William Ward Duffield
Encyclopedia
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...
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...
. After the war he was appointed Superintendent of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey.
Early life
Duffield was born in CarlisleCarlisle, Pennsylvania
Carlisle is a borough in and the county seat of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States. The name is traditionally pronounced with emphasis on the second syllable. Carlisle is located within the Cumberland Valley, a highly productive agricultural region. As of the 2010 census, the borough...
, Pennsylvania, the son of Isabella Graham (Bethune), and the Reverend George Duffield
George Duffield (Presbyterian)
George Duffield was a leading nineteenth-century New School Presbyterian minister who bore the same name as his father and grandfather...
, a prominent minister in the Presbyterian Church. He was also the brother of Brigadier General Henry M. Duffield
Henry M. Duffield
Henry Martyn Duffield Colonel in the Union Army during the American Civil War; lawyer; candidate for U.S. Representative from Michigan 1st District, 1876; Brigadier General of U.S. Volunteers during the Spanish-American War; Presidential Elector for Michigan, 1904...
. Although he would call Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
home after 1836, throughout his life William worked and traveled widely. He graduated in 1842 from Columbia College
Columbia College of Columbia University
Columbia College is the oldest undergraduate college at Columbia University, situated on the university's main campus in Morningside Heights in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1754 by the Church of England as King's College, receiving a Royal Charter from King George II...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, as a civil engineer
Civil engineer
A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering; the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructures while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing infrastructures that have been neglected.Originally, a...
, and two years later received a Master of Arts. He later studied law and was admitted to the Detroit bar
Bar association
A bar association is a professional body of lawyers. Some bar associations are responsible for the regulation of the legal profession in their jurisdiction; others are professional organizations dedicated to serving their members; in many cases, they are both...
. At the onset of the Mexican-American War he entered the U.S. Army as adjutant of the 2nd Tennessee Infantry. Later during the war he served on the staff of General Gideon J. Pillow. He went to California as an Army paymaster after the war and qualified as a founding member in the Society of California Pioneers
Society of California Pioneers
The Society of California Pioneers and its members are listed in the Annals of San Francisco of 1855. The key stipulation seems to be that they arrived in California prior to December 31, 1849. Since this was a membership organization, it lists only a portion of the pioneers that came to...
. During this service he became well enough versed in the military sciences to author two books on the subject. After leaving the Army he worked as engineer and superintendent of railroads in New York; surveyed the Detroit and Milwaukee Railroad from Pontiac to Grand Haven, from Detroit to Port Huron, and from Mendota to Galesburg, Illinois.
Civil War
When the Civil War erupted, Duffield joined the 4th Michigan Infantry4th Michigan Volunteer Infantry Regiment
The 4th Regiment Michigan Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. The 4th Michigan wore a very americanized zouave uniform...
as its lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant Colonel (United States)
In the United States Army, United States Air Force, and United States Marine Corps, a lieutenant colonel is a field grade military officer rank just above the rank of major and just below the rank of colonel. It is equivalent to the naval rank of commander in the other uniformed services.The pay...
, and participated with the regiment in the First Battle of Bull Run
First Battle of Bull Run
First Battle of Bull Run, also known as First Manassas , was fought on July 21, 1861, in Prince William County, Virginia, near the City of Manassas...
. In September 1861 he resigned from the 4th and accepted a commission as 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...
of the 9th Michigan Infantry
9th Michigan Volunteer Infantry Regiment
The 9th Regiment Michigan Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.-Service:The Ninth Michigan Infantry organized at Fort Wayne , near Detroit, Michigan, from independent companies recruited throughout the state, and mustered into...
.
On January 9, 1862, he was ordered to Bardstown, Kentucky, to head an officer examining board. From March 8 to May 14, 1862, he commanded the 23rd Brigade of the Army of the Ohio
Army of the Ohio
The Army of the Ohio was the name of two Union armies in the American Civil War. The first army became the Army of the Cumberland and the second army was created in 1863.-History:...
