Henry Hopkins Sibley
Henry Hopkins Sibley was a
brigadier general during the
American Civil War, fighting in the
Confederate States Army in the New Mexico Territory.
The Sibley familiy originally descended from the English-Scotish border area and dated its ancestry back to the time of William the Conqueror. In 1629 they had come to America with the Winthrop Expedition and settled in Masachusetts. Henry's grandfather Dr. John Sibley had served as a medic in the War of Independence. After the death of his first wive Elizabeth Hopkins, to which son and grandson owe their middle name, he moved to Louisiana.
Encyclopedia
Henry Hopkins Sibley was a
brigadier general during the
American Civil War, fighting in the
Confederate States Army in the New Mexico Territory.
The Sibley familiy originally descended from the English-Scotish border area and dated its ancestry back to the time of William the Conqueror. In 1629 they had come to America with the Winthrop Expedition and settled in Masachusetts. Henry's grandfather Dr. John Sibley had served as a medic in the War of Independence. After the death of his first wive Elizabeth Hopkins, to which son and grandson owe their middle name, he moved to Louisiana. Dr. John Sibley settled down on the banks of the Red River at Natchitoches. In 1803 he conducted an expedition of Western Louisiana for the federal government. In 1811 his son Samul Hopkins Sibley followed him to Natchitoches, where he served as a perish clerk from 1815 on until his death in 1823.
By the time Henry Hopkins Sibley was seven years old and sent off to live with his uncle George Champlin Sibley and his wife Mary Easton. They founded the
Miami University in
Oxford, Ohio, which was also attended by Henry. At the age of 17 Henry entered the
United States Military Academy at West Point.
He graduated from the
United States Military Academy in 1838 and was commissioned a
second lieutenant in the
2nd U.S. Dragoons.
In the 1850s, he invented the "Sibley tent", which was widely used in the frontier afterwards. He also invented the "Sibley stove," used until the advent of
World War II.
During the
American Civil War, his unsuccessful New Mexico Campaign was intended to control the
Santa Fe Trail up to
Colorado and from there gain access to the warm water ports of
California. However, he was forced to retreat after the
Battle of Glorieta Pass. His opponent was Colonel
Edward Canby, formerly a comrade in arms in the U.S. Army.
After the failure of his New Mexico campaign, Sibley was given minor commands and struggled with alcoholism. In 1863, he was court-martialed in
Louisiana. Although not convicted of cowardice, he was censured. After the war, he served as a military advisor to the Khedive of
Egypt before returning to the United States where he died at
Fredericksburg, Virginia, in poverty. He is buried in the City Cemetery at Fredericksburg.
Union General and Governor of
Minnesota,
Henry Hastings Sibley, was a distant cousin.
Sibley is referenced in the film
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.
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