Henry Martyn Lazelle (September 8, 1832 – July 21, 1917) was a career officer in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

. In addition to serving 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 th ...

and

Indian Wars The American Indian Wars, also known as the American Frontier Wars, and the Indian Wars, were fought by European governments and colonists in North America, and later by the United States and Canadian governments and American and Canadian settle ...

, he was

Commandant of Cadets The Commandant of Cadets is the officer in charge of the cadets at an academy. Lists include: * List of commandants of cadets of the United States Air Force Academy * List of commandants of cadets of the United States Military Academy The Comm ...

at 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 ...

from 1879 to 1882.

Early life and education

He was born Henry Martyn Lazell in

Enfield, Massachusetts Enfield was a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts. The town was lost as a result of the creation of the Quabbin Reservoir. History Incorporated in 1816 from portions of Greenwich and Belchertown. It was named in honor of one of its early s ...

, where he went to the public schools."Worcester at West Point"
''The Worcester Magazine'', Vol. III, Issue 6, June 1902, pp. 200–201, accessed 26 January 2012 He was orphaned at the age of four and raised by family members of friends. He entered the

in 1850 and was roommates with James MacNeil Whistler, the future artist. After graduating in 1855, he spelled his last name as Lazelle.

Military career

Later that year, Lazelle was commissioned a

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 8th US Infantry, and stationed at

Fort Bliss, Texas Fort Bliss is a United States Army post in New Mexico and Texas, with its headquarters in El Paso, Texas. Named in honor of LTC William Bliss (1815–1853), a mathematics professor who was the son-in-law of President Zachary Taylor, Ft. Bliss h ...

. In February 1859, while on a scouting mission, he was in a skirmish with

Mescalero Apaches Mescalero or Mescalero Apache ( apm, Naa'dahéńdé) is an Apache tribe of Southern Athabaskan–speaking Native Americans. The tribe is federally recognized as the Mescalero Apache Tribe of the Mescalero Apache Reservation, located in south-ce ...

and shot through the lungs. He was promoted to

first lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a s ...

in April 1861. Posted in Texas at

Fort Bliss Fort Bliss is a United States Army post in New Mexico and Texas, with its headquarters in El Paso, Texas. Named in honor of William Wallace Smith Bliss, LTC William Bliss (1815–1853), a mathematics professor who was the son-in-law of President ...

at the outbreak of the

, Lazelle and his comrades were taken prisoner by Texas

insurgents An insurgency is a violent, armed rebellion against authority waged by small, lightly armed bands who practice guerrilla warfare from primarily rural base areas. The key descriptive feature of insurgency is its asymmetric nature: small irreg ...

in May 1861. He was held until exchanged in July 1862, during which time he was promoted to

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 ...

. From then until October 1863, he served 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, ...

, as Assistant Commissary General of

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 ...

. From October 1863 to October 1864, he served as

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 of ...

of the

16th Regiment New York Volunteer Cavalry The 16th New York Cavalry Regiment was a cavalry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. A detachment of the 16th New York had the distinction of killing Lincoln assassin John Wilkes Booth and apprehending accompli ...

, operating against

Mosby's Rangers The 43rd Virginia Cavalry Battalion, also known as Mosby's Rangers, Mosby's Raiders, or Mosby's Men, was a battalion of partisan cavalry in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War. Noted for their lightning strike raids on Union tar ...

in the Upper South. He resigned his volunteer commission in October 1864. He served as Inspector General on the staff of General Frederick Steele until February 1865, as Assistant Provost Marshal for the Division of the Mississippi until July 1865, and on recruiting service until March 1866.

Postbellum career

Lazelle rejoined the 8th Infantry on

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 ...

duty in the

Second Military District The Second Military District of the U.S. Army was one of five temporary administrative units of the U.S. War Department that existed in the American South. The district was stipulated by the Reconstruction Acts during the Reconstruction period foll ...

