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John Mansfield (American politician)

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John Mansfield
From the July 1896 issue of Land of Sunshine magazine
15th Lieutenant Governor of California
In office
January 8, 1880 – January 10, 1883
GovernorGeorge Clement Perkins
Preceded byJames A. Johnson
Succeeded byJohn Daggett
Personal details
BornAugust 1822
Monroe County, New York, U.S.
DiedMay 6, 1896(1896-05-06) (aged 73)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Resting placeAngelus-Rosedale Cemetery, Los Angeles, California
Political partyRepublican
Military service
AllegianceUnited States
Branch/serviceUnited States Army
Union Army
Years of service1861–1865
Rank
Commands2nd Reg. Wis. Vol. Infantry
Battles/warsAmerican Civil War

John Mansfield (August 1822 – May 6, 1896) was an American lawyer and Republican politician. He was the 15th lieutenant governor of California. During the American Civil War, he was a Union Army officer serving in the 2nd Wisconsin Infantry Regiment in the famous Iron Brigade of the Army of the Potomac. He took command of the regiment during the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg and remained in command until the regiment was disbanded in the fall of 1864. After the war, he received an honorary brevet to brigadier general.

Early life and career

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Originally from Monroe County, New York, Mansfield emigrated to Wisconsin prior to the Civil War.[1] During the 1850s, Mansfield practiced law in Portage, Wisconsin.[2]

Civil War service

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Mansfield in uniform

Following President Lincoln's call for 75,000 state militia troops in April 1861, at the onset of the Civil War, Mansfield was commissioned as captain of Company G, 2nd Wisconsin Infantry Regiment, known as the "Portage Guards."[3][4] Mustered at Camp Randall in Madison on June 11, 1861, Mansfield's regiment entered as a three-year regiment and departed Wisconsin for Washington, D.C., on June 20 to join the Army of the Potomac. At Washington, Mansfield's regiment was initially brigaded under William T. Sherman along with the 13th New York Volunteer Infantry, the 69th New York Volunteer Infantry and the 79th New York Volunteer Infantry.[5]

Mansfield's regiment first saw action at the First Battle of Bull Run in July 1861. Mansfield and the 2nd Wisconsin went on to take part in many key battles of the war as part of the famed Iron Brigade, including South Mountain, Antietam, and Gettysburg.[1][6][7]

Battle of Gettysburg

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At Gettysburg, Mansfield had become major of the 2nd Wisconsin and was the 2nd highest ranking officer left in the regiment. The 2nd Wisconsin and the Iron Brigade were part of the 1st Division of I Corps, under Brig. General James S. Wadsworth, and were at the vanguard on the march to Gettysburg.[8]

On the first day of fighting, July 1, 1863, the 2nd Wisconsin engaged a Confederate brigade under Brig. General James J. Archer at McPherson Woods.[9] Early in the fighting, 2nd Wisconsin soldier Private Patrick Maloney captured Archer himself, who surrendered his sword to Mansfield. Archer's surrender to Mansfield marked the first capture of a Confederate general officer since Robert E. Lee had assumed command of the Army of Northern Virginia.[10][9]

Later in the first day of fighting, Major Mansfield assumed command of the 2nd Wisconsin after the senior officer, future Wisconsin governor Lucius Fairchild, was shot.[9] Mansfield himself would be wounded later that same day and be forced to relinquish command of the regiment.[11] Following the battle, Mansfield was appointed lieutenant colonel on July 5, 1863 and went on to serve in the Bristoe and Mine Run Campaigns before being wounded and captured in June 1864 during the Overland Campaign.[11] Held at Libby Prison in Richmond, Mansfield was later returned to the north as part of a prisoner exchange.[1]

Towards the end of the Civil War, Mansfield became colonel of the Veteran Reserve Corps, a reserve organization also known as the U.S. Invalid Corps, made up of men unfit for combat but able to assist in hospital work or other light duties.[12][13] Mansfield was later brevetted as a brigadier general of volunteers, a rank to date from March 13, 1865.[14]

