Robert H. Milroy

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Robert H. Milroy

Robert Huston Milroy (June 11, 1816 – March 29, 1890) was a lawyer, judge, and a Union Army

Union Army

The Union Army was the army that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S....
general in the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War , also known as the War Between the States and several Naming the American Civil War, was a civil war in the United States....
, most noted for his defeat at the Second Battle of Winchester

Battle of Winchester II

The Second Battle of Winchester was fought between June 13 and June 15, 1863 in Frederick County, Virginia and Winchester, Virginia as part of the Gettysburg Campaign during the American Civil War....
in 1863.

oy was born on a farm near Salem, Indiana

Salem, Indiana

Salem is a city in Washington Township, Washington County, Indiana, Washington County, Indiana, Indiana, United States. Salem serves as the county seat, and its Salem Downtown Historic District is on the National Register of Historic Places ....
, but the family moved to Carroll County

Carroll County, Indiana

Carroll County is a county located in the U.S. state of Indiana. As of 2000, the population was 20,166. The county seat is Delphi, Indiana....
in 1826. He graduated from Norwich Academy in Vermont

Vermont

Vermont is a U.S. state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States United States. The state ranks 43rd by land area, , and 45th by total area....
in 1843. He moved to Texas

Texas

Texas is a U.S. state located in the South Central United States, nicknamed the Lone Star State. Texas is the second largest U.S. state in both area and population, spanning , and with a growing population of 24.3 million residents....
in 1845, returning to Indiana in 1847. He was a captain in the 1st Indiana Volunteers from 1846 to 1847.

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Encyclopedia

Robert Huston Milroy (June 11, 1816 – March 29, 1890) was a lawyer, judge, and a Union Army

Union Army

The Union Army was the army that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S....
general in the American Civil War

American Civil War

Battle of Winchester II

Biography

Early life

Milroy was born on a farm near Salem, Indiana

Salem, Indiana

Carroll County, Indiana

Vermont

Vermont is a U.S. state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States United States. The state ranks 43rd by land area, , and 45th by total area....
in 1843. He moved to Texas

Texas

Indiana University

Indiana University, founded in 1820, is a nine-campus university system in the state of Indiana. The IU system includes the following campuses:...
in 1850 and became a lawyer and judge in Rensselaer, Indiana

Rensselaer, Indiana

Rensselaer is a city located along the Iroquois River in Marion Township, Jasper County, Indiana, Jasper County, Indiana, Indiana, United States....
.

Civil War

Just before Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States. He successfully led the country through its greatest internal crisis, the American Civil War, preserving the Union and ending slavery....
was inaugurated, Milroy recruited a company for the 9th Indiana Militia with men living around Rensselaer and was appointed its captain soon after Fort Sumter

Battle of Fort Sumter

The Battle of Fort Sumter was the bombardment and surrender of Fort Sumter near Charleston, South Carolina, that started the American Civil War....
, but on April 27, 1861, he was appointed to the Federal service as colonel

Colonel (United States)

In the United States Army, United States Air Force, and United States Marine Corps, Colonel is a senior field officer United States Military Officer military rank just above the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and just below the rank of Brigadier General ....
of the 9th Indiana Infantry. He took part in the western Virginia campaign

West Virginia in the Civil War

West Virginia was formed and added to the Union as a direct result of the American Civil War . In the early days of the war, Union troops under George B....
under Maj. Gen.

Major general (United States)

In the United States Army, United States Marine Corps, and United States Air Force, major general is a 2 star rank general officer rank, with the U.S....
George B. McClellan

George B. McClellan

George Brinton McClellan was a Major general during the American Civil War. He organized the famous Army of the Potomac and served briefly as the general-in-chief of the Union Army....
and was promoted to brigadier general

Brigadier general (United States)

A brigadier general in the United States Army, United States Air Force, and United States Marine Corps, is a 1 star rank general officer, with the U.S....
on September 3, 1861. He commanded the Cheat Mountain District of the Mountain Department and served as a brigade

Brigade

A brigade is a military unit that is typically composed of two to five regiments or battalions, depending on the era and nationality of a given army....
commander in the Mountain Department during Stonewall Jackson

Stonewall Jackson

Valley Campaign

The Valley Campaign was Confederate States Army Major General Stonewall Jackson brilliant spring 1862 campaign through the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia during the American Civil War....
of 1862. Milroy commanded another brigade in John Pope

John Pope (military officer)

John Pope was a career United States Army officer and Union Army general in the American Civil War. He had a brief but successful career in the Western Theater of the American Civil War, but he is best known for his defeat at the Second Battle of Bull Run in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War....
's Army of Virginia

Army of Virginia

The Army of Virginia was organized as a major unit of the Union Army and operated briefly and unsuccessfully in 1862 in the American Civil War. It should not be confused with its principal opponent, the Confederate States Army Army of Northern Virginia, commanded by Robert E....
for the Second Battle of Bull Run

Second Battle of Bull Run

The Second Battle of Bull Run, or, as it was called by the Confederate States of America, the Battle of Second Manassas, was fought August 28–30, 1862, as part of the American Civil War....
. He was promoted to major general

Major general (United States)

In the United States Army, United States Marine Corps, and United States Air Force, major general is a 2 star rank general officer rank, with the U.S....
on March 9, 1863, to rank from November 29, 1862.

