Daniel Ruggles (January 31, 1810 – June 1, 1897) was a

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 ...

in the

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

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 ...

. He was a division commander at the Battle of Shiloh.

Early life and military service

Ruggles was born in

Barre, Massachusetts Barre ( ) is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 5,530 at the 2020 census. History Originally called the Northwest District of Rutland, it was first settled by Europeans in 1720. The town was incorpora ...

, on January 31, 1810. In 1833 he graduated from 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 ...

West Point, New York West Point is the oldest continuously occupied military post in the United States. Located on the Hudson River in New York, West Point was identified by General George Washington as the most important strategic position in America during the Ame ...

as 34th out of 43 cadets; among those George W. Cullum and Rufus King. He was appointed a brevet 2nd Lieutenant in the 5th U.S. Infantry Regiment and was posted in Wisconsin. He spent the next years in the Midwest with border duty and recruiting services. In 1839, by now a 1st Lieutenant, Ruggles participated in the war against the Seminoles in Florida. In 1840 he returned to the Canada–US border; and Ruggles stayed until 1845 when he took part in the occupation of Texas.Cullum, p. 563 Ruggles and the 5th Infantry, under command of Lt. Col. James S. McIntosh, were part of the 2nd Brigade under Col. David E. Twiggs. Participating in the Texas Campaign Ruggles fought in the battles of

Palo Alto Palo Alto (; Spanish for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. The city was es ...

and

Resaca de la Palma The Battle of Resaca de la Palma was one of the early engagements of the Mexican–American War, where the United States Army under General Zachary Taylor engaged the retreating forces of the Mexican ''Ejército del Norte'' ("Army of the North" ...

; his solid services securing him a promotion to Captain on June 18, 1846. Doing recruiting services after the end of the campaign Ruggles and the 5th Infantry joined Gen.

Winfield Scott Winfield Scott (June 13, 1786May 29, 1866) was an American military commander and political candidate. He served as a general in the United States Army from 1814 to 1861, taking part in the War of 1812, the Mexican–American War, the early s ...

's army for the Mexico City Campaign, fighting at Vera Cruz,

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

, Churubusco, Molino del Rey,

Chapultepec Chapultepec, more commonly called the "Bosque de Chapultepec" (Chapultepec Forest) in Mexico City, is one of the largest city parks in Mexico, measuring in total just over 686 hectares (1,695 acres). Centered on a rock formation called Chapultep ...

and

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...

. Ruggles was breveted ''for Gallant and Meritorious Conduct'' to Major after Churubusco and to Lieutenant Colonel after Chapultepec. After the war ended he was posted for frontier duty in Texas and the surrounding territories. Participating in the Utah Expedition in 1858 and 1859, Ruggles went on leave of absence for health reasons and stayed absent until the beginning of the

Early Civil War

Despite being from the

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...

stronghold of Massachusetts, Ruggles married a woman from Virginia and held Confederate beliefs. With the outbreak of the Civil War, Ruggles resigned his commission in the U.S. Army on May 7, 1861 Appointed a Brigadier General of Militia and Colonel in the Provisional Army of Virginia he was given command of the Aquia District in May 1861.Eicher; pp. 464–465 There Ruggles set up shore batteries to block the

Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the Eastern Shore of Maryland / ...

. After exchanging fire with the

Union Navy The Union Navy was the United States Navy (USN) during the American Civil War, when it fought the Confederate States Navy (CSN). The term is sometimes used carelessly to include vessels of war used on the rivers of the interior while they were un ...

Ruggles' troops resisted a landing party and prevented a Union beachhead in the

Battle of Mathias Point The Battle of Mathias Point, Virginia (June 27, 1861) was an early naval action of the American Civil War in connection with the Union blockade and the corresponding effort by the Confederates to deny use of the Potomac to the enemy. Two Uni ...

. On August 9, 1861, he was promoted to Brigadier General and assigned command of a brigade in Gen. Braxton Bragg's Army of Pensacola in Florida, although he was a known abolitionist. Simultaneously commanding the District of Northern Alabama, Ruggles's brigade moved westwards into Mississippi with Bragg in February 1862. Ruggles now was assigned to command a division in Bragg's Corps in the

Army of Mississippi There were three formations known as the Army of Mississippi in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. This name is contrasted against Army of ''the'' Mississippi, which was a Union Army named for the Mississippi River, not ...

