Aaron S. Daggett

Aaron Simon Daggett (June 14, 1837 – May 14, 1938) was the last surviving Union general of the American Civil War when he died at the age of 100.

Biography

Daggett was born in Greene, Maine, in 1837. He attended Bates College (then called the Maine State Seminary) in Lewiston, Maine, in 1860.

Daggett enlisted as a private in the 5th Maine Volunteers on April 1861, and became a second lieutenant in May 1861. He fought at the First Battle of Bull Run, and became a captain in August 1861. Daggett went on to fight at West Point, Gaines' Mill, Golding's Farm, White Oak Swamp, Second Bull Run, South Mountain, Antietam, Rappahannock Station, and Fredericksburg.

He became the major of the 5th Maine in January 1863 and fought at Second Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, Mine Run, Petersburg, and the Wilderness, where he was wounded. In March 1865, he was brevetted a colonel and then brigadier general of U.S. Volunteers for "gallant and meritorious services during the war."

After the war, Daggett became a captain in the 16th U.S. Infantry in 1866. He had also been brevetted as a major in the Regular Army for gallant and meritorious services at Rappahannock Station and lieutenant colonel for services at the Wilderness. Daggett believed in the abolition of slavery and fought alongside African-American soldiers during the Civil War with the 5th Maine.

Aaron Daggett went on to fight in: the Indian Wars, the Spanish-American War and in Spain, China, and the Philippines and received the Purple Heart and the Gold Star. Daggett was temporarily promoted to the rank of brigadier general of the volunteers during the Spanish American War and was present at the Battle of San Juan Hill. In 1900 he became a brigadier general of the regular Army before retiring to Auburn, Maine. Daggett died at the age of 100 at his home in West Roxbury, Massachusetts on May 14, 1938, making him the last surviving general of the Civil War.

Daggett's grandson was a prominent civil rights activist at the University of New Hampshire. [ [http://unhmagazine.unh.edu/f01/daggett3f01.html University of New Hampshire online magazine] ]

ee also

*List of Amerian Civil War generals
*Last surviving United States war veterans
*List of Bates College people

References

Further reading

*1861 "Maine State Seminary Catalogue"
*cite book
title=Generals in Blue
author=Ezra J. Warner
year=1964
publisher=LSU Press
isbn=0807108227
url=http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0807108227&id=2PSgcaLic-AC&pg=PR18&lpg=PR18&dq=%22aaron+s.+daggett%22&sig=L5vaxYt8TRyid3Z9nGCM3McmqT4
*cite book
title=MILITARY RECORD OF CIVILIAN APPOINTMENTS IN THE UNITED STATES ARMY
author=
year=1873
publisher=
isbn=
url=http://books.google.com/books?vid=OCLC14854894&id=cBv53AcNnjcC&pg=PA291&lpg=PA291&dq=%22aaron+s.+daggett%22&as_brr=1
* [http://unhmagazine.unh.edu/f01/daggett3f01.html Kimberly Swick Slover, "Courage Under Fire," "University of New Hampshire Magazine", Fall 2001]
*cite book
title=America in the China Relief Expedition
author=Aaron Simon Daggett
year=1903
publisher=Hudson-Kimberly Pub. Co.
isbn=
url=http://books.google.com/books?id=kAhNIsVCgzYC&dq=aaron+daggett&printsec=frontcover&source=web&ots=1AeA1WpEV1&sig=72ExVXpoclg110_MEE_YVbGVEos#PPP1,M1

External links

* [http://www.mosocco.com/pic/daggett.jpgPicture and Obituary of Daggett, Portland Maine, Press Herald, 8/14/1938]

Persondata
NAME= Daggett, Aaron S.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION= Union Army general
DATE OF BIRTH=
PLACE OF BIRTH=
DATE OF DEATH=
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