USA > Pennsylvania > A biographical album of prominent Pennsylvanians, v. 1 > Part 26
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B REVET MAJOR-GENERAL ABSALOM BAIRD, the present Inspector-General of the United States Army, was born in Washington, Pa., August 20, 1824. His great-grandfather was John Baird, who served as an officer in the army of General Forbes, which captured Fort Duquesne from the French in 1758. John Baird did not live to return from this expedition; but he left an only child, Absalom Baird, born in Chester county, Pa., who served throughout the entire war of the Revolution in the medical staff of the army commanded by General Washington. Dr. Absalom Baird afterwards lived in Washington, Pa., where he practised medicine, and at the same time held prominent offices, the gift of his fellow-citizens. He was Lieutenant of the county to provide for defence against the Indians ; was Sheriff of the county, and served for some time as State Senator.
William Baird, the youngest son of Dr. Absalom Baird, was the father of General Absalom Baird, and was a man of many varied attainments, an accom- plished scholar, and an orator of elegance and force. General Absalom Baird graduated from Washington (Pa.) College in the class of 1841, and then for three years studied law in the office of the Hon. Thos. M. T. McKennan, well known at that day as a man of many brilliant qualities, he being the second person that filled the position of Secretary of the Interior, and representing the district in Congress for many years,
The family of Absalom Baird, as can thus readily be seen, is fully identified with the early history of Pennsylvania, and from that State he entered the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1845, graduating ninth in a class of forty-three that included such names as Gillmore, Parke, Benet, Holabird, Saxton, and others not unknown on the roll of fame. Having been assigned to the First Artillery, he quickly found himself engaged in hostilities against the Seminole Indians (1850-53), and was recalled to West Point as Assistant Professor of Mathematics, in which position he served for nearly seven years. After another interval of frontier service in Texas, the outbreak of the War of the Rebellion found him on duty at Fortress Monroe, from whence he was ordered to Wash- ington to take command of Magruder's Battery, Colonel Magruder being then absent. This battery (afterwards famous as " Ricketts'") was one of the chief reliances for the defence of the National Capital in these early days of the war, and Lieutenant Baird's disposition of it was both skilful and effective. Having commanded the battery during the eventful period from March 10 to May II, 1861, the Manassas campaign found him the Adjutant-General of Tyler's Divis- ion, in which capacity he was engaged in the action at Blackburn's Ford, July 18, 1861, and in the battle of the First Bull Run, three days afterwards. As Assistant Adjutant-General he was assigned to duty in the Adjutant-General's office at Washington, and in this position his well-known executive abilities were
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brought prominently into play during the confusion and disorder attendant upon the defeat of the National forces-a due recognition of these abilities procuring for him the rank of Major and Assistant Inspector-General November 12, 1861. As such he served with the Fourth (Keyes's) Corps of the Army of the Potomac, acting as Inspector-General and Chief of Staff, and was engaged in the siege of Yorktown, April 5 to May 4, 1862, and at the battle of Williamsburg, May 5, 1862. The general afterwards became so thoroughly identified with the exploits of the Western army that many, who know his history intimately in connection with Western campaigns, seem to be unaware that he had also "stood the brunt " of Eastern fighting at Manassas and on the Peninsula. Having, how- ever, been made a Brigadier-General of Volunteers, April 28, 1862, a week before his participation in the battle of Williamsburg, he was assigned to the command of the Twenty-seventh Brigade of the Army of the Ohio, and at once turned his face westward to begin a career of which any soldier might be proud, and which, commencing with the capture of Cumberland Gap in June, 1862, only terminated with the surrender and consequent dispersion of the rebel army under General J. E. Johnston at Durham Station, North Carolina, April 26, 1865. During the whole of this period, without intermission, it can be said of General Baird that he was constantly in the field; and how gallantly he performed his part, how brave and meritorious his conduct proved to be, is readily learned from the mere enumeration of the honors conferred upon him by his country-honors that were well carned and worthily bestowed.
