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Ambrose Burnside Biography

Ambrose Burnside Image

BURNSIDE, AMBROSE EVERETT (I824-81). An eminent American soldier, prominent on the Federal side during the Civil War. He was born in Liberty, Ind.; attended a village school, and at 17 was indentured to a merchant tailor; but soon afterward was appointed to the United States Military Academy, where he graduated in 1847. He then spent some years in garrison duty, but later resigned from the service, and from 1853 until 1858 was a manufacturer of firearms at Bristol, R. I, inventing the Burnside breech-loading rifle in 1856. On the outbreak of the Civil War he entered the Federal army, and from May to August, 1861, was colonel of Rhode Island volunteers, participating as such in the first battle of Bull Run. He became brigadier general of volunteers on August 6, was engaged in organizing the "Coast Division" of the Army of the Potomac from October, 1861, to January, 1862, and commanded the Department of North Carolina from January to July of this year, during which time he captured Roanoke Island, occupied Newbern, N. C., and forced the surrender of Fort Macon, Beaufort. On March 18, 1862, he was raised to the rank of major general of volunteers. He was then placed in command of the reinforcements intended for the Army of the Potomac, which later constituted the Ninth Army Corps, and in July was offered, but emphatically refused, the chief command of the Army of Virginia. After the second battle of Bull Run he was again offered the chief command, the Army of Virginia now being merged into the Army of the Potomac; but he again declined it, and served under McClellan as commander of the Ninth Corps, in the Maryland campaign against Lee, participating in the battle of South Mountain, and commanding the left wing in the battle of Antietam on September 17. Though still feeling that he was unqualified for the position, he was finally--on November 10--placed in command of the Army of the Potomac, and conducted the campaign against Lee, which virtually ended with the overwhelming defeat of the Federals at Fredericksburg on December 13. Burnside attacked on this occasion with foolhardy recklessness and, in general, proved unequal to the task assigned to him. On Jan. 26, 1863, he was replaced by Hooker, and from March to December he was in command of the Department of the Ohio, during which time he captured Cumberland Gap, marched into East Tennessee, and occupied Knoxville, where for some time he was besieged by the Confederate General Longstreet. On April 13 he issued his famous "General Order No. 38," directed against the "Copperheads" in his department, and especially against Vallandigham, who was soon afterward arrested, convicted, and imprisoned. This order, together with his "General Order No. 84," which prohibited the circulation of the New York World and suppressed the Chicago Times, aroused the most violent opposition as striking at the freedom of speech and of the press, and President Lincoln yielded to the popular demand so far as to rescind that part of the latter order which suppressed the Times. From May to August, 1864, Burnside served under Grant, as commander of the Ninth Corps in the Richmond Campaign, taking part in all the important battles during that time and having charge of the mine operations at Petersburg. For his conduct on this latter occasion he was subsequently censured by a court of inquiry after a prolonged investigation found him, along with several other officers, "answerable for the want of success." Many military critics, However, have since contended that Burnside was not really at fault, and that the responsibility for the fiasco should be placed elsewhere. On April 15, 1865, Burnside resigned from the service and subsequently was prominent as a projector and manager of railroads. He was Governor of Rhode Island from 1866 to 1869, and from 1875 until his death was a member of the United States Senate. In 1870 he visited Europe, and during the siege of Paris acted as a medium of communication between the French and the Germans. As a soldier he rendered valuable services in the capacity of corps commander, but proved unable to cope with the problems and difficulties which fall to the lot of a commanding general.