate Brigadier General Charles G. Dahlgren.
He fought in several key battles in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War and had his leg amputated below the knee after being wounded at the Battle of Gettysburg. He returned to military service and was killed in 1864 during the Battle of Walkerton while leading a raid on the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia.
Confederate forces found documents on Dahlgren with orders to not only free Union prisoners from Belle Isle, but also allegedly to burn the city of Richmond and assassinate Confederate President Jefferson Davis and his cabinet. The documents were published in the Richmond newspapers and caused outrage in the South with accusations that the orders came from President Lincoln. Union newspapers claimed the papers were forged and reports of mistreatment of Dahlgren's corpse inflamed public opinion in the North. The controversy became known as the Dahlgren Affair.
Early life
thumb|upright|left|Ulric Dahlgren
Dahlgren was born on April 3, 1842, in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. He was the second son to Rear Admiral John A. Dahlgren and Mary Clement Bunker. His uncle, Charles G. Dahlgren, settled in Mississippi and joined the Confederate Army as a general.
The family moved to Wilmington, Delaware, in 1843 and then to Washington, D.C. in 1848. After completing school in 1858, Dahlgren's father instructed him in civil engineering and in 1859, he worked surveying land for his uncle, Charles G. Dahlgren, in Mississippi. In September 1860, he moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and worked in the law office of another uncle, Jasper W. Paul.
American Civil War
Dahlgren entered military service in March 1861, and on July 24, 1861, joined the U.S. Navy. He was assigned to an expedition from the Washington Ship Yard to help in the defense of Alexandria, Virginia. He returned to Philadelphia in September 1861 and resumed his legal studies. He was part of a light artillery company in Philadelphia.
He fought at the Second Battle of Bull Run, the Battle of Fredericksburg, the Battle of Chancellorsville, the Battle of Brandy Station, and the Battle of Gettysburg. During the Battle of Fredericksburg, he and sixty Union cavalry captured the city and held it for three hours. They were eventually forced to retreat, but were able to take thirty-one confederate prisoners. For these efforts, Dahlgren received a Commission as colonel on July 24, 1863.
On February 28, Kilpatrick and Dahlgren left from Stevensburg, Virginia. Kilpatrick was to attack Richmond from the North with 3,500 men and Dahlgren from the South with 500 men. Snow, sleet and rain from an unexpected winter storm slowed the attack. Dahlgren's forces were led to a ford on the James River near Dover Mills by an African-American guide, Martin Robinson. The troops were not able to cross due to the high water level caused by the downpour from the storm. Dahlgren believed he had been tricked by the guide and had him hanged as punishment. The Union troops were continually harassed by Confederate forces during the retreat and became separated. On the night of March 3, Dahlgren and a portion of his troops were ambushed near King and Queen Court House by 150 men in the 9th Virginia Cavalry under the command of Lieutenant James Pollard. Dahlgren was shot by four bullets and died on the battlefield. Several other Union soldiers were killed in the ambush
Dahlgren affair
thumb|Dahlgren Raid Headline March 1864
Dahlgren's body was searched by a 13-year-old boy, William Littlepage. He was searching for valuables but found a packet of papers that he gave to his teacher Edward Halbach. The papers were orders to free Union prisoners from Belle Isle, supply them with flammable material and torch the city of Richmond. The orders of Union troops purportedly were to capture and kill Confederate President Jefferson Davis and his cabinet. The papers were published in the Richmond Examiner and sparked outrage in the South. The newspapers compared Dahlgren to Attila the Hun and speculated that Lincoln himself had given the orders. These reports of the mistreatment of Dahlgren's corpse inflamed Northern public opinion.
Union newspapers claimed the orders were a forgery and Dahlgren's father strongly denied his son would be involved in such a scandal. Union Major General George Meade had to personally assure Confederate General Robert E. Lee that the orders were not sanctioned by the Union Army. The controversy may have contributed to John Wilkes Booth's decision to assassinate President Abraham Lincoln a year later.
It was never determined if the orders were written by Dahlgren, Kilpatrick, Edwin M. Stanton or President Lincoln. The papers misspelled Dahlgren's name which casts doubt that they were written by him. After the war, the papers of the Confederate Government were relocated to Washington, D.C. The Dahlgren papers were personally requested by Stanton and have not been seen since.