Civil War Union Brigadier General. Born in Lowell, Vermont, he was an academic principal at the start of the Civil War, when he was elected Colonel of the 11th Maine Infantry Regiment, Union Army. During the Peninsula Campaign, he made quite a good impression on his superior officers and was promoted Brigadier General in April 1862. In command of a brigade in the Army of the Potomac, at age twenty-nine he was the youngest General at the Battle of Antietam. He went to command corps at the battles of Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg and Wheatfield. After the war with the death of President Abraham Lincoln, he was one of eight general officers assigned as the guard of honor to transfer the president's body from Washington D.C. to Springfield, Illinois, in 1865. He returned to civilian life as a lawyer and a member of the Maine Legislature, plus served as a General of the Maine Militia (1867-69). He also served as the US Consul to Chile (1869-74), US to Paraguay (1874-82) and US Consul to Costa Rica (1897-09). He died at age 79 in Calais, Maine.
Civil War Union Brigadier General. Born in Lowell, Vermont, he was an academic principal at the start of the Civil War, when he was elected Colonel of the 11th Maine Infantry Regiment, Union Army. During the Peninsula Campaign, he made quite a good impression on his superior officers and was promoted Brigadier General in April 1862. In command of a brigade in the Army of the Potomac, at age twenty-nine he was the youngest General at the Battle of Antietam. He went to command corps at the battles of Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg and Wheatfield. After the war with the death of President Abraham Lincoln, he was one of eight general officers assigned as the guard of honor to transfer the president's body from Washington D.C. to Springfield, Illinois, in 1865. He returned to civilian life as a lawyer and a member of the Maine Legislature, plus served as a General of the Maine Militia (1867-69). He also served as the US Consul to Chile (1869-74), US to Paraguay (1874-82) and US Consul to Costa Rica (1897-09). He died at age 79 in Calais, Maine.
Bio by: John "J-Cat" Griffith
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