Nelson D. Cole (1833–1899), was a United States army officer, businessman, and politician from

Rhinebeck, New York Rhinebeck is a village (New York), village in the Rhinebeck (town), New York, town of Rhinebeck in Dutchess County, New York, United States. The population was 2,657 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Poughkeepsie, New York, Poughkeepsie– ...

Early life

Cole was born on November 18, 1833, in

. He was raised and educated in Rhinebeck and then worked at a lumberyard in New York City. Cole also supervised the building of a

sugarcane mill A sugar cane mill is a factory that processes sugar cane to produce raw or white sugar. The term is also used to refer to the equipment that crushes the sticks of sugar cane to extract the juice. Processing There are a number of steps in pro ...

in Cuba. In 1854, he moved to

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

, and lived there working in a lumberyard.

Civil War

At the beginning of the American Civil War, Cole volunteered for the Union Army. He became the

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,

5th Missouri Volunteer Infantry (3 months, 1861) The 5th Missouri Infantry Regiment evolved from a network of several unofficial pro-Unionist militia groups formed semi-secretly in St. Louis in the early months of 1861 by Congressman Francis Preston Blair, Jr. and other Unionist activists. The ...

. While in this organization, he was severely wounded at the Battle of Wilson's Creek on August 10, 1861. Cole then served as a captain in the 1st Missouri Volunteer Infantry Regiment (3 Years Organization). He commanded Battery E, 1st Missouri Light Artillery at the Siege of Vicksburg. 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 ...

on August 12, 1863, and 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 ...

on October 4, 1863. In 1863, Cole was promoted to Colonel of the

2nd Missouri Light Artillery Regiment The 2nd Missouri Light Artillery Regiment was an artillery regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Service Organized at St. Louis, Mo., as 1st Regiment, Missouri Artillery, U. S. Reserve Corps, September 16 to Novemb ...

Indian Wars

At the end of the Civil War in 1865, Cole and eight batteries of his 2nd Missouri Artillery were sent to Omaha, Nebraska. There, he assumed command of the right, or eastern, column of the Powder River Expedition, which was to be a military expedition against the

Sioux The Sioux or Oceti Sakowin (; Dakota language, Dakota: Help:IPA, /otʃʰeːtʰi ʃakoːwĩ/) are groups of Native Americans in the United States, Native American tribes and First Nations in Canada, First Nations peoples in North America. The ...

and Cheyenne Indians in the Montana and Dakota Territories. Cole's column, which consisted mostly of cavalry and mounted artillery, started northwest on July 1, and crossed through present-day Nebraska and South Dakota, before reaching the

Powder River Powder River may refer to: Places * Powder River (Wyoming and Montana), in Wyoming and Montana in the United States * Powder River Country, the area around the above river * Powder River (Oregon), in Oregon in the United States * Powder River Ba ...

in Montana in late August 1865. At that time, Cole's men were low on supplies, and on September 1 they began skirmishing with Indian warriors who attacked the column. In early September, Cole began a withdrawal toward Fort Laramie, and was forced to abandon his wagons after hundreds of the columns' horses died, fighting the Powder River Battles along the way. The other columns encountered similar results, and the Powder River Expedition was deemed a failure. On November 18, 1865 (his 32nd birthday), Cole was mustered out of the Union Army.

Later life

Cole moved back to St. Louis and continued in the lumber business, eventually owning a

planing mill A planing mill is a facility that takes cut and seasoned boards from a sawmill and turns them into finished dimensional lumber. Machines used in the mill include the planer and matcher, the molding machines, and varieties of saws. In the planing mil ...

. In 1868, with his business partner, Stephen Glass, Cole opened the Cole and Glass Manufacturing Company. Cole served on the St. Louis Board of Aldermen for six years, and was also a commissioner for the city's Lafayette Park.

Spanish–American War service

In May 1898, after the outbreak of the Spanish–American War, Cole was commissioned a brigadier general in the United States Army by President William McKinley, and he applied for active service in Cuba or the Philippines. He was instead assigned to command the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Division, Second Army Corps. The brigade was composed of four volunteer infantry regiments, the 1st Rhode Island Volunteer Infantry, 1st Delaware Volunteer Infantry, 2nd Tennessee Volunteer Infantry, and the 3rd Missouri Volunteer Infantry; it saw no action in the war. During the winter of 1898–99, while in command of his brigade at Columbia, South Carolina, Cole developed a serious cold. He was mustered out of the service of the United States for the last time in March 1899.

Death

Cole died from complications of his illness on July 31, 1899, in St. Louis. He is buried in the Bellefontain Cemetery, in north St. Louis.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cole, Nelson D. 1833 births 1899 deaths 19th-century American businesspeople 19th-century American politicians American company founders American expatriates in Cuba American military personnel of the Spanish–American War Burials at Bellefontaine Cemetery Businesspeople from New York City Businesspeople from St. Louis Members of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen Military personnel from New York City Military personnel from St. Louis People of Missouri in the American Civil War People of New York (state) in the American Civil War People from Rhinebeck, New York Politicians from New York City Union Army officers United States Army generals United States Army personnel of the Indian Wars