Brigadier-General John Randolph Lewis (September 22, 1834February 8, 1900)John Randolph Lewis: In Memoriam
by the Georgia Department of the

Grand Army of the Republic The Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) was a fraternal organization composed of veterans of the Union Army (United States Army), Union Navy (U.S. Navy), and the Marines who served in the American Civil War. It was founded in 1866 in Decatur, Il ...

; published 1900; at

Archive.org The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

Gen. John R. Lewis, U.S.A.
in ''

the New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''; published February 10, 1900; archived at VermontCivilWar.org was an American dentist, soldier, administrator, and postmaster, known for his work with the

Freedmen's Bureau The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, usually referred to as simply the Freedmen's Bureau, was an agency of early Reconstruction, assisting freedmen in the South. It was established on March 3, 1865, and operated briefly as a ...

Early life

Lewis was born in Edinboro, Pennsylvania. He left home when he was 15Story of Our Post Office: The Greatest Government Department in All Its Phases
by Marshall Henry Cushing; published 1892 by A. M. Thayer & Company; p 771-773 and moved to

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...

, where he studied dentistry with his uncle John Lewis; there, in 1856, he married Frances Helen Mattice. He also studied at the Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery, graduating with a DDS in 1858.A History of Dentistry in the US Army to World War II
p. 43 -44; by John M. Hyson, Joseph W. A. Whitehorne, and John T. Greenwood; published 2008, by the

United States Government Publishing Office The United States Government Publishing Office (USGPO or GPO; formerly the United States Government Printing Office) is an agency of the legislative branch of the United States Federal government. The office produces and distributes information ...

He and his wife later moved to

Burlington, Vermont Burlington is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Vermont and the seat of Chittenden County. It is located south of the Canada–United States border and south of Montreal. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the population was 44,743. It ...

, where he earned an MD from the

University of Vermont The University of Vermont (UVM), officially the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont. It was founded in 1791 and is amon ...

, and continued to practice dentistry until the outbreak of 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 ...

Civil War

On April 20, 1861, Lewis enlisted in the

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 ...

, joining the 1st Vermont Volunteer Infantry Regiment as a private in Company H. He fought in the

Battle of Big Bethel The Battle of Big Bethel was one of the earliest land battles of the American Civil War. It took place on the Virginia Peninsula, near Newport News, on June 10, 1861. Virginia's decision to secede from the Union had been ratified by popular vot ...

in June 1861. In September 1861, he joined the 5th Vermont Volunteer Infantry Regiment as a captain in Company I. In July 1862, he was promoted to Major; and in October 1862, he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel. During the Battle of White Oak Swamp in June 1862, Lewis was struck in the right leg by a fragment of an

artillery shell A shell, in a military context, is a projectile whose payload contains an explosive, incendiary, or other chemical filling. Originally it was called a bombshell, but "shell" has come to be unambiguous in a military context. Modern usage ...

. He later participated in all the 5th Regiment's battles with the exception of Mine Run and Antietam until May 1864, when his left arm was amputated at the shoulder as a result of injuries he suffered during the first day of the

Battle of the Wilderness The Battle of the Wilderness was fought on May 5–7, 1864, during the American Civil War. It was the first battle of Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant's 1864 Virginia Overland Campaign against General Robert E. Lee and the Confederate Arm ...

. He was then transported to Fredericksburg, and then Buffalo, where his wife tended him during his convalescence. In September 1864, he was honorably discharged, and joined the

Veteran Reserve Corps The Veteran Reserve Corps (originally the Invalid Corps) was a military reserve organization created within the Union Army during the American Civil War to allow partially disabled or otherwise infirm soldiers (or former soldiers) to perform lig ...

(VRC) as a colonel; in March 1865, he was promoted to brigadier general. Lewis served on the VRC's examining board until the war's end in June 1865, "inspecting men in hospitals" to ascertain whether they were injured too badly to return to duty.

Post-war years

After the war ended, Lewis transferred to Elmira Prison, where he relieved

Benjamin F. Tracy Benjamin Franklin Tracy (April 26, 1830August 6, 1915) was a United States political figure who served as Secretary of the Navy from 1889 through 1893, during the administration of U.S. President Benjamin Harrison. Biography He was born in th ...

as Post Commander, and "paroled and sent home all the prisoners". In December 1865 he was sent to

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

, where he served as staff inspector-general (or assistant inspector-general) for Clinton Fisk. After "about six months" in this position, Lewis relieved Fisk as assistant commissioner for the Tennessee

, a position he retained until January 1867, when Oliver Otis Howard reassigned him to Georgia;
Under the Guardianship of the Nation: The Freedmen's Bureau and the Reconstruction of Georgia, 1865–1870
', by Paul A. Cimbala; p. 10-12; published March 1, 2003 by University of Georgia Press there, he was staff inspector-general for Caleb C. Sibley, assistant commissioner of the Georgia Bureau. In March 1867, Lewis mustered out of the Army; later that year, he was appointed a major in the 44th Infantry Regiment "at the personal request" of

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 ...

