MAJOR-GENERAL ORMSBY MCKNIGHT MITCHELL. 531
railroad. He also participated in the seven days' fight, es- pecially at Gaines' Mills, in the battles under Pope, in the Maryland campaign, and at Antietam. He was made ma- jor-general in command of the Twelfth corps, July 4th, 1862, participating in the battle of Fredericksburg, and in that of Chancellorsville. At Gettysburg, he commanded the right wing, and in September was sent to Vicksburg, where he remained until August, 1864. In the Atlanta campaign, he commanded the Twentieth corps, being the first to enter that city; and in the campaign through Georgia and the Carolinas, commanded Sherman's left wing. At the end of the war, he was appointed to command the Department of the Mississippi, but in September, 1865, resigned his com- mission. He received the nomination of the Democratic party in the State of New York, to the office of Secretary of State, in September, but was not elected.
MAJOR-GENERAL ORMSBY MCKNIGHT MITCH- ELL was born in Union County, Kentucky, in 1810, and graduated at West Point in 1829. He was appointed assistant professor of mathemathics at the Military Acad- emy, and held the position two years; after which, having resigned from the service, he studied law, was admitted to the bar, and practiced in Cincinnati until the year 1834, when he was elected professor of mathematics, astronomy, and philosophy, in the college of that city. He proposed in 1845 to erect a grand observatory, and the design was ultimately carried into operation. While in 1859, he was chosen director of the Dudley Observatory at Albany, he still continued connected with that at Cincinnati. He was distinguished as an astronomical lecturer, wrote several standard works on the subject, and had gained a high repu- tation as a savant, when he left his scientific pursuits for the tented field. In August, 1861, he was commissioned brig- adier-general of volunteers, and served under General Buell in the Department of the Ohio. After the capture of Bowling Green and Nashville, he moved rapidly to the southward, and broke the enemy's communications, by seizing the railway between Corinth and Chattanooga. He was re- lieved of his command in July, 1862, and in September of the same year appointed commander of the Department of the South. Preparing for an active campaign, he fell a vic-
tim to the yellow fever at Beaufort, South Carolina, October 30th, 1862. Throughout his short, but brilliant military career, he displayed all the qualities of a good general and a thorough Christian soldier.
MAJOR-GENERAL JUDSON KILPATRICK was born in the valley of the Clove, northern New Jersey, in 1838, entered West Point on the 20th of June, 1856, and graduated in 1860. He was wounded at the battle of Big Bethel, one of the first of the war, where as a lieutenant he commanded Duryea's Zouaves, June 11th, 1861. In the September following, he was made lieutenant-colonel of the famous Harris light cavalry, and became one of the exam- ining board for admitting cavalry officers into the service. He made his first raid on the Virginia Central railroad in July and August, 1862, and participated in the famous raid of Stoneman in the rebel rear, while Hooker was fighting the enemy at Chancellorsville. He was greatly distinguished in the cavalry battles of the Army of the Potomac, and won the star of a brigadier-general on the broad plains of Brandy Station. At Aldie, Upperville, Monterey, Williamsport, Boonsboro, Falling Waters, Hagerstown and other places, he reaped imperishable laurels, and at Gettysburg, with his brave men, materially assisted in defeating the rebel attempts on little Round Top, the success of which might have been fatal to the army. His expedition on the 8th of February, 1864, to free the seventeen thousand prisoners confined in Richmond, failed for want of the co-operation lost by the death of the heroic young Colonel Dahlgren. Kilpatrick rendered important services during the Atlanta campaign, and was desperately wounded at the battle of Resaca. He commanded the cavalry under Sherman, and protected the wings of the army on the famous march through Georgia to Savannah, and thence through the Carolinas. His valor was conspicuous in the battles of Griswoldville, Johnston's Station, Waynesboro, and Averysboro. On the termination of the war, he became United States Plenipotentiary to Chili, South America.
MAJOR-GENERAL JOHN W. GEARY is a native of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, served with dis- tinction in the war with Mexico, and was promoted for
BRIGADIER-GENERAL JAMES S. WADSWORTH.
meritorious conduct at Cerro Gordo and the city of Mexico. He resided in San Francisco in 1848, and was chosen the first Mayor of that city. President Buchanan appointed him Governor of Kansas in 1856, at a time when that Territory was in a state of insurrection, and border ruffianism rampant. By indomitable energy, ability, and firmness, Governor Geary began to make the laws respected, and to establish security of life and property. He suffered much privation. while in Kansas, living in a log house, and was at consider- able expense in disbursing from his private purse funds to supply the territorial administration. Being deprived of the necessary means for carrying into effect his government- al purposes, he resigned in March, 1857. He then retired to private life, and when the war broke out offered his ser- vices to his country. At Bolivar Heights, October 16th, 1861, Colonel Geary, with his regiment, defeated three thou- sand Confederates with heavy loss. In this engagement he exhibited great gallantry. He also did good service at the "Point of Rocks," and was soon after made a brigadier-gen- eral. Geary displayed great heroism at the battle of Cedar Mountain, August 9th, 1862, where a bold attempt to flank the Federal left was repelled and defeated by this leader, at the head of his brave brigade. He served with distinction in many battles of the Army of the Potomac, and having been made a major-general, commanded a division of the Twentieth corps under Sherman, whom he accompanied in the grand march to the sea. On the retreat of Hardee, Geary was the first to occupy the city of Savannah with his troops, and was appointed Military Governor of the city, the sanitary condition of which he improved. Under his judicious administration of affairs, order and protection to all classes prevailed. General Geary participated in the battles on the march through the Carolinas, and at the close of the war returned to his native State, was nominated by the Repub- lican party as Governor of Pennsylvania, and elected by a large majority.