. Under overall command of General

Albert Sidney Johnston Albert Sidney Johnston (February 2, 1803 – April 6, 1862) served as a general in three different armies: the Texian Army, the United States Army, and the Confederate States Army. He saw extensive combat during his 34-year military career, figh ...

they marched northwards for the Shiloh Campaign.

Battle of Shiloh

During the battle of Shiloh (Union name Pittsburg Landing) on April 6–7, 1862, Gen. Ruggles, on Sunday, April 6, saw repeated Confederate charges against the Union line known as "The Hornets Nest" fail. He sent word to his commanders to "Get every gun you can find." Subsequently, artillery was collected from every part of the field and lined up in a row of 62 cannons, now known as "Ruggles's Battery" (the biggest concentration of Artillery ever assembled in the history of North America up to that point), which hammered the Hornets Nest until the last Confederate charge broke the Union line at around 5:30 p.m., forcing it to surrender, 12 hours after the battle had started.

Late Civil War

He fought with General

John C. Breckinridge John Cabell Breckinridge (January 16, 1821 – May 17, 1875) was an American lawyer, politician, and soldier. He represented Kentucky in both houses of Congress and became the 14th and youngest-ever vice president of the United States. Serving ...

, the former

Vice President of the United States The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest officer in the executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks first in the presidential line of succession. The vice ...

, in the 1862 campaign to regain control of

Baton Rouge, Louisiana Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of counties ...

. The combined Breckinridge-Ruggles forces were unable to regain the capital city. From August 15 to August 29, 1862 Ruggles was in command of the Port Hudson position on the Mississippi in Louisiana and supervised the planning and initial construction of fortifications in that region. On the 29th he was ordered by Breckinridge to move with some of his troops to the state of Mississippi to aid

Earl Van Dorn Earl Van Dorn (September 17, 1820May 7, 1863) started his military career as a United States Army officer but joined Confederate forces in 1861 after the Civil War broke out. He was a major general when he was killed in a private conflict. A g ...

in his attempt to recapture Corinth, Mississippi in the ensuing

Second Battle of Corinth The second Battle of Corinth (which, in the context of the American Civil War, is usually referred to as the Battle of Corinth, to differentiate it from the siege of Corinth earlier the same year) was fought October 3–4, 1862, in Corinth, ...

. "Most of the predatory warfare fter the fall of Vicksburg, in 1863 was waged by Federal troops stationed on the Memphis-Charleston Railroad n southern Tennessee and near it in orthernMississippi. On the eastern part of that frontier, Brig. Gen. Ruggles commanded Ferguson's brigade of Confederate cavalry, and ten or twelve field pieces...This disposition had been made by Lt. Gen. Pemberton."Johnston; p.226 For the rest of the war he performed mostly administrative duties and was named as the head of the prison system in 1865. He oversaw the final exchange of Union prisoners of war at the end of the conflict.

Later life

After the war, Ruggles was a real estate agent and a farmer in Virginia. He later served as a member of the West Point Board of Visitors. He died in Fredericksburg, Virginia in 1897; and rests there in the Confederate Cemetery.

Notes

References

* * * * Joseph Eggleston Johnston, "Narrative of Military Operations Directed During the Late War Between the States", New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1874 * * U.S. War Department; ''The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies''; Series I, Washington, D.C.; 1880–1898 * * John D. Winters, ''The Civil War in Louisiana'', Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1963,

External links

*
Daniel Ruggles in Cullum's Register
online on Bill Thayer's Web

Early Suggestion to Arm Negroes for the Confederacy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruggles, Daniel 1810 births 1897 deaths Confederate States Army brigadier generals American military personnel of the Mexican–American War Northern-born Confederates People from Barre, Massachusetts American people of the Seminole Wars United States Army officers Military personnel from Fredericksburg, Virginia People of Virginia in the American Civil War United States Military Academy alumni Military personnel from Massachusetts