M: Miles through Mower

Source: Scribner’s Dictionary of American Biography

MILES, NELSON APPLETON (August 8, 1839-May 15, 1925), soldier, came of New England ancestors descended from a Baptist clergyman and educator, John Myles, who emigrated from Wales to New England, settled in Swansea, Massachusetts, in 1664, and fought in King Philip's War in 1675. His son, Reverend Samuel Miles, received a degree from Oxford and was for twenty- nine years rector of King's Chapel, Boston. His son and grandson, Daniel and Joab Miles, fought in the Revolution from Bennington to Yorktown. Joab's son Daniel, a farmer, married Mary Curtis, a descendant of William Curtis who arrived in Boston harbor from England in 1632. Nelson Appleton Miles, son of Daniel and Mary, was born on his father's farm near Westminster, Massachusetts. After attending the di strict school and a local academy, he ventured to Boston when he was seventeen years old, and, through the good offices of his uncles, George and Nelson Curtis, secured employment in John Collamore's crockery store. He attended night school and incidentally received the rudiments of a military education from Colonel M. Salignac, a former officer of the French army.

When the Civil War broke out Miles recruited a company of one hundred volunteers which formed part of Colonel Henry Wilson's 22nd Massachusetts Regiment. He was commissioned captain of infantry, but his superiors considered him too young to exercise command in battle, and he served through the Peninsula campaign as a member of General O. O. Howard 's staff. His opportunity came at the battle of Fair Oaks (May 31-June 1, 1862), where under heavy fire he led reinforcements to the aid of the 61st New York Volunteers, receiving his first wound and official commendation for gallantry in battle. He was rewarded with promotion to the lieutenant-colonelcy of this regiment, and at Antietam, on September 17, when Colonel Barlow was carried from the field wounded, Miles assumed command, becoming colonel, September 30, 1862. At Fredericksburg, December 13, where he was shot through the throat, his conduct was characterized by Genera1 Hancock as "most admirable and chivalrous (Official Records, 1 series XXI, 230). For distinguished gallantry at Chancellorsville (May 3, 1863), where he was shot from his horse while desperately holding a line of abattis and rifle-pits against the enemy in advance of the II Army Corps, he was awarded the brevet of brigadier-general (March 2, 1867) and the Congressional Medal of Honor (July 23, 1892). For his services in the battles of the Wilderness and Spotsylvania, he received the Thanks of Congress; he was mentioned for gallantry at Reams's Station, and at Petersburg sustained his fourth wound. On May 12, 1864, he was promoted to the grade of brigadier-general of volunteers. He and his division took a prominent part in the final campaign, which culminated at Appomattox, and he received high praise from General Grant for his services. On October 21, 1865, he was made major-general of volunteers, commanding the II Army Corps of some 26,000 officers and men when but twenty-six years of age. With one exception, he had fought in every important battle of the Army of the Potomac.

After the close of hostilities he became for a time custodian of Jefferson Davis at Fort Monroe. Despite his tactful handling of a difficult situation, and the fact that he was acting on the orders of superiors, he was censured by Southern sympathizers for alleged ill-treatment of the former President of the Confederacy. From these charges he was ultimately vindicated when the true facts became known and the bitterness engendered by the war had passed (A Statement of Facts Concerning the Imprisonment and Treatment of Jefferson Davis While a Military Prisoner at Fort Monroe, Virginia, in 1865 and 1866, 1902).

 Appointed colonel, 40th Infantry, in the regular establishment, July 28, 1866, he was mustered out of the volunteer service, September 1, and on March 15, 1869, was transferred to command the 5th Infantry, a regiment which he made famous through long-continued field service. For some fifteen years following, he was constantly associated with difficult but successful campaigns against various hostile Indians west of the Mississippi. He accomplished the defeat of the Cheyennes, Kiowas, and Comanches on the border of the Staked Plains in 1875, and subsequently took a leading part in the pacification of hostile Sioux India ns in Montana, driving Sitting Bull across the border into Canada, and dispersing the bands of Crazy Horse [q.v.], Lame Deer, Spotted Eagle, Broad Trail, and other chiefs. In the fall of 1877, while in command of the District of the Yellowstone, he intercepted- and captured Chief Joseph,[q.v.] and his band of Nez Perce warriors after a forced march of more than one hundred and sixty mile in an exploit considered one of the most brilliant feats of arms in Indian warfare. Later, in 1878, he succeeded in pacifying Elk Horn and his band of Bannocks near the Yellowstone Park.

He was appointed brigadier-general, United States Army, December 15, 1880, and until 1885 was in command of the Department of the Columbia. During 1885-86 he commanded the Department of the Missouri and until 1888, the Department of Arizona. In 1886, he succeeded General George Crook [q.v.] in the arduous and difficult military operations against the bloodthirsty Chiricahua Apaches under Geronimo [q.v.] and Naiche, whom popular opinion credited with twenty-five hundred homicides and with holding back the development of Arizona for many years. Miles accomplished the surrender of these Indians and their incarceration at Mount Vernon, Alabama, after a chase which involved occupations of Mexican soil. As a token of appreciation of his service in the cause of Indian pacification he received the thanks of the state legislatures of Kansas, Montana, New Mexico, and Arizona; and in November 1887 the citizens of Arizona presented him with a sword of honor. He commanded the Division of the Pacific, with headquarters at San Francisco, during the years 1888-90, and was promoted major-general April 5, 1890. In a winter campaign in Dakota, 1890-91, he suppressed a serious outbreak of Sioux Indians, inflamed by the supposed coming of a Messiah, and effected their return to government control after but one serious engagement at Wounded Knee. In 1894, while commanding the Department of the Missouri with headquarters at Chicago, he was in command of troops charged by President Cleveland with quelling the industrial riots and disorders accompanying the Pullman strike. In 1894-95 he was commander of the Department of the East, with headquarters at Governor's Island, New York.

Upon the retirement of Major-General John M. Schofield, September 29, 1895, Miles became by seniority the commander-in-chief of the Army (order dated October 2). In 1897 he represented the United States at the Jubilee Celebration of Queen Victoria-visiting as an observer the theatre of war between Turkey and Greece and witnessing the autumn maneuvers of the Russian, German, and French armies. The following year, with the declaration of war against Spain, he took a directing part in the organization and training of the regular and volunteer forces, and although not permitted to command the expeditionary force dispatched to Santiago de Cuba, he joined later with reinforcements and dictated the terms of the surrender of the Spanish garrison following the battles fought by Shafter's army. He then proceeded to Porto Rico with United States troops, landed successfully at Ponce and Guanica, and after a few engagements with Spanish troops attended by trifling losses among American units, succeeded in the complete pacification of the island. By appointment of President McKinley, confirmed February 11, 1901, he was advanced to the grade of lieutenant-general, a rank hitherto rarely held. In December of the same year he was officially censured by President Theodore Roosevelt through the Secretary of War for public expressions of approval in connection with Admiral Dewey's report upon the case of Admiral Schley (New York Tribune, December 17, 22, 1901). In 1902 he visited the Philippine Islands, then in a state of insurrection, and after an official inspection of troops and an investigation of complaints by Filipino officials, caused much controversy by his report of alleged abuses on the part of American officers and soldiers in their relations with Filipino insurgent forces (The Philippines: Reports by Lieutenant-General Nelson A. Miles, Anti-Imperialist League, Boston, 1909; reprinted from Army and Navy Journal, May 2, 1903).

