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

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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

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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

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.

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