Lysander Cutler
Encyclopedia
Lysander Cutler was an American
businessman, educator, politician, and a Union Army
General during the American Civil War
.
, the son of a farmer. Despite objections from his father, he desired a better education than the rudimentary courses he received in the local school, so he studied surveying and then began a career as a schoolmaster. Moving to Dexter, Maine
, at the age of 21, he was forced to confront unruly pupils who had "flogged and ejected" the last several teachers who had attempted to discipline them. Cutler established his reputation by spending his first day in the "thorough flogging of every bully in the school."
Although he received some military experience fighting Indians as a colonel
in the Maine
militia
in the 1830s, the majority of his time before the Civil War was engaged in a variety of business pursuits. He started a woolen mill, a foundry, a flour mill, and a sawmill, becoming very wealthy in the process. Cutler invested in various factories and in tenement housing. He was prominent in civic affairs as a selectman, director of a railroad, trustee of Tufts College, and a member of the Maine State Senate. Cutler's woolen mill, built in 1843, burned to the ground in 1853, causing him to lose his entire investment. The financial panic of 1856 and depression of 1857 ruined him financially and he decided to leave Maine and moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin
, to restart his career.
In Wisconsin, Cutler worked as a claims investigator for a mining company. He was required to make frequent trips into Indian territory, where he was often threatened with ambush and death. The mining company eventually failed, but a grain business that he founded in Milwaukee provided him with a living.
on July 16, 1861. This regiment would eventually become one of the units to comprise the famous Iron Brigade
.
During the fall and winter, he got off to a bad start as a commander, alienating his junior officers by insisting that they pass examinations on military topics, and removing them from command if he was displeased with the results. Many men of the regiment were of recent immigrant status and he sometimes enraged the enlisted men of the company by replacing their officers with men of different national backgrounds (and sometimes speaking different languages). Despite these problems, Cutler was elevated to temporary brigade command in the I Corps of the Army of the Potomac
on March 13, 1862. Cutler's men rejoiced when this temporary position was filled by Brig. Gen. John Gibbon
that summer. The regiment's first significant action was the Second Battle of Bull Run
, where he demonstrated that he was a tenacious fighter. One soldier in his regiment said that he was "rugged as a wolf." During the fighting against Stonewall Jackson
at Brawner's Farm, Cutler was severely wounded in the right thigh, causing him to miss the Maryland Campaign
and the Battle of Antietam
of September 1862.
When Gen. Gibbon was promoted to division command, he recommended that the recuperating Cutler be given command of the Iron Brigade, but Col. Solomon Meredith
of the 19th Indiana had better political connections and received the appointment, dismaying Cutler. During the Battle of Fredericksburg
in December, however, division commander Maj. Gen. Abner Doubleday
placed Cutler in temporary command of the Iron Brigade for a few hours, dissatisfied with what he considered tardy execution of orders by Col. Meredith. After the battle, Cutler was promoted to brigadier general
, to rank from November 29, 1862.
's 1st Division, I Corps, which he led at the Battle of Chancellorsville
in May, but his unit was only lightly engaged. In the Battle of Gettysburg
, Cutler's brigade was the first Union infantry on the field on July 1, 1863. They were heavily engaged north of the Chambersburg Pike, (76th New York, 147th New York, and 56th Pennsylvania) withstanding multiple Confederate
assaults from the divisions of Maj. Gens. Henry Heth
and Robert E. Rodes
, coming in from the west and north, respectively. The brigade itself had been split earlier by Maj. Gen. John Reynolds
, with a demi-brigade (14th Brooklyn and 95th New York), under the command of Colonel Fowler of the 14th Brooklyn, to engage Brig. Gen. James Archer
's brigade south of the Chambersburg Pike. By the time the I Corps line broke around 4 p.m., his brigade had suffered over 50% casualties.
During the frantic retreat through the town of Gettysburg, Cutler had two horses shot out from under him. For the remainder of the three day battle, Cutler's brigade occupied defensive positions on Cemetery Hill
and, taking advantage of the entrenchments there, suffered few additional casualties.
, Cutler assumed command of the 4th Division on May 6. He led the division through the rest of the Overland Campaign
and into the Siege of Petersburg
.
