Russell A . Alger Russell Alexander Alger ( February 27 , 1836January 24 , 1907 ) was the 20th Governor and U . S . Senator from the state of Michigan and also U . S . Secretary of War during the Presidential administration of William McKinley . He was supposedly a distant relation of Horatio Alger ; although Russell Alger lived his own " rags - to - riches " success tale , eventually becoming a financier , lumber baron , railroad owner , and government official in several high offices . Early life and career . Alger was born on February 27 , 1836 , in Lafayette Township in Medina County , Ohio . His parents were Russell and Caroline ( Moulton ) Alger . He was orphaned at age 13 and worked on a farm to support himself and two younger siblings . He attended Richfield Academy in Summit County , Ohio , and taught country school for two winters . He studied law in Akron , Ohio , and was admitted to the bar in March 1859 . He first began to practice law in Cleveland and moved to Grand Rapids , Michigan , in 1860 , where he engaged in the lumber business . On April 2 , 1861 , he married Annette H . Henry of Grand Rapids . They had six children ; Fay , Caroline , Frances , Russell Jr . , Fred and Allan . He was the scion of a prominent family , many of whom became involved in 20th century Michigan politics and active in the Republican Party . His son , Russell A . Alger , Jr . , was instrumental in persuading the Packard Motor Car Company to move to Michigan from Ohio ; he also built in Grosse Pointe , Michigan , a palatial Italian Renaissance style estate , " The Moorings " , which was donated in 1949 and became the Grosse Pointe War Memorial , honoring veterans of World War II . Russell A . Alger had a home in Black River which is in Alcona Township , Michigan , which he maintained while overseeing his lumbering operations . Civil War . He enlisted as a private soldier in the American Civil War in 1861 . He was commissioned and served as a captain and major in the 2nd Michigan Cavalry Regiment . At the Battle of Boonesville , July 11 , 1862 , he was sent by Colonel Philip Sheridan to attack the enemy ' s rear with ninety picked men . The Confederate forces were soundly defeated , and although Alger was wounded and taken prisoner , he escaped the same day . On October 16 , he was made lieutenant colonel of the 6th Michigan Cavalry . On February 28 , 1863 , he was promoted to colonel of the 5th Michigan Cavalry . His command was the first to enter Gettysburg , Pennsylvania , on June 28 , and he was specially mentioned in the report of General George Armstrong Custer on cavalry operations there . Alger was considered a military strategist and stood with President Lincoln on the battlefield surveying the Union supplies and while pursuing the enemy on July 8 , he was severely wounded at Boonesborough , Maryland . He participated in General Sheridan ' s Valley Campaigns of 1864 in Virginia . On June 11 , 1864 , at Trevillian Station , he captured a large force of Confederates with a brilliant cavalry charge . Alger resigned from the army on September 20 , 1864 . On January 13 , 1866 , President Andrew Johnson nominated Alger for the award of the grade of brevet brigadier general of volunteers to rank from June 11 , 1865 , and the U . S . Senate confirmed the award on March 12 , 1866 . On February 28 , 1867 , President Johnson nominated Alger for the award of the grade of brevet major general of volunteers to rank from June 11 , 1865 , and the U . S . Senate confirmed the award on March 2 , 1867 . In three years , he served in 66 different battles and skirmishes . In 1868 , he was elected the first commander of the Michigan department of the Grand Army of the Republic , and in 1889 became its national Commander - in - chief at the Twenty - Third National Encampment in Milwaukee , Wisconsin . Lumber baron . After the Civil War , Alger settled in Detroit as head of Alger , Smith & Company and the Manistique Lumbering Company . His great pine forest on Lake Huron comprised more than and produced annually more than of lumber . At the turn of the 20th century ( following Alger ' s service as Secretary of War ) , he and Florida landowner Martin Sullivan established the Alger - Sullivan Lumber Company , which milled lumber in Century , Florida . Politics . In 1884 , Alger was elected Governor of Michigan , serving from January 1 , 1885 , to January 1 , 1887 . He declined renomination in 1886 and was a presidential elector on the Republican ticket in 1888 . In 1888 , he was elected as the first Commander of the Michigan Department of the Grand Army of the Republic and as the 18th Commander - in - Chief of the GAR in 1889 . Alger was appointed Secretary of War in the Cabinet of U . S . President William McKinley on March 5 , 1897 . As Secretary , he recommended pay increases for military personnel serving at foreign embassies and legation s . He recommended legislation to authorize a Second Assistant Secretary of War and recommended a constabulary force for Cuba , Puerto Rico , and the Philippines . He was criticized for the inadequate preparation and inefficient operation of the department during the Spanish - American War , especially for his appointment of William R . Shafter as leader of the Cuban expedition . " Algerism " became an epithet to describe the claimed incompetence of the army , especially as compared to the more stellar performance of the navy . Alger resigned at President McKinley ' s request , August 1 , 1899 , though he perhaps got the last word on his critics by publishing " The Spanish - American War " in 1901 . One sidelight of Alger ' s career