Brevet Maj. Gen. John "Black Jack" Davidson (USA)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wynn_Davidson

John Wynn Davidson (August 14, 1825 – June 26, 1881) was a major general in the United States Army and an American Indian fighter.

Biography

Davidson was born in Fairfax County, Virginia. He graduated from West Point. Shortly after graduation he was promoted to 2nd lieutenant in the 1st U.S. Dragoons and participated in the Mexican-American War, seeing considerable action at the San Pasqual and the Rio San Gabriel battles.

Following the war, Davidson was promoted to 1st lieutenant and assigned to the Western frontier. He served as the regimental quartermaster and adjutant. He led the 1st Cavalry Regiment against the Jicarilla Apaches in the Battle of Cieneguilla on March 30, 1854, where he was badly defeated in what was to be the fourth worst defeat suffered by the American military during the Western Indian Wars. In 1855 Davidson was promoted captain and was in command of Fort Tejon, California when the American Civil War erupted.

Civil War

He was allegedly offered a commission in the Confederate Army but turned it down. Davidson was transferred to the east and took command of a brigade in the newly formed Army of the Potomac. On February 3, 1862 he was promoted to brigadier general of U.S. volunteers.

General Davidson assumed command of the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Division, IV Corps during the Peninsula Campaign. He fought at the battles of Yorktown and Williamsburg. During the Seven Days Battles he received brevet promotions in the Regular Army for his service at Gaines' Mill and Golding's Farm. Shortly after the culmination of the Seven Days' fighting, Davidson was transferred to the Trans-Mississippi Theater where he was placed in command of the District of St. Louis. From December 3, 1862 to March 26, 1863 he was also in command of the so called Army of Southeast Missouri until much of his army was transferred to Ulysses S. Grant in preparation for the Vicksburg Campaign. He retained command of the Dist. of St. Louis until June 16, 1863 when he briefly commanded the Dist. of Southeast Missouri.

From August 10 to November 3, 1863 Davidson commanded the 1st Division of Frederick Steele's Army of Arkansas in his most distinguished role in the west. He led Union advance into central Arkansas and won the battle of Bayou Fourche, which led directly to the fall of Confederate-held Little Rock. After the Little Rock expedition, Davidson commanded the cavalry in the Dept. of the Gulf before returning to command the cavalry in the Dist. of Southeast Missouri. For the remainder of the war, Davidson held various administrative commands in Mississippi. He was mustered out of the volunteer service on January 15, 1866.

Following the end of the American Civil War Davidson was again posted on the Western frontier, this time as a lieutenant colonel of the 10th Cavalry, known as the Buffalo Soldiers. It was there that he acquired the nickname "Black Jack."

In 1879 he was transferred to the 2nd Cavalry, to Fort Custer in the Montana Territory. Davidson died in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1881 after being seriously injured during an inspection tour. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Civil War Union Brigadier General. Born at Fairfax County, Virginia, he came from a military family, as his grandfather had been a General in the Revolutionary War, and his father, a graduate of the United States Military Academy in 1815, died in the service of his country in 1840. He graduated from West Point in 1845, placing 27th in a class of 41 that included future Union Generals Fitz John Porter, Gordon Granger and David Russell, as well as future Confederate Generals William Whiting, Edmund Kirby Smith and Bernard E. Bee. He was posted to the Dragoons and was wounded in a fight with a band of Apaches at Cienequilla, New Mexico, on March 30, 1854. At the outbreak of the Civil War he was serving in California and remained with the Union when his state seceded. Heading east, he took command of a brigade near Washington D.C. He was promoted to Brigadier General, US Volunteers in February 1862, and led his brigade in the Army of the Potomac’s IV and later in the VI Corps during the Spring 1862 Peninsular Campaign. During the June Battle of the Seven Days he earned Regular Army brevets for the Battles of Gaines' Mill and Golding's Farm. Transferred to Missouri that summer, he commanded the District of St. Louis. He participated in the operations that resulted in the capture of Little Rock, Arkansas and received a brevet of Brigadier General, US Regular Army. He finished the war in charge at Natchez, Mississippi, and was brevetted Major General in both the Regular and Volunteer services for his war record. Mustered out of the volunteers on January 15, 1866, he remained on active duty, being commissioned Lieutenant Colonel and assigned to the 10th United States Cavalry. Since the regiment consisted of black buffalo soldiers, he soon acquired the nickname "Black Jack." From 1868 until 1871, he was a professor of military science-tactics at the Kansas Agricultural College. With the outbreak of the Red River War, he was called into action in the Texas Panhandle in search of Indians. Despite suffering several hardships during the two month pursuit, he and his subordinates destroyed several Indian camps and captured nearly 400 Indians and over 2,000 of their horses before returning to Fort Sill. In March 1875 he relinquished regimental command, and was transferred to Fort Griffin in Shackelford County, Texas. In December 1876 he became commander at Fort Richardson until its abandonment in 1878, then once more at Fort Sill. In January 1879 he was sent to command the garrison at Fort Elliott. Promoted to Colonel of the 2nd United States Cavalry on June 25, he took command of the regiment at Fort Custer, Montana. On February 8, 1881, he was seriously injured during an inspection tour when his horse slipped on ice and fell on top of him. He died at St. Paul, Minnesota, on June 26, 1881. He was originally buried in the Bellefontaine Cemetery in St. Louis, Missouri, however his remains were reinterred in Arlington in 1911.* Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Nov 21 2023, 5:09:23 UTC