At the Battle of Globe Tavern
on August 21, 1864, he was struck in the face and badly disfigured by a shell fragment and he was forced to leave field command. He spent the remainder of the war as an invalid, administering the draft in Jackson, Michigan
. On December 12, 1864, President Abraham Lincoln
nominated Cutler for appointment to the grade of brevet
major general
to rank from August 19, 1864 and the U.S. Senate confirmed the nomination on February 14, 1865.
, and is buried there in Forest Home Cemetery
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
businessman, educator, politician, and a Union Army
Union Army
The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
General during the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
.
Early years
Cutler was born in Royalston, MassachusettsRoyalston, Massachusetts
Royalston is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 1,258 at the 2010 census.-History:Royalston is a small town in the North Quabbin area of northwestern-central Massachusetts. It was named after Isaac Royal, a landowner. It is very large in land area—about...
, the son of a farmer. Despite objections from his father, he desired a better education than the rudimentary courses he received in the local school, so he studied surveying and then began a career as a schoolmaster. Moving to Dexter, Maine
Dexter, Maine
Dexter is a town in Penobscot County, Maine, United States. The population was 3,890 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Bangor, Maine metropolitan statistical area...
, at the age of 21, he was forced to confront unruly pupils who had "flogged and ejected" the last several teachers who had attempted to discipline them. Cutler established his reputation by spending his first day in the "thorough flogging of every bully in the school."
Although he received some military experience fighting Indians as a colonel
Colonel (United States)
In the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, colonel is a senior field grade military officer rank just above the rank of lieutenant colonel and just below the rank of brigadier general...
in the Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
militia
Militia
The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...
in the 1830s, the majority of his time before the Civil War was engaged in a variety of business pursuits. He started a woolen mill, a foundry, a flour mill, and a sawmill, becoming very wealthy in the process. Cutler invested in various factories and in tenement housing. He was prominent in civic affairs as a selectman, director of a railroad, trustee of Tufts College, and a member of the Maine State Senate. Cutler's woolen mill, built in 1843, burned to the ground in 1853, causing him to lose his entire investment. The financial panic of 1856 and depression of 1857 ruined him financially and he decided to leave Maine and moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee is the largest city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, the 28th most populous city in the United States and 39th most populous region in the United States. It is the county seat of Milwaukee County and is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. According to 2010 census data, the...
, to restart his career.
In Wisconsin, Cutler worked as a claims investigator for a mining company. He was required to make frequent trips into Indian territory, where he was often threatened with ambush and death. The mining company eventually failed, but a grain business that he founded in Milwaukee provided him with a living.
1861–62
In the first summer of the Civil War, Cutler, a respected 54-year-old businessman and Indian fighter, was commissioned colonel of the 6th Wisconsin Infantry6th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment
The 6th Regiment Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It spent most of the war as a member of the famous Iron Brigade in the Army of the Potomac.-Service:...
on July 16, 1861. This regiment would eventually become one of the units to comprise the famous Iron Brigade
Iron Brigade
The Iron Brigade, also known as the Iron Brigade of the West or the Black Hat Brigade, was an infantry brigade in the Union Army of the Potomac during the American Civil War. Although it fought entirely in the Eastern Theater, it was composed of regiments from Western states...
.
During the fall and winter, he got off to a bad start as a commander, alienating his junior officers by insisting that they pass examinations on military topics, and removing them from command if he was displeased with the results. Many men of the regiment were of recent immigrant status and he sometimes enraged the enlisted men of the company by replacing their officers with men of different national backgrounds (and sometimes speaking different languages). Despite these problems, Cutler was elevated to temporary brigade command in the I Corps of the Army of the Potomac
Army of the Potomac
The Army of the Potomac was the major Union Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War.-History:The Army of the Potomac was created in 1861, but was then only the size of a corps . Its nucleus was called the Army of Northeastern Virginia, under Brig. Gen...
on March 13, 1862. Cutler's men rejoiced when this temporary position was filled by Brig. Gen. John Gibbon
John Gibbon
John Gibbon was a career United States Army officer who fought in the American Civil War and the Indian Wars.-Early life:...
that summer. The regiment's first significant action was the Second Battle of Bull Run
Second Battle of Bull Run
The Second Battle of Bull Run or Second Manassas was fought August 28–30, 1862, as part of the American Civil War. It was the culmination of an offensive campaign waged by Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia against Union Maj. Gen...
