Daniel Webster Flagler was a United States Army

United States Army

The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

 Brigadier General

Brigadier general (United States)

A brigadier general in the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, is a one-star general officer, with the pay grade of O-7. Brigadier general ranks above a colonel and below major general. Brigadier general is equivalent to the rank of rear admiral in the other uniformed...

. He was prominent as the Army's Chief of Ordnance.

Early Life

Flagler was appointed to 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...

 in 1856. He graduated fifth in the class of 1861 and was appointed a Second Lieutenant of Ordnance.

Civil War

Flagler's first Civil War assignment was to teach drill and ceremony and other basic skills to newly raised volunteers in 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....

  He served as aide to David Hunter

David Hunter

David Hunter was a Union general in the American Civil War. He achieved fame by his unauthorized 1862 order emancipating slaves in three Southern states and as the president of the military commission trying the conspirators involved with the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.-Early...

 in the Manassas Campaign

First Battle of Bull Run

First Battle of Bull Run, also known as First Manassas , was fought on July 21, 1861, in Prince William County, Virginia, near the City of Manassas...

, and fought during the First Battle of Bull Run.

He next served as aide to Irvin McDowell

Irvin McDowell

Irvin McDowell was a career American army officer. He is best known for his defeat in the First Battle of Bull Run, the first large-scale battle of the American Civil War.-Early life:...

 in the defense of Washington.

After serving at the Allegheny Arsenal

Allegheny Arsenal

The Allegheny Arsenal, established in 1814, was an important supply and manufacturing center for the Union Army during the American Civil War, and the site of the single largest civilian disaster during the war....

 he participated in Ambrose Burnside’s

Ambrose Burnside

Ambrose Everett Burnside was an American soldier, railroad executive, inventor, industrialist, and politician from Rhode Island, serving as governor and a U.S. Senator...

 North Carolina expedition

Burnside's North Carolina Expedition

Burnside’s North Carolina Expedition was a series of engagements fought along the North Carolina Coast between February and June 1862. The expedition was part of Winfield Scott’s overall Anaconda Plan, which aimed at closing blockade-running ports inside the Outer Banks...

. Flagler took part in the capture of Roanoke Island

Roanoke Island

Roanoke Island is an island in Dare County near the coast of North Carolina, United States. It was named after the historical Roanoke Carolina Algonquian people who inhabited the area in the 16th century at the time of English exploration....

, the attack of New Bern

New Bern, North Carolina

New Bern is a city in Craven County, North Carolina with a population of 29,524 as of the 2010 census.. It is located at the confluence of the Trent and the Neuse rivers...

, and the capture of Fort Macon

Fort Macon State Park

Fort Macon State Park is a North Carolina state park in Carteret County, North Carolina, in the United States. Located on Bogue Banks near Atlantic Beach, the park opened in 1936...

.

Next assigned to 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...

, Flagler took part in the Maryland Campaign

Maryland Campaign

The Maryland Campaign, or the Antietam Campaign is widely considered one of the major turning points of the American Civil War. Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's first invasion of the North was repulsed by Maj. Gen. George B...

, including the Battle of South Mountain

Battle of South Mountain

The Battle of South Mountain was fought September 14, 1862, as part of the Maryland Campaign of the American Civil War. Three pitched battles were fought for possession of three South Mountain passes: Crampton's, Turner's, and Fox's Gaps. Maj. Gen. George B...

. Flagler also participated in the battles of Antietam

Battle of Antietam

The Battle of Antietam , fought on September 17, 1862, near Sharpsburg, Maryland, and Antietam Creek, as part of the Maryland Campaign, was the first major battle in the American Civil War to take place on Northern soil. It was the bloodiest single-day battle in American history, with about 23,000...

, Fredericksburg

Battle of Fredericksburg

The Battle of Fredericksburg was fought December 11–15, 1862, in and around Fredericksburg, Virginia, between General Robert E. Lee's Confederate Army of Northern Virginia and the Union Army of the Potomac, commanded by Maj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside...

, Chancellorsville

Battle of Chancellorsville

The Battle of Chancellorsville was a major battle of the American Civil War, and the principal engagement of the Chancellorsville Campaign. It was fought from April 30 to May 6, 1863, in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, near the village of Chancellorsville. Two related battles were fought nearby on...

, and Gettysburg

Battle of Gettysburg

The Battle of Gettysburg , was fought July 1–3, 1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The battle with the largest number of casualties in the American Civil War, it is often described as the war's turning point. Union Maj. Gen. George Gordon Meade's Army of the Potomac...

.

Flagler was assigned to inspection duty at the West Point Foundry in October, 1863 and remained there until May, 1864. He was then transferred to the Army's Ordnance office in Washington, where he remained until June, 1865.

