Eliakim P. Scammon

Infobox Military Person
name= Eliakim Parker Scammon
born= birth date|1816|12|27
died= death date and age|1894|12|7|1816|12|27
placeofburial=


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placeofbirth= Whitefield, Maine
placeofdeath= New York City
allegiance= United States of America
branch= United States Army
serviceyears= 1837–56, 1861–65
rank= Brigadier General
unit=
commands=
battles= Seminole Wars U.S.-Mexican War American Civil War - Maryland Campaign - Battle of South Mountain - Battle of Antietam
awards=
relations=
laterwork=Professor

Eliakim Parker Scammon (December 27, 1816 – December 7, 1894) was a career officer in the United States Army, serving as a brigadier general in the Union Army during the American Civil War.

Scammon, a native of Whitefield, Maine, was appointed from his district to the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York, graduating 9th in the Class of 1837. He remained at West Point after graduation, serving as Assistant Professor of Mathematics from August 1837 to September 1838. Due to his ranking and abilities, he was selected as one of the original officers in the newly created U.S. Army Corps of Topographic Engineers in 1838. He served in the Seminole Wars and the Mexican-American War, serving under Winfield Scott in the Army of Occupation. He was elevated to captain in 1853 and assigned to various surveying assignments, but was dismissed from the service on June 4, 1856.

He moved to Ohio and became Professor of Mathematics at Mount Saint Mary's College, and then was President and Professor of Mathematics, Polytechnic College of the Catholic Institute in Cincinnati.

With the outbreak of the Civil War, Scammon offered his services to William Dennison, the Governor of Ohio in June 1861 and was appointed as Colonel of the 23rd Ohio Infantry, commanding two men who would later become Presidents, Rutherford B. Hayes and William McKinley. The regiment saw action in western Virginia and then in the northern part of the state.

Assigned to what became the IX Corps in the Army of the Potomac, Scammon then commanded the 1st Brigade, Kanawha Division. During the Maryland Campaign, he led his men in an attack up the slopes of South Mountain. When Brig. Gen. Jacob D. Cox briefly assumed command of the IX Corps, Scammon temporarily commanded the Kanawha Division, while Col. Hugh Ewing commanded Scammon's brigade. He fought well at the Battle of Antietam, where his men were counterattacked by late-arriving Confederate reinforcements under A.P. Hill.

Scammon was appointed brigadier general of volunteers in October 1862, and fought in the major actions of the Kanawha Division. He often clashed with his subordinate, Rutherford B. Hayes. [ [http://www.rbhayes.org/hayes/scholarworks/display.asp?id=501 Peter Cozzens speech at the Hayes Presidential Center] ] Scammon, by then a division commander, was captured by partisan guerrillas from the 16th Virginia Cavalry on February 3, 1864, when they raided a steamboat carrying General Scammon. He returned to duty after being exchanged. He was honorably mustered out in August 1865.

Following the war, he was the U.S. Consul to Prince Edward Island and then Professor of Mathematics at Seton Hall College in New Jersey. Bowdoin College in Maine conferred the honorary Degree of A. M. on Scammon.

Scammon died in New York City. He was buried in the Calvary Cemetery in Long Island City, New York.

His son, Jonathan Young Scammon, became one of the wealthiest men in America as a Chicago attorney, newspaper owner, and businessman.

ee also

References

* Heitman, Francis, "Historical Register and Dictionary of the United States Army 1789-1903", Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1903.

Notes

Further reading

* Arney, Chris, "West Point's Scientific 200: Celebration of the Bicentennial: Biographies of 200 of West Point's Most Successful and Influential Mathematicians, Scientists, Engineers, and Technologists," 2002.

Persondata
NAME= Scammon, Eliakim P.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION= Union Army general
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