After the evacuation of Cumberland Gap, September, 1862, General Baird was given command of the Third Division of the Army of Kentucky, and was engaged at the defence of Franklin and the repulse of Van Dorn's assault upon that place, April 10, 1863. In the Tennessee campaign of General Rosecrans he was engaged in all the arduous operations preliminary to the battle of Chicka- mauga, September 19-20, 1863. On the part of General Baird and his division these included the advance upon Tullahoma, capture of Shelbyville, June 27, 1863, crossing the Cumberland mountains and Tennessee river, and the action at Dug Gap, September 11, 1863.
Upon the heroic conduct displayed by General Baird at the battle of Chicka- mauga it is needless to dwell at length. If General George H. Thomas has been called the " Rock " of Chickamauga, assuredly General Baird may be justly con- sidered as one of the main strata of that rock; for the gallant struggle made by him and his division stands brightly out amid the confusion and disaster of that conflict. The mere fact that, according to Van Horne (" History of the Army of the Cumberland "), Baird's division lost 2,213 men, will go far to prove how stubborn was the resistance offered by it to the onslaught of the foe ; and had all done equally as well, Chickamauga might easily have been one of the grandest victories of the war for the National cause. In this connection we cannot refrain from quoting the remark of General Hazen, who himself acted a very gallant part on this bloody field: ". .. In carefully studying this battle, one cannot fail
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to be impressed with the most worthy and heroic service of two division com- manders, who stand out conspicuously from all the rest-Brannan and Baird" (" Narrative of Military Service, W. B. IIazen, Boston, 1885"). For his conduct in this battle General Baird received the brevet of Lieutenant-Colonel in the regular army, dated September 20, 1863 : "For gallant and meritorious services at the battle of Chickamauga, Ga."
With the rest of the Army of the Cumberland Baird's division underwent what is known as the " Siege of Chattanooga," scanty rations and much hardship being the most prominent features connected with that episode. But an ample opportunity for revenge presented itself when, at the sound of the signal guns from Orchard Knob, the divisions of Baird, Wood, Sheridan and Johnson rushed upon the intrenched foe at Missionary Ridge, and with an ardor that could not be abated, without orders from the general commanding the army, succeeded in driving Bragg's masses from the summit of the Ridge, a position in which they vainly deemed themselves impregnable. In this assault General Baird's division held the extreme left of the line, and, after capturing the rifle-pits at the foot, gallantly rushed upon the main line, capturing many guns and prisoners and losing many men in return. From his own report we quote : "The rebel troops which had occupied the works were in retreat up the mountain, while numerous batteries, both in our front and far to our right and left, opened upon us a heavy cross-fire from the crest. For a time this cannonade was indeed severe; the atmosphere seemed filled with messengers of death, and shells bounded in every direction." . . The question as to who first reached the summit of the Ridge gave rise to some contention and bickering ; but how free from any feeling on this point was General Baird can be seen by quoting further from his report, wherein he says : " It is difficult to determine questions of slight precedence in point of time in a rivalry of this nature, and when all act nobly they are unim- portant." His division lost in killed and wounded in this battle 565 men (there were none missing), out of an effective force engaged of 1,679, officers and men. Missionary Ridge procured for General Baird the brevet of Colonel in the regular army, dated November 24, 1863: " For gallant and meritorious services at the battle of Chattanooga, Tenn."
During the period of inactivity following the battle of Missionary Ridge, General Baird's division was located at Ringgold, Ga., to hold the gap in Tay- lor's Ridge through which the railroad from Chattanooga to Atlanta passes. In this position he was twenty-four miles in advance of our army at Chattanooga, and but sixteen miles from Dalton, where the main rebel army was encamped. The only troops that were in supporting distance of him were the divisions of General Johnson and General Davis, who were posted about seven or eight miles distant, and who each had a point of his own to guard. It was perfectly prac- ticable for the rebel army to cross the mountain any night on either side of General Baird, and surround his entire command. But with his usual watchful- ness and constant alertness he held this perilous position for many weeks, being
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thus in fact the advance-guard of the army lying around Chattanooga, and this position he only quitted when that army, in the early part of May, 1864, began its general advance movement for the invasion of Georgia.
