Joseph Roswell Hawley (October 31, 1826March 18, 1905) was the 42nd Governor of Connecticut, a U.S. politician in the Republican and Free Soil parties, a

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polic ...

general, and a journalist and newspaper editor. He served two terms in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together the ...

and was a four-term

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

Early life and career

Hawley, a direct descendant of Joseph Hawley (Captain), first of the name in America, through Ebenezer, Joseph and Samuel, was born in Stewartsville, near

Laurinburg, North Carolina Laurinburg is a city in and the county seat of Scotland County, North Carolina, United States. Located in southern North Carolina near the South Carolina border, Laurinburg is southwest of Fayetteville and is home to St. Andrews University. T ...

, where Hawley's father, a native of

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

, was pastor of a

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christianity, Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe ...

church. He was born at the Stewart-Hawley-Malloy House; it was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artist ...

in 1975. His father returned to Connecticut in 1837 and Joseph attended and graduated from

Hamilton College Hamilton College is a private liberal arts college in Clinton, Oneida County, New York. It was founded as Hamilton-Oneida Academy in 1793 and was chartered as Hamilton College in 1812 in honor of inaugural trustee Alexander Hamilton, followi ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

in 1847. He was admitted to the bar in 1850 and practiced law in Hartford, Connecticut for six years. An ardent opponent of

slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

, Hawley became a Free Soiler, was a delegate to the National Convention which nominated

John Parker Hale John Parker Hale (March 31, 1806November 19, 1873) was an American politician and lawyer from New Hampshire. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1843 to 1845 and in the United States Senate from 1847 to 1853 and again fro ...

for the presidency in 1852, and subsequently served as chairman of the party's State Committee and editor of the party's newspaper, the ''Charter Oak''. In 1856, he took a leading part in organizing the Republican Party in Connecticut, and in 1857 became editor of the ''Hartford Evening Press'', a newly established Republican newspaper.

Civil War

Hawley served in the Federal army with distinction throughout the

, rising from the rank of captain to that 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 ...

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 a ...

of volunteers. In April 1861, Hawley helped recruit and organize an

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and m ...

company. He was mustered into the three-month 1st Connecticut Infantry with the rank of

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 ...

of Company A on April 22. He first saw combat at the

First Battle of Bull Run The First Battle of Bull Run (the name used by Union forces), also known as the Battle of First Manassascites 18,052 Confederate men and 37 guns engaged. McDowell's plan was to move westward in three columns and make a diversionary attack on ...

in July, receiving praise from his

brigade A brigade is a major tactical military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute a division. ...

commander, General

Erasmus D. Keyes Erasmus Darwin Keyes (May 29, 1810 – October 14, 1895) was a businessman, banker, and military general, noted for leading the IV Corps of the Union Army of the Potomac during the first half of the American Civil War. Early life and career Keyes ...

. After mustering out, he then assisted Col. Alfred H. Terry in raising the 7th Connecticut Infantry, a three-year regiment, and was named as lieutenant colonel. He participated in the

Port Royal Expedition The Battle of Port Royal was one of the earliest amphibious operations of the American Civil War, in which a United States Navy fleet and United States Army expeditionary force captured Port Royal Sound, South Carolina, between Savannah, Geor ...

in November, and commanded the forces assigned to garrison two captured forts. He was a part of the four-month siege that culminated in the capture of

Fort Pulaski A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

in April 1862. Again, he commanded the garrison force. With Colonel Terry's promotion to brigade command, Hawley succeeded him as commander of the 10th Connecticut, leading the regiment in the battles of James Island and Pocotaligo. He was in Brannan's expedition to

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, a ...

in January 1863, and commanded the post at Ferandina, near

Jacksonville Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the c ...

. In April, he participated in an unsuccessful expedition to capture Charleston, South Carolina. In the summer, he commanded a brigade on

Morris Island Morris Island is an 840-acre (3.4 km²) uninhabited island in Charleston Harbor in South Carolina, accessible only by boat. The island lies in the outer reaches of the harbor and was thus a strategic location in the American Civil War. The ...

during the

siege of Charleston The siege of Charleston was a major engagement and major British victory in the American Revolutionary War, fought in the environs of Charles Town (today Charleston), the capital of South Carolina, between March 29 and May 12, 1780. The Britis ...

, and was involved in the attacks on

Fort Wagner Fort Wagner or Battery Wagner was a beachhead fortification on Morris Island, South Carolina, that covered the southern approach to Charleston Harbor. It was the site of two American Civil War battles in the campaign known as Operations Ag ...

in September. During the autumn, he procured enough Spencer breech-loading rifles to outfit his regiment with the rapid-fire weapon. The following year, Hawley commanded a brigade under General Truman Seymour in the

Battle of Olustee The Battle of Olustee or Battle of Ocean Pond was fought in Baker County, Florida on February 20, 1864, during the American Civil War. It was the largest battle fought in Florida during the war. Union General Truman Seymour had landed troops ...

in Florida. He and his men were reassigned to the front lines in

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

as a part of Terry's Division, X Corps,

Army of the James The Army of the James was a Union Army that was composed of units from the Department of Virginia and North Carolina and served along the James River during the final operations of the American Civil War in Virginia. History The Union Department ...

. He was in the battles of

Drewry's Bluff Drewry's Bluff is located in northeastern Chesterfield County, Virginia, in the United States. It was the site of Confederate Fort Darling during the American Civil War. It was named for a local landowner, Confederate Captain Augustus H. Drewry, ...

