Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1884-1886, 1886-08-07
WHO THEY NAMED THEM FOR.

To the Editor of the Eagle.
We have three large counties named Tor
three able general officers of the United
States army adjoining each other. Thiuk
ing it would be of interest to the readers OF
the EAGLE have written a short sketch OF
these and other officers in the old army as
near as | can recollect submit it for in
spect!on:
In the LIST United States cavalry in 1859
+. V. Summer was colonel. He, you recOl-
,ect commanded the L. S. cavalry that
turned the the Free Soil legislature out of
their hall in topeka during the Kansas
troubles, by order of Buchanan's advisors
in the war department.. Sumner became
Major general in the United States army.
Commanded a division under Mcclellan ON
the Peninsula; also commanded one OF the
grand divisions of Burnside's army in its
bloody and futile assault on Fredericks-
burg, 18th of December, 1862. He died
soon after in Syracuse, n. Y.
The lieutenant colonel of the same reg
iment was the famous J. f. Johnston, of
the G. s. A. The two majors were w. IL.
Emory and John Sedgwick, both became
distinguished major generals OF the
L. S. army Sedgwick was in command
of the First, Third and Sixth army corps
at Charlottesville, which was the only
part of Hooker's army that met with any
success. He was killed at Spottsylvania in
May, 1864
Reno was major general and corps com
mander. He was killed at South Noun
tain, September IA, 1862. He was not a
field officer in the old army. l think he
was line officer of the First dragons.
Major Marcus L. Reno, the much abused
scape- goat of the Custer butchery, was a
son of the general for whom Reno county
is named.
In the First cavalry the union got two
good generals and the confederacy one,
that is. among the field officers In the
Second cavalry the confederacy got Col.
A. S. Johnston, Lieut. Col r. L. Lee and
Major VIM. J. Hardee while the union got
the equal of either of them in Major Geo.
II. Thomas. himself "a southcner. The
mounted rifles gave its Col. Loring to the
and Lieut.. Col Crittenden and Capt.
Gordon Granger to the north. The two
majors of the First infantry, S. P. Heintz-
Gilman and Sidney Burbank became generals
in the Union army The latter and Mayor
Hannibal Day of the Second infantry COM
manded the two regular brigades at Get
tysburg. where, it is said, not a stone marks
any position occupied by the ten regiments
of regular infantry and fifteen batteries of
artillery on that awful field
Of the other field officers of the regulars
Holmes, of the Eighth infantry went SOUTH
DIT. Col Casey became a major general in
the Union and Major Garnett both of the
Ninth infantry became major general in
the Southern army; f. r. S. Candy was
major of the Tenth infantry: Grant had
been recently captain in the Fourth in
fantry and Sheridan was first lieutenant in
the same regiment.
These men were all the products of the
old army. branch of the public service
but little known or cared for by the masses
of the people previous to the war They
were of a profession whose motto had al
ways been steal for no one or any princi-
pie: lie only to protect a woman: and fight
under orders till victory, death or orders
relieved from duty No country has ever
produced grander lot of public men than
the regular army Their impress on the
history of the country is conspicuous.
NJ. +. HUTCHINSON.