Ethan Allen Hitchcock (May 18, 1798 – August 5, 1870) was a career

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

officer and author who had

War Department War Department may refer to: * War Department (United Kingdom) * United States Department of War (1789–1947) See also * War Office, a former department of the British Government * Ministry of defence * Ministry of War * Ministry of Defence * D ...

assignments in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, during 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 ...

, in which he served as a

major general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of ...

Early life

Hitchcock was born in

Vergennes, Vermont Vergennes is a city located in the northwest quadrant of Addison County, Vermont, United States. The municipality is bordered by the towns of Ferrisburgh, Panton, and Waltham. As of the 2020 census, its population was 2,553. It is the small ...

. His father was

Samuel Hitchcock Samuel Hitchcock (March 23, 1755 – November 30, 1813) was the 1st Attorney General of Vermont, a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Vermont and a United States Circuit Judge of the United State ...

(1755-1813), a lawyer who served as United States District Judge for Vermont, and his mother was Lucy Caroline Allen (1768-1842), the daughter of

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

hero General Ethan Allen; though no likeness from life of the revolutionary is extant, Lucy said that he strongly resembled Ethan Allen Hitchcock. Hitchcock's siblings included Henry Hitchcock, a Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court. Henry's son Ethan Hitchcock served as

United States Secretary of the Interior The United States secretary of the interior is the head of the United States Department of the Interior. The secretary and the Department of the Interior are responsible for the management and conservation of most federal land along with natur ...

under

William McKinley William McKinley (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until his assassination in 1901. As a politician he led a realignment that made his Republican Party largely dominant in ...

. Another of Henry's sons, Henry Hitchcock, was a prominent attorney in St. Louis. Ethan A. Hitchcock graduated from the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high groun ...

in 1817 (17th out of 19) and was commissioned a

third lieutenant Junior lieutenant is a junior officer rank in several countries, equivalent to Sub-lieutenant. Germany In the National People's Army, the rank of () was introduced in 1956. Eastern Europe In many Eastern European countries, the rank of junior l ...

of Field Artillery.

Career

He was promoted to captain in 1824. From 1829 to 1833, he served as commandant of cadets at

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known Metonymy, metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a f ...

and was promoted to major in 1838. By 1842 he achieved the rank of the lieutenant colonel in the 3rd Infantry Regiment, in command of Fort Stansbury. He served in the

Seminole War The Seminole Wars (also known as the Florida Wars) were three related military conflicts in Florida between the United States and the Seminole, citizens of a Native American nation which formed in the region during the early 1700s. Hostilities ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, in the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Tho ...

, and in the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the 1 ...

, where he served as Gen.

Winfield Scott Winfield Scott (June 13, 1786May 29, 1866) was an American military commander and political candidate. He served as a general in the United States Army from 1814 to 1861, taking part in the War of 1812, the Mexican–American War, the early s ...

's inspector general in the march on

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...

. He received a

brevet Brevet may refer to: Military * Brevet (military), higher rank that rewards merit or gallantry, but without higher pay * Brevet d'état-major, a military distinction in France and Belgium awarded to officers passing military staff college * Aircre ...

promotion to

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

for Contreras and Churubusco and to

brigadier general Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

for Molino del Rey. In 1851, became the colonel of the 2nd Infantry. From 1851 to 1854, he commanded the Pacific Division and then the

Department of the Pacific The Department of the Pacific or Pacific Department was a major command (Department) of the United States Army from 1853 to 1858. It replaced the Pacific Division, and was itself replaced by the Department of California and the Department of Or ...

. In October 1855, he resigned from the Army following a refusal by

Secretary of War The secretary of war was a member of the U.S. president's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's administration. A similar position, called either "Secretary at War" or "Secretary of War", had been appointed to serve the Congress of the ...

Jefferson Davis to extend a four-month leave of absence that he had requested for reasons of health. He moved to

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

, and began a presumed retirement, occupying himself with writing and studies of general literature and philosophy. Hitchcock was a diarist, and his journal entries from this time have served as a crucial source of evidence for Howard Zinn's reinterpretation of United States history, ''Voices of A People's History of the United States''.

Civil War

After the start of the Civil War, Hitchcock applied to return to the service, but was rejected. It was only after the intervention of Winfield Scott that he was commissioned a

in February, 1862 and became special adviser to the

. From March 17 to July 23, 1862, he served as the chairman of the War Board, the organization that assisted

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

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 Secretary of War

Edwin M. Stanton Edwin McMasters Stanton (December 19, 1814December 24, 1869) was an American lawyer and politician who served as U.S. Secretary of War under the Lincoln Administration during most of the American Civil War. Stanton's management helped organize ...

in the management of the War Department and the command of the

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

armies during the period in which there was no general-in-chief. (Maj. Gen.

George B. McClellan George Brinton McClellan (December 3, 1826 – October 29, 1885) was an American soldier, Civil War Union general, civil engineer, railroad executive, and politician who served as the 24th governor of New Jersey. A graduate of West Point, McCl ...

had been relieved of his responsibilities as general-in-chief and Maj. Gen.

