Nathan Goff, Jr. was a Union Army officer from Rhode Island during the American Civil War.
Nathan Goff, Jr., son of Nathan and Nancy (Ingraham) Goff, was born in Warren, Rhode Island on August 5, 1827. His father was born in the same town in 1802, and his mother was born in Glocester, Rhode Island in 1803. In 1833 his parents moved from Warren to Bristol, Rhode Island, where Nathan received his education in the district school.
At the age of seventeen he was apprenticed to the sail-making business with T. & B. T. Cranston, and two years later, on the retirement of both members of that firm, he, with George E. Cranston, took over the business. In 1850 he engaged as an engraver with Smith, Dewey & Eddy of Warren, in the manufacture of jewelry. [1]
In 1861 he was a brigadier-general in the Rhode Island Militia, and soon after the attack on Fort Sumter, he offered his services to Governor William Sprague of Rhode Island, to serve in any position given to him for the preservation of the Union. He soon after organized a company of volunteers in Bristol, which, with members from Warren, were called the Bristol County Company. As captain of this company, which became Company G, Second Rhode Island Volunteer Infantry, he was mustered into the United States service on June 6, 1861 for three years.
He fought in the first Battle of Bull Run on July 21, 1861; the regiment was later assigned to the Army of the Potomac, participating in its many engagements. On July 24, 1862, he was promoted to be the major (third in command) of the 2nd Rhode Island and, on December 12, 1862, was promoted to lieutenant-colonel (second in command).
In December 1863, by permission from the War Department, he appeared before General Casey's Board of Examination in Washington, and passed an examination for lieutenant-colonel with a rating of "first class". On December 31 he was assigned as the lieutenant colonel of the 22nd United States Colored Infantry and ordered to Yorktown, Virginia. Afterwards his new regiment became a part of the Army of the James.
In February 1864 he was presented by the citizens of Warren a sword, belt, sash, and other accouterments. At the Second Battle of Petersburg, Virginia on June 15, 1864, he was severely wounded and taken to Chesapeake Hospital in Hampton, Virginia. In October 1864, on the recommendation of his brigade and division commanders, he was promoted to the rank of colonel, and assigned to the command of the 37th United States Colored Infantry. He assumed command on November 10, 1864. Being detached from the Army of the James, he joined the expedition of Major General Benjamin F. Butler against Fort Fisher, North Carolina, also participating in the second expedition under Major General Alfred H. Terry, and fought in the capture of the fort. He fought in all subsequent engagements of the Army of the James in North Carolina until the surrender of General Joseph Johnston's army to General William T. Sherman, at Raleigh, North Carolina in late April 1865.
In May 1865, Goff was assigned to the command of the post of Wilmington, North Carolina, and remained on duty in that state, the troops of his command occupying the forts on the coasts of North and South Carolina, being in temporary command of the District of Wilmington and Department of North Carolina. In June 1865, by recommendation of Major-General Charles J. Paine and Brigadier-General John W. Ames, his division and brigade commanders, he was promoted by the President to be brigadier-general of volunteers by brevet, "for long and faithful services and gallant conduct in the field". He was assigned on November 3, 1866, as president of a general court-martial at Raleigh, North Carolina, and, though his regiment was mustered out in February 1867, he was retained in the service as president of general court-martial till June 13, 1867, when he was honorably discharged, being among the last volunteer officers mustered out of service. [1]
Upon returning to Rhode Island, he returned to his former occupation in Providence. He later became a Companion of the Massachusetts Commandery of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States and was assigned insignia number 3148.
His talents, character, and public services caused him to be greatly respected by his fellow citizens. On August 10, 1870, he was appointed by President Ulysses S. Grant as deputy collector of customs for the port of Providence, a position which he held for more than twenty years. Politically, he was a Whig and a Republican. In his religious practice he was a Baptist. [1]
He died in Warren on April 17, 1903.
