Włodzimierz Krzyżanowski

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Włodzimierz Bonawentura Krzyżanowski (Wladimir Krzyzanowski) (July 8, 1824 – January 31, 1887) was a Polish military leader and a Union general in the American Civil War.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Civil War 3 Postbellum activities 4 References 5 Notes

[edit] Early life

Wlodzimierz Krzyzanowski was born in Rożnowo, Grand Duchy of Posen, into an old Polish noble family who bear the Świnka coat of arms (head of wild boar), with roots reaching back to the 14th century from ownership of the village Krzyżanowo near Kościan. His father and both uncles fought for Polish independence under the banners of Napoleon, and his brother fought in the November Uprising of 1830. He was a cousin to Frédéric Chopin, whose mother's Justyna's family name was Krzyżanowski. He took part in the 1848 Polish Uprising against Prussia and fled from Poland to avoid arrest.

He went to Hamburg, Germany, and sailed from there to New York Harbor. Krzyżanowski worked as a civil engineer and surveyor in Virginia and was instrumental in pushing America's railroads westward.

[edit] Civil War

In Washington, D.C., Krzyżanowski enlisted as a private two days after President Abraham Lincoln called for volunteers. He recruited a company of Polish immigrants, which became one of the first companies of Union soldiers. Krzyżanowski then moved his company to New York and enlisted more immigrants and soon became colonel of the 58th New York Infantry regiment, listed in the official Army Register as the "Polish Legion".

Krzyżanowski participated in the battles of Cross Keys in the Shenandoah Valley, Second Bull Run, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, and Chattanooga. At Gettysburg on July 1, 1863, his men were pushed back through the town as the Union XI Corps retreated. However, Krzyżanowski led a counterattack on July 2 on Cemetery Hill that helped stabilize the faltering Union line. XI Corps was sent West to help relieve the Confederate siege of Chattanooga. Krzyżanowski played a role in the Battle of Wauhatchie, where he followed Joseph Hooker's orders very literally; and he was present at the Battle of Chattanooga.

When the XI Corps was dissolved, much of it being added to XX Corps, Krzyżanowski was assigned to command at Bridgeport, Alabama, to guard the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad, and to Stevenson, Alabama, all commands within the Department of the Cumberland.^[1]

President Lincoln promoted him to brevet brigadier general on March 2, 1865; previous temporary promotions to general in 1862 and 1863 were rejected by the U.S. Senate.^[2]

[edit] Postbellum activities

After the war, Krzyżanowski was given governing duties in Alabama^[3] He later served as the appointed governor of several Southern states (Florida, Georgia, and Virginia.)^[3] Supposedly, he also served as the first American administrator of the Alaska Territory. However, the Anchorage Daily News was unable to find any conclusive information to support or disprove this claim.^[4]This posting was a reward for his performance as the personal representative of Secretary Seward during the negotiations for the Purchase of Alaska.^[5]

He served in Treasury Department and later in the customs service in Panama and New York.

Krzyżanowski died in New York City. On October 13, 1937, the 50th anniversary of his death, his remains were transferred with military honors from Greenwood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York, to Arlington National Cemetery. President Franklin D. Roosevelt broadcast his tribute to the nation via radio, and Poland's President, Ignacy Mościcki, transmitted his esteem from Warsaw.

[edit] References

• Eicher, John H., and Eicher, David J., Civil War High Commands, Stanford University Press, 2001, ISBN 0-8047-3641-3.
• Tagg, Larry, The Generals of Gettysburg, Savas Publishing, 1998, ISBN 1-882810-30-9.
• Warner, Ezra J., Generals in Blue: Lives of the Union Commanders, Louisiana State University Press, 1964, ISBN 0-8071-0822-7.

[edit] Notes