John McAllister Schofield

John McAllister Schofield (born September 29, 1831 in Gerry , New York , † March 4, 1906 in St. Augustine , Florida ) was an American Secretary of War and officer and Commander in Chief of the US Army .

Life before the civil war

Schofield's family moved to Freeport , Illinois in 1843 . At sixteen he worked as a surveyor in Wisconsin and taught at the local school when he was seventeen. Although Schofield initially wanted to become a lawyer, he followed in 1849 an appointment to the US Military Academy in West Point , New York. He closed it in 1853 as seventh in his class and was first as Brevet - lieutenant in the 2nd US Artillery Regiment and deployed artillery regiment US From August 31, 1853 at the regular rank lieutenant in the 1st. On March 3, 1855, Schofield was promoted to first lieutenant and served in Florida and later as a science instructor at Washington University in St. Louis , Missouri .

Schofield married Harriet Bartlett in June 1857. The marriage had five children, three of whom survived childhood. Harriet died in 1888.

Civil war

At the beginning of the American Civil War , Schofield was a recruiting officer in Missouri. He was appointed major in the 1st Missouri Infantry Regiment on April 26, 1861. He was promoted to captain on May 14, 1861. Schofield reclassified the infantry regiment to the 1st Missouri Artillery Regiment and was appointed Chief of Staff of the Army of the West on July 2, 1861 under Major General Nathaniel Lyon . In the Battle of Wilsons Creek he distinguished himself, for which he received the Medal of Honor in 1892 . In November 1861 he was also promoted to Brigadier General of the Volunteers, and a year later to Major General of the Volunteers. Schofield alternated between 1862 and 1864 between uses in the field and those in territorial administration in Missouri. In 1863 he took command of a division in the XIV Corps of the Cumberland Army and in May 1863 was appointed commander in the Missouri Defense Area ( Department of the Missouri ).

Schofield took command of the Ohio Army on January 28, 1864 and led the army during the Atlanta Campaign . He remained with the Army in Tennessee after the fall of Atlanta, Georgia under Maj. Gen. George Henry Thomas to defend Nashville , Tennessee against Lt. Gen. John Bell Hood's offensive. Schofield defeated Hood on November 30th at Franklin and at the Battle of Nashville with Thomas' Cumberland Army again.

Schofield was promoted to Brigadier General of the US Army on November 30, 1864. After the Battle of Nashville, he was transferred with the Ohio Army in the winter of 1865 by rail and water to North Carolina , where he united in Goldsboro , North Carolina with Sherman's armies coming from the south and took part in his further campaign.

1865 until death

After the end of the civil war, Schofield was first sent on a diplomatic mission to France . Andrew Johnson named him Military Governor of the First Military District ( Virginia ). From 1868 to 1869 he served as Secretary of War in the Johnson Cabinet .

Schofield was transferred to Hawaii in 1872 , where he was entrusted with building the Pearl Harbor naval base . When a military base was built on the island of Oahu in 1908, it was named in his honor - the Schofield Barracks.

Schofield was appointed director of his former training facility, West Point, in 1876 and remained there until 1881. From 1888 to 1895, he was promoted to major general, and held the post of Commander-in-Chief of the US Army . Schofield was promoted to lieutenant general on February 5, 1895, and retired on September 29, 1895.

Schofield published his memoir in 1897. He was buried in Arlington National Cemetery in 1906 .

Today, Schofield is also remembered for a long quote that all cadets at the US Military Academy at West Point, the Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, and the US Air Force Academy must memorize. It is an excerpt from his graduation address to the class of 1879 at West Point:

“The discipline that makes the soldiers of a free country reliable in battle cannot be obtained through harsh or tyrannical treatment. On the contrary, such treatment is far more likely to destroy an army than it makes. It is possible to give directions and give orders in a manner and tone of voice that arouses in the soldier not a feeling but a strong desire for obedience, while the opposite type and tone of voice can provoke strong resentment and resentment, a desire to disobey to be. One way or another of dealing with subordinates arises from a corresponding spirit in the commander's chest. Whoever feels the respect due to others cannot fail to awaken in them respect for themselves. While the one who feels disrespectful towards others, especially his subordinates, and manifests himself accordingly, cannot help but arouse hatred towards himself. "

- John M. Schofield

Honors

Medal of Honor , 1861
Civil War Medal and Indian Campaign Medal (both posthumous)
He is ranked eleven in the historical ranking of the highest officers in the United States .

literature

James L. McDonough, Schofield: Union General in the Civil War and Reconstruction. Florida State University Press, Tallahassee 1972.
Donald B. Connelly, John M. Schofield and the Politics of Generalship. University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill 2006, ISBN 0-8078-3007-0 .

Web links

Commons : John McAllister Schofield - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

^ ^A ^b Ezra J. Warner: Generals in Blue . Louisiana State University Press, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 2013, ISBN 978-0-8071-5229-4 , pp. 425 .
^ John H. and David J. Eicher: Civil War High Commands. Stanford University Press, 2001, accessed September 7, 2019 (Schofield's life data, p. 472).
^ John M. Schofield: Forty-six Years in the Army . The Century Co., New York 1897, p. 29 .
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d John H. and David J. Eicher: Civil War High Commands. Stanford University Press, 2001, accessed September 7, 2019 (Schofield's life data, p. 473).
↑ The major was the third staff officer of a regiment and comparable to the XO , mostly in the rank of major or captain
↑ ^a ^b ^c Ezra J. Warner: Generals in Blue. Louisiana State University Press, 2013, accessed January 19, 2020 (Schofield's life data, p. 426).
^ LTG John M. Schofield on Discipline. Retrieved September 6, 2019 (American English).

personal data
SURNAME	Schofield, John McAllister
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American Civil War officer and later Secretary of War, Commander in Chief of the US Army
DATE OF BIRTH	September 29, 1831
PLACE OF BIRTH	Gerry , New York
DATE OF DEATH	March 4, 1906
Place of death	St. Augustine , Florida

[Warner-1] A ^b Ezra J. Warner: Generals in Blue . Louisiana State University Press, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 2013, ISBN 978-0-8071-5229-4 , pp. 425 .

[2] John H. and David J. Eicher: Civil War High Commands. Stanford University Press, 2001, accessed September 7, 2019 (Schofield's life data, p. 472).

[3] John M. Schofield: Forty-six Years in the Army . The Century Co., New York 1897, p. 29 .

[Eicher-4] John H. and David J. Eicher: Civil War High Commands. Stanford University Press, 2001, accessed September 7, 2019 (Schofield's life data, p. 473).

[5] The major was the third staff officer of a regiment and comparable to the XO , mostly in the rank of major or captain

[Warner1-6] Ezra J. Warner: Generals in Blue. Louisiana State University Press, 2013, accessed January 19, 2020 (Schofield's life data, p. 426).

[7] LTG John M. Schofield on Discipline. Retrieved September 6, 2019 (American English).