, Deep Run, Derbytown Road, and other actions near Bermuda Hundred and Deep Bottom. With openings created by battlefield losses and reassignments, Hawley commanded a division during the

Siege of Petersburg The Richmond–Petersburg campaign was a series of battles around Petersburg, Virginia, fought from June 9, 1864, to March 25, 1865, during the American Civil War. Although it is more popularly known as the Siege of Petersburg, it was not a cla ...

and was promoted in September 1864 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 t ...

of volunteers. Concerned over keeping the peace during the November elections, Hawley commanded a hand-picked brigade shipped to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

to safeguard the election process. In January 1865, Hawley succeeded his mentor Alfred Terry as divisional commander when Terry was sent to command troops in the attacks on

Fort Fisher Fort Fisher was a Confederate fort during the American Civil War. It protected the vital trading routes of the port at Wilmington, North Carolina, from 1861 until its capture by the Union in 1865. The fort was located on one of Cape Fear Rive ...

. Hawley later joined him in

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia a ...

as Chief of Staff for the X Corps. After the capture of

Wilmington, North Carolina Wilmington is a port city in and the county seat of New Hanover County in coastal southeastern North Carolina, United States. With a population of 115,451 at the 2020 census, it is the eighth most populous city in the state. Wilmington is t ...

, Hawley took over command of the forces in southeastern North Carolina. In June, following the surrender of the Confederate armies, Hawley rejoined Terry and served as Chief of Staff for the Department of Virginia, serving until October when he returned home to Connecticut. He was breveted as a major general in September 1865, and mustered out of the army on January 15, 1866.

Postbellum

After the war, Hawley served as governor of Connecticut from April 1866 to April 1867, but was defeated in the 1867 election. A few months after stepping down from that office, he bought the ''

Hartford Courant The ''Hartford Courant'' is the largest daily newspaper in the U.S. state of Connecticut, and is considered to be the oldest continuously published newspaper in the United States. A morning newspaper serving most of the state north of New H ...

'' newspaper, which he combined with the ''Press''. Under his editorship, this became the most influential newspaper in Connecticut and one of the leading Republican papers in the country. Hawley was the permanent chairman of the

Republican National Convention The Republican National Convention (RNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1856 by the United States Republican Party. They are administered by the Republican National Committee. The goal of the Repu ...

in 1868, was a delegate to the conventions of 1872, 1876 and 1880. He represented Connecticut in the U.S. Congress from December 1872 until March 1875 and again in 1879–81, having lost the two elections in between. From 1873 to 1876, he served as president of the United States Centennial Commission, which planned and ran the

Centennial Exhibition The Centennial International Exhibition of 1876, the first official World's Fair to be held in the United States, was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from May 10 to November 10, 1876, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the signing of th ...

in Philadelphia. He was also a trustee of Hamilton College and received his LL. D. degree in 1875 (and another one from

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

in 1888).

Hawley was a United States Senator from 1881 to 1905, being one of the key Republican leaders both in the House and the Senate. He was chairman of the committee on

civil service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

, and vigorously promoted civil service reform legislation. He also chaired a special committee called to investigate the production of military ordnance and warships. In this capacity, he wrote a detailed report on the heavy steel industry and gun making in the United States and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. He died in Washington, D.C., two weeks after stepping down from the Senate after his fourth term. At the time, he was the longest serving Senator from Connecticut. A bronze ''

bas relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...

'' representation of Hawley was commissioned from Herbert Adams, which was installed in the north portico of the Connectcut Capitol building and dedicated 18 October 1912. He was buried in Cedar Hill Cemetery, Connecticut. Hawley has a battery named in his honor at

Fort Baldwin Fort Baldwin is a former coastal defense fortification near the mouth of the Kennebec River in Phippsburg, Maine, United States, preserved as the Fort Baldwin State Historic Site. It was named after Jeduthan Baldwin, an engineer for the Contine ...

, in Phippsburg, Maine.

Personal life

Hawley and his wife Harriet Foote Hawley adopted one of her nieces after the girl's parents died; as Margaret Foote Hawley she would go on to achieve some note as a painter of

portrait miniature A portrait miniature is a miniature portrait painting, usually executed in gouache, Watercolor painting, watercolor, or Vitreous enamel, enamel. Portrait miniatures developed out of the techniques of the miniatures in illuminated manuscripts, an ...

s. Harriet's sister Kate Foote Coe lived with the Hawleys while she was working as a newspaper correspondent in Washington.Maggie MacLean
"Harriet Foote Hawley: Civil War Nurse and Occasional Journalist"
''Civil War Women'' (May 19, 2014).

Notes

References

Retrieved on 2008-02-12 * *

External links

Col. Joseph Hawley at the Battle of Olustee
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hawley, Joseph Roswell 1826 births 1905 deaths 19th-century American newspaper editors 19th-century American politicians Burials at Cedar Hill Cemetery (Hartford, Connecticut) Connecticut Free Soilers Connecticut lawyers American people of English descent Hamilton College (New York) alumni People from Scotland County, North Carolina People of Connecticut in the American Civil War People of North Carolina in the American Civil War Politicians from Hartford, Connecticut Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Connecticut Republican Party governors of Connecticut Republican Party United States senators from Connecticut Union Army generals