On August 8, 1903, having reached the age of sixty-four, Miles was retired from active service by operation of law. He thereafter made his home in Washington, D. C. In 1896 he had published Personal Recollections and Observations of General Nelson A. Miles. This was followed, after his trip abroad in 1897, by Military Europe (1898). He published a second autobiographical volume, Serving the Republic, in 1911. In 1912 he became head of a short-lived patriotic organization known as the Sons of Liberty, and in the ensuing years held office in many societies and associations. From 1918 until his death he was local commander of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion. In his eighty-sixth year, while he was attending a circus performance at Washington, he suffered a heart attack of which he died. His funeral was attended by the President and many distinguished officials as well as several thousand soldiers and sailors and the representatives of numerous patriotic societies. His body was laid to rest, with the highest civic and military honors, in a mausoleum, the erection of which he had supervised many years before, in Arlington Cemetery.

Miles was married, June 30, 1868, while serving in the West, to Mary Hoyt Sherman, daughter of Judge Charles Sherman of Ohio, and niece of Senator John Sherman and General William T. Sherman [qq.v.]. He was survived by a son and a daughter. A natural soldier, suddenly transferred, while yet a young man, from the hum-drum of mercantile life to the cataclysm of a great war, and without the benefit of many signal advantages possessed by his military contemporaries, he attained outstanding leadership through his indefatigable industry, sound judgment, and personal bravery.

[Many details of Miles's life are to be found in his two volumes of memoirs, Personal Recollections and Serving the Republic. See also War of the Rebellion: Official Records (Army); Battles and Leaders of the Civil War. volumes III. IV (1888); Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant, II (1886), 451-53; Personal Memoirs of P.H. Sheridan (1888), II, 172-73; and H. E. Davies, General Sheridan (1895), pp. 235-36; J.M. Schofield, Forty-six Years in the Army (1897); J. H. Wilson, Under the Old Flag (1912), II, 440-72; H. L. Scott, Some Memories of a Soldier (1928); Who’s Who in America, 1924-25; Army and Navy Journal, May 23, 1925; Evening Star (Washington), May H15, 19, 1925.]

C. D. R.



MILROY, ROBERT HUSTON (June 11, 1816-March 29, 1890), soldier and Indian agent, was born in Washington County, Ind., the son of Samuel and Martha (Huston) Milroy. He came of fighting stock being, it was claimed, a descendant of Robert Bruce through his great-grandfather, John McElroy, who fled from Scotland, changed his name to Milroy, and later settled near Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Robert Milroy's immediate ancestors were Indian fighters, and his father contributed stoutly to the upbuilding of the young state of Indiana. The son fully sustained the family reputation. The Milroys removed from Washington County to Carroll County, Ind., when he was ten years old. In 1840 he entered Norwich University in Vermont and graduated in 1843 with the degrees of Bachelor of Arts and Master of Military Science. In the Mexican War he raised a voluntary company in Carroll County. Mustered into service on June 20, 1846, at New Albany, he was mustered out at New Orleans on June 16, 1847. On May 17, 1849, he was married to Mary Jane Armitage of Alexandria, Pennsylvania, who bore him seven children. He took a law course at the University of Indiana, where he received the degree of Bachelor of Laws in 1850, was admitted to the bar, and began practice at Delphi, Ind. In 1850 he was elected a delegate from Carroll County to the state's second constitutional convention as, by an interesting coincidence, his father had been sent to the first one. He was appointed to the bench of the 8th judicial circuit, but resigned, removed to Rensselaer, Ind., in 1854 and took up the practice of law.

In Indiana he is best known as a soldier of the Civil War. At the first call for troops he proceeded to raise a voluntary company in Rensselaer. Of this he was made captain but on April 27, 1861, was mustered into the three months’ service as colonel of the 9th Regiment of Indiana Volunteers. At the expiration of this term of service he reenlisted for the three years' service with the same rank, but on September 3 of that year was promoted brigadier-general, and on November 29, 1862, major-general of volunteers. Much of his field service was in western Virginia, where his measures to suppress guerrilla warfare were so drastic that the Confederates offered a large reward for him, dead or alive. As major-general he commanded the second division of the VIII Army Corps, being stationed at Winchester, Virginia, when Lee made his movement northward toward Pennsylvania. He engaged the Confederate army till driven back with losses so disastrous that they were afterward the subject of military investigation, but he was finally exonerated. He claimed that his retarding of Lee's forces enabled Meade to prepare for Gettysburg. He remained in the service till the end of the war.

After the war he occupied positions of trust and responsibility. He was one of the trustees of the Wabash and Erie Canal. In 1872 he became superintendent of Indian affairs in the state of Washington, and from 1875 to 1885 he was Indian agent with headquarters at Olympia, where he died. Twenty years later a bronze statue of heroic size was erected at his old home; Rensselaer, where it still perpetuates his memory. Personally, he was of fine, athletic appearance, fully six feet and two inch es in height; he had piercing black eyes; and these, together with an aquiline nose and long silver hair, gained for him the sobriquet of the "Gray Eagle." Carl Schurz wrote that " he lived on a footing of very democratic comradeship with his men. The most extraordinary stories were told of his discussing with his subordinates what was to be done, of his permitting them to take amazing liberties with the orders to be executed ... But he did good service, was respected and liked by all" (The Reminiscences of Carl Schurz, II, 1907, p. 388).

[Norwich University (3 volumes, 1911); T. A. Wylie, Ind. University (1890); F. B. Heitman, History Register and Dictionary of the U. S. Army (1903); War of the Rebellion: Official Records (Army),, series, XXI, 3 series, II, III; 4 series, II; T. B. Helm, History of Carroll County, Indiana (1882); J. H. Stewart, Recollections of the Early Settlement of Carroll County (1872), pp. 38, 47, 170.]

G. S. C.



MITCHEL, ORMSBY MACKNIGHT (July 28, 1809-Oct. 30, 1862), astronomer, Union soldier, was the son of John and Elizabeth (MacAlister) Mitchel, both of Scotch-Irish descent. Some five years before his birth his parents moved from Virginia to Union County, Kentucky, settling at what is now Morganfield. Here, in the rudest surroundings, Ormsby MacKnight, the youngest child of a large family, was born. Two or three years later the father died. After vainly trying to win a livelihood from the plantation, the widow moved with her children to Lebanon, Ohio, not far from Cincinnati.

