COL Grover, Ira Glanton

Ira Glanton Grover​

Born: December 26, 1832

Birthplace: Brownsville, Indiana

Father: Ira Grover 1795 – 1889

(Buried: South Park Cemetery, Greensburg, Indiana)​

Mother: Elizabeth Glanton 1804 – 1882

(Buried: South Park Cemetery, Greensburg, Indiana)​

Education:

1856: Graduated from Asbury University​

Occupation before War:

Attorney in Greensburg, Indiana​

Civil War Career:

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1861: Captain Company B, 7th​ Indiana Infantry Regiment​

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1861 – 1862: Captain Company E, 7th​ Indiana Infantry Regiment​

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1862: Wounded during the Battle of Port Republic​

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1862 – 1863: Major of 7th​ Indiana Infantry Regiment​

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1863: Lt. Colonel of 7th​ Indiana Infantry Regiment​

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1863 – 1864: Colonel of 7th​ Indiana Infantry Regiment​

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1863: Left behind to guard Emmitsburg Road on July 1st​​

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1863: Decided to leave for the battle front without orders​

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1863: Posted on the north side of Culp's Hill at Gettysburg​

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1863: Regimental Commander at the Battle of Gettysburg​

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Brought before a court martial for abandoning his post​

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1864: Captured at the Battle of the Wilderness, Virginia​

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1864: Prisoner of War held by the Confederate Army in Macon, Georgia​

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1864: Exchanged in Prisoner of Exchange in Charleston August 3rd​​

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1864: Mustered out of the Union Army on September 20th​​

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1865: Brevetted Brigadier General of Union Army Volunteers​

Occupation after War:

1864 – 1876: Attorney in Greensburg, Indiana​

Died: May 30, 1876

Place of Death: Greensburg, Indiana

Age at time of Death: 43 years old

Burial Place: South Park Cemetery, Greensburg, Indiana

 

[Pollaco]

I see where He was brought before a Court Martial for abandoning his post at Gettysburg. What was the outcome of that court martial?

 

[John Hartwell]

[Cincinnati Daily Gazette, 31 May 1876]​

 

[nc native]

I wonder if his court martial had something to do with his leaving for the battle front at Gettysburg without orders? If that was the case, his courage certainly isn't in question, it would have something to do with his lack of regard for military procedure and leaving his regiment without authorization.

 

[Jim Heen]

I am new to the site and so am just getting to this thread. I had read several accounts of Grover being court martialed for leaving Emmitsburg without orders on July 1 and was curious about this since, by doing so, he thwarted an attempt to take Culp's Hill that night by Edward "Allegheny" Johnson's division. So I got a copy of the court martial transcript from the National Archives, intending to write an article about the incident. I was surprised to find that Grover's court martial was really for allegedly failing to obey marching orders on June 12 and July 18, 1863, though I suspect that Grover's unauthorized departure from Emmitsburg may have been a contributing factor. Grover's brigade commander, General Lysander Cutler, was a strict disciplinarian and Cutler may have been looking for an excuse to replace Cutler.

In any event, Grover was acquitted, in part, due to his novel "I talk in my sleep" defense. My article on this controversy was published in the July 2011 edition of The Gettysburg Magazine (#45). The original mistake about the origin of Grover's court martial was made by James Easley in his unpublished, undated transcription of the 1863 diary of Pvt. James Hart of the 7th Indiana, which is located in the U.S. Army War College Library at Carlisle, PA. Although Hart's diary says nothing about a court martial, Easley mentions in his Introduction that Grover was court martialed for leaving Emmitsburg without orders. Easley probably knew about Grover's unauthorized departure from the 7th Indiana regimental history and if he checked Grover's military service file, he would have known about the court martial initiated on July 18. He made the not unreasonable assumption that the court martial was because of Grover's July 1st Emmitsburg incident. And while that probably played a role, the stated reasons were two other alleged violations. Easley is the only source cited by historians that I have found that mentions Grover being tried by a court martial for having left Emmitsburg without orders. These historians merely repeated Easley's mistake.

Grover served until the Battle of the Wilderness where he was wounded and captured. He was paroled that August just before he and the rest of the regiment were mustered out on September 5, 1864. After the war, he was elected Clerk for Decatur County, Indiana, and married in 1871. However, his health deteriorated due to his Civil War wounds, and he was placed in a State sanitarium in 1873. He died there in 1876 at the age of 43.