Garrison Duty

Wandering the internet the other day, I came across a document purported to be a "personal war sketch" of Alonzo Wheeler Jerome, inventor of the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+). Some of the dates vary from earlier information I have uncovered, and I have added, below, some further information on Jerome's apparent activity with the 26th Infantry, United States Colored Troops.

Headquarters
Paxton Post No. 387
Department of Illinois
Grand Army of the Republic
Personal War Sketch
of
Comrade Alonzo Wheeler Jerome
Who was born on the eighth day of March, A.D. 1834 in Four Mile Point, County of Greene, State of New York was drafted or conscripted into the service at Jamaica Long Island Nov 16th 1863 and was made Quarter Master Sargeant of the 26th U.S. Colored Troops Feb. 16th 1864 and upon the recommendation of the Quarter Master was promoted by Special order of the War Department in July 1865 to 2nd Lieutenant in the same regiment, serving in this capacity until discharged.
It was Comrade Jerome's fortune to spend a great proportion of his time of service in doing Post and Garrison duty along the Atlantic Seaboard and discipline became a feature of military life with him rather than long marches and exciting campaigns. He took part in an expedition against the rebel defenses of Charleston S.C. during July 1864 from Beaufort S. C. Aside from this monotony was characteristic of service in garrison duty.After being commissioned he served on the staff of Cols Howard and Beed who at different times commanded the Post at Beaufort S.C. where the 26 U.S.C.T. were during guard duty...
He died March 22, 1902 in Springfield, IL and was buried in Glen Cemetary, Paxton, IL.


It is interesting to note the action, according to another source, listed for the 26th Regiment, United States Colored Infantry - it appears to have more than "monotony". (Information was gathered from the online site http://www.bjmjr.com/cwnorth/26usci.htm, which no longer is active.)

SERVICE -Reported at Beaufort, S.C., April 13, 1864 and post duty there till November 27. Expedition to Johns and James Islands July 2-10. Operations against Battery Pringle July 4-9. Actions on Johns Island July 5 and 7. Burden's Causeway July 9. Battle of Honey Hill November 30. Demonstration on Charleston & Savannah Railroad December 6-9. Action at Devaux's Neck December 6. Tillifinny Station December 9. McKay's Point December 22. Ordered to Beaufort, S. C. January 2, 1865, and duty there till August. Mustered Out August 26, 1865. 

The Life of Alonzo Wheeler Jerome

Alonzo Wheeler Jerome was born March 8, 1834 at Four Mile Point, New York. Little is known about his life, and nothing of his early years.

At the age of almost 30, with the United States fighting its Civil War, Jerome was drafted into the Union army in September of 1863, where he served as quartermaster until he was transferred, in April 1865, as quartermaster sergeant, to the 26th infantry regiment of the United States Colored Troops, under the command of Colonel William B. Guernsey, on Long Island, New York.

The 26th USCT served under the Department of the South (Union Army) in South Carolina and was very active on Johns and James Island, Honey Hill, Beaufort, and a number of other locations.

While it is not know when Jerome took up playing chess, it is known that shortly after arriving at their first camp, the soldiers of the 26th immediately went about building both a chapel and a school; the latter, as many of the soldiers expressed an interest in learning to read and write. Might there have been time for the royal game, as well?

Jerome was mustered out of the army as a 2nd Lieutenant in August 1865, at Hilton Head, North Carolina. He returned to Mineola, New York, where he worked in a factory that manufactured agricultural machinery. It was here that Jerome first played his gambit, he said, against G.J. Dougherty.

He moved to Paxton, Illinois in 1868, where he took up the position of manager of a hemp and flax company.

On March 6, 1873, Jerome married 21-year old Jane “Jennie” A. Ostrom, of Paxton. Like Jerome, Jenny had been born in New York.

The Jeromes had one child, a boy, born 1874, who apparently died young (or was institutionalized), as he appears in one census at age 6, but not in future censuses.

Jerome’s public life as a chess player apparently began when a game of his, a King’s Gambit, appeared in the March 1874 issue of the Dubuque Chess Journal. The next issue carried the “New Chess Opening” article. The July issue carried the first Jerome Gambit game that he played against William Shinkman.

In 1875, Jerome and Brownson met and played their games, later printed in the Journal. In one game Brownson offered the McDonnell Double Opening – 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc4 3.b4 Bxb4 4.f4. It is not surprising that he was intrigued by the Jerome Gambit.

Two 1876 games by Jerome were published by the Dubuque Chess Journal, one, a Jerome Gambit, against Shinkman, and the other, a postal odds game (Queen for Queen’s Rook) against the child chess prodigy (later, chess problemist) Frank Norton.

When the Dubuque Chess Journal ceased publication in 1876, it was replaced by the American Chess Journal, and Jerome continued his campaign on behalf of “Jerome’s Double Opening” in its pages for two more years.

News about Jerome then grows scarce. J.W. Miller occasionally mentioned him in his chess column of the Cincinnati Commercial Gazette and S.A. Charles referred to him in his Jerome Gambit writings.

In 1884, of course, Jerome was healthy enough to travel to the Cincinnati Mercantile Library and play a few games with his gambit against Miller.

In 1899, citing diabetes and heart problems, Jerome applied for a disability pension. By that time he and Jennie were living in Springfield, Illinois, where he was working as a guide in the state capital building.

Alonzo Wheeler Jerome died from the complications of a gastric ulcer March 22, 1902 in Springfield, Illinois. He was survived by his wife.

Thoughts About AWJ

A few days ago, Dr. Daaim Shabazz, Associate Professor of Business at Florida A&M University and host of the Chess Drum website, stopped by this blog and left a short, friendly Comment to the "A Short Break from the Jerome Gambit" post.

When I learned that Alozno Wheeler Jerome, father of the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+), had been a lieutenant during the United States' Civil war, serving in the 26th Infantry of the United States Colored Troops, I exchanged emails with Dr. Shabazz, speculating about the possiblity of Jerome being an African American chessplayer.

To have reached the rank of lieutenant in the United States' military would have been almost unheard of for a black man at that time – officers in the U.S.C.T. were invariably white men; and the rank of sergeant was about as high as the troops were allowed to advance. A black lieutenant would have to have been a military genius to have achieved such status.

Further research, though, only supported the rule, not the exception. Jerome's parents identified themselves in the national census as "white", as did Jerome and his wife in the decades that followed. Jerome was drafted into the army of the United States, something only open to white men at the time, and only later reassigned as quartermaster sergeant, to Company C of the 26th Infantry, U.S.C.T.

It is quite possible that Alonzo Wheeler Jerome played chess while in uniform, and perhaps that is when he came up with Jerome's Double Gambit. Further research on that possibility still needs to be done.