Edward Banker Willis | |
---|---|
Born | January 9, 1831 New York City |
Died | December 7, 1879 (48) Fontenelle, Iowa |
Allegiance | United States of America |
Service | United States Army |
Years of service | 1861 - 1866 |
Rank | Lieutenant Colonel |
Battles / wars | American Civil War Apache Wars |
Other work | Civil engineer |
Edward Banker Willis (January 9, 1831 - December 7, 1879) was a United States military officer during the American Civil War. He participated in the Trans-Mississippi Theater, fighting rebels and hostile native Americans in the frontier of Arizona and New Mexico. [1] [2]
Willis was born on January 9, 1831, in New York City and when he was nineteen he traveled west for the California Gold Rush. On August 24, 1861, he mustered into the service of the Union Army, becoming a first lieutenant and later a captain of Company A, 1st California Infantry. From San Diego, Willis marched with James H. Carleton's expedition across New Mexico Territory and was involved in the capture of Tucson, an old Spanish presidio defended by a handful of militia. After that he headed south for the mining town of Mowry in order to arrest a suspected traitor named Sylvester Mowry. For his conduct in the Civil War, Willis was promoted to major on May 5, 1863. In September, Willis led a scouting party against the Navajo and later was on the board to determine where to build Fort Whipple. Leaving Fort Wingate on November 7, 1863, he went to Little Chino Valley, north of Prescott, and opened the new fort on December 23. However, the fort was moved on May 11, 1864, to its present location near Prescott. On June 30, 1864, Willis fought a small engagement with Apaches along the Salt River. On September 5, he mustered out of the 1st California Infantry and joined up with the 1st New Mexico Infantry at Santa Fe, becoming a lieutenant colonel on February 5, 1865. In January 1866 Willis was in command of Fort Selden when he heard a rumor that a large band of Apaches had sacked the Janos presidio in Chihuahua. Hastily he organized an expedition of fifty infantrymen and twenty-five cavalrymen to march to the aid of the Mexican citizens there. But when the column arrived, ten days later, Willis learned that the citizens had successfully fought the Apaches for two days. The rest fled into the surrounding mountains. Willis was honorably discharged at Santa Fe on November 1, 1866. He then became a civil engineer in New Mexico, Arizona California, Oregon, Washington and Oklahoma Territory before retiring to Omaha, Nebraska. Willis died at Fontenelle, Iowa on December 7, 1879, leaving a wife but no children. [3]
August Valentine Kautz was a German-American officer. He served in the Rogue River Wars and Puget Sound War. He served as a general in the Union cavalry during the American Civil War. He was the author of several army manuals on duties and customs eventually adopted by the U.S. military.
The First Regiment Oregon volunteer Cavalry was a volunteer regiment in United States service Union army that was formed in response to the American Civil War. With men recruited in Oregon and some recruited in surrounding states, the regiment primarily served to protect the state of Oregon and surrounding territories during the American Civil War.
The 4th California Infantry was a volunteer infantry regiment recruited from northern California during the American Civil War. It was organized at Sacramento, Placerville, and Auburn in September and October 1861.
The 1st Regiment California Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It spent its entire term of service in the western United States.
Galvanized Yankees was a term from the American Civil War denoting former Confederate prisoners of war who swore allegiance to the United States and joined the Union Army. Approximately 5,600 former Confederate soldiers enlisted in the United States Volunteers, organized into six regiments of infantry between January 1864 and November 1866. Of those, more than 250 had begun their service as Union soldiers, were captured in battle, then enlisted in prison to join a regiment of the Confederate States Army. They surrendered to Union forces in December 1864 and were held by the United States as deserters, but were saved from prosecution by being enlisted in the 5th and 6th U.S. Volunteers. An additional 800 former Confederates served in volunteer regiments raised by the states, forming ten companies. Four of those companies saw combat in the Western Theater against the Confederate Army, two served on the western frontier, and one became an independent company of U.S. Volunteers, serving in Minnesota.
The Weekly Arizonian was a newspaper published in Arizona Territory with a checkered existence from 1859 to 1871. It holds a special place in Arizona history as its first printed work, first newspaper and first political organ.