On May 8 and May 9, 1862, Milroy led Union forces in the Battle of McDowell

Battle of McDowell

The Battle of McDowell, also known as Sitlington's Hill, was fought May 8–May 9, 1862, in Highland County, Virginia, as part of Confederate Army General Thomas J....
against Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson

Stonewall Jackson

Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson was a Confederate States Army general during the American Civil War, and probably the most well-known Confederate commander after General Robert E....
. Milroy's "spoiling attack" surprised Jackson, seized the initiative, and inflicted heavier casualties, but did not drive the Confederates from their position.

The low point of Milroy's military career was during the early days of the Gettysburg Campaign

Gettysburg Campaign

File:Meade and Lee.jpgThe Gettysburg Campaign was a series of battles fought in June and July 1863, during the American Civil War. After his victory in the Battle of Chancellorsville, Confederate States Army Full General Robert E....
. He commanded the 2nd Division of the VIII Corps

VIII Corps (ACW)

The VIII Corps was a corps of the Union Army during the American Civil War....
, Middle Department, from February 1863 until June. During the Second Battle of Winchester

Battle of Winchester II

The Second Battle of Winchester was fought between June 13 and June 15, 1863 in Frederick County, Virginia and Winchester, Virginia as part of the Gettysburg Campaign during the American Civil War....
, he was outmaneuvered and "gobbled up" by the Confederate

Confederate States Army

The Confederate States Army was a military organization whose primary mission was to provide the necessary forces and capabilities to support the National Security and defense of the Confederate States of America during its brief existence from 1861 to 1865....
corps of Lt. Gen.

Lieutenant General (United States)

In the United States Army, the United States Marine Corps and the United States Air Force, lieutenant general is a 3 star rank general officer rank, with the U.S....
Richard S. Ewell

Richard S. Ewell

Robert E. Lee

Robert Edward Lee , was a career United States United States Army officer , an engineer, and among the most celebrated generals in American history....
's Army of Northern Virginia

Army of Northern Virginia

The Army of Northern Virginia was the primary military force of the Confederate States of America in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War of the American Civil War....
on its way north to invade Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania , often colloquially referred to as PA by natives and Northeasterners, is a U.S. state located in the Northeastern United States and Mid-Atlantic States regions of the United States....
. Although ordered to withdraw his 6,900-man garrison from Winchester

Winchester, Virginia

Winchester is an independent city located in the extreme northwestern portion of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the USA. The city's population was 23,585 according to the United States Census 2000....
, he chose to remain in the face of the Confederate invasion, assuming that the fortifications of Winchester would withstand any assault or siege. On June 15, 1863, Milroy escaped with his staff, but over 3,000 of his men were captured, as were all of his artillery pieces and 300 supply wagons. He was called before a court of inquiry to answer for his actions, but after ten months he was relieved of any culpability for the debacle.

General-in-chief Henry W. Halleck never favored this "forward" position, so far from the B&O Railroad, and he wanted Milroy to withdraw his 6,900-man garrison from Winchester

Winchester, Virginia

Winchester is an independent city located in the extreme northwestern portion of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the USA. The city's population was 23,585 according to the United States Census 2000....
. Major General Schenck was seemingly undecided and gave contradicting orders on the evacuation of Winchester, as Milroy convinced Schenck that he could hold Winchester and its extensive fortifications against any Confederate invasion, for months if necessary. Schenck capitulated and left Milroy with a final telegram to wait further orders. The telegraph wire into Winchester was cut by Confederate raiders.

As Lt. Gen.

Lieutenant General (United States)

In the United States Army, the United States Marine Corps and the United States Air Force, lieutenant general is a 3 star rank general officer rank, with the U.S....
Richard S. Ewell

Richard S. Ewell

Richard Stoddert Ewell was a career United States Army officer and a Confederate States Army General officer during the American Civil War. He achieved fame as a senior commander under Stonewall Jackson and Robert E....
's Confederate Second Corps closed in on Winchester, Milroy was further blinded by the fact that his videttes and pickets were not extensively placed in the surrounding territory, due to heavy and repeated bushwhacking of his men, and he never realized that an entire Confederate corps was bearing down upon him. Milroy's mistreatment of Winchester citizens had been so harsh that even many pro-Unionists had changed their sympathies, serving to further isolate Milroy's ability to gather intelligence around him.

