Hasbrouck Davis

Last updated

Hasbrouck Davis
Davis, Hasbrouck LOC cwpb.04937 (cropped).jpg
Born(1827-04-19)April 19, 1827
Worcester, Massachusetts
DiedOctober 19, 1870(1870-10-19) (aged 43)
Northwest coast of Ireland
Cenotaph
Rural Cemetery, Worcester, Massachusetts
Allegiance United States of America
Union
Service/branch United States Army
Union Army
Years of service18621865
Rank Union Army colonel rank insignia.png Colonel
Union Army brigadier general rank insignia.svg Brevet Brigadier General
Unit 12th Illinois Cavalry
Battles/wars American Civil War
RelationsFather "Honest" John Davis
Brother John Chandler Bancroft Davis
Signature Signature of Hasbrouck Davis (1827-1870).png

Hasbrouck Davis (April 19, 1827 - October 19, 1870) was an American general from Massachusetts. The son of prominent politician "Honest" John Davis, Davis attended Williams College and briefly taught before studying to become a Unitarian minister. He later studied law and moved to Chicago, Illinois to practice. He was mustered into service with the 12th Illinois Cavalry in 1862, later leading the regiment as a colonel. Late in his war service he was brevetted to brigadier general. In 1870, he died in the wreck of the SS Cambria.

Contents

Biography

Hasbrouck Davis was born on April 19, 1827, in Worcester, Massachusetts. He was the third son of U.S. Representative and later U.S. Senator "Honest" John Davis. He attended public schools then matriculated at Williams College in 1841. He graduated four years later, returning to Worcester to teach at the high school. After a year, he decided to instead pursue a career in the ministry. He studied in Heidelberg, Baden to study the German language. He returned to Massachusetts in 1849, accepting the pastorship of the Unitarian church in Watertown. Davis preached for only a few years before deciding to step down to study law. He was admitted to the bar in 1854, then opened a law office in Boston. The next year, Davis decided to head west to Chicago, Illinois, opening a successful firm there. [1]

Davis was mustered into service with the 12th Illinois Cavalry in February 1862 as a lieutenant colonel. Arriving shortly after the First Battle of Winchester, Davis was put in charge of scouting posts. On a mission around Bunker Hill, West Virginia, Davis successfully repelled a Confederate attack. The Confederates counterattacked the next morning, but Davis sent a band of forty troops out near Darkesville, West Virginia. Under Davis' command, they routed the opposing troops, killing 25, including the grandson of Charles Carroll of Carrollton, and taking 50 prisoners. [1]

In October 1862, the unit's colonel Arno Voss left for the recruiting serving, putting Davis in charge of the regiment until the next February. The unit saw action at the Battle of Harpers Ferry, escaping the surrounded fortification and taking a band of prisoners in the process. As part of Stoneman's 1863 Raid during the Battle of Chancellorsville, Davis was ordered to take a brigade to disrupt the Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac and Virginia Central Railroads. He returned to Illinois with the regiment in November 1863 to reorganize as a veteran regiment. [1]

On January 5, 1864, he was promoted to colonel after Voss was forced to discharge due to illness. The regiment was assigned the Army of the Gulf in Louisiana, fortifying Fort Butler near Donaldsonville. On October 31, he was reassigned to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The regiment was moved to Memphis, Tennessee on January 5, 1865, to scout for Embury D. Osband and the 3rd United States Colored Cavalry Regiment. He was brevetted a brigadier general on March 12, 1865, and was sent to George Armstrong Custer in Alexandria, Louisiana. However, he fell ill and was forced to resign on August 1. He returned to Chicago and continued to practice as a lawyer, serving one term as city attorney. [1]

Davis married Martha W. Stickney in November 1850; they had four children. In 1870, he boarded the SS Cambria to tour Europe; the vessel sank off the coast of Ireland on October 19. Davis was one of the 178 lives lost; his body was never recovered. [1] A cenotaph was erected in his honor at Rural Cemetery in Worcester.

See also

Related Research Articles

William Gamble (general) United States Army general

William Gamble was a civil engineer and a United States Army cavalry officer. He served during the Second Seminole War, and fought for the Union during the American Civil War. He commanded one of two brigades in Brigadier General John Buford's Division of Cavalry, in which he played an important role in defending Union positions during the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg.

Wesley Merritt

Wesley Merritt was an American major general who served in the cavalry of the United States Army during the American Civil War, American Indian Wars, Spanish–American War, and the Philippine–American War. Following the latter war, he became the first American Military Governor of the Philippines.

Samuel D. Sturgis United States Army general (1822–1889)

Samuel Davis Sturgis was a senior officer of the United States Army. A veteran of the Mexican War, Civil War, and Indian Wars, he attained the rank of brevet major general.

