Career
Born in Winterport, Maine, a suburb of Bangor, White"s father was a sea captain. In 1855 he spent a year mining for gold in California, returning to start a manufacturing venture in Bangor. With the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861, White raised and commanded a company for the 2nd Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment, the first to march out of the state.
When the regiment was mustered out of service in 1863, White returned to the front with the 31st Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment, and was promoted to Colonel the following year.
During the Battle of the Crater in the Richmond-St. Petersburg Campaign, White was captured by Confederate forces, held as a prisoner of war for seven months, but eventually repatriated in a prisoner exchange. In 1865 he was breveted Brigadier General of Volunteers.
He died in Boston in 1895, and is buried at Mount Hope Cemetery, Bangor.