William Starke Rosecrans

William Starke Rosecrans (born September 6, 1819 in Little Tyler Run , Delaware County , Ohio , † March 11, 1898 in Redondo Beach , California ) was a general in the Union Army in the Civil War .

He was appointed to the Military Academy at West Point , New York , as a cadet on July 1, 1838 , and completed his training as the fifth of 56 cadets. His classmates included a. later Confederate Generals James Longstreet , Richard H. Anderson , DH Hill and Earl Van Dorn ; and Union generals Abner Doubleday , George Sykes and John Pope . This is where he got his nickname "Old Rosy". Due to the good final result, Rosecrans was transferred to the United States Army Corps of Engineers as a lieutenant on July 1, 1842 . After a short period in the fortress construction, Rosecrans was employed as an instructor at the military academy until 1847. Therefore, he did not take an active part in the Mexican-American war . In the following years he worked again in fortress construction and took part in surveying.

Rosecrans was promoted to first lieutenant on March 3, 1853 and retired on April 1, 1854 from the service. After leaving the company, he worked for various coal mining companies until 1861, some in a managerial position. Before returning to the Army in 1861, Rosecrans ran an oil refinery in Cincinnati , Ohio that made lamp oil.

Rosecrans married Anna Elizabeth Hegeman on August 24, 1843 while serving at Westpoint. The marriage had seven children, four of whom survived childhood.

Appointed commander of an Ohioregiment in 1861, he accompanied George B. McClellan to West Virginia during the Civil War , where he distinguished himself from the very first operations. In the Battle of Rich Mountain (July 11, 1861) he conquered the enemy entrenchments with four regiments and was promoted to brigadier general.

As Commander in Chief of the West Virginia Army, he defeated secessionist Generals Floyd and Wise in the fighting in the Kanawha Valley on September 10 and held his own in West Virginia during the winter. In July 1862, in Halleck's place with the command of the Mississippi military district, he defeated the main Confederate army under Braxton Bragg in Murfreesboro on January 3, 1863 , but suffered a defeat at the Battle of Chickamauga on September 19 and 20, as a result which he had to evade to Chattanooga , where he was replaced in October by General Thomas as Commander in Chief of the Cumberland Army . Appointed head of the Missouri Department in 1864, retired entirely from the army in 1866, was appointed envoy to Mexico by President Andrew Johnson in 1868 , but was soon recalled by Ulysses S. Grant ; his successor was Thomas H. Nelson .

Rosecrans worked again as a civil engineer in Mexico and California and was from 1881 to 1885 Democratic Congressman for the first constituency of California. He died on Rancho Sausal Redondo, Redondo Beach, California in 1898.

literature

Lamers, William M .: The Edge of Glory: A Biography of General William S. Rosecrans, USA LSU Press, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 1999, ISBN 978-0-8071-2396-6 , pp. 520 .
Moore, David G .: William S. Rosecrans and the Union Victory: a Civil War biography . McFarland & Company, Jefferson, North Carolina 2014, ISBN 978-1-4766-1306-2 .

Web links

Commons : William Starke Rosecrans - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

William Starke Rosecrans in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

William Rosecrans in the database of Find a Grave (English)

Individual evidence

↑ Ezra J. Warner: Generals in Blue. Louisiana State University Press, 1987, accessed September 9, 2017 (Rosecrans' CV, p. 410).
^ William Starke Rosecran's "Old Rosy". civilwarhome.com, October 16, 2001, accessed September 9, 2017 (English, classmates).
↑ Bill Thayer: Class of 1842. University of Chicago, February 14, 2014, accessed September 9, 2017 (English, Life Data Rosecrans').
^ John H. and David J. Eicher: Civil War High Commands. Stanford University Press, 2001, accessed September 9, 2017 (Rosecrans' life data, p. 461).
^ Moore, David G .: William S. Rosecrans and the Union Victory: a Civil War biography. McFarland & Company, 2014, accessed on October 7, 2017 (English, Rosecrans' curriculum vitae, pp. 7–9).

personal data
SURNAME	Rosecrans, William Starke
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	North American general
DATE OF BIRTH	September 6, 1819
PLACE OF BIRTH	Little Tyler Run , Ohio
DATE OF DEATH	March 11, 1898
Place of death	Redondo Beach , California

[Warner_1-1] Ezra J. Warner: Generals in Blue. Louisiana State University Press, 1987, accessed September 9, 2017 (Rosecrans' CV, p. 410).

[2] William Starke Rosecran's "Old Rosy". civilwarhome.com, October 16, 2001, accessed September 9, 2017 (English, classmates).

[Thayer-3] Bill Thayer: Class of 1842. University of Chicago, February 14, 2014, accessed September 9, 2017 (English, Life Data Rosecrans').

[Eicher-4] John H. and David J. Eicher: Civil War High Commands. Stanford University Press, 2001, accessed September 9, 2017 (Rosecrans' life data, p. 461).

[Moore-5] Moore, David G .: William S. Rosecrans and the Union Victory: a Civil War biography. McFarland & Company, 2014, accessed on October 7, 2017 (English, Rosecrans' curriculum vitae, pp. 7–9).