James G. Blunt
Encyclopedia
James Gillpatrick Blunt (July 21, 1826 – July 27, 1881) was a physician and abolitionist who rose to Union
Union (American Civil War)
During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty free states and five border slave states. It was opposed by 11 southern slave states that had declared a secession to join together to form the...

 major general
Major general (United States)
In the United States Army, United States Marine Corps, and United States Air Force, major general is a two-star general-officer rank, with the pay grade of O-8. Major general ranks above brigadier general and below lieutenant general...

 during the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

.

Early life & career

Blunt was born in Trenton, Maine
Trenton, Maine
Trenton is a town in Hancock County, Maine, United States, near Acadia National Park. The population was 1,370 at the 2000 census. Hancock County-Bar Harbor Airport is located in Trenton....

 to John Blunt and Sally Gilpatrick Blunt Blunt lived and worked on his family farm until he was 14. He may have spent some time at the Ellsworth Military Academy in Ellsworth, Maine
Ellsworth, Maine
Ellsworth is a city in and the county seat of Hancock County, Maine, United States. The 2010 Census determined it had a population of 7,741. Ellsworth was Maine's fastest growing city from 2000-2010 with a growth rate of nearly 20 percent...

. He became a sailor on a merchant vessel when he was 15, and attained the rank of captain at 20.

In 1845 Blunt moved to Columbus, Ohio
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...

, where he enrolled in Starling Medical College. His maternal uncle, Dr. Rufus Gilpatrick, was one of the instructors. Graduating in February 1849, Blunt moved to New Madison, Ohio
New Madison, Ohio
New Madison is a village in Darke County, Ohio, United States. As of the 2000 census, the village population was 817.-History:New Madison was platted by Zadock Smith in 1817 for purposes of land speculation, but his efforts failed; he was unable to sell any of the lots...

 and started a practice. On January 15, 1850 he married Nancy G. Putman. Blunt practiced medicine and took an active role in county politics as a member of the Republican Party
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

.

Kansas career

In 1856 Blunt and his family relocated to Anderson County, Kansas
Anderson County, Kansas
Anderson County is a county located in East Central Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 8,102...

, following his uncle who had moved there several years earlier. He soon became involved in the conflict before the Civil War known as Bleeding Kansas
Bleeding Kansas
Bleeding Kansas, Bloody Kansas or the Border War, was a series of violent events, involving anti-slavery Free-Staters and pro-slavery "Border Ruffian" elements, that took place in the Kansas Territory and the western frontier towns of the U.S. state of Missouri roughly between 1854 and 1858...

, when abolitionist and slavery forces battled to control the territory. During a confrontation with the pro-slavery territorial government in 1857, Blunt joined a force including Jim Lane
James H. Lane (Senator)
James Henry Lane also known as Jim Lane was a partisan during the Bleeding Kansas period that immediately preceded the American Civil War. During the war, Lane served as a United States Senator and as a general who fought for the Union...

 and abolitionist John Brown
John Brown (abolitionist)
John Brown was an American revolutionary abolitionist, who in the 1850s advocated and practiced armed insurrection as a means to abolish slavery in the United States. He led the Pottawatomie Massacre during which five men were killed, in 1856 in Bleeding Kansas, and made his name in the...

. Blunt was a key member of the Wyandotte constitutional convention
Wyandotte Constitution
The present Constitution of the State of Kansas was originally known as the Wyandotte Constitution to distinguish it from three proposed constitutions that preceded it...

 that framed the Kansas state constitution in 1859, and served as chair of the committee on militia.

Civil War

At the outbreak of the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

 in 1861, Blunt was appointed lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant Colonel (United States)
In the United States Army, United States Air Force, and United States Marine Corps, a lieutenant colonel is a field grade military officer rank just above the rank of major and just below the rank of colonel. It is equivalent to the naval rank of commander in the other uniformed services.The pay...

 of the 2nd Kansas Volunteer regiment, a part of James Lane
James H. Lane (Senator)
James Henry Lane also known as Jim Lane was a partisan during the Bleeding Kansas period that immediately preceded the American Civil War. During the war, Lane served as a United States Senator and as a general who fought for the Union...

's Kansas Brigade. In April 1862, Blunt was appointed brigadier general
Brigadier general (United States)
A brigadier general in the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, is a one-star general officer, with the pay grade of O-7. Brigadier general ranks above a colonel and below major general. Brigadier general is equivalent to the rank of rear admiral in the other uniformed...

 of volunteers and given command of the Department and Army of Kansas
Department of Kansas
The Department of Kansas was a Union Army command department in the Trans-Mississippi Theater during the American Civil War. This department existed in three different forms during the war.-1861:...

