Maj. Gen. Edwin Vose Sumner
Born: January 30, 1797
Boston, Massachusetts
Died: March 21, 1863
Syracuse, New York
March 3, 1819: 2nd Lieutenant
January 25, 1825: 1st Lieutenant
March 3, 1833: Captain
June 30, 1846: Major
April 18, 1847: Brevet Lieut. Col.
September 8, 1847: Brevet Col.
July 23, 1848: Lieut. Col.
March 3, 1855: Colonel
March 16, 1861: Brig. Gen.
June 1, 1862: Brevet Maj. Gen.
Maj. Gen. Edwin Vose Sumner
Courtesy of Library of Congress
March 3, 1819: Entered the Army as a 2nd Lieutenant
January 25, 1825: Promoted to 1st Lieutenant
April - August 1832: Black Hawk War
March 3, 1833: Promoted to Captain and assigned to command Company B, U.S. Dragoon Regiment (later 1st U.S. Dragoons)
1838: Cavalry instructional establishment at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania
1842-1845: Ft. Atkinson, Iowa - Fort's commander for majority of the time
June 30, 1846: Promoted to Major of 2nd Dragoons
1846-1848: Mexican/American War
April 18, 1847: Battle of Cerro Gordo - Brevetted for bravery to Lieut. Col. - Also gained the nickname "Bull Head"
September 8, 1847: Battle of Molino del Rey - Brevet rank of Colonel
July 23, 1848: Promoted to Lieut. Col. of the 1st U.S. Dragoons
1851-1853: Military governor of New Mexico Territory
March 3, 1855: Promoted to Colonel of 1st U.S. Cavalry
1856: Commander at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas
Bleeding Kansas
1857: As commander of the 1st Cavalry Regiment, led a punitive expedition against the Cheyenne
1858: Commanded the Department of the West
January 1861: Wrote President elect Lincoln, advising him to carry a weapon. Lt. Gen. Winfield Scott assigned Sumner as senior officer to accompany Lincoln from Springfield to Washington, D.C. in March 1861
May 12, 1861: Nominated to Brig. General effective March 16, 1861 in Regular Army
Was sent to California to replace Brig. Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston
November 1861:Recalled to the east to command a division. With the reorganization of the Army of the Potomac, was given command of the II Corps
March - July 1862: Peninsula Campaign
May 25, 1862: Battle of Williamsburg
June 25 - July 1, 1862: Seven Days Battle
June 30, 1862: Battle of Glendale - Injured by spent balls
July 4, 1862: Promoted to Major General of Volunteers dated May 5, 1862
September 17, 1862: Battle of Antietam
December 13, 1862: Battle of Fredericksburg
January 26, 1863: Gen. Hooker relieves him of duty
Reassigned to Department of the Ohio
Went to daughter's home in Syracuse, New York to rest. Caught a fever and died on March 21, 1863.
Boatner, Mark M. III. The Civil War Dictionary. New York: David McKay, 1967, p 818
Edwin Vose Sumner. 25 April 2020. web. 23 July 2020.
Warner, Ezra J. Generals in Blue Lives of the Union Commanders. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State, 1964. p 489-490