Ripley, Edward Hastings, 1839-1915

Resident of Rutland, Vt. At outbreak of the Civil War, Ripley was a student at Union College, Schenectady, N.Y.; enlisted in the army in May 1862 and soon thereafter was commissioned captain of Company B, 9th Vermont Regiment. Captured with his regiment at Harpers Ferry and paroled shortly thereafter to spend the winter of 1862-1863 in Chicago, Ill. Promoted to major Mar. 20, 1863, Lt. Col., May 19, 1863, and Colonel June 1, 1863; brevetted to Brig. General and assigned command of a brigade. Wounded twice in the assault on Fort Harrison, Richmond, Va., Sept. 1864. As commander of the First Brigade, Third Division, 24th Army Corps, led first troops into Richmond, Va. Ripley was quickly placed in supreme command and was instrumental in quelling the fires and subduing looting mobs and the city was soon returned to a calm state. Following the war, he engaged in banking and the marble business and was well known in business and financial circles in Rutland and New York City. He married Amelia Dyckman Van Doren in 1878 and they had two daughters.