Thomas Howard Ruger (April
2, 1833 – June 3, 1907) was an American
soldier and lawyer who served as a Union general in
the American Civil War.
After the
war, he was a superintendent
of the United States Military Academy
at West Point
, New
York
.
Early life
Ruger was
born in Lima, New York, and moved to
Janesville,
Wisconsin
in 1846. He graduated from the U.S. Military
Academy in 1854, third in his class of 46, and was commissioned a
second lieutenant in
the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
He
resigned in 1855 to become a lawyer in Wisconsin
.
Civil War
Ruger was appointed
lieutenant colonel of the
3rd Wisconsin
Volunteer Infantry Regiment in June 1861, and promoted to
colonel on August 20.
Ruger
commanded his regiment in Maryland
and the
Shenandoah
Valley
campaigns. He participated in the Battle of
Antietam
, in which he was wounded while acting commander of
a brigade in the 1st Division, XII
Corps. Commissioned brigadier general of
volunteers in November 1862, Ruger led his brigade of the XII
Corps, Army of the Potomac, in
the Battle of
Chancellorsville
, and commanded the division of Brig. Gen.
Alpheus Williams temporarily at Gettysburg
. (Col. Silas
Colgrove led the brigade in that battle, participating in the
defense of Culp's
Hill
.) In the summer of 1863, Ruger was in New York City
, where he aided in suppressing draft riots.
Brig. Gen. Ruger led a brigade of
XX
Corps in Maj. Gen.
William T.
Sherman's advance
into Georgia
until November 1864, and with a division of
XXIII Corps took part in the
campaign against
General John
B. Hood's army in
Tennessee
, brevetted
major general of
volunteers, November 30, 1864, for services at the Battle of
Franklin
. Ruger organized a division at Nashville
and led his command to North Carolina
in June 1865, and then had charge of the department
of that state until June 1866. He was mustered out of his
volunteer commission, accepting a
regular army commission as
colonel, July 28, 1866, and on March 2, 1867, was brevetted
brigadier general, regular army, for his services at
Gettysburg.
Later years
Ruger
participated in Reconstruction as
the military governor of Georgia and in the Freedmen's
Bureau in Alabama
in 1868. He was the superintendent of the
U.S. Military Academy from 1871 to 1876, and retired, in 1897, with
the rank of major general in the regular army.
He died in Stamford,
Connecticut
, and is buried in West Point National
Cemetery.
See also
References
External links
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