in the McKinley Administration was his personal vendetta against former Confederate partisan Col . John Singleton Mosby . Mosby , a famous ( or notorious ) figure , had been United States Consul at Hong Kong , China , under Hayes but had been replaced with the election of Democrat Grover Cleveland . Upon his return to the United States , Mosby had taken a position obtained for him by his close friend former President Ulysses S . Grant with the Southern Pacific Railroad which he held for fifteen years . When the railroad changed ownership , Mosby lost his position so when McKinley became President , he returned east to seek out a position with the new administration . Mosby had known McKinley for many years through his involvement in Republican politics both in Virginia and California . Unknown to Mosby as he headed east with hopes of a good position with the new administration , Alger was doing all in his power to thwart the former Confederate guerrilla . His hatred for Mosby was personal . While Alger served with Sheridan in the Shenandoah in 1864 , a number of his command had been caught burning homes in the Valley and had been executed by members of Mosby ' s command as war criminals . Alger never forgot nor forgave what had happened for though Mosby was not present at the time of the events , he had concurred with the actions of his men . So despite having been asked to send a list to the McKinley administration of what posts he desired , by the time he arrived from the west coast Mosby found that all had been " unexpectedly " given to someone else and he was forced to return to the west coast disappointed and unemployed . But Alger ' s involvement with the defeat of Mosby ' s hopes did not remain hidden . It was reported in the May 11 , 1898 , San Francisco Call under the headline " Alger Dislikes Mosby " and it is probable that until he read that article , the 65 year old Mosby had no idea that his failure to obtain a position was anything other than bad luck . Eventually , the feisty old Virginian outlasted both Alger and McKinley and in 1902 , he was appointed as an investigator with the Department of the Interior by McKinley ' s successor , Teddy Roosevelt to deal with Nebraska cattle barons who were fencing in government lands contrary to federal law . But Mosby ' s troubles were far from over . He ran into difficulties when his investigation led to indictments against several very prominent and wealthy cattlemen . Efforts were made by the Senators from Nebraska to have Mosby removed from the investigation by claiming that he had charged them with misconduct and it is probable – but not provable – that then Senator Alger might well have helped in that effort given his feelings about the old Confederate . So Mosby was removed , but in the end , the cattlemen were convicted and one died in prison while at least one Senator who had charged Mosby with misconduct was himself removed from office for misconduct . On September 27 , 1902 , Alger was appointed by Michigan Governor Aaron T . Bliss to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of James McMillan . He was subsequently elected by the Michigan State Legislature to the Senate in January 1903 . He served until his death in Washington , D . C . in 1907 . During a memorial address in remembrance of Senator Alger , Senator John Spooner of Wisconsin said of the late senator : " No man without noble purpose , well - justified ambitions , strong fiber , and splendid qualities in abundance could have carved out and left behind him such a career . " He was chairman of the Senate Committee on Pacific Railroads during the 59th Congress . He is interred in Elmwood Cemetery in Detroit , Michigan . Legacy . Alger County , Michigan , is named for him . A monument by Detroit sculptor Carlo Romanelli , consisting of a bronze bust of Alger mounted on a stone pedestal , is located on the grounds of the William G . Mather Building in Munising , Michigan . It was erected in June 1909 , with funds provided by the heirs of Alger and by the Board of Education of the Munising Township Schools . A memorial fountain in Grand Circus Park , where it intersects East Adams and Woodward in downtown Detroit by sculptor Daniel Chester French and architect Henry Bacon was dedicated in Detroit in 1921 . In 1898 , a movie was made , entitled " General Wheeler and Secretary of War Alger at Camp Wikoff " , that documents an official visit as Secretary of War . Camp Wikoff was in New York , and this was an early event that permitted the McKinley administration to garner support from the New York newspapers . In May 1898 , his War Department established Camp Russell A . Alger on a farm of called " Woodburn Manor " near the small communities of Falls Church and Dunn Loring , Virginia . In its brief existence , 23 , 000 men trained there for service in the Spanish - American War . Faced with a typhoid fever epidemic , it was abandoned the month that the War ended ( in August 1898 ) , and sold the following month . It is commemorated by an official Virginia historical marker . Alger , Michigan is named after him . It is a small community founded in the late - 19th century located in the area of the lower peninsula where he oversaw lumbering and railroad operations . Russell A . Alger street is in Black River , Michigan . The Grosse Pointe War Memorial is housed in one of the Alger family ' s former homes . The Southeast side Grand Rapids , Michigan neighborhood Alger Heights is named after him . In 1942 , a United States Liberty ship named the was planned , but cancelled before construction . Retrieved on 2008 - 02 - 11