Henry Martyn Lazelle Henry Martyn Lazelle ( September 8 , 1832 – July 21 , 1917 ) was a career officer in the United States Army . In addition to serving during the American Civil War and Indian Wars , he was Commandant of Cadets at the United States Military Academy from 1879 to 1882 . Early life and education . He was born Henry Martyn Lazell in Enfield , Massachusetts , where he went to the public schools . He was orphaned at the age of four and raised by family members of friends . He entered the United States Military Academy in 1850 and was roommates with James MacNeil Whistler , the future artist . After graduating in 1855 , he spelled his last name as Lazelle . Military career . Later that year , Lazelle was commissioned a second lieutenant in the 8th Infantry , and stationed at Fort Bliss , Texas . In February 1859 , while on a scouting mission , he was in a skirmish with Mescalero Apaches and shot through the lungs . He was promoted to first lieutenant in April 1861 . Posted in Texas at Fort Bliss at the outbreak of the American Civil War , Lazelle and his comrades were taken prisoner by Texas insurgents in May 1861 . He was held until exchanged in July 1862 , during which time he was promoted to captain . From then until October 1863 , he served in Washington D . C . as Assistant Commissary General of Prisoners of War . From October 1863 to October 1864 , he served as colonel of the 16th Regiment New York Volunteer Cavalry , operating against Mosby ' s Rangers in the Upper South . He resigned his volunteer commission in October 1864 . He served as Inspector General on the staff of General Frederick Steele until February 1865 , as Assistant Provost Marshal for the Division of the Mississippi until July 1865 , and on recruiting service until March 1866 . Post bellum career . Lazelle rejoined the 8th Infantry on Reconstruction duty in the Second Military District , North and South Carolina , from March 1866 to October 1870 . He was also posted with the regiment at David ' s Island from October 1870 to July 1872 . He went to the West on assignment to the Department of the Platte from July 1872 until May 1874 , as the Army ' s responsibilities shifted to protecting emigrants to the west and subduing Native Americans . From September 1874 to March 1875 , he was commander of Fort Yuma . He was promoted to major of the 1st Infantry in December 1874 , and joined that regiment in the Department of Dakota in June 1875 . In May 1879 , he was named Commandant of Cadets at the United States Military Academy , and was promoted to lieutenant colonel of the 23rd Infantry in June 1881 . He joined the 23rd Infantry in December 1882 at Fort Craig , where he served as commander until February 1884 . After serving as an inspector for the Division of the Pacific and the Department of the Columbia , Lazelle represented the U . S . Army as an observer during the maneuvers of the British Army in India from November 1885 to March 1886 . He returned to the Department of the Columbia as Assistant Inspector General until May 1887 . Assigned to command the publication of the Official Records of the American Civil War , he returned to Washington , DC . He was promoted to colonel of the 18th Infantry in February 1889 ; he served as commander of the regiment and of the post of Fort Clark until July 1894 . He retired due to disability in November 1894 . Marriage and later life . Lazelle married and had a family . One of their sons , Jacob , also went to West Point and served under his father at Fort . Bliss . Jacob died in 1898 , on the way to Manila , Philippines in the Spanish - American War . Colonel Lazelle ' s wife died at Fort Clark , Texas , in January , 1893 . After retiring from the Army , Lazelle moved to Virginia , where he farmed until 1898 . After that , he resided alternately in Canada and Massachusetts . In April 1904 , he was promoted to brigadier general on the retired list . Later that year he remarried . He wrote a number of books , including " One Law in Nature : A New Corpuscular Theory , Comprehending Unity of Force , Identity of Matter , & Its Multiple Atom Constitution : Applied to the Physical Affections Or Modes of Energy " and " Matter , Force , and Spirit ; or , Scientific Evidence of a Supreme Intelligence " ( 1895 ) . Lazelle died on July 21 , 1917 at Georgeville , Quebec .