. He ordered Colonel William Weer
William Weer
William Weer was a lawyer, attorney general for Kansas and an officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War...

 to lead the "Indian Expedition" in 1861 which succeeded in occupying Fort Gibson and arming three regiments of Native Americans. Blunt's forces were defeated in the First Battle of Newtonia, and the Army of Kansas was incorporated into the Army of the Frontier
Army of the Frontier
The Army of the Frontier was a Union army that served in the Trans-Mississippi Theater during the Civil War. It fought in several minor engagements in Arkansas, Indian Territory, and Kansas...

 as the 1st Division. Blunt led his division of Cherokee
Cherokee
The Cherokee are a Native American people historically settled in the Southeastern United States . Linguistically, they are part of the Iroquoian language family...

 and Kansas volunteers to victory at the Battle of Old Fort Wayne
Battle of Old Fort Wayne
The Battle of Old Fort Wayne was an American Civil War battle on October 22, 1862 in Delaware County in what is now eastern Oklahoma, a part of the Trans-Mississippi Theater....

. In December 1862, Blunt's division was joined by the 2nd Division under Francis J. Herron
Francis J. Herron
Francis Jay Herron , was a Union general during the American Civil War.-Biography:Francis J. Herron attended the Western University of Pennsylvania, but left at the age of sixteen without completing his degree to become a bank clerk. In 1855, he joined his three brothers in Dubuque, Iowa, where...

. The combined forces met Confederate
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...

s under Thomas C. Hindman
Thomas C. Hindman
Thomas Carmichael Hindman, Jr. was a lawyer, United States Representative from the 1st Congressional District of Arkansas, and a Major General in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War....

 at the Battle of Prairie Grove
Battle of Prairie Grove
The Battle of Prairie Grove was a battle of the American Civil War fought on 7 December 1862, that resulted in a tactical stalemate but essentially secured northwest Arkansas for the Union.-Strategic situation: Union:...

. While tactically a draw, the battle was a strategic victory for the Union.

Blunt was appointed major general
Major general (United States)
In the United States Army, United States Marine Corps, and United States Air Force, major general is a two-star general-officer rank, with the pay grade of O-8. Major general ranks above brigadier general and below lieutenant general...

 of volunteers on March 16, 1863. He was the only officer from Kansas to achieve that rank during the war. He established Fort Baxter
Fort Baxter (Kansas)
Fort Baxter, also known as Fort Blair, was a small US Army post located in the southeast corner of Kansas near present-day Baxter Springs, Kansas. This was known as the Cherokee Strip. It was one of a few Kansas forts attacked by Confederate forces...

 (also known as Fort Blair) in May 1863 near Baxter Springs, Kansas
Baxter Springs, Kansas
Baxter Springs is a town situated along the Spring River in the extreme southeastern part of Cherokee County, located in southeast Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 4,238...

.

Blunt was appointed to command the District of the Frontier. He campaigned for control of the Indian Territory and won a victory at the Battle of Honey Springs
Battle of Honey Springs
The Battle of Honey Springs was an American Civil War battle, an important victory for Union forces in their efforts to gain control of the Indian Territory. The battle was also unique in the fact that white soldiers were the minority in both forces...

, bringing much of the Indian Territory
Indian Territory
The Indian Territory, also known as the Indian Territories and the Indian Country, was land set aside within the United States for the settlement of American Indians...

 into Union control. In October 1863, while moving his headquarters from Fort Scott
Fort Scott
General Winfield Scott, former General-in-Chief of the U.S. Army, was the namesake for five places named Fort Scott:*Fort Scott, Kansas, a city that grew up around a military fort of the same name**Fort Scott National Historic Site...

 to Fort Smith
Fort Smith
Fort Smith is the name of several locations:* Fort Smith, Northwest Territories, Canada* Fort Smith, Arkansas, United States* Fort Smith National Historic Site, in Fort Smith, Arkansas...

, Blunt and his detachment were attacked by a Confederate force under William C. Quantrill. Quantrill's Raiders
Quantrill's Raiders
Quantrill's Raiders were a loosely organized force of pro-Confederate Partisan rangers, "bushwhackers", who fought in the American Civil War under the leadership of William Clarke Quantrill...

 routed and killed over 80 of Blunt's 100 escorts, including his adjutant
Adjutant
Adjutant is a military rank or appointment. In some armies, including most English-speaking ones, it is an officer who assists a more senior officer, while in other armies, especially Francophone ones, it is an NCO , normally corresponding roughly to a Staff Sergeant or Warrant Officer.An Adjutant...

