page_title: Henry Warner Slocum
section_title: Postbellum life
hierarchical_section_title: Henry Warner Slocum / Postbellum life
caption_attribution_description: Henry Warner Slocum. Library of Congress description: "Hon. Henry Warner Slocum of N.Y."
context_page_description: Henry Warner Slocum, Sr., was a Union general during the American Civil War and later served in the United States House of Representatives from New York. During the war, he was one of the youngest major generals in the Army and fought numerous major battles in the Eastern Theater and in Georgia and the Carolinas. While commanding a regiment, a brigade, a division, and a corps in the Army of the Potomac, he saw action at First Bull Run, the Peninsula Campaign, South Mountain, Antietam, Chancellorsville, and Harpers' Ferry.
  At Gettysburg, he was the senior Union General in the Field, under Gen. George G. Meade. During the battle, he held the Union right from Culp's Hill to across the Baltimore Pike. His successful defense of Culp's Hill was crucial to the Union victory at Gettysburg. After the fall of Vicksburg on the Mississippi River, splitting the southern Confederacy, Slocum was appointed military commander of the district. Slocum participated in the Atlanta Campaign and was the first commander to enter the city on September 2, 1864. He then served as occupation commander of Atlanta.
  Slocum was appointed the commander of the left wing of Gen. William T.
context_section_description: Slocum ran as the Democratic candidate for Secretary of State of New York in 1865, but was defeated by fellow Gettysburg General Francis C. Barlow.  Slocum and his wife, Clara, and family moved to Brooklyn, New York, in 1866.  They resided at 465 Clinton Avenue.  After resuming work as a lawyer, he declined an offer to return to the U.S. Army as a colonel.  In 1868, Slocum was president of New York's electoral college.  On January 6, 1869, he was elected as a companion of the New York Commandery of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States.
  Slocum was elected as a Democrat to the 41st and 42nd Congresses (March 4, 1869 – March 3, 1873).  He was not a candidate for renomination in 1872. Instead, he resumed the practice of law.  In 1882, he was elected Representative at large from New York to the 48th Congress (March 3, 1883 – March 4, 1885).  Slocum took an active interest in military and veterans' affairs.  He worked in Congress for the exoneration of Major General Fitz John Porter who was court-martialed after the Second Battle of Bull Run. Slocum gave a strong speech on Porter's behalf in Congress on January 18, 1884.
  In 1882, Slocum narrowly missed being nominated to be the Democratic candidate for governor of New York.  In the first two ballots, Slocum was tied with candidate Roswell P. Flower, a Wall Street lawyer.  To break the tie, the convention selected future President Grover Cleveland on the third ballot.  In 1885, Slocum was Grand Marshal of President Grover Cleveland's first inaugural parade in Washington, D.C.
  Slocum was a major investor in a number of companies and became director of the People's Trust Company, the Williamsburg City Fire Insurance Company, and other successful ventures.  Slocum was also a trustee of the Park Savings Bank of Brooklyn, New York, which failed in the depression of 1876.
  In 1875, Slocum launched a campaign for civil service reform in the city of Brooklyn. He advocated for the hiring of qualified representatives rather than political appointments.
  Slocum was appointed Commissioner of the department of city works of Brooklyn, New York in 1876 and was involved in many civic improvements, from surface transportation to the Brooklyn Bridge.
  Slocum was an early advocate for the building of the Brooklyn Bridge, which would link Brooklyn to Manhattan.  Slocum went on a study mission to view other bridges built by proposed Brooklyn Bridge designer John Roebling.  He was an early investor in the Brooklyn Bridge and was appointed to the Board of Directors.  He advocated unsuccessfully for having no bridge tolls.  Slocum's name is prominent on a bronze tablet that is located on one of the bridge's towers.
  Slocum was also active in the building of streetcar systems in Brooklyn.  He founded and was president of the Brooklyn Crosstown Railroad, which started service in 1872 and became one of the most profitable streetcar lines in the city.  In addition, he was a large stockholder in other rail lines and was president of the Brooklyn and Coney Island Railroad Company.  He was an early advocate of converting the horse-drawn rail cars to electricity.
  In 1877, Slocum was elected president of the Society of the Army of the Potomac, at a reunion in Providence, Rhode Island.
  In 1880, Slocum traveled with his family to Europe. In addition to serving again in the Congress (beginning in 1883), Slocum remained active in Civil War veterans' affairs.  He was president of the Board of Trustees of the New York State Soldiers' and Sailors' Home in Bath, New York, serving until 1887, and was a member of the New York Monuments Commission for the battlefield of Gettysburg.  He served on this commission until his death.
  Slocum remained friends with Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman until Sherman's death in 1891. Both Gen. Oliver Howard and Gen. Slocum planned Sherman's funeral and were honorary pall bearers.
  Slocum never wrote his memoirs, as had other prominent Union generals. He, however wrote a number of articles about his wartime service for popular magazines, such as Century Magazine.  These a
caption: Henry Warner Slocum
exif: {}