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 [decorative delimiter] Class of 1841

Vol. II
p61
1060

(Born Ct.)

Horatio G. Wright

(Ap'd Ct.)

2

Horatio Gouverneur Wright: Born Mar. 6, 1820, Clinton, CT.

Military History. — Cadet at the Military Academy, July 1, 1837, to July 1, 1841, when he was graduated and promoted in the Army to

Second Lieut., Corps of Engineers, July 1, 1841.

Served: as Assistant to the Board of Engineers, 1841‑42; at the Military Academy, 1842‑44, as Asst. Teacher of French, Aug. 31, 1842, to Jan. 20, 1843, — Asst. Professor of Engineering, Jan. 20 to Aug. 29, 1843, — and Principal Asst. Professor of Engineering, Aug. 29, 1843, to July 2, 1844; as Assistant to the Board of Engineers, 1844‑46; on a Military Tour of Inspection with the Secretary of War, 1845; as Superintending Engineer of the building of Ft. Jefferson, Tortugas, Fla., 1846‑56, — and of Repairs of St. Augustine Sea-wall, Improvement of

(First Lieut., Corps of Engineers, Feb. 28, 1848)

St. John's River, and Haul-over Canal, Fla., 1852‑53; as Light-house Engineer in Florida, 1852‑53; as Member of Commission for projecting a plan for the Improvement of St. John's River, 1853; as Superintending Engineer of the building of Ft. Taylor and Navy Coal Depot, at Key  p62 West, Fla., 1854‑55; as Assistant to the Chief Engineer, at Washington,

(Captain, Corps of Engineers, July 1, 1855, for Fourteen Years' Continuous Service)

D. C., 1856‑61; as Member of Board for arranging details of Iron Carriages and Platforms for Sea-coast Guns, 1860, — and of Board for testing and reporting upon the qualities of the 15‑inch gun as a part of our system of Ordnance.

Served during the Rebellion of the Seceding States, 1861‑66: as Chief Engineer of the Expedition to destroy Norfolk Navy Yard, Va., Apr., 1861; as Volunteer Aide to General Indicates a West Point graduate and gives his Class.Heintzelman, in the crossing of the

(Major, 13th Infantry, May 14, 1861: Declined)

Potomac River into Virginia, and taking possession of the heights opposite Washington, May 24, 1861; as Engineer in constructing Ft. Ellsworth and other Defenses of Washington, D. C., May 25 to July 15, 1861; in the Manassas Campaign of July, 1861, being engaged as Chief Engineer of General Heintzelman's Division in the Battle of Bull Run, July 21, 1861; in the Port Royal, S. C., Expedition, 1861, being engaged as Chief Engineer in its organization, July 24 to Sep. 14, 1861, —

(Major, Corps of Engineers, Aug. 6, 1861)

(Brig.‑General, U. S. Volunteers, Sep. 14, 1861)

and in command of Brigade, Sep. 15, 1861, to Feb. 28, 1862, making reconnoissance of the enemy's works at Port Royal, Nov. 5, 1861, and present at the Capture of Hilton Head, Nov. 7, 1861; in command, Feb. 28 to June 2, 1862, of the land forces in the Florida Expedition which captured Fernandina, Jacksonville, and St. Augustine, Fla.; in command of Division in the Attack on Secessionville, James' Island, S. C., June 16, 1862; in command of the Department of the Ohio, Aug. 19,

(Major-General, U. S. Volunteers, July 18, 1862, to Mar. 12, 1863)

1862, to Mar. 26, 1863, — and of the District of Louisville, Ky., Mar. 26 to Apr. 26, 1863; in command of Division (Army of the Potomac) in the Pennsylvania Campaign, May to July, 1863, being engaged in the Passage of the Rappahannock, June 6, 1863, — Battle of Gettysburg (after a forced march of 35 miles), July 2‑3, 1863, — Skirmish at Fairfield, Pa., July 5, 1863, — and Pursuit of the enemy to Warrenton, Va., July, 1863; in the Rapidan Campaign (Army of the Potomac), Sep. to Dec., 1863, being engaged, commanding 6th Corps, in the Capture of the Rebel works at Rappahannock Station, Nov. 7, 1863, — and Operations at Mine Run.

(Bvt. Lieut.‑Col., Nov. 8, 1863,
for Gallant and Meritorious Services at the Battle of Rappahannock, Va.)

