Maj. Gen. Quincy A. Gillmore
Born: February 28, 1825
Black River, Ohio
Died: April 7, 1888
Brooklyn, New York
West Point Graduate: 1845
2nd Lieutenant: 1845
1st Lieutenant: 1856
August 6, 1861: Captain
April 18, 1862: Brevet Brig. General
March 13, 1865: Maj. General
May 1865: Resigned from Volunteers
Major in Corps of Engineers
June 13, 1874: Lieutenant Colonel
February 20, 1883: Colonel
Maj. Gen. Quincy Adams Gillmore
1845: West Point Graduate 1st out of 43 class members: as 2nd Lieutenant
Appointed to the engineers
1856: Promoted too 1st Lieutenant
1849-1852: Engaged in constructing fortifications at Hampton Roads, Virginia
1852-1856: Instructor of Military Engineering at West Point
1856: Received Honorary Master of Arts degree at Oberlin College
1856: Purchasing agent in New York City
August 6, 1861: Promoted to Captain
With the beginning of the war, was assigned to Brig. Gen. Sherman's staff and traveled with him to Port Royal, South Carolina
April 18, 1862: Appointed Brevet Brig. General
April 10-11, 1862: Became commander of the Siege Operation of Fort Pulaski - He favored the new artillery rifled shells and put more than 5,000 artillery shells into the fort.
Was assigned to Lexington, Kentucky where he constructed Fort Clay overlooking the city. He commanded a division of the Army of Kentucky.
March 31, 1863: Battle of Somerset
June 12, 1863 - May 1, 1864: Department of the South consisting of North and South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. The army built two earthen forts in coastal South Carolina - Fort Matchel and Fort Holbrook
Gillmore ordered his command to become integrated. The 54th Massachusetts was a regiment of African-Americans and are the subject of the movie, Glory.
July 10, 1863: First Attack on Fort Wagner
July 18, 1863: Second Attack on Fort Wagner
Gillmore decided on siege operations against Fort Wagner. He used a new gun called the 25-barreled Requa Gun and used a calcium flood light to blind the enemy while they were digging trenches. Gillmore implaned a 200-pound Parrott rifle. The gun could fire shots into Charleston and destroyed Fort Sumter.
September 7, 1863: Captured Fort Wagner
February 1864: Gillmore sent troops to Florida with orders not to advance into the interior. General Seymour Truman advanced towards Tallahassee and fought the largest battle in Florida, Battle of Olustee
May 1864: Gillmore and the X Corps were transferred to the Army of the James and shipped to Virginia
May 12-16, 1864: Battle of Proctor's Creek
May 4-16, 1864: Battle of Drewry's Bluff
After feuding with Gen. Butler about who was to blame for the defeat, he left for Washington, D.C.
July 11-12, 1864: Organized new recruits and invalids of about 20,000 men to encounter Gen. Early's 10,000 troops who had reached the outer defenses of the capital at the Battle of Fort Stevens
With the war coming to an end, XIX Corps was transferred to the Army of the Shenandoah as an inspector of military fortifications
March 13, 1865: Promoted to Maj. General
With the war over, resigned from the Volunteers army and returned to being a Major in the Corps of Engineers
Gillmore returned to New York City and became a prominent civil engineer
Authored several books and articles
Served on the city's Rapid Transit Commission
Involved in the reconstruction of fortifications along the Atlantic coast
June 13, 1864: Promoted to Lieutenant Colonel
1878: Honorary Ph. D. degree from Rutgers University
February 20, 1883: Promoted to Colonel
1879-1882: Member of the newly created Mississippi River Commission and again from 1884 until his death in 1888.
Boatner, Mark M. III. The Civil War Dictionary. New York: David McKay, 1967. p 343
Quincy Adams Gillmore. 1 August 2022. web. 23 September 2022.
Warner, Ezra J. Generals in Blue Lives of the Union Commanders. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State, 1964. p 176-177