Isaac S. Catlin

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Isaac Swartwood Catlin
109th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment
Battles/warsAmerican Civil War
AwardsMedal of Honor
RelationsBenjamin F. Tracy (brother-in-law)

Isaac Swartwood Catlin (July 8, 1835 – January 19, 1916) was an American lawyer and a decorated officer in the

Mayor of Brooklyn
and declined several other opportunities to run for higher offices.

Early life and family

Catlin was born on July 8, 1835, in

Owego, New York, to Nathaniel and Jane (Brodhead) Catlin.[1] After receiving his early education at Owego Academy, he attended Hobart College in Geneva for a single year.[2][3] In 1856, he moved to New York City to study law and was admitted to the bar the next year. Returning to Owego in 1859, he joined his brother-in-law Benjamin F. Tracy's law firm, Tracy, Warner & Walker.[2][4] Tracy, who had married Catlin's sister Delinda in 1851, would also earn the Medal of Honor in the Civil War and would go on to become United States Secretary of the Navy.[5] Catlin was elected mayor of Owego in 1860 and continued in that role until the outbreak of war.[2] In 1862 in Brooklyn, Catlin married Virginia H.S. Bacon; the couple had one son and one daughter.[1][4]

Military service

Grave at Arlington National Cemetery

Immediately after President

3rd New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment. Regarding the regiment's participation in the Battle of Big Bethel on June 10, 1861, Townsend remarked: "There was no braver officer on that field than Captain Catlin."[3][4] Following the battle, the unit was stationed at Fort McHenry in Maryland.[2]

Catlin resigned his position in the 3rd New York on March 14, 1862, and rejoined the Army five months later, on August 2, with the

109th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment. He began his service with the 109th as a first lieutenant but was promoted to lieutenant colonel only weeks later.[3]

Promoted to full colonel on July 29, 1864, he led the 109th New York in the Battle of the Crater at Petersburg, Virginia, the next day. During the battle, he was seriously wounded but returned to the field and continued to lead his regiment until being struck a second time. The second wound necessitated the amputation of his right leg. For this action, he was given a brevet promotion to major general on March 13, 1865, and awarded the Medal of Honor several decades later, on January 13, 1899.[3] Catlin's official Medal of Honor citation reads:

In a heroic effort to rally the disorganized troops was disabled by a severe wound. While being carried from the field he recovered somewhat and bravely started to return to his command, when he received a second wound, which necessitated amputation of his right leg.[6]

Catlin was mustered out of the volunteer army on June 4, 1865, and joined the regular army as a captain on May 6, 1867. On that same date, he was given the regular army brevet ranks of major, for his actions at the Battle of the Wilderness, and lieutenant colonel, for his actions at Petersburg. He retired from the military on May 6, 1870, and was simultaneously promoted to colonel. While on the retired list he was again promoted, to brigadier general, on April 23, 1904.[3]

Legal and political career

After the war, Catlin returned to the practice of law in Owego before moving to Brooklyn and establishing a legal career there. He was elected the district attorney of

Mayor of the City of Brooklyn in 1885 but was unsuccessful. He turned down nominations to run for Congress in 1893 and for Lieutenant Governor of New York on the Democratic ticket in 1896.[4]

At the outbreak of the Spanish–American War in 1898, Catlin volunteered for military duty but was turned down due to his advanced age. He instead visited Cuba and the Philippines and wrote widely published reports on the situations in those areas. His son, George de Grasse Catlin, served in the U.S. Army during the war and rose to the rank of captain.[4]

In his later years, Catlin split his time between homes in Brooklyn and Owego. He was a member of the New York

Society of Colonial Wars. In January 1916 he had a stroke and died a week later, on January 19, at his apartment in Brooklyn's Hotel St. George.[4] Aged 80 at his death, he was buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b Leonard, John W., ed. (1907). Who's Who in New York City and State (3 ed.). New York: L.R. Hamersly & Company. p. 259.
  2. ^ a b c d White, James T., ed. (1893). "Catlin, Isaac Swartwood". The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography. Vol. 3. New York: James T. White & Company. p. 346.
  3. ^
    ISBN 0-8047-3641-3
    .
  4. ^ a b c d e f g "Gen. I.S. Catlin Dies; Had Been Ill a Week". The New York Times. New York. January 20, 1916. Retrieved September 29, 2010.
  5. ISBN 978-1-881508-64-9
    .
  6. ^ "Civil War Medal of Honor Recipients (A–L)". Medal of Honor Citations. United States Army Center of Military History. August 9, 2010. Archived from the original on September 2, 2012. Retrieved September 29, 2010.

External links

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Legal offices
Preceded by
Kings County District Attorney

1878–1884 		Succeeded by
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