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 [decorative delimiter] Class of June 24, 1861

Vol. II
p816
1940

(Born N. Y.)

William H. Harris​1

(Ap'd N. Y.)

8

William Hamilton Harris: Born June 6, 1838, Albany, NY.

Military History. — Cadet at the Military Academy, July 1, 1857, to June 24, 1861, when he was graduated and promoted in the Army to

Bvt. Second Lieut. of Ordnance, June 24, 1861.

Served during the Rebellion of the Seceding States, 1861‑66: in drilling Volunteers at Washington, D. C., June‑July, 1861; in command of Section of Artillery in the Manassas Campaign of July, 1861, being engaged in the Battle of Bull Run, July 21, 1861; in the Defenses of  p817 Washington, D. C., July‑Aug., 1861; as Asst. Ordnance Officer at Ft. Monroe Arsenal, Va., Aug. 11, 1861, to Mar. 22, 1862, being in command

(Second Lieut., Ordnance, Aug. 3, 1861)

of a Battery in Ft. Monroe, during the Raid of the iron-clad steamer Merrimac, in Hampton Roads, Mar. 8‑9, 1862; as Asst. Ordnance Officer (Army of the Potomac), Mar. 22 to Nov. 21, 1862, being engaged in

(First Lieut., Ordnance, Sep. 14, 1862)

the Virginia Peninsular and Maryland Campaigns; on sick leave of absence, Nov. 21, 1862, to Jan. 30, 1863; on Special duty in the Ordnance Bureau, Washington, D. C., Jan. 30 to Mar. 3, 1863; as Asst. Ordnance Officer, Department of the Cumberland, Mar. 15 to June 17, 1863; as

(Captain, Ordnance, June 1, 1863)

Chief of Ordnance, Department of Ohio, June 24, 1863, to Apr. 16, 1864; in the East Tennessee Campaign, on headquarters Staff, being engaged in the Action of Blue Lick Spring, Oct. 10, 1863, — and Defense of Knoxville, Nov. 17 to Dec. 4, 1863; in the Richmond Campaign, as Senior Ordnance Officer of 9th Army Corps, Apr. 20 to July 31, 1864, being engaged as Acting Aide-de‑Camp in the Battle of the Wilderness, May 5‑6, 1864, — Battles of Spottsylvania, May 9‑21, 1864, — Battle of North Anna, May 24, 1864, — Battle of Cold Harbor, June 3, 1864, — Assault of Petersburg, June 16‑17, 1864, — and Siege of Petersburg, June 18 to July 31, 1864, including the Mine Assault, July 30, 1864; and as Asst. Ordnance Officer at Allegheny Arsenal, Pa., Aug. 4, 1864, to

(Bvt. Major, and Bvt. Lieut.‑Colonel, Aug. 1, 1864,
for Gallant and efficient Service
in the Battles from the Rapidan to Petersburg)

Sep. 7, 1866, being detached to Ft. Fisher, N. C., Jan.‑Feb., 1865.

Served: in command of Indianapolis Arsenal, Ind., Sep. 7, 1866, to July 15, 1868, and Sep. 15, 1868, to Apr. 5, 1869 (leave of absence, July 15 to Sep. 15, 1868, and Apr. 5 to Apr. 28, 1870); as Assistant Ordnance Officer at Watertown Arsenal, Mas., Apr. 28 to June, 1870; and on leave of absence to Sep. 21, 1870.

Honorably Discharged, at his own Request, Sep. 21, 1870.

Civil History. — Secretary and Manager of Decatur, Ill., Rolling Mill Company, 1870‑76. Vice-President of Kansas Rolling Mill Company, 1876‑80. Treasurer of St. Louis, Keokuk, and Northwestern Railway Company, 1876‑80. President of Bucyrus Shovel and Dredge Company, since 1881, and engaged in the drainage of the Valley of Mexico, 1887‑90. Residence, Cleveland, O.

Vol. IV
p130
[Supplement, Vol. IV: 1890‑1900]

Civil History. — Engineer of a canal for the drainage of the lakes near the City of Mexico, 1890. — Resided in New York City for the last years of his life.

Died Nov. 6, 1895, at Genoa, Italy: Aged 57.

Buried, West Point Cemetery, West Point, NY.

See Annual Association of Graduates, U. S. M. A., 1896, for an obituary notice, with a portrait.​a


The Author's Note:

1 Son of Ira Harris, late U. S. Senator from New York.


Thayer's Note:

a In connection with the Cadet Chapel organ, see G. S. Pappas, The Cadet Chapel, p53 f.


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