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 [decorative delimiter] Class of 1843

Vol. II
p161
1177

(Born N. Y.)

James A. Hardie

(Ap'd at Large)

11

James Allen Hardie: Born May 5, 1823, New York, NY.

Military History. — Cadet at the Military Academy, Sep. 1, 1839, to July 1, 1843, when he was graduated and promoted in the Army to

Bvt. Second Lieut., 1st Artillery, July 1, 1843.

Served: in garrison at Hancock Barracks, Me., 1843‑44; at the Military Academy as Asst. Professor of Geography, History, and Ethics, Sep. 1, 1844, to Aug. 15, 1846; in the War with Mexico, as Major 1st Regiment

(Second Lieut., 3d Artillery, May 28, 1846)

New York Volunteers, Aug. 1, 1846, to Oct. 26, 1846, at San Francisco,

(First Lieut., 3d Artillery, Mar. 3, 1847)

Cal.; in garrison at San Francisco, Cal., 1848‑49, — Ft. Trumbull, Ct., 1849‑50, — and Jefferson Barracks, Mo., 1850‑51; as Adjutant, 3d Artillery, Nov. 1, 1851, to Dec. 1, 1853, at Regimental headquarters, Ft. Adams, R. I.; as Aide-de‑Camp to Bvt. Brig.‑General Wool, Dec. 7, 1853, to May 3, 1855; as Adjutant, 3d Artillery, May 3, 1855, to Oct. 5, 1857; in garrison at Benicia, Cal., 1853‑58, — and San Bernardino, Cal.,

(Captain, 3d Artillery, Oct. 5, 1857)

1858; on frontier duty in the Spokane Expedition, 1858, being engaged in the Combat of Spokane Plain, Wash., Sep. 5, 1858, — Ft. Vancouver, Wash., 1858‑59, — Ft. Cascades, Wash., 1859‑60, — Ft. Vancouver, Wash.,  p163 1860, — Ft. Dalles, Or., 1860, — Ft. Vancouver, Wash., 1860‑61, being Acting Asst. Adjutant-General of the Department of Oregon, July 5,

(Transferred to 5th Artillery, May 14, 1861)

1860, to May 2, 1861; and in garrison at San Francisco harbor, Cal., 1861.

Served during the Rebellion of the Seceding States, 1861‑66: as Aide-de‑Camp to Major-General Indicates a West Point graduate and gives his Class.McClellan, General-in‑Chief, commanding at Washington, D. C., Sep. 3, 1861, to Mar. 10, 1862; as Acting Asst. Adjutant-

(Lieut.‑Col., Staff — Additional Aide-de‑Camp, Sep. 28, 1861, to Mar. 24, 1864)

General of the Army of the Potomac during the Virginia Peninsular Campaign, Mar. to Aug., 1862, — in the Maryland Campaign, Sep. to Nov., 1862, — and in the Rappahannock Campaign, Dec., 1862, to Jan., 1863, being on the Staff of Major-General Indicates a West Point graduate and gives his Class.Burnside, in the Battle of Fredericksburg, Dec. 13, 1862; as Judge Advocate General of the Army of the Potomac, Jan. 29 to Mar. 20, 1863; on Special duty in the War Department,

(Major, Staff — Asst. Adjutant-General, Feb. 19, 1863)

Mar. 20, 1863, to Aug. 2, 1866, and in charge of the Inspector-

(Col., Staff — Inspector-General, Mar. 24, 1864)

(Bvt. Brig.‑General, U. S. Army, Mar. 3, 1865,
for Distinguished and Faithful Services during the Rebellion)

General's Office at Washington, D. C., Mar. 24, 1864, to Nov. 1, 1865.

Bvt. Maj.‑General, U. S. Army, Mar. 13, 1865, for Faithful, Meritorious, and Distinguished Services in the Inspector-General's Department.

Served: as Member of Board of Inspection of Arms and Munitions in the Arsenals and Forts of the United States, Aug. 2, 1866, to Mar. 12, 1867; on tour of Inspection, to Aug., 1867; on duty at headquarters of the Army, Aug. 15, 1867, to May 17, 1869; as Inspector-General of the Division of the Missouri, to Oct. 5, 1872, — at the headquarters of the Department of the Gulf, to Jan. 14, 1873, — and at Baltimore, Md., to Feb., 1873; in settling Montana War Claims, Mar., 1873; on tour of Inspection in the Department of Columbia, to Aug. 23, 1873; and on tour of Inspection, to Dec. 14, 1876.

Died Dec. 14, 1876, at Washington, D. C.: Aged 54.

Buried, Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, NY.

Biographical Sketch.

Brevet Major-General James Allen Hardie was born, May 5, 1823, in New York city; and died, Dec. 14, 1876, at Washington, D. C., aged 54.º

He was of Scotch descent; his great-grandfather had been a soldier of the Revolution; and his grandfather and uncle had served in the War of 1812 against Great Britain.

With an excellent preliminary education fitting him for the study of the law, for which profession he was destined, he entered the U. S. Military Academy, Sep. 1, 1839, when he was a little over sixteen. After less than four years of diligent and laborious application, he was graduated and promoted, July 1, 1843, to be a Brevet Second Lieutenant in the First Artillery, with which he served a year in Houlton, Me., when he was ordered to the Military Academy as Assistant Professor in the Ethical Department, a service very congenial to his scholar­ly tastes.

