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Civil War Soldiers - Rawlins
| Rawlins, John A., brigadier-general,
U.S. Army, was born in East Galena, Ill., Feb. 13, 1831. He passed his
early years on a farm, attended school during the winter months, and
also engaged in burning charcoal. He studied law in Galena, 1854-55,
was admitted to the bar and became a partner of his preceptor, Isaac
P. Stevens. He was city attorney for Galena in 1857, a Democratic
candidate for presidential elector in 1860, and during the campaign of
that year held a series of debates with his rival, gaining
considerable local reputation as an orator. At a meeting held in
Galena after the fall of Fort Sumter he favored the maintenance of the
union by force of arms and was appointed aide-de-camp to Gen. Grant.
Although the youngest member of his staff, Grant promoted him
assistant adjutant-general with the rank of captain, Sept. 15, 1861,
his commission dating from Aug. 31, and he served with Grant
throughout the remainder of the war, with the exception of Aug. and
Sept., 1864, when he was absent on sick leave. His valuable services
won his rapid promotion as follows: major, May 14, 1862; lieutenant-
colonel, Nov. 1, 1862; brigadier-general of volunteers, Aug. 11, 1863;
brigadier-general U. S. A. and chief of staff, March 3, 1865; brevet
major-general of volunteers, Feb. 24, 1865, and brevet major-general
U. S. A., March 13, 1865. Gen. Rawlins was held in high esteem by
Grant, who characterized him in a letter to Henry Wilson, chairman of
the senate military committee, urging his confirmation as brigadier-
general, as "more nearly indispensable to me than any other officer in
the service." Gen. Rawlins became secretary of war in President
Grant's cabinet, March 9, 1869, and held the office until his death,
which resulted from pulmonary consumption contracted during the war,
at Washington, D. C., Sept. 9, 1869. Source: The Union Army: A History of Military Affairs in the Loyal
States 1861-1865, Volume 8 Biographical, 1908
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