Zealous Bates Tower

Zealous Bates Tower
Allegiance	United States of America Union
Service/branch	United States Army Union Army
Years of service	1841–83
Rank	Brevet Major General
Battles/wars	Mexican-American War Battle of Contreras Battle of Chapultepec American Civil War Second Battle of Bull Run Battle of Nashville

Zealous Bates Tower (January 12, 1819 – March 20, 1900) was an American soldier and civil engineer who served as a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He was most noted for constructing the solid defenses of Federal-occupied Nashville, Tennessee, which proved to withstand repeated attacks by the Confederates.

Birth and early years

Tower was born at Cohasset, Massachusetts to a family settled at adjacent Hingham since its founding. He graduated with first honors at West Point in 1841. He served under General Scott in the Mexican War, led the storming column at Contreras, and was wounded at Chapultepec. After the war, Tower served as an engineer. He was responsible for the initial construction of the Federal facilities on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay and Fort Point, San Francisco.

Civil War

At the outbreak of the Civil War, he was chief engineer in the defense of Fort Pickens. In November 1861, he was made brigadier general of volunteers. Tower served in I Corps when it was listed as III Corps in MG John Pope's Army of Virginia. He led a brigade in the division of Brig. Gen. James B. Ricketts. On August 30, 1862, Tower was severely wounded at the Second Battle of Bull Run

After recovering from his wound, Tower was superintendent of West Point from July until September 1864. He then became chief engineer of the defenses of Nashville, Tennessee, and his skillful work at that place contributed to the total defeat of John Bell Hood's Army of Tennessee at the Battle of Nashville in December 1864. He was appointed a brevet major general of volunteers dating from March 1865 in the omnibus promotions that followed the war.

Post War

Tower in later life

Tower stayed in the regular army after the Civil War. In November 1865, he became a lieutenant colonel in the Engineer Corps. Tower supervised the work of improving several major harbors, both for commercial and military purposes. He was promoted to colonel in January 1874. Tower retired from the service in 1883.

He was an original founding member of the Aztec Club of 1847, a social organization for officers who served in the Mexican-American War.

See also

• List of American Civil War generals

References

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Gilman, D. C.; Peck, H. T.; Colby, F. M., eds. (1905). New International Encyclopedia (1st ed.). New York: Dodd, Mead. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Wilson, J. G.; Fiske, J., eds. (1891). Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. New York: D. Appleton. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)

External links

• Appleton's entry
• Photo gallery
• Aztec Club biography
• Alcatraz Gazette