John M. Thayer
John Milton Thayer (January 24, 1820March 19, 1906) was a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War and a postbellum United States Senator from Nebraska. Thayer served as Governor of Wyoming Territory and Governor of Nebraska. Thayer was born in Bellingham, Norfolk County, Massachusetts. He attended and taught in rural schools. He graduated from Brown University in 1841, and established a practice in Worcester, Massachusetts. Thayer was the editor of the Worcester Magazine and the Historical Journal. Thayer served as a lieutenant in the local militia company before deciding to move with his family to the West. He was married to Mary Torrey Allen on December 27, 1842, and they had six children. Career Arriving in Nebraska in 1854, he quickly affiliated himself with the Republican Party and actively participated in politics, as well as owning a large farm near Omaha. In 1855 he was appointed major general of the Territorial Militia. In June of the same year, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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List Of Governors Of Nebraska
The governor of Nebraska is the head of government of the U.S. state of Nebraska as provided by the fourth article of the Constitution of Nebraska. The officeholder is elected to a four-year term, with elections held two years after presidential elections. The governor may be elected any number of times, but not more than twice in a row. The current officeholder is Pete Ricketts, a Republican Party (United States), Republican, who was sworn in on January 8, 2015. The current List of lieutenant governors of Nebraska, Lieutenant Governor of Nebraska is Mike Foley (Nebraska politician), Mike Foley, who also assumed office on January 8, 2015. Governors of Nebraska must be at least 30 years old and have been citizens and residents of the state for five years before being elected. Before 1966, the governor was elected to a two-year term. In 1962, a constitutional amendment extended the gubernatorial term to four years, effective with the 1966 Nebraska gubernatorial election, 1966 electio ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Brigadier General (United States)
In the United States Armed Forces, a brigadier general is a one-star general officer in the United States Army, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Space Force. A brigadier general ranks above a colonel and below a major general. The pay grade of brigadier general is O-7. It is equivalent to the rank of rear admiral (lower half) in the other United States uniformed services which use naval ranks. It is abbreviated as BG in the Army, BGen in the Marine Corps, and Brig Gen in the Air Force and Space Force. History The rank of brigadier general has existed in the U.S. military since the inception of the Continental Army in June 1775. To prevent mistakes in recognizing officers, a general order was issued on July 14, 1775, establishing that brigadier generals would wear a ribbon, worn across the breast, between coat and waistcoat, pink in color. Later, on June 18, 1780, it was prescribed that brigadier generals would instead wear a single silver star on each epaulette. At first, briga ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Battle Of Fort Smith
The Battle of Fort Smith was a small battle fought in western Arkansas during the American Civil War. Background In the wake of the failed Union Camden Expedition, areas of Arkansas lay prone to Confederate raids against Union outposts. One such raid occurred against a Union camp at Massard Prairie on July 27, 1864. Confederate General Richard Gano won a victory there, which encouraged further operations. Battle Several days later Gano's superior, General Douglas H. Cooper, led a Confederate division several miles north to Fort Smith. Cooper's force consisted of Gano's brigade and General Stand Watie's brigade. Gano took position along the Indian Territory side of the Poteau River while Watie moved up from the south on the Arkansas side. General John M. Thayer commanded the town's defenses with three brigades. Watie's men made first contact with the 6th Kansas Cavalry of Colonel William R. Judson's Union brigade. Judson's men fell back from Fort No. 2 along the Texas Roa ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Battle Of Jenkins' Ferry
The Battle of Jenkins' Ferry, also known as the Engagement at Jenkins' Ferry, was fought on April 30, 1864, at Jenkins' Ferry, southwest of Little Rock (present-day Grant County, Arkansas), during the American Civil War. Although the battle ended with a Union victory, the Confederates saw it as a strategic success as they claimed to have prevented Frederick Steele from holding southwest Arkansas. Due to the chaotic nature of the battle, casualty figures vary. Jenkins' Ferry was the decisive engagement of Steele's Camden Expedition (a part of the Red River Campaign) and E. Kirby Smith's last. As a result of the battle, U.S. forces could complete a retreat from a precarious position at Camden to their defenses at Little Rock. The battlefield has largely been preserved. Background In March 1864, the United States Army in Louisiana under the command of Major-General Nathaniel Banks and the United States Navy operating on the Mississippi River under the command of Admiral ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Battle Of Prairie D'Ane
The Battle of Prairie D'Ane (April 9 – 13, 1864), also known as the Skirmish at Prairie D'Ane, Battle of Gum Springs or Battle of Moscow, was fought in present-day Nevada County, Arkansas, as part of the Camden Expedition, during the American Civil War. The Camden Expedition was launched by Union forces as part of the Red River Campaign of 1864. U.S. planners envisioned two federal armies converging simultaneously, one force under the command of Maj. Gen. Nathaniel Banks pressing northward up the Red River commencing at Alexandria, Louisiana and the other federal army under the command of Maj. Gen. Frederick Steele driving southwestward from Little Rock, Arkansas. The objective was to press the rebel army of Gen. E. Kirby Smith back upon the rebel stronghold at Shreveport and defeat him. If successful, a somewhat vague second phase envisioned the two federal armies combining into one large force and continuing their offensive with a westward push into Texas. Background Prairi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Siege Of Vicksburg