Thomas T. Munford

Thomas Taylor Munford was an American farmer, iron, steel and mining company executive and Confederate colonel and acting brigadier general during the American Civil War.

Thomas Devin

Thomas Casimer Devin was a United States Army officer and general. He commanded Union cavalry during the American Civil War and during the Indian Wars.

Henry Harnden Union Army general

Henry Harnden was an American sailor, Republican politician, and Wisconsin pioneer. He served as a Union Army officer during the American Civil War and led the Wisconsin cavalry regiment which was credited in the capture of Confederate president Jefferson Davis. After the war, he was granted an honorary brevet to brigadier general. He also went on to serve one term in the Wisconsin State Assembly, representing eastern Jefferson County.

Eugene Asa Carr

Eugene Asa Carr was a soldier in the United States Army and a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions at the Battle of Pea Ridge.

The 4th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War, primarily in the Western Theater. It was later mounted and became the 4th Wisconsin Cavalry Regiment.

The 6th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It spent most of the war as a part of the famous Iron Brigade in the Army of the Potomac.

John Witcher American politician

John Seashoal Witcher was an American farmer, politician and soldier from Cabell County, West Virginia, who helped found the new Union state during the American Civil War and served one term in Congress representing West Virginia's 3rd congressional district as a Republican. After losing his re-election, however, he resumed his federal and U.S. Army career. In addition to serving as lieutenant colonel and brevet colonel of the 3rd West Virginia Volunteer Cavalry, Witcher also served a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates and as the 3rd Secretary of State of West Virginia. On March 18, 1867, President Andrew Johnson nominated Witcher for appointment to the brevet grade of brigadier general, to rank from March 13, 1865; and the United States Senate confirmed the appointment on March 28, 1867. He is sometimes confused with his first cousin, Confederate Col. Vincent A. "Clawhammer" Witcher, a lawyer who lived in nearby Wayne County and who commanded the 34th Virginia Cavalry Battalion.

The 30th Regiment Illinois Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.

Joseph J. Reynolds

Joseph Jones Reynolds was an American engineer, educator, and military officer who fought in the American Civil War and the postbellum Indian Wars.

Richard W. Johnson

Richard Woodhouse Johnson was an officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War.

Daniel McCauley

Daniel McCauley (1839–1894) was an American politician and Union Army office during the American Civil War.

Francis Trowbridge Sherman (1825–1905) was a Union general during the American Civil War. He served in the cavalry and infantry, seeing action in both the Western Theater and Eastern Theater.

Samuel H. Starr United States Army officer (1810–1891)

Samuel Henry Starr was a career United States Army officer, regimental commander and prisoner of war. A collection of his letters provide a rare view of military life, the War with Mexico, Indian conflicts, the Civil War, his fall from grace, recovery and post Civil War service. Despite his rough demeanor he was a religious man and reflective of the times he served.

Hispanics in the American Civil War fought on both the Union and Confederate sides of the conflict. Not all the Hispanics who fought in the American Civil War were "Hispanic-Americans", in other words citizens of the United States. Many of them were Spanish subjects or nationals from countries in the Caribbean, Central and South America. Some were born in a US Territory and therefore did not have the right to US Citizenship. It is estimated that approximately 3,500 Hispanics, mostly Mexican-Americans, Puerto Ricans and Cubans living in the United States joined the war: 2,500 for the Confederacy and 1,000 for the Union. This number increased to 10,000 by the end of the war.

Charles A. R. Dimon

Charles Augustus Ropes Dimon was a volunteer soldier in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Beginning his service as a private in the 8th Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, Dimon rose through the ranks to become a colonel of a US Volunteer Infantry Regiment and was awarded the honorary grade of brevet brigadier general United States Volunteers, by appointment of President Andrew Johnson on January 13, 1866, to rank from March 13, 1865, and confirmation by the U.S. Senate on March 12, 1866. His success was due in part to the sponsorship of Major General Benjamin F. Butler.

Oliver Edwards American major general in the Union Army

Oliver Edwards was a machine company executive, an inventor, and a volunteer officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War.

11th Illinois Infantry Regiment Union infantry regiment during the American Civil War

The 11th Regiment Illinois Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment from Illinois that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. In April 1861, it was formed as a three-month volunteer unit, and in July 1861 it was reorganized as a three-year unit, in which role it served until the end of the war. Two of its commanding officers were promoted to brigadier general and led major units during the war. In its first major action at Fort Donelson the regiment suffered terrible losses. The 11th Illinois also fought at Shiloh, Riggins Hill, Vicksburg, First Yazoo City, Second Yazoo City, and Fort Blakely. In April 1863, the 109th Illinois Infantry Regiment was disbanded and its enlisted men transferred into the 11th Illinois. The regiment was mustered out of service in July 1865.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Davis, John Chandler Bancroft (1871). In Memoriam: Hasbrouck Davis.