★ ★ Mitchel, Ormsby M.

Ormsby MacKnight Mitchel​

Born: July 20, 1805

Birthplace: Morganfield, Kentucky

Father: John Mitchel 1760 – 1812

Mother: Elizabeth McAllister 1764 – 1846

Wife: Louisa Clark 1805 – 1861

(Buried: Green – Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York)​

Children:

Captain Edwin William Mitchel 1838 – 1873​

(Buried: Green – Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York)​

​

Lt. Ormsby MacKnight Mitchel Jr. 1843 – 1875​

(Buried: Mount Elliott Cemetery, Detroit, Michigan)​

​

Stella Mitchel 1850 – 1851​

(Buried: Green – Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York)​

Education:

1829: Graduated from West Point Military Academy – (15th​ in class)​

Occupation before War:

1829: Brevet 2nd​ Lt. United States Army, 2nd​ Artillery​

​

1829 – 1832: 2nd​ Lt. United States Army, 2nd​ Artillery​

​

1829 – 1831: Assistant Math Professor at West Point​

​

1832: Garrison Duty at Fort Marion, Florida​

​

1832: Resigned from United States Army on September 30th​​

​

1832 – 1834: Attorney in Cincinnati, Ohio​

​

1834 – 1844: Math and Philosophy Professor at Cincinnati College​

​

1836 – 1837: Chief Engineer of Little Miami Railroad​

​

1841: Member of the Board of Visitors at West Point​

​

1842 – 1848: Astronomy Lecturer in Several Cities​

​

1845 – 1859: Founder and Director of Mitchel Observatory​

​

1846 – 1848: Editor and Publisher of Sideral Messenger​

​

1847 – 1848: Ohio State Adjutant General​

​

1848 – 1849: Chief Engineer of Ohio and Mississippi Railroad​

​

1852 – 1853: Chief Engineer of Ohio and Mississippi Railroad

​

1859 – 1861: Director of Dudley Observatory​

Civil War Career:

1861 – 1862: Brigadier General of Union Army Volunteers​

​

1861: Union Army Commander, Department of Ohio​

​

1861: Organizer of Volunteers in Louisville, Kentucky​

​

1862: Served in the Occupation of Bowling Green, Kentucky​

​

1862: Served in the Occupation of Nashville, Tennessee​

​

1862: Served in the March to Huntsville, Alabama​

​

1862: Served in the Battle of Bridgeport, Alabama​

​

1862: Major General of Union Army Volunteers​

​

1862: Union Army Commander of Department of the South​

Died: October 30, 1862

Place of Death: Beaufort, South Carolina

Cause of Death: Yellow Fever

Age at time of Death: 52 years old

Burial Place: Green – Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York

 

[Belfoured]

He had one of the more impressive non-military resumes in the war for his well-regarded work in astronomy and the development of telescopes.

 

[Pollaco]

It was some of his Ohio men that made the famous railroad raid with James Andrews.

His initial command was merged with that of Don Carlos Buell, he then commanded a division in the Army of the Ohio. It was with Buell that he ran into difficulties over discipline problems in Mitchell's division. His request to be allowed to resign was denied by the War Department. In Sept. of 1862 he was sent to command on the coast of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. He was however suffering from Yellow Fever at this time and relinquished command on October 27th. Three days before he died.

 

[gentlemanrob]

 

[Lubliner]

With his railroad knowledge and background, he should have been a big help to Buell on his advance to Chattanooga. I know he got into trouble for his troops' discipline while in Bridgeport. Being stationed there, I was curious about how much influence he had on the supply lines from Nashville and Decatur?
Lubliner.

 

[mofederal]

I used to work in Fort Mitchell, Ky. Although misnamed for Mitchel it was still named for him.

 

[Pollaco]

We recently learned that in addition to the Chamberlain rock on Mars there is a crater named after Mitchell on that planet as well.

 

[Horace Smith]

There is some dispute in published sources as to Mitchel's date of birth. One sometimes sees the 1805 date given in the post beginning this thread. Wikipedia prefers August 28, 1810 or possibly 1809. The former fits the age at the time of death usually given for Mitchel, 52 years. However, a biography written by his son gives July 28, 1809 as the date when he was born. Whatever his date of birth, he had an interesting life before and during the war. The observatory he founded in Cincinnati (cornerstone laid in 1843) has moved from its original location but remains within the city. One can arrange to look through the 11-inch aperture telescope Mitchel secured for what was one of the first astronomical observatories in the United States.

 

[Pollaco]

He was a Corps Commander (10th) until he resigned on Oct. 27, 1862.

 

[USS ALASKA]

Anniversary Bump

30 Oct 1862

Death

Journal Article
Ormsby MacKnight Mitchel's "Sidereal Messenger", 1846-1848
Russell McCormmach
Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society
Vol. 110, No. 1 (Feb. 18, 1966), pp. 35-47
University of Pennsylvania Press

https://www.jstor.org/stable/986000

Full article at above link on JSTOR with Google sign-in (In the upper right-hand corner of the linked page, there is a 'Log in' button. If you have a Gmail account, you have a Google sign-in and this will allow for free reading of 100 articles a month).

Cheers,
USS ALASKA