The 1st Dakota Cavalry was a Union battalion of two companies raised in the Dakota Territory during the American Civil War. They were deployed along the frontier, primarily to protect the settlers during the Dakota War of 1862.
The 1st Regiment California Cavalry was a cavalry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War. First formed as a battalion, the unit later expanded to regimental size.
The 2nd Regiment California Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It spent its entire term of service in the western United States. Organized at San Francisco and Carson City September 2, 1861, to December 30, 1862, and attached to Department of the Pacific. The regiment was first assembled at the Presidio, San Francisco, and after completing its organization, five companies were sent to Oregon and Washington Territory, to relieve the regular troops, and two companies were sent to Santa Barbara. The troops of this regiment sent to Oregon were afterwards returned to California. It was mustered out during the month of October, 1864.
The 1st Battalion of Native Cavalry, California Volunteers was a cavalry battalion in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Recruits were largely drawn from the Californio population, though its ranks included Yaqui and Mission Indians as well as immigrants from Mexico, Hispano America and Europe. In addition to its ethnic makeup, the Battalion is also considered unusual for being one of the few lancer units in the United States Army.
The 7th California Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It spent its entire term of service in the western United States, attached to the Department of the Pacific, serving in California and Arizona Territory. They were unofficially known as the "Gold Diggers" in reference to the large number of recruits from the California's "Mother Lode" region. Later, they were also called the "Hungry Seventh" for the privations they suffered in Arizona, particularly at Fort Mason. They saw combat at the Battle of Chiricahua Mountains, and at Skull Valley. The Regiment included many veterans of the Mexican–American War.
The 6th Regiment California Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It spent its entire term of service in the western United States attached to the Department of the Pacific.
The 1st Battalion of California Veteran Infantry was a California volunteer infantry battalion in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It spent its entire term of service in the western United States.
Clarence Edmund Bennett (1833–1902), usually referred to as Clarence E. Bennett, a graduate of West Point, a career American Army officer who saw duty almost exclusively in Western frontier assignments, served in the American Civil War in California, New Mexico and Arizona Territories and later in Reconstruction occupation forces and frontier duty during the later Indian Wars.
James Henry Carleton was an officer in the US Army and a Union general during the American Civil War. Carleton is best known as an Indian fighter in the Southwestern United States.
At the outbreak of the American Civil War, Oregon had no organised militia and had sold most of the equipment bought for the Rogue River Wars. The state's governor, John Whiteaker, was pro-slavery and opposed to Oregon's involvement in the conflict. As such, it was only in late 1862 with a new governor that the state raised any troops: the 1st Oregon Cavalry served until June 1865.
Edwin Augustus Rigg (1822–1882), 49er, was a military officer in the American Civil War and the Apache Wars.
Joseph Nelson Garland Whistler was a career United States Army officer. He served in the Mexican–American War and received a brevet appointment for distinguished service in the Battle of Contreras and the Battle of Churubusco. At the beginning of the American Civil War, Whistler was among the U.S. Regular Army officers taken prisoner by Confederates in Texas in April 1861 and paroled but was not exchanged until August 15, 1862. In 1863, he became colonel of the 2nd New York Heavy Artillery Regiment. He received a promotion and four brevet appointments in the regular army for his service during the Overland Campaign, specifically the Battle of North Anna, and the Siege of Petersburg, specifically the Second Battle of Petersburg. He was nominated on January 13, 1866 and confirmed on March 12, 1866 for appointment to the grade of brevet brigadier general of volunteers, to rank from March 13, 1866. He retired in on October 19, 1886 as colonel of the 15th U.S. Infantry Regiment.
Sidney Randolph DeLong was the first elected mayor of Tucson, Arizona. Elected in 1871 for a one-year term, the municipality formed the township of Tucson with two sections of land purchased from the U.S. government. In 1874 DeLong represented the Tucson area in the 8th Arizona Territorial Legislature.
Calabasas is a former populated place or ghost town, within the census-designated place of Rio Rico, a suburb of Nogales in Santa Cruz County, Arizona, United States.