, where he demonstrated that he was a tenacious fighter. One soldier in his regiment said that he was "rugged as a wolf." During the fighting against Stonewall Jackson
Stonewall Jackson
ຄຽשת״ׇׂׂׂׂ֣|birth_place= Clarksburg, Virginia |death_place=Guinea Station, Virginia|placeofburial=Stonewall Jackson Memorial CemeteryLexington, Virginia|placeofburial_label= Place of burial|image=...
at Brawner's Farm, Cutler was severely wounded in the right thigh, causing him to miss the Maryland Campaign
Maryland Campaign
The Maryland Campaign, or the Antietam Campaign is widely considered one of the major turning points of the American Civil War. Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's first invasion of the North was repulsed by Maj. Gen. George B...
and the Battle of Antietam
Battle of Antietam
The Battle of Antietam , fought on September 17, 1862, near Sharpsburg, Maryland, and Antietam Creek, as part of the Maryland Campaign, was the first major battle in the American Civil War to take place on Northern soil. It was the bloodiest single-day battle in American history, with about 23,000...
of September 1862.
When Gen. Gibbon was promoted to division command, he recommended that the recuperating Cutler be given command of the Iron Brigade, but Col. Solomon Meredith
Solomon Meredith
Solomon Meredith was a prominent Indiana farmer, politician, and lawman who was a controversial Union Army general in the American Civil War...
of the 19th Indiana had better political connections and received the appointment, dismaying Cutler. During the Battle of Fredericksburg
Battle of Fredericksburg
The Battle of Fredericksburg was fought December 11–15, 1862, in and around Fredericksburg, Virginia, between General Robert E. Lee's Confederate Army of Northern Virginia and the Union Army of the Potomac, commanded by Maj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside...
in December, however, division commander Maj. Gen. Abner Doubleday
Abner Doubleday
Abner Doubleday was a career United States Army officer and Union general in the American Civil War. He fired the first shot in defense of Fort Sumter, the opening battle of the war, and had a pivotal role in the early fighting at the Battle of Gettysburg. Gettysburg was his finest hour, but his...
placed Cutler in temporary command of the Iron Brigade for a few hours, dissatisfied with what he considered tardy execution of orders by Col. Meredith. After the battle, Cutler was promoted to brigadier general
Brigadier general (United States)
A brigadier general in the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, is a one-star general officer, with the pay grade of O-7. Brigadier general ranks above a colonel and below major general. Brigadier general is equivalent to the rank of rear admiral in the other uniformed...
, to rank from November 29, 1862.
1863
In the spring of 1863, Cutler was given command of the 2nd Brigade, James S. WadsworthJames S. Wadsworth
James Samuel Wadsworth was a philanthropist, politician, and a Union general in the American Civil War. He was killed in battle during the Battle of the Wilderness of 1864.-Early years:...
's 1st Division, I Corps, which he led at the Battle of Chancellorsville
Battle of Chancellorsville
The Battle of Chancellorsville was a major battle of the American Civil War, and the principal engagement of the Chancellorsville Campaign. It was fought from April 30 to May 6, 1863, in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, near the village of Chancellorsville. Two related battles were fought nearby on...
in May, but his unit was only lightly engaged. In the Battle of Gettysburg
Battle of Gettysburg
The Battle of Gettysburg , was fought July 1–3, 1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The battle with the largest number of casualties in the American Civil War, it is often described as the war's turning point. Union Maj. Gen. George Gordon Meade's Army of the Potomac...
, Cutler's brigade was the first Union infantry on the field on July 1, 1863. They were heavily engaged north of the Chambersburg Pike, (76th New York, 147th New York, and 56th Pennsylvania) withstanding multiple Confederate
Confederate States Army
The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...
assaults from the divisions of Maj. Gens. Henry Heth
Henry Heth
Henry "Harry" Heth was a career United States Army officer and a Confederate general in the American Civil War. He is best remembered for inadvertently precipitating the Battle of Gettysburg, when he sent some of his troops of the Army of Northern Virginia to the small Pennsylvania village,...
and Robert E. Rodes
Robert E. Rodes
Robert Emmett Rodes was a railroad civil engineer and a promising young Confederate general in the American Civil War, killed in battle in the Shenandoah Valley.-Education, antebellum career:...