BRIGADIER-GENERAL JAMES S. WADSWORTH was born in Livingston County, New York, in 1807, grad- uated at Harvard Col ege, studied law under Daniel Web- ster, and was admitted to the bar in 1833. He began his military career as a volunteer aid-de-camp to General
McDowell at the battle of Bull Run, and upon the recommendation of that general, was made brigadier-general of volunteers, August, 1861. He was appointed Military Governor of the District of Columbia, 11 March, 1862, and in the ensuing December was assigned to the command of a division in the Army of the Potomac. His bravery and skill were evinced at Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, and his division rendered the most important services on the first day of the battle of Gettysburg. When the Army of the Potomac was reorganized for the campaign of 1864, General Wadsworth was appointed to take command of the Fourth division of the Fifth corps, at the head of which he bravely met his death on May 6th, at the sanguinary battle of the Wilderness. He was possessed of an immense fortune, and gave freely to the Union cause.
MAJOR-GENERAL GEORGE STONEMAN was born at Busti, New York, August, 1822, and graduated from West Point in 1846. He received the commission of first lieutenant in July, 1854, and on the 3d of March, 1858, was made captain of cavalry, after which he served in the southwest. He was then ordered to Palo Alto, Texas, where he continued until the commencement of the rebellion. In May, 1861, he was promoted to the rank of major of cavalry, and in August, was made a brigadier-general. He was distinguished at the battle of Gaines' Mill, June 27th, 1862, and was breveted colonel in the regular army. He was a participant in Pope's campaign in Virginia also, and in that of Maryland. His gallantry was conspicuous in command of the Third Army corps at Fredericksburg. On the 5th of February, 1863, he was made chief of the cavalry corps of Hooker, and was afterward made head of the Cavalry Bureau at Washington. He rendered important services by his numerous raids, and served with distinction under Grant and Sherman, in the great operations by which the war was brought to an end.
MAJOR-GENERAL ALFRED HOWE TERRY was born in Hartford, Connecticut, November, 10th, 1827. He graduated at Yale College, and was admitted to the bar in New Haven in 1848. He studied the art of war in the Crimean and Italian campaigns, and in April, 1861, was
commissioned colonel of the seventh Connecticut volunteers, assisting in the capture of Port Royal and Fort Pulaski. On April 25th, 1862, he became brigadier-general of volunteers. He participated in the battle of Pocotaligo, June, 1863, and in the siege of Forts Wagner and Sumter, in July, August, and September of the same year. His brigade being made part of the Army of the James, during 1864, he fought at Deep Run, the Richmond Central railroad, and other places, and was for a time in command of the tenth corps, commanding the first division, when in combination with the eighteenth corps, it became the twenty-fourth corps. In July, 1864, he was breveted major-general, and sent by General Grant to lead the second assault on Fort Fisher. Being reinforced by General Schofield, he advanced upon Wilmington, which was captured on February 22d, 1865. General Terry then marched to meet General Sherman at Goldsboro. For his gallantry at the capture of Fort Fisher, he was made a major-general of volunteers, and a brigadier, and brevet major-general in the regular army. When the war ended, he was placed in command of the Department of Virginia.
BRIGADIER-GENERAL NATHANIEL LYON was born at Ashford, Connecticut, in 1819, and graduated with honor at West Point in 1841. He was soon promoted to a captaincy, and in the Mexican war was distinguished for his gallantry in many battles. He was on active service in Missouri and California, and at the outbreak of the rebellion, was chosen by the Missouri volunteers as their brigadiergeneral. He fell in a glorious charge at the battle of Wilson's Creek, Missouri, on August 9th, 1861, while leading his troops to victory. He is worthy to live in history as one of the noblest of patriots that ever died for his country.
MAJOR-GENERAL JOHN G. FOSTER was born in Whitefield, New Hampshire, in 1823, and graduated with honor at West Point in 1846. He was made second lieutenant of engineers on the completion of his studies, and served under General Scott, during the war with Mexico, as lieutenant of sappers and miners, participating in the battles on the march from Vera Cruz to Molina del Rey.
« PreviousContinue » |