Inventory of the Brigadier General William Wallace Burns Papers 1848-1910 (bulk: 1861-1889)

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Inventory of the Brigadier General William Wallace Burns Papers Ragan MSS 00116., 1848-1910 (bulk: 1861-1889)

Title

Inventory of the Brigadier General William Wallace Burns Papers 1848-1910 (bulk: 1861-1889)

Resource Link

http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/tamucush/00116/00116-P.html

Abstract

William Wallace Burns (1825-1892) was born at 3 Sept. 1825 in Coshocton, Ohio and graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1847. Posted to the United States Army Infantry, Burns served during the Mexican American War (1846-1848) on recruiting duty, then spent several years at various Indian posts in theWest and Southwest. In 1858, he was commissioned Captain in the Commissary of Subsistence. Burns served with the United States Army of the Potomac in the first months of the Civil War as General George B. McClellan's Chief Commissary in the West Virginia Campaign, and was later appointed Brigadier General of Volunteers 28 September 1861. In the Peninsular Campaign (Mar.-Aug. 1862), Burns commanded a Brigade of General John Sedwick's 2nd Divison, 2nd Corps, and, after recovering from wounds, commanded the 1st Divison, 9th Corps at the Battle of Fredericksburg (11-13 Dec. 1862). On 20 March 1863, Burns resigned his Volunteer commission and reverted to his staff rank of Major and Commissary. He served as Chief Commissary in the Department of the Northwest until the close of the Civil War. Breveted Brigadier General 13 March 1865 for gallant and meritorious services in the Civil War, William Wallace Burns retired 3 Sept. 1889 and died 19 April 1892 at Beaufort, South Carolina. Burns was buried in Arlington National Cemetery. Papers consist chiefly of correspondence (1858-1888) in which Burns gives detailed accounts of Civil War battles fought during the Peninsular Campaign (Mar.-Aug. 1862), particularly the Seven Days Battles (25 June-1 July, 1862 ), including Peach Orchard, Allen's Farm, Savage Station, Glendale, Nelson's Farm, and Malvern Hill. Burns discusses military strategy, troop movements, military surgeons, weather conditions during battles, building pontoon bridges, building defense works, and and capturing Confederate works. One letter is present from the Mexican-American War (1846-1848). Correspondents include President Abraham Lincoln, U.S. Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, General Henry W. Halleck, General Winfield Scott Hancock, General George McClellan, General William Starke Rosecrans, and Major General Edwin Vose Sumner, as well as Emil Schalk, who was a war journalist. Topics include slavery, as well as the conduct and outcome of the war. Some correspondence (1888-1904) was written just before and after Burns' death among family members, notably his grandchildren Lloyd Burns Magruder, who was a cadet at the United States Military Academy, and Pauline Magruder, as well as William Wallace Burns' sister Mabelle Burns, usually called A substantial group of letters to Mabelle Burns is from her suitor for marriage, B. L. Prince. A few of the family letters from Pauline Magruder to her Aunt Mabelle Burns are written in French from Paris, France. Also included are copies of military orders and official reports focused on Burns' thwarted ambitions to become Major General and lead a Division in the Army of the Cumberland under the command of General Rosecrans. A few financial records and documents from legal procedings concern disputed rights to the an invention whose patent royalties were eventually shared by Burns with Henry Hastings Sibley are present, as are a few documents concerning Texas real estate transactions.Transcripts of correspondence (1848-1889) cover all of Series 1. Military Correspondence, with a few letters (Box/Folder 1/6/doc.a-c) from Series 2. Personal Correspondence with professional colleagues, and a few (Box/Folder 1/7/doc.a-h, and k) from Series 3. Personal Correspondence with family and friends. Mab. Sibley Tent,

Languages

eng,

Holding Repository

Cushing Memorial Library,

Information

SNAC Resource ID: 6639974

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Clement C. Vallandigham was an Ohio lawyer and politician, who served as a member of the U.S. Congress, 1858-1863. During the Civil War he became the leader of the Peace Democrats, also known as Copperheads, who supported negotiating with the Southern states to end the war. The United States government attempted to ensure that Vallandigham was forced to move outside of the Union. From the description of Letter, 1863. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122368432 ...

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Burns, William Wallace, 1825-1892

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Burns was born in Coshocton, Ohio, son of future U.S. congressman Joseph Burns and a distant relative of George Washington through his mother's family. He entered the United States Military Academy in 1842 and graduated 28th in his class in 1847, a year late due to failing English as a freshman. He accepted a commission as a second lieutenant in the infantry and served in the Mexican–American War without seeing any combat. He was then assigned to various army posts in the Old West and Southwest,...

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James B. Fry, a native of Carrollton, IL, was a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy in 1847. After serving as instructor and adjutant at West Point, he was appointed chief of staff to Gen. Irwin McDowell and subsequently to Gen. Don Carlos Buell in 1861. He later served as Provost Marshall General of the U.S., 1863-1866, and promoted to Brigadier Gen. in 1864. From the description of Fry, James B. (James Barnet), 1827-1894. Letter. 16 November 1861. (Filson Historical Society, The)...

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Canby, E. R. S.

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William Wallace Burns

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Muckle

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Corbin

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Abraham Lincoln (born February 12, 1809, Sinking Spring Farm near Hodgenville, Kentucky-died April 15, 1865, Washington, D.C.) was the sixteenth President of the United States from 1861 until his death by assassination. He was the son of a Kentucky frontiersman, Thomas Lincoln, and Nancy Hanks. In 1816, Lincoln moved to Pigeon Creek, Indiana, where he worked on his family's farm. Following his mother's death two years later, he continued working on farms until moving with his father to New Sa...

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Stanton, Edwin McMasters, 1814-1869

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American jurist and politician. From the description of Letter signed : "War Department," to William Pitt Fessenden, 1862 May 19. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 270580939 U.S. secretary of war 1862-1868. From the description of Telegram (draft) : ms. : Washington, D.C., to Ulysses S. Grant, Appomattox C.H., Va., 1865 Apr. 9. (Rosenbach Museum & Library). WorldCat record id: 122380613 Secretary of War; Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. ...

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Union Army general in the U.S. Civil War, killed at Spotsylvania. From the description of Letter, 186[4] January 14, (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 145407072 American army officer. From the description of Telegram, not autograph : 6th A. C., to Lt. Col. J. G. Taylor, 1863 Jan. 3. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 270665049 From the description of Telegraph, not autograph : Head-Quarters, Army of the Potomac, to Major L. Hunt, 1863 June 3. (Unknown). WorldCa...

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Burns, Mary A.

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Edwin Stanton

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Burns, Mabelle

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John Sherman

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William Prior

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American pioneer; first Governor of Minnesota. From the description of Autograph letter signed : Washington, to William L. Marcy, 1853 Mar. 21. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 270664016 Fur trader; soldier; politician; Governor of Minnesota, 1850-1860. From the description of Papers, 1815-1830. (State Historical Society of North Dakota State Archives). WorldCat record id: 17998041 Henry Sibley was a general in the Confederate Army. From the de...

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J. H. Taylor

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W. B. Franklin

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Isaac Wistar

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Emil Schalk

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Henry Hopkins Sibley (1816-1886) served in the U.S. Army during the "Utah War" of 1857-1858, and later was the commander of the Confederate expedition sent to seize New Mexico and Arizona during the Civil War - he was defeated at Glorieta Pass. From the description of Henry Hopkins Sibley, 1859. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 368054025 ...

Inventory of the Brigadier General William Wallace Burns Papers 1848-1910 (bulk: 1861-1889)

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