It was in this center of education and trade that Mitchel received his early schooling. When about fourteen years of age he started to support himself, working as a clerk in Xenia. A little later, having seen a notice of a pending examination for entrance to the United States Military Academy, he determined to apply for an appointment, which through influential family friends in Washington he secured. Reporting for examination June 1, 1825, he was admitted, and graduated fifteenth in his class of forty-six, in 1829. His love for mathematics, derived from his father, resulted in such marked proficiency that upon graduation he was detailed as assistant professor at the Academy. There he met a young widow, Louisa (Clark) Trask, who was living with her father, Judge Clark, at Cornwall-on-the-Hudson. In the summer of 1831 they were married. After brief service at Fort Marion, St. Augustine, Florida, Mitchel resigned his commission in 1832, and moved to Cincinnati. While teaching at West Point he had studied law; he was now admitted to the bar and became the partner of E. D. Mansfield [q.v.]. Neither partner really cared for the law, however, and before long Mansfield became a journalist and Mitchel drifted back into teaching. The Cincinnati College, founded in 1819, was reestablished in 1835, and the year following he was appointed to its faculty as professor of mathematics, philosophy, and astronomy. In 1836-37 he was also chief engineer of the Little Miami Railroad. Thus began in the most casual way the career that was to give Mitchel a permanent place in the annals of American science. In his teaching of astronomy he became enthusiastic himself on the subject and aroused so great an interest in his students and their friends that he was persuaded to give a short course of public lectures. In his diary he wrote of this venture: "On the first evening my audience was respectable, on the second evening my house was filled, and on the third it was overflowing" (Mitchel, post, p. 51). On the platform he showed himself to be a gifted orator, and invitations to speak in several of the larger cities came to him. A member of one of his audiences wrote: "In New York the music hall is thronged night after night to hear his impassioned eloquence poured in an unbroken flow of 'thoughts that breathe and words that burn' on the excited thousands" (Porter, post, p. 8). This magical gift of oratory, together with indomitable energy and perseverance, enabled Mitchel to carry to completion a scheme which at first seemed chimerical. In 1825 John Quincy Adams had endeavored to persuade Congress to found a national observatory, but without avail. In 1843, however, Mitchel's lectures on celestial phenomena roused his audience to such a pitch of enthusiasm that they provided him with means to erect "the first astronomical establishment worthy of the name" in the United States (Clerke, post, p. 8). Moreover, his lectures in other parts of the country had no small part in stimulating the interest which resulted in the establishment, at very nearly the same time, of the Harvard Observatory and the Naval Observatory at Washington. The Cincinnati Astronomical Society had been founded in 1842, and in 1845 there was erected on one of the hills outside the city the second largest telescope in the world, and by far the largest on the Western continent. In 1846 Mitchel began the publication of the Sidereal Messenger, which he conducted until October 1848-the first magazine ever devoted to a popular exposition of astronomy. In 1846, also, he was offered the Rumford professorship at Harvard, but declined it, since he felt obliged to direct the Cincinnati Observatory for at least ten years. During this period he took great interest in the establishment of the Dudley Observatory at Albany, and in fact furnished the plans for it; when, therefore, in 1859 he was asked to become its director, he accepted. His astronomical work was practically ended, however. Soon after the outbreak of the Civil War the President appointed him a brigadier general of volunteers (August 9, 1861), and he was assigned to command the Department of the Ohio. Later the departments of the Ohio and the Cumberland were united, and Mitchel served under General D. C. Buell [q.v.]. In April 1862 he made the memorable dash from Shelbyville, Tennessee, to Huntsville, Alabama, surprising and capturing the city without firing a gun, and thus getting control of the Memphis & Charleston Railroad. For this brilliant exploit the thanks of the War Department were telegraphed to him and he was promoted to be major-general of volunteers. His relations with Buell, who found his discipline lax and his control of his troops unsatisfactory, grew increasingly strained, however; and in the summer of 1862 he tendered his resignation. It was not accepted, but in the fall (September 17) he was transferred to the command of the Department of the South and the X Army Corps, with headquarters at Hilton Head, South Carolina. Before he could organize the work there he was stricken with ye1low fever, and died at Beaufort on October 30. He was the author of two books published during his lifetime: Planetary and Stellar Worlds (1848) and Popular Astronomy (1860). A posthumous volume, The Astronomy of the Bible, was copyrighted in 1863.

[F. A. Mitchel, Ormsby MacKnight Mitchel, Astronomer and General (1887), a biography by his son; J. G. Porter, History Sketch of the Cincinnati Observatory, 1843-93 (1893); G. W. Cullum, Biographical Register Officers and Graduates U. S. Military Academy (3rd ed., 1891), Volume I; Proc. Cincinnati Astron. Society in Commemoration of Prof. Ormsby M. Mitchel (1862); A. M. Clerke, A Popular History of Astronomy during the Nineteenth Century (1887); Battles and Leaders of the Civil War (4 volumes, 1887-88), esp. volume II; War of the Rebellion: Official Records (Army), 1 series IV, VII, X (part 1), XIV, XVI; Evening Star (Washington), November 5, 1862.]

J. G. P.



MORGAN, EDWIN DENISON (February 8, 18u-February 14; 1883), governor of New York, United States senator, was a descendant of James Morgan, a Welsh man, who came to Massachusetts about 1636 and about 1650 settled in New London, where he married Margery Hill. Edwin, the son of Jasper and Catherine (Copp) A very Morgan and a first cousin of Edwin Barber Morgan [q.v.], was born in Washington, Berkshire County, Massachusetts, but in 1822 removed with his parents to Windsor, Connecticut. During his boyhood he worked on his father's farm in summer and attended the village school in winter. In 1826 he entered Bacon Academy, Colchester, Connecticut, but two years later became a clerk in his uncle's grocery store at Hartford, Connecticut. At twenty, he became his uncle's partner. In 1832 he was elected a member of the Hartford city council. Desiring a wider sphere of activity, he removed to New York in 1836, and here, in partnership with Morris Earle and A; D. Pomeroy, established the wholesale grocery firm of Morgan & Earle. Upon its dissolution at the end of 1837, he began business on his own account. His enterprise and sagacity placed him in a few years among New York's leading merchants. On January 1, 1842, he associated with himself his cousin, George D. Morgan, and the latter's partner, Frederick Avery, who retired one year later, his place being taken by one of Morgan's clerks, J. T. Terry. In 1854 Solon Humphreys joined. the firm, and banking and brokerage were added to the wholesale grocery business. Largely through Humphreys, who had spent several years in Missouri, E. D. Morgan & Company in the two years 1858-60 handled over $30,000,000 in securities issued by that state and by the city of St. Louis.

