Thomas Leonidas Crittenden
Thomas Leonidas Crittenden (born May 15, 1819 in Russellville , Logan County , Kentucky , † October 23, 1893 in Annadale , New York ) was a general of the Northern States in the Civil War .
Life
Crittenden was born in Russellville on May 15, 1819. His father was the politician and future Senator John J. Crittenden . He was the younger brother of Confederate Major General George Bibb Crittenden and the cousin of Northern Brigadier General Thomas Turpin Crittenden and Northern Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Theodore Crittenden .
Crittenden worked as a lawyer but served on General Zachary Taylor's staff and regimental commander of the 3rd Kentucky Infantry Regiment during the Mexico War . The later US Vice President and Confederate General and Secretary of War John C. Breckinridge also served as a major in the same regiment . In 1849, Taylor, now President of the United States , appointed Crittenden as US consul in Liverpool . In 1853 he returned to Kentucky and in 1860 became the militia commander.
When the Civil War loomed and Kentucky declared neutrality, Crittenden and his father remained loyal to the Union while his brother George joined the Confederate army . In September 1861 he was made Brigadier General of the Volunteers and led the 5th Division in the Ohio Army under General Don Carlos Buell .
On July 17, 1862, he was promoted to major general of the volunteers. In the Cumberland Army , Crittenden led the XXI. Corps during the Chickamauga campaign (see Battle of Chickamauga ). General William Starke Rosecrans , the commander in chief of the Cumberland Army, made him responsible for the defeat there.
In 1864 he took command of the first division in IX. Potomac Army Corps in the Eastern Theater. He led them into the battles of Spotsylvania and Cold Harbor before retiring in December.
On July 28, 1866, he was appointed Commander of the 32nd Infantry Regiment by President Andrew Johnson . On March 2, 1867 he was promoted to Brevet Brigadier General of the regular army because of his services during the Battle of the Stones River . On March 15, 1869, he took over the 17th US Infantry Regiment, which he led until May 18, 1891. Crittenden died on October 23, 1893 in Annadale, Staten Island, and found his final resting place in Frankfort , Kentucky. His son John Jordan Crittenden III (June 5, 1854 - June 25, 1876) served under General Custer and died with him in the Battle of Little Big Horn .
literature
- Ezra J. Warner: Generals in Blue. Lives of the Union Commanders . University Press, Baton Rouge, La. 2006, ISBN 0-8071-3149-0 .
- John H. Eicher, David J. Eicher: Civil War High Commands . University Press, Stanford, Calif. 2001 ( online here ), ISBN 0-8047-3641-3 .
Web links
- Thomas Leonidas Crittenden in the database of Find a Grave (English)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Crittenden, Thomas Leonidas |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | General of the US Army |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 15, 1819 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Russellville , Kentucky |
| DATE OF DEATH | October 23, 1893 |
| Place of death | Annadale , New York |