- Jeremiah C. Sullivan
Jeremiah Cutler Sullivan (
October 1 ,1830 –October 21 ,1890 ) was anIndiana lawyer,antebellum United States Navy officer, and a general in theUnion Army during theAmerican Civil War . He was among a handful of former Navy officers that later served asinfantry generals during the war.Early life and career
Jeremiah C. Sullivan was born in
Madison, Indiana . He was the son of Virginia-born attorneyJeremiah Sullivan , who served as a justice of theIndiana Supreme Court and coined the name "Indianapolis" for the new state capital. He was the brother ofAlgernon Sydney Sullivan , New York attorney and founder of theSullivan & Cromwell law firm.Sullivan was appointed to the
United States Naval Academy inAnnapolis, Maryland , and graduated in 1848. He was commissioned as amidshipman and spent the next six years primarily at sea, serving aboard four different vessels, including duty during theMexican-American War . [Welsh, p. 326.] In April 1854, he resigned from the Navy and returned home to Indiana, where he studied law, passed his bar exam, and opened a private practice. [Warner, p. 487.]Civil War
Sullivan helped recruit and organize a three-months'
infantry regiment , the 6th Indiana Volunteers. He was elected as a captain and led his troops into combat at the Battle of Philippi in western Virginia. Following the expiration of his term of enlistment, Sullivan mustered out of the army. However, he soon received an appointment from GovernorOliver P. Morton as the colonel of the 13th Indiana, a three-years' regiment. Sullivan returned to western Virginia in the army ofGeorge B. McClellan and fought at Rich Mountain and Cheat Mountain in the summer of 1861.In the spring of 1862, Sullivan commanded a
brigade of infantry during theValley Campaign and led it into action at the First Battle of Kernstown. He was commissioned as brigadier general to date fromApril 28 ,1862 . Later in the spring, he was transferred to the Western Theater and assigned command of a brigade in theArmy of the Mississippi , serving underWilliam S. Rosecrans . Sullivan again saw combat in the battles of Iuka and Corinth in Mississippi. In the autumn of that same year, Sullivan was given command of the District of Jackson, Tennessee, and its widely scattered garrisons of Union troops. There, his men were often pitted against the raiders of Confederate generalNathan B. Forrest . During the 1863Vicksburg Campaign , Sullivan served on the field staff of Maj. Gen.Ulysses S. Grant as the actinginspector general for his army. Following the surrender of Vickburg onJuly 4 , Sullivan took the position ofChief of Staff for Maj. Gen.James B. McPherson . In September, he was reassigned to the Department of West Virginia to serve under his father-in-law, Maj. Gen.Benjamin F. Kelley . Given command of a division, Sullivan was tasked with protecting the vitalBaltimore and Ohio Railroad inWestern Maryland . In mid-October 1863, he led a column from Harpers Ferry that thwarted an attack onCharleston, West Virginia , by Confederates underJohn D. Imboden , driving the enemy up the valley.During the
Valley Campaigns of 1864 , Sullivan drew the ire of his superior,Philip H. Sheridan , with his perceived poor performance, and was replaced by Brig. Gen.George Crook . Sullivan was never again given a significant command. He resigned from the army onMay 11 ,1865 , and tellingly was not among the scores of Union generals who received brevet promotions to higher rank at the close of hostilities. [Warner, p. 488.]Postbellum career
Sullivan moved to
Oakland, Maryland , after the war, and then headed west toCalifornia in 1878. Despite his previous training and experience as an attorney, he instead worked at a variety of menial clerical jobs in both states.Jeremiah C. Sullivan died in
Oakland, California , in the fall of 1890 not long after his sixtieth birthday. He is buried in Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland.ee also
References
* Warner, Ezra J., "Generals in Blue: Lives of the Union Commanders", Baton Rouge:
Louisiana State University Press , 1964, ISBN 0-8071-0822-7.
* Welsh, Jack D., "Medical Histories of Union Generals", Kent, Ohio:Kent State University Press , 1996. ISBN 0873388534.Notes
External links
* [http://stonewall.hut.ru/leaders/sullivan.htm Biography of Sullivan]
*findagrave|5896990 Retrieved on2008-02-12 Persondata
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