James W . Forsyth James William Forsyth ( August 8 , 1835 – October 24 , 1906 ) was a U . S . Army officer and general . He was primarily a Union staff officer during the American Civil War and cavalry regimental commander during the Indian Wars . Early life . Forsyth was born in Maumee , Ohio , where he attended the local schools . He attended West Point from 1851 to 1856 and received a commission as second lieutenant in Co . D , 9th U . S . Infantry . He was instrumental in the completion of the frontier fort at San Juan Island and served as the company ' s acting commander when Captain George E . Pickett was away on leave . After serving in Washington Territory at Fort Bellingham and Camp Pickett , Suan Juan Island , Forsyth was promoted to first lieutenant in 1861 and returned to the East to command Union forces in the Civil War . Civil War . Forsyth joined the Union Army as colonel of the 64th Ohio Infantry on 9 November 1861 . He was temporarily in command of a brigade during Don Carlos Buell ' s march to the relief of Maj . Gen . U . S . Grant at Shiloh . However , the day before the battle began the brigade ' s regular commander , James A . Garfield , returned and Forsyth did not participate in the actual battle . Forsyth relinquished command of the 64th Ohio to Colonel John Ferguson on 1 January 1862 . In 1862 he transferred to the Army of the Potomac where he served as the assistant U . S . inspector general during the Peninsular Campaign . During the Maryland Campaign he was assigned as aide - de - camp to Major General Joseph K . F . Mansfield until the latter ' s untimely death at the Battle of Antietam . Forsyth then became provost marshal to the Army of the Potomac at the Battle of Fredericksburg . In 1863 Forsyth transferred back to the Western Theater to serve as adjutant to General Philip H . Sheridan at Chickamauga . Forsyth was brevetted to major in the Regular Army for his service Chickamauga . When Sheridan transferred to the Army of the Potomac ' s Cavalry Corps , Forsyth followed as his chief of staff . He participated in this capacity during the Overland Campaign . He was subsequently chief of staff of the Army of the Shenandoah during the Shenandoah Valley Campaign of 1864 and chief of staff to the Union Cavalries during the Appomattox Campaign . He received brevets to lieutenant colonel , U . S . A . for Cedar Creek , colonel , U . S . A . for Five Forks and brigadier general , U . S . Volunteers , for the Shenandoah Valley Campaign . On January 13 , 1866 , President Andrew Johnson promoted Forsyth to brigadier general of Volunteers to rank from May 19 , 1865 . The U . S . Senate confirmed the appointment on February 23 , 1866 , notwithstanding that Forsyth was mustered out of the volunteer service on January 15 , 1866 . On July 17 , 1866 , President Johnson nominated Forsyth for appointment as a brevet brigadier general in the regular army to rank from April 9 , 1865 . The Senate confirmed the appointment on July 23 , 1866 . Forsyth served on the Sheridan ' s staff along with Wesley Merritt , Thomas Devin , and George A . Custer . Later , all of these men would become famous Indian fighters . After the war , Forsyth joined the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States . Indian Wars . Forsyth remained in the Regular Army after the end of the Civil War . He commanded a brigade of cavalry for two years and was a strong supporter of African Americans and buffalo soldiers . He then joined Sheridan again in 1867 , and moved with him when he became commander of the Department of the Missouri in 1866 . Forsyth served first as the department ' s secretary and then as inspector , with an appointment in the cavalry . He took part in military campaigns against the Comanche , Cheyenne , Arapaho , and Kiowa Indians in 1868 - 69 . Forsyth went to Europe in 1870 as an official observer of the Franco - Prussian War . In 1878 Forsyth commanded the 1st U . S . Cavalry in the Bannock War , having considerable success in this role . In 1885 Forsyth was in command of Fort Maginnis , Montana where the army was monitoring the Crow , Cree , and the Gros Ventres ( Atsina ) Indians . On July 11 , 1886 , alfer a leave of absence of two months , Forsyth was promoted to Colonel of the 7th U . S . Cavalry , assumed command of the regiment July 26 , 1886 , at Fort Meade , South Dakota and marched to Fort Riley , Kansas , where he arrived September 8 , 1887 , where he remained in command until Nov . 10th , 1890 , during which time he organized and developed the system of instruction for light artillery and cavalry for the School of Application for Infantry and Cavalry . Forsyth was in command of the 7th Cavalry at the Wounded Knee Massacre on December 29 , 1890 . On November 9 , 1894 , Brigadier General Alexander McDowell McCook was promoted to major general to hold the position vacated by the retirement of Major General Oliver O . Howard . Colonel Forsyth was promoted to the rank of brigadier general to succeed McCook , and was appointed commander of the Department of California . On May 11 , 1897 Forsyth was promoted to major general to succeed Major General Frank Wheaton who had retired on May 8 . Forsyth retired from the Army three days later . Forsyth married the daughter of Ohio Governor William Dennison . The couple had four children . He died on October 24 , 1906 in Columbus , Ohio , and is buried in Green Lawn Cemetery .