Willis A. Gorman

Infobox_Governor
name= Willis Arnold Gorman

---

caption= Willis Gorman and Martha Stone
order=2nd
title=Territorial Governor of Minnesota
term_start= May 15, 1853
term_end= April 23, 1857
predecessor= Alexander Ramsey
successor= Samuel Medary
birth_date= birth date|1816|1|12|mf=y
birth_place= Flemingsburg, Kentucky, U.S.
death_date= death date|1876|5|20|mf=y
death_place= St. Paul, Minnesota, U.S.
party= Democrat
profession= lawyer
spouse= Martha Stone
religion=
footnotes=

Willis Arnold Gorman (January 12, 1816 – May 20, 1876) was an American lawyer, soldier, politician, and a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War.

Gorman was born near Flemingsburg, Kentucky. He was the only child of David and Elizabeth Gorman, both of Irish descent. In 1835, the family moved to Bloomington, Indiana, where Gorman graduated from Indiana University's law school in 1835 and established a law practice. In January 1836, he married Martha Stone in Bloomington. By 1837 he began his move into politics, becoming a clerk in the state senate, to which he was later elected several times.

In 1846 he volunteered for the army, enlisted as a private, and went to fight in the Mexican-American War. He was appointed as a major in the 3rd Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and led an independent rifle battalion at the Battle of Buena Vista, where he was severely wounded. When his term of service expired, he re-enlisted and was appointed colonel of the 4th Indiana. He served in the capture of Huamantla and in several other campaigns and battles. In 1848 he was civil and military governor of Puebla, but soon after he returned to Indiana. He served in the United States House of Representatives from March 4, 1849, to March 3, 1853, as a representative of that state.

Gorman, politically a Democrat, served as the second Territorial Governor of Minnesota from May 15, 1853, to April 23, 1857, at the appointment of President Franklin Pierce. During his time as Governor of Minnesota, he masterminded an unsuccessful plan to move the capital of the territory from St. Paul to St. Peter, where he owned land that would have been eminently suitable for use as the new capitol grounds. The plan was sidetracked when legislator Joe Rolette disappeared with the bill until the last seconds of the legislative session.

He spent a number of years practicing law in St. Paul, Minnesota, and served in the Minnesota House of Representatives from May 11, 1858, to January 1859.

With the secession of several Southern slave states, Gorman offered his services to the army. He was appointed Colonel of the 1st Minnesota Infantry, serving in the First Battle of Bull Run on July 21, 1861. On September 7, 1861, he was appointed brigadier general of volunteers and assigned to command a brigade in the II Corps in Army of the Potomac during the Peninsular Campaign. His troops suffered high casualties during the Battle of Antietam in an ill-fated attack on Confederate positions in the West Woods. Later in the year, he was assigned to command the District of Eastern Arkansas.

In 1864 he left the service and resumed his law practice in St. Paul. He was elected City attorney in 1869, and continued in that position until his death. He is buried in Oakland Cemetery in St. Paul.

References

*CongBio|G000330 Retrieved on 2008-02-14

*citation
last= Heitman
first = Francis
title = Historical Register and Dictionary of the United States Army 1789-1903
location = Washington
publisher = U.S. Government Printing Office
date = 1903
*citation
url=http://books.google.com/books?id=lTjJzaBOYPEC&pg=PA581&lpg=PA581&dq=%22willis+a+gorman%22&source=web&ots=wIeJOd4ZUU&sig=P8K-pFi3_dGSEBPKMjQ_5rg3Pp4
title=Fifty Years in the Northwest
first1=William Henry Carman
last1=Folsom
first2=Elijah Evan
last2=Edwards
publisher=Pioneer Press Co.
date=1888
pages=581-582
accessdate=
*citation
url=http://www.mnhs.org/library/findaids/P1766.html
title = WILLIS A. GORMAN: An Inventory of His Family Papers at the Minnesota Historical Society
publisher=Minnesota Historical Society
date=2007
accessdate=2007-12-26