William Henry Gilder was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 soldier, journalist, explorer and writer.

Biography

He was born in Philadelphia

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...

, Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

, the son of a clergyman, also named William Henry Gilder

William Henry Gilder (clergyman)

William Henry Gilder was a Methodist clergyman.-Biography:...

. At the beginning of the 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...

, the younger Gilder enlisted in the 5th New York Infantry (Duryée's

Abram Duryée

Abram Duryée was a Union Army general during the American Civil War, the commander of one of the most famous Zouave regiments, the 5th New York Volunteer Infantry. After the war he was New York City Police Commissioner.-Birth and early years:...

 Zouave

Zouave

Zouave was the title given to certain light infantry regiments in the French Army, normally serving in French North Africa between 1831 and 1962. The name was also adopted during the 19th century by units in other armies, especially volunteer regiments raised for service in the American Civil War...

s), was transferred to the 40th New York, and was mustered out with the rank of captain and 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

Major (United States)

In the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, major is a field grade military officer rank just above the rank of captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel...

. During a large part of the war he served on the staff of Gen. Thomas W. Egan

Thomas W. Egan

Thomas Wilberforce Egan was a Union Army officer who led the Mozart Regiment during most of the American Civil War, later becoming a general.-Early life :...

.

From 1871 to 1877, he was managing editor of the Newark

Newark, New Jersey

Newark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S...

 Register and from 1878 to 1880 was second in command on the expedition of Frederick Schwatka

Frederick Schwatka

Frederick Gustavus Schwatka was a United States Army lieutenant with degrees in medicine and law and a noted explorer of northern Canada and Alaska.-Early life and career:...

 to King William Land in search of the relics of Sir John Franklin

John Franklin

Rear-Admiral Sir John Franklin KCH FRGS RN was a British Royal Navy officer and Arctic explorer. Franklin also served as governor of Tasmania for several years. In his last expedition, he disappeared while attempting to chart and navigate a section of the Northwest Passage in the Canadian Arctic...

. This expedition was marked by the longest sledge journey on record at that time — 3,251 statute miles. He accompanied the De Long

George W. DeLong

George Washington DeLong was a United States Navy officer and explorer.- Biography :Born in New York City, he was educated at the United States Naval Academy in Newport, Rhode Island...

 expedition on Rodgers under Captain Berry and, after the burning of the vessel on the western shore of Bering Strait

Bering Strait

The Bering Strait , known to natives as Imakpik, is a sea strait between Cape Dezhnev, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Russia, the easternmost point of the Asian continent and Cape Prince of Wales, Alaska, USA, the westernmost point of the North American continent, with latitude of about 65°40'N,...

, made a midwinter journey of nearly 2,000 miles (3,200 km) across Siberia

Siberia

Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...

 to telegraph to the government the news of the disaster. He afterwards participated in the search for De Long in the Lena

Lena River

The Lena is the easternmost of the three great Siberian rivers that flow into the Arctic Ocean . It is the 11th longest river in the world and has the 9th largest watershed...

 delta. In 1883 he was in Tongking

Tonkin

Tonkin , also spelled Tongkin, Tonquin or Tongking, is the northernmost part of Vietnam, south of China's Yunnan and Guangxi Provinces, east of northern Laos, and west of the Gulf of Tonkin. Locally, it is known as Bắc Kỳ, meaning "Northern Region"...

 as a war correspondent during the French-Annamese conflict

Battle of Thuan An

The Battle of Thuan An was a clash between the French and the Vietnamese during the period of early hostilities of the Tonkin Campaign...

 and in 1884 visited the region of the earthquakes in Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

. On his expeditions and travels he was a correspondent of the New York Herald

New York Herald

The New York Herald was a large distribution newspaper based in New York City that existed between May 6, 1835, and 1924.-History:The first issue of the paper was published by James Gordon Bennett, Sr., on May 6, 1835. By 1845 it was the most popular and profitable daily newspaper in the UnitedStates...

. He published Schwatka's Search: Sledging in the Arctic in Quest of the Franklin Records (1881) and Ice-Pack and Tundra (1883).

He was the brother of Richard Watson Gilder

Richard Watson Gilder

Richard Watson Gilder was an American poet and editor.-Life and career:Gilder was born at Bordentown, New Jersey. He was the son of Jane Gilder and the Rev. William Henry Gilder, and educated at his father's seminary in Flushing, Queens. There he learned to set type and published the St. Thomas...

, Jeannette Leonard Gilder

Jeannette Leonard Gilder

Jeannette Leonard Gilder was a pioneer for United States women in journalism.-Biography:She was a daughter of the clergyman William Henry Gilder. She was connected from 1869 with various newspapers in Newark and New York...

 and Joseph Benson Gilder

Joseph Benson Gilder

Joseph Benson Gilder was an American editor, brother of Richard Watson Gilder and Jeannette Leonard Gilder and the explorer William Henry Gilder....

.

External links