Background
Charles Devens was born in Charlestown, Massachusetts, United States. He was the son of Charles and Mary Devens, and the grandson of Richard Devens, a Revolutionary patriot.
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cabinet officer jurist Soldier
Charles Devens was born in Charlestown, Massachusetts, United States. He was the son of Charles and Mary Devens, and the grandson of Richard Devens, a Revolutionary patriot.
After preparing at the Boston Latin School, Devens graduated from Harvard in 1838, studied at the Harvard Law School, and was admitted to the bar in 1840.
He received the degree of Doctor of Laws from Harvard (1877).
Devens established himself as a lawyer, first in Northfield and later in Greenfield, Franklin County, Massachusetts. He sat for two terms in the Massachusetts Senate (1848 - 49), and held for four years (1849 - 53) the office of United States marshal for the district of Massachusetts.
On April 3, 1851, the Boston police arrested Thomas Sims, a negro slave who had escaped from his Georgia owner. The United States commissioner under the Fugitive-Slave Act heard the case, decided it in favor of the master, and directed Devens, as marshal, to escort the prisoner to the vessel on which he was to be carried back to Savannah. Although this legal duty was repugnant to Devens, he performed it.
Later, however, in 1855, he tried to obtain the freedom of Sims, offering to pay whatever sum was necessary for the purpose, but he was unsuccessful.
During the Civil War Sims was liberated, and Devens was able eventually to secure for him a government position. Devens resumed the practise of law in 1854, settling in Worcester, Massachusetts, and forming a partnership with George F. Hoar and J. Henry Hill.
He acted as city solicitor for three years (1856 - 58) and quickly made a reputation as an advocate and a public speaker.
Having early displayed a keen interest in military matters, he was steadily promoted in the state militia until he reached the rank of brigadier-general. When the news of Lincoln’s call for 75, 000 volunteers arrived in Worcester, Devens immediately turned over his affairs to another lawyer, offered his services to the Government, was chosen major of the 3rd Battalion of Massachusetts Rifles, was commissioned on the next day (April 16, 1861), and departed for the front on April 20.
He was shortly (July 24, 1861) appointed colonel of the 15th Massachusetts Regiment. At Ball’s Bluff (October 21, 1861) he was struck by a musket ball which would have pierced his heart if it had not hit a metallic button. On April 15, 1862, he was made a brigadier-general of volunteers and assigned to Couch’s Division of the IV Corps, being in action during the Peninsular campaign. Severely wounded at Fair Oaks (May 31, 1862), he would not leave the field of battle until evening; but he recovered in season to participate at Fredericksburg (December 13, 1862), where he commanded the advance guard. At Chancellorsville (May 3, 1863), he was wounded in the foot early in the day, while leading a division of the XI Corps. He took part in the battle of Cold Harbor (June 3, 1864), while he was so crippled with inflammatory rheumatism that he had to be carried along the line on a stretcher.
On April 3, 1865, he led the advance on Richmond and was brevetted a major-general.
For a year after hostilities were over, he remained in service, being assigned as second in command to Gen. Sickles in charge of the Southeastern Department. He was mustered out in June 1866, after a military career covering five years and three months. During his absence in the field, Devens was nominated in 1862 for governor of Massachusetts by the so-called “People’s Party. ”
Although he took no part in the campaign, he received the support of the Democrats and of some moderate Republicans. He was defeated by John A. Andrew, the Republican candidate, whose majority was 20, 000.
After the war he attempted to resume his practise. In April 1867 he was appointed, by Gov. Bullock, as a justice of the superior court, and, in 1873, was named by Gov. Washburn as judge of the supreme court of Massachusetts.
President Hayes offered him a place in his cabinet as secretary of war, but he declined it, only to accept a nomination as attorney-general (March 10, 1877).
At the expiration of his term in the cabinet, he was appointed by Gov. Long to his former position as judge of the supreme court and held his seat on the bench until his death.
He delivered several notable addresses, among them a speech at Bunker Hill on the occasion of the Centennial of 1875, an oration before the Army of the Potomac at New Haven in commemoration of Gettysburg, and a eulogy on Gen. Grant spoken at Worcester.
It was, however, as a soldier that he was best known. He was for years Commander of the Military Order, Loyal Legion, in Massachusetts, and he was elected National Commander of the Grand Army of the Republic in 1874 to succeed Gen. Burnside. When he died in Boston, at the age of seventy-one, he was buried from Trinity Church, with military honors.
During the World War, in 1917, the New England army camp, established at Ayer, Massachusetts, was named Camp Devens, in his honor.
A volume of Orations and Addresses, edited by A. L. Devens, was published in 1891.
Charles Devens has been listed as a reputable army officer, jurist, attorney general by Marquis Who's Who.
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As a lawyer, Devens was distinguished by his thoroughness in research, his fidelity to his clients, and his skill in pleading. He was a handsome man, with a commanding presence, and his native gifts as an orator were great.
As a judge, he was distinguished by his perfect impartiality, his abundant learning, and his scrupulous integrity. In his capacity as attorney-general, he was recognized as one of the strongest members of a strong cabinet. He had a wide acquaintance, and his urbane and kindly nature made him a social favorite.
Devens never married.
Major-general