Though but twenty-three years old he was selected, Aug. 1, 1846, for the position of Major in Stevenson's New York regiment of young picked volunteers destined for the defense of California, and, after the Mexican War, to become pioneer settlers of that golden territory. Obtaining  p164 a two years' leave of absence to accept this responsible office, he set out in September, 1846, in command of one third of his regiment, in the transport "Loo Choo," on the voyage around Cape Horn. After a stormy passage of six months, enlivened en route at Rio Janeiro by imperial hospitalities, Hardie arrived at San Francisco, of which he became the Military Commandant. He remained on the Pacific coast till the spring of 1849, performing his various and difficult civil and military duties. He had been promoted meanwhile Second Lieutenant, Third Artillery, May 28, 1846, and First Lieutenant, Mar. 3, 1847.

After the war, Hardie returned to the Atlantic coast, serving at Ft. Trumbull and then at Jefferson Barracks, where he was appointed, Nov. 1, 1851, Adjutant of his regiment, with which he was about embarking on the ill-fated steamer "San Francisco," in the subsequent wreck of which so many of the Third Artillery perished.​a Fortunately perhaps for him, he was prevented from going by his selection as Aide-de‑Camp to Major-General Wool, Dec. 7, 1853, whom he shortly after accompanied to California, remaining on his Staff while in command of the Pacific Department, till May 3, 1855, when he resumed the Adjutancy of his regiment, which position he held till promoted a Captain, Oct. 5, 1857. After a year's service at San Bernardino he joined Colonel Indicates a West Point graduate and gives his Class.George Wright's expedition against the Spokane Indians in Washington Territory. These savages, after their surprise and massacre of Colonel Indicates a West Point graduate and gives his Class.Steptoe's command, had become insolent, defiant, and hostile. In the Combat on Spokane Plain, which occurred Sep. 5, 1858, Hardie bore a conspicuous part. Upon the return of the expedition he was stationed at various Pacific Posts till July 5, 1860, from which time till May 2, 1861, he was the Acting Assistant Adjutant-General of the Department of Oregon.

Upon the increase of the Army consequent upon the outbreak of the Rebellion, Hardie was transferred, Mar. 14, 1861, to the new Fifth Artillery; and from Sep. 28, 1861, to Mar. 14, 1864, was an Additional Aide-de‑Camp with the rank of Lieut.‑Colonel. Throughout the Peninsular, Maryland, and Rappahannock Campaigns he performed the laborious duties of Acting Assistant Adjutant-General of the Army of the Potomac, and was actively engaged in the Battle of Fredericksburg, Dec. 13, 1862.

On the recommendation of many general officers, Hardie was appointed, Nov. 29, 1862, a Brigadier-General, U. S. Volunteers, which position he vacated, Feb. 19, 1863, when he was made an Assistant Adjutant-General, with the rank of Major, in the Staff of the Regular Army.

When General Indicates a West Point graduate and gives his Class.Hooker took command of the Army of the Potomac he requested that Hardie should be detailed as his Judge Advocate General. This important position he filled till May 20, 1863, when he was ordered on special duty by the War Department, where, till May 24, 1864, when he was appointed Inspector-General, with the rank of Colonel, he did much to lighten the herculean labors of Secretary Stanton, who most highly appreciated his services.

Upon becoming an Inspector-General he was placed in charge of the Inspection Bureau of Washington city till Nov. 1, 1865; then was a member of the Board of Inspection of Arms and Munitions in the U. S. Arsenals and Forts, to decide upon their disposition after the war; subsequently was the Government agent to audit the Massachusetts war claims, those of Kansas for the Quantrell and other raids, and the claims by citizens of Montana and Dakota for services and supplies furnished in suppressing Indian hostilities; and for three years was Inspector of the Military Division of the Missouri, being present in Chicago at the time of the disastrous fire of 1871 in that city, when he did much to alleviate the sufferings of needy citizens. For his distinguished and meritorious services during the Rebellion, he was brevetted a Brigadier-General, Mar. 3, 1865, and Major-General, Mar. 13, 1865, in the Regular Army.

 p165  General Hardie was of medium stature and prepossessing appearance; courteous and genial, though shy in manner; of cheerful temperament, keen humor, and easy adaptability to surroundings; plain, frugal, and abstemious in his habits; reverent to authority, and kind to subordinates; of refined tastes, and a delicate sense of beauty and harmony; of elevated and unimpeachable morals; sincere and devout, but not dogmatic in religion; charitable to the needy, afflicted, and erring human nature; zealous, conscientious, and laborious in the performance of every duty; faithful, honest and indefatigable in all spheres of life; a ripe and modest scholar, a fluent talker, and polished writer; learned in military law, and familiar with the details of his profession; and, in fine, was a pure Christian, an honorable gentleman, and a brave, generous soldier. In the words of an eminent divine, it could be said of him: "The friend with whom we took sweet counsel is removed visibly from the outward eye; but the lessons that he taught, the grand sentiments that he uttered, the holy deeds of generosity by which he was characterized, the moral lineaments and likeness of the man, still survive, and appear in the silence of eventide, and on the tablets of memory, and in the light of morn and noon and dewy eve; and being dead, he yet speaks eloquently and in the midst of us."


Thayer's Note:

a See The New York Times, Jan. 16, 1854 and further links there, especially to the Register's biographical entries of other West Point graduates involved.


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