In the campaign and series of tremendous struggles that then ensued, com- mencing with the turning of General Johnston's army out of Dalton, and finally ending with the capture and subsequent destruction of Atlanta, General Baird performed an important part at the head of the Third Division of the Fourteenth Corps. From the battle of Resaca, May 14, 1864, onward his division was con- stantly either fighting or marching in pursuit of the enemy, who certainly did not yield without exacting a bloody compensation in return. Engaged in the move- ment against Pine Mountain, with almost daily severe engagements, from May 28 to June 20, 1864 ; then in the battles about Kenesaw Mountain from that date to July 2; again at the fight at Vining's Station, July 9; the combat at Peach Tree Creek, July 20, and Utoy Creek, August 4 and 5, the division under its commander behaved most gallantly, winding up the campaign with the sanguin- ary battle at Jonesboro' on September I, the city of Atlanta falling next day. In this battle Este's brigade of Baird's division lost 330 men, and General Baird had two horses killed under him within the space of ten minutes. For his ser- vices in this and the following campaign General Baird received the brevet of Major-General of Volunteers, dated September 1, 1864 : " For faithful services and distinguished conduct during the Atlanta campaign, and particularly in the bat- tles of Resaca and Jonesboro', and for general good conduct in command of his division against Savannah."
The same month found Sherman's army engaged in the pursuit of General Hood, who sought by operating on Sherman's line of communication to turn his army northward once more, and in this pursuit General Baird's division again had its full share of active movement. But the march to the sea being finally determined upon by General Sherman, Hood was turned over to Thomas, Atlanta was given to the flames, and the army marched out gayly to pursue its course to Savannah. Sherman himself tells us in his " Memoirs " that " the most extraordinary efforts had been made to purge this army of non-combatants' and of sick men ; . ... , so that all on this exhibit may be assumed to have been able-bodied, experienced soldiers, well armed, well equipped and provided, as far as human foresight could, with all the essentials of life, strength and vigorous action " (Vol. II., p. 172). Still in command of the Third Division of the Four- teenth Corps, General Baird, forming part of that gallant array of brave hearts, found himself " marching through Georgia."
About this period Major Nichols, an aide on the staff of General Sherman during this march, gives a very vivid pen-and-ink portrait of General Baird, which brings him before us as he appeared to his confreres in arms : " General Baird is one of the most elegant officers of the army. Of medium stature, fine form, a prepossessing face, tawny side whiskers and full mustache, a clear blue eye and a fair complexion, he personifies the ideal of a gentleman and a soldier.
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Ilis manners are perfect and in harmony with his appearance. Besides this, he is an accomplished soldier, distinguishing himself upon every occasion " (" Story of the Great March," G. W. Nichols). And, saving that time has whitened the tawny mustache and somewhat aged the form, the same description would fit- tingly apply to the present Inspector-General of the United States Army. The march through Georgia proved to be mainly uneventful, though the division was engaged in numerous small actions and skirmishes from November 16 to December 13, 1864, and was present at the surrender of Savannah on December 21, passing the Christmas and New Year in that city, which Sherman presented to President Lincoln " as a Christmas gift." Not long did the army tarry in Savannah, for its face was set northward, and it began the long, tedious march through the Carolinas, General Baird's division being on the extreme left, or inland wing of the army, brushing away the puerile attempts of the enemy to delay their onward progress, assisting Kilpatrick's cavalry in its advance, wit- nessing at a distance the burning of Columbia, and at length finding itself face to face with the rebel army under General Johnston, their old antagonist, at Ben- tonville, N. C., March 20, 1865. Here the division was seriously engaged for the last time, and after being present at the capture of Raleigh, April 13, and the surrender of Johnston and his army at Durham Station, thirteen days later, the holiday march to Washington commenced, and General Baird had the pleasing satisfaction of marching at the head of his division through the city of Richmond, then presenting but a sorry sight after its recent tribulation of fire. And, proud- est day of all, that 24th of May, 1865, when the Western army marched through the Capital of the Nation up Pennsylvania avenue, past President Johnson and his Cabinet, with streets lined by thousands of their fellow-citizens cheering them on. To quote General Sherman : " . . Sixty-five thousand men, in splendid physique, who had just completed a march of nearly two thousand miles in a hostile country." And then, "Grim-visaged war smoothed his wrinkled front," and General Baird and the old fighting Third Division of the Fourteenth Corps parted company forever.
