Francis Channing Barlow
Born: October 19, 1834
Birthplace: Brooklyn, New York
Father: Rev. David Hatch Barlow 1805 – 1864
Mother: Almira Cornelia Penniman 1810 – 1864
(Buried: Walnut Street Cemetery, Brookline, Massachusetts)
1st Wife: Arabella Wharton Griffith 1824 – 1864
Info: Army nurse who died of Typhoid Fever
(Buried: Old Somerville Cemetery, Somerville, New Jersey)
Married: April 20, 18612nd Wife: Ellen "Nellie" Shaw 1845 – 1936
Info: Sister of Colonel Robert G. Shaw
(Buried: Moravian Cemetery, New Drop, New York)
Married: 1866
Children:
Robert Shaw Barlow 1869 – 1943
(Buried: Moravian Cemetery, New Drop, New York)
Charles Lowell Barlow 1871 – 1965
(Buried: Moravian Cemetery, New Drop, New York)
Education:
Graduated from Harvard University – (1st in class)
Occupation before War:
Member of Newspaper Staff at New York Tribune Newspaper
Civil War Career:
1861: Private in 12th New York State Militia Regiment
1861: 1st Lt. in 12th New York State Militia Regiment
1861 – 1862: Lt. Colonel of 61st New York Volunteers Infantry Regt.
1862: Colonel of 61st New York Volunteers Infantry Regiment
1862: Served in the Battle of Seven Pines, Virginia
1862: Advanced his men into the fight at Battle of Glendale, Virginia
1862: Picked up Confederate Battle Flag at Battle of Malvern Hill
1862: Wounded in the face and groin at Battle of Antietam, Maryland
1862 – 1865: Brigadier General of Union Army, Volunteers
1863: Served in the Battle of Chancellorsville, Virginia
1863: Wounded in the left during the Battle of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
1863: Cared for by Brig. General John B. Gordon at Gettysburg
1863 – 1864: Leave of absence from army due to his wounds
1864: Division Commander at Battle of the Wilderness, Virginia
1864: Division Commander at Battle of Spotsylvania, Virginia
1864: Brevetted Major General not confirmed until Feb. 14th,1865
1864: Served at the Battle of Cold Harbor, Virginia
1864 – 1865: Served in the Siege of Petersburg, Virginia
1865: Served in the Battle of Saylor's Creek, Virginia
1865: Served in the Battle of High Bridge, Virginia
1865: Commander of II Army Corps, in Army of the Potomac
1865: Appointed Major General, but not confirmed until 1866
1865: Mustered out of the Union Army on November 16th
Occupation after War:
1866 – 1867: New York Secretary of State
1869: United States Marshal, Southern District of New York
1872 – 1873: New York State Attorney General
1876: Investigator of Hayes – Tilden Presidential Election
1876 - 1896: Attorney in New York City, New York
Died: January 11, 1896
Place of Death: New York City, New York
Cause of Death: Bright's Disease
Age at time of Death: 61 years old
Burial Place: Walnut Street Cemetery, Brookline, Massachusetts (Find a Grave)
BARLOW Francis Channing, soldier, b. in Brooklyn, NY, 19 Oct. 1834. He was at the head of his class at Harvard in 1855, studied law in the office of William Curtis Noyes, New York, and began practice in that city. For a time he was on the editorial staff of the "Tribune."
In 1861 he enlisted as a private in the 12th regiment New York state national guard, and went the front on the first call for troops to defend capital. At the end of the three months term service he had been promoted lieutenant. He at once reentered the service as lieutenant-colonel of the 61st New York volunteers, was promoted to Colonel during the siege of Yorktown and distinguished himself at the battle of Fair Oaks or Seven Pines (31 May and 1 June, 1862), for which he afterward (19 Sept.) promoted brigadier-general. He brought his regiment in good form through the trying "change of base" from the Chickahominy to the James river.
At Antietam (17 Sept.) command captured two sets of confederate colors and 300 prisoners, but he was severely wounded, carried apparently dead from the field. At Chancellorsville (2 May, 1863) he commanded a brigade in the 11th corps, but was not involved in the discreditable surprise of its commanding officer, having been detached early in the day to harass "Stonewall" Jackson in his flank movement on national right, At the battle of Gettysburg (1 July, 1863) he was severely wounded and taken prisoner during the first day's fight; but he was exchanged, and recovered in time to take the field again the following spring.
At Spotsylvania Court House, 12 May, 1864, the 2d corps (Gen Hancock's) was ordered to storm the confederate works at dawn. Gen. Barlow commanded the 1st division which, with the 3d, formed the advance line. The works were carried with a rush, and 3,000 prisoners captured, comprising almost an entire division, with two general officers, D.M. Johnson and H. Stewart. This opened one of the most sanguinary and stubbornly contested engagements of the civil war, and was the first substantial success won during the campaign.
Gen. Barlow participated in the final campaigns of the Potomac Army under Gen. Grant, was present at the assault on Petersburg, and at the surrender of the confederate forces in April 1865, and was mustered out of the military service on the conclusion of peace.
He was elected secretary of the state of New York in 1865, and served until 1868, when president Grant appointed him U.S. marshal of the southern district of the state. He resigned in October, 1869. In November, 1871, he was elected attorney-general of the state, serving through 1872-'3 Since that date he has practiced law in New York city.
Gen. Barlow married Miss Arabella Griffith, who, while her husband was in the field, was highly efficient in the hospitals as a member of the U.S. sanitary commission. She died 27 July, 1864, of fever contracted in the hospitals of the Army of the Potomac. His second wife is a daughter of Francis G. Shaw.
Excerpted from Appletons' Cyclopaedia of American Biography: Aaron-Crandall, 1887
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