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Civil War Soldiers - Averell
| Averell, William W., brigadier-general, was born in
Cameron, Steuben county, N. Y., Nov. 5, 1832. Being graduated at West
Point in 1855 he was assigned to the mounted riflemen and served in
garrison and at the school for practice at Carlisle, Pa., until 1857,
when he was ordered to frontier duty, and saw a great deal of Indian
fighting. He was severely wounded in a night attack by the Navajos in
1859, and was given sick leave until the outbreak of the Civil war in
1861. Being promoted to first lieutenant of the mounted riflemen, on
May 14, 1861, he fought at Bull Run and in other engagements until
Aug. 23, 1861, when he was appointed colonel of the 3d Penn. cavalry,
and given command of the cavalry defenses in front of Washington. In
March, 1863, he began the series of cavalry raids in western Virginia
that have made his name famous. His raids did much to help the Union
cause, and he was rewarded by the government in frequent promotions.
On March 13, 1865, he was made brevet major-general, U. S. A., and on
May 18 he resigned. From 1866 to 1869 Gen. Averell was consul-general
of the United States in the British possessions of North America, and
then became president of a large manufacturing concern. He invented a
process for making cast steel from the ore in one operation, the
American asphalt pavement and several complicated machines.
Source: The Union Army: A History of Military Affairs in the Loyal
States 1861-1865, Volume 8 Biographical, 1908 |
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