Meanwhile, in 1849 Morgan had been elected a member of the New York City Board of Assistant Aldermen, which acknowledged his ability by electing him its president. His valiant service during a cholera epidemic which swept over the city that year strengthened him in the public eye, and upon the expiration of his term as assistant alderman he was sent to the state Senate. Two years later he was reelected after a severe contest with the Democratic Locofoco candidate. During both his terms he was president pro tempore of the Senate and chairman of its finance committee. He introduced and carried through the legislature the bill establishing Central Park in New York City. When in 1855 he declined to run for a third term he was appointed one of the state commissioners of emigration, a much coveted position which he held until 1858. Although up to 1855 he had been an assiduous Whig, and was an earnest opponent of slavery, he had not identified himself with the abolitionists because he did not believe in the wisdom of their methods. He was vice-president of the conference which made plans for the first Republican National Convention and was chairman of the Republican National Committee which conducted the Fremont campaign. This chairmanship he continued to hold until 1864.

In 1858 he was chosen by Thurlow Weed as Republican candidate for governor of New York. The odds were against him, but his fine personal character, his spotless record, and his reputation as a successful business man, coupled with the energy with which he conducted his campaign, carried him into office in a four-cornered contest by a plurality of over 17,000 votes. Far from being a mere satellite of Weed, he displayed independence and statesmanlike qualities, both in his messages to the legislature and in his use of the veto power. In 1860 he was reelected by the largest majority which up to that time had ever been given to a gubernatorial candidate in the state. He succeeded during his first administration in improving the state's credit, strengthening its canal system, and making prisons, insurance companies, and charitable organizations more effective. His second administration was devoted to the success of the Union cause in the Civil War. Commissioned major-general of volunteers by Lincoln and placed in command of the military department of New York, he enrolled. and equipped 223,000 soldiers. In 1862 he declined renomination for the governorship and upon the expiration of his term was commissioned under a legislative act to put New York harbor in a state of defense. He expended only $6,000 of the $1,000,000 appropriated for this purpose, returning the rest to the state treasury. In 1863 he was chosen United States senator to succeed Preston King. His career in the Senate was not characterized by oratorical display but by hard work both in the committee room and on the floor. In 1865 he declined appointment as secretary of the treasury. He voted with the minority on President Johnson's veto of the Freedman's Bureau Bill and for Johnson's conviction. In 1869 he was defeated for reelection after a bitter contest with Ex-Governor R. E. Fenton [q.v.]. From 1872 to 1876 he was again induced to head the Republican Committee, and in the latter year his name was mentioned in connection with the presidency. He stood for sound currency and civil service reform. In 1876 he was again nominated for governor, but the machine element of his party headed by Senator Conkling was dissatisfied with him, and he was defeated by Lucius Robinson. When Chester A. Arthur [q.v.], his old and ardent friend, succeeded to the presidency, he nominated Morgan for secretary of the treasury, but although the appointment was unanimously confirmed by the Senate, Morgan for a second time declined. During his last years he retired from ala active participation in politics.

Morgan's fortune at the time of his death was estimated to be between eight and ten million dollars. His gifts during his lifetime totaled over a million dollars. Williams College, Union Theological Seminary, and the Women's, Presbyterian, and Eye and Ear hospitals in New York City especially benefited from his generosity. He was a patron of art well known both in America and on the continent of Europe, and a director of many business concerns. He was tall, well-proportioned, dignified, rather aristocratic in bearing. In 1833 he married his first cousin, Eliza Matilda Waterman, daughter of Captain Henry and Lydia (Morgan) Waterman, of Hartford, Connecticut. Of their five children only one reached maturity, and he died in 1881, before his parents. The elder Morgan died at his home in New York City and was buried in Cedar Hill Cemetery, Hartford, Connecticut

[Journals. of the Senate and the Assembly of . . . New York, 1883; N. H. Morgan, Morgan Genealogy (1869); J. A. Morgan, A History of the Family of Morgan (1902); George Wilson, Portrait Gallery of the Chamber of Commerce of the State of New York (1890); C. Z. Lincoln, State of New York, Messages from the Governors (1909), volume V; Thurlow Weed Barnes, Memoir of Thurlow Weed (1884); D. S. Alexander, A Political History of the State of New York, volumes II, III (1906-09); S. D. Brummer, Political History of New York State during ... the Civil War (1911); Frederick Phisterer, New York in the War of the Rebellion (1912), volumes I, V; J. G. Wilson, The Memorial History of New York (1893), volumes III, IV; New York  Daily Tribune, February 14, 1883; New York Times, February 15, 1883.]

H.J.C.



MORGAN, GEORGE WASHINGTON (September 20, 1820-July 26, 1893), soldier, lawyer, congressman, came of Welsh stock, being descended from George Morgan [q.v.], whose father, Evan, came to America from Wales early in the eighteenth century. The son of Thomas Morgan and his wife Katherine, daughter of William Duane [q.v.], he was born in Washington County, Pennsylvania. In his sixteenth year he left Washington College to enlist in a company raised by his brother, Thomas Jefferson Morgan, for service in the war for Texan independence. President Houston appointed him a lieutenant and he soon became a captain. Returning to his home in 1839, he entered the United States Military Academy in 1841 but resigned during his second year. He worked at various tasks, in different places, studying law as opportunity offered. Removing to Mount Vernon, Ohio, in 1843, he studied in the office of his future partner, J. K. Miller. Shortly after his admission to the bar, he became prosecuting attorney for Knox County, but resigned to raise a company for the war with Mexico, in 1846. He was shortly elected colonel of the 2nd Ohio Volunteers, though only twenty-six years old. He acquitted himself creditably under Taylor until March 3, 1847, when he was commissioned colonel of the 15th United States Infantry, and assigned to Pierce's brigade of Scott's army. He was wounded at both Contreras and Churubusco, and in 1848 was brevetted brigadier-general "for gallant and meritorious conduct." From 1848 until 1855 he combined law and farming at Mount Vernon. President Pierce appointed him consul at Marseilles in 1856. Two years later he became minister to Lisbon, which post he resigned at the outbreak of the Civil War.

