Samuel Curtis
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Samuel Ryan Curtis | |
|---|---|
| February 3, 1805 – December 26, 1866 (aged 61) | |
 Samuel R. Curtis at the time of the Civil War |
|
| Place of birth | Champlain, New York |
| Place of death | Council Bluffs, Iowa |
| Allegiance | Union |
| Service/branch | Union Army |
| Rank | Major General |
| Commands held | Army of the Southwest Army of the Border |
| Battles/wars | Mexican-American War American Civil War *Pea Ridge *Westport |
| Other work | U.S. Congressman Indian Peace Commissioner Railroad commissioner |
Samuel Ryan Curtis (February 3, 1805 – December 26, 1866) was an American military officer, most famous for his role in the Trans-Mississippi Theater of the American Civil War.
Born near Champlain, New York, Curtis graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1831. He moved to Ohio, where he was a lawyer and took several other civilian jobs. During the Mexican-American War, he served as military governor of several occupied cities. After the war, he moved to Iowa, was the mayor of Keokuk in 1856, and served in Congress from 1857 to 1861 as a Republican. He was a supporter of eventual President Abraham Lincoln, and was considered for a cabinet position; however, after the Civil War broke out, Curtis was appointed colonel of the 2nd Iowa Infantry on June 1, 1861. He was subsequently promoted to brigadier general, effective May 17.
After organizing the chaos in St. Louis, Missouri, Curtis was given command of the Army of the Southwest on December 25, 1861, by Maj. Gen. Henry W. Halleck. Curtis moved his headquarters south to Rolla, Missouri, to solidify Union control in Arkansas. In March 1862, his army won the Battle of Pea Ridge in northwest Arkansas. His success made him pensive rather than triumphant. A few days after the battle he wrote, "The scene is silent and sad. The vulture and the wolf now have the dominion and the dead friends and foes sleep in the same lonely graves."[1] He was promoted to major general for his success, effective March 21, 1862. Tragically, on the same day in late March that he heard about his promotion, he also found out that his twenty year old daughter Sadie died of typhoid fever in St. Louis.[2]
After Pea Ridge, Curtis' small army moved east and invaded northeast Arkansas, capturing the city of Helena, Arkansas in July. In September, Curtis was given command of the District of Missouri, but Lincoln was soon forced to reassign him, after Curtis's abolitionist views led to conflict with the governor of Missouri.
In October 1863, his son Major Henry S. Curtis, adjutant to Brig. Gen. James G. Blunt, was killed by Quantrill's Raiders. In this surprise attack at the Battle of Baxter Springs, Quantrill's men wore Federal uniforms and gave no quarter.[3]
In 1864, Curtis returned to Missouri, fighting against the Confederate invasion led by Maj. Gen. Sterling Price. When Price's incursion was halted by Curtis' victory at the Battle of Westport, he was given a position until the end of the war on the frontier, commanding the Department of the Northwest.
After the war, he returned to Keokuk, Iowa, where he was involved with the Union advances in railroads, until his death in 1866 in Council Bluffs, Iowa. He is buried in Oakland Cemetery, Keokuk.
[edit] References
- Boatner, Mark M. III. The Civil War Dictionary. New York: David McKay, 1959. ISBN 0-679-50013-8
- Eicher, John H., and Eicher, David J., Civil War High Commands, Stanford University Press, 2001, ISBN 0-8047-3641-3
- Shea, William & Hess, Earl, Pea Ridge: Civil War Campaign in the West. University of North Carolina Press, 1992. ISBN 0-8078-4669-4
- National Park Service Biography
