Henry Martyn Cist (February 20, 1839 – December 16, 1902) was an American soldier, lawyer, and author who was a
Union Army captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
and staff officer during the
American Civil War. On December 11, 1866 he was nominated and on February 6, 1867 he was confirmed for appointment to the grade of
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 ...
brigadier general of volunteers, to rank from March 13, 1865. He is most noted for his classic and oft-referenced 1882 book ''The
Army of the Cumberland''. In addition, Cist led pioneering efforts to preserve and interpret the sites of the battles of
Chickamauga and
Chattanooga
Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, ...
.
Early life and career
Henry Cist was born in
Cincinnati, Ohio, the younger of two sons of
Philadelphia-born author
Charles Cist and his wife Janet. His paternal grandfather, also named
Charles Cist, was an immigrant from
St. Petersburg, Russia, and a printer and publisher in Philadelphia.
Cist graduated from Farmers College in 1858, and then studied law. He passed his bar exam and became a practicing attorney.
Civil War service
With the outbreak of the Civil War, Cist enlisted as a
private
Private or privates may refer to:
Music
* " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation''
* Private (band), a Denmark-based band
* "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...
in the three-month
6th Ohio Infantry. When his term of enlistment expired, he was promoted to
second lieutenant
Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank.
Australia
The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...
in the
52nd Ohio Infantry
The 52nd Ohio Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War.
Service
The 52nd Ohio Infantry Regiment was organized at Camp Dennison near Cincinnati, Ohio in August 1862 and mustered in for three years ...
. He later served as post adjutant of
Camp Chase in
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...
, after the
prisoners of war
A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held Captivity, 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 priso ...
captured at
Fort Donelson were transported there following
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 ...
's victory in February 1862.
In April 1862, Cist joined the
74th Ohio Infantry as a
first lieutenant and became its regimental adjutant, serving under Colonel Granville Moody. He later served as the assistant
adjutant general with the rank of captain on the staff of
Major General William S. Rosecrans in the Army of the Cumberland. Later he was on the staff of Major General
George H. Thomas.
At Maj. Gen. Thomas's request, he remained in the service after the close of hostilities to give the necessary orders and to arrange the details providing for the mustering out and disbanding of over 100,000 troops.
In the omnibus promotions issued by the
War Department following the end of the Civil War, Cist received three brevet promotions ranking from March 13, 1865, to the ranks of major, colonel, and brigadier general of U. S. Volunteers. On December 11, 1866,
President 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 ...
nominated Cist for appointment to the grade of
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 ...
brigadier general of volunteers, to rank from March 13, 1865, and the
United States Senate confirmed the appointment on February 6, 1867.
Postbellum career
After mustering out of the army in January 1866, Cist returned to Cincinnati, and established a successful legal practice in that city. He briefly entered politics and lost a hotly contested election for mayor of
College Hill, Ohio
College Hill is a residential neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio. Originally a wealthy suburb called Pleasant Hill due to its prime location, it was renamed College Hill because of the two colleges that were established there in the mid-nineteenth ce ...
, that required court action to declare a winner.
In 1869 Cist was elected corresponding secretary of the Society of the
Army of the Cumberland, to which office he was re-elected every year for some years afterward. He edited all but volumes ii and iii of ''Reports of the Society of the Army of the Cumberland'' (Cincinnati, 17 vols., 1868–85).
[ In 1882, he wrote ''The Army of the Cumberland'' (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons), which was considered one of the best first-person accounts of that army. He wrote one of the earliest biographies of Union leader "Pap" Thomas, ''The Life of Gen. George H. Thomas''. He also wrote several magazine articles related to Cincinnati during wartime. Among his article titles were "Cincinnati with the War Fever" and "The Romance of Shiloh."][
Cist turned his interest in history to working to have battlefield sites preserved. He served as director of the Chickamauga Memorial Association in 1889, helping gain Congressional authorization in 1890 for the first military park, the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park. In 1892 Cist served as president of the Ohio Society, Sons of the American Revolution. It is a heritage organization devoted to celebrating the history of the US and especially the meaning of the American Revolution.
After contracting pneumonia while touring Italy, Cist died at the age of 63. He died at ]Rome, Italy
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (Romulus and Remus, legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
...
.[ His body was returned to Ohio and buried in Cincinnati's Spring Grove Cemetery.]
See also
* List of American Civil War brevet generals (Union)
Notes
References
* U.S. War Department, ''The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies'', 70 volumes in 4 series. Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, 1880–1901.
Howe, Henry, ''Historical Collections of Ohio'', Cincinnati, Ohio: Henry Howe, publisher, 1888.
External links
*
Photo of H.M. Cist in 1863
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cist, Henry M.
American military writers
American people of Russian descent
Burials at Spring Grove Cemetery
Cincinnati in the American Civil War
Ohio lawyers
Lawyers from Cincinnati
People of Ohio in the American Civil War
Sons of the American Revolution
Union Army generals
1839 births
1902 deaths