William Chauncey Kibbe (1822–1904) was a California pioneer and the third Adjutant General of California. He oversaw the

California Militia The California National Guard is part of the National Guard of the United States, a dual federal-state military reserve force. The CA National Guard has three components: the CA Army National Guard, CA Air National Guard, and CA State Guard. ...

from its beginnings through most 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 ...

Early life

William C. Kibbe was born in Illinois in 1822. He moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

as a young man, teaching school in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. He rose to become Principal of

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 ...

#19. When news of the

California Gold Rush The California Gold Rush (1848–1855) was a gold rush that began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California fro ...

came he went to California to seek his fortune as a miner. With no success in the mines he turned to politics.

Quartermaster and Adjutant General of California

William C. Kibbe was appointed by Governor John McDougal as California's third Quartermaster General in June, 1852, and after William H. Richardson resigned, due to the provisions of the Militia Law of 1852 became the

Adjutant General An adjutant general is a military chief administrative officer. France In Revolutionary France, the was a senior staff officer, effectively an assistant to a general officer. It was a special position for lieutenant-colonels and colonels in staf ...

of California in charge of the

also. He was elected to the office of Adjutant General in 1854. In 1855, Kibbe wrote a drill manual for the California Militia, ''The volunteer: containing exercises and movements of infantry, light infantry, riflemen and cavalry, as a drill manual for the California Militia''. In 1858, Kibbe was responsible for organizing the Klamath & Humboldt Expedition led by Captain

Isaac G. Messec Isaac Green Messec, sometimes Messic or Messick (1823–1901) was a Texas Ranger, 49er, miner, businessman, California State Militia Captain, county sheriff, sergeant-at-arms of the California State Senate and rancher, a well-known figure in poli ...

to fight the ''Wintoon War'' of 1858-59 against the

Whilkut The Whilkut (variants: ''Whiylqit, Hwil'-kut, Hoilkut, Hoilkut-hoi'') also known as "(Upper) Redwood Creek Indians" or "Mad River Indians" were a Pacific Coast Athabaskan tribe speaking a dialect similar to the Hupa to the northeast and Chilula ...

people. In 1859, he oversaw the State of California's Pitt River Expedition against the

Achomawi Achomawi (also Achumawi, Ajumawi and Ahjumawi), are the northerly nine (out of eleven) bands of the Pit River tribe of Palaihnihan Native Americans who live in what is now northeastern California in the United States. These 5 autonomous bands ...

and

Atsugewi The Atsugewi are Native Americans residing in northeastern California, United States. Their traditional lands are near Mount Shasta, specifically the Pit River drainage on Burney, Hat, and Dixie Valley or Horse Creeks. They are closely related ...

tribes in the vicinity the

Pit River The Pit River is a major river draining from northeastern California into the state's Central Valley. The Pit, the Klamath and the Columbia are the only three rivers in the U.S. that cross the Cascade Range. The longest tributary of the Sacr ...

in Northeastern California. He sent Militia units from California to help the settlers in

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

during the

Paiute War Paiute (; also Piute) refers to three non-contiguous groups of indigenous peoples of the Great Basin. Although their languages are related within the Numic group of Uto-Aztecan languages, these three groups do not form a single set. The term "Pai ...

. In May 1861, when the

Los Angeles Mounted Rifles California's involvement in the American Civil War included sending gold east to support the war effort, recruiting volunteer combat units to replace regular U.S. Army units sent east, in the area west of the Rocky Mountains, maintaining and b ...

absconded with the weapons and equipment of various defunct militia companies in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

, blame came to Kibbe. His records under his long tenure of office got into such confusion that the legislature took a hand and tried to unseat him. Governor

Leland Stanford Amasa Leland Stanford (March 9, 1824June 21, 1893) was an American industrialist and politician. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 8th governor of California from 1862 to 1863 and represented California in the United States Se ...

kept him in office. With the advent of mechanized warfare of the shape of the new iron-clads called for new methods of defense. Adjutant General Kibbe in his report of December 3, 1863 to Governor

proposed a novel plan for the protection of San Francisco harbor:

To adequately fortify the harbor it was proposed to construct revolving iron towers at each side of the Golden Gate. These towers to be one hundred feet in diameter and pierced for two tiers of guns with ample space for thirty guns in each tier. Casemated guns were planned for the foundation of the towers. When the towers were completed, massive chains would be laid across the entrance to the harbor. These chains would be drawn up by windlasses operated by steam engines. The chains would be designed to check the speed of any enemy vessel and bring it under fire of the guns in the towers. Kibbe contended that if the towers could be built and other approaches to the city fortified, the navies of the world could be kept out of the harbor.

Later life

Kibbe was replaced by George S. Evans when he was appointed Adjutant General by Governor

Frederick Low Frederick Ferdinand Low (June 30, 1828July 21, 1894) was an American politician and diplomat who served as the 9th Governor of California and a member of the United States House of Representatives. Early life and education Born in Frankfort ...

, May 1, 1864. After the Civil War, Kibbe returned to Brooklyn and held an office in the Hall of records there. He died in January 1904, at his home, 464 Macon Street, in Brooklyn, New York at the age of 82 years.New York Times, January 26, 1904, Obituary

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kibbe, William Chauncey 1822 births 1904 deaths People of California in the American Civil War American people of the Indian Wars People from Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn Bald Hills War American school principals