The siege of Vicksburg (May 18 – July 4, 1863) was the final major military action in the Vicksburg campaign of the American Civil War. In a series of maneuvers, Union Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and his Army of the Tennessee crossed the Mississippi River and drove the Confederate Army of Mississippi, led by Lt. Gen. John C. Pemberton, into the defensive lines surrounding the fortress city of Vicksburg, Mississippi. Vicksburg was the last major Confederate stronghold on the Mississippi River; therefore, capturing it completed the second part of the Northern strategy, the Anaconda Plan. When two major assaults against the Confederate fortifications, on May 19 and 22, were repulsed with heavy casualties, Grant decided to besiege the city beginning on May 25. After holding out for more than forty days, with their supplies nearly gone, the garrison surrendered on July 4. The successful ending of the Vicksburg campaign significantly degraded the ability of the Confederacy to maintai ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Battle Of Arkansas Post
The Battle of Arkansas Post, also known as Battle of Fort Hindman, was fought from January 9 to 11, 1863, near the mouth of the Arkansas River at Arkansas Post, Arkansas, as part of the Vicksburg Campaign of the American Civil War. Confederate forces had constructed a fort known as Fort Hindman near Arkansas Post in late 1862. In December of that year, a Union force under the command of Major-General William T. Sherman left for an expedition against Vicksburg, without Major-General John A. McClernand because neither Major-Generals Henry Halleck nor Ulysses S. Grant trusted McClernand. After Sherman's force was repulsed at Chickasaw Bayou, McClernand arrived and took command from Sherman in January 1863. McClernand led an expedition to capture Arkansas Post, despite disapproval from Grant. After arriving near the fort on January 9, Union infantry moved into position on January 10. A major Union naval bombardment of the Confederate fort occurred that evening. Early in the aftern ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Battle Of Chickasaw Bayou
The Battle of Chickasaw Bayou, also called the Battle of Walnut Hills, fought December 26–29, 1862, was the opening engagement of the Vicksburg Campaign during the American Civil War. Confederate forces under Lt. Gen. John C. Pemberton repulsed an advance by Union Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman that was intended to lead to the capture of Vicksburg, Mississippi. On December 26, three Union divisions under Sherman disembarked at Johnson's Plantation on the Yazoo River to approach the Vicksburg defenses from the northeast while a fourth landed farther upstream on December 27. On December 27, the Union army pushed their lines forward through the swamps toward the Walnut Hills, which were strongly defended. On December 28, several futile attempts were made to get around these defenses. On December 29, Sherman ordered a frontal assault, which was repulsed with heavy casualties, and then withdrew. This Confederate victory and the victory against Grant at Holly Springs frustrated Maj. G ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Battle Of Shiloh
The Battle of Shiloh (also known as the Battle of Pittsburg Landing) was fought on April 6–7, 1862, in the American Civil War. The fighting took place in southwestern Tennessee, which was part of the war's Western Theater. The battlefield is located between a church named Shiloh and Pittsburg Landing, which is on the Tennessee River. Two Union armies combined to defeat the Confederate Army of Mississippi. Major General Ulysses S. Grant was the Union commander, while General Albert Sidney Johnston was the Confederate commander. The Confederate army hoped to defeat Grant's Army of the Tennessee before it could be reinforced and resupplied. Although it made considerable gains with a surprise attack during the first day of the battle, Johnston was mortally wounded and Grant's army was not eliminated. Overnight, Grant's Army of the Tennessee was reinforced by one of its divisions stationed farther north, and it was also joined by portions of the Army of the Ohio. This second Uni ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Battle Of Fort Donelson
The Battle of Fort Donelson was fought from February 11–16, 1862, in the Western Theater of the American Civil War. The Union capture of the Confederate fort near the Tennessee–Kentucky border opened the Cumberland River, an important avenue for the invasion of the South. The Union's success also elevated Brig. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant from an obscure and largely unproven leader to the rank of major general, and earned him the nickname of "Unconditional Surrender" Grant. Following his capture of Fort Henry on February 6, Grant moved his army (later to become the Union's Army of the Tennessee) overland to Fort Donelson, from February 11 to 13, and conducted several small probing attacks. On February 14, Union gunboats under Flag Officer Andrew H. Foote attempted to reduce the fort with gunfire, but were forced to withdraw after sustaining heavy damage from the fort's water batteries. On February 15, with the fort surrounded, the Confederates, commanded by Brig. Gen. John ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states that had seceded. The central cause of the war was the dispute over whether slavery would be permitted to expand into the western territories, leading to more slave states, or be prevented from doing so, which was widely believed would place slavery on a course of ultimate extinction. Decades of political controversy over slavery were brought to a head by the victory in the 1860 U.S. presidential election of Abraham Lincoln, who opposed slavery's expansion into the west. An initial seven southern slave states responded to Lincoln's victory by seceding from the United States and, in 1861, forming the Confederacy. The Confederacy seized U.S. forts and other federal assets within their borders. Led by Confederate President Jefferson Davis, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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District Of The Frontier
The Army of the Frontier was a Union army that served in the Trans-Mississippi Theater during the Civil War. It fought in several minor engagements in Arkansas, Indian Territory, and Kansas. In June 1863 the Army was discontinued but many of its regiments were formed into the District of the Frontier. History The army was created on October 12, 1862, composed of forces from the District of Southwest Missouri. General John M. Schofield was the army's first commander. Prior to this (from October 1–12, 1862) Schofield's field army was known as the ''Army of Southwestern Missouri''. The Army of the Frontier consisted of three divisions at its largest. They were commanded respectively by James G. Blunt, James Totten, and Francis J. Herron. Units of the army (mostly Blunt's 1st Division) engaged in several small battles early in the war. The Battle of Prairie Grove in 1862 was the army's finest moment of the war. During the campaign General Schofield was in St. Louis due ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |