Napoleon J . T . Dana Napoleon Jackson Tecumseh Dana ( April 15 , 1822 – July 15 , 1905 ) was a career U . S . Army officer who fought with distinction during the Mexican – American War and served as a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War . He was wounded several times during his military career , often severely , and later in life was involved with railroads and veteran soldier affairs in the U . S . Early life . Dana was born at Fort Sullivan , in Eastport , Maine . He was a first cousin of James J . Dana and later would be the father - in - law of John C . Tidball . His father Nathaniel Dana , also a West Point graduate and officer serving in the 1st U . S . Artillery , was stationed at Fort Sullivan at the time , but his father died when Dana was eleven years old . Dana ’ s paternal grandfather , Luther Dana , was a naval officer in the American Revolution , and his maternal grandfather , Woodbury Langdon , served as a member of the Continental Congress ( with his brother John Langdon ) , and later a U . S . Senator and governor of New Hampshire . When he was sixteen , Dana entered the U . S . Military Academy in 1838 , and graduated from there four years later , standing 29th out of 56 . He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the 7th U . S . Infantry Regiment on July 1 , 1842 . With the 7th Infantry , Dana was stationed in the garrison at Fort Pike , Louisiana , from 1842 to 1843 , then at Pass Christian , Mississippi , in 1843 , back at Ft . Pike from 1843 to 1845 , and afterwards he was part of the Military Occupation of Texas in 1845 . War with Mexico . During the Mexican – American War , Dana and the 7th participated in the defense of Fort Brown from May 3 – 9 , 1846 and then fought at the Battle of Monterrey on September 21 – 23 . He was promoted to first lieutenant on February 16 , 1847 , and took part in the Siege of Vera Cruz on March 9 – 29 . During the Battle of Cerro Gordo on April 17 and 18 , Dana was severely wounded in the hip while storming the entrenchments on Telegraph Hill . A burial detail came across the injured Dana after he had been left on the field for about 36 hours ; Dana had been left for dead where he fell . For his actions at Cerro Gordo , Dana was commissioned a brevet captain . After recovering from the injury , Dana was on recruiting service from 1847 to 1848 , on duty at Boston , Mass . as Assistant Quartermaster in 1848 , and then various posts in Minnesota and Washington , D . C . from 1848 to 1855 . Dana resigned from the army on March 1 , 1855 , and relocated to St . Paul , Minnesota , and became a banker . In 1857 Dana began serving in the Minnesota State Militia as a brigadier general until 1861 . Civil War service . Dana chose to follow the Union cause in the fall of 1861 , and entered the Union Army as a colonel of the 1st Minnesota Volunteer Infantry Regiment on October 2 . He was then given brigade command in Brig . Gen . Charles P . Stone ' s Division of the Army of the Potomac on October 20 , an assignment lasting until March 23 , 1862 . During this time Dana and his men took part in the Union fiasco at the Battle of Ball ' s Bluff on October 21 . On February 6 , 1862 , Dana was appointed brigadier general , to rank from February 3 , 1862 , and given command of the 3rd Brigade of the 2nd Division in the Union II Corps , a brigade consisting of volunteer soldiers from New York , Massachusetts , and Michigan . Dana led this brigade throughout the Peninsula Campaign in the spring and summer of 1862 , participating in the Siege of Yorktown in early April to early May , the Battle of Seven Pines in late May and early June , the Battle of White Oak Swamp on June 30 , the Battle of Glendale also on June 30 , and the Battle of Malvern Hill on July 1 . In early July , shortly after fighting at Malvern Hill , Dana became ill and was determined to be suffering from " remittant fever . " He was sent to Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , to recover and he remained there for six weeks . Dana was declared fit for duty near the beginning of the Maryland Campaign and rejoined his command . Antietam . Dana led his brigade notably during the Battle of Antietam near Sharpsburg , Maryland , on September 17 , 1862 , where he was severely wounded . At Antietam , Dana and his brigade ( part of Brig . Gen . John Sedgwick ' s 2nd Division of Maj . Gen . Edwin Vose Sumner ' s II Corps ) forded the Antietam Creek at about 7 : 30 a . m . and marched to the support of the right of the Union line . Sumner ordered Sedgwick ' s division to form three parallel lines of battle , with Dana ’ s men making up the second line . Sumner led this division due west , desiring to push any remaining Confederate forces through Sharpsburg and toward the Potomac River . They entered what is now called the East Woods , across the Hagerstown Turnpike , and into the area known as the