Alanson Merwin Randol was an army officer in the artillery and cavalry during the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

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Biography

Born in New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

, he graduated from the United States Military Academy

United States Military Academy

The United States Military Academy at West Point is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located at West Point, New York. The academy sits on scenic high ground overlooking the Hudson River, north of New York City...

 at West Point, 9th in the Class of 1860. Commissioned into the 1st U.S. Artillery, he served in combined Batteries E & G, 3rd U.S. Artillery, throughout the Civil War with the Army of the Potomac

Army of the Potomac

The Army of the Potomac was the major Union Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War.-History:The Army of the Potomac was created in 1861, but was then only the size of a corps . Its nucleus was called the Army of Northeastern Virginia, under Brig. Gen...

, eventually as part of the famed U.S. Horse Artillery Brigade

U.S. Horse Artillery Brigade

The Horse Artillery Brigade of the Army of the Potomac was a brigade of various batteries of horse artillery during the American Civil War.Made up almost entirely of individual, company-strength batteries from the Regular Army’s five artillery regiments, the Horse Artillery operated under the...

. Despite his rapid advance in the regular army, having been promoted to captain in 1862, he took a volunteer commission and served as colonel of the 2nd New York Volunteer Cavalry until the end of the war.

After the cessation of hostilities, Randol was awarded a brevet promotion to brigadier general in the U.S. Volunteers (on June 24, 1865) and mustered out of the volunteer service. Remaining in the regular army, he returned to his permanent rank of captain. Promoted to major in 1882, Randol transferred back to the 1st U.S. Artillery, and died in San Francisco, May 7, 1887.