Nov. 26 to Dec. 3, 1863, including Action of Locust Grove, Nov. 27, 1863; as Member of the Board of Engineers to Reorganize our system of Sea-coast Fortifications, Jan. 27 to May 31, 1864; in command of Division, Apr. 4 to May 9, 1864, and subsequently of 6th Army Corps (Army of the Potomac), in the Richmond Campaign, being engaged in the Battle of the Wilderness, May 5‑6, 1864, — Battles about Spottsylvania, May 8‑21, 1864, where he was wounded, — Battles of North Anna,

(Major-General, U. S. Volunteers, May 12, 1864)

(Bvt. Colonel, May 12, 1864,
for Gallant and Meritorious Services at the Battle of Spottsylvania, Va.)

May 23‑24, 1864, — Battle of Tolopotomy, May 30, 1864, — Battles and Actions of Cold Harbor, June 1‑13, 1864, — and Siege of, and Battles about Petersburg, June 23 to July 10, 1864; in the Washington Campaign, in command of 6th Army Corps, July, 1864, being engaged in the Defense of the Capital, July 11‑12, 1864, — Action before Ft. Stevens,  p63 D. C., July 12, 1864, — Skirmish at Snicker's Gap, July 18, 1864, while in Pursuit of General Indicates a West Point graduate and gives his Class.Early's Rebel Raiders to Winchester, Va., — and return to Washington, D. C., July, 1864; in the Shenandoah Campaign, in command of 6th Army Corps, Aug. to Dec., 1864, being engaged in the Action of Charlestown, Va., Aug. 21, 1864, — Battle of Opequan, Sep. 19, 1864, — Battle of Fisher's Hill, Sep. 22, 1864, — Battle of Cedar Creek, Oct. 19, 1864, where he was wounded, — and numerous skirmishes; in the Richmond Campaign, in command of 6th Corps (Army of the Potomac), Dec., 1864, to Apr., 1865, being engaged in the Siege of Petersburg,

(Bvt. Brig.‑General, U. S. Army, Mar. 13, 1865,
for Gallant and Meritorious Services at the Battle of Cold Harbor, Va.)

— in the Action of Mar. 25, 1865, capturing the intrenched picket

(Bvt. Maj.‑General, U. S. Army, Mar. 13, 1865,
for Gallant and Meritorious Services at the Capture of Petersburg, Va.)

line of the enemy, — in the Assault, which, by breaking the enemy's lines, Apr. 2, 1865, terminated the Siege, — Pursuit of the Rebel Army, Apr. 3‑9, 1865, — Battle of Sailor's Creek, Apr. 6, 1865, — and Capitulation of General Indicates a West Point graduate and gives his Class.Lee, with the Rebel Army of Northern Virginia, at Appomattox C. H., Apr. 9, 1865;​1 on March to North Carolina, in command of 6th Corps, to operate against the Rebel Army under General Indicates a West Point graduate and gives his Class.J. E. Johnston, Apr. 23‑27, 1865, — and return March to Washington, D. C., May 16 to June 2, 1865, where Corps was mustered out of service; assigned to command of, and organized, Provisional Army Corps, June‑July, 1865; in command of the Department of Texas, July 20,

(Lieut.‑Col., Corps of Engineers, Nov. 23, 1865)

1865, to Aug. 18, 1866, — and of District of Texas, Aug. 18‑28, 1866.