He was appointed brigadier-general of volunteers in November 1861 and given command of the 7th Division of Buell's Army of the Ohio. With this division he drove the Confederates from Cumberland Gap. In 1863 he was transferred to Sherman's army and commanded a division in the Vicksburg campaign, and the XIII Corps at the capture of Fort Hindman, Arkansas. There was some disagreement between Morgan and Sherman (see Morgan's account of the fight at Chickasaw Bayou, Battles and Leaders, III, 462, and Sherman's comment in his Memoirs, I, 320), and within a few months illness and dissatisfaction with the policy of using negro troops caused Morgan's resignation, June 8, 1863. In the National Democratic Convention of the following year he defended General McClellan against the charge of "defeatism." In 1865 Morgan was defeated for governor of Ohio by General J. D. Cox [q.v.], Republican. He was elected to Congress in 1866 and served from March 1867 to June 1868, when he was unseated in favor of his Republican fellow townsman, Columbus Delano [q.v.]. He was elected to the Forty-first and Forty-second congresses, however, and served 1869-73. He was a member of the committees on military affairs, on foreign affairs, and on reconstruction. In and out of Congress he vigorously opposed the harsh measures of reconstruction favored by the Radical Republicans. Blaine, who defeated him for the speakership, has testified to Morgan's ability. After leaving Congress Morgan resumed his law practice at Mount Vernon, Ohio. He was delegate- at-large to the National Democratic Convention of 1876. On October 7, 1851, he had married Sarah H. Hall of Zanesville, Ohio, who with their two daughters survived him. His death occurred at Fortress Monroe, Virginia, and he was buried at Mount Vernon, Ohio. ["Extracts from the Reminiscences of General George W. Morgan," with biog. note by J. M. Morgan, Southwestern Historical Quart., January 1927; Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, volume III (1888); Appletons' Annual Cyclopedia, 1893 (1894); Biographical Directory American Congress (1928); Taylor's and Scott's reports in House Executive Documents 60, 30 Congress, 1 Session; War of the Rebellion: Official Records (Army); J. G. Blaine, Twenty Years of Congress (2 volumes, 1884-86); The Biographical Encyclopedia of Ohio of the Nineteenth Century (1876); Personal Memoirs of General William T. Sherman (3rd ed., 2 volumes, 1890); J. H. Smith, The War with Mexico (2 volumes, 1919); Evening Star (Washington, D. C.), July 27, 1893.

J M  

L.B., Jr.



MORGAN, JAMES DADA (August 1, 1810-September 12, 1896), Union soldier, merchant, and banker, of Welsh-English colonial ancestry, was born at Boston, the son of James Morgan, sea-captain and trader, and Martha (Patch) Morgan. He attended the common-schools in his native city until he was sixteen years of age, when the urge of the sea prompted him to start on a long voyage in a sailing-ship. When it was a month out of Boston, however, a mutiny arose, the vessel was burned, and, after drifting in a small boat for fourteen days, Morgan with certain companions finally reached the shores of South America. He made his way back to Boston, and in the year 1834 went to Quincy, Illinois, where, for some twenty-seven years, he engaged in mercantile pursuits. Incidentally, he became interested in local military affairs, and helped organize the Quincy Grays and, later, the Quincy Riflemen. with the latter organization, he saw military service in Hancock County, Illinois, during the Mormon difficulties of 1844-45, which ended with the death of the "Prophet," Joseph Smith, and a movement of the Mormon settlers to Utah.

Morgan entered the Mexican War as captain of the 1st Illinois Volunteer Infantry (June 18, 1846), was promoted major for conspicuous gallantry at the battle of Buena Vista, and was mustered out of the volunteer service on June 17, 1847. Returning to Quincy, he reentered business, in which he continued to engage until the outbreak of the Civil War, when, April 29, 1861, though suffering from a fractured leg, he assumed the duties of lieutenant-colonel of the 10th Illinois Infantry, becoming colonel on July 29 following. With his regiment he was mustered into federal service for three years. He participated in the engagement at Island Number Ten, where he commanded the 1st Brigade, 4th Division of Pope's army. For meritorious services at New Madrid, Missouri, and in the capture of Corinth, Mississippi, where again he commanded a brigade, he was promoted brigadier-general of volunteers, July 17, 1862. He took an active part in the Atlanta campaign and accompanied General Sherman in his march to the sea and through the Carolinas, being brevetted, March 19, 1865, major-general of volunteers for gallantry at Bentonville, North Carolina, where he contributed largely to saving the left wing of Sherman's army. He also distinguished himself at Buzzard's Roost Gap, March 9, 1864.

He was mustered out of the military service, August 24, 1865, and, returning to Quincy, became identified as a banker with many important corporations and institutions. He served as treasurer of the Illinois Soldiers and Sailors Home from its incorporation in 1887, and as vice-president of the Society of the Army of the Cumberland. He died at his home in Quincy, and there his interment took place. Early in life he was married to Jane Strachan of Boston, by whom he had two sons who survived him. His wife died in 1855, and on June 14, 1869, he married Harriet Evans of Gloucester, Massachusetts.

[Society of the Army of the Cumberland, Twenty-sixth Reunion, Rockford, Illinois, 1896 (1897); F. B. Heitman, History Register and Directory U. S. Army (1903); Chicago Tribune, September 13, 1896; Portrait and Biographical Record of Adams Co., Illinois, (1892); Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, volume IV (1888); H. M. Cist, The Army of the Cumberland, J. D. Cox, Atlanta, and The March to the Sea, M. F. Force, From Fort Henry to Corinth, all in Campaigns of the Civil War series (1881-82); information as to certain facts from a great-nephew, J. R. Wells, of Quincy, Illinois]

C. D. R.



MORGAN, THOMAS JEFFERSON (August 17, 1839-July 13, 1902), soldier, Baptist clergyman, educator, and denominational leader, was sixth in descent from Nathan Morgan, the first of his line to emigrate to the New World. The son of Reverend Lewis Morgan and his third wife, Mary C. Causey (or Cansey), he was born in Franklin, Indiana. His grandfather had been a slave-holder, but his father was an anti-slavery advocate and a leader in religious, political, and educational matters. Thomas was fitted for college in the preparatory school of Franklin College and received the degree of A.B. from that institution in 1861, though he left in his senior year to enlist in the Union army. After three months' service, he took charge of public education at Atlanta, Illinois, but on August 1, 1862, was appointed first lieutenant in the 70th Indiana Volunteer Infantry. His period of military service continued for over three years. Prominent in the enlistment of negro troops and eloquent in their defense, he became lieutenant-colonel of the 14th United States Colored Infantry on November I, 1863, and colonel on January I, 1864. He commanded a division at the battle of Nashville and was brevetted brigadier-general, March 13, 1865. Throughout his life he maintained that war is sometimes justifiable, because the Old Testament teaches that it has been a means of accomplishing holy and gracious purposes of God toward mankind; because admittedly good consequences have issued from war; because historians reckon eras from great battles, such as Tours and Waterloo; because it is necessary to repel invasion, protect the innocent, punish national wrong-doing; and because it is right to engage in a struggle for national independence. He defended nationalism even while pleading for internationalism and dedicating his life to the defense of freedom of conscience.

After leaving the army he entered Rochester Theological Seminary, graduating in 1868. He was ordained a Baptist minister, at Rochester, New York, in 1869, but held only one brief pastorate at Brownville, Nebraska, 1871-72. From 1872 to 1874 he was president of the Nebraska Normal School at Peru; from 1874 to 1881, he taught homiletics and ecclesiastical hi story in the Baptist Union Theological Seminary, Chicago, spending several months in Germany in 1879; from 1881 to 1883 he served as principal of the New York State Normal School at Potsdam, and from 1884 to 1889, as principal of the State Normal School at Providence, Rhode Island. In the latter year, he was appointed commissioner of Indian Affairs by President Harrison. For four years he served with zeal, energy, and good judgment, insisting, in spite of much political and ecclesiastical opposition, that the principle of separation of church and state must be recognized in: the control of Indian schools, and that they must be placed upon the same basis as public schools.

