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 [decorative delimiter] Class of 1853

Vol. II
p524
1585

(Born N. Y.)

John M. Schofield

(Ap'd Ill.)

7

John McAllister Schofield: Born Sep. 29, 1831, Gerry, NY.

Military History. — Cadet at the Military Academy, July 1, 1849, to July 1, 1853, when he was graduated and promoted in the Army to

Bvt. Second Lieut. of Artillery, July 1, 1853.

Served: in garrison at Ft. Moultrie, S. C., 1853; in Florida, 1854‑55;

(Second Lieut., 1st Artillery, Aug. 31, 1853)

at the Military Academy, 1855‑56, as Asst. Professor of Natural and

(First Lieut., 1st Artillery, Aug. 31, 1855)

Experimental Philosophy, Nov. 19, 1855, to Sep. 30, 1856, — and Principal Asst. Professor, Sep. 30, 1856, to Aug. 28, 1860; and on  p525 leave of absence, 1860‑61, during which time he became Professor of Physics in Washington University at St. Louis, Mo.

Served during the Rebellion of the Seceding States, 1861‑66; as Mustering Officer for the State of Missouri, Apr. 20 to May 20, 1861; in

(Major, 1st Missouri Volunteers, Apr. 26, 1861: Artillery, Aug. 19, 1861)

(Captain, 11th infantry, May 14, 1861: Declined)

(Captain, 1st Artillery, May 14, 1861)

Operations in Missouri, May 25 to Nov. 27, 1861 (Chief of Staff of General Lyon, May 25 to Aug. 10, 1861), being engaged in the Action of Dug Spring, Aug. 2, — Skirmish at Curran Post-office, Aug. 3‑4, 1861, — Battle of Wilson's Creek, Aug. 10, 1861, — and Action of Frederickstown, Oct. 21, 1861; in command of the Militia of Missouri, Nov. 27, 1861, to

(Brig.‑General, U. S. Volunteers, Nov. 21, 1861)

(Brig.‑General, Missouri Militia, Nov. 26, 1861)

Nov., 1862, — of the District of St. Louis, Mo., Feb. 15 to Sep. 26, 1862, — and of the "Army of the Frontier," and District of Southwest Missouri, Oct. 12, 1862, to Apr., 1863; as Member of Army and Navy

(Major-General, U. S. Volunteers, Nov. 29, 1862)

Board, to examine the condition and fitness of the Mississippi Gun and Mortar-boat Flotilla, Dec. 9‑31, 1861; in command of 3d Division, 14th Army Corps (Army of the Cumberland), Apr. 20 to May 13, 1863, — of Department of the Missouri (ex officio Major-General commanding Missouri State Militia), May 13, 1863, to Jan., 1864, — and Department and Army of the Ohio, Feb. 9, 1864, to Jan. 29, 1865; in the Invasion of Georgia, in command of the Army of the Ohio, May 2 to Sep. 7, 1864, being engaged in the Demonstrations on Buzzard's Roost, May 8‑10, 1864, — Battle of Resaca, May 14‑15, 1864, — Battle of Dallas, May 25‑28, 1864, — Movement against Lost Mountain, with numerous severe engagements, May 28 to June 18, 1864, — Action of Kulp's Farm, June 22, 1864, — Battle of Kenesaw Mountain, June 27 to July 2, 1864, — Passage of the Chattahoochee River, July 8, 1864, — Operations in front of Atlanta, July 19‑22, 1864, — Battle of Atlanta, July 22, 1864, — and Siege of Atlanta, July 22 to Sep. 2, 1864; in command of the forces opposed to the Rebel Army under General Indicates a West Point graduate and gives his Class.Hood on his advance from Florence, Ala., into Tennessee, Nov. 14 to Dec. 1, 1864, being engaged in constant skirmishing, Nov. 26‑29, — and Battle of Franklin, Ten., Nov. 30, 1864; in command of the 23d Army Corps in the Battle of

(Brig.‑General, U. S. Army, Nov. 30, 1864)

Nashville, Ten., Dec. 15‑16, 1864, — Pursuit of the Rebel Army of Gen. Hood, Dec., 1864, — and Movement via Cincinnati, O., and Washington, D. C., to the mouth of Cape Fear River, N. C., Jan. 15 to Feb. 8, 1865; in command of the Department of North Carolina, Feb. 9 to May, 1865, being engaged in the Capture of Ft. Anderson, Feb. 19, and Wilmington, Feb. 22, 1865, — Battle near Kinston, Mar. 8‑10, and Occupation of the place, Mar. 14, 1865, — March to Goldsborough, where he united with Garden.

