★ ★ Blunt, James Gilpatrick

James Gilpatrick Blunt​

Born: July 21, 1826

Birthplace: Trenton, Maine

Father: John Blunt Jr. 1795 – 1876

Mother: Sailly Gilpatrick 1791 – 1832

Wife: Nancy Carson Putnam 1832 – 1913

(Buried: Mount Muncie Cemetery, Lansing, Kansas)​

Children:

Sarah G. "Sadie" Blunt 1851 – 1936​

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Rufus G. Blunt 1852 –​

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Katherine P. Blunt 1867 – 1953​

Education:

1849: Graduated from Starling Medical College​

Occupation before War:

At age 15 he went to sea for five years on a merchant ship​

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1849 – 1856: Medical Doctor in New Madison, Ohio​

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1856 – 1861: Medical Doctor in Anderson County, Kansas​

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Allied himself with John Brown in Kansas​

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1859: Member of Wyandotte Constitutional Convention​

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1859: Chairman of Militia at the Wyandotte Convention​

Civil War Career:

1861 – 1862: Lt. Colonel of 3rd​ Kansas Infantry Regiment​

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1861 – 1862: Served as part of Jim Lane's Kansas Brigade​

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1861 – 1862: Served Jay hawking activities in Kansas - Indian Territory​

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1862: Brigadier General of Union Army Volunteers​

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Union Army Commander of the Department and Army of Kansas​

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Ordered William Weer to lead the "Indian Expedition"​

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Chastised CSA General Douglas H. Cooper and his forces​

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1862: Union Army Commander at Battle of Prairie Grove, Arkansas​

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1863 – 1865: Major General of Union Army Volunteers​

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1863: Union Army Commander of Army of the Frontier​

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1863: Established Fort Baxter near Baxter Springs, Kansas​

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1863: Union Army Commander at Battle of Honey Springs

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1863: Attacked by Quantrill at Fort Smith, Arkansas​

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1863: Union Army Commander at Battle of Baxter Springs​

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1864: Division Commander during Sterling Price Pursuit​

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1864: Division Commander at Battle of Westport, Missouri​

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1864: Union Army Commander Second Battle of Newtonia​

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1864 – 1865: Union Army Commander of District of South Kansas​

Occupation after War:

Medical Doctor in Leavenworth, Kansas​

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Admitted to the Bar by the Kansas State Bar​

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1869 – 1879: Attorney in Washington, D.C.​

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1873: Accused by U.S. Justice Department of conspiracy​

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1879 – 1881: Lived in the St. Elizabeth's Hospital for the Insane​

Died: July 27, 1881

Place of Death: St. Elizabeth Hospital for the Insane, Washington, D.C.

Cause of Death: Paresis with convulsions

Age at time of Death: 55 years old

Burial Place: Mount Muncie Cemetery, Lansing, Kansas

 

[Pollaco]

Some of his battle credits not listed on this bio include overall command of Old Fort Wayne and Cane Hill.

 

[Pollaco]

He didn't just live at St. Elizabeth's Hospital of the Insane like a custodian or Supervisor, He was confined there.

 

[gentlemanrob]

Happy Birthday Major General James G. Blunt! Salutes remembering General Blunt on his birthday.

 

[Pollaco]

The only officer from Kansas to achieve the rank of Major General. He reached this rank on March 16, 1863.

 

[farrargirl]

fun fact

 

[Pollaco]

3 regiments of Native Americans were among Blunt's forces at the Union defeat on September 30, 1862 at Newtonia, Missouri.

 

[ErnieMac]

A 8February 1879 article from the Washington (DC) Evening Star reporting Blunt's detention with a couple follow up articles from Kansas papers published later that month. The last article appeared in the 11 April 1879 Leavenworth (KS) Times. The National Insane Asylum at Uniontown is St. Elizabeths Hospital in the Anacostia District of DC. The original building built in the 1850s still exists.

 

[Pollaco]

I guess that Asylum didn't have bars on the windows back then.

 

[Saruman]

I think only one biography of Blunt has been written. It claims that his insanity was caused by late stage syphilis.

 

[Saruman]

Apparently Blunt's nickname was "fat boy" but I don't know the story behind it.