, North and South Carolina, from March 1866 to October 1870. He was also posted with the regiment at Davids Island from October 1870 to July 1872. He went to the West on assignment to the

Department of the Platte The Department of the Platte was a military administrative district established by the U.S. Army on March 5, 1866, with boundaries encompassing Iowa, Nebraska, Dakota Territory, Utah Territory and a small portion of Idaho. With headquarters in Om ...

from July 1872 until May 1874, as the Army's responsibilities shifted to protecting emigrants to the west and subduing Native Americans. From September 1874 to March 1875, he was commander of

Fort Yuma Fort Yuma was a fort in California located in Imperial County, across the Colorado River from Yuma, Arizona. It was on the Butterfield Overland Mail route from 1858 until 1861 and was abandoned May 16, 1883, and transferred to the Department of ...

. He was promoted to

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

of the 1st Infantry in December 1874, and joined that regiment in the

Department of Dakota A subdivision of the Division of the Missouri, the Department of Dakota was established by the United States Army on August 11, 1866, to encompass all military activities and forts within Minnesota, Dakota Territory and Montana Territory. The Depar ...

in June 1875. In 1877, Lazelle led a pursuit of Lame Deer's band of Lakota Sioux, and in 1878, he established

Fort Meade (South Dakota) Fort Meade is a former United States Army post located just east of Sturgis, South Dakota. The fort was active from 1878 to 1944; the cantonment is currently home to a Veterans Health Administration hospital and South Dakota Army National Guard ...

. In May 1879, he was named

at the

, and was promoted to

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

of the 23rd Infantry in June 1881. He joined the 23rd Infantry in December 1882 at

Fort Craig Fort Craig was a U.S. Army fort located along El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, near Elephant Butte Lake State Park and the Rio Grande in Socorro County, New Mexico. The Fort Craig site was approximately 1,050 feet east-west by 600 feet north-so ...

, where he served as commander until February 1884. After serving as an inspector for the Division of the Pacific and the Department of the Columbia, Lazelle represented the U. S. Army as an observer during the

maneuvers A military exercise or war game is the employment of military resources in training for military operations, either exploring the effects of warfare or testing strategies without actual combat. This also serves the purpose of ensuring the com ...

of the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

from November 1885 to March 1886. He returned to the Department of the Columbia as Assistant Inspector General until May 1887. Assigned to command the publication of the

Official Records of the American Civil War The ''Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies in the War of the Rebellion'', commonly known as the ''Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies'' or Official Records (OR or ORs), is the most extensive collection of Americ ...

, he returned to Washington, D.C. He was promoted to colonel of the

18th Infantry The 18th Infantry were an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army. Their origins trace back to 1795, when they were known as the Calcutta Native Militia. Over the years they were known by a number of different names, such as the Alipore Regim ...

in February 1889; he served as commander of the regiment and of the post of Fort Clark until July 1894. He retired due to disability in November 1894.

Marriage and later life

Lazelle married and had a family. One of their sons, Jacob, also went to West Point and served under his father at Fort. Bliss. Jacob died in 1898, on the way to

Manila, Philippines Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populated ...

in the

Spanish–American War , partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence , image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = (clock ...

. Colonel Lazelle's wife died at Fort Clark, Texas, in January, 1893. After retiring from the Army, Lazelle moved to

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

, where he farmed until 1898. After that, he resided alternately in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and Massachusetts. In April 1904, he was promoted 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 ...

on the retired list. Later that year he remarried. He wrote a number of books, including ''One Law in Nature: A New Corpuscular Theory, Comprehending Unity of Force, Identity of Matter, & Its Multiple Atom Constitution: Applied to the Physical Affections Or Modes of Energy'' and ''Matter, Force, and Spirit; or, Scientific Evidence of a Supreme Intelligence'' (1895). Lazelle died on July 21, 1917, at Georgeville,

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

Early life and education

Military career

Postbellum career

Marriage and later life

References

Further reading