In 1893 he renewed his denominational activity, accepting the position of corresponding secretary of the American Baptist Home Mission Society, in which position he served until his death almost a decade later. The clarity of his thought and his unswerving loyalty to his convictions, combined with rare ability wisely to choose and judge his coworkers, made him invaluable as an associate of Dr. Henry L. Morehouse [q.v.], field secretary of the society. Under his skilful promotion, schools for thousands of negro men and women were established and equipped. He was editor of the Baptist Home Mission Monthly, 1893-1902, and author of Reminiscences of Service with Colored Troops in the Army of the Cumberland, 1863-65 (1885); Educational Mosaics (1887); Students' Hymnal (1888); Studies in Pedagogy (1889); Patriotic Citizenship (1895); The Praise Hymnary (1898); The Negro in America and the Ideal American Republic (1898). In 1870 he married Caroline Starr. Their only son died before his father.

[Who's Who in America, 1901-02; F. B. Heitman, History Register and Dictionary U. S. Army (1903); Comfort Starr, A History of the Starr Family (1879); J. A. Morgan, A History of the Family of Morgan (1902); Examiner, July 24, 1902; Bapt. Commonwealth, July 24, 1902, New York Times, July 14, 1902.]

C.H. M.



MORRIS, THOMAS ARMSTRONG (Dec; 26, 18u-March 22, 1904), engineer, was born in Nicholas County, Kentucky. His father, Morris Morris, and his mother, Rachel (Morris) Morris, were cousins, grandchildren respectively of two brothers, James and John Morris, emigrants from Wales to Virginia. Thomas was th e third son among their nine children. In 1821 the family moved to Indianapolis, where Morris Morris served on the commission which erected the state house, and as state auditor (1829-44). At the age of twelve, Thomas began work with a printer. Three years afterwards he entered a private school conducted by Ebenezer Sharpe, and finally, July 1, 1830, the United States Military Academy, West Point, New York "He graduated four years later, was. made a brevet second lieutenant of artillery, and was commissioned second lieutenant, February 25, 1835, but resigned the following year.

Settling in Indianapolis as a civil engineer, he was first given charge of the construction of the Indianapolis section of the Central Canal, which was completed from Broad Ripple into the city. He is also credited with the suggestion and execution of the "state ditch," which saved Indianapolis from recurrent floods and greatly lessened the prevalence of fever incidental to its early settlement. Meanwhile, the state began building the first of the railroads (the Madison & Indianapolis), which ultimately supplanted all the canals within its borders as means of transportation. Morris was chief engineer of this enterprise from 1841 to 1847, during which time it passed from the state into private hands. He finished its construction from North Vernon to Indianapolis, and conceived and carried through the plan of financing construction by taking subscriptions in land and issuing scrip on this security for payment of construction expenses. From 1847 to 1852 he was chief engineer of the Terre Haute & Richmond Railroad (now part of the Pennsylvania) and of the Indianapolis & Bellefontaine, Ohio (now part of the Big Four). Early in this period he prepared estimates and reports on the Peru & Indianapolis Railroad. He was chief engineer (1852-54) and president (1854-57) of the Indianapolis & Cincinnati (now part of the Big Four); president of the Indianapolis & Bellefontaine (1857-59); chief engineer of the Indianapolis & Cincinnati (1859-61). His services on these different roads suggested to Morris the idea of a union depot at Indianapolis, which he planned and built.

At the outbreak of the Civil War, Governor Oliver P. Morton [q.v.] appointed him state quartermaster- general. On April 27, 1861, the president commissioned him brigadier-general, and in the last week of May his brigade was ordered into the western part of Virginia by Major-General George B. McClellan, who was then in command of the department of the Ohio. Morris insisted upon mustering in volunteer regiments of Western Virginia Unionists (Official Records, I series II, 673), in which move he was supported by McClellan, and the troops did good service. He drove the Confederate forces back from Philippi on June 3, and was well started in the task of driving them out of Western Virginia when McClellan took command in person of the campaign along the Great Kanawha. On July 3, McClellan harshly refused reinforcements which Morris had requested (Ibid., 208-09), and on July 14, in his report, criticized him for not pursuing the Confederates more vigorously at Laurel Hill. A slight pursuit action at Carrick's Ford, July 13, virtually brought Morris' services to an end, since the term of enlistment of his regiments expired in July. He was honorably mustered out July 27. He expected another commission, but none came for more than a year. Believing his services were not really wanted, he declined a commission as brigadier-general in September 1862 and another as junior major-general in October of that year.

As chief engineer of the Indianapolis & Cincinnati Railroad (1862-66), he built the Lawrenceburg-Cincinnati section. From 1866 to 1869 he was president and chief engineer of the Indianapolis & St. Louis, and constructed the road between Terre Haute and Indianapolis. For the three following years he was receiver of the Indianapolis, Cincinnati, & Lafayette Railroad. On November 19, 1840, he married Elizabeth Rachel Irwin, daughter of John Irwin pf Madison: they had five children. He accumulated a considerable estate and the twenty-acre tract on which he built his home remained intact for many years after it was entirely surrounded by the growing city. He died at San Diego, Cal., at the age of ninety-three, and was buried at Crown Hill Cemetery, Indianapolis.

[B. R. Sulgrove, History of Indianapolis and Marion County, Indiana (1884); Indianapolis Journal, March 24, 1904; Report of the Adjutant General of the State of Indiana, volume II (1865); Catherine Merrill, The Soldier of Indiana in the War for the Union (1866), volume I; War of the Rebellion: Official Records (Army), 1 series II; F. B. Heitman, Historical Register and Dictionary  U. S. Army (1903), volume I; G. W. Cullum, Biographical Register Officers and Graduates U. S. Military Academy (3rd ed., 1891), volume I; A Biographical History of Eminent and Self-Made Men of the State of Indiana (1880), volume II; Thirty-Fifth Annual Reunion Association Graduates U. S. Military Academy, June 14, 1904.

