Napoleon Bonaparte Buford

Napoleon Bonaparte Buford
Napoleon Bonaparte Buford
Born	January 13, 1807(1807-01-13) Woodford County, Kentucky
Allegiance	United States of America Union
Service/branch	United States Army Union Army
Years of service	1831 - 1835; 1861 - 1865
Rank	Brigadier General Brevet Major General
Battles/wars	American Civil War

Napoleon Bonaparte Buford (January 13, 1807 – March 28, 1883) was an American soldier, Union general in the American Civil War, and railroad executive. He was the half-brother of the famous Gettysburg hero, John Buford, but never attained his sibling's military distinction.

Birth and early years

Buford was the son of John and Nancy Hickman Buford. He was born in Woodford County, Kentucky on his family's plantation, "Rose Hill." He graduated from West Point in 1831 and served for four years in the artillery. He studied law at Harvard, was assistant professor at West Point, and in 1835 resigned from the service to become an engineer. He thereafter engaged in iron manufacturing and banking at Peoria, Ill., and became president of the Rock Island and Peoria Railroad, which went bankrupt when major Southern bonds were defaulted with the start of the Civil War.

Civil War service

In the Civil War, he first served as colonel of the 27th Illinois Infantry, fighting at the Battle of Belmont. He then commanded the so called "Flotilla Brigade" of the Army of the Mississippi during the Battle of Island Number Ten. This was a brigade of infantry which served on board the gunboats of the Western Flotilla.

On April 16, 1862 President Abraham Lincoln appointed Buford Brigadier General of U.S. Volunteers, to rank from April 15, 1862.^[1] Buford commanded the 1st Brigade, 3rd Division, Army of the Mississippi during the siege and Battle of Corinth. In the final days of 1862, he served on the court-martial that convicted Major General Fitz John Porter of cowardice and disobedience. On November 29, 1862 he was appointed Major General of U.S. Volunteers but this appointment expired on March 4, 1863 and he reverted to brigadier general on that date.^[1] For the rest of the war Buford served as commander of the District of East Arkansas. Buford was mustered out of the army on August 24, 1865.^[1] On July 5, 1867, President Andrew Johnson nominated Buford for appointment to the brevet grade of major general of volunteers, to rank from March 13, 1865, and the U.S. Senate confirmed the appointment on July 19, 1867.^[2]

His younger half brother, John Buford, was also a West Point graduate (Class of 1848) and a general in the Union Army during the Civil War, commanding the 1st Division, Cavalry Corps, Army of the Potomac. A cousin, Abraham Buford, was a general in the Confederate States Army.

Buford was government inspector of the Union Pacific Railroad from 1867 to 1869 and a special commissioner of Indian affairs in 1867–68.

He died in Chicago, Illinois, and is buried in Rock Island, Illinois

See also

	United States Army portal
	American Civil War portal

• List of American Civil War generals (Union)

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b c} Eicher, John H., and Eicher, David J., Civil War High Commands, Stanford University Press, 2001, ISBN 0-8047-3641-3 p. 719
2. ^ Eicher, 2001, p. 711

References

This article incorporates text from an edition of the New International Encyclopedia that is in the public domain.

• Eicher, John H., and Eicher, David J., Civil War High Commands, Stanford University Press, 2001, ISBN 0-8047-3641-3.

Persondata
Name	Buford, Napoleon Bonaparte
Alternative names
Short description	Union Army general
Date of birth	January 13, 1807
Place of birth	Woodford County, Kentucky
Date of death	March 28, 1883
Place of death