. On April 11, 1862, he was appointed acting 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...
, but his appointment was not confirmed by the United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
; it was tabled on July 16, 1862. On May 9, 1862, he was appointed acting military governor of Kentucky. On July 12, 1863, Duffield arrived in Murfreesboro
Murfreesboro, Tennessee
Murfreesboro is a city in and the county seat of Rutherford County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 108,755 according to the United States Census Bureau's 2010 U.S. Census, up from 68,816 residents certified during the 2000 census. The center of population of Tennessee is located in...
, Tennessee, in command of the 9th Michigan. The following day the Union garrison, under the overall command of Brig. Gen. Thomas T. Crittenden
Thomas Turpin Crittenden
Thomas Turpin Crittenden was a Union general in the American Civil War.-Birth and early years:Crittenden was born in Huntsville, Alabama, but his family moved to Texas shortly thereafter. He was a nephew of Senator John J. Crittenden of Kentucky, and a first cousin of Confederate general George B....
, was attacked and defeated by Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest
Nathan Bedford Forrest
Nathan Bedford Forrest was a lieutenant general in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War. He is remembered both as a self-educated, innovative cavalry leader during the war and as a leading southern advocate in the postwar years...
in the First Battle of Murfreesboro
Battle of Murfreesboro I
The First Battle of Murfreesboro was fought on July 13, 1862, in Rutherford County, Tennessee, as part of the American Civil War.-Background:...
. Col. Duffield was twice wounded during the attack and captured; he was exchanged on August 27, 1862.
Postbellum career
Duffield resigned from the Army on February 6, 1863, and returned to Michigan. After the war he had charge of coal mines in Pennsylvania and iron mines in Kentucky, and was chief engineer of the Kentucky Union Railroad. In 1879-1880 he served as a Michigan State Senator. He was appointed by President Grover ClevelandGrover Cleveland
Stephen Grover Cleveland was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States. Cleveland is the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms and therefore is the only individual to be counted twice in the numbering of the presidents...
as Superintendent of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, 1894-1898. He spent his last years in Washington, D.C., where he died. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia, is a military cemetery in the United States of America, established during the American Civil War on the grounds of Arlington House, formerly the estate of the family of Confederate general Robert E. Lee's wife Mary Anna Lee, a great...
.
Primary sources
- Burton Historical Collection. Detroit Public Library, Detroit, Michigan. Duffield Family Papers.
- Detroit, Michigan Advertiser & Tribune, 1861–1865
- Detroit, Michigan Free Press, 1861–1865.
- Oakland Historical House Museum, Murfreesboro, TN. Duffield Letters.
Books
- American Biographical History of Eminent Self-Made Men, Michigan Edition Cincinnati, OH: Western Biographical Publishing Company. (1878)
- Bennett, Charles Historical Sketches of the Ninth Michigan Infantry Coldwater, MI: Daily Courier. (1913)
- Bingham, Steven D. Early History of Michigan with Biographies of State Officers, Members of Congress, Judges and Legislators Lansing: Thorp and Godrey, State Printers (1888).
- Eicher, John H., and Eicher, David J.David J. EicherDavid John Eicher is an American editor, writer, and popularizer of astronomy and space. He has been editor-in-chief of Astronomy magazine since 2002...
, Civil War High Commands, Stanford University Press, 2001, ISBN 0-8047-3641-3. - Michigan Biographies: Including Members of Congress, Elective State Officers, Justices of the Supreme Court, Members of the Michigan Legislature, Board of Regents of the University of Michigan, State Board of Agriculture and State Board of Education 2 vols. Lansing, MI: Michigan Historical Commission (1924).
- Wyeth, John Allan. That Devil Forrest: the Life of General Nathan Bedford Forrest 1899. Reprint. NY: Harpers, 1959.
Journal articles
- King, William H. "Forrest's Attack on Murfreesboro, July 13, 1862." Confederate Veteran 32 (November 1924): 430-431.