, who "was aware that Lewis's amputation" would prevent him from practicing dentistry. In October 1868, Sibley retired, and Lewis replaced him as assistant commissioner. The Bureau's dwindling influence — "by January, 1869, ewissupervised only nine officials"Paul A. Cimbala. Under the Guardianship of the Nation: The Freedmen's Bureau and the Reconstruction of Georgia, 1865–1870
reviewed by Randy Finley; December 1997; originally published on H-CivWar; archived on H-Net; retrieved June 16, 2020 — led Lewis to place increased value on setting up an education system for newly emancipated people. In April 1870, Lewis retired from the military, now a colonel;

Rufus Bullock Rufus Brown Bullock (March 28, 1834 – April 27, 1907) was a Republican Party politician and businessman in Georgia. During the Reconstruction Era he served as the state's governor and called for equal economic opportunity and political rights f ...

subsequently asked him to become Georgia's first State School Superintendent,''Under the Guardianship of the Nation: The Freedmen's Bureau and the Reconstruction of Georgia, 1865–1870''
by Paul A. Cimbala; p. 225; published March 1, 2003 by University of Georgia Press a position to which he was confirmed by the

Georgia State Senate The Georgia State Senate is the upper house of the Georgia General Assembly, in the U.S. state of Georgia. Legal provisions The Georgia State Senate is the upper house of the Georgia General Assembly, with the lower house being the Georgia ...

. Lewis established the

public school Public school may refer to: * State school (known as a public school in many countries), a no-fee school, publicly funded and operated by the government * Public school (United Kingdom), certain elite fee-charging independent schools in England an ...

system, but conflicts with the

Georgia State Legislature The Georgia General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is bicameral, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. Each of the General Assembly's 236 members serve two-year terms and are directly e ...

— and his association with the intensely unpopular Bullock,Review: Essay Review: Carpetbaggers, Freedmen, and the Unfinished Revolution: Reconstruction and the American Mind
by Paul A. Cimbala; in ''The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography''; Vol. 113, No. 2 (Apr. 1989), pp. 265–275; published by

University of Pennsylvania Press The University of Pennsylvania Press (or Penn Press) is a university press affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The press was originally incorporated with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania on 26 Ma ...

who under threat of violence was forced to resign the governorship and flee the state — led him to retire after two years. In 1873, he left Georgia for Iowa, where he went into business with

Lewis A. Grant Lewis Addison Grant (January 17, 1828 – March 20, 1918) was a teacher, lawyer, soldier in the Union Army during the American Civil War, and later United States Assistant Secretary of War. He was among the leading officers from the state of V ...

; in 1876, however, he "returned East", and in 1880 settled again in Georgia. Historian Paul A. Cimbala notes that Lewis was more accepted by the people of Atlanta at this point, as he had "different priorities": namely, "business and boosterism, not blacks". This increased popularity led to his filling several civic roles, including assistant secretary of the 1881

International Cotton Exposition International Cotton Exposition (I.C.E.) was a world's fair held in Atlanta, Georgia, from October 4 to December 31 of 1881. The location was along the Western & Atlantic Railroad tracks near the present-day King Plow Arts Center development in t ...

and secretary of the 1895

Cotton States and International Exposition The Cotton States and International Exposition was a world's fair held in Atlanta, Georgia, United States in 1895. The exposition was designed "to foster trade between southern states and South American nations as well as to show the products an ...

; as well, he was named

Postmaster A postmaster is the head of an individual post office, responsible for all postal activities in a specific post office. When a postmaster is responsible for an entire mail distribution organization (usually sponsored by a national government), ...

of Atlanta in 1889 or 1890, a position he held for four years. Cimbala further observes that, following Lewis's death in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, the '' Atlanta Constitution'' published an

obituary An obituary ( obit for short) is an article about a recently deceased person. Newspapers often publish obituaries as news articles. Although obituaries tend to focus on positive aspects of the subject's life, this is not always the case. Ac ...

that detailed Lewis's military record and activities with veterans' organizations, but omitted all mention of the Freedmen's Bureau, stating only that Lewis "came to Georgia to reside".

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, John Randolph American dentists American amputees 1834 births 1900 deaths Union Army generals Georgia (U.S. state) postmasters People from Erie County, Pennsylvania University of Vermont alumni Burials at Arlington National Cemetery Brigadier generals People of Vermont in the American Civil War University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine alumni Georgia Superintendent of Schools 19th-century dentists Military personnel from Pennsylvania