Charles Harvey Denby
Encyclopedia
Colonel Charles Denby was a U.S.
Union officer in the Civil War
and diplomat. He was the father of Edwin C. Denby
, a U.S. Representative from Michigan, and later Secretary of the Navy, and Charles Denby, Jr.
, a diplomat.
to Nathaniel Denby and Sarah Jane Harvey. Denby's maternal grandfather, Mathew Harvey, was a soldier in Lee's Legion
during the American Revolutionary War
. Denby received his early education at the Tom Fox Academy, Hanover County, Virginia
.
During his early youth, Denby's father, a Virginia ship-owner and interested in European trade, was appointed to a post at Marseilles, France
. His functions there were similar to those of a consul-general, but the post was then known as Naval Agent of the United States. On taking up his post, Nathaniel Denby took his son with him, where attended the College Royal at Marseilles and became fluent in the French language
. Denby later attended Georgetown College
, Washington, D.C.
, and the Virginia Military Institute
, from which he graduated with high honors in 1850.
After graduating, Denby went to Selma, Alabama
, where he taught school for three years. In 1853, he removed to Evansville, Indiana
, which remained his home until his death. Evansville was then a town of six thousand inhabitants, which, from its position on the Ohio River
, at the terminus of the Wabash and Erie Canal
, seemed destined to a great development. At Evansville, Denby devoted himself to the study of law and to newspaper work. He represented his county in the Indiana House of Representatives
during the session of 1856-57. While in the legislature, Mr. Denby became acquainted with Martha Fitch, daughter of U.S. Senator Graham N. Fitch
, of Indiana, and they were afterward married.
marking the outbreak of the American Civil War
, Denby raised a company of volunteer soldiers and guarded the powder magazine near Evansville, Indiana. On September 12, 1861, Denby was commissioned as the Lieutenant Colonel (second-in-command) of the 42nd Indiana Volunteer Infantry Regiment
and mustered in at that rank on October 10, 1861. On October 1, 1862, Indiana Governor Oliver P. Morton
commissioned Denby as Colonel
of the newly formed 80th Indiana Volunteer Infantry Regiment
. Denby was not mustered in at his new rank until October 21, 1862, so he was still serving with the 42nd Indiana when it took part in the Battle of Perryville
Kentucky on October 8, 1862. It was there that Denby was twice wounded and had his horse killed under him. Colonel Denby officially took command of the 80th Indiana on or before November 22, 1862. In a letter to the army dated January 12, 1863, Colonel Denby resigned his commission, stating: I suffer habitually in riding with a very severe cramp in my left leg - walking affords no relief. The cramp is caused by an accident which happened many years ago and the side effects whereof were scarcely felt by me until after I entered the service. I have consulted various medical advisors who uniformly say there can be no remedy. I have therefore no recourse left but to return to a sedentary life. His resignation was accepted effective January 17, 1863, and he left the army based on a surgeon's certificate of disability.
, and upon the election of Grover Cleveland
as President, he was put forward for a post in the diplomatic service and on May 29, 1885, he was appointed Minister to China. Denby remained at the post through 1898, through the administrations of Cleveland's first term, Republican Benjamin Harrison
, Cleveland's second term. He resigned a little more than a year into the administration of Republican William McKinley
.
Upon his return to the U.S. in September 1898, Denby was appointed a member of the commission to inquire into the conduct of the Spanish-American War
. Even before the adjournment of that commission, he was made a member of the first commission to the Philippines
(the Schurman Commission
), together with Admiral George Dewey
, General Elwell Stephen Otis
, Jacob Gould Schurman, the President of Cornell University
, and Professor Dean Conant Worcester
, of the University of Michigan
.
, to which city he had gone to deliver a lecture.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Union officer in the 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...
and diplomat. He was the father of Edwin C. Denby
Edwin C. Denby
Edwin Denby was an American lawyer and politician who served as Secretary of the Navy in the administrations of Warren G. Harding and Calvin Coolidge from 1921 to 1924. He also played a notable role in the infamous Teapot Dome scandal which took place during the Harding presidency. He was the son...
, a U.S. Representative from Michigan, and later Secretary of the Navy, and Charles Denby, Jr.
Charles Denby, Jr.
Charles Denby, Jr. was an American diplomat in China and later in Vienna, Austria, and was known as one of the top scholars of Chinese language and culture of his time.-Life:...
, a diplomat.
