Class of 1856

Joseph Hancock Taylor: Born Jan. 26, 1836.

Military History. — Cadet at the Military Academy, July 1, 1852, to July 1, 1856, when he was graduated and promoted in the Army to

Bvt. Second Lieut. of Cavalry, July 1, 1856.

 p661  Served: at the Cavalry School for Practice, Carlisle, Pa., 1856‑57; and on frontier duty at Ft. Leavenworth, quelling Kansas Disturbances, 1857,

(Second Lieut., 1st Cavalry, Jan. 16, 1857)

— Escorting the Commissioner for running the southern boundary of Kansas, 1857, — Ft. Leavenworth, Kan., 1857, — Scouting, 1857, — Ft. Riley, Kan., 1857‑58, — Utah Expedition, 1858, — Ft. Leavenworth, Kan., 1858, — Ft. Riley, Kan., 1858‑59, — March to Arkansas River, 1859, — conducting Recruits to Texas, 1860, — Kiowa and Comanche Expedition, 1860, being engaged in a Skirmish near Bent's Fort, Col., July 11, 1860, — Ft. Wise, Col., 1860‑61, — and March to Ft. Leavenworth, Kan., 1861.

First Lieut., 1st Cavalry, Apr. 22, 1861.

Served during the Rebellion of the Seceding States, 1861‑66: in the

(Captain, 3d Cavalry, May 14, 1861: 6th Cavalry, Aug. 3, 1861)

Defenses of Washington, D. C., Aug., 1861, to Mar. 10, 1862, being Acting Asst. Adjutant-General of General Sumner's Division, Nov. 27, 1861, to Mar. 14, 1862; in the Virginia Peninsular Campaign as Acting Asst. Adjutant-General of 2d Corps (Army of the Potomac), Mar. 14 to June 24, 1862, being engaged in the Siege of Yorktown, Apr. 5 to May 4, 1862, — Battle of Williamsburg, May 5, 1862, — and Battle of air Oaks, May 31-June 1, 1862; on sick leave of absence, June 24 to July 24, 1862;

(Bvt. Major, June 1, 1862,
for Gallant and Meritorious Services at the Battle of Fair Oaks, Va.)

(Lieut.‑Colonel, Staff, U. S. Volunteers, Aug. 20, 1862, to Mar. 31, 1866)

in the Maryland Campaign as Acting Asst. Adjutant-General, 2d Corps (Army of the Potomac), Sep. to Nov., 1862, being engaged in the Battle of Antietam, Sep. 17, 1862, — and March to Falmouth, Va., Oct.‑Nov.,

(Bvt. Lieut.‑Col., Sep. 17, 1862,
for Gallant and Meritorious Services at the Battle of Antietam, Md.)

1862; and in the Rappahannock Campaign (Army of the Potomac), Dec., 1862, to June, 1863, being engaged in the Battle of Fredericksburg as Asst. Adjutant-General of Right Grand Division, Dec. 13, 1862, — and on "Stoneman's Raid" toward Richmond (as Asst. Inspector-General), Apr. 29 to May 8, 1863.

Bvt. Colonel, U. S. Volunteers, Mar. 3, 1865.

Major, Staff — Asst. Adjutant-General, Mar. 30, 1866.

Served: as Assistant Adjutant-General of the Department of Washington, June 1, 1863, to May, 1869, — of the Department of the South,

(Bvt. Colonel, Aug. 13, 1866,
for Faithful and Meritorious Services during the Rebellion)

May 24, 1869, to Dec. 6, 1873, — of the Division of the South, Dec. 11, 1872, to Dec. 6, 1873, — of the Department of Texas, Jan. 30, 1874, to Feb. 4, 1878, — and of the Department of the East, Feb. 11, 1878, to Mar. 31, 1879, — of the Department of the South to Sep. 1, 1882, — and of the Department of the Platte to Mar. 13, 1885.

Died, Mar. 13, 1885, at Omaha, Neb.: Aged 49.

Buried, Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA.