Charles Rice Gill (August 17, 1830 – March 28, 1883) was an American lawyer, politician, and

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...

officer in the

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 th ...

. He was the 9th Attorney General of Wisconsin and represented northern Jefferson County in the Wisconsin State Senate for the

1860 Events January–March * January 2 – The discovery of a hypothetical planet Vulcan is announced at a meeting of the French Academy of Sciences in Paris, France. * January 10 – The Pemberton Mill in Lawrence, Massachusett ...

and

1861 Statistically, this year is considered the end of the whale oil industry and (in replacement) the beginning of the petroleum oil industry. Events January–March * January 1 ** Benito Juárez captures Mexico City. ** The first steam-p ...

sessions. He also briefly served as U.S. Commissioner of Pensions under President

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...

Early life

Gill was born in Winfield, New York, to David and Nancy Gill. He grew up in

Frankfort, New York Frankfort is a town in Herkimer County, New York, United States. The town is named after one of its earliest settlers, Lawrence (Lewis) Frank. The town of Frankfort includes a village, also called Frankfort. Frankfort is located east of Utica, ...

. In 1843, his father moved the family to a farm in Genesee County and died a year later. Charles worked the farm while tending to his own education, and later taught school. After 1848, he entered the study of law at the office of Wakeman & Bryan in

Batavia, New York Batavia is a city in and the county seat of Genesee County, New York, United States. It is near the center of the county, surrounded by the Town of Batavia, which is a separate municipality. Batavia's population as of the 2020 census was 15,6 ...

. On September 4, 1854, he was admitted to the

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

. A few days later, on September 17, he married Martha Lanckton. That October, they left New York and moved to Watertown, Wisconsin, where he immediately set up a law practice.

Career in Wisconsin

After establishing his law practice, Gill became interested in local affairs. In 1856, he was the Democratic Party candidate for Jefferson County District Attorney, but was defeated. In 1858, he was their candidate for

Wisconsin State Assembly The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Representatives are elected for two-year terms, ...

, but was again defeated. Around the same time, he was appointed superintendent of Watertown's schools by the local school board. During his time in that role, in 1859, he came into conflict with the city council which was attempting to take more direct oversight of the school board and its affairs and finances. Gill had the support of the school board, but the majority of the city council was set against them. The city council charged him with defying their ordinances, but offered no proof or support for their charges. They voted to remove him from office on June 18, 1859. Gill challenged the ruling up to the

Wisconsin Supreme Court The Wisconsin Supreme Court is the highest appellate court in Wisconsin. The Supreme Court has jurisdiction over original actions, appeals from lower courts, and regulation or administration of the practice of law in Wisconsin. Location The Wi ...

, and, in the case ''State ex rel. Gill v Common Council of Watertown'', the Court ruled that the council would be required to rescind his removal. The school board affair and his case before the Supreme Court raised his reputation in the state, and later that year he was elected to the Wisconsin State Senate as an independent. Gill's political journey is somewhat indicative of the era. He began as a voter with the Democratic Party and saw himself as a

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-style democrat, opposing slavery but believing in a policy of federal non-interference. As the 1860 presidential election began to shape up as a contest between

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

and

John C. Breckinridge John Cabell Breckinridge (January 16, 1821 – May 17, 1875) was an American lawyer, politician, and soldier. He represented Kentucky in both houses of Congress and became the 14th and youngest-ever vice president of the United States. Serving ...

, Gill ultimately chose to align with the Republicans. As the

secession crisis Secession is the withdrawal of a group from a larger entity, especially a political entity, but also from any organization, union or military alliance. Some of the most famous and significant secessions have been: the former Soviet republics lea ...

started, Senator Gill became recognized as a leader of the war party within the Senate. At the start of the 1861 session, he pushed for a committee to prioritize war preparations. His committee was approved by the senate and he was named chairman—one of the earliest war preparation measures taken by a Union state. He quickly reported a bill which provided for raising six regiments of infantry and two of artillery. When word came of the firing on Fort Sumter, the Legislature quickly passed his bill. A special session of the legislature was then held to further war preparations and Gill was again made chairman of the select committee for that purpose.

