Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-05-11


and Alexandra, and enjoyed the acquaint-
ance and friendship, among others, of Col.
John Augustine Washington, the last of the
family to own Mount Vernon. Gen. Will
cox commanded the LIST Michigan Volunteers
in the civil war, and that regiment was the
first to come from across the Alleghenies to
the capital. He was in command Of the
regiment at the time of the advance into
and he was military governor of the city
in April, 1851. At the close Of the civil war
he was for time in command Of the Dis
tvtct of Columbia
commander of the National Soldiers Home
here, and on the completion of his service
in that capacity established and had since
maintained his residence here, although al
ways regarding Detroit with affection as
his "home."
Gen. Wilcox was descended of good revo-
lutionary Connecticut stock, and Is sue
ceeded in the army line by son, Maj. Elon
troit while his father was campaigning
against the seminoles in the Everglades.
Member Of Distinguished Glass.
At West Point Gen. Wilcox was in the
class with Maj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside,
Gems. Griffin, Ayres, Gibbon and Fry of
the Union army, and Gems. Harry Helts, A.
P. Hill and Bee of the confederate army
the latter being slain at the time Gen. Will
coxs division occupied the stubbornly de-
Tended city of Petersburg before which 1t
had been campaigning for many months;
He was in the same West Point corps
as Gen. Ulysses s. Grant, Gen. Stonewall
Jackson and Gen. George B. Mcclellan,
three of the most celebrated commanders
of the civil war, and was personal friend
of all of them.
The class graduated during the Mexican
war, and had as its patroness Mrs. Win
field Scott. Promptly as possible the young
officers were rushed to the lands of the
Montezumas. and there young Wilcox saw
his first active service. He was next on
duty on the western plains, and at st.
groomsman at the wedding of Gen. Win
field Scott Hancock.
Wilcox played an important part at the
time of the Anthony Burns riots In Bos-
years, and from which city he proceeded to
the last of the many and long Seminole
wars in Florida.
Soon after the close of that contest he
resigned his commission as first lieutenant
of the 4th Artillery. and for several years
practiced law at his old home in Detroit.
The dawn of the civil war found him re-
siding there, and as he had made an ex-
cellent record in the service he was prompt
ly commissioned by Gov. Austin Blair to be
colonel of the celebrated LIST Michigan In
fantry.
Prisoner Of War.
Gen. Wilcox, severely wounded and taken
prisoner after his gallant advance at first
Bull Run, was afterward for thirteen
months prisoner of war in many south
ern prisons and jails, making the tour of
the south in this manner, during large
part of that time being held as hostage
to be shot in case the Washington govern
ment executed any of the confederate So
called "privateers." Gen. Michael Corcoran
and himself were chosen as prisoners of
highest rank for this distressing finale.
Col. Wilcox was finally exchanged, how
ever and on his release was commissioned
brigadier general, and soon afterward was |
engaged once more Tor me Union On o,,o cause
portant battles. Following the fortunes of |
his old classmate, Gen. Burnside, he led |
division in the Fredericksburg campaign |
and for time was In command OF Burn
sides army corps.
Gen. Wilcox was next in command at
Indianapolis, where he rendered important
services to the government IN the repelling |
of the Morgan raid, and in defeating the |
operations Of the Knights of the Golden |
Circle and other bodies of confederate |
then very numerous in |
southern Indiana, Illinois and Ohio.
Then he returned to the Army of the |
Potomac, and as a division commander |
in the advance upon Richmond and the
long siege at Petersburg he earned his |
greatest and most lasting fame. will
cox's division win long be remeniSseed by |
survivors of both armies for its arduous
and gallant york during that year before |
the fall of Petersburg and of the con-
federacy. !
For short time after the close Of the |
war Gen. Willcov was in command in
Washington, and afterward, in early recon- |
struction days, at Lynchburg. He was
out in January, 1896, and for some
time resided at his old Detroit home. In /
October of that year he was commissioned
colonel of the 10Th Infantry, which he long
commanded, its scene of activities being |
mainly in Arizona and the southwest. In |
1885 he was made q brtgadier general of l
the regular army, and soon afterward re- |
tired. |
Admirer Of Douglas.
Gen. Wilcox was a democrat in politics |
and was strong supporter of Stephen A. |
Douglas during his residence in Michigan
as a civilian just before the war. He con-
tinued a democrat all his life. and although |
never active in political affairs, was strong