James M. Warner
Encyclopedia
James Meech Warner was a New England
manufacturer and a brevet
brigadier general
in the Union Army
during the American Civil War
.
in Meriden
, New Hampshire
in 1854, and attended Middlebury College
for two years, until he was accepted as a cadet in the United States Military Academy
on July 1, 1855. He graduated from West Point on July 1, 1860, standing 40th in a class of 41.
brevet
2nd Lieutenant
Warner was assigned to the 10th U.S. Infantry, and, on February 28, 1861, was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant and transferred to the 8th U.S. Infantry. He was then promoted to 1st Lieutenant
May 31, 1861, and assigned to Fort Wise
, Colorado Territory
.
Lieutenant Warner probably received a first-rate education in North-South politics while stationed at Fort Wise. Among the officers there at the start of the war were Maj.
John Sedgwick
, future commander of the Sixth Corps
; William S. Walker, a Pennsylvania
n who went with the Confederacy
, probably because of his marriage to a Floridian
; Richard Riddick, who would fall leading his 34th North Carolina at Gaines' Mill
and William D. DeSaussure, who died at Gettysburg
leading his 15th South Carolina; Edward Newby, of Virginia
and James McIntyre, of Tennessee
, both of whom would stay with the Union; and the redoubtable James Ewell Brown "J.E.B." Stuart
, who would become the bane of many a Union cavalry trooper.
on September 1, 1862, and assigned to command the 11th Vermont Infantry
(also known as the 1st Artillery, Vermont Volunteers).
His regiment was assigned to the northern defenses of Washington, D.C.
, from September 1862 until May 1864, when Lt. Gen.
Ulysses S. Grant
called for more troops to support his Overland Campaign
. The 11th Vermont joined the Vermont Brigade after the Battle of the Wilderness
, and first saw action at the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House
. In his first engagement, on May 18, 1864, Warner was severely wounded, but refused to leave the field until the end of the day. He was sent home on furlough to recover.
He returned from convalescence leave on July 8, 1864, and was assigned to command the 1st brigade, Hardin's division, XXII Corps
, in the defenses of Washington. He returned to his regiment later that month, but was reassigned to command the 1st Brigade, 2nd Division, VI Corps
in September 1864. He commanded that brigade until it was disbanded in May 1865.
Warner was brevetted Brigadier General
, Volunteers, August 1, 1864, "for gallant and meritorious service" at the battle of Spotsylvania Court House, and at the battles of Winchester
, Fisher's Hill
and Cedar Creek
. The regular army
promoted him to captain, 8th U.S. Infantry, on October 8, 1864. He also received brevets as major, lieutenant colonel and colonel, U.S. Army, on March 13, 1865, "for gallant and meritorious service during the war." On April 9, 1865, he was brevetted Brigadier General, U.S. Army, "for gallant and meritorious services in the field during the war." Finally, he was promoted to brigadier general, volunteers, on May 8, 1865.
He mustered out of voluntary service on January 1, 1866, and resigned his regular army commission on February 13.
, where he engaged in paper manufacturing as president of the Albany Card and Paper Company. On December 19, 1889, he was appointed postmaster of Albany by President Benjamin Harrison
's administration.
Warner died March 16, 1897, in New York City
, and his remains were returned to Middlebury, Vermont, for interment.
James Warner married Matilda Elizabeth Allen, daughter of George Allen and Sophia Sargent, in early June 1863, while he was stationed in the northern defenses of Washington.
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
manufacturer and a brevet
Brevet (military)
In many of the world's military establishments, brevet referred to a warrant authorizing a commissioned officer to hold a higher rank temporarily, but usually without receiving the pay of that higher rank except when actually serving in that role. An officer so promoted may be referred to as being...
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...
in the Union Army
Union Army
The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
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...
.
Early life
Warner was born in Middlebury, Vermont, the son of Joseph and Jane Anne (Meech) Warner. He graduated from Kimball Union AcademyKimball Union Academy
Kimball Union Academy is a private boarding school located in New Hampshire. Founded in 1813, it is the 22nd oldest boarding school in the United States...
in Meriden
Meriden, New Hampshire
Meriden is a village in the eastern part of the town of Plainfield in Sullivan County, New Hampshire, United States. Meriden is home to Kimball Union Academy, a private boarding school....