, coming in from the west and north, respectively. The brigade itself had been split earlier by Maj. Gen. John Reynolds
John F. Reynolds
John Fulton Reynolds was a career United States Army officer and a general in the American Civil War. One of the Union Army's most respected senior commanders, he played a key role in committing the Army of the Potomac to the Battle of Gettysburg and was killed at the start of the battle.-Early...
, with a demi-brigade (14th Brooklyn and 95th New York), under the command of Colonel Fowler of the 14th Brooklyn, to engage Brig. Gen. James Archer
James J. Archer
James Jay Archer was a lawyer and an officer in the United States Army during the Mexican-American War, and he later served as a general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War....
's brigade south of the Chambersburg Pike. By the time the I Corps line broke around 4 p.m., his brigade had suffered over 50% casualties.
During the frantic retreat through the town of Gettysburg, Cutler had two horses shot out from under him. For the remainder of the three day battle, Cutler's brigade occupied defensive positions on Cemetery Hill
Cemetery Hill
Cemetery Hill is a Gettysburg Battlefield landform which had 1863 military engagements each day of the July 1–3 Battle of Gettysburg. The northernmost part of the Army of the Potomac defensive "fish-hook" line, the hill is gently sloped and provided a site for American Civil War artillery...
and, taking advantage of the entrenchments there, suffered few additional casualties.
1864–65
The Army of the Potomac was reorganized in the spring of 1864 and Cutler was given command of the 1st Brigade, 4th Division, V Corps, on March 25. After Gen. Wadsworth was mortally wounded at the Battle of the WildernessBattle of the Wilderness
The Battle of the Wilderness, fought May 5–7, 1864, was the first battle of Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's 1864 Virginia Overland Campaign against Gen. Robert E. Lee and the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. Both armies suffered heavy casualties, a harbinger of a bloody war of attrition by...
, Cutler assumed command of the 4th Division on May 6. He led the division through the rest of the Overland Campaign
Overland Campaign
The Overland Campaign, also known as Grant's Overland Campaign and the Wilderness Campaign, was a series of battles fought in Virginia during May and June 1864, in the American Civil War. Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, general-in-chief of all Union armies, directed the actions of the Army of the...
and into the Siege of Petersburg
Siege of Petersburg
The Richmond–Petersburg Campaign was a series of battles around Petersburg, Virginia, fought from June 9, 1864, to March 25, 1865, during the American Civil War...
.
At the Battle of Globe Tavern
Battle of Globe Tavern
The Battle of Globe Tavern, also known as the Second Battle of the Weldon Railroad, fought August 18–21, 1864, south of Petersburg, Virginia, was the second attempt of the Union Army to sever the Weldon Railroad during the Siege of Petersburg of the American Civil War. A Union force under...
on August 21, 1864, he was struck in the face and badly disfigured by a shell fragment and he was forced to leave field command. He spent the remainder of the war as an invalid, administering the draft in Jackson, Michigan
Jackson, Michigan
Jackson is a city located along Interstate 94 in the south central area of the U.S. state of Michigan, about west of Ann Arbor and south of Lansing. It is the county seat of Jackson County. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 33,534...
. On December 12, 1864, President Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
nominated Cutler for appointment to the grade of brevet
Brevet (military)
In many of the world's military establishments, brevet referred to a warrant authorizing a commissioned officer to hold a higher rank temporarily, but usually without receiving the pay of that higher rank except when actually serving in that role. An officer so promoted may be referred to as being...
major general
Major general (United States)
In the United States Army, United States Marine Corps, and United States Air Force, major general is a two-star general-officer rank, with the pay grade of O-8. Major general ranks above brigadier general and below lieutenant general...
to rank from August 19, 1864 and the U.S. Senate confirmed the nomination on February 14, 1865.
Postbellum life
Cutler resigned from the Army on June 30, 1865, his health deteriorating rapidly. He died from a stroke, which doctors attributed to complications from his Globe Tavern wounds, in Milwaukee, WisconsinWisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
, and is buried there in Forest Home Cemetery
Forest Home Cemetery
Forest Home Cemetery located in the Lincoln Village neighborhood of Milwaukee, Wisconsin is the final resting place of many of the city's famed beer barons, politicians and social elite...
.
See also
- List of American Civil War generals (Union)