Brig. Gen. Isaac Peace Rodman, USA

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_P._Rodman

Isaac Peace Rodman was a Rhode Island banker and politician, and a Union Army brigadier general in the American Civil War, mortally wounded at the Battle of Antietam.

Early life and career

Rodman was born in South Kingstown, Rhode Island the son of Samuel Rodman and Mary Peckham. He was married to Sally Lyman Arnold, daughter of Rhode Island Governor Lemuel H. Arnold. His brother-in-law was future Civil War general Richard Arnold.

He entered into a partnership with his brother Rowland Gibson Rodman and his father Samuel Rodman, under the name S. Rodman & Sons. Isaac Rodman was for many years president of the town council of South Kingstown, a representative for several terms in the Rhode Island General Assembly, in the Rhode Island Senate. He was also a director in the Wakefield Bank and the Institution for Savings. As well as being a politician, businessman, and banker, Isaac Rodman was a devoted Quaker, a teacher of a Bible study class, and a superintendent of a Sunday school.

Civil War

At the start of the Civil War, Rodman was torn between the precepts of his religion and his loyalty to the Union, but unhesitatingly raised a group of local residents for the 2nd Rhode Island Infantry regiment and was given the rank of captain. The regiment fought in the First Battle of Bull Run in the brigade of Brigadier General Ambrose Burnside and suffered heavy losses, including the regiment's colonel. Rodman was appointed as colonel of the new 4th Rhode Island by Rhode Island Governor William Sprague on October 3, 1861. He fought under Burnside in North Carolina in the Battle of Roanoke Island, and then at the Battle of New Berne, where he distinguished himself for his gallantry and was made a brigadier general on April 28, 1862. After the Battle of Fort Macon, he contracted typhoid fever and returned to South Kingstown.

General Burnside wrote to Rodman, convalescing at home, to inform him of a need for officers for an upcoming battle in the Maryland Campaign, opposing Confederate General Robert E. Lee's first invasion of the North. Still ailing and against the advice of his physician, he returned to the Army after only a few weeks. In the Battle of South Mountain he led the 3rd Division of the IX Corps to take Turner's Gap. During that assault, IX Corps commander Maj. Gen. Jesse L. Reno was killed and he was replaced by Burnside. Three days later, in the Battle of Antietam, on September 17, 1862, Burnside's corps was ordered to strike the right flank of the Confederate army, on the heights to the south of Sharpsburg. The corps was held up attempting to cross the single, heavily defended, bridge across Antietam Creek in that sector (now known as Burnside Bridge) and Burnside sent Rodman's 3rd Division downstream to find a fording spot and flank the enemy defending the bridge. No one in the army had reconnoitered the proposed ford, two-thirds of a mile south of the bridge, and they found out too late that it was unusable due to its steep banks. Rodman's men spent three hours before finally finding and crossing Snavely's Ford two miles farther downstream at 1 p.m., by which time Burnside Bridge had finally been taken. The corps made good progress from that point in driving west towards Sharpsburg, but at 4:00 p.m. A. P. Hill's Light Division joined the battle, launching a spirited counterattack after a rapid forced march from Harpers Ferry. Sighting the approaching Confederates, Rodman knew his division, on the Union army's left flank, would take the brunt of their assault. Galloping across a cornfield to warn his brigade commanders, he was shot through the left lung, mortally wounded. He died thirteen days later in a field hospital at Sharpsburg.

In a funeral oration, Senator Henry B. Anthony said of Rodman:

Here lies the true type of the patriot soldier. Born and educated to peaceful pursuits, with no thirst for military distinction, with little taste or predilection for military life, he answered the earliest call of his country, and drew his sword in her defense. Entering the service in a subordinate capacity, he rose by merit alone to the high rank in which he fell; and when the fatal shot struck him, the captain of one year ago was in command of a division. His rapid promotion was influenced by no solicitations of his own. He never joined the crowd that throng the avenues of preferment. Patient, laborious, courageous, wholly devoted to his duties, he filled each place so well that his advancement to the next was a matter of course, and the promotion which he did not seek sought him. He was one of the best type of the American citizen; of thorough business training, of high integrity, with an abiding sense of the justice due to all, and influenced by deep religious convictions. In his native village he was by common consent the arbitrator of differences, the counselor and friend of all.

Isaac Rodman is buried in the Rodman family cemetery, Peace Dale, Rhode Island. Rodman's house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places listings in Washington County, Rhode Island on April 23, 1990.

Link: http://ahistorygarden.blogspot.com/2012/08/remembering-and-forgetti...

"The Hazard Family of Rhode Island 1635-1894 - Being a Genealogy and History of the Descendants of Thomas Hazard, with Sketches of the Worthies of this Family, and Anecdotes Illustrative of their Traits and also of the Times in which they Lived", by Caroline E. Robinson, 1806

ISAAC PEACE RODMAN was born in South Kingstown, Rhode Island, August 18, 1822. He was educated in the public schools of his native town, but early entered the manufacturing business with his father. He had a passionate love for books, combined with a remarkable memory. His leisure hours were for years devoted to study, and thus he was enabled to take his place amongst men of a more liberal education on an equal footing.