, New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
in 1854, and attended Middlebury College
Middlebury College
Middlebury College is a private liberal arts college located in Middlebury, Vermont, USA. Founded in 1800, it is one of the oldest liberal arts colleges in the United States. Drawing 2,400 undergraduates from all 50 United States and over 70 countries, Middlebury offers 44 majors in the arts,...
for two years, until he was accepted as a cadet in 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...
on July 1, 1855. He graduated from West Point on July 1, 1860, standing 40th in a class of 41.
brevet
Brevet (military)
In many of the world's military establishments, brevet referred to a warrant authorizing a commissioned officer to hold a higher rank temporarily, but usually without receiving the pay of that higher rank except when actually serving in that role. An officer so promoted may be referred to as being...
2nd Lieutenant
Second Lieutenant
Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces.- United Kingdom and Commonwealth :The rank second lieutenant was introduced throughout the British Army in 1871 to replace the rank of ensign , although it had long been used in the Royal Artillery, Royal...
Warner was assigned to the 10th U.S. Infantry, and, on February 28, 1861, was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant and transferred to the 8th U.S. Infantry. He was then promoted to 1st Lieutenant
First Lieutenant
First lieutenant is a military rank and, in some forces, an appointment.The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations , but the majority of cases it is common for it to be sub-divided into a senior and junior rank...
May 31, 1861, and assigned to Fort Wise
Fort Lyon
Fort Lyon, first named Fort Wise, was operated on the Colorado eastern plains until 1867. That year a new fort called Fort Lyon, and later Las Animas, Colorado, U.S. Naval Hospital and 5BN117, was built near the present-day town of Las Animas, Colorado. First named after Virginia governor Henry...
, Colorado Territory
Colorado Territory
The Territory of Colorado was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from February 28, 1861, until August 1, 1876, when it was admitted to the Union as the State of Colorado....
.
Lieutenant Warner probably received a first-rate education in North-South politics while stationed at Fort Wise. Among the officers there at the start of the war were Maj.
Major
Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
John Sedgwick
John Sedgwick
John Sedgwick was a teacher, a career military officer, and a Union Army general in the American Civil War. He was the highest ranking Union casualty in the Civil War, killed by a sniper at the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House.-Early life:Sedgwick was born in the Litchfield Hills town of...
, future commander of the Sixth Corps
VI Corps (ACW)
The VI Corps was a corps of the Union Army during the American Civil War.-Formation:The corps was organized as the Sixth Provisional Corps on May 18, 1862, by uniting Maj. Gen. William B. Franklin's Division, which had just arrived on the Virginia Peninsula, with Maj. Gen. William F. Smith's...
; William S. Walker, a Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
n who went with the Confederacy
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
, probably because of his marriage to a Floridian
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
; Richard Riddick, who would fall leading his 34th North Carolina at Gaines' Mill
Battle of Gaines' Mill
The Battle of Gaines's Mill, sometimes known as the First Battle of Cold Harbor or the Battle of Chickahominy River, took place on June 27, 1862, in Hanover County, Virginia, as the third of the Seven Days Battles of the American Civil War...
and William D. DeSaussure, who died at 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...
leading his 15th South Carolina; Edward Newby, of Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
and James McIntyre, of Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
, both of whom would stay with the Union; and the redoubtable James Ewell Brown "J.E.B." Stuart
J.E.B. Stuart
James Ewell Brown "Jeb" Stuart was a U.S. Army officer from Virginia and a Confederate States Army general during the American Civil War. He was known to his friends as "Jeb", from the initials of his given names. Stuart was a cavalry commander known for his mastery of reconnaissance and the use...
, who would become the bane of many a Union cavalry trooper.
Civil War
The State of Vermont asked for Warner's services to lead a volunteer regiment, which was agreed to, and he was appointed colonelColonel (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...
on September 1, 1862, and assigned to command the 11th Vermont Infantry
11th Vermont Infantry
The 11th Regiment, Vermont Volunteer Infantry or simply known as 11th VVI was a three-years infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It served in eastern theater, from September 1862 to August 1865...
(also known as the 1st Artillery, Vermont Volunteers).
His regiment was assigned to the northern defenses of 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....
, from September 1862 until May 1864, when Lt. Gen.
Lieutenant General (United States)
In the United States Army, the United States Air Force and the United States Marine Corps, lieutenant general is a three-star general officer rank, with the pay grade of O-9. Lieutenant general ranks above major general and below general...