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

Served: as Member of Board to conduct Experiments on the use of Iron in Permanent Defenses, Sep. 11, 1866, to May 18, 1867, — of Board of Engineers, Oct. 2 to Nov. 24, 1866, to carry out in detail the Modification of the defenses in the vicinity of New York, as proposed by the Board of Jan. 27, 1864, — and of Board to prepare Engineer Regulations, Nov. 6‑28, 1866; as Assistant to the Chief of Engineers, in charge of the Third Division of the Engineer Department at Washington, D. C., Nov. 8, 1866, to May 18, 1867; as Member of Board for the Armament of Fortifications, Jan. 18 to Feb. 6, 1867, — and of the Board of Engineers for Fortifications and Harbor and River Obstructions, required for the Defense of the Territory of the United States, May 18, 1867 (leave of absence in Europe, Mar. 28 to Nov. 12, 1873), to June 30, 1879, — of Board on Block Island Breakwater, R. I., Feb., 1868, — of Board to test Beaupré's system of constructing cannon, Aug., 1868, — of Commission on East River Bridge, from New York to Brooklyn, Mar. to May, 1869, — of Commission to Europe to collect information upon the fabrication of Iron for Defensive purposes, June 29 to Nov. 22, 1870, — of Commission upon the Sutro Tunnel in the State of Nevada, Apr. to Dec., 1871, — of Board on Delaware Breakwater Harbor of Refuge, Nov. 8, 1871, to Aug. 29, 1872, — of Board on Improvement of Mobile Harbor, Ala., Feb. 3‑14, 1872, and Dec., 1873, — of Board on Cape Fear River improvement, N. C., Jan. to Dec., 1872, — of Boards for the examination of Officers of the Corps of Engineers for promotion, June 20 to Sep. 6, 1872, and Dec. 18, 1875, — of Board on models of Heavy Ordnance, June‑July, 1872, — of Board to examine devices for Depressed Gun-carriages, Jan.‑Feb., 1873, — of Board on the Improvement of Delaware River at Horse-shoe Shoals, Apr.‑May, 1873, — of Boards on Improvement of Galveston Harbor Entrance, Tex., Jan.‑Feb., 1874, Dec., 1875, and Sep., 1877, — of Board to determine the best method for improving the mouth  p64 of the Mississippi River, July, 1874, to Feb., 1875, being absent in Europe inspecting River Improvements, Aug. to Nov., 1874, — of Board to locate Movable Dams in Ohio River, Apr. 14‑19, 1875, — of Board on Improvement of Channel between Staten Island and New Jersey, Apr. 26, 1875, to Jan., 1876, — of Board on the Improvement of the Great Kanawha River, May 7‑25, 1875, — of Board on the Improvement of Savannah River and Harbor, Ga., June 8‑12, 1875, — of Board on the Improvement of Stonington Harbor, Ct., June 22 to July 3, 1875, — of Commission to pave (under Act of July 19, 1876) Pennsylvania Avenue of Washington City, July 28, 1876, to Oct., 1880, — of Commissions to report upon certain subjects connected with the Improvement of the South Pass of the Mississippi River, Nov.‑Dec., 1876, and Dec., 1877, to Jan., 1878, — of Board on the Improvement of the Navigation of the Ohio River, Feb.‑Mar., 1877, — of Commission, under Act of Mar. 3, 1877, to examine Moline Water Power contracts, Mar. to Dec., 1877, — of Board on substitution of Lock and Gate for first Movable Dam on the Ohio River, Jan. 24‑30, 1878, — of Board on Improvement of Charleston Harbor, S. C., Mar., 1878, — of Board on Improvement of Low-water Navigation of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, July, 1878, — and of Board to examine and report progress of works at the South Pass of the Mississippi River, Oct.‑Nov., 1878; as Assistant to the Chief of Engineers, July 13‑19, 1878; and Acting Chief of Engineers, July 29 to Nov. 9, and Dec. 16‑22, 1878; in supervision of such matters connected with construction of Jetties and other works at South Pass, Mississippi River, as require the action of the Secretary of War, Aug. 12, 1878, to

(Colonel, Corps of Engineers, Mar. 4, 1879)

(Brig.‑General and Chief of Engineers, U. S. Army, June 30, 1879)

Mar. 6, 1884; in command of the Corps of Engineers and in charge of the Engineer Bureau at Washington, D. C., July 3, 1879, to Mar. 6, 1884; and as Member of Joint Commission to supervise the construction of the Washington Monument, June 30, 1879, to Mar. 6, 1884, — and of Light-house Board, Nov. 4, 1879, to Mar. 6, 1884.

Retired from Active Service, Mar. 6, 1884, he being 64 Years of Age.

Civil History. — Author (jointly with Gen. Indicates a West Point graduate and gives his Class.J. G. Barnard and Col. Indicates a West Point graduate and gives his Class.P. S. Michie) of Report on the "Fabrication of Iron for Defenses" (Professional Papers of the Corps of Engineers, No. 21).

Vol. IV
p55
[Supplement, Vol. IV: 1890‑1900]

Civil History. — Degree of LL. D. conferred by Norwich University, Northfield, Vt., 1897.

Died July 2, 1899, at Washington, D. C.: Aged 79.

Buried, Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA.


The Author's Note:

1 The thanks of the Legislature of his native State, Connecticut, were tendered to General Wright by resolutions of June 14, 1865, "for his eminent service in the late war, as commander of the first brigade that set foot on the soil of South Carolina, in which were Terry and Hawley and Chatfield and other noble soldiers of Connecticut; as commander of the First Division of the gallant Sixth Corps at Gettysburg, and through all the wearisome marches and sanguinary battles from that victory to the fall of the modest, yet great, General Indicates a West Point graduate and gives his Class.Sedgwick; for the energy, skill, and courage which from that sad day he displayed as commander of the Sixth Corps in many brilliant engagements, and especially at Cold Harbor, in front of Petersburg, at Washington during the last rebel raid, in the Shenandoah Valley at Opequan, Fisher's Hill, and Cedar Creek, and in the last bloody assault and terrible pursuit which, ending in the capture of Lee and his army, decided the fate of the Rebellion."


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