Thomas West Sherman (March 26, 1813 – December 31, 1879) 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.[1]
The American Civil War was a war fought in the United States from 1861 to 1865, between the North and the South. The Civil War is the most studied and written about episode in U.S. history. Primarily as a result of the long-standing controversy over the enslavement of black people, war broke out in April 1861 when secessionist forces attacked Fort Sumter in South Carolina shortly after Abraham Lincoln had been inaugurated as the President of the United States. The loyalists of the Union in the North proclaimed support for the Constitution. They faced secessionists of the Confederate States in the South, who advocated for states' rights to uphold slavery.
Sherman, known to his friends as "Tim", was born in Newport, Rhode Island, the son of Elijah and Martha (West) Sherman. His desire to attend the United States Military Academy at West Point was so strong that he walked from Newport to Washington, D.C. to secure a Congressional appointment.
Newport is a seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island, located approximately 33 miles (53 km) southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, 20 miles (32 km) south of Fall River, Massachusetts, 73 miles (117 km) south of Boston, and 180 miles (290 km) northeast of New York City. It is known as a New England summer resort and is famous for its historic mansions and its rich sailing history. It was the location of the first U.S. Open tournaments in both tennis and golf, as well as every challenge to the America's Cup between 1930 and 1983. It is also the home of Salve Regina University and Naval Station Newport, which houses the United States Naval War College, the Naval Undersea Warfare Center, and an important Navy training center. It was a major 18th-century port city and also contains a high number of buildings from the Colonial era.
The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known as West Point, Army, Army West Point, The Academy, or simply The Point, is a four-year federal service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort that sits on strategic high ground overlooking the Hudson River with a scenic view, 50 miles (80 km) north of New York City. It is one of the four U.S. military service academies, and one of the five U.S. service academies.
Sherman graduated from West Point on July 1, 1836 and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the 3rd U.S. Artillery Regiment. Sherman would serve the bulk of his career with the 3rd Artillery and eventually became its commander.
The Seminole are a Native American people originally from Florida. Today, they principally live in Oklahoma with a minority in Florida, and comprise three federally recognized tribes: the Seminole Tribe of Oklahoma, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, and Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida, as well as independent groups. The Seminole nation emerged in a process of ethnogenesis from various Native American groups who settled in Florida in the 18th century, most significantly northern Muscogee (Creeks) from what is now Georgia and Alabama. The word "Seminole" is derived from the Creek word simanó-li, which may itself be derived from the Spanish word cimarrón, meaning "runaway" or "wild one".
The Cherokee Nation, also known as the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, is the largest of three Cherokee federally recognized tribes in the United States. It was established in the 20th century and includes people descended from members of the Old Cherokee Nation who relocated from the Southeast due to increasing pressure to Indian Territory and Cherokee who were forced to relocate on the Trail of Tears. The tribe also includes descendants of Cherokee Freedmen and Natchez Nation. Over 299,862 people are enrolled in the Cherokee Nation, with 189,228 living within the state of Oklahoma. According to Larry Echo Hawk, former head of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), the current Cherokee Nation is not the historical Cherokee tribe but instead a "successor in interest".
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the Pre-Columbian peoples of North, Central and South America and their descendants.
He was promoted to first lieutenant on March 14, 1838. He served again in the Florida War from 1838 to 1842 and on recruiting service in 1842.
He served at Fort Moultrie, South Carolina from 1842 to 1844 and was again on recruiting service from 1844 to 1846. He was promoted to captain on May 28, 1846.
Fort Moultrie is a series of fortifications on Sullivan's Island, South Carolina, built to protect the city of Charleston, South Carolina. The first fort, formerly named Fort Sullivan, built of palmetto logs, inspired the flag and nickname of South Carolina, as "The Palmetto State". The fort was renamed for the U.S. patriot commander in the Battle of Sullivan's Island, General William Moultrie. During British occupation, in 1780–1782, the fort was known as Fort Arbuthnot.