Civil War

After the special session, upon hearing that his native Watertown had not provided a significant quantity of volunteers for the war effort, Gill took up a recruitment commission. In Watertown, he called a war meeting and brought together a large audience. As he addressed the gathered crowd to ask for volunteers, one person criticized Senator Gill for urging others to enlist when he was safe on a recruiting commission. In the middle of his speech, Gill tore up his commission and signed an enlistment for three years of service. With his example, he was quickly able to recruit the necessary volunteers to form a company, and they immediately elected him as their captain. Coming together with other Jefferson County volunteer companies, Gill was recommended for the command of a regiment. His companies were enrolled into the new

29th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment The 29th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment was a volunteer infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Service The 29th Wisconsin was organized at Madison, Wisconsin, and mustered into Federal service September 27, ...

, and Governor Alexander Randall commissioned Gill to be Colonel of the regiment. The 29th Wisconsin mustered into service September 27, 1862, and marched out of Wisconsin for

Cairo, Illinois Cairo ( ) is the southernmost city in Illinois and the county seat of Alexander County. The city is located at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. Fort Defiance, a Civil War camp, was built here in 1862 by Union General Ulysses ...

, en route to Arkansas, in the Western Theater of the American Civil War. At Helena, Arkansas, they attached to the Army of the Tennessee under

. That spring, they commenced the

Vicksburg campaign The Vicksburg campaign was a series of maneuvers and battles in the Western Theater of the American Civil War directed against Vicksburg, Mississippi, a fortress city that dominated the last Confederate-controlled section of the Mississippi Riv ...

. Colonel Gill led his regiment through several battles of the Vicksburg campaign and earned the recognition of his colleagues. However, at the close of that campaign he was stricken by a serious illness that was so severe he was forced to return to Wisconsin to recuperate. His resignation occurred on July 9, 1863, in the midst of the Siege of Jackson.

Postbellum years

After recovering from his illness, Gill returned to his law practice, and eventually return to public office. At the 1865 Union Republican State Convention, Gill was nominated by the party for Attorney General of Wisconsin on a ticket with fellow war veterans

Lucius Fairchild Lucius Fairchild (December 27, 1831May 23, 1896) was an Americans, American politician, soldier, and diplomat. He served as the List of Governors of Wisconsin, tenth Governor of Wisconsin and represented the United States as List of ambassadors o ...

for Governor and

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for Secretary of State. Before taking his place on the ticket, Gill spoke out strenuously in opposition to the party platform offered by their own

United States Senator The United States Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives being the Lower house, lower chamber. Together they compose the national Bica ...

James Rood Doolittle James Rood Doolittle (January 3, 1815July 27, 1897) was an American politician who served as a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin from March 4, 1857, to March 4, 1869. He was a strong supporter of President Abraham Lincoln's administration during the ...

. Doolittle's platform endorsed

Andrew Johnson Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808July 31, 1875) was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. He assumed the presidency as he was vice president at the time of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Johnson was a Dem ...

reconstruction Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology *Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *''Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Union ...

plans and opposed suffrage for African Americans. Gill did not prevail at the convention, as Doolittle's platform was adopted by the party. However, after the Republican victory in the 1865 election, the members of the new legislature quickly wrote a resolution demanding the resignation of Senator Doolittle, essentially vindicating Gill's criticisms. Gill was elected Attorney General in the 1865 general election and went on to re-election in 1867. After leaving office in January 1870, he purchased a farm in

Blooming Grove, Wisconsin Blooming Grove is a town in Dane County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,768 at the 2000 census. The unincorporated community of Hope is located partially within Blooming Grove. Although once much larger, currently the town of Bloo ...

, and moved his law practice to

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...

. Under President Grant, Gill was appointed attorney for the U.S. government in the negotiations over the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers improvements. In 1876, Grant appointed him U.S. Commissioner of Pensions, but he was forced to resign after only a few weeks due to poor health—still troubled by the illness that had forced his resignation from the Army in 1863. The illness would continue to trouble him for the remainder of his life. He died at age 52 in 1883.

Family and personal life

Charles Gill married Martha Lanckton September 17, 1854. Together they had eight children, with seven surviving to adulthood. Their son Hiram Gill would go on to become Mayor of

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

, in the early part of the 20th century.

References