Background
Jacob Ammen was born on January 7, 1807 at Fincastle, Virginia, United States. He was the son of David and Sally (Houtz) Ammen, and the brother of Daniel Ammen. When he was ten years old his parents removed to Ohio.
educator engineer military Soldier
Jacob Ammen was born on January 7, 1807 at Fincastle, Virginia, United States. He was the son of David and Sally (Houtz) Ammen, and the brother of Daniel Ammen. When he was ten years old his parents removed to Ohio.
Ammen received his school education at a local school of Georgetown, Ohio. He was then appointed to the United States Military Academy, graduating with honors in 1831.
In 1831 Ammen was commissioned in the 1st Artillery, and served six years in the army.
During most of his time he was an instructor at West Point, but a short tour of duty in Charleston harbor made him a witness of the nullification proceedings in South Carolina. Resigning from the army in 1837, he became professor of mathematics at Bacon (now Transylvania) College, in Kentucky. He taught there and elsewhere--three years at Indiana University--until 1855, when he took up the practise of civil engineering.
When Fort Sumter was bombarded, he immediately volunteered for service, was appointed captain in the 12th Ohio, and raised a company. He was quickly promoted to be lieutenant-colonel of the regiment, and was appointed colonel of the 24th Ohio in June 1861. After participating in the West Virginia campaign in the fall of that year, his regiment joined the Army of the Ohio. He was in command of a brigade at Shiloh when that army came up in time to avert the threatened disaster to Grant. Ammen's gallantry and good conduct were noted by General Buell in his report. He continued with the army through the siege of Corinth and for some months after, but illness took him away in September 1862.
He had meanwhile (July 16) been appointed brigadier-general of volunteers. The state of his health prevented service in the field, and, though he was not long absent from duty, he was assigned to commands in the North.
In April 1864 he took charge of the district of East Tennessee. This was a debatable land, with a population containing both unionist and secessionist sympathizers, harried by guerrillas, and occasionally invaded by organized forces of one party or the other. Ammen's task was largely an administrative one, varied by a little active campaigning. It involved much disagreeable work and no glory. He performed it to the satisfaction of his superiors for several months, and then, in October, offered his resignation, on account of "my pecuniary interests at home, which if not attended soon may subject me to very considerable loss. "
Some time elapsed before it was found possible to dispense with his services, and it was not till January 14, 1865, that he relinquished his command and returned to civil life. He resumed civil engineering in Ohio, but abandoned it in 1872 and became a farmer near Beltsville, Maryland, a few miles outside of Washington.
He was a member of a commission sent to Central America in 1874 to investigate proposed isthmian canal routes. He removed in 1891 to Lockland, Ohio, where he died, after two years of blindness.
At the end of his life he became blind and moved to Lockland, Ohio. He died on February 6, 1894.
Quotes from others about the person
"The cool, wary and vigorous method in which he fought his brigade gave me a profitable lesson in the science of battle. " - William "Bull" Nelson, the division commander.
Ammen was twice married, first to Caroline F Pierce, and then to Martha Beasley. He had three children.