Background
James B. McPherson was born on November 14, 1828, in Green Creek township, Sandusky County, Ohio, near the present town of Clyde. He was the son of William and Cynthia (Russell) McPherson.
James B. McPherson was born on November 14, 1828, in Green Creek township, Sandusky County, Ohio, near the present town of Clyde. He was the son of William and Cynthia (Russell) McPherson.
Appointed cadet at the United States Military Academy in 1849, McPherson graduated in 1853 at the head of his class and was assigned to the corps of engineers as brevet second lieutenant.
For a year, McPherson was retained at the Academy as an assistant instructor in practical engineering and was then assigned to duty in connection with river and harbor improvement and seacoast fortification. Upon duty of this nature, he continued, first on the Atlantic and then on the Pacific coast, until 1861; meanwhile, he was promoted second lieutenant, December 18, 1854, and first lieutenant, December 13, 1858.
The outbreak of the Civil War found him in San Francisco. He was ordered East and employed on fortification work in Boston. Upon the enlargement of the regular army, May 14, 1861, he was offered a commission as captain in the new 19th Infantry but declined it, and on August 6, reached the grade of captain in his own corps.
When General Halleck assumed command in Missouri, he took McPherson with him as an aide-de-camp, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel and later of colonel. He served first as an assistant engineer, Department of Missouri, but when General Grant opened his Tennessee campaign in February 1862, he accompanied the expedition as chief engineer, and from that time on was constantly in the field.
While before Corinth, May 15, 1862, he was promoted brigadier-general of volunteers; and after the occupation of that place, he was made military superintendent of railways in the district of Western Tennessee. His first command, small but unusual in character, resulted naturally from this employment. On October 2, Rosecrans, at Corinth, was heavily attacked by Van Dorn; the situation seemed critical, and Grant, at Jackson, Tennessee, made efforts to reinforce him.
McPherson, then at headquarters in Jackson, was directed to collect four regiments stationed along the railway between there and Corinth, and report with them to Rosecrans. He moved by rail to within ten miles of Corinth, detrained, and marched the rest of the way, arriving too late to assist in the repulse of Van Dorn, but in time to lead the pursuit.
For his conduct in this affair, he was made major-general of volunteers, October 8, 1862, and was assigned to command the 2nd Division, Department of Tennessee; which command, on November 24, became the 2nd Division, XIII Army Corps. Later, January 18, 1863, the army, having been reinforced, was reorganized, and McPherson received command of the XVII Army Corps.
He was actively employed throughout the entire Vicksburg campaign, and after the surrender (July 4, 1863) remained in command of the District of Vicksburg until the following March, participating meanwhile in Sherman's raid to Meridian.
On March 18, 1864, Grant went east to assume direction of all the armies; Sherman succeeded him in command of the Military Division of the Mississippi and began preparations for his Atlanta campaign. McPherson took over Sherman's Army of Tennessee, assuming command at Huntsville, March 26.
At the head of this army, he fought the entire campaign, up to the fortifications of Atlanta. At Kenesaw Mountain, the rapid and decisive movements of his force won for it the soldier nickname "the whiplash of the army. " On July 22, the armies of the Cumberland and Ohio were well-established north and east of Atlanta.
The Army of Tennessee was directed to connect with the Army of Ohio on its right and extend its left to the south. While this movement was in progress, a Confederate turning movement against the left and rear developed.
McPherson was at Sherman's headquarters, receiving his orders, and at once started to join his troops.
Passing, with a single orderly, through a wood road which had been previously reconnoitered and found clear, he suddenly encountered hostile skirmishers who had penetrated between his XVI and XVII Corps and was killed. His death was one of the heaviest individual losses ever suffered by the Union forces.
In recognition of McPherson's services before Vicksburg, he was made, August 1, 1863, brigadier-general in the regular army. By his superiors, he was recognized as one of the ablest generals in the army. There is a sculpture of McPherson in McPherson, Kansas. Fort McPherson in the Atlanta, Georgia, area was named in Gen. McPherson's honor on February 20, 1866. McPherson Square in Washington, D. C. , and its Metro rail station are named in the general's honor. At the center of the square is a statue of McPherson on horseback. McPherson County, Kansas, and the town of McPherson, Kansas, are named in his honor. McPherson Township, Blue Earth County, Minnesota is also named for him. There is also an equestrian statue of him in the park across from the McPherson County Courthouse. McPherson County, South Dakota, founded in 1873, and organized in 1885, was also named in his honor. McPherson County, Nebraska, and Fort McPherson National Cemetery, located near Maxwell, Nebraska, were named in his honor, and the National Cemetery was established on March 3, 1873. This 20-acre (81, 000 m2) cemetery is located two miles (3 km) south of Interstate 80, near Exit 190. A monument marking the death of McPherson was established at the location of his death in East Atlanta, at the intersection of McPherson Avenue and Monument Avenue. McPherson Avenue in Atlanta was named for him. Memorialized on the 1891 $2 Treasury Note, and one of 53 people depicted on United States banknotes. A distinctive engraved portrait of McPherson appeared on U. S. paper money in 1890 and 1891. The bills are called "treasury notes" or "coin notes" and are widely collected today because of their fine, detailed engraving. The $2 McPherson "fancy back" note of 1890, with an estimated 600-900 in existence relative to the 4. 9 million printed, ranks as number 15 in the "100 Greatest American Currency Notes" compiled by Bowers and Sundman (2006). The James B. McPherson Elementary School in the Ravenswood area of Chicago, Illinois, was named for McPherson. In his home town of Clyde, Ohio, James B. McPherson Highway (US-20) was dedicated and named in his honor on August 9, 1941. The McPherson Middle School and McPherson Cemetery are named for him as well. The cemetery was named Evergreen Cemetery, but was renamed McPherson Cemetery on December 15, 1868. There is also a monument that was erected in his honor on July 22, 1881, at the McPherson Cemetery. President Rutherford B. Hayes gave the dedication speech during the ceremony for the monument. There were many US Civil War officers in attendance for the dedication of the monument, including General William Tecumseh Sherman. His childhood home on E. Maple Street in Clyde, Ohio is now owned by the Clyde Heritage League and is a museum that can be toured by appointment.
Energetic and ambitious, he welcomed responsibility and active service, but loyally and with no spirit of self-seeking. Grant, in a letter written upon leaving the western army, coupled Sherman and McPherson together as "the men to whom, above all others, I feel indebted for whatever I have had of success". Sherman was equally emphatic in his praise.
In the army at large his talents seemed to be fully recognized, and his advancement to corps and army command gave rise to little or no jealousy. A man of striking and pleasing appearance over six feet in height, erect and well-proportioned and possessed in a high degree of the faculty of command, he was able to gain the confidence and loyalty of his subordinates.
Young and vigorous, he lived in close association with his troops and bore his full share of hardship and exposure.
Quotes from others about the person
Of McPherson's services at this period, General Sherman said: "McPherson was one of the most useful staff-officers in the whole army riding night and day. I think he knew more of the lay of the country around Corinth than any officer of the army".
John Bell Hood, wrote: "I will record the death of my classmate and boyhood friend, General James B. McPherson, the announcement of which caused me sincere sorrow. Since we had graduated in 1853 and had each been ordered off on duty in different directions, it has not been our fortune to meet. Neither the years nor the difference of sentiment that had led us to range ourselves on opposite sides in the war had lessened my friendship; indeed the attachment formed in early youth was strengthened by my admiration and gratitude for his conduct toward our people in the vicinity of Vicksburg.
His considerate and kind treatment of them stood in bright contrast to the course pursued by many Federal officers. "
McPherson was married to Emily Hoffman.
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