For his services during these campaigns General Baird received the brevet, dated March 13, 1865, of Brigadier-General " for gallant and meritorious services in the capture of Atlanta, Ga. ; " and he was further brevetted, the same date, Major-General United States Army "for gallant and meritorious services in the field during the Rebellion."
The war being now ended, the mass of the volunteer army was mustered out of the service, and with it nearly all of the officers who had served as generals of volunteers, a few only of these latter being retained, consisting of such of them as had rendered particularly marked service, this being done more as a compli- ment to them than anything else. The Army Register for 1865 contains the names of 282 brigadier-generals, while on the register for 1866 there are but eighteen, including the name of General Baird, who was not mustered out until September 1, 1866. After serving some time at Louisville, Ky., he was assigned
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to the command of a district comprising Delaware and the eastern shore of Maryland, which he held until he was urged to take charge of the affairs of the Freedmen's Bureau, etc., in the State of Louisiana. He filled the position of Assistant Commissioner for that State, with head-quarters at New Orleans, from November, 1865, to September, 1866, he being at the same time military com- mander of the Department of Louisiana under General P. H. Sheridan, who was then in command of the Division of the Gulf. General Baird's administration of this office was characterized by firmness and justice, and perfect impartiality in his decisions between good men and bad men, between rebels and Union men ; and too much credit cannot be given him for his unswerving devotion to duty while engaged in the management of the bureau, and its attendant trials and annoyances. Strong inducements were held out to him by persons surrounding President Johnson to perform political acts, on his own responsibility, which they were unwilling to be held accountable for. This he would not do, but insisted strongly on having definite and distinct orders for all unusual acts required of him. There was intense hostility at the time between President Johnson on the one hand and Secretary Stanton and Congress on the other, and it speaks well for General Baird that Secretary Stanton at all times sustained his administration, and showed entire confidence in hin.
It was during this situation that the terrible and bloody riot of July, 1866, took place in New Orleans, upon which General Baird declared martial law at once, and took possession of the civil government of the city. For this action he was relieved from duty by President Johnson, and mustered out of the volunteer ser- vice ; but his action was approved by Secretary Stanton and by Congress, and his policy was continued by General Sheridan, who went much further than Gen- eral Baird in his measures to restrain the lawless reactionary rebel element remaining in the community.
So, after four years and a half of service as a general officer, General Baird returned to his duties as a Major and Assistant Inspector-General, proudly con- scious that in all that period there was no stain upon his gallant and loyal record. After serving in the Inspector-General's Corps as Lieutenant-Colonel and Col- onel, he was commissioned Brigadier-General and Inspector-General, United States Army, September 22, 1885, which position he still holds. In July, 1887, he was selected by the Secretary of War and the General of the Army to witness and report upon the autumn manœuvres of the French army. Accompanied by an officer of lower rank, he spent August and September of that year in viewing the English and French armies. He had the honor of receiving from the Presi- dent of the French Republic the Cross of a Commander of the Legion of Honor. He is nearing the end of his term of service in the army, and when he retires there will be but one opinion of his record, and it will be voiced in the words : " Well done, thou good and faithful servant."
DAVID FITZGERALD.
GEN. SAMUEL D. STURGIS.
GEN. SAMUEL DAVIS STURGIS.
PENNSYLVANIA has many sons who have won distinction as officers of the regular army, and among the most deserving of honorable mention is Brevet Major-General SAMUEL D. STURGIS, who, after having served his country faithfully and well for more than forty years, participating ereditably in two im- portant wars, has recently been placed on the retired list with the rank of Colonel United States Army.
General Sturgis was born at Shippensburg, Cumberland county, June 11, 1822. He is the son of James and Mary Sturgis, both of whom died at Burlington, Iowa, at an advanced age. The progenitor of the family in this country was William Sturgis, who emigrated from County Armagh, Ireland, and settled in the Juniata valley about 1745. His wife's sister married Rev. John Davis, from whom are descended Rear-Admiral Davis of the United States Navy, and his father, Hon. John W. Davis, who for many years was a member of Congress from Indiana, Speaker of the House of Representatives and Minister to China. One of William Sturgis' sons, also named William, was a Lieutenant in the United States Army, and fell at the battle of Lundy's Lane. This circumstance led General Scott, " the hero of Lundy's Lane," to interest himself in securing for the nephew, now General Sturgis, an appointment to the Military Academy at West Point, where he was entered as Cadet at Large, July, 1842. He remained at the Academy four years, graduating in the class of 1846, which also included Generals McClellan, "Stonewall " Jackson, Foster, Reno, A. P. Hill, Pickett and Wilcox.
