BMG  ★  McArthur, John

John McArthur

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McArthur.jpg


Born: November 17, 1826

Birthplace: Erskine, Scotland

Father: John McArthur 1787 – 1867

Mother: Isabella Neilson 1792 – 1850

Wife: Christina Agnes Cuthbertson 1825 – 1908
(Buried: Rosehill Cemetery and Mausoleum, Chicago, Illinois)​

Children:

Bessie Denham McArthur Heaton 1852 – 1931​
(Buried: Woodlawn Cemetery, Detroit, Michigan)​
Walter Scott McArthur 1870 – 1945​
(Buried: Rosehill Cemetery and Mausoleum, Chicago, Illinois)​

Education:

Learned his father’s trade of blacksmithing​

Occupation before War:

1849: Immigrated to the United States, from Scotland​
Boilermaker in Chicago, Illinois​
Proprietor of Excelsior Iron Works in Chicago, Illinois​
Instructed in the Chicago Highland Guards Militia​

Civil War Career:

1861: Captain of Chicago, Illinois Highland Guards Militia​
1861: Colonel of 12th​ Illinois Infantry, 90-day Volunteers​
1861: Mustered out of Service on August 1st of the 90-day volunteers​
1861: Remustered as Colonel of 12th​ Illinois Infantry Regiment​
1861 – 1862: Colonel of 12th​ Illinois Volunteers Infantry Regiment​
1861: Garrison Duty in Cairo, Illinois
McArthur 1.jpg
1862: Served in the Battle of Fort Donelson, Tennessee​
1862 – 1865: Brigadier General of Union Army, Volunteers​
1862: Brigade Commander during Battle of Shiloh, Tennessee​
1862: Wounded during the Battle of Shiloh, Tennessee on the first day​
1862: Brigade Commander during Siege of Corinth, Mississippi​
1863: Division Commander during Siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi​
1863 – 1864: Union Army Commander in Vicksburg, Mississippi​
1864: Served in the Pursuit of Sterling Price’s Army in Missouri Raid​
1864: Played a significant part, to help break the Confederate lines at Nashville, Tennessee​
1864: Brevetted Major General for Gallantry at Battle of Nashville​
1865: Division Commander at the Battle of Fort Blakely, Alabama​

Occupation after War:

Failed in reviving his iron Works Business in Chicago, Illinois​
Chicago, Illinois Commissioner of Public Works during Great Fire​
United States Postmaster General for Chicago, Illinois​
General Manager of Chicago and Vert Island Stone Company​

Died: May 15, 1906

Place of Death: Chicago, Illinois

Cause of Death: Apoplexy and Stroke

Age at time of Death: 79 years old

Burial Place: Rosehill Cemetery and Mausoleum, Chicago, Illinois
 
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The regiment that he was colonel of, the12th Illinois, was originally a 3 month unit but he managed to get the unit reenlisted as a 3 year regiment on August 1, 1861 with him again their colonel. That wound he recieved at Shiloh was in the foot.
 
The regiment that he was colonel of, the12th Illinois, was originally a 3 month unit but he managed to get the unit reenlisted as a 3 year regiment on August 1, 1861 with him again their colonel. That wound he recieved at Shiloh was in the foot.
I believe his regiment was call the "1st Scotch Brigade" because they went into battle wearing Scottish bonnets (I don't know if they wore kilts though).
McArthur is probably best known for his actions on day 2 of Nashville. His impromptu assault bizarrely mirrored that of Philip Sheridan at Missionary Ridge: the superior officer coordinating the battle wanted to wait for a certain time to begin his assault; the subordinate commander (McArthur), decided to attack on his own initiative early; his command escaped serious damage because the Confederates had once again dug their defenses on the wrong part of the hill; and the confederate line was routed and their army put to flight.
 
That division that he briefly led was probably the 6th AOT before the Army's started using the Corps system but he also commanded the 6th division in the 13thCorps, the 6th division in the16th Corps, and the 6th division in the 17th Corps.
 
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