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Ulysses S. Grant
(1822-1885) - An American General and the eighteenth President of the
United States, Grant achieved international fame as the leading
Union general
in the
Civil War,
capturing Vicksburg in 1863 and Richmond in 1865. He accepted the
surrender of his
Confederate opponent
Robert E. Lee at Appomattox Court
House. See full article
HERE.
Thomas Jonathan
"Stonewall" Jackson (1824-1863) -
Thomas Jonathan Jackson was born at Clarksburg, [West] Virginia, on
January 21, 1824, the third child of Jonathan Jackson and Julia Beckwith
Neal Jackson. When he was just two, his father died and five years later,
he was orphaned when his mother died as well. Sent to live with a
paternal uncle near present-day Weston, West Virginia, Thomas helped
around the farm and his uncle's mill. Much of his education was
self-taught, but as the boy learned, he studied hard and later, actually
taught school at Jackson's Mill. In 1842, he was barely accepted into the
Military Academy at West Point, as he had difficulty with the entrance
examinations. After graduating in 1846, he served in the
Mexican-American War, then
taught at the Virginia Military Institute.
Upon the outbreak of the
Civil War he was commissioned as a colonel
in the
Confederate forces of Virginia and dispatched to Harpers Ferry
where he was active in organizing the raw recruits. During his service, Jackson was quickly
recognized for his innovation, leadership skills, and bravery and
receiving several quick promotions, he was made a Brigadier General on
June 17, 1861.
He led a number of campaigns and battles
during the Civil War, including the Valley
Campaign, first and second battles of Bull Run,
Antietam and Fredericksburg. It was during the Battle of Bull Run when
Jackson assumed his nickname, when Brigadier-General Barnard E. Bee
stated, "There is Jackson standing like a stone wall."
He died on May 10, 1863 after being shot by
"friendly fire" at the Battle of Chancellorsville. A Southern hero,
military historians consider him to be one of the most gifted tactical
commanders in U.S. history. |
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Lane's
Brigade, aka: Kansas Brigade (1861) - After the
Battle of Wilson's Creek,
Missouri
on August 10, 1861, the
Union army retreated. With the
Kansas
border exposed and General Sterling Price's men threatening the
"free-soilers" of
Kansas,
General James H. Lane began the work of
organizing troops for defense. He quickly began recruiting and within a
short time, the Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Seventh regiments were
ready for service. Lane took command of
some 1,500 troops at
Fort Scott,
Kansas
and led them into action against General Price in the
Battle of Dry Wood Creek on September 2, 1861.
Though, his troops lost the battle, Lane
continued on, fighting through the towns of Paninsville, Butler,
Harrisonville, and Clinton,
Missouri, before he ended his campaign by the
burning of Osceola on September 23, 1861. The troops continued to pursue Price's
men for a time but Lane was severely
criticized for his actions in Osceola and soon sent back to
Kansas.
Lane was most severely condemned by
General Henry Halleck, Commander of the Department of
Missouri, who
believed that the attacks made by Lane and
Colonel Charles Jennison, aggravated anti-Union sentiments in
Missouri and
intensified resistance to federal authority in the state. Of their
actions, he would state: "The course pursued by those under
Lane and Jennison has turned against us
many thousand who were formerly
Union men. A few more such raids will make
this State unanimous against us." Thus, Lane's Brigade was ended.
Robert E. Lee (1807-1870)
- Lee was a career U.S. Army officer and the most celebrated general
of the
Confederate forces during the
Civil War.
See Full Article
HERE.
Isaiah Mays (1858-1925) - Born in Carters
Bridge, Virginia on February 16, 1858, Mays grew up to fight as a
Buffalo
Soldier. On May 11, 1889 he was serving as a Corporal in Company B of
the 24th Infantry, when he and several others in his regiment were asked
to escort Army Paymaster, Major Joseph Washington Wham and a strongbox
carrying more than $28,000 in gold and silver coins, from
Fort Grant to
Fort Thomas. However, when the
caravan was about 15 miles from Pima, Arizona they were ambushed by
bandits and a gun battle ensued, in what is known as the
Wham Paymaster Robbery. In the bitter
engagement, eight members of the escort were wounded, including
Sergeant Benjamin Brown,
Mays' superior, and the bandits made off with the payroll. Corporal Isaiah Mays, though shot in both legs, walked and
crawled two miles to a nearby ranch for help.
A year later, he was awarded the Medal of Honor on February 19, 1890. He,
and fellow officer,
Sergeant Benjamin Brown
were the only black infantrymen to receive the Medal of Honor for bravery
in the frontier Indian Wars. The money from the robbery was never
recovered and no one was ever convicted of the robbery or the shootings.
Thirty-three years after receiving the medal of Honor, in 1923, he to the
United States Government for a pension and was denied. Eventually, he
became indigent and was committed to the Arizona State Hospital,
which at the time housed not only ill and injured, but also indigents with
nowhere else to go. He died at the age of 67 in 1925, and was buried in
the Arizona State Hospital Cemetery in Phoenix, Arizona.
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