Brigadier General John Daniel Imboden (CSA)

[ColorizedPast]

Brigadier General John Daniel Imboden (CSA)

John Daniel Imboden was born near Staunton, Virginia on 16 February 1823. He attended Washington College and found employment as a teacher at the Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind. He studied law and was admitted to the Virginia bar. He enrolled in Virginia's militia and was among the founders of the Staunton Light Artillery. Despite having no military training, Imboden received a commission as captain in the Staunton Artillery of the Virginia State Militia on 28 November 1859. As an advocate of state rights, Imboden was twice elected to the House of Delegates of the Virginia General Assembly.

On 1 July 1861, the Staunton Light Artillery was mustered into the Confederate States Army. Imboden commanded the unit during the capture of Harpers Ferry. While commanding his artillery battery at the First Battle of Bull, Imboden perforated his left eardrum firing an artillery piece, causing subsequent deafness in that ear.

On 9 September 1862, Imboden left the artillery to recruit a battalion of partisan rangers and was promoted to colonel of the 62nd Virginia Mounted Infantry (1st Partisan Rangers). He fought with Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson in the Valley Campaign at Cross Keys and Port Republic. He was promoted to brigadier general on 28 January 1863.

Along with Brig. Gen. William E. "Grumble" Jones, Imboden led the famous Jones-Imboden Raid of 3,400 partisan rangers into northwestern Virginia, destroying rail track and bridges of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. During the raid, he also captured thousands of horses and heads of cattle and ruined the petroleum fields in the Kanawha Valley. The raid covered 400 miles (640 km) in 37 days.

During the Gettysburg Campaign, Imboden's brigade served under Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart as the rearguard for Gen. Robert E. Lee's movement north through the Shenandoah Valley. His brigade did not participate in Stuart's foray away from Lee's army but instead raided the B&O Railroad between Martinsburg, West Virginia and Cumberland, Maryland. His men guarded ammunition and supply trains in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania during the Battle of Gettysburg, and then escorted the wagon trains of thousands of wounded soldiers back to Virginia. On 6 July 1863, trapped by the flooding Potomac River, Imboden organized a defense and turned back attacks by Union cavalry under John Buford and Judson Kilpatrick.

He led a surprise raid on Charles Town, West Virginia on 18 October 1863. Union Brig. Gen. Jeremiah Cutler Sullivan soon sent a rescue column from nearby Harpers Ferry and drove Imboden back up the Shenandoah Valley. At the Battle of New Market on 15 May 1864, Imboden and John C. Breckinridge defeated Union Maj. Gen. Franz Sigel's command. He commanded a brigade in Maj. Gen. Robert Ransom's cavalry division of the Second Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia under Lt. Gen. Jubal A. Early in the Valley Campaigns of 1864. He was incapacitated by typhoid fever and left the active cavalry service.

In 1865, he commanded Camp Millen, Georgia, then the prison camp at Aiken, South Carolina as well as other prison camps in Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi. He was paroled in Augusta, Georgia on 3 May.

Imboden moved to Richmond, Virginia, where he resumed his work as a lawyer. He published several articles and books about the Civil War and also contributed to The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies (128 vols., 1880-1901). He became a vocal advocate of the development of Virginia's natural resources and transportation infrastructure. He published in 1872 a pamphlet, The Coal and Iron Resources of Virginia: Their Extent, Commercial Value, and Early Development Considered. Around 1875, he moved to southwestern Virginia where he hoped to mine coal and iron ore deposits. He founded the town of Damascus, Virginia, which became a lumber center in the late 19th and early 20th century. In 1876, he became a commissioner of the Centennial International Exposition in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and in 1893, he was commissioner of the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago.

He died in Damascus on 15 August 1895.

 

[RebelCause]

View attachment 122281

Brigadier General John Daniel Imboden (CSA)

John Daniel Imboden was born near Staunton, Virginia on 16 February 1823. He attended Washington College and found employment as a teacher at the Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind. He studied law and was admitted to the Virginia bar. He enrolled in Virginia's militia and was among the founders of the Staunton Light Artillery. Despite having no military training, Imboden received a commission as captain in the Staunton Artillery of the Virginia State Militia on 28 November 1859. As an advocate of state rights, Imboden was twice elected to the House of Delegates of the Virginia General Assembly.

On 1 July 1861, the Staunton Light Artillery was mustered into the Confederate States Army. Imboden commanded the unit during the capture of Harpers Ferry. While commanding his artillery battery at the First Battle of Bull, Imboden perforated his left eardrum firing an artillery piece, causing subsequent deafness in that ear.

On 9 September 1862, Imboden left the artillery to recruit a battalion of partisan rangers and was promoted to colonel of the 62nd Virginia Mounted Infantry (1st Partisan Rangers). He fought with Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson in the Valley Campaign at Cross Keys and Port Republic. He was promoted to brigadier general on 28 January 1863.

Along with Brig. Gen. William E. "Grumble" Jones, Imboden led the famous Jones-Imboden Raid of 3,400 partisan rangers into northwestern Virginia, destroying rail track and bridges of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. During the raid, he also captured thousands of horses and heads of cattle and ruined the petroleum fields in the Kanawha Valley. The raid covered 400 miles (640 km) in 37 days.

During the Gettysburg Campaign, Imboden's brigade served under Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart as the rearguard for Gen. Robert E. Lee's movement north through the Shenandoah Valley. His brigade did not participate in Stuart's foray away from Lee's army but instead raided the B&O Railroad between Martinsburg, West Virginia and Cumberland, Maryland. His men guarded ammunition and supply trains in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania during the Battle of Gettysburg, and then escorted the wagon trains of thousands of wounded soldiers back to Virginia. On 6 July 1863, trapped by the flooding Potomac River, Imboden organized a defense and turned back attacks by Union cavalry under John Buford and Judson Kilpatrick.

He led a surprise raid on Charles Town, West Virginia on 18 October 1863. Union Brig. Gen. Jeremiah Cutler Sullivan soon sent a rescue column from nearby Harpers Ferry and drove Imboden back up the Shenandoah Valley. At the Battle of New Market on 15 May 1864, Imboden and John C. Breckinridge defeated Union Maj. Gen. Franz Sigel's command. He commanded a brigade in Maj. Gen. Robert Ransom's cavalry division of the Second Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia under Lt. Gen. Jubal A. Early in the Valley Campaigns of 1864. He was incapacitated by typhoid fever and left the active cavalry service.

In 1865, he commanded Camp Millen, Georgia, then the prison camp at Aiken, South Carolina as well as other prison camps in Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi. He was paroled in Augusta, Georgia on 3 May.

Imboden moved to Richmond, Virginia, where he resumed his work as a lawyer. He published several articles and books about the Civil War and also contributed to The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies (128 vols., 1880-1901). He became a vocal advocate of the development of Virginia's natural resources and transportation infrastructure. He published in 1872 a pamphlet, The Coal and Iron Resources of Virginia: Their Extent, Commercial Value, and Early Development Considered. Around 1875, he moved to southwestern Virginia where he hoped to mine coal and iron ore deposits. He founded the town of Damascus, Virginia, which became a lumber center in the late 19th and early 20th century. In 1876, he became a commissioner of the Centennial International Exposition in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and in 1893, he was commissioner of the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago.

He died in Damascus on 15 August 1895.

View attachment 122280

This one is outstanding.