Sidney Burbank

Infobox Military Person
name=Sidney Burbank
born= 1807
died= December 7 1882
placeofbirth= Massachusetts
placeofdeath= Newport, Kentucky


caption=
nickname=
allegiance= United States of America
branch= United States Army
serviceyears=1829–1870
rank=Colonel
unit=
battles=
awards=Sidney Burbank served as an officer in the regular army before and during the American Civil War. For a time he led a brigade in the Army of the Potomac.

Pre War

Burbank was born in Massachusetts in 1807, the son of Sullivan Burbank, an officer in the U. S. Army. Sidney Burbank attended the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, graduating 17th in a class of 46 in 1829. Burbank was assigned to the infantry, serving in Indian wars, including the Seminole War. As a captain he established Fort Duncan near Eagle Pass, Texas in 1849. Most often, he served in the 1st U.S. Infantry. Burbank was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel on May 14, 1861 and colonel on September 16, 1862. He served on recruiting duty and organized the 13th U.S. Infantry at Jefferson Barracks in Missouri. Burbank succeeded to command of the 2nd U.S. Infantry following the death of Dixon Miles. [Reese, "Sykes' Regular Infantry", p. 206.]

ervice with the Army of the Potomac

Colonel Burbank joined the Army of the Potomac in 1863. He served as a brigade commander in the second division of V Corps under MG George Sykes at the Battle of Chancellorsville. His brigade was composed of regiments of regular infantry. Burbank led the same brigade under BG Romeyn B. Ayres at the Battle of Gettysburg. It lost heavily when it was attacked in the flank while deploying in the Wheatfield on July 2, 1863. The attack was executed by the brigade of Brig Gen William T. Wofford, and it cost Burbank's brigade 447 casualties. [Pfanz, "Gettysburg - the Second Day", pp. 297-301. Map 12-2 on p. 292.] Afterwards, his regular brigade was combined with that of Col Hannibal Day, serving under Burbank in the Bristoe Campaign and the Mine Run Campaign.

ervice in Kentucky

Burbank's health was not good, and in the winter of 1863-1864 his eyesight was failing. Burbank left the Army of the Potomac for less demanding assignments. [Reese, "Sykes' Regular Infantry", p. 206.] (The regulars were made part of a brigade under Ayers in General Charles Griffin's first division V Corps.) Thereafter Burbank commanded a draft rendezvous in Columbus, Ohio and the headquarters of the 2nd U.S. Infantry in Kentucky until the end of the war, as well as the Newport Barracks in the Department of Kentucky. [Ward of the Rebellion, part II, vol. 49, p. 546.]

A brevet rank of brigadier general was awarded to Burbank for Gettysburg. He rebuilt his regiment, as well as serving on boards and commissions, until he retired in 1870. Burbank lived in Newport, Kentucky until he died on December 7, 1882 of an intestinal blockage. [Reese, "Sykes' Regular Infantry", p. 355.]

Burbank's son, Capt Sullivan Burbank, was killed in the Battle of the Wilderness. [Reese, "Sykes' Regular Infantry", p. 310.]

Sources

* Boatner, Mark M., "Civil War Dictionary", New York, D. McKay Co. [1959] . ISBN 0-8071-0882-7
* Pfanz, Harry W., "Gettysburg – The Second Day", University of North Carolina Press, 1987, ISBN 0-8078-1749-X. [Photograph of Burbank on p. 299.]
* Reese, Timothy J., "Sykes' Regular Division 1861-1864", Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1990. ISBN 0-89950-447-7

References