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Collection Reference Number GLC02414.419
From Archive Folder Collection of Eliakim P. Scammon, 23rd regiment, Ohio, infantry 
Title Charles F. Richard to Eliakim P. Scammon introducing himself for the military examination
Date 19 July 1865
Author Richard, Charles F. (fl. 1865)  
Recipient Scammon, Eliakim P.  
Document Type Correspondence; Military document
Content Description Gives biographical information on himself, including place and date of birth, and education to date. Goes on to state military career so far, including the battles in which he had fought. Goes on to mention leaving due to ill health.
Subjects Civil War  Military History  Union Forces  Union General  Soldier's Letter  Union Soldier's Letter  
People Scammon, Eliakim Parker (1816-1894)  
Place written Charleston, South Carolina
Theme The American Civil War; Health & Medicine; African Americans
Sub-collection Papers and Images of the American Civil War
Additional Information Folder information: Eliakim Scammon (1816-1894), an original officer in the Army Corps of Topographical Engineers, fought in the Seminole Wars, the Mexican War, and the Civil War. Born in Maine, he entered West Point at the age of 16 and graduated ninth in the class of 1837, alongside more celebrated classmates Braxton Bragg, Joseph Hooker, and John Sedgwick. Scammon, an engineer, was asked to serve on Winfield Scott’s staff during his 1847 campaign in Mexico. He was dismissed from service in 1856, and moved to Ohio to teach mathematics, first at Mount Saint Mary’s, then at the Polytechnic College of the Catholic Institute. In 1861, Ohio governor William Dennison appointed him colonel of the 23rd Ohio Regiment, where he commanded two future presidents, Rutherford B. Hayes and William McKinley. He served under McClellan and Rosecrans in the successful western Virginia campaign. Scammon’s regiment was then assigned to the IX Corps of the Army of the Potomac, commanded by Ambrose Burnside, in 1862. After Antietam, he was appointed brigadier general of volunteers and given command of the District of Kanawha in October 1862. (In that position, Scammon frequently crossed horns with his subordinate, future president Rutherford B. Hayes.) In February 3, 1864, Scammon was captured by Confederate guerrillas while aboard a steamboat. Towards the end of the war he was exchanged, and briefly commanded the District of Florida. After the war, he was assigned duty in South Carolina and Florida on the Military Examining Board (deciding which officers remained in the army). He later resumed teaching mathematics at Seton Hall University. Documents in this collection largely pertain to the Civil War in West Virginia and consist of letters, telegrams, documents, drafts, and notes. The collection includes: three letters of future President Rutherford B. Hayes, and correspondence with him; Gettysburg-related material (Scammon was ordered to attack Lee's retreating forces); correspondence to and from Scammon; telegrams while in service (mostly in hand of telegrapher), and finally letters addressed to him as President of the Military Examining Board in Florida and South Carolina (1865) requesting to remain in service and providing brief biographies with records of service.
Copyright The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
Module Civil War, Reconstruction and the Modern Era: 1860-1945
Civil War: Recipient Relationship Comrade  
Civil War: Theater of War Main Eastern Theater  
Civil War: Unit 23rd Ohio Infantry