Rufus Saxton
Rufus Saxton | |
---|---|
Major General | |
Battles/wars | American Civil War |
Awards | Medal of Honor |
Rufus Saxton (October 19, 1824 – February 23, 1908) was a
Early life
Saxton was born in
Rufus Saxton was educated at the United States Military Academy at West Point, graduating in 1849. His antebellum career included posts fighting Seminoles in Florida, teaching artillery tactics at West Point, surveying the uncharted Rocky Mountains on George B. McClellan's staff in advance of the Northern Pacific Railroad (1853), and map work for the Coastal Survey. He was promoted to first lieutenant in March 1855.
Rufus Saxton married a Philadelphian missionary, Mathilda Thompson,[when?] who had come South to teach the newly freed blacks with her newspaper journalist brother.
His brother Will joined Rufus Saxton in South Carolina as his aide-de-camp and printer during the Port Royal Experiment.[2]
Civil War
As the Civil War broke out, Saxton served as a quartermaster and ultimately a brigadier general for the Union forces. During the war, he commanded the Union defenses at
Postbellum career
Saxton later served as assistant commissioner for the
After the Civil War, Saxton remained in the Army, serving in the
He retired in 1888 as a colonel and assistant quartermaster general and lived in Washington, D.C. until his death. He was a member of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States and the Sons of the American Revolution.
He is interred in Arlington National Cemetery.[9]
African-American relations
Saxton was an
In 1866, Saxton testified before Congress's
Saxton appointed his friend, author and abolitionist
Namesake
The
Medal of Honor citation
Rank and Organization:
- Brigadier General, U.S. Volunteers. Place and date: The Shenandoah Valley Campaignat Harpers Ferry, Virginia, 26 to May 30, 1862. Entered service at: Deerfield, Massachusetts Birth: Greenfield, Massachusetts Date of issue: April 25, 1893.
Citation:
See also
- List of Medal of Honor recipients
- List of American Civil War Medal of Honor recipients: Q–S
- List of American Civil War generals (Union)
- List of Massachusetts generals in the American Civil War
Notes
- archive.org
- ^ Evening star. [volume], March 20, 1933, Page A-2, Image 2 Major S Willard Saxton was a Brevet Major in the US Civil war; He was in government service in the US Treasury and Commerce from July 1, 1869 to August 1, 1921 and passed away March 19, 1933 at age 103
- ^ Glymph, Thavolia, and Ira Berlin. Freedom: Volume 3, Series 1: The Wartime Genesis of Free Labour: The Lower South: A Documentary History of Emancipation, 1861–1867. Vol. 3. Cambridge University Press, 1982. p88
- ^ "Camp Saxton". The National Park Service. Reconstruction Era National Historical Park. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
- ^ "Camp Saxton Site, Beaufort County (United States Naval Hospital Beaufort, Port Royal)". National Register Properties in South Carolina. South Carolina Department of Archives and History. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
- ^ "Citizenship Through Service". Beaufortcountysc.gov. Beaufort County government. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
- ^ Low Country Gullah Culture Special Resource Study and Final Environmental Impact Statement. The National Park Service. 2005. p. 44.
- ^ Pinsker, Matthew. "Emancipation Among Black Troops in South Carolina". Dickinson College. Dickinson College. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
- ^ "Burial detail: Saxton, Rufus". ANC Explorer. Retrieved January 14, 2024.
- ^ T.W. Higginson, Carlyle's Laugh and Other Surprises, Riverside Press (1908).
- ^ David B. Kopel (2005-02-15). The Klan's Favorite Law. Reason, accesses 01 June 2021
- ^ ""Civil War Medal of Honor citations" (S-Z): Saxton, Rufus". AmericanCivilWar.com. Retrieved 2007-11-09.
- ^ "Medal of Honor website (M-Z): Saxton, Rufus". United States Army Center of Military History. Archived from the original on 2009-02-23. Retrieved 2007-11-09.
External links
- Rufus and S. Willard Saxton papers (MS 431). Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library. [1]