(Bvt. Maj.‑General, U. S. Army, Mar. 13, 1865,
for Gallant and Meritorious Conduct in the Battle of Franklin, Ten.)

Sherman's Army, Mar. 22, 1865, and Surrender of the Rebel Army, under Gen. Indicates a West Point graduate and gives his Class.J. E. Johnston, at Durham Station, N. C., Apr. 26, 1865, he being detailed to execute the Military Convention of Capitulation; and in command of the Department of North Carolina, Apr. to June 21, 1865.​a

Served: on Special duty in Europe, June 2, 1865, to Aug. 6, 1866;​b in command of the Department of the Potomac, headquarters Richmond,  p526 Va., Aug. 16, 1866, to Mar. 12, 1867, — and of the First Military District

(Mustered out of Volunteer Service, Sep. 1, 1866)

(State of Virginia), Mar. 13, 1867, to May 31, 1868; as Secretary of War of the United States, June 1, 1868, to Mar. 12, 1869; in command

(Major-General, U. S. Army, Mar. 4, 1869)

of the Department of the Missouri, Mar. 20, 1869, to May 3, 1870; as President of Board on Tactics and Small Arms, Aug. 6, 1869, to Nov. 5, 1870; in command of the Division of the Pacific, May 4, 1870, to July 1, 1876; on Special Mission to the Hawaiian Islands, Dec. 30, 1872, to Apr. 6, 1873; in Revising Army Regulations, July‑Aug., 1876; as Superintendent of the U. S. Military Academy, Sep. 1, 1876, and in command of the Department of West Point, Mar. 2, 1877, to Jan. 21, 1881; and as President of a Board of Inquiry into the case of Indicates a West Point graduate and gives his Class.Fitz-John Porter, June 20, 1878, to Mar., 1879; in command of the Division of the Gulf, Jan. 31 to May 6, 1881; awaiting orders (witnessing Autumn Manoeuvres of French Army), to Oct. 14, 1882; in command of the Division of the Pacific and Department of California, Oct. 15, 1882, to Oct. 25, 1883, — of the Division of the Missouri, Nov. 1, 1883, to Apr. 9, 1886, — of the Division of the Atlantic and Department of the East, Apr. 13, 1886 (President of the Military Prison Board, Oct. 16, 1882, to Apr. 6, 1886), to Nov. 14, 1888, — and of the U. S. Army, headquarters at Washington, D. C., Aug. 14, 1888, to –––––.

Vol. IV
p88
[Supplement, Vol. IV: 1890‑1900]

Military History. —

Medal of Honor

for conspicuous gallantry at the battle of Wilson's Creek, Mo., Aug. 10, 1861, where he led a regiment in a success­ful charge against the enemy; while Captain 1st U. S. Artillery, Major 1st Missouri Infantry, and acting Adjutant-General, Army of the West.

— Continued in command of the Army of the United States, and ex officio President of the Board of Ordnance and Fortification, until

(Lieut.‑General U. S. Army, Feb. 5, 1895
— Appointed in pursuance of a Special Act of Congress, Feb., 1895)

Sept. 29, 1895, when he was

Retired from Active Service by Operation of Law, Sec. 1, Act of June 30, 1882.

Civil History. — Author of Forty-Six Years in the Army. — Residence, Washington, D. C.

Vol. V
p78
[Supplement, Vol. V: 1900‑1910]

Military History. — Retired officer. — Residence, Washington, D. C.

Died, March 4, 1906, at St. Augustine, Florida: Aged 74.

See Annual Association of Graduates, U. S. M. A., 1906, for an obituary notice, with a portrait.

Buried, Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA.


Thayer's Notes:

a See Hamilton, History of North Carolina, Vol. III, pp56‑58, which includes a portrait of the general.

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b See The French in Mexico and the Monroe Doctrine, PSQ 11:39.


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