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John Love (general)

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John Love (January 9, 1820 – January 29, 1881) was a United States Army officer during and after the Mexican-American War, a railroad contractor, an officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War and a major general in the Indiana Legion, also referred to as the Indiana militia or home guard or state defense force, during the American Civil War. After resigning on January 1, 1863, he was called back into service in July 1863 and commanded an Indiana militia force which pursued Confederate Brigadier General John Hunt Morgan's raiders in Indiana. On July 11, 1863, about 100 militia men held off Morgan's raiders at Vernon, Indiana, forcing them to withdraw when Love arrived with reinforcements arrived. After his service he was a real estate broker and representative of the Gatling Gun Company in Europe. In 1880, Congress appointed Love to be a manager of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers.

John Love
Born(1820-01-09)January 9, 1820
Culpeper County, Virginia, US
DiedJanuary 29, 1881(1881-01-29) (aged 61)
Indianapolis, Indiana, US
Buried
Indianapolis, Indiana
AllegianceUnited States
Service/branchUnited States Army
Indiana Legion aka Indiana Militia
Union Army
Indiana Legion aka Indiana Militia
Years of service1841–1853
1858–1861
1861
1861–1863
RankFirst Lieutenant, Brevet Captain
Captain, Indiana Legion aka Indiana Militia
Major
Major General, Indiana Legion aka Indiana Militia
Commands heldIndiana Legion aka Indiana Militia
Battles/warsMexican–American War
American Civil War

Early life edit

John Love was born in Culpeper County, Virginia, January 9, 1820.[1][2] He was the son of Richard H. Love,[1] and Eliza Matilda (Lee) Love. John Love was a third cousin of Robert E. Lee.[3]

Love was appointed a cadet at the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York from Tennessee, September 1, 1837.[3][4][5] Upon graduation from the U.S. Military Academy on July 1, 1841, Love was appointed brevet second lieutenant in the First Regiment of Dragoons, re-designated the 4th Cavalry Regiment (United States) in 1861, now the 1st Cavalry Regiment (United States).[3][4][5] He was appointed second lieutenant in the 1st Regiment of Dragoons on February 21, 1842.[3][4][5]

Love had duty at the Cavalry School for Practice at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, 1841–1842.[5] Love was on frontier duty at Fort Gibson, in the Indian Territory, 1842, Fort Scott, Kansas,1842–1843, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, 1843–1844, in Pawnee country (Nebraska) during part of 1844–1845.[5] He was with Stephen W. Kearny's expedition to South Pass Wyoming and back to Fort Leavenworth in 99 days in 1845.[5][6]

Love was promoted to first lieutenant, 1st Regiment of Dragoons, on June 30, 1846.[3][4][5] Love was on recruiting service, 1845–1847 and again on frontier duty at Fort Leavenworth in 1847.[5]

Mexican-American War edit

Love's commanding officer, Stephen W. Kearny, was promoted to brigadier general in 1846 and placed in charge of the Army of the West (1846) during the Mexican–American War. After conquering New Mexico, Kearny took part of his force to California. He left three companies of the 1st Regiment of Dragoons, with volunteers, to garrison New Mexico under Colonel Sterling Price.[citation needed]

Near the end of the war, Price was promoted to brigadier general of volunteers by President James K. Polk.[7] He led 300 men from his Army of the West at the Battle of Santa Cruz de Rosales on March 16, 1848, defeating a Mexican force three times his size. This was the last battle of the war, taking place days after the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo had been ratified by the United States Congress on March 10.[8] Although reprimanded by Secretary of War William L. Marcy and ordered to return with his army to New Mexico, Price was not punished.[9]

Company B of the 1st Regiment of Dragoons had been trained as an artillery regiment after the beginning of the war. First Lieutenant John Love was in command of the artillery battalion at the Battle of Santa Cruz de Rosales. Love was appointed brevet captain for gallantry at the Battle of Santa Cruz de Rosales, Mexico, March 16, 1848.[5]

Marriage edit

On October 10, 1849, Love married Mary F. Smith, daughter of Oliver Hampton Smith, a lawyer who served as a United States representative (March 4, 1827 – March 3, 1829) and United States Senator (March 4, 1837, to March 3, 1843) from Indiana.[1] An introduction to a collection of some of John Love's papers at the University of Michigan states that John and Mary Love had a daughter within one year of their marriage, but no other details are given.[10]

Assignments 1849–1853 edit

Love served as quartermaster of the 1st Regiment of Dragoons from March 12, 1849, to December 1850.[5] He was again on frontier duty at Fort Leavenworth in 1849. He was on garrison duty at Jefferson Barracks Military Post, St. Louis, Missouri, 1849–1851 and on recruiting service, 1851–1852.[5] Love resigned from the Army on February 1, 1853.[5] He and his wife moved to Indianapolis, Indiana.[1]