Family and early life
Denby was born in Mount Joy in Botetourt County, VirginiaBotetourt County, Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 30,496 people, 11,700 households, and 9,114 families residing in the county. The population density was 56 people per square mile . There were 12,571 housing units at an average density of 23 per square mile...
to Nathaniel Denby and Sarah Jane Harvey. Denby's maternal grandfather, Mathew Harvey, was a soldier in Lee's Legion
Lee's Legion
Lee's Legion was a military unit within the Continental Army during the American Revolution. It primarily served in the Southern Theater of Operations, and gained a reputation for efficiency and bravery on the battlefield.The original unit was raised June 8, 1776, at Williamsburg, Virginia, under...
during the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
. Denby received his early education at the Tom Fox Academy, Hanover County, Virginia
Hanover County, Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 86,320 people, 31,121 households, and 24,461 families residing in the county. The population density was 183 people per square mile . There were 32,196 housing units at an average density of 68 per square mile...
.
During his early youth, Denby's father, a Virginia ship-owner and interested in European trade, was appointed to a post at Marseilles, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. His functions there were similar to those of a consul-general, but the post was then known as Naval Agent of the United States. On taking up his post, Nathaniel Denby took his son with him, where attended the College Royal at Marseilles and became fluent in the French language
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
. Denby later attended Georgetown College
Georgetown College (Georgetown University)
Georgetown College, infrequently Georgetown College of Arts and Sciences, is the oldest school within Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. The College is the largest undergraduate school at Georgetown, and until the founding of the Medical School in 1850, was the only higher education division...
, Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, and the Virginia Military Institute
Virginia Military Institute
The Virginia Military Institute , located in Lexington, Virginia, is the oldest state-supported military college and one of six senior military colleges in the United States. Unlike any other military college in the United States—and in keeping with its founding principles—all VMI students are...
, from which he graduated with high honors in 1850.
After graduating, Denby went to Selma, Alabama
Selma, Alabama
Selma is a city in and the county seat of Dallas County, Alabama, United States, located on the banks of the Alabama River. The population was 20,512 at the 2000 census....
, where he taught school for three years. In 1853, he removed to Evansville, Indiana
Evansville, Indiana
Evansville is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Indiana and the largest city in Southern Indiana. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 117,429. It is the county seat of Vanderburgh County and the regional hub for both Southwestern Indiana and the...
, which remained his home until his death. Evansville was then a town of six thousand inhabitants, which, from its position on the Ohio River
Ohio River
The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...
, at the terminus of the Wabash and Erie Canal
Wabash and Erie Canal
The Wabash and Erie Canal was a shipping canal that linked the Great Lakes to the Ohio River via an artificial waterway. The canal provided traders with access from the Great Lakes all the way to the Gulf of Mexico...
, seemed destined to a great development. At Evansville, Denby devoted himself to the study of law and to newspaper work. He represented his county in the Indiana House of Representatives
Indiana House of Representatives
The Indiana House of Representatives is the lower house of the Indiana General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Indiana. The House is composed of 100 members representing an equal number of constituent districts. House members serve two-year terms without term limits...
during the session of 1856-57. While in the legislature, Mr. Denby became acquainted with Martha Fitch, daughter of U.S. Senator Graham N. Fitch
Graham N. Fitch
Graham Newell Fitch was a United States Representative and Senator from Indiana, as well as a brigade commander in the Union Army during the American Civil War.-Early life and career:...
, of Indiana, and they were afterward married.
Military service
With the attack on Fort SumterFort Sumter
Fort Sumter is a Third System masonry coastal fortification located in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina. The fort is best known as the site upon which the shots initiating the American Civil War were fired, at the Battle of Fort Sumter.- Construction :...
marking the outbreak of 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...
, Denby raised a company of volunteer soldiers and guarded the powder magazine near Evansville, Indiana. On September 12, 1861, Denby was commissioned as the Lieutenant Colonel (second-in-command) of the 42nd Indiana Volunteer Infantry Regiment
42nd Regiment Indiana Infantry
The 42nd Regiment Indiana Infantry was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.-Service:The 42nd Indiana Infantry was organized at Evansville, Indiana and mustered in for a three year enlistment on October 9, 1861 under the command of Colonel James Garrard...
and mustered in at that rank on October 10, 1861. On October 1, 1862, Indiana Governor Oliver P. Morton
Oliver Hazard Perry Morton
Oliver Hazard Perry Throck Morton , commonly known as Oliver P. Morton, was a U.S. Republican Party politician from Indiana. He served as the 14th Governor of Indiana during the American Civil War, and was a stalwart ally of President Abraham Lincoln. During the war, Morton suppressed the...
commissioned Denby as Colonel
Colonel (United States)
In the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, colonel is a senior field grade military officer rank just above the rank of lieutenant colonel and just below the rank of brigadier general...
of the newly formed 80th Indiana Volunteer Infantry Regiment
80th Regiment Indiana Infantry
The 80th Regiment Indiana Infantry was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.-Service:The 80th Indiana Infantry was organized at Princeton and Indianapolis, Indiana and mustered in for a three year enlistment on September 8, 1862 under the command of...