Mexican-American War
During the War with Mexico he took a distinguished part in the Battle of Buena Vista on February 23, 1847, leading his battery in a defensive action helping to stop the Mexican attack, and was brevetted to major "for Gallant and Meritorious Conduct" during the battle.
The Battle of Buena Vista, also known as the Battle of Angostura, saw the United States Army use artillery to repulse the much larger Mexican Army in the Mexican–American War. Buena Vista, a village in the state of Coahuila, is seven miles (12 km) south of Saltillo, in Mexico.
In many of the world's military establishments, a brevet was a warrant giving a commissioned officer a higher rank title as a reward for gallantry or meritorious conduct but without conferring the authority, precedence, or pay of real rank. An officer so promoted was referred to as being brevetted. The promotion would be noted in the officer's title.
He was assigned to Fort Trumbull in New London, Connecticut in 1848 and then to Fort Adams in Newport from 1849 to 1853.
He was then on frontier duty at Fort Snelling, Minnesota from 1853 to 1857 and was in command of expedition to Yellow Medicine, Minnesota in 1857. He was involved in quelling the Kansas Border Disturbances in 1857 to 1858 and the Artillery School for Practice at Fort Ridgely, Minnesota from 1858 to 1861, except while in command of the expedition to Kettle Lake, Dakota in 1859.
Family
In 1858, Sherman married Mary Hannah Shannon, the daughter of Wilson Shannon, who had served as Governor of Ohio and Governor of Kansas Territory. They were the parents of a son, Wilson Shannon Sherman (1860-1936). Mary Shannon Sherman died from surgical complications just four days before her husband's death.
News stories in 1910 indicated that Wilson Sherman had not been heard from since the early 1890s, and that attorneys and police in Washington, DC and Newport were attempting to locate him. The effort to locate Wilson Sherman was undertaken because he was the only heir to his parents' estate, a large part of which had been held for him since their deaths. By the time of his death in 1936, he was living at the Masonic Home in Charlton, Massachusetts.
Civil War
At the start of the Civil War, Sherman was serving as a major in the 3rd Artillery when PresidentAbraham Lincoln appointed him to the grade of brigadier general of volunteers on August 6, 1861, to rank from May 17, 1861.[2] Sherman's nomination to the grade of brigadier general of volunteers was sent by PresidentAbraham Lincoln to the United States Senate on July 31, 1861 and the Senate confirmed the appointment on August 3, 1861.[2] He assumed command of the ground forces in the Port Royal Expedition. Sherman and the naval force under Flag Officer Samuel F. du Pont captured Port Royal in a combined Army/Navy operation.
During the May 27, 1863 attack on Port Hudson, Sherman was severely wounded, which led to the amputation of his right leg. His injuries were so severe that he was not expected to live, and the newspaper in his hometown of Newport, Rhode Island, printed an extensive obituary for him. For the rest of the war he held administrative commands in Louisiana. Sherman was mustered out of the volunteers on April 30, 1866.[2]
In recognition of his heroism and services, PresidentAndrew Johnson nominated Sherman for appointment to the grade of brevetmajor general of volunteers to rank from March 13, 1865 and the United States Senate confirmed the appointment on March 12, 1866.[3] On June 30, 1866, President Johnson nominated Sherman to be appointed to the rank of brevet major general of the United States Army (i.e. Regular Army), to rank from March 13, 1865, and the Senate confirmed the appointment on July 25, 1866.[4]
After Sherman was mustered out of volunteer service on April 30, 1866, he reverted to his Regular Army grade of colonel and was placed in command of the 3rd Artillery Regiment.
He served in command of his regiment and the post of Fort Adams, in Newport from July 29, 1866, to February 1869. He was in temporary command of the Department of the East from January to July 16, 1868. His final assignment was in command of his regiment and Fort Taylor in Key West, Florida from February 1869 to November 29, 1870.
Sherman retired from active service on December 31, 1870, as a major-general for "Disability caused by the Loss of a Leg in Battle".[5]
Sherman lived at his home named "Twin Beeches" on Catherine Street in Newport until he died there on March 16, 1879, at the age of 66. He is buried in the Island Cemetery in Newport.
