★ ★ Kilpatrick, Hugh J.

Hugh Judson Kilpatrick​

Born: January 14, 1836

Birthplace: Wantage Township, New Jersey

Father: Colonel Simon Kilpatrick 1794 – 1860

(Buried: Clove Cemetery, Sussex, New Jersey)​

Mother: Julia Wickham 1799 – 1876

(Buried: Clove Cemetery, Sussex, New Jersey)​

1st​ Wife: Alice Shailer 1841 – 1863

(Buried: Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx, New York)​

2nd​ Wife: Luisa Fernandez Valdivieso Araoz 1847 – 1926

(Buried: Cementerio General de Santiago, in Santiago, Chile)​

Children:

Judson Beaumont Kilpatrick 1862 – 1864​

(Buried: Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx, New York)​

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Julia Mercedes Kilpatrick Rafferty 1867 – 1958​

(Buried: Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia)​

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Laura Isabel Delphine Kilpatrick Morgan 1869 – 1956​

(Buried: Gate of Heaven Cemetery, Hawthorne, New York)​

Education:

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1861: Graduated from West Point Military Academy – (17th​ in class)​

Civil War Career:

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1861: 2nd​ Lt. United States Army 1st​ Artillery​

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1861: Captain 5th​ New York Volunteers Infantry Regiment​

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1861 – 1864: 1st​ Lt. United States Army, 1st​ Artillery​

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1861: Wounded in the thigh during the Battle of Big Bethel, Virginia​

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1861: Served on recruiting Service for 5th​ New York Infantry​

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1861: Resigned as Captain in 5th​ New York Infantry on August 14th

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1861 – 1862: Lt. Colonel 2nd​ New York Volunteers Cavalry Regiment​

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1861 – 1862: Served in the Defenses of Washington, D.C.​

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1862: Served in the Second Battle of Bull Run, Virginia​

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1862 – 1863: Colonel of 2nd​ New York Volunteers Cavalry Regiment​

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1863: Served in Stoneman's Raid towards Richmond, Virginia​

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1863 – 1865: Brigadier General Union Army Volunteers​

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1863: Served in the Battle of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania​

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1863: Brevetted Lt. Colonel for Gallantry at Battle of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania​

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1863: Cavalry Division Commander in the Army of the Potomac​

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1864: Cavalry Division Commander, Raid to Richmond, Virginia​

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1864: Commander of 3rd​ Cavalry Division invasion of Georgia​

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1864: Brevetted Colonel for Gallantry at Battle of Resaca, Georgia​

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1864 – 1865: Captain, United States Army, 1st​ Artillery​

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1865: Cavalry Commander for the Carolinas Campaign​

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1865: Cavalry Commander during the Battle of Aiken South Carolina​

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1865: Brevetted Brig. General Gallantry at Fayetteville North Carolina​

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1865: Brevetted Major General for service during Carolina Campaign​

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1865 – 1866: Major General of Union Army Volunteers​

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1865: Resigned as Captain in United States Army on December 1st​​

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1866: Resigned his volunteer commission on January 1st​​

Occupation after War:

1865 – 1868: United States Minister to Chile​

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1872: Supporter of Horace Greely in his Presidential Campaign​

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1875: Author of Allatoona: An Historical and Drama in Five Acts​

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Author of The Blue and the Gray: Or, War is hell ​

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1881: United States Minister to Chile​

Died: December 4, 1881

Place of Death: Santiago, Chile

Cause of Death: Bright's Disease

Age at time of Death: 45 years old

Burial Place: U.S. Military Academy Post Cemetery, West Point, New York

 

[John Hartwell]

[Kansas Chief, 29 December 1881]​

 

[gentlemanrob]

Happy Birthday Major General Hugh J. Kilpatrick! Salutes remembering General Kilpatrick on his birthday.

 

[Pollaco]

The nickname "Kill-Cavary" was not meant to be of any praise, it's intent was to point out his recklessness that endangered lives under his command.He was both praised by Northerners for his victories and despised by Southerners for his destruction.

 

[Pollaco]

He actually started the war in the artillery as Lt. but within 3 days he transferred as a captain to the Infantry (Duryee's Zouave).By September of 1861 he was a Lt. Col.on the cavalry.He is was also said to be the first U.S. Army officer to have been wounded in the war.That was a thigh wound at Big Bethal on June 10, 1861.

 

[Pollaco]

One biography of Kilpatrick states that he was jailed twice. Once for selling captured Confederate goods and for a drunken spree and accepting bribes while in Washington.

 

[Pollaco]

Kilpatrick transferred West to command the 3rd Division in the Army of the Cumberland under Sherman.Sherman said of Kilpatrick "I know that Kilpatrick is a hell of damned fool but I want just that sort of man to of and my cavalry on this expedition."

 

[James N.]

Among other dubious "achievements" of these two Beau Sabreurs is the rumor that Kilpatrick and Custer - hopefully before Libby entered the picture! - were rivals for the affections of one of the more notorious prostitutes that flocked around Army headquarters! Of course Little Kil was accompanied by another of the "soiled doves" during the Carolinas Campaign and was routed out of bed by a nighttime foray by Wade Hampton's cavalry.

 

[Pollaco]

Among other dubious "achievements" of these two Beau Sabreurs is the rumor that Kilpatrick and Custer - hopefully before Libby entered the picture! - were rivals for the affections of one of the more notorious prostitutes that flocked around Army headquarters! Of course Little Kil was accompanied by another of the "soiled doves" during the Carolinas Campaign and was routed out of bed by a nighttime foray by Wade Hampton's cavalry.

That soiled dove during the "nighttime foray" involving Hampton's troopers was probably Marie Boozer. The name of "rival"escapes me at the moment but I have heard that story too.

 

[Pollaco]

There was an expedition to destroy 2 Confederate gunboats (Satellite + Reliance) on the Rappahannock River in the fall of 1863.Kilpatrick took part in this venture and it was his troopers who boarded the boats and captured the crews.

 

[ErnieMac]

@Eric Wittenberg gives some details on Kilpatrick's activities in his book The Battle of Munroe's Crossroads: The Civil War's Last Campaign.

 

[Luke Freet]

There are terms I and others use to refer to this man that wouldn't pass bar on this site. The guy is one of the most controversial of the Union cavalry commanders, and he definitely earns the attention he gets.

 

[bayouace]

Is there a verified true account of the feud with Forrest after the war?

 

[ErnieMac]

I've attached an article from the 3 Nov 1868 Petersburg VA Progess-Index that explains the argument.

 

[nc native]

I've attached an article from the 3 Nov 1868 Petersburg VA Progess-Index that explains the argument.

View attachment 428533

Kilpatrick also had a run in with Wade Hampton in North Carolina at the end of the war at the Bennett Place during the surrender negotiations between Sherman and Johnston. Forrest and Hampton are two soldiers and men I would think twice about before I crossed their paths.

 

[bayouace]

I've attached an article from the 3 Nov 1868 Petersburg VA Progess-Index that explains the argument.

View attachment 428533

Thank you @Ernie Mac. Did Forrest pass through New Haven by train with a challenge for Kilpatrick to meet him, and did Kilpatrick see Forrest in a North Carolina bar and purposely brush against him only to have Forrest simply leave the bar with no words spoken? The former sounds like Forrest. The latter does not.