William Rosecrans
William Starke Rosecrans was a Civil War veteran who lived in Licking County, Ohio.
Early Life
William Rosecrans was born 1819 in southern Delaware County, Ohio. He was the second of five sons and was said to have acted like his father. His family moved to Homer, Licking County, Ohio when he was a small child.[1] His father owned a tavern, store, potash factory, and farm.[2] When Rosecrans was a young man he worked as a clerk at the Appleton Store for six months. He later left home in 1833 to work at a store in Utica. He was promoted to chief clerk, and followed the store when it moved to Mansfield.
In 1842, William received an appointment to West Point and graduated in 1842. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers and supervised the building of barracks, along with teaching engineering.
William married his wife Anna Hegeman August 24, 1843. Together they would have five children. He resigned his commission in 1853 and turned his focus to coal mining, oil refinery, and inventing.[3]
Civil War
When the civil was started, Rosecrans was appointed a Colonel in the volunteer army. He was assigned to lay out Camp Dennison near Cincinnati, OH and Camp Chase near Columbus, OH. Rosecrans was later promoted to Brigadier General and became well known for his victories in several battles, including successfully defeating confederate troops led by Robert E. Lee at the Battle of Rich Mountain. He also experienced success at Iuka and Corinth in Mississippi, Tullahoma, and Stones River in Tennessee.
However, after his defeat at the Battle of Chickamauga, he moved to Missouri to serve as President of the Great Western Sanitary Fair and St. Louis Sanitary Fair. During this period he helped raise $975,000 for the U.S. Sanitary Commission, which worked to improve living conditions for soldiers. On January 28, 1864 Rosecrans was appointed to command a portion of the Department of Missouri army, which successfully drove the confederate cavalry led by Sterling Price out of the state. [4]
Post War and Later Years
After the Civil War ended, General Rosecrans served as the United States Minister to Mexico. He moved to the Los Angeles basin, and became a member of the House of Representatives from 1881 through 1885. He was elected president of the Society of the Army of the Cumberland, regent of the University of California, elected member to the board of the Chickamauga Battle Field Commission, received an honorary doctor of law degree from Georgetown University, and the Laetare Medal from Notre Dame University. In 1885 President Grover Cleveland appointed him Register of the Treasury. Rosecrans resigned from this position in 1893 due to poor health and later died March 11, 1898.
L.K.
References
- ↑ Tharp, D. Robert. “The Life and Times of General William Stare Rosecrans.” Licking County Historical Society 21 (2011): 1-4.
- ↑ Layton, Dorothy. “Utica Area History General William S. Rosecrans.” Utica Herald, August 25, 2011.
- ↑ Tharp, D. Robert. “The Life and Times of General William Stare Rosecrans.” Licking County Historical Society 21 (2011): 1-4.
- ↑ Tharp, D. Robert. “The Life and Times of General William Stare Rosecrans.” Licking County Historical Society 21 (2011): 1-4.
