Trivia 5/14/15 Who?

[Trivia Master]

Who is Corpral Tanner?

credit: @War Horse

**note trivia will be posted early tomorrow, between 7:30 and 8am.

 

[blwhite]

He lost both legs at Second Manassas, later was secretary to the events of the Lincoln assassination, National Commander of the GAR and Commissioner of Pensions

 

[E_just_E]

Corporal James R. Tanner was born at Richmondville, New York, April 4, 1844. He was a teacher in the local schools when the Civil War began and he enlisted in September 1861 in the 87th New York Volunteer Infantry. He served as a Corporal with that unit through the Peninsula Campaign, April-July 1862 and at the Battle of Second Bull Run (Manassas), August 29-30, receiving wounds which required the amputation of both legs just below the knees and was fitted with two wooden prostheses. "Corporal" became his nickname and the way people were addressing him even after his service.

Tanner studied stenography and in 1863 secured appointment as Under-Doorkeeper of the New York State Legislature. In 1864 he obtained a clerkship in the War Department in Washington. On the evening of April 14, 1865 he hurried to Ford's Theater on hearing that President Lincoln had been shot. He remained there throughout the night with Secretary of War Edwin Stanton and took a complete shorthand notes as the search for the assassin was planned and carried out. His record of events that evening at the Peterson House (across from the theater) remain the most comprehensive record of the events that followed the President's shooting.

He studied law in New York at the end of the Civil War and in 1869 was admitted to the Bar. From 1869 to 1877 he held posts in New York Customs House and from 1877 to 1885 was Tax Collector in Brooklyn, New York. He was also very active in Republican politics and in the Grand Army of the Republic. As State GAR Commander in 1876, he organized a letter-writing campaign that moved the legislature to establish a soldiers' home. He later frequently was called on to lobby Congress on behalf of veterans and between 1886 and 1888 made several national tours on the stump for Benjamin Harrison's presidential candidacy. In reward for these activities, he was appointed in March 1889 Commissioner of Pensions. However due to inexperience that lead budget shortfalls and issues with his subordinates was forced to resign in September of the same year. From then until 1904 he was a private pension attorney engaged in prosecuting various claims against the government. In April 1904, President Theodore Roosevelt appointed him a Register of Wills for the District of Columbia. In 1905-06 he was the National Commander of the Grand Army of the Republic.

James Tanner died at Washington, D.C. on October 2, 1927 and was buried in Section 2 of Arlington National Cemetery. His wife, Mero T. Tanner (1844-1906), is buried with him. His daughters, Ada (1868-1959) and Antionette (1870-1953) are also buried with him.

 

[Stony]

James R. Tanner (April 4, 1844 - October 2, 1927) was an American soldier and civil servant. He is best known for having lost both his legs below the knee at the Second Battle of Bull Run. Serving during the rest of the war as a government stenographer, he was present at the death of Abraham Lincoln and took notes that are the most comprehensive record of the events of the President's assassination. He later served as the United States Commissioner of Pensions, and helped reorganize and incorporate the American Red Cross.

 

[kholland]

He was a Union soldier who lost both legs at 2d Manassas. On the night of Lincoln's assassination he took notes during interviews conducted with witnesses as he had learned stenography.

 

[Copperhead-mi]

Corporal James Tanner was a double amputee soldier who became a War Department stenographer and on the evening of April 14, 1865 was summoned to the boarding house where Lincoln had been moved following the president's wounding at Ford's Theater to take notes for the record. Tanner was standing at Lincoln's bedside when the president died the following morning.

 

[GELongstreet]

Was Commissioner of Pensions and Commander of the GAR ?

Edit - Yes, he was. The question wasn't worded in such a way as to make it clear that Tanner's work as a stenographer should be considered more important than anything else he ever did, so you will get credit for this answer.

