Truman Seymour

Infobox Military Person
name= Truman Seymour
born= September 24, 1824
died= October 30, 1891


caption=
placeofbirth= Burlington, Vermont
placeofdeath= Florence, Italy
placeofburial=
allegiance= flagicon|United States United States of America
branch=United States Army
serviceyears= 1846–76
rank= Major General
unit=
commands=
battles= Mexican-American War
*Battle of Contreras
*Battle of Churubusco
Third Seminole War American Civil War
*Battle of Fort Sumter
*Peninsula Campaign
*Second Battle of Bull Run
*Maryland Campaign
*Battle of Olustee
*Battle of the Wilderness
*Siege of Petersburg
*Appomattox Campaign
awards=
relations=
laterwork= Painter

Truman Seymour (September 24, 1824 – October 30, 1891) was an a career soldier and an accomplished painter. He served in the Union Army during the American Civil War, rising to the rank of brigadier general. He commanded the Union troops at the Battle of Olustee, the largest Civil War battle fought in Florida.

Early life and career

Seymour was born in Burlington, Vermont. The son of a Methodist minister, he attended Norwich University for two years before enrolling at the United States Military Academy at West Point. After graduating in 1846, he was assigned to the 1st U.S. Artillery.

He served in the Mexican-American War in 1846. During the war, he was promoted to the rank of first lieutenant for his performance in the battles of Contreras and Churubusco. After returning to the United States following the war, he was an assistant professor of drawing at West Point from 1850-53 and fought against the Seminoles in Florida from 1856-58. He was promoted to captain on November 22, 1860.

Civil War

When the Civil War began in 1861, Seymour participated in the defense against the Confederate assault on Fort Sumter, after which he received the of major.

Major Seymour commanded the U.S. Fifth Artillery and the U.S. Camp of Instruction at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, from December 1861 to March 1862. Then he was Chief of Artillery for General George McCall’s division of Pennsylvana Reserves from March 6, 1862, until July 25, 1862. He became a Brigadier General of Volunteers on April 28, 1862.

Seymour served in the Army of the Potomac’s V Corps during the Peninsula Campaign of April-July 1862. He commanded the left wing of the Reserves at Mechanicsville on June 26 and led the division at Malvern Hill on July 1 after McCall was captured at the Battle of Glendale. He was also present at Gaines’ Mill on June 26.

After the Peninsula Campaign, the Pennsylvania Reserves joined third corps Army of Virginia, later I Corps in the Army of the Potomac. Seymour performed well at the battles of Second Bull Run, South Mountain, and Antietam in the latter half of 1862, especially in his brigade’s capture of Turner’s Gap, Maryland, on September 14. Seymour took command of the Reserves after BG George G. Meade became acting corps commander. He received the brevet from the Regular Army of Lieutenant Colonel after South Mountain and that of Colonel after Antietam.

After November 18, 1862, General Seymour was sent to the Department of the South where he served as chief of staff to the commanding general from January 8 to April 23, 1863. He led a division on Folly Island, South Carolina, on July 4, participated in the attack on Morris Island on July 10th, and commanded the unsuccessful attack on Fort Wagner on July 18. Seymour gained notoriety for this controversial attack. He was also seriously wounded there and saw little field duty for the rest of 1863.

The Battle of Olustee

General Quincy A. Gillmore, commanding general of the Department of the South, placed Seymour in charge of the newly created District of Florida. The division made an expedition to Florida in February 1864, landing at and taking possession of Jacksonville. Subsequently, Gillmore returned to South Carolina and left Seymour in tactical command.

On February 20, Seymour’s force of about 5,500 men met a Confederate force of about 5,000, commanded by Brigadier General Joseph Finegan. The battle took place near the town of Olustee, about 40 miles west of Jacksonville. The ensuing battle produced some of the heaviest losses, by percentage, of any major battle of the war. Although Seymour’s division inflicted nearly 1,000 casualties, it received nearly 2,000 in return. General Seymour’s force returned, defeated, to Jacksonville, where Union troops retained control until the war ended.

The last year of the war

After Olustee, General Seymour retained command of the District of Florida until March 28, 1864. He then returned to Virginia and served with third division VI Corps in the Battle of the Wilderness that May. He was captured there in a flank attack by BG John B. Gordon, as was BG Alexander Shaler. After his exchange on August 9, Seymour commanded third division VI Corps (ACW)|VI Corps of the Army of the Potomac, in the last stages of the Shenandoah Valley and the final battles of Petersburg, the Sayler’s Creek, and the Appomattox Campaign. He was present at General Robert E. Lee’s surrender on April 9, 1865. After the capture of Petersburg, he received the brevet of Major General of Volunteers and the brevet of Brigadier General of the United States Army, both to date from March 13, 1865.

Postbellum career

After the war ended, Seymour stayed in the army. He served again in the 5th Artillery, and later commanded forts in Florida, Fort Warren, Massachusetts (1869-70), and Fort Preble, Maine (1870-75). He retired from the army on November 1, 1876.

He received the degree of A.M. from Williams College in 1865. Seymour spent his retirement in Europe. He painted much in watercolor, and died while living in Florence, Italy. He was buried there in the Cimitero Evangelico degli Allori.

ee also

*List of American Civil War generals

External links

* [http://www.multied.com/bio/UGENS/USASeymour.html Union Generals]
* [http://battleofolustee.org/seymour.html General Seymour and the Battle of Olustee]
* [http://www.askart.com/AskART/artist.aspx?artist=87297&redir American Artists Bluebook]

Persondata
NAME= Seymour, Truman
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION= Union army general
DATE OF BIRTH=September 24, 1824
PLACE OF BIRTH=Burlington, Vermont
DATE OF DEATH=October 30, 1891
PLACE OF DEATH=Florence, Italy