Background
George Leonard Andrews was born on August 31, 1828 in Bridgewater, Massachusetts, United States, the son of Manassah and Harriet (Leonard) Andrews.
George Leonard Andrews was born on August 31, 1828 in Bridgewater, Massachusetts, United States, the son of Manassah and Harriet (Leonard) Andrews.
He graduated from the State Normal School at Bridgewater, he entered the United States Military Academy, and graduated there in 1851, at the head of his class.
For four years he served as a lieutenant of engineers, and then resigned from the army to take up private practice as a civil engineer. At the outbreak of the Civil War he was appointed lieutenant-colonel of the 2nd Massachusetts Infantry, the colonel of which was also a former officer of the regular army, and under their training the regiment quickly acquired a reputation for steadiness and discipline which it maintained to the end. The colonel commanding the brigade being absent, the charge of the regiment devolved upon Andrews from the beginning of its service in field operations against the enemy. He led it during Gen. Banks's campaign in the Shenandoah Valley, and afterward as colonel (having been promoted, June 13, 1862) at the battles of Cedar Mountain and Antietam.
He was then designated for service with Gen. Banks's expedition to Louisiana, and after some weeks at the port of embarkation, supervising shipments, he joined the command and was appointed its chief of staff. As such he took part in the campaign which culminated in the siege and capture of Port Hudson.
He was then placed in command of the territorial district about Baton Rouge, and was also charged with the organization and training of a large force of colored troops. There had been a few regiments of Negroes received into the service before this time, but with the secure occupation of a large area in the extreme South, their enlistment on a considerable scale was begun. Under their original fanciful designation of Corps d' Afrique, and afterward as plain regiments of United States colored troops, Andrews continued in command of these organizations, and also of his district, until early in 1865.
He took part in the attack on Mobile, and after some further staff service was mustered out of the army in August. He tried life as a planter in Mississippi until 1867, and then returned to Massachusetts, where he served as United States marshal for four years, and is said to have incurred the pronounced enmity of Benjamin F. Butler.
In 1871 he was appointed professor of French at West Point, and when the departments of French and Spanish were merged in 1882, he became head of the new department as professor of modern languages, which place he held until his retirement in 1892.
From then until his death he resided in Brookline, Massachussets, writing occasional papers on military historical topics.
He was imposing in appearance, dignified and formal in manner, studious, and well-read.
He made few intimate friends, and as a commander was one to inspire confidence rather than devotion.
Andrews was married to Sarah Bridge Fiske. They had one son who died at the age of ten.