Civilian life edit

Love and his wife joined Christ Church (Episcopal) in Indianapolis.[1] From 1853, he was a vestryman there.[1] As well as being in the real estate business in Indianapolis, Love had a large farm there.[1] Love also was a railroad contractor from 1854 to 1858.[5] He was a captain in the Indiana Legion (Indiana militia) from 1858 to 1861.[5]

American Civil War edit

At the start of the American Civil War, Love served as a major, brigade inspector and chief of staff for Brigadier General Thomas A. Morris with the Indiana volunteers in the Western Virginia campaign.[11] He was with Morris during skirmishing starting July 7, 1861 at Laurel Hill, from which the Confederates withdrew on July 11 after the Union Army victory at the Battle of Rich Mountain.[11] Then, he was engaged at the Battle of Corrick's Ford where Union forces killed Confederate Brigadier General Robert S. Garnett and routed the Confederate force.[11] According to Eicher, Love was mustered out of the Union Army on August 1, 1861.[3]

Thereafter, he was commander of a camp of instruction for Indiana volunteers at Indianapolis, Indiana from August 1, 1861, to September 10, 1861.[11] Eicher states that Love was on recruiting service in 1861–1862 and was a major general in the Indiana militia from September 27, 1862.[3] Cullum shows Love as a major general in the Indiana Legion, referred to as the Indiana's home guard or Indiana militia or Indiana state defense force of the period from September 10, 1861.[3] Cullum shows Love as in command of a division in defense of Cincinnati, Ohio from September 1862 until his resignation on January 1, 1863.[11][12] Republican Governor of Indiana Oliver P. Morton had asked Love, as a War Democrat, to help him with his administration.[1]

During Confederate Brigadier General John Hunt Morgan's raid north of the Ohio River in Indiana and Ohio in July 1863, Governor Morton called Love back into service with the Indiana Legion and called out the militia to defend against Morgan's raiders.[13] Union Army Major General Orlando B. Willcox was in command of the District of Indiana and Michigan.[13] His commanding officer, Department of the Ohio commander, Major General Ambrose Burnside, ordered Willcox to defend Indianapolis and command all state troops raised in Indiana for defense against the raid.[13]

In an article written after the war, Willcox stated that after the Indiana Legion levies were called up by the governor, he ordered them to secure three great junctions of the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad in Indiana. He noted that

Seymour was the most central, and lay directly on the road to Cincinnati and Indianapolis from Louisville; and to Seymour a brigade was assembled from the center of the state, with [Major General] John Love, a skillful old army officer, to command it, with instructions to have an eye to Vernon likewise.[14]

On July 11, 1863, Morgan's men approached Vernon, Indiana after sending parties toward Mitchell, Salem and Seymour.[15] A detachment of Indiana militia and a small number of new U.S. volunteer troops sent by Willcox from Michigan held Vernon and, Love having discerned Morgan's next target, sent Colonel C. V. DeLand, a couple of artillery pieces and two Indiana militia regiments to Vernon.[16] Love quickly followed with the rest of his militia force, which resulted in more than 1,000 Union defenders at Vernon when Morgan's main force arrived about 4:00 p.m.[16][17] Morgan sent two flags of truce demanding the Union force surrender to him. Love defied the demand and in turn demanded that Morgan surrender.[17] Realizing he could not afford to stay and fight the large Union force at Vernon, he withdrew.[16] Morgan had lost valuable time with this delay and his pickets and rear guard were captured by Love's infantry as his raiders moved on.[16][17]

Later life edit

Starting in 1863, Love was a real estate broker at Indianapolis, Indiana.[18] Love also began his connection with the Gatling Gun Company before the end of the American Civil War.[19] After Richard J. Gatling set up his factory in Indianapolis in 1862, Love bought stock in the company, and also represented the company as it presented the gun for sale to the United States, China, Japan, Turkey, and throughout Europe in 1867.[18][19] Love, though he began selling his stock in 1873, continued to represent the company a year later.[19]

In 1880, Love was appointed by Congress to be a manager of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers.[1]

Love was a Mason and master of Ancient Landmarks lodge of Indianapolis for several years as well as a charter member of the Scottish Rite. The "Franklin Democrat" obituary for John Love, February 4, 1881, states that he was a member of the State House Commission at the time of his death.[20]

John Love died of heart disease on January 29, 1881, at Indianapolis, Indiana.[3][20] He is buried at Crown Hill National Cemetery.