. Denby was not mustered in at his new rank until October 21, 1862, so he was still serving with the 42nd Indiana when it took part in the Battle of Perryville
Battle of Perryville
The Battle of Perryville, also known as the Battle of Chaplin Hills, was fought on October 8, 1862, in the Chaplin Hills west of Perryville, Kentucky, as the culmination of the Confederate Heartland Offensive during the American Civil War. Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg's Army of Mississippi won a...
Kentucky on October 8, 1862. It was there that Denby was twice wounded and had his horse killed under him. Colonel Denby officially took command of the 80th Indiana on or before November 22, 1862. In a letter to the army dated January 12, 1863, Colonel Denby resigned his commission, stating: I suffer habitually in riding with a very severe cramp in my left leg - walking affords no relief. The cramp is caused by an accident which happened many years ago and the side effects whereof were scarcely felt by me until after I entered the service. I have consulted various medical advisors who uniformly say there can be no remedy. I have therefore no recourse left but to return to a sedentary life. His resignation was accepted effective January 17, 1863, and he left the army based on a surgeon's certificate of disability.
Political career
After resignation, he resumed the practice of law in Evansville. Denby was active in the Democratic PartyDemocratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
, and upon the election of Grover Cleveland
Grover Cleveland
Stephen Grover Cleveland was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States. Cleveland is the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms and therefore is the only individual to be counted twice in the numbering of the presidents...
as President, he was put forward for a post in the diplomatic service and on May 29, 1885, he was appointed Minister to China. Denby remained at the post through 1898, through the administrations of Cleveland's first term, Republican Benjamin Harrison
Benjamin Harrison
Benjamin Harrison was the 23rd President of the United States . Harrison, a grandson of President William Henry Harrison, was born in North Bend, Ohio, and moved to Indianapolis, Indiana at age 21, eventually becoming a prominent politician there...
, Cleveland's second term. He resigned a little more than a year into the administration of Republican William McKinley
William McKinley
William McKinley, Jr. was the 25th President of the United States . He is best known for winning fiercely fought elections, while supporting the gold standard and high tariffs; he succeeded in forging a Republican coalition that for the most part dominated national politics until the 1930s...
.
Upon his return to the U.S. in September 1898, Denby was appointed a member of the commission to inquire into the conduct of the Spanish-American War
Spanish-American War
The Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...
. Even before the adjournment of that commission, he was made a member of the first commission to the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
(the Schurman Commission
Schurman Commission
The Schurman Commission also known as the First Philippine Commission was the legislature of the Philippines, then known as the Philippine Islands under the sovereign control of the United States during the Philippine-American War...
), together with Admiral George Dewey
George Dewey
George Dewey was an admiral of the United States Navy. He is best known for his victory at the Battle of Manila Bay during the Spanish-American War...
, General Elwell Stephen Otis
Elwell Stephen Otis
Elwell Stephen Otis was a United States of America General who served in the Philippines late in the Spanish-American War and during the Philippine-American War.-Biography:...
, Jacob Gould Schurman, the President of Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
, and Professor Dean Conant Worcester
Dean Conant Worcester
Dean Conant Worcester, D.Sc., F.R.G.S. was an American zoologist, public official, and authority on the Philippines, born at Thetford, Vermont, and educated at the University of Michigan ....
, of the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
.
Later life
After retirement from official life, Denby settled down at his old home at Evansville, Indiana, and devoted himself to literary labors, study, and the pleasures of home life. He died suddenly of heart failure, at the age of seventy-four years, at Jamestown, New YorkJamestown, New York
Jamestown is a city in Chautauqua County, New York in the United States. The population was 31,146 at the 2010 census.The City of Jamestown is adjacent to Town of Ellicott and is at the southern tip of Chautauqua Lake...
, to which city he had gone to deliver a lecture.
External links
- A compilation of historical sources about Denby
- List of Ambassadors to China provided by the United States Department of StateUnited States Department of StateThe United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...
- The Denby Family Papers at The Library of Congress