John Aaron Rawlins

John Aaron Rawlins

John Aaron Rawlins (born February 13, 1831 in Galena , Illinois , † September 6, 1869 in Washington, DC ) was a United States Army general during the American Civil War , a confidante of Ulysses S. Grant and later Secretary of War .

biography

Rawlins was born in Galena, Illinois on February 13, 1831. After being admitted to the bar in 1854, he practiced there. At the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, Rawlins met Ulysses S. Grant, who raised a regiment in Galena to respond to President Abraham Lincoln's call for troops. In the beginning, he served as a volunteer aide de camp up to grant requests. Rawlins then entered the United States Army with the rank of captain and served as an adjutant under Grant . Rawlins stayed with Grant throughout the war, with increasing skill and rank, including inspector of the Army of Tennessee and the Mississippi Military Division . He was known for his attention to detail and for following correct protocol. Rawlins was promoted to brigadier general on August 11, 1863 . When Grant was promoted to lieutenant general and given command of Union forces , Rawlins became chief of staff at his headquarters . He was on 24 February 1865. Brevet Major General conveyed on March 3 to brigadier general in the regular army, and on April 9 to brevet major general in the regular army. Rawlins stayed with Grant even when he was elected president by the general. He was Grant's first Minister of War. However, Rawlins had contracted tuberculosis and his failing health made his term of office short (March 11th to September 6th, 1869). His doctors recommended he go to Arizona , where the dry desert climate would do him good. Rawlins refused, however, wishing to remain by Grant's side as his Secretary of War. He died in Washington and was buried in Congressional Cemetery , with his remains later moved to Arlington National Cemetery .

John Aaron Rawlins was a member of the Freemasons Association , he belonged to the Miners Lodge in Galena.

The city of Rawlins in Wyoming , seat of the county seat of Carbon Counties , as well as Rawlins County in Kansas have been named after him.

Personal relationship with Grant

Rawlins devoted his efforts to preserving Grant's public image during the war. Prior to the war, Grant was known for his alcohol problems, but a later published letter from Rawlins to Grant, which he never saw, showed that Grant remained sober while in command of the army. In that letter, published in 1891, several years after Grant's death, Rawlins wrote, "I find her where the wine bottle has been emptied, in company with those who drink, and do not urge them to do the same." Rawlins noted that his advice was "heeded and quite good". It proved itself when Grant was not affected by drinks when his decisions were criticized.

There was speculation that by the time Rawlins died, he and Grant had built a distance so that Grant no longer needed his constant excitement about his image. When Rawlins died, only his temporary successor as Secretary of War, General William Tecumseh Sherman , was at his bedside. In his memoirs, written shortly before his death, Grant mentioned Rawlins only twice, and basically ignored their professional and personal relationship. Surviving members of Grant's former staff were outraged by the fact that Grant would snub someone as loyal to him as Rawlins had been. The most likely explanation for this is given by historian EB Long, who wrote, "It may be that Grant did not wish to praise Rawlins excessively for the recent reports presenting Rawlins as Grant's protector from his own bad habit."

literature

• Eicher, John H., & Eicher, David J .: Civil War High Commands , Stanford University Press, 2001, ISBN 0-8047-3641-3 .
• Wilson, James Harrison: The Life of John A. Rawlins , Neale Company, 1916.

Web links

Commons : John Aaron Rawlins  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

• John Aaron Rawlins in the Miller Center of Public Affairs of the University of Virginia (English)
• Congressional Cemetery entry for Rawlins

• John Aaron Rawlins in the database of Find a Grave (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Eugen Lennhoff, Oskar Posner, Dieter A. Binder: Internationales Freemaurer Lexikon . 1980. Reprinted from 1932, Amalthena Verlag, ISBN 978-3-7766-2478-6 , Lemma: Rawlins, John .
2. ↑ Article on Rawlins at the Ulysses S. Grant Homepage