ColorizedPast
Corporal
- Joined
- Aug 27, 2016
- Location
- Hangzhou, China (Wisconsin, USA)
Brigadier General Daniel Ruggles (CSA)
Daniel Ruggles was born in Barre, Massachusetts on 31 January 1810. In 1833, he graduated from the United States Military Academy 34th out of 43 cadets. He was appointed brevet 2nd lieutenant in the 5th U.S. Infantry Regiment posted in Wisconsin. In 1839, 1st Lieutenant Ruggles participated in the war against the Seminoles in Florida. From 1840 to 1845 he served on the US - Canada border.
Ruggles and the 5th Infantry, under Lt. Col. James S. McIntosh, were part of the 2nd Brigade under Col. David E. Twiggs participating in the Texas Campaign. At the battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma, his solid performance earned promotion to captain on 18 June 1846. Then the 5th Infantry joined Winfield Scott's army for the Mexico City Campaign fighting at Vera Cruz, San Antonio, Churubusco, Molino del Rey, Chapultepec, and Mexico City. Ruggles was brevetted for gallant and meritorious conduct to major after Churubusco and lieutenant colonel after Chapultepec.
He was posted on frontier duty in Texas and surrounding territories after the war. He participated in the Utah Expedition in 1858 and 1859 and then took a leave of absence for health reasons until the beginning of the Civil War.
On 7 May 1861, Ruggles, despite being a known abolitionist, resigned his commission in the U.S. Army. Appointed a Brigadier General of Militia and Colonel in the Provisional Army of Virginia, he was given command of the Aquia District May 1861. There Ruggles set up shore batteries to block the Chesapeake Bay. After exchanging fire with the Union Navy, Ruggles' troops resisted a landing party and prevented a Union beachhead in the Battle of Mathias Point.
On 9 August 1861, he was promoted to brigadier general and assigned command of a brigade in Gen. Braxton Bragg's Army of Pensacola in Florida. In February 1862, the army moved west to Mississippi and Ruggles took command of a division in Bragg's Corps in the Army of Mississippi. Under overall command of Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston, they march north for the Shiloh Campaign.
On the first day of the Battle of Shiloh, 6 April 1862, Ruggles saw repeated Confederate charges against the Union line known as "The Hornets Nest" fail. He sent word to his commanders to "Get every gun you can find." Artillery was collected from every part of the field and lined up in a row of 62 cannons, now known as "Ruggles' Battery", which hammered the Hornets Nest until the last Confederate charge broke the Union line at around 5:30 p.m., forcing it to surrender.
He fought with Gen. John C. Breckinridge in the 1862 campaign to regain control of Baton Rouge, Louisiana but were unable to regain the capital city. From 15 - 29 August 1862, Ruggles commanded the Port Hudson position on the Mississippi River in Louisiana and supervised the planning and initial construction of fortifications. On 29 August, Breckinridge ordered him to move some of his troops to Mississippi. For the rest of the war, he performed mostly administrative duties and was named as head of the prison system in 1865. He oversaw the final exchange of Union prisoners of war at the end of the conflict.
After the war, Ruggles was real estate agent and a farmer in Virginia. He died in Fredericksburg, Virginia on 1 June 1897.
Daniel Ruggles was born in Barre, Massachusetts on 31 January 1810. In 1833, he graduated from the United States Military Academy 34th out of 43 cadets. He was appointed brevet 2nd lieutenant in the 5th U.S. Infantry Regiment posted in Wisconsin. In 1839, 1st Lieutenant Ruggles participated in the war against the Seminoles in Florida. From 1840 to 1845 he served on the US - Canada border.
Ruggles and the 5th Infantry, under Lt. Col. James S. McIntosh, were part of the 2nd Brigade under Col. David E. Twiggs participating in the Texas Campaign. At the battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma, his solid performance earned promotion to captain on 18 June 1846. Then the 5th Infantry joined Winfield Scott's army for the Mexico City Campaign fighting at Vera Cruz, San Antonio, Churubusco, Molino del Rey, Chapultepec, and Mexico City. Ruggles was brevetted for gallant and meritorious conduct to major after Churubusco and lieutenant colonel after Chapultepec.
He was posted on frontier duty in Texas and surrounding territories after the war. He participated in the Utah Expedition in 1858 and 1859 and then took a leave of absence for health reasons until the beginning of the Civil War.
On 7 May 1861, Ruggles, despite being a known abolitionist, resigned his commission in the U.S. Army. Appointed a Brigadier General of Militia and Colonel in the Provisional Army of Virginia, he was given command of the Aquia District May 1861. There Ruggles set up shore batteries to block the Chesapeake Bay. After exchanging fire with the Union Navy, Ruggles' troops resisted a landing party and prevented a Union beachhead in the Battle of Mathias Point.
On 9 August 1861, he was promoted to brigadier general and assigned command of a brigade in Gen. Braxton Bragg's Army of Pensacola in Florida. In February 1862, the army moved west to Mississippi and Ruggles took command of a division in Bragg's Corps in the Army of Mississippi. Under overall command of Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston, they march north for the Shiloh Campaign.
On the first day of the Battle of Shiloh, 6 April 1862, Ruggles saw repeated Confederate charges against the Union line known as "The Hornets Nest" fail. He sent word to his commanders to "Get every gun you can find." Artillery was collected from every part of the field and lined up in a row of 62 cannons, now known as "Ruggles' Battery", which hammered the Hornets Nest until the last Confederate charge broke the Union line at around 5:30 p.m., forcing it to surrender.
He fought with Gen. John C. Breckinridge in the 1862 campaign to regain control of Baton Rouge, Louisiana but were unable to regain the capital city. From 15 - 29 August 1862, Ruggles commanded the Port Hudson position on the Mississippi River in Louisiana and supervised the planning and initial construction of fortifications. On 29 August, Breckinridge ordered him to move some of his troops to Mississippi. For the rest of the war, he performed mostly administrative duties and was named as head of the prison system in 1865. He oversaw the final exchange of Union prisoners of war at the end of the conflict.
After the war, Ruggles was real estate agent and a farmer in Virginia. He died in Fredericksburg, Virginia on 1 June 1897.
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