William Wade Dudley (August 27, 1842 – December 15, 1909) was an American lawyer, politician, and

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 of the collective states. It proved essential to th ...

officer in 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 ...

. He was United States Commissioner of Pensions under presidents

James A. Garfield James Abram Garfield (November 19, 1831 – September 19, 1881) was the 20th president of the United States, serving from March 4, 1881 until his death six months latertwo months after he was shot by an assassin. A lawyer and Civil War gene ...

and

Chester A. Arthur Chester Alan Arthur (October 5, 1829 – November 18, 1886) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 21st president of the United States from 1881 to 1885. He previously served as the 20th vice president under President James ...

, and was Treasurer of the

Republican National Committee The Republican National Committee (RNC) is a U.S. Political action committee, political committee that assists the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party of the United States. It is responsible for developing and promoting the Republi ...

. He was wounded and lost his leg at Gettysburg.

Early life

William Wade Dudley was born in Weathersfield Bow, Vermont, the son of Reverend John Dudley, a well-known Congregational minister whose sermons were widely reprinted. Reverend Wade was a graduate of Yale Seminary, a sometime missionary to the Choctaw Indians, and a descendant of William Dudley, one of the earliest settlers of

Guilford, Connecticut Guilford is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States, that borders Madison, Branford, North Branford and Durham, and is situated on I-95 and the Connecticut seacoast. The population was 22,073 at the 2020 census. History Guil ...

, in 1639. Dudley's mother was Abigail Wade, a granddaughter of Col. Nathaniel Wade, a staff officer to General George Washington during the Revolutionary War.

Civil War and postbellum years

After studying at Phillips Academy, Danville, in

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

, and at Russell Military Academy in

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134 ...

, he joined the

as captain of the

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

City Greys—

volunteers Volunteering is a voluntary act of an individual or group freely giving time and labor for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency rescue. Others serve ...

for service in the

. Dudley's company was incorporated into the 19th Indiana Volunteer Regiment of the famed

Iron Brigade The Iron Brigade, also known as The Black Hats, Black Hat Brigade, Iron Brigade of the West, and originally King's Wisconsin Brigade was an infantry brigade in the Union Army of the Potomac during the American Civil War. Although it fought ent ...

of the

Army of the Potomac The Army of the Potomac was the principal Union Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. It was created in July 1861 shortly after the First Battle of Bull Run and was disbanded in June 1865 following the surrender of the Confede ...

. At age 19, at the Battle of Antietam, he took command of the regiment after the death of Lieutenant Colonel Alois O. Bachman. Following the battle, Dudley was quickly promoted to Major (September 18, 1862), and then Lieutenant Colonel (October 6, 1862). After losing 79 percent of his men at the

Battle of Gettysburg The Battle of Gettysburg () was fought July 1–3, 1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, by Union and Confederate forces during the American Civil War. In the battle, Union Major General George Meade's Army of the Po ...

, and having his right leg

amputated Amputation is the removal of a limb by trauma, medical illness, or surgery. As a surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such as malignancy or gangrene. In some cases, it is carried out on indiv ...

on the field, he served as an army inspector and

judge advocate Judge-advocates are military lawyers serving in different capacities in the military justice systems of different jurisdictions. Australia The Australian Army Legal Corps (AALC) consists of Regular and Reserve commissioned officers that prov ...

and captain in 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 ...

. For gallantry in battle, he was awarded an honorary brevet to Brigadier General of Volunteers on March 13, 1865. Following the end of the war he became a civilian lawyer in 1870, then the

U.S. marshal The United States Marshals Service (USMS) is a federal law enforcement agency in the United States. The USMS is a bureau within the U.S. Department of Justice, operating under the direction of the Attorney General, but serves as the enforce ...

for

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

in 1879, commissioner of pensions under appointment of Presidents James Garfield and

in 1881. In 1888 he was appointed Treasurer of the

. He returned to practicing law in 1887.

1888 election controversy

In 1888 having been made Treasurer of the Republican National Committee, Dudley was involved in the

1888 elections In Germany, 1888 is known as the Year of the Three Emperors. Currently, it is the year that, when written in Roman numerals, has the most digits (13). The next year that also has 13 digits is the year 2388. The record will be surpassed as late ...

and one of the most intense political campaigns in decades, with Indiana dead even between the Democratic incumbent President,

Grover Cleveland Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837June 24, 1908) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 22nd and 24th president of the United States from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897. Cleveland is the only president in American ...

, and the Republican challenger,

Benjamin Harrison Benjamin Harrison (August 20, 1833March 13, 1901) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 23rd president of the United States from 1889 to 1893. He was a member of the Harrison family of Virginia–a grandson of the ninth pr ...

. Although this job did not strictly involve him in state politics, Dudley wrote a circular letter to Indiana's county chairmen, telling them to "Divide the floaters into blocs of five, and put a trusted man with the necessary funds in charge of these five, and make them responsible that none get away and that all vote our ticket," and promising adequate funding for this. Unfortunately for the Republicans, the Democrats managed to get hold of the letter and they distributed hundreds of thousands of copies in the last days of the campaign. Given Dudley's unsavory reputation, few people believed his denials. The attack on "blocs of five" with the suggestion that pious General Benjamin Harrison was trying to buy the election enlivened the Democratic campaign and stimulated the nationwide movement to replace ballots printed and distributed by the parties with the secret "

Australian ballot The secret ballot, also known as the Australian ballot, is a voting method in which a voter's identity in an election or a referendum is anonymous. This forestalls attempts to influence the voter by intimidation, blackmailing, and potential v ...

's electoral votes topped Cleveland's to win the election. However, Dudley's reputation was destroyed, and he ultimately retired.

Personal life and death

Wade married his first wife, Theresa Fiske, in 1864, and they had four children together. After his wife's death in 1897, he married Nannie A. Robinson and they stayed married until Dudley's death. She died in 1949. On December 15, 1909, William Wade Dudley died of natural causes in Washington, D.C., and was buried in

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is one of two national cemeteries run by the United States Army. Nearly 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington, Virginia. There are about 30 funerals conducted on weekdays and 7 held on Sa ...

a few days afterward.

References

* ''The Winning of the Midwest, 1888-1896'' (1971) Richard Jensen
WADE-L Archives
RootsWeb

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dudley, William Wade United States Marshals 1842 births 1909 deaths People of Indiana in the American Civil War Iron Brigade People from Windsor County, Vermont