James William Forsyth was a U.S. Army officer and general. He was primarily a Union staff officer during the American Civil War and cavalry regimental commander during the Indian Wars. Forsyth is best known for having commanded the 7th Cavalry at the Wounded Knee Massacre on December 29, 1890 during which more than 150 men, women, and children of the Lakota were killed and 51 were wounded.
Truman Seymour was a career soldier and an accomplished painter. He served in the Union Army during the American Civil War, rising to the rank of major general. He was present at the Battle of Fort Sumter. He commanded the Union troops at the Battle of Olustee, the only major Civil War battle fought in Florida.
Charles Griffin was a career officer in the United States Army and a Union general in the American Civil War. He rose to command a corps in the Army of the Potomac and fought in many of the key campaigns in the Eastern Theater.
Charles Lane Fitzhugh was a Union Army colonel during the American Civil War, who was later appointed a brevet brigadier general of volunteers for gallantry, energy and ability and a brevet brigadier general in the regular U.S. Army for gallant and meritorious services in the field during the war.
Innis Newton Palmer was a career officer in the United States Army, serving in the Mexican–American War, the Civil War, and on the Western frontier.
John Irvin Gregg was a career U.S. Army officer. He fought in the Mexican–American War and during the American Civil War as a colonel and near the end of the war as a brevet general in the Union army. In 1866, he was nominated and confirmed as a brevet major general of volunteers and a brevet brigadier general in the Regular Army, both to rank from March 13, 1865.
Robert Christie Buchanan was an American military officer who served in the Mexican–American War and then was a colonel in the Union Army during the American Civil War. In 1866, he was nominated and confirmed for appointment to the grades of brevet brigadier general and major general in the Regular Army for valor in several battles, to rank from March 13, 1865. In a career that spanned more than forty years, Buchanan held numerous commands and received multiple citations for bravery and distinguished service.
William Farquhar Barry was a career officer in the United States Army, serving as an artillery commander during the Mexican–American War and Civil War.
William Hays was a career officer in the United States Army, serving as a Union Army general during the American Civil War.
Henry Dana Washburn was a U.S. Representative from Indiana and a colonel and brevet brigadier general in the Union Army during the American Civil War.
Alexander Cummings McWhorter Pennington Jr., was an artillery officer and brigadier general in the United States Army and a veteran of both the American Civil War and Spanish–American War.
James Madison Robertson was an artillery officer in the United States Army who commanded the U.S. Horse Artillery Brigade during the American Civil War.
Horatio Gates Gibson was a career artillery officer in the United States Army, and colonel in the American Civil War. In 1866, he was nominated and confirmed for appointment as a brevet brigadier general of volunteers to rank from March 13, 1865.
Seth Williams was an American military officer who served as assistant adjutant general of the Union's Army of the Potomac during the American Civil War.
Thomas Worcester Hyde was a Union Army colonel who subsequently received brevets of brigadier general of volunteers and major general of volunteers in the American Civil War, a state senator from Maine, and the founder of Bath Iron Works, one of the major shipyards in the United States. He wrote two books about his experiences during the war and at the Battle of Gettysburg.
Joseph Dana Webster was a United States civil engineer and soldier most noted for administrative services during the American Civil War, where he served as chief of staff to both Ulysses S. Grant and William T. Sherman.
Samuel K. Vaughan was a lieutenant colonel in the Union Army during the American Civil War who was nominated and confirmed for appointment to the grade of brevet brigadier general in 1866.
Abram Calvin Wildrick was a career United States Army officer who served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. In 1866, he was nominated and confirmed for appointment to the grade of brevet brigadier general of volunteers to rank from April 2, 1865.
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.
William Walton Morris was an American soldier and a career officer in the United States Army. He served as a colonel and brevet brigadier general in the Regular Army, with Union Army service during the American Civil War (1861–1865). Morris served as a brigade commander primarily in charge of the defense of Fort McHenry and Baltimore Harbor. He had several brief periods in command of VIII Corps and of the Middle Department, which almost completely overlapped with each other.
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