J. C. B. C.



MORRIS, WILLIAM HOPKINS (April 22; 1827-August 26, 1900), soldier, author, was born in New York City, the son of George Pope Morris [q.v.] and Mary Worthington Hopkins. After receiving a common-school education he attended West Point, graduating July 1, 1851, and being commissioned a second lieutenant of the 2nd Infantry. His permanent commission as second lieutenant was awarded December 3, 1851. He served on garrison duty at Forts Columbus and Wood, New York, that year, and at Fort Yuma, California, in 1852 and 1853. Portions of the next two years he spent on recruiting service, after which he resigned from the service, February 28, 1854, and aided his father in editing the Home Journal. In 1859 he invented a repeating carbine for which he and Charles Liston Brown received a patent in 1860. On August 20, 1861, he was appointed staff captain, assistant adjutant-general, on the staff of General J. J. Peck, in the defenses of Washington. He served until the following May, when he was present at the siege of Yorktown and the battle of Williamsburg. At the battle of Fair Oaks (May 31-June 1) he was commended and on September 2, 1862, was elected colonel, 135th New York Infantry, which regiment soon became the 6th New York Heavy Artillery. He was appointed brigadier-general, United States Volunteers, November 29, 1862, and his command was stationed at Maryland Heights, near Harpers Ferry, Virginia, until the summer. In July 1863, his command joined the Army of the Potomac and was in reserve at the battle of Gettysburg. Following this, he was in small operations in the vicinity, and was later given a brigade in the 3rd Division, III Corps. His brigade took part in the Bristoe, Virginia, campaign of October and in the advance of the Union forces to the Rappahannock in November.

On April 30, 1864, Morris' brigade was transferred to the VI Corps. It engaged in the campaign from the Rapidan to the James and formed part of the forces operating against Richmond. His work at the battle of the Wilderness was, on the 13th of March, 1865, rewarded by appointment as major-general of volunteers, for "gallant and meritorious services." On May 9, 1864, he was wounded at Spotsylvania Court House and was sent to Washington on sick leave until July, when he served on courts-martial and military commissions until mustered out on August 24, 1864. In the same year he published Field Tactics for Infantry, followed some time later by Tactics for Infantry, Armed with Breechloading or Magazine Rifles (1882). While neither of these was revolutionary, both were sound attempts at bettering the clumsy infantry tactics of the period and provided one of the steps in the evolution of the squad formation. In 1866 Morris was appointed colonel, division engineer, New York National Guard, and the following year was appointed a brevet major-general of that organization. In 1867 and 1868 he was delegate to the New York state constitutional convention, from Putnam County, and was a member of the military committee. In 1869 he was appointed commissary general of ordnance, New York National Guard, with permanent rank of brigadier-general in addition to his brevet rank. He was married in 1870, to Catharine (Hoffman) Hyatt, daughter of Dr. Adrian Hoffman of Westchester County, New York, and widow of Charles C. Hyatt. After his marriage he retired to his estate, "Briarcliff," New York. He died at Long Branch, New Jersey

[G. W. Cullum, Biographical Register ... U. S. Military Academy (3rd ed., 1891), volume II; Annual Reunion Association Graduates U. S. Military Academy, June 8, 1901; F. B. Heitman, History Register and Dictionary  of the U.S. Army (1903), volume I; Annual Report of the Adj.-General of the State of New York, 1866-69, 1896; War of the Rebellion: Official Records (Army); Documents of the Convention of the State of New York, 1867-68 (5 volumes, 1868); correspondence with Commandery of the State of New York, Military Order of the Loyal Legion.]

D. Y.



MORTON, JAMES ST. CLAIR (September 24, 1829-June 17, 1864), soldier, engineer, and author of works on engineering and fortification, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was the son of Dr. Samuel George Morton [q.v.] and Rebecca Grellet (Pearsall) Morton. After attending the University of Pennsylvania four years, he entered West Point in 1847 and graduated on July 1, 1851, second in a class of forty-two. He was assigned to the Corps of Engineers as brevet second lieutenant and served as assistant engineer in the construction of the defenses of Charleston harbor, South Carolina, from 1851 to 1852, and in the building of Fort Delaware, Delaware, from 1852 to 1855. Promoted second lieutenant, April l, 1854, he was detailed as assistant professor of engineering at West Point. On July l, 1856, he was promoted first lieutenant and on June l7 of the following year became assistant engineer in operations preliminary to the construction of Sandy Hook Fort (Fort Hancock), New Jersey. Following this assignment, from 1858 to 1859, he was lighthouse engineer of the third district (from Gooseberry Point, Massachusetts, to Squam Inlet, New Jersey). Next he was in charge of the Potomac Water Works (1859-60), then engineer in charge of the Chiriqui Expedition to Central America, and from 1860 to 1861 of the Washington Aqueduct.

He was promoted captain of engineers August 6, 1861. Later that year he became superintending engineer of the construction of Fort Jefferson, Dry Tortugas, Florida, and in 1862 was in charge of repairs at Fort Mifflin, Pennsylvania. From June 9 to October 27, 1862, he was chief engineer of the Army of the Ohio. He was appointed brigadier-general, United States Volunteers, November 29, 1862. From October 27, 1862, to August 22, 1863, and from September 17 to November 14, 1863, he was chief engineer of the Army of the Cumberland and from November 3 to November 7, 1863, commanded the pioneer brigade attached to the XIV Corps of that army. He participated in the Tennessee campaign and for gallant and meritorious services in the battle of Stone River, December 31, 1862-January 2, 1863, was brevetted lieutenant-colonel of engineers of the Regular Army. Until June 1863 he was engaged in fortifying Nashville and Murfreesboro, Tennessee He was promoted major, corps of engineers, July 3, 1863, and participated in the advance on Tullahoma, June 24 to July 4, and in the crossing of the Cumberland Mountains and the Tennessee River, August 15 to September 4 of that year. He was wounded in the battle of Chickamauga and on September 20, 1863, was brevetted colonel for gallant and meritorious services at that battle. From September to November of the same year he was engaged in fortifying Chattanooga, and on November 7 was mustered out of the volunteer service.

He was superintending engineer of the defenses of Nashville, Murfreesboro, Clarksville, and Fort Donelson, November 14, 1863, to January 30, 1864, when he became assistant to the chief engineer at Washington, D. C. On May 18, 1864, he was appointed chief engineer of the IX Army Corps and participated during the Richmond campaign in the battles of North Anna, May 24, 1864; Totopotomoy, May 28-29, 1864; Bethesda Church, May 30, 1864; and the assault of Petersburg, Virginia, June 17, 1864, where he was killed while leading the attack. On the same day he was brevetted brigadier-general, United States Army, for gallant and meritorious service. He lies buried in Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia. He was the author of a Memoir on Fortification (1858); Memoir on the Dangers and Defences of New York City (1858); Memoir on American Fortification (1859). These are analytical studies of European fortifications, and of American fortification as it should have been written in the days when cannon had a maximum range of less than 5,000 yards, their value today is entirely in their historical interest. His Memoir of the Life and Services of Captain and Brevet Major John Sanders, of the Corps of Engineers, U. S. Army (1861) is an appreciation of the work of a great military engineer.

[G. W. Cullum, Biographical Register Officers and Graduates U. S. Military Academy (1891), volume II; War Department records; F. B. Heitman, Biographical Register and Directory U. S. Army (1903), volume I; Clarence Pearsall, History and Genealogy of the Pearsall Family in England and America (1928), volume II.]