West Woods . Marching about fifty yards behind the leading Union brigade , Dana ’ s command began to receive artillery fire but continued to head forward . Shortly after entering the West Woods , Dana ' s brigade was struck hard on their left by Confederate troops , and became in danger of being completely surrounded and cut off . Maneuvering his soldiers in the difficult terrain and spacing , Dana led his men to the relative safety of the Miller Farm , despite receiving a serious wound to his left leg . When the pain in his leg became unbearable , Dana turned command of his brigade over to his senior regimental commander , Col . Norman Hall , and was carried to a Union field hospital in nearby Keedysville for treatment . After spending two days at the field hospital , Dana was sent to Washington , D . C . and later again to Philadelphia to recover . At Antietam , Dana ' s command lost about 900 men killed , wounded , or missing . Dana was appointed to the rank of major general on November 29 , 1862 to rank from that date , but could not resume duty until the summer of 1863 due to his wound . Because his appointment was not confirmed by the U . S . Senate when first submitted by President Lincoln , the President resubmitted the nomination on March 6 , 1863 and the Senate confirmed it on March 9 , 1863 . During the Gettysburg Campaign he commanded the Defenses of Philadelphia from June 26 to July 8 . He next briefly led the 2nd division of Maj . Gen . Darius N . Couch ' s Department of the Susquehanna from July 11 – 15 . That fall , Dana was given divisional and then corps command in the Department of the Gulf . He led the Department ' s second division from September 26 , 1863 , to January 3 , 1864 , during which he participated in the small action at Fordoche Bayou as well as the expedition from Brazos Santiago to Laredo , Texas , and was overall Union commander during the Battle of Stirling ' s Plantation . He commanded the XIII Corps from October 25 , 1863 , to January 9 , 1864 , and then led the first division from March 11 to April 3 . Dana was then transferred to the Western Theater , and joined the Army of the Tennessee that fall . He was given command of the District of Vicksburg from August 19 to November 28 , and then briefly led the XVI Corps from October 15 to November 7 . Vicksburg command and the " Sultana " . Dana returned to command in Vicksburg , Mississippi , until December 8 , 1864 , when he was ordered to head the Department of Mississippi , this last of his U . S . Army assignments lasting until May 14 , 1865 . He was also in overall command of the area where the steamboat " Sultana " exploded on the Mississippi River near Memphis , Tennessee on April 27 . The paddlewheeler had been contracted by the U . S . Government to return home recently released Union prisoners of war , and when it docked in Vicksburg for repairs to leaky boilers it became grossly overcrowded with soldiers wanting to get home . An April 27 , 2007 , article in the " Washington Times " explained what Dana had been told about the ship before it departed Vicksburg : At 2 a . m . on April 27 , 1865 , the repaired boilers exploded , which instantly killed most of the passengers and crew and threw others into the Mississippi ; the survivors jumped into the chilly river to escape the flames . As the article states : Dana and other authorities investigated the incident , but no one was ever brought to trial for it . Postbellum . Dana resigned from the U . S . Army on May 27 , 1865 , and became a miner . In 1866 he was a general agent for the American - Russian Commercial Company of San Francisco , California . He worked for them until 1871 , traveling in California , Alaska , and Washington , D . C . In 1872 Dana began his lengthy connection with railroads . He served as superintendent of several railroads in Illinois , most notably of the Chicago , Burlington , and Quincy Railroad at Rock Island in 1878 . He was then the commissioner in charge of Railroad Pools at St . Louis , Missouri from 1878 to 1881 , and was president of the Montana and Union Railway Company in 1885 . Dana next served as chief of the Old War and Navy Division ( U . S . Pension Department ) in 1893 , and was promoted to 1st Deputy Commissioner of Pensions by U . S . President Grover Cleveland in 1895 . However , Dana was removed from this office by President William McKinley in 1897 . Due to a Special Act of the United States Congress in 1894 , Dana was commissioned a captain the U . S . Army from August 2 – 11 . He then placed on the retired list , enabling him to receive a pension . Dana lived out his final years in Washington , D . C . While visiting Portsmouth , New Hampshire , in the summer of 1905 , he died of apoplexy and was buried in Portsmouth ' s Harmony Grove Cemetery . An account of his experiences in the Mexican War were published in " Monterrey is Ours ! " in 1990 .