page_title: Thomas J. McKean
section_title: Civil War service
hierarchical_section_title: Thomas J. McKean / Civil War service
caption_attribution_description: English: Thomas Jefferson McKean (1810-1870) from www.generalsandbrevets.com
context_page_description: Thomas Jefferson McKean was an American engineer, soldier, politician, and farmer. A West Point graduate, he fought in the United States Army during the Seminole Wars, in the Mexican–American War, and he served as a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War.
context_section_description: When the American Civil War began in 1861, McKean chose to follow his home state and the Union cause. On June 1 he was appointed the paymaster of the Union Army, and then led the cavalry of the Department of the Gulf beginning on September 18. McKean was briefly in charge of prisoner of war camps in Missouri, and was appointed a brigadier general in the Union Army on November 21.
  McKean commanded at Jefferson City, Missouri, from December to March 1862. He was then given divisional command in the Army of the Tennessee on April 10. He fought in the Battle of Corinth in Mississippi on October 3–4, and then led his division until December 9. McKean then commanded numerous districts across Union-held departments throughout 1863, 1864, and until July 10, 1865. McKean was appointed to the rank of brevet major general on March 13 for his war service, and was mustered out of the volunteer service on August 24.
caption: McKean and his staff during the American Civil War
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