A Captain at the end of the war, Flagler was a brevet

Brevet

Brevet may refer to:* Brevet , a temporary authorization for a person to hold a higher rank* Brevet , a long-distance bicycle ride with check-point controls* Aircrew brevet, a Royal Air Force and British Army badge...

 Lieutenant Colonel

Lieutenant Colonel (United States)

In the United States Army, United States Air Force, and United States Marine Corps, a lieutenant colonel is a field grade military officer rank just above the rank of major and just below the rank of colonel. It is equivalent to the naval rank of commander in the other uniformed services.The pay...

, having received three honorary promotions -- one for valor at New Bern, one for meritorious service at Fort Macon, and one for distinguished service to the Ordnance Department throughout the war.

Post Civil War

Recognized as an expert on developing and producing artillery and other weapons, Flagler continued his Ordnance service after the war, including assignments at the Watervliet

Watervliet Arsenal

The Watervliet Arsenal is an arsenal of the United States Army located in Watervliet, New York, on the west bank of the Hudson River. It is the oldest continuously active arsenal in the United States, and today produces much of the artillery for the army, as well as gun tubes for cannons, mortars,...

, Augusta

Augusta Arsenal

Augusta Arsenal was a 19th century fortification in Augusta, Georgia. It was initially built on the Georgia bank of Savannah River in 1819 but moved for health concerns to Summerville, Georgia in 1828. It remained in operation until 1955, at which point it was converted to house the junior college...

, Rock Island

Rock Island Arsenal

The Rock Island Arsenal comprises , located on Arsenal Island, originally known as Rock Island, on the Mississippi River between the cities of Davenport, Iowa, and Rock Island, Illinois. It lies within the state of Illinois. The island was originally established as a government site in 1816, with...

, Fort Monroe

Fort Monroe

Fort Monroe was a military installation in Hampton, Virginia—at Old Point Comfort, the southern tip of the Virginia Peninsula...

, Fort Union

Fort Union National Monument

Fort Union National Monument is a unit of the National Park Service located north of Watrous, Mora County, New Mexico, USA. The national monument was founded on June 28, 1954....

, San Antonio, Frankford

Frankford Arsenal

The Frankford Arsenal was a United States Army ammunition plant located adjacent to the Bridesburg neighborhood of Northeast Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, north of the original course of Frankford Creek.-History:...

, and Watertown

Watertown Arsenal

The Watertown Arsenal was a major American arsenal located on the northern shore of the Charles River in Watertown, Massachusetts. Its site is now registered on the ASCE's List of Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks and on the U.S.'s National Register of Historic Places, and it is home to the...

 arsenals.

In 1877 Flagler authored "A History of the Rock Island Aresenal".

In January, 1891 he was promoted to Brigadier General and assigned as Chief of Ordnance, holding this assignment until his death.

Death and burial

General Flagler died at the Hygeia Hotel, a resort where he had gone in an effort to recover his health after suffering from rheumatism and other ailments. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery, Section West E, Site 147. Daniel W. Flagler and his wife are memorialized on one side of the grave marker, and General Clement Flagler and his wife are memorialized on the other.

Family

On September 13, 1865 Flagler married Mary McCalla Finley, the daughter of Brigadier General Clement Alexander Finley

Clement Finley

Clement Alexander Finley , was the 10th Surgeon General of the United States Army, May 15, 1861 – April 14, 1862.-Early life:...

. Their children included a daughter, Elizabeth (1866-1939) and a son, Clement (1867-1922).

Clement Arthur Finley Flagler

Clement Flagler

Clement Alexander Finley Flagler was a United States Army Major General who was noteworthy as regimental, brigade and division commander in World War I.-Early life:...

 was a career Army officer who attained the rank of Major General as a division commander in World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

.

In 1895 Elizabeth Flagler was found guilty of manslaughter after she shot and killed a fifteen year old African American boy, one of several who she fired a pistol at when she observed them stealing pears from her father's garden. Following her conviction she served three hours in the District of Columbia jail and paid a fine of $500. In 1901 she married Doctor George W. MacKean of Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...

.

Other

Fort Flagler

Fort Flagler State Park

Fort Flagler State Park is a Washington state park on the site of Fort Flagler, a former United States Army fort at the northern end of Marrowstone Island. From Fort Flagler, visitors can see Port Townsend to the northwest, the cranes at the Navy base on Indian Island to the west, and Whidbey...

 on Marrowstone Island in Washington was named for him. The site is now a state park and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

.

External resources

• Daniel Webster Flagler page, Arlington National Cemetery web site, accessed October 31, 2011
• Daniel Webster Flagler page, Find A Grave web site, accessed October 31, 2011