- Thomas W. Osborn
Thomas Ward Osborn (
March 9 ,1833 -December 18 ,1898 ) was aUnion Army officer and United States Senator representingFlorida .Early life
Thomas Osborn was born in
Scotch Plains, New Jersey , the son of John and Amelia Osborn. He and his family moved to NorthWilna, New York in 1842 where he worked on the family farm until 1854. In 1854, Osborn took college preparatory courses and, in 1860, he graduated from Madison University (nowColgate University ) of Hamilton, New York.After graduating, Osborn worked in a law office in
Watertown, New York and was admitted to theNew York bar association in 1861.Military service
With the
American Civil War looming, Osborn did not practice law for long. After theFirst Battle of Bull Run in 1861, he entered theUnion Army aslieutenant . From his homeJefferson County, New York , Osborn raised a company forlight artillery service which became known as Company (or Battery) D, FirstRegiment , New York Light Artillery.Osborn's company served with the
Army of the Potomac earning high marks and he was promoted tocaptain , major andcolonel . As major, Osborn served under Major GeneralOliver O. Howard in the XI Corps leading in exemplary fashion (although the XI Corps was routed in both theBattle of Chancellorsville andBattle of Gettysburg ). Osborn commanded the corps' artillery brigade at Gettysburg, and he was involved in the defense ofCemetery Hill onJuly 2 ,1863 , when the position was attacked by troops of MGJubal Early .Osborn transferred to the Western theater with Howard. He served as
inspector general when Howard became commander of theArmy of the Tennessee . He left a detailed account of MGWilliam T. Sherman 'sMarch to the Sea .Reconstruction and politics
After Osborn's military service ended, he was appointed assistant
commissioner for theBureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands as part of Reconstruction in Florida in 1865 and 1866. He also practiced law while living inTallahassee, Florida .Osborn was a member of the State constitutional convention which created The 1868 Florida Constitution. He then moved to
Pensacola, Florida and was elected to theFlorida Senate .Shortly thereafter, Florida was reinstated to the U.S. Congress. While still only in his mid-30s, Osborn was elected to the United States Senate as a Republican and served from 1868 to 1873.
Retirement
Osborn did not run for reelection in 1872. He served as the U.S. commissioner at the
Centennial Exposition inPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania in 1876, the first official world's fair in theUnited States .In his retirement, Osborn engaged in law and literature in
New York City where he died in 1898. Thomas Osborn is interred at Hillside Cemetery inNorth Adams, Massachusetts .ee also
*
List of United States Senators from Florida
*U.S. Congressional Delegations from Florida References
*CongBio|O000109 Retrieved on
2008-02-14
* 224 pp. ISBN 0-9622393-4-8.
* Thomas Ward Osborn, "The fiery trail: a Union officer's account of Sherman's last campaigns", Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1986. 238 pp. ISBN 0-8704-9500-3
* 843 pp. [http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/B0008945NG ASIN B0008945NG]External links
* [http://home.att.net/~osborne-origins/biograph/bio25.htm#Osborn_Thomas_W3 Thomas W. Osborn biography excerpt from the John A. Haddock book]
* [http://www.13nybattery.com/battles/osborn_gettys.htm Major Osborn's report from the Battle of Gettysburg]###@@@KEY@@@###U.S. Senator box
state=Florida
class=3
before=vacant1
after=Simon B. Conover
alongside=Adonijah S. Welch,Abijah Gilbert
years=1868–1873
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.