Civil War Union Brevet Brigadier General. A school teacher from Rockland, Michigan, he answered the call for volunteers to defend the Union from secession in October of 1862 by joining the 27th Michigan Volunteer Infantry as a first lieutenant. The regiment took the field in the spring of 1863 and was assigned to the 9th Corps in Vicksburg. He was promoted to captain shortly before the siege of that river town in June of 1863. After the surrender of Vicksburg, he and the 27th Michigan, still a part of the 9th Corps, marched to Knoxville, Tennessee; and on November 16th they repulsed two of Longstreet's attacking divisions at the Battle of Campbell's Station. During the winter of 1863, they endured the privations of a siege in a desolute western Tennessee. In the spring of 1864, the 27th Michigan was to participate in Grant's summer campaign. By a strategy of attrition, Grant intended to bled the Confederate army of Robert E. Lee by relentless pursuits and attacks. During the opening moves of the campaign, Waite was wounded at Spotsylvania on May 12, 1864, but he continued to command his unit. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel then to colonel in March of 1865. He was brevetted brigadier general in April of 1865 "for conspicuous gallantry in the assault upon Petersburg, Virginia" and served for the duration of the war finally mustering out in July of 1865. After the war, he moved to Stephenson county, Illinois where he became a successful merchant and banker.
Civil War Union Brevet Brigadier General. A school teacher from Rockland, Michigan, he answered the call for volunteers to defend the Union from secession in October of 1862 by joining the 27th Michigan Volunteer Infantry as a first lieutenant. The regiment took the field in the spring of 1863 and was assigned to the 9th Corps in Vicksburg. He was promoted to captain shortly before the siege of that river town in June of 1863. After the surrender of Vicksburg, he and the 27th Michigan, still a part of the 9th Corps, marched to Knoxville, Tennessee; and on November 16th they repulsed two of Longstreet's attacking divisions at the Battle of Campbell's Station. During the winter of 1863, they endured the privations of a siege in a desolute western Tennessee. In the spring of 1864, the 27th Michigan was to participate in Grant's summer campaign. By a strategy of attrition, Grant intended to bled the Confederate army of Robert E. Lee by relentless pursuits and attacks. During the opening moves of the campaign, Waite was wounded at Spotsylvania on May 12, 1864, but he continued to command his unit. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel then to colonel in March of 1865. He was brevetted brigadier general in April of 1865 "for conspicuous gallantry in the assault upon Petersburg, Virginia" and served for the duration of the war finally mustering out in July of 1865. After the war, he moved to Stephenson county, Illinois where he became a successful merchant and banker.
Bio by: Thomas Fisher
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