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th President of the United States as well as military commander during the Civil War and post-war Reconstruction periods. Under Grant's command, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military and ended the Confederate States of America...
called for more troops to support his Overland Campaign
Overland Campaign
The Overland Campaign, also known as Grant's Overland Campaign and the Wilderness Campaign, was a series of battles fought in Virginia during May and June 1864, in the American Civil War. Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, general-in-chief of all Union armies, directed the actions of the Army of the...
. The 11th Vermont joined the Vermont Brigade after the Battle of the Wilderness
Battle of the Wilderness
The Battle of the Wilderness, fought May 5–7, 1864, was the first battle of Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's 1864 Virginia Overland Campaign against Gen. Robert E. Lee and the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. Both armies suffered heavy casualties, a harbinger of a bloody war of attrition by...
, and first saw action at the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House
Battle of Spotsylvania Court House
The Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, sometimes simply referred to as the Battle of Spotsylvania , was the second major battle in Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's 1864 Overland Campaign of the American Civil War. Following the bloody but inconclusive Battle of the Wilderness, Grant's army disengaged...
. In his first engagement, on May 18, 1864, Warner was severely wounded, but refused to leave the field until the end of the day. He was sent home on furlough to recover.
He returned from convalescence leave on July 8, 1864, and was assigned to command the 1st brigade, Hardin's division, XXII Corps
XXII Corps (ACW)
XXII Corps was a corps in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It was created on February 2, 1863, to consist of all troops garrisoned in Washington, D.C., and included three infantry divisions and one of cavalry...
, in the defenses of Washington. He returned to his regiment later that month, but was reassigned to command the 1st Brigade, 2nd Division, VI Corps
VI Corps (ACW)
The VI Corps was a corps of the Union Army during the American Civil War.-Formation:The corps was organized as the Sixth Provisional Corps on May 18, 1862, by uniting Maj. Gen. William B. Franklin's Division, which had just arrived on the Virginia Peninsula, with Maj. Gen. William F. Smith's...
in September 1864. He commanded that brigade until it was disbanded in May 1865.
Warner was brevetted 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...
, Volunteers, August 1, 1864, "for gallant and meritorious service" at the battle of Spotsylvania Court House, and at the battles of Winchester
Battle of Opequon
The Battle of Opequon, more commonly known as the Third Battle of Winchester, was fought in Winchester, Virginia, on September 19, 1864, during the Valley Campaigns of 1864 in the American Civil War....
, Fisher's Hill
Battle of Fisher's Hill
The Battle of Fisher's Hill was fought September 21–22, 1864, as part of the Valley Campaigns of 1864 during the American Civil War. Fisher's Hill is located near Strasburg, Virginia....
and Cedar Creek
Battle of Cedar Creek
The Battle of Cedar Creek, or Battle of Belle Grove, October 19, 1864, was one of the final, and most decisive, battles in the Valley Campaigns of 1864 during the American Civil War. The final Confederate invasion of the North, led by Lt. Gen. Jubal A. Early, was effectively ended...
. The regular army
Regular army
A regular army consists of the permanent force of a country's army that is maintained under arms during peacetime.Countries that use the term include:*Australian Army*British Army*Canadian Forces, specifically "Regular Force"*Egyptian army*Indian Army...
promoted him to captain, 8th U.S. Infantry, on October 8, 1864. He also received brevets as major, lieutenant colonel and colonel, U.S. Army, on March 13, 1865, "for gallant and meritorious service during the war." On April 9, 1865, he was brevetted Brigadier General, U.S. Army, "for gallant and meritorious services in the field during the war." Finally, he was promoted to brigadier general, volunteers, on May 8, 1865.
He mustered out of voluntary service on January 1, 1866, and resigned his regular army commission on February 13.
Postwar activities
After the war, Warner moved to Albany, New YorkAlbany, New York
Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...
, where he engaged in paper manufacturing as president of the Albany Card and Paper Company. On December 19, 1889, he was appointed postmaster of Albany by President 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...
's administration.
Warner died March 16, 1897, in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, and his remains were returned to Middlebury, Vermont, for interment.
James Warner married Matilda Elizabeth Allen, daughter of George Allen and Sophia Sargent, in early June 1863, while he was stationed in the northern defenses of Washington.
See also
- Vermont in the Civil WarVermont in the Civil WarDuring the American Civil War, the State of Vermont continued the military tradition started by the Green Mountain Boys of American Revolutionary War fame, contributing a significant portion of its eligible men to the war effort.- History :...
- List of American Civil War generals