See also edit

Indiana National Guard#History

Notes edit

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Biographical Note. The Filson Historical Society web page. Smith-Love family Papers, 1821–1901. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
  2. ^ Unknown, Unknown (1880). A biographical history of eminent and self-made men of the state of Indiana : with many portrait-illustrations on steel, engraved expressly for this work. Cincinnati, Ohio : Western Biographical Publishing Co. pp. 774–778. ISBN 9780282934668.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Eicher, John H., and David J. Eicher, Civil War High Commands. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2001. ISBN 978-0-8047-3641-1. p. 354.
  4. ^ a b c d Heitman, Francis B. Historical Register and Dictionary of the United States Army; From Its Organization, September 29, 1789, to March 2, 1903. Vol. 1 of 2 vols. U.S. Government Printing Office, 1903, OCLC 1200947, Retrieved January 12, 2011. p. 643.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Cullum, George W. George W. Cullum's Register of Officers and Graduates of the United States Military Academy. Vol. 2. 1879. OCLC 664840242. Retrieved January 12, 2011. p. 13.
  6. ^ Franklin, William B., Lieutenant. (1979) March to South Pass: Lieutenant William B. Franklin's Journal of the Kearny Expedition of 1845. Edited and Introduction by Frank N. Schubert; Engineer Historical Studies, Number 1; EP 870-1-2. Historical Division, Office of Administrative Services, Office of the Chief of Engineers.
  7. ^ Eicher, 2001, p. 440.
  8. ^ [1] Historic Missourians web site. Sterling Price. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
  9. ^ Bauer, K.J., 1974, The Mexican War, 1846–1848, New York: Macmillan, ISBN 0803261071
  10. ^ [2] John Love Papers, William L. Clements Library, The University of Michigan. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
  11. ^ a b c d e Cullum, 1879, p. 14.
  12. ^ Eicher also shows Love resigining as a major general in the Indiana militia on January 1, 1863.
  13. ^ a b c Mowrey, David L. Morgan's Great Raid: The Remarkable Expedition from Kentucky to Ohio. Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2013. ISBN 978-1-60949-436-0. p. 77.
  14. ^ Willcox, Orlando B. "The Capture" In Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, vol. 6, edited by Peter Cozzens. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2004. ISBN 978-0-252-02879-3. p. 329.
  15. ^ Mowrey, 2013, pp. 78–79.
  16. ^ a b c d Willcox in Cozzen, 2004, p. 330.
  17. ^ a b c Mowrey, 2013, p. 79.
  18. ^ a b Cullum, 1879, p.15.
  19. ^ a b c Indiana Historical Society. [3] Richard J. Gatling Collection, 1865–1896 Collection Information Biographical Sketch Processed by Charles Latham October 1995 Chris Harter October 1998 Dorothy A. Nicholson April 15, 2005 Manuscript and Visual Collections Department, William Henry Smith Memorial Library. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
  20. ^ a b Find-a-Grave page for MG John Love showing source as "The Franklin Democrat, Friday, February 4, 1881, Volume 2, Number 31, page 2, column 1.

References edit

  • Bauer, K.J., 1974, The Mexican War, 1846–1848, New York: Macmillan, ISBN 0803261071.
  • Cullum, George W. George W. Cullum's Register of Officers and Graduates of the United States Military Academy. Vol. 2. 1879. OCLC 664840242. Retrieved January 12, 2011.
  • Eicher, John H., and David J. Eicher, Civil War High Commands. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2001. ISBN 978-0-8047-3641-1.
  • [4] The Filson Historical Society web page. Smith-Love family Papers, 1821–1901. Biographical Note. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
  • Franklin, William B., Lieutenant. (1979) March to South Pass: Lieutenant William B. Franklin's Journal of the Kearny Expedition of 1845. Edited and Introduction by Frank N. Schubert; Engineer Historical Studies, Number 1; EP 870-1-2. Historical Division, Office of Administrative Services, Office of the Chief of Engineers.
  • Heitman, Francis B. Historical Register and Dictionary of the United States Army; From Its Organization, September 29, 1789, to March 2, 1903. Vol. 1 of 2 vols. U.S. Government Printing Office, 1903, OCLC 1200947, Retrieved January 12, 2011. p. 643.
  • [5] Historic Missourians web site. Sterling Price. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
  • Indiana Historical Society. [6] Richard J. Gatling Collection, 1865–1896. Biographical Sketch Processed by Charles Latham October 1995 Chris Harter October 1998 Dorothy A. Nicholson April 15, 2005. Manuscript and Visual Collections Department, William Henry Smith Memorial Library. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
  • Long, E. B. The Civil War Day by Day: An Almanac, 1861–1865. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1971. OCLC 68283123.
  • [7] John Love Papers, William L. Clements Library, The University of Michigan. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
  • Mowrey, David L. Morgan's Great Raid: The Remarkable Expedition from Kentucky to Ohio. Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2013. ISBN 978-1-60949-436-0.
  • Willcox, Orlando B. "The Capture" In Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, vol. 6, edited by Peter Cozzens. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2004. ISBN 978-0-252-02879-3. Supplement to the four volume work: Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, edited by Robert Underwood Johnson and Clarence Clough Buel, 1887–1888.
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