After a few years of initiatory labor in his father's mills, he, together with his brother, Rowland G. Rodman, entered into partnership with their father, under the name of S. Rodman and Sons.

He was for several years President of the Town Council of South Kingstown, and was a Representative for several terms in the General Assembly of Rhode Island, and also in the Senate of the State.

When President Lincoln called for seventy-five thousand men, at the commencement of the Civil War, he was among the first to respond to the call. He raised a military company composed of his fellow-townsmen for the Second Rhode Island Regiment of Volunteers, and was appointed by Governor Sprague its Captain. For his gallant conduct at the battle of Bull Run, Governor Sprague, when the Fourth Rhode Island Regiment was mustered into service, appointed him lieutenant-colonel, and soon after colonel. He distinguished himself by his gallant conduct in the battle of Roanoke, February 8, 1862, and at Newbern, March 15, 1862. Abbott, in his 'History of the Civil War; said, in speaking of this battle: 'The charge by Colonel Rodman, leading the Fourth Rhode Island Regiment, was one of the most heroic deeds of the day.' This gallant charge won a brigadier-general's commission for Colonel Rodman. Yet he always insisted that his regiment deserved more credit for their conduct at the battle of Roanoke Island, in which they took a conspicuous part, than at the batter of Newbern. It was about this time that Mr. Robert Hale Ives, of Providence, asked Governor Sprague to give his son Robert a place on General Rodman's staff. 'Do you know what you're asking for?' said the governor; 'he is your only son, and to give him this position means certain death, for General Rodman is the bravest man I ever knew, and will lead your son into the very midst of danger. Let me place him on General Burnside's staff, where he will be in comparative safety.' Mr. Ives said that his son would take no other position than on General Rodman's staff; and so the brave young man met death, with his brave leader, on the field of Antietam.

After the capture of Fort Macon, April 17, 1862, General Rodman contracted typhoid fever, and was obliged to return home, 'broken in health, but crowned with the glories he had won.'

He remained at home but a few weeks; before his furlough was ended or his health re-established, General Burnside wrote to him, saying that the army was on the eve of a great battle, urging him to return if possible, as there was great need for commanding officers; and, against the remonstrance of his physician, he hastened back.

At the battle of Antietam, September 17, 1862, he commanded the Third Division of the Ninth Army Corps, and fell, mortally wounded, while leading his division to the charge. 'Though feeble in health, and exhausted from five days and nights of arduous service, he kept in the saddle from early dawn till sunset, when he fell, pierced with a minie ball through his left breast. Surgical aid and efforts of friends were unavailing to save his life; his system was exhausted. His patience in suffering was equal to his courage on the battle-field. He died as he lived, a Christian soldier. His physician, who had witnessed many death-bed scenes, said that for calm, conscious, peaceful resignation, he never witnessed it equal. From the time he left home in the spring of 1861 to the hour of his fall, his Bible was his daily companion, and was daily read by him. It was found in his bosom, clotted with his blood.

Abbott, in closing a notice of General Rodman, says, 'At Antietam, while at the head of his division, and performing the part of major-general, a bullet pierced his breast, and he was carried to a house in the rear. There, after a lapse of thirteen days, he died. His remains were buried at his native place, South Kingstown, with the highest honors. He was mourned as one of the purest and best of men.

The State of Rhode Island brought back his remains amid demonstrations of mourning, and laid them in state in the Hall of Representatives. His funeral was conducted by the State. The State has also placed his portrait in the Memorial Hall of Brown University, at Providence.

Senator Henry B. Anthony, in a funeral oration, said of him: 'Here lies the true type of the patriot soldier. Born and educated to peaceful pursuits, with no thirst for military distinction, with little taste of predilection for military life, he answered the earliest call of his country, and drew his sword in her defense. Entering the service in a subordinate capacity, he rose by merit alone to the high rank in which he fell; and when the fatal shot struct him, the captain of one year ago was in command of a division. His rapid promotion was influenced by no solicitations of his own. He never joined the crowd that thronged the avenues of preferment. Patient, laborious, courageous, wholly devoted to his duties, he filled each place so well that his advancement to the next was a matter of course, and the promotion, which he did not seek, sought him.

He was the best type of the American citizen; of thorough business training, of high integrity, with an abiding sense of the justice due to all, and influenced by deep religious convictions. In his native billage he was by common consent the arbiter of differences, the counsellor and friend of all.

He was buried in the family burying ground, at South Kingstown, on the fifth of October, 1862.

He married, June 17, 1847, Sally, daughter of Governor Lemuel Hastings and Sally (Lyman) Arnold.