Immediately after graduating he was appointed a Brevet Second Lieutenant in the Second Dragoons and assigned to the company of the noted Captain Charles May, then in Mexico with General Taylor. He participated in the memorable campaign which included the victories of Palo Alto, Resaca de la Palma and Buena Vista. On February 20, 1847, two days before the battle of Buena Vista, he had volunteered to reconnoitre the enemy from a mountain, behind which they were supposed to be concentrating. In the performance of this duty he was captured and held a prisoner for eight days. The firing upon him, however, discovered the enemy's presence, and Captain May, who escaped, returned to General Taylor's camp at Aqua Neuva, thirty miles distant, where he reported the probable death of the young Lieutenant. The information thus obtained of the enemy's presence and position caused General Taylor to fall back to the strong position at Buena Vista, which was afterwards so successfully defended by his little army against four times its number. So much had the result of Lieutenant Sturgis' reconnoissance to do with the plans of the engage- ment which followed that Carleton, in his history of the battle, gave him great credit for his services. At the close of the Mexican war he marched via Chi-
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huahua, the Gila river and the Colorado desert to Los Angeles, California, a journey that occupied six months. Here he was engaged on frontier service for over two years, when he was ordered to New Mexico, where he remained three years. While en route to his new station he was appointed Regimental Quarter- master and stationed at the head-quarters of the regiment at Fort Leavenworth, then in the Indian Territory.
In 1852 he resigned his position as Quartermaster, and proceeded to join his company in New Mexico, accompanied by his wife and infant daughter, reaching Albuquerque, after a series of mishaps and delays, on the seventy-second day out from Leavenworth. Here Colonel E. V. Sumner, at that time commanding the department of New Mexico, requested him to accept the position on his staff of acting Adjutant-General, which he did, retaining the position for over a year and until Colonel Sumner was relieved by the arrival of General Garland, who brought with him a regular Assistant Adjutant-General.
On January 16, 1855, he commanded an expedition against the Apache Indians, in which he gained a brilliant victory. For this achievement the Legis- lature of New Mexico passed a resolution giving him a vote of thanks, and also one asking the President to promote him. In compliance with this request he was on March 3, 1855, commissioned a Captain in the First Cavalry, which regiment he joined in the following summer at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
In this and the succeeding years of 1856 and 1857 he aided in keeping the peace during the troubles which convulsed Kansas at that time, and also operated against the Cheyenne Indians, under Colonel Sumner, taking part in the battle of "Solomon's Fork" of the Kansas river, July 29, 1857. In 1858 he went with the Utah expedition, and when this was abandoned he marched with his company south to Fort Arbuckle in the Indian Nation. He afterward assisted in establishing a new post, three hundred miles west, on the False Wachita, which was named Fort Cobb. From this post he marched, in June, 1860, in command of the "Southern Column," consisting of six companies of the First Cavalry and a considerable body of friendly Indians, to operate against the Kiowas and Comanche Indians. Two other columns, one under Colonel Crit- tenden and another under Major Sedgwick, started from New Mexico with the same object, but Sturgis' column was the only one that succeeded in overtaking the Indians, and in the engagement which followed so thoroughly broke them up and scattered them, that the Secretary of War in his annual report said, that he " anticipated no further trouble in consequence of Sturgis' successful opera- tions against them." This expedition was determined by the arrival of a scout bearing a despatch from the Secretary of War directing Sturgis to give over the further prosecution of his campaign, march his troops to Fort Smith and settle the difficulties then existing between the Indians and the white settlers, upon what was called the " neutral lands." After having made a satisfactory settle- ment of the points in dispute, he returned to Fort Smith, where the opening of the civil war found him with his little family, consisting of wife and three chil-
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