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Civil War Soldiers - Schofield
| Schofield, John M., major-general,
U.S. Army, was born in Chautauqua county, N. Y., Sept. 29, 1831. His
father, a clergyman, removed to Bristol, Ill., when the son was about
twelve years of age, and in 1845 to Freeport, in the same state. In
June, 1849, young Schofield entered the U. S. military academy, being
graduated in 1853 seventh in the same class with Gens. McPherson,
Sheridan, Sill, Terrill, R. O. Tyler, and the Confederate Hood. On
July 1, 1853, he was made brevet second lieutenant of artillery,
serving at Fort Moultrie, S. C., and on Aug. 31, second lieutenant of
the 1st artillery, stationed in Florida, 1854-55. From Nov. 19, 1855,
till Aug. 28, 1860, he was at the West Point military academy, as
acting assistant, and then as assistant professor of natural and
experimental philosophy. While on leave of absence for one year he
held the chair of professor of physics at Washington university, St.
Louis, Mo., but when the Civil war began he waived the remainder of
his leave, and was made mustering officer of Missouri, April 20, 1861,
serving one month. By permission of the war department, he accepted
the commission of major of the 1st Mo. volunteers on April 26, and on
May 14 he received the rank of captain in the 1st artillery of the
regular army, remaining, however, with the Missouri troops. As chief
of staff to Gen. Nathaniel Lyon, he participated in the engagements of
Dug springs and Curran P. O., Aug. 2, 3, and 4, and the battle of
Wilson's creek on Aug. 10. In the fall of the same year he was charged
with the conversion of the 1st Mo. infantry into an artillery
regiment, and with battery A, hastily forwarded from St. Louis, took
part in the battle of Fredericktown, Mo., on Oct. 21. On Nov. 21 he
was appointed by the president brigadier-general of volunteers, and on
the 26th he received the same commission from the governor of Missouri
in the Missouri state militia, with orders to organize and equip a
force of 10,000, to be at the service of the Federal government,
within the limits of the state, while the war should last, and which
should relieve the main armies for service in more important fields.
From Sept. 26, 1862, until April, 1863, he organized and commanded the
Army of the Frontier in the southwest part of the state and in
northwest Arkansas, driving the Confederates south of the Arkansas
river, having been made major-general of volunteers on Nov. 29, 1862.
For about one month, April 20 to May 13, 1863, Gen. Schofield
commanded the 3d division of the 14th army corps, but was assigned to
the command of the Department of the Missouri, and retained it until
Jan. 31, 1864, sending troops to assist Gen. Grant in the capture of
Vicksburg, operating successfully to obtain possession of the line of
the Arkansas river, and clearing the state of guerrilla and border
war. With the Army of the Ohio, of which he was in command, he took
part in all the battles and operations of the entire Atlanta campaign,
viz., the demonstration at Buzzard Roost gap, the battles of Resaca
and Dallas, the movement against and engagements near Lost mountain,
the action of Kolb's farm, the battle of Kennesaw mountain, the
passage of the Chattahoochee, and the battles near and siege of
Atlanta, ending in the capture of that city on Sept. 2, 1864. In
October Gen. Schoheld was sent by Gen. Sherman to the assistance of
Gen. George H. Thomas in Tennessee, commanding the troops in the field
opposed to Gen. Hood from Nov. 3 till Dec. 1. Falling back from
Pulaski to Columbia, skirmishing, and from the latter place to Spring
Hill, he finally gave battle at Franklin on Nov. 30. He also
participated in the battle of Nashville, which terminated the
campaign, on Dec. 15 and 16, and was engaged in the pursuit of Hood's
army until Jan. 14, 1865. His commission of brigadier-general in the
U. S. army was dated from the battle of Franklin, and on March 13,
1865, he also received the rank of brevet major-general, U. S. A., for
"gallant and meritorious services" in the same battle. Gen. Schofield
then operated with Gen. Sherman in the final campaign against Gen.
Johnston, and after the surrender he remained in command of the
Department of North Carolina until June 21. After the war he visited
Europe on a special mission, relative to the occupation of Mexico by
French troops. From Aug. 16, 1866, till June, 1868, he was in command
first of the Department of the Potomac, and then of the 1st military
district of Virginia, as confirmed under the reconstruction laws. On
June 2, 1868, he was appointed secretary of war by President Johnson,
retaining the office under President Grant until March 14, 1869, and
on March 4 of the same year he was made major-general in the regular
army. From March 20, 1869, till May 3, 1870, he was in command of the
Department of the Missouri, and from the last date to July, 1876, of
the Division of the Pacific. Then until Jan. 21, 1881, he was
superintendent of the military academy at West Point, and commander of
the Department of West Point. For a few months thereafter he commanded
the Division of the Gulf, but on Oct. 15, 1882, he again commanded the
Division of the Pacific, and on Nov. 8, 1883, he succeeded Gen.
Sheridan in command of the Division of the Missouri, with headquarters
at Chicago, Ill. From April 2, 1886, he commanded the Division of the
Atlantic, and on Aug. 14, 1888, on the death of Gen. Sheridan, was
assigned by President Cleveland to command the U. S. army, with
headquarters at Washington, D. C. He occupied this position until
Sept. 29, 1895, when he was retired from the service, the rank of
lieutenant-general having been conferred upon him on Feb. 5 of that
year. Gen. Schofield died of cerebral hemorrhage at St. Augustine,
Fla., on March 4, 1906. Source: The Union Army: A History of Military Affairs in the Loyal
States 1861-1865, Volume 8 Biographical, 1908
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