Background
Robert Byington Mitchell was born on April 4, 1823, in Mansfield, Richland County, Ohio, of Scotch-Irish parents.
Robert Byington Mitchell was born on April 4, 1823, in Mansfield, Richland County, Ohio, of Scotch-Irish parents.
Whether Mitchell graduated from Kenyon College, Ohio, or Washington College, Pennsylvania, is a controverted matter; neither school has a record of his attendance. He studied law in the office of John K. Miller at Mount Vernon, Ohio, was admitted to the bar, and began practice at Mansfield.
In the Mexican War, Mitchell served as the first lieutenant in the 2nd Ohio Infantry. Later he resumed the practice of law, and in 1855 was elected Democratic mayor of Mount Gilead. A business trip to Kansas Territory in 1855 convinced Mitchell that it offered opportunities for advancement; accordingly, in October 1856, he migrated thither and settled at Paris, Linn County. Throughout the Kansas struggle, he was a conservative, law-and-order Free-State man. He was elected to the lower house of the territorial legislature in 1857 and was reelected a year later. In 1858, he was a delegate to the Leavenworth constitutional convention. The following year he was appointed a treasurer of the territory, serving until it became a state in 1861. When the Republican party supplanted the Free-State organization in 1859, he returned to the Democratic party and was appointed a delegate to the Charleston convention in 1860. After brief service as adjutant on the staff of Gov. Charles Robinson, Mitchell was commissioned colonel of the 2nd Kansas Volunteer Infantry. At the battle of Wilson's Creek, he was severely wounded, but recovered and was transferred to a cavalry regiment. On April 8, 1862, President Lincoln commissioned him brigadier-general, and at the battle of Perryville, Ky. , he commanded the 9th Division. He was then stationed at Nashville for several months. As chief of cavalry in the Army of the Cumberland, he made commendable contributions to Union successes in southeastern Tennessee in 1863. Severe wounds incapacitated him temporarily for field service, and Secretary Stanton ordered him to Washington for court-martial duty. Early in 1864, he was assigned to the district of Nebraska Territory in the department of Kansas. A year later he was transferred to the district of North Kansas, and when the two divisions of the state were combined, June 28, 1865, he was appointed to the command. Throughout the war, he had the reputation of being a shrewd and energetic commander. Late in 1865, President Johnson nominated Mitchell to be governor of New Mexico Territory. The nomination was confirmed January 15, 1866, and he took office on the 16th of the following July. He soon quarreled with the legislature and his removal was requested. He was accused of making a vacancy appointment of delegate to Congress, of remaining in Washington during an entire session of the assembly, of removing officials appointed by the secretary during his absence, and of usurpation of power. In 1868, the organic act was amended to abrogate the governor's absolute veto. Mitchell relinquished the office in 1869 and returned to Kansas. In 1872, he was nominated for Congress by Liberal Republicans and Democrats but was defeated. Subsequently, he removed to Washington, D. C. , where he died.
At the start of the Civil War, Mitchell was treasurer of the Kansas Territory when appointed Colonel of the 2nd Kansas Volunteer Infantry. He was commissioned Brigadier General by President Abraham Lincoln in April, 1862. He commanded the 9th Division, III Corps at Perryville, Kentucky and later served in Washington D. C. for court martial duty. For the remainder of the war he commanded the District of Nebraska, then the District of North Kansas and finally the District of Kansas. After the war, he served as Governor of New Mexico Territory, 1866 to 1869.
In 1855, Mitchell was married to Jennie, daughter of Henry St. John of Tiffin, Ohio.
