Background
Edwin was born on January 30, 1797 at Boston, Massachussets, United States. He was the son of Elisha and Nancy (Vose) Sumner, and a descendant of William Sumner who came to Massachusetts about 1635 and settled at Dorchester.
Edwin was born on January 30, 1797 at Boston, Massachussets, United States. He was the son of Elisha and Nancy (Vose) Sumner, and a descendant of William Sumner who came to Massachusetts about 1635 and settled at Dorchester.
Sumner was commissioned second lieutenant in the 2nd Infantry, March 3, 1819, promoted first lieutenant, January 25, 1823, and served in that regiment until he was appointed captain, March 4, 1833, in the newly organized 16t Dragoons (now the 16t Cavalry). His service was chiefly on the frontier until the outbreak of the Mexican War, when he was appointed major of the 2nd Dragoons, June 30, 1846, and joined General Winfield Scott's army in Mexico. Scott's faith in Sumner was such that he wished to relegate the latter's senior, Colonel William S. Harney, for whom he had no liking, to an unimportant command in Taylor's army. In the end, both Harney and Sumner remained, but the relations between them were permanently strained.
The regiment of Mounted Riflemen (now 3rd Cavalry) had just been organized, most of its officers being wholly without military training. It needed an exceptionally strong man to command it, and Sumner was detached from the dragoons for that purpose. His service throughout the campaign was distinguished, at first in command of the Mounted Riflemen and later of his own regiment.
He was wounded at Cerro Gordo and received brevets for his conduct there and at Molino del Rey. He was promoted lieutenant-colonel of the 16t Dragoons, July 13, 1848, and colonel of the 16t (now 4th) Cavalry, March 3, 1855. Meanwhile, in the summer of 1852, after the death of the civil governor, J. S. Calhoun, Sumner acted as a governor of New Mexico.
In September 1855, under orders from General Harney, Sumner's regiment left Fort Leavenworth for Fort Laramie, to arrive there ready for a spring campaign, but after marching west four hundred miles he turned back to Leavenworth, declaring that to continue would sacrifice most of the horses. Harney preferred charges for disobedience of orders, but Sumner was supported by the War Department.
As commander of the post at Fort Leavenworth in 1856 during the struggle between Free-Soilers and proslavery men for the control of Kansas, he attempted to preserve order, dispersing armed bands of partisans of both sides, and under the direction of Governor Wilson Shannon, the "pretended" Topeka legislature.
In 1857 he was engaged in a campaign against the Cheyennes in Kansas and the following year he assumed command of the Department of the West, with headquarters at St. Louis.
He commanded the right grand division at the battle of Fredericksburg, and was then relieved from duty with the Army of the Potomac at his own request.
He died at Syracuse, New York, while on the way to his new command in Missouri.
Quotations: On January 5, 1861, he wrote, in a personal letter to General Scott: "I have belonged to the general government over forty years, and I consider it my government, and so long as it lasts, the only government to which I owe fealty. As I view this obligation, I feel bound in honor to devote myself to the preservation of the Union" (unpublished letter).
His wife was a Northerner: Hannah W. Forster, daughter of Thomas Forster of Erie. They married March 31, 1822. One son, Edwin Vose Sumner, Jr. , became a brigadier-general in the regular army; and another, Samuel Storrow Sumner, a major-general.