After this period of inactivity, Milroy was transferred to the Western Theater

Western Theater of the American Civil War

This article presents an overview of major military and naval operations in the Western Theater of the American Civil War....
, recruiting for Maj. Gen. George Henry Thomas

George Henry Thomas

George Henry Thomas was a career United States Army officer and a Union Army General officer during the American Civil War, one of the principal commanders in the Western Theater of the American Civil War....
's Army of the Cumberland

Army of the Cumberland

The Army of the Cumberland was one of the principal Union armies in the Western Theater of the American Civil War during the American Civil War....
in Nashville

Nashville, Tennessee

Nashville is the Capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County, Tennessee. It is the second most populous city in the state after Memphis, Tennessee....
in the spring of 1864. He also commanded the Defenses of the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad in the Department of the Cumberland until the end of the war. Although it was not anticipated that this would be a combat assignment, he fought briefly in the Third Battle of Murfreesboro

Battle of Murfreesboro III

The Third Battle of Murfreesboro was fought December 5–7, 1864, in Rutherford County, Tennessee, as part of the Franklin-Nashville Campaign of the American Civil War....
, part of the Franklin-Nashville Campaign

Franklin-Nashville Campaign

The Franklin-Nashville Campaign, also known as Hood's Tennessee Campaign, was a series of battles in the Western Theater of the American Civil War , fought in the fall of 1864 in Alabama, Tennessee, and northwestern Georgia during the American Civil War....
in 1864. Anxious to reduce some of the stigma of Winchester, he ordered the 13th Indiana Cavalry to make a mounted charge directly at an enemy artillery position, assuming that it was only a portion of Maj. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest

Nathan Bedford Forrest

Nathan Bedford Forrest was a Lieutenant General in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. He is remembered both as a self made and innovative cavalry leader during the war and as a figure in the postwar establishment of the first Ku Klux Klan organization opposing the Reconstruction era of the United States in the South....
's dismounted cavalry. The Indianans suffered heavy casualties. When Milroy realized that he was facing not cavalry, but an infantry division of Maj. Gen. Benjamin F. Cheatham

Benjamin F. Cheatham

Benjamin Franklin Cheatham , known also as Frank, was a Tennessee farmer, California gold miner, and a General officer in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War, serving in many battles of the Western Theater of the American Civil War....
's corps, he returned to the safety of "Fortress Rosecrans" in Murfreesboro. General Lovell H. Rousseau, commander of all Union forces in the Murfreesboro area, was still able to salvage a victory out of the encounter. Milroy resigned his commission on July 26, 1865.

Postbellum

After the war, Milroy was a trustee of the Wabash and Erie Canal

Wabash and Erie Canal

The Wabash and Erie Canal was a shipping canal that linked the Great Lakes to the Ohio River via a man-made waterway. The canal provided traders with access from the Great Lakes all the way to the Gulf of Mexico....
Company and, from 1872 to 1875, he was the superintendent of Indian Affairs in the Washington Territory

Washington Territory

The Washington Territory was a historic organized territory of the United States that was formed in February 8, 1853 from the portion of the Oregon Territory north of the lower Columbia River and north of the 46th parallel north east of the Columbia; which had been ceded by Britain in the 1846 Oregon Treaty as settlement of the Oregon Boundar...
and an Indian agent for the following ten years. During this time he was active in ensuring that the aging Yakama

Yakama

The Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, or simply Yakama Nation , is a Native Americans in the United States group with nearly 10,000 enrolled members, living in Washington....
chief, Kamiakin, would not be evicted from his ancestral land by area ranchers.

Robert Milroy died in Olympia, Washington

Olympia, Washington

Olympia is the Capital of Washington and is the county seat of Thurston County, Washington. It was incorporated on January 28, 1859. The population was 44,460 at the 2007 census....
, and is buried in the Masonic Memorial Park at Tumwater, Washington

Tumwater, Washington

Tumwater is a city in Thurston County, Washington, Washington, United States. It lies near where the Deschutes River enters Budd Inlet, the southernmost point of Puget Sound....
. He is remembered by the people of Rensselaer with a large bronze statue.

He was the author of Papers of General Robert Huston Milroy, published posthumously in 1965 and 1966.

Robert H. Milroy

Biography

Early life

Civil War

Postbellum

See also

External links