Henry W. Halleck Henry Wager Halleck (January 16, 1815 – January 9, 1872) was a senior United States Army officer, scholar, and lawyer. A noted expert in military studies, he was known by a nickname that became derogatory: "Old Brains". He was an important par ...

had not yet replaced him.) Hitchcock sat on the court-martial of Maj. Gen.

Fitz John Porter Fitz John Porter (August 31, 1822 – May 21, 1901) (sometimes written FitzJohn Porter or Fitz-John Porter) was a career United States Army officer and a Union general during the American Civil War. He is most known for his performance at the Se ...

which convicted the general of disobedience and cowardice. From November 1862 through the end of the war, he served as Commissioner for

Prisoner of War A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of w ...

Exchange, and then Commissary-General of Prisoners. Hitchcock was mustered out in 1867 and moved to Charleston, South Carolina, then to

Sparta, Georgia Sparta is a city in and the county seat of Hancock County, Georgia, United States. It is part of the Milledgeville Micropolitan Statistical Area. The city's population was 1,400 at the 2010 census. History Sparta was founded in 1795 in the new ...

Personal life

On April 20, 1868, he was married to Martha Rind Nicholls (1833–1918) in Washington, D.C. Martha was a daughter of Isaac Smith Nicholls and Joanna Maria ( née Rind) Nicholls. Hitchcock died on August 5, 1870 at Glen Mary Plantation in Sparta, two years after his marriage. He was buried in West Point National Cemetery, New York. His widow died on August 15, 1918.

Contributions to alchemy studies

By the time of his death, Hitchcock had amassed a large private library, including over 250 volumes on the subject of

alchemy Alchemy (from Arabic: ''al-kīmiyā''; from Ancient Greek: χυμεία, ''khumeía'') is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practiced in China, India, the Muslim world, ...

. This collection was widely regarded as one of the finest private holdings of rare alchemical works and is preserved by

St. Louis Mercantile Library The St. Louis Mercantile Library, founded in 1846 in downtown St. Louis, Missouri, was originally established as a membership library, and is the oldest extant library west of the Mississippi River. Since 1998 the library has been housed at the ...

at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. Through ''Remarks upon Alchemy and the Alchemists'' and other writings, Hitchcock argued that the alchemists were actually religious philosophers writing in symbolism. In ''Problems of Mysticism and its Symbolism'', the Viennese psychologist

Herbert Silberer Herbert Silberer (February 28, 1882 – January 12, 1923) was a Viennese psychoanalyst involved with the professional circle surrounding Sigmund Freud which included other pioneers of psychological study as Carl Gustav Jung, Alfred Adler and othe ...

credited Hitchcock with helping to open the way for his explorations of the psychological content of alchemy.

Musical collection

Hitchcock also played the flute and amassed a sizable collection of flute music. In the 1960s, almost one hundred years after his death, part of Hitchcock's personal music collection was discovered in Sparta, Georgia. This collection, which consists of 73 bound volumes and approximately 200 loose manuscripts, currently resides in the Warren D. Allen Music Library at Florida State University. Included in this collection are works by some of the general's contemporaries, music manuscripts handwritten by Hitchcock himself, and items of personal correspondence. The library's acquisition of these materials was celebrated in 1989 by a recital given by F.S.U. flute students and attended by several of Hitchcock's descendants.

Selected works

* ''Remarks upon Alchemy and Alchemists'' (published in 1857) * ''Swedenborg a Hermetic Philosopher'' (1858) * ''Christ the Spirit'' (1861) * ''The Story of the Red Book of Appin'' (1863) * ''Spenser's Poem'' (1865) * ''Notes on the Vita Nuova of Dante'' (1866) * ''Remarks on the Sonnets of Shakespeare'' (1867) * ''Fifty Years in Camp and Field'' (posthumous, 1909) * ''A Traveler in Indian Territory: The Journal of Ethan Allen Hitchcock, Late Major-General in the United States Army'' (posthumous, 1930)

Notes

References

* Eicher, John H., and

David J. Eicher David John Eicher (born August 7, 1961) is an American editor, writer, and popularizer of astronomy and space. He has been editor-in-chief of ''Astronomy'' magazine since 2002. He is author, coauthor, or editor of 23 books on science and American ...

. ''Civil War High Commands''. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2001. . * Warner, Ezra J. ''Generals in Blue: Lives of the Union Commanders''. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1964. . *

External links

*
Military biography of Hitchcock
from the Cullum biographies
Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture - Hitchcock, Ethan Allen
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hitchcock, Ethan Allen 1798 births 1870 deaths American people of English descent American military personnel of the Mexican–American War American people of the Seminole Wars Burials at West Point Cemetery Commandants of the Corps of Cadets of the United States Military Academy People from Vergennes, Vermont People of Vermont in the American Civil War Union Army generals United States Military Academy alumni