★  Devens, Charles

Charles Devens Jr.

Born: April 4, 1820
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Birthplace: Charlestown, Massachusetts

Father: Charles Devens Sr. 1791 – 1876
(Buried: Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Massachusetts)​

Mother: Mary Lithgow 1798 – 1848
(Buried: Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Massachusetts)​

Education:

1836: Graduated from Harvard College​
1840: Graduated from Harvard Law School​

Occupation before War:

1841 – 1849: Attorney in Franklin County, Massachusetts​
1848: Massachusetts State Senator​
1849 – 1853: United States Marshal for Massachusetts​
1851: Called upon to remand the Fugitive Slave Thomas Sims​
1853 – 1861: Attorney in Worcester, Massachusetts​

Civil War Career:
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1861: Major of 3rd Massachusetts Rifle Battalion​
1861 – 1862: Colonel of 15th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment​
1861: Wounded at the Battle of Ball’s Bluff, Virginia​
1862 – 1866: Brigadier General Union Army Infantry​
1862: Wounded at the Battle of Seven Pines, Virginia​
1862: Not heavily involved in the Maryland Campaign​
1862: Served in the Battle of Fredericksburg, Virginia​
1863: Wounded at the Battle of Chancellorsville, Virginia​
1864: Distinguished himself at the Battle of Cold Harbor, Virginia​
1864: Division Commander during the Overland Campaign​
1865: Led the first troops to occupy Richmond, Virginia​
1866: Brevetted Major General for his service in the War​
1865 – 1866: Commander of Military District of Charleston, South Carolina​

Occupation after War:

1867 – 1873: Judge of Massachusetts State Superior Court​
1873 – 1877: Massachusetts State Associate Justice of Supreme Court​
1873 – 1875: Commander – in – Chief of Grand Army of the Republic​
1877 – 1881: United States Attorney General of Justice Department​
1878: Elected as Member of American Antiquarian Society​
1881 – 1891: Massachusetts State Associate Justice of Supreme Court​

Died: January 7, 1891

Place of Death: Cambridge, Massachusetts

Cause of Death: Cardiac failure due to fatty degeneration of the heart

Age at time of Death: 70 years old

Burial Place: Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Massachusetts

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It was Devens' division on the right flank of Howard's Third Corps that was first struck by Jackson during his flank attack at Chancellorsville on May 3, 1863. Some analysts assign him a significant portion of the blame.
 
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