Civil War Union Brevet Brigadier General. He was a 1st Lieutenant in the Chicago Dragoons, the first Illinois troops into the field on April 21, 1861, seven days after Fort Sumter surrendered to the Confederacy. He soon took the position as Captain in Company A, 4th Illinois Volunteer Cavalry, which served as General Grant’s unit escort in the western theater of the war. In 1863, he was promoted Colonel with the duty of recruiting the 1st Mississippi Colored Cavalry, which became the 3rd Regiment U.S. Colored Cavalry. With the 3rd Cavalry he participated in the Mississippi campaigns and was assigned commander of the Cavalry Division of West Tennessee in February 1964. For leadership and devotion to duty, he was brevetted Brigadier General of U.S. Volunteers on October 5, 1864. In 1865, he resigned his commission to take up cotton farming in Mississippi. Cause of death, encephalitis at age 37 and he is also the highest ranking veteran interred in Vicksburg National Cemetery.
Civil War Union Brevet Brigadier General. He was a 1st Lieutenant in the Chicago Dragoons, the first Illinois troops into the field on April 21, 1861, seven days after Fort Sumter surrendered to the Confederacy. He soon took the position as Captain in Company A, 4th Illinois Volunteer Cavalry, which served as General Grant’s unit escort in the western theater of the war. In 1863, he was promoted Colonel with the duty of recruiting the 1st Mississippi Colored Cavalry, which became the 3rd Regiment U.S. Colored Cavalry. With the 3rd Cavalry he participated in the Mississippi campaigns and was assigned commander of the Cavalry Division of West Tennessee in February 1964. For leadership and devotion to duty, he was brevetted Brigadier General of U.S. Volunteers on October 5, 1864. In 1865, he resigned his commission to take up cotton farming in Mississippi. Cause of death, encephalitis at age 37 and he is also the highest ranking veteran interred in Vicksburg National Cemetery.
Bio by: John "J-Cat" Griffith
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