Samuel Davis Sturgis

Samuel Davis Sturgis (born June 11, 1822 in Shippensburg , Pennsylvania , † September 28, 1889 in Saint Paul , Minnesota ) was an American officer and general of the Northern States in the Civil War .

Life

Before the Civil War

Sturgis was born in Pennsylvania and entered the US Military Academy West Point on July 1, 1842 , graduating in 1846 as the 32nd of his 59th class. His class at West Point included George B. McClellan , Thomas J. Jackson , Ambrose P. Hill and numerous other later generals of the Civil War. After graduating, he served as a lieutenant in the Dragoons and as such took part in the Mexican-American War . He was captured during a reconnaissance mission near Buena Vista and exchanged after eight days. After the end of the war he remained in the United States Army , was quartermaster of the 2nd Dragoon Regiment and was promoted first to lieutenant and later to captain . As such, he served in the 1st Cavalry Regiment. Sturgis was stationed in the west and took part in several Indian campaigns, including against the Apaches , Kiowa and Comanches .

Civil War

Sturgis as General of the Northern States, photography by Mathew Brady

When the Civil War broke out, Sturgis was a captain in the 1st Cavalry Regiment and stationed in Fort Smith , Arkansas . He was promoted to major and commanded a small brigade consisting mainly of regular army units in the battle of Wilson's Creek . After the commander of the Union Forces , Brigadier General Nathaniel Lyon , fell, Sturgis took command of the Union Forces. Despite the defeat at Wilsons Creek, Sturgis was appointed Brevet - Lieutenant Colonel of the regular Army and Brigadier General of the Volunteer Army for his services in the battle . He served in the theater of war west of the Mississippi until the spring of 1862 and was then transferred to the theater of war east, first in Washington , then with the Virginia Army , in which he commanded the reserve corps during the second Battle of Bull Run . Despite the name, this corps was only a weak brigade. In September 1862 he took command of a division of the IX. Corps and led them in the battles of Antietam and Fredericksburg, among others . The IX. Corps was relocated to Kentucky and East Tennessee in the spring of 1863 , and with it Sturgis and his division. While the corps was relocated to Mississippi relatively soon to support the operations against Vicksburg , Sturgis stayed in Kentucky and commanded the Central Kentucky District in the Ohio Defense Area and later the cavalry of the Ohio Defense Area. During this time he was promoted to lieutenant colonel in the regular army. In the summer of 1864, General Sherman marched on Atlanta with three Union armies . A major concern for Sherman here was his growing and cavalry-prone supply line to Nashville , Tennessee. To keep the Confederate cavalry busy, Sturgis was commissioned in June 1864 with a relief attack from West Tennessee to North Mississippi, for which he had about 3,300 cavalrymen, 5,000 infantrymen and 16 guns available. However, at the Battle of Brice's Crossroads , he was severely beaten by an outnumbered Confederate force under General Forrest , and received no other field command for the remainder of the Civil War. Shortly before the end of the war, however, he was awarded the brevet ranks of Brigadier General and Major General of the regular army.

Indian Wars

Sturgis was retired from the volunteer army in August 1865 and returned to the service of the regular army. As a lieutenant colonel, he served in the 6th Cavalry Regiment. In 1869 he was promoted to colonel and was given command of the 7th Cavalry Regiment. His deputy was Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer . Custer led part of the 7th Cavalry Regiment into the battle of Little Big Horn . James G. Sturgis, son of Samuel Sturgis, was also among those killed on the American side. After the defeat on the Bighorn, Sturgis personally took command of the 7th Cavalry and led them under Nelson A. Miles in operations against the Sioux and the Northern Cheyenne . In the summer of 1877 Sturgis took part in the Nez-Percé War with six companies of the 7th Cavalry . While General Howard was pursuing the Nez Percé, Sturgis and his command were to stand in their way in the Absaroka Mountain Range. Sturgis positioned his troops at the mouth of Clark's Fork in Yellowstone in early September . Scouts reported that the Nez Percé were instead marching along the Shoshone , and Sturgis and his command marched there to intercept the Indians at the exit of the Shoshone Valley. The Nez Percé had only followed the Shoshone Trail a short distance and then bypassed Sturgis along Clark's Fork. Instead of standing in front of the Indians, Sturgis finally found himself behind General Howard's command. On Howard's orders, he then took up an intensified pursuit with a mounted commando. Sturgis reached the Indians at Canyon Creek, but was stopped by the warriors of the Nez Percé and was unable to block their further escape route. Sturgis pursued the Nez Percé, which was finally stopped in October in the Bearpaw Mountains by Colonel Miles .

Last years

After the end of the campaign against the Nez Percé, Sturgis continued to serve in the army and was stationed in various forts in the west. He then ran a soldiers' home in Washington DC and retired in 1886. Sturgis died on September 28, 1889 in St. Paul Minnesota and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Honors

The city of Sturgis in South Dakota was named after Samuel Davis Sturgis. The American transport ship USS General SD Sturgis was also named after him during World War II .

literature

• John H. Eicher, David J. Eicher: Civil War High Commands . Stanford University Press, 2001, ISBN 0-8047-3641-3 .
• Jerome A Greene: Nez Perce Summer, 1877: The US Army and the Nee-Mee-Poo Crisis. Helena, Montana 2000, ISBN 0-917298-82-9 . ( online ).
• Ezra J. Warner: Generals in Blue: Lives of the Union Commanders . Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1964, ISBN 0-8071-0822-7 .

Remarks

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Eicher and Eicher, p. 518
2. ↑ Civilwarhome.com: The West Point Class of 1846 , accessed December 2, 2017th
3. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Warner, Generals in Blue , p. 486f.
4. ^ Greene, p. 206
5. ↑ Michael B. Ballard: The Civil War in Mississippi: Major Campaigns and Battles , University Press of Mississippi, 2011, pp. 195ff.
6. ^ Greene, p. 206
7. ↑ Greene, pp. 208-212