General Goff married his first wife, Sarah S. Surgens of Warren, in November, 1849. By her he had three children - Ella S., Walter I., and Mabel D. Sarah died on October 13, 1888. He later married Helen M. Surgens, of Boston, Massachusetts. Helen died in 1912. [1]
Elisha Hunt Rhodes was an American soldier who served in the Union Army of the Potomac for the entire duration of the American Civil War, rising from corporal to colonel of his regiment by war's end. Rhodes' illustrative diary of his war service was quoted prominently in Ken Burns's 1990 PBS documentary series The Civil War, read by Chris Murney.
Joseph Bradford Carr was a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War.
The 8th Minnesota Infantry Regiment was a Minnesota USV infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Indian Wars and the American Civil War.
The 9th New Jersey Infantry Regiment was an American Civil War infantry regiment from New Jersey that served from October 1861 through July 1865 in the Union Army. The regiment got its nickname, Jersey Muskrats, during the Battle of Roanoke Island when they successfully "sloshed through shoe sucking mud into waist deep water in "division" formation", giving the regiment a two-company front flanking the enemy. The regiment was the last to leave the state in 1861 but the first to see battle.
Thomas West Sherman was a United States Army officer with service during the Mexican–American War and the American Civil War. While some contemporaries mistakenly identified him as the brother of the more famous General William T. Sherman, modern scholarship notes that the two were not closely related.
The 2nd Rhode Island Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment composed of volunteers from the state of Rhode Island that served with the Union Army in the American Civil War. They, along with the 1st Rhode Island, wore a very simple uniform. The uniform composed of a dark blue jacket like shirt, tannish grey pants, and a dark blue chasseur kepi. The 2nd Rhode Island also wore havelocks in the beginning of the war, but after finding them useless they discarded them.
George Lafayette Beal was an American politician from the state of Maine who served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.
The 9th New York Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It was also known as the "Hawkins' Zouaves" or the "New York Zouaves."
Charles Robert Woods was a career United States Army officer and a Union general during the American Civil War. He is noted for commanding the relief troops that first attempted to resupply Fort Sumter prior to the start of the conflict, and served with distinction during the war.
John Sanford Mason was a career officer in the United States Army who served in the Indian Wars, Mexican-American War, and as a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War.
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 what later became a U.S. territory and therefore did not have the right to U.S. 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.
John Wainwright was a United States military officer during the American Civil War. A native of Syracuse, New York, he was awarded his nation's highest award for valor, the Medal of Honor, for his "gallant and meritorious conduct" while serving in the Union Army as a first lieutenant with the 97th Pennsylvania Infantry during the Second Battle of Fort Fisher, North Carolina on January 15, 1865.
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.
Sylvester Gardner Hill (1820-1864) was a colonel in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He served as a brigade commander during the Red River Campaign and Battle of Nashville where he was killed in action. He received a posthumous appointment as a brevet brigadier general.
The 9th Arkansas Infantry Regiment was a regiment of the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. It served in the Western Theater, seeing action in the Vicksburg, Tennessee and Georgia campaigns. Due to attrition; the 9th Arkansas was consolidated several times with other Arkansas regiments, finally merging in 1865 into the 1st Arkansas Consolidated Mounted Rifles.
Napoleon Bonaparte McLaughlen was a career United States army officer. He served throughout the American Civil War, winning brevet promotions to Brigadier General of both the U.S. Volunteers and the Regular Army.
Nelson D. Cole (1833–1899), was a United States army officer, businessman, and politician from Rhinebeck, New York.
George Lippitt Andrews was an officer of the United States Army, who commanded the African-American 25th Infantry Regiment for 20 years.
The 48th New York Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War.
John S. Poland was a career officer in the United States Army. A Union Army veteran of the American Civil War, he also served in the American Indian Wars and the Spanish–American War. Poland attained the rank of brigadier general and was most notable for his command of the 17th Infantry Regiment and 2nd Division, First Army Corps.