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| Affiliation | Republican |
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| Name | James S. Wadsworth |
| Address |
Geneseo, New York , United States |
| Email | None |
| Website | None |
| Born |
October 30, 1807
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| Died | May 08, 1864
(56 years)
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| Contributor | nystate63 |
| Last Modifed | nystate63
Jul 05, 2004 08:36pm |
| Tags |
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| Info | James Samuel Wadsworth, soldier, born in Geneseo, New York, 30 October, 1807; died near Chancellorsville, Virginia, 8 May, 1864, was educated at Harvard and Yale and studied law in Albany, completing his course with Daniel Webster. Although he was admitted to the bar in 1833, he never practised his profession, but devoted himself to the management of the family estate in western New York. In 1852 he was elected president of the State agricultural society, in which he was interested during his life. He promoted education and the interests of the community in which he lived. He founded a public library in Geneseo, was a subscriber to the endowment of Geneseo college, aided in establishing the school-district library system, and was active in philanthropical labors. Although a Federalist by education and a Democrat by conviction, he supported the Free-soil party in 1848, and continued to act in defence of the anti-slavery move-meat. He was a presidential elector on the Republican ticket in 1856 and 1860. In 1861 he was a delegate to the Peace convention in Washington, and at the beginning of the civil war he was among the first to offer his services to the government. In April, 1861, he was commissioned a major-general by Governor Edwin D. Morgan, but the appointment was subsequently revoked. When communication with the capital was cut off, he chartered two ships upon his own responsibility, loaded them with provisions, and went with them to Annapolis, where he superintended the delivery of the supplies. He was volunteer aide to General Irvin Mc-Dowell at the first battle of Bull Run, where he was commended for bravery and humanity. Afterward he was made brigadier-general of volunteers, 9 August, 1861, assigned to a command in the advance under General George B. McClellan, and guarded the city of Washington. On 15 March, 1862, he became military governor of the District of Columbia. In the autumn of 1862 he was the Republican candidate for governor of New York, but was defeated by Horatio Seymour. In the following December he was assigned to the command of a division in the Army of the Potomac under General Ambrose E. Burnside, and participated in the battle of Fredericksburg, 13 December, 1862. He displayed great military skill in the command of the 1st division of the 1st army corps under General John F. Reynolds. At Gettysburg his division was the first to engage the enemy on 1 July, 1863, and on that day lost 2,400 out of 4,000 men. During the second and third days' fighting he rendered good service in maintaining the heights on the right of the line. At the council of war held after the victory he was one of the three that favored pursuit of the enemy. Early in 1864 he was sent on special service to the Mississippi valley, and made an extensive tour of inspection through the southern and western states. On the reorganization of the Army of the Potomac in 1864, he was assigned to the command of the 4th division of the 5th corps, composed in part of his old command. While endeavoring to rally his troops during the battle of the Wilderness, 6 May, 1864, he was struck in the head by a bullet, and before he could be removed the enemy had gained possession of the ground where he lay. Although unconscious, he lingered for two days. It is said that his troops were inspired by his heroic bearing continually to renew the contest, when but for him they would have yielded. He was brevetted major-general of volunteers on 6 May, 1864. Horace Greeley, in his "American Conflict" (Hartford, 1864-'6), says : "The country's salvation claimed no nobler sacrifice than that of James S. Wadsworth, of New York.... No one surrendered more for his country's sake, or gave his life more joyfully for her deliverance." In 1888 a movement was in progress for the erection in Washington of a monument to his memory.
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