Steele, Frederick, 1819-1868

Frederick Steele (1819-1868) was a career military officer in the United States Army and a major general during the U.S. Civil War. A native of Delhi, N.Y., Steele graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and participated in numerous battles in the Mexican-American War. During the Civil War he played a crucial role in the Union military effort throughout the Trans-Mississippi Theater and was promoted to major general in April 1863. He successfully captured Confederate-held Little Rock in September 1863 and subsequently pushed official Union boundaries south through the state. He later led the ill-fated Camden Expedition, a two-pronged military campaign that was supposed to unite northward-marching soldiers led by Generals Nathaniel P. Banks and David D. Porter and Steele's own Arkansas-based troops for a strike into Texas.

From the description of Frederick Steele letter, 1864 May 14. (Louisiana State University). WorldCat record id: 262685540

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