 Major
Major (United States)
In the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, major is a field grade military officer rank just above the rank of captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel...

 Henry Curtis, son of Major General
Major general (United States)
In the United States Army, United States Marine Corps, and United States Air Force, major general is a two-star general-officer rank, with the pay grade of O-8. Major general ranks above brigadier general and below lieutenant general...

 Samuel Curtis
Samuel Curtis
Samuel Ryan Curtis was an American military officer, and one of the first Republicans elected to Congress. He was most famous for his role as a Union Army general the Trans-Mississippi Theater of the American Civil War.-Biography:Born near Champlain, New York, Curtis graduated from the United...

. These actions led to Blunt's removal from command of the District of the Frontier.

In 1864, Blunt was able to redeem himself. Confederate Maj. Gen. Sterling Price
Sterling Price
Sterling Price was a lawyer, planter, and politician from the U.S. state of Missouri, who served as the 11th Governor of the state from 1853 to 1857. He also served as a United States Army brigadier general during the Mexican-American War, and a Confederate Army major general in the American Civil...

 began an invasion of Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...

 and Blunt took command of the 1st Division of Army of the Border
Army of the Border
The Army of the Border was a Union army during the American Civil War. It was created from units in the Department of Kansas to oppose Sterling Price's Raid in 1864. Samuel R. Curtis was in command of the army throughout its duration.Major General James G...

. He and the cavalry under Alfred Pleasonton
Alfred Pleasonton
Alfred Pleasonton was a United States Army officer and General of Union cavalry during the American Civil War. He commanded the Cavalry Corps of the Army of the Potomac during the Gettysburg Campaign, including the largest predominantly cavalry battle of the war, Brandy Station...

 fought delaying actions until Samuel R. Curtis brought the full strength of the army together and inflicted a defeat on Price at the Battle of Westport
Battle of Westport
The Battle of Westport, sometimes referred to as the "Gettysburg of the West," was fought on October 23, 1864, in modern Kansas City, Missouri, during the American Civil War. Union forces under Major General Samuel R. Curtis decisively defeated an outnumbered Confederate force under Major General...

. Blunt's division inflicted the final defeat to Price at the Second Battle of Newtonia
Battle of Newtonia II
The Second Battle of Newtonia was fought on October 28, 1864, in Newton County, Missouri, as part of Major General Sterling Price's Missouri Expedition of the American Civil War....

. Blunt commanded the District of South Kansas when the war ended.

Post-war life and death

After the war, Blunt settled with his family in Leavenworth, Kansas
Leavenworth, Kansas
Leavenworth is the largest city and county seat of Leavenworth County, in the U.S. state of Kansas and within the Kansas City, Missouri Metropolitan Area. Located in the northeast portion of the state, it is on the west bank of the Missouri River. As of the 2010 census, the city population was...

 and resumed his medical practice; he also was admitted to the Kansas bar as a lawyer. He moved to Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

 in 1869 where he practiced his new profession.

Blunt's behaviour became erratic in 1879 when he was 53, and he was committed to an asylum. He died two years later, with the cause of death given as "softening of the brain." His body was returned to Leavenworth and is buried in the Mount Muncie Cemetery.

In popular culture

James Blunt figures briefly in Rifles for Watie
Rifles for Watie
Rifles for Watie is an American children's novel by Harold Keith. It was first published in 1957, and received the Newbery Medal the following year. Commonly shortened "Rifles", Rifles for Watie is written at an 8th grade advanced - 9th grade level....

, a novel by Harold Keith
Harold Keith
Harold Verne Keith was a Newbery Medal-winning American author. Keith was born and raised in Oklahoma, where he also lived and died: the state was his abiding passion. He used Oklahoma as the setting for most of his books, although Rifles for Watie takes place elsewhere.-Biography:Harold Keith...

 about a young Union soldier from Kansas fighting the Civil War in Indian Territory
Indian Territory
The Indian Territory, also known as the Indian Territories and the Indian Country, was land set aside within the United States for the settlement of American Indians...

 and the surrounding states. It includes a description of the Battle of Prairie Grove
Battle of Prairie Grove
The Battle of Prairie Grove was a battle of the American Civil War fought on 7 December 1862, that resulted in a tactical stalemate but essentially secured northwest Arkansas for the Union.-Strategic situation: Union:...

.

See also

  • List of American Civil War generals

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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