Zenas Bliss Zenas Randall Bliss ( April 17 , 1835 – January 2 , 1900 ) was an officer and general in the United States Army and a recipient of the Medal of Honor . He formed the first unit of Seminole - Negro Indian Scouts , and his detailed memoirs chronicled life on the Texas frontier . He was the father of Rhode Island Lieutenant Governor Zenas Work Bliss . Bliss was a native of Rhode Island and graduated from West Point in 1854 . He served most of his thirty - seven - year career on the Texas frontier , and served in the Union Army during the American Civil War . During the Civil War he was captured by Confederate forces and held as a prisoner of war . Bliss received the Medal of Honor for his actions while leading his regiment at the Battle of Fredericksburg . Early life and military career . Bliss was born April 17 , 1835 in Johnston , Rhode Island to an upper - middle - class family . His parents were Zenas and Phebe Waterman Randall Bliss . He received an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point , New York , in July 1850 when he was only fifteen years old . He graduated from West Point in 1854 and served the next six years in Texas . He was stationed at Fort Davis and Fort Quitman , but his first assignment was as a brevet second lieutenant in the 1st U . S . Infantry regiment . He was promoted to the full rank of second lieutenant in the 8th U . S . Infantry on March 3 , 1855 and subsequently promoted to first lieutenant on October 17 , 1860 . Following the outbreak of war , he was promoted to captain on May 14 , 1861 . Civil War service . When the American Civil War began on April 12 , 1861 Bliss immediately saw action . He was captured by Confederate forces and spent eleven months as a prisoner of war , first in San Antonio , Texas , and later in Richmond , Virginia . He was finally exchanged and sent back to Union lines where he subsequently took command of the Tenth Rhode Island Infantry . He received a commission in the volunteer army as a colonel in May 1862 . Bliss assumed command of the Seventh Rhode Island Infantry on August 21 , 1862 . In October 1862 the Seventh Rhode Island joined the First Brigade , Second Division , Ninth Corps , Army of the Potomac . The regiment saw action in December 1862 at the Battle of Fredericksburg , during which Bliss performed actions that earned him the Medal of Honor several decades later . When IX Corps was sent West , it participated in the Siege of Vicksburg . The Seventh served under Major General William T . Sherman in the capture of Jackson , Mississippi . In April 1864 the Seventh rejoined the Army of the Potomac . Bliss became commander of the First Brigade , Second Division , Ninth Corps . His brigade fought in the Battle of the Wilderness . Bliss was badly injured by a horse at Spotsylvania , but he returned to lead his brigade in the Siege of Petersburg and the Battle of the Crater . The court of inquiry following the fiasco at the Crater censured Bliss , but he remained on duty . During the Civil War , Bliss received a brevet ( honorary promotion ) to major dated December 13 , 1862 , for " gallantry and meritorious service " in the Battle of Fredericksburg . He was later breveted to lieutenant colonel on May 7 , 1864 , for " gallantry and meritorious service " in the Battle of the Wilderness . He was awarded the Medal of Honor on December 3 , 1898 , for valor during the Battle of Fredericksburg . Postbellum career . Bliss remained in the Regular Army after the Civil War and was promoted to major of the 30th Infantry Regiment ( a unit with black soldiers and white officers ) on August 6 , 1867 . He was promoted to lieutenant colonel of the 19th Infantry on March 4 , 1879 , and to colonel of the 24th Infantry on April 20 , 1886 . Bliss was promoted to brigadier general in the Regular Army April 24 , 1895 , and to major general on May 14 , 1897 . He retired from the Army eight days later on May 22 . Including his four years at West Point , Bliss had served 46 years , 10 months and 22 days in uniform when he retired . Bliss was a member of the District of Columbia Commandery of the Loyal Legion and was assigned insignia number 2601 . Zenas Bliss died in Washington , D . C . January 2 , 1900 , at age 64 . He is buried alongside his wife at Arlington National Cemetery at Arlington , Virginia . His grave can be found in section 1 , lot 8 - B . The Bliss family had four children , two of whom lived to adulthood . He was the father of Zenas Work Bliss ( 1867 - 1957 ) who served as lieutenant governor of Rhode Island from 1910 to 1913 . Medal of Honor citation . Rank and organization : Colonel , Seventh Rhode Island Infantry . Place and date : At Fredericksburg , VA . , 13 Dec 1862 . This officer , to encourage his regiment ; which had never before been in action , and which had been ordered to lie down to protect itself from the enemy ' s fire , arose to his feet , advanced in front of the line , and himself fired several shots at the enemy at short range , being fully exposed to their fire at the time .