J.W.L.



MOTT, GERSHOM (April 7, 1822-November 29, 1884), Union soldier, was born at Lamberton, now part of Trenton, New Jersey, the youngest of five children of Gershom and Phoebe Rose (Scudder) Mott. He received schooling at Trenton Academy until he was fourteen years old, when he became a clerk in a dry-goods store in New York. On April 23, 1847, he received appointment as second lieutenant, 10th United States Infantry, and was presented a sword by citizens of Trenton. He served throughout the Mexican War without distinguishing incident. On August 8, 1849, he married Elizabeth, daughter of John E. Smith of Trenton, by whom he had one child. Following his discharge from the army, he served as collector of the port, Lamberton, New Jersey, until his appointment in 1850 to a position with the Bordentown, Delaware & Raritan Canal Company. In 1855 he became teller of the Bordentown Banking Company, continuing in that position until the outbreak of the Civil War.

His military career was one of promotions earned by distinguished service. In August 1861 he was appointed lieutenant-colonel of the 5th New Jersey Volunteers, and remained with that regiment until his promotion to colonel of the 6th New Jersey Volunteers, May 7, 1862, for achievement at the battle of Williamsburg. His active service was with the Army of the Potomac. His regiment was in support during the Seven Days' battles, but saw action at the second battle of Bull Run, where Mott was wounded. He was promoted brigadier-general of volunteers September 7, 1862, and assigned to command a brigade of Hooker's Center Grand Division, which operated against Lee. He was wounded again at the battle of Chancellorsville in May 1863. His brigade took part in the operations of the summer and fall of 1863 against Lee, being present during the Mine Run Campaign in Meade's attempt to surprise Lee on the Rapidan, and operated from the Rapidan to the James in the winter and spring of 1864. During the battles of the Wilderness and at Spotsylvania Court House in May and June 1864, he earned special recognition. At the latter, he was particularly selected to command the 4th Division and restore its fighting efficiency after casualties and hardships had so lowered its morale that its officers could not control the men. In this task he succeeded admirably. As a division commander on July 30, 1864, he personally led his 3rd Division in making important gains at the crater of Petersburg. Appointed brevet major-general of volunteers on August 1, for distinguished services, he continued with his division through the Richmond campaign until its completion. In May 1865, he was appointed major-general of volunteers and ordered to Washington for duty, serving there until discharged on February 20, 1866.

Although appointed colonel of the 33rd United States Infantry in 1868, he declined the appointment, wishing to reenter civil life. His civilian pursuits included appointments as paymaster of the Camden & Amboy Railroad in 1866; treasurer of the state of New Jersey, 1875; keeper of the state prison, 1876-81; member of the Riparian Commission of New Jersey from 1882 until his death. He was a member of the iron-foundry firm of Thompson & Mott,



MOWER, JOSEPH ANTHONY (August 22, 1827-January 6, 1870), soldier, was born at Woodstock, Vermont, the youngest of the five children of Nathaniel and Sophia (Holmes) Mower. When he was six years old the family moved to Lowell, Massachusetts, where Joseph received a common-school education. A distinguishing trait of his early years was a love of reading military and naval history. In 1843 he matriculated at Norwich (Vermont) University and was a student there two years. Upon leaving he became a carpenter. When the Mexican War broke out he enlisted as a private of engineers, serving throughout the war, and being discharged July 25, 1848. On June 18, 1855, he was commissioned second lieutenant in the regular army, advancing to the grade of first lieutenant, March 13, 1857, and to that of captain, September 9, 1861.

Mower's combat record during the Civil War was one rarely equaled in the American army, and it is a fair deduction that had the war not ended in 1865 he would probably have attained command of an army. Within a period of two years commencing in March 1862 he was commended by his superiors in orders or official letters no less than twelve times, most of these stressing his conspicuous personal bravery, though, with the exception of Vicksburg and the final campaigns of the war under Sherman, he was not in particularly conspicuous theatres of action. His brevet commissions in the regular army were additional to more rapid promotions in the volunteer forces. These brevet commissions were: major, May 9, 1862, for gallant and meritorious service at Farmington, Mississippi; lieutenant-colonel, September 19, 1862, battle of Iuka, Mississippi, where, though forced back, his regiment camped on the field and found no enemy in the morning; colonel, May 14, 1863, for gallant and meritorious service at the capture of Jackson, Mississippi; brigadier-general, March 13, 1865, for gallant and meritorious conduct at the capture of Fort de Russy, Louisiana, a year previously, when he rode in on horseback ahead of his troops; major-general, March 13, 1865, for gallant and meritorious conduct at the passage of the Salkehatchie, Georgia.

The above-mentioned events appear as high spots in a military career which properly commenced its period of command at his election as colonel of the 11th Missouri Volunteers, May 3, 1862, after his successful capture of New Madrid, Missouri, in March. At the capture of Corinth, Missouri, he discovered the dispositions of the Confederate General Lovell, and was wounded, captured, and recaptured in the course of the battle. During May 1863, his regiment planted itself on the ramparts of Vicksburg and stayed until relieved by Sherman in person. Following Vicksburg, Mower was a man marked for distinction, and was given many minor independent commands in Mississippi and northern Louisiana in preparation for his projected employment by Sherman against Forrest. In spite of repeated efforts of Sherman, however, he was not made a major-general until August 12, 1864, by which time Forrest's raids had ceased to be a danger. Ordered to join Sherman in the Nashville campaign, Mower first obeyed prior orders to accompany the expedition into Missouri against Price, where the rapid marches and maneuvering of his division were noteworthy. Upon joining Sherman in the Atlanta campaign, November 1864, he was given a division, commanding it through the march to the sea, and subsequently serving in the Carolinas, where he was given command of the XX Corps.

Mustered out as a brevet major-general in February 1866, he was reappointed in the regular army as colonel, 39th Infantry, July 28, serving as such until his transfer, as colonel, to the 25th Infantry in March 1869. At the time of his death in New Orleans he was in command of the department of Louisiana. On June 6, 1851, he married Betsey A. Bailey.

[Data on Mower 's early life are in the Norman Williams Public Library, Woodstock, Vermont. See also, W. L. Mower, Mower Family History, A Genealogical Record of the Maine Branch (1923); G. M. Dodge and W. A. Ellis, Norwich University 1819-1911 (1911), volume II; F. B. Heitman, History Register and Dictionary U. S. Army (1903); War of the Rebellion: Official Records (Army); American Annual Cyclopedia and Register of Important Events of the Year 1870 (1871); Army and Navy Journal, January 15, 22, March 26, 1870; tribute by General Sherman in Vermont Standard (Woodstock), January 20, 1870.]

D. Y.



Source: Dictionary of American Biography, Volumes VI-VII, Edited by Dumas Malone, New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1930.