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Maj. Gen. Edwin Vose Sumner

 

 

 

Born: January 30, 1797

Boston, Massachusetts

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Died: March 21, 1863

Syracuse, New York

 

March 3, 1819: 2nd Lieutenant

January 25, 1825: 1st Lieutenant

March 3, 1833: Captain

June 30, 1846: Major

April 18, 1847: Brevet Lieut. Col.

September 8, 1847: Brevet Col.

July 23, 1848: Lieut. Col.

March 3, 1855: Colonel

March 16, 1861: Brig. Gen.

June 1, 1862: Brevet Maj. Gen.

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Maj. Gen. Edwin Vose Sumner

Courtesy of Library of Congress

March 3, 1819: Entered the Army as a 2nd Lieutenant

January 25, 1825: Promoted to 1st Lieutenant

April - August 1832: Black Hawk War

March 3, 1833: Promoted to Captain and assigned to command Company B, U.S. Dragoon Regiment (later 1st U.S. Dragoons)

1838: Cavalry instructional establishment at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania

1842-1845: Ft. Atkinson, Iowa - Fort's commander for majority of the time

June 30, 1846: Promoted to Major of 2nd Dragoons

1846-1848: Mexican/American War

April 18, 1847: Battle of Cerro Gordo - Brevetted for bravery to Lieut. Col. - Also gained the nickname "Bull Head"

September 8, 1847: Battle of Molino del Rey - Brevet rank of Colonel

July 23, 1848: Promoted to Lieut. Col. of the 1st U.S. Dragoons

1851-1853: Military governor of New Mexico Territory

March 3, 1855: Promoted to Colonel of 1st U.S. Cavalry

1856: Commander at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas

Bleeding Kansas

1857: As commander of the 1st Cavalry Regiment, led a punitive expedition against the Cheyenne

 

1858: Commanded the Department of the West

January 1861: Wrote President elect Lincoln, advising him to carry a weapon. Lt. Gen. Winfield Scott assigned Sumner as senior officer to accompany Lincoln from Springfield to Washington, D.C. in March 1861

May 12, 1861: Nominated to Brig. General effective March 16, 1861 in Regular Army

Was sent to California to replace Brig. Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston

November 1861:Recalled to the east to command a division. With the reorganization of the Army of the Potomac, was given command of the II Corps

March - July 1862: Peninsula Campaign

May 25, 1862: Battle of Williamsburg

June 25 - July 1, 1862: Seven Days Battle

June 30, 1862: Battle of Glendale - Injured by spent balls

July 4, 1862: Promoted to Major General of Volunteers dated May 5, 1862

September 17, 1862: Battle of Antietam

December 13, 1862: Battle of Fredericksburg

January 26, 1863: Gen. Hooker relieves him of duty

Reassigned to Department of the Ohio

Went to daughter's home in Syracuse, New York to rest. Caught a fever and died on March 21, 1863.

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Boatner, Mark M. III. The Civil War Dictionary. New York: David McKay, 1967, p 818

Edwin Vose Sumner. 25 April 2020. web. 23 July 2020.

Warner, Ezra J. Generals in Blue Lives of the Union Commanders. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State, 1964. p 489-490

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