Henry J. Wilson

Henry J. Wilson was a U.S. Army officer who served in three wars and numerous conflicts.

He was born around 1795 in Philadelphia and was commissioned an ensign in the 28th U.S. Infantry for the War of 1812. He was promoted to second lieutenant and then his commission expired in 1814. In 1815, he was recommissioned and was sent with General Andrew Jackson to Florida to serve during the First Seminole War. While in service there, he was promoted to captain and made the rear adjutant of Jackson's Army. In Pensacola, he met his future wife, Mary Henrietta Innerarity, daughter of John Innerarity, scion of the Forbes & Co. Indian trading firm.

He served in various posts in Baton Rouge, Minnesota, and Michigan and later served in the Second Seminole War, at one time as military governor of the western Florida military district, after being promoted to brevet major and then major. He was detached from duty in April 1837 to mediate a conflict at Mobile Point, Alabama, over the proper delivery of contracted beef for the Creek Indians who were being rounded up and transported to their new lands in the West. In 1838, he headed up the final preparations for the migration of the Cherokee Indians from western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee, the Trail of Tears.

He served in Arkansas as a major and later lieutenant colonel of the First Infantry Regiment and was called by General Zachary Taylor to go to the Texas-Mexican border in June 1846 and commanded the First Brigade, made up of four companies of the First Infantry. He fought in the Battle of Monterey and was breveted a colonel for his bravery.

Wilson was later detached from Taylor's forces to go with General Winfield Scott to the Siege of Vera Cruz. Wilson was appointed to the post of military governor of that city in March 1847 and served in that capacity, with a few leaves of absences for sickness, until the U.S. Army pulled out of Mexico in July 1848. He was then attached to duty on the Texas border fighting Comanche Indians.

Wilson was promoted to full Colonel and later served in the Utah Expedition.

In February 1861, he resigned his commission as a full colonel in the U.S. Army, with three certificates of disability for back problems. At the time, he was the longest serving full colonel in the U.S. Army. He offered his services to fight for the Confederate States of America, but no evidence exists to suggest he fought there.

He later served on the Board of Directors of the Bank of New Orleans. He died in 1870 in New Orleans and was buried in Lafayette Cemetery #3.

References

* Henry Wilson Papers, Louisiana State University.
* Henry Wilson Papers, Yale University.
* Innerarity Papers, The University of West Florida.
* Hulse-Innerarity Papers, The University of West Florida.