Hoosier

 

[Dbersh]

James Tanner
Wounded at the 2nd Battle of Bull Run, double amputee and the stenographer at Pres. Lincoln's death bed.
More details
Tanner was born at Richmondville, New York, April 4, 1844, where he worked as a teacher. When the Civil War began in 1861, he enlisted in the 87th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment. He served as a corporal with that unit through the Peninsula Campaign of 1862 and at the Second Battle of Bull Run where he received wounds that required the amputation of both legs above the knees. He learned how to walk with artificial legs and in 1863 secured appointment as Under-Doorkeeper of the New York State Legislature. Tanner later studied stenography and worked at the War Department in Washington, D.C., and served as a stenographer at Abraham Lincoln's deathbed.
Source

 

[MRB1863]

Corporal James R. Tanner (1844-1927) enlisted in the 87th New York Infantry at the age of seventeen and lost the lower part of both legs after being struck by an artillery fragment at Second Manassas and fitted with a pair of artificial limbs by the Army's Medical—but not much more support from the Feds. He became active in politics and ended up being highly influential in the Republican Party. He was never elected to an office, but advocated for veterans and was appointed Commissioner of Pensions. He was a popular lecturer, and Commander in Chief of the Grand Army of the Republic.

 

[TinCan]

Legless vet who recordered Lincolns death.

 

[rhettbutler1865]

Who is Corpral Tanner?

credit: @War Horse

**note trivia will be posted early tomorrow, between 7:30 and 8am.

Who is Corpral Tanner?

credit: @War Horse

**note trivia will be posted early tomorrow, between 7:30 and 8am.

James Tanner, corporal, Union army (U.S. Army) lost both legs due to wounds at 2nd Manassas, 1862. On April 14, 1865, hearing Lincoln was shot, he went to Ford's Theater where he stayed through the night with Sec. of War Stanton, taking complete shorthand notes. His record of events at the Peterson House remain the most comprehensive of records following Lincoln's shooting.

 

[rhettbutler1865]

James Tanner, corporal, U.S. Army lost both legs at 2nd Manassas, 1862. His record of the events following Lincoln's shooting on April 14, 1865 remain the most comprehensive, including the Peterson House.

 

[chellers]

"James R. Tanner (April 4, 1844 - October 2, 1927) was an American soldier and civil servant.] The last time he saw action was at the Second Battle of Bull Run, August 28–30, 1862, where his lower extremities were severely injured. Union surgeons amputated both legs about 4 inches (10 cm) below the knee. Serving during the rest of the war as a government stenographer, he was present at the death of Abraham Lincoln and took notes that are the most comprehensive record of the events of the President's assassination. He later served as the United States Commissioner of Pensions, and helped reorganize and incorporate the American Red Cross.

In May 2014, Arlington National Cemetery officials formally redesignated the Old Amphitheater as the James Tanner Amphitheater. Tanner is buried a few yards from the amphitheater."

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=James_R._Tanner&oldid=659668287

 

[ole]

Stenographer at Lincoln's death bed.

 

[BrrrBRRRR]

James Tanner was a double amputee who worked as a stenographer for the government. He was present at Lincoln's assignation and death and provided the most complete record of the events.

 

[Brenal]

James R. Tanner (April 4, 1844 - October 2, 1927) was an American soldier and civil servant. He is best known for having lost both his legs below the knee at the Second Battle of Bull Run. Serving during the rest of the war as a government stenographer, he was present at the death of Abraham Lincoln and took notes that are the most comprehensive record of the events of the President's assassination. He later served as the United States Commissioner of Pensions, and helped reorganize and incorporate the American Red Cross.

 

[FarawayFriend]

James Tanner was the stenographer who took down testimony at Lincoln's deathbed.

"James Tanner may be the most famous person in nineteenth-century America that no one has heard of. During his service in the Union army, he lost the lower third or both his legs and afterward had to reinvent himself. After a brush with fame as the stenographer taking down testimony a few feet away from the dying President Abraham Lincoln in April 1865, Tanner eventually became one of the best-known men in Gilded Age America. He was a highly placed Republican operative, a popular Grand Army of the Republic speaker, an entrepreneur, and a celebrity. He earned fame and at least temporary fortune as "Corporal Tanner," but most Americans would simply have known him as "The Corporal." Yet virtually no one—not even historians of the Civil War and Gilded Age—knows him today."

 

[FarawayFriend]

Ooops, source of my above given quote is:
http://www.ugapress.org/index.php/books/americas_corporal

 

[adisciu9]

NY Union soldier. Lost both legs at 2nd Manassas and was in room when Lincoln died

 

[Mustang Cdr]

James Tanner served in the Civil War and lost both legs due to wounds that he received at Second Manassas in 1862. He was fitted with two wooden prostheses. He learned how to walk with artificial legs and in 1863 secured appointment as Under-Doorkeeper of the New York State Legislature. In 1864 he obtained a clerkship in the War Department in Washington.

Edit - These are correct, also.

Hoosier