Lieutenant governor

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Following the war, Mansfield settled in California and later served as a delegate to the second California constitutional convention in 1878 and 1879 and as an at-large delegate to the 1880 Republican National Convention.[15][16] He was elected as California's lieutenant governor in 1879 and served one term under Republican Governor George C. Perkins from 1880 to 1883.[17]

Mansfield died at his home in Los Angeles in 1896 and was cremated.[18] His ashes were interred in Angelus-Rosedale Cemetery without record of their location.[19]

Mansfield may be the namesake of Mansfield, Illinois, although other sources suggest the village was named after other unrelated men named Mansfield, or potentially the city of Mansfield, Ohio.[20][21]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Annual publication of the Historical Society of Southern California. v.3 1893-1896". Annual Publications, Historical Society of Southern Californiav. 11, 1918/1920-V. 15, 1931/1932. Retrieved 2020-02-09.
  2. ^ "Professional & Business Cards". Portage Independent. 22 January 1857.
  3. ^ State of Wisconsin Blue Book. Legislative Reference Bureau. 1927.
  4. ^ "U.S. Senate: The Civil War: The Senate's Story". www.senate.gov. Retrieved 2020-02-13.
  5. ^ Aubury, Cullen B. (1902). Echoes From The Marches Of The Famous Iron Brigade. pp. 9–10.
  6. ^ "Union Wisconsin Volunteers, 2nd Regiment, Wisconsin Infantry". Civil War and Sailors System. National Park Service. Retrieved 2020-03-18.
  7. ^ "Iron Brigade". Wisconsin Historical Society. 2012-09-18. Retrieved 2020-03-18.
  8. ^ "The Army of the Potomac at Gettysburg - Gettysburg National Military Park (U.S. National Park Service)". Retrieved 2020-03-18.
  9. ^ a b c Pfanz, Harry Wilcox (2001). Gettysburg - The First Day. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. p. 91. ISBN 9780807826249.
  10. ^ "Official Report for the 2nd Wisconsin at Gettysburg". The Battle of Gettysburg. Retrieved 2020-03-18.
  11. ^ a b Quiner, E.B. (1866). The Military History of Wisconsin (2nd Infantry, Chapter 12). Chicago: Clarke & Co. p. 469.
  12. ^ Wagner, Margaret E.; Congress, Library of (2002). The Library of Congress Civil War Desk Reference. New York: Simon and Schuster. p. 441. ISBN 978-0-684-86350-4.
  13. ^ Field Record of Officers of the Veteran Reserve Corps, from the Commencement to the Close of the Rebellion. Washington, D.C.: Scriver & Swing. 1865.
  14. ^ Memorandum Relative to the General Officers in the Armies of the United States During the Civil War, 1861-1865. Washington, D.C.: Military Secretary's Office, War Department. 1906. p. 40.
  15. ^ Official Proceedings of the National Republican Conventions of 1868, 1872, 1876, and 1880. Minneapolis: Charles W. Johnson. 1903. p. 656.
  16. ^ Debates and Proceedings of the Constitutional Convention of the State of California. Vol. I. Sacramento: J.S. Young, Supt. State Printing. 1880. p. 4.
  17. ^ "Morning Press 8 September 1879 — California Digital Newspaper Collection". cdnc.ucr.edu. Retrieved 2020-03-19.
  18. ^ "Los Angeles Herald 7 May 1896 — California Digital Newspaper Collection". cdnc.ucr.edu. Retrieved 2020-03-19.
  19. ^ Hunt, Roger D. (1990). Brevet Brigadier Generals in Blue. Olde Soldier Books. p. 379. ISBN 978-1560130024.
  20. ^ Gannett, Henry (1905). The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States. U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 198.
  21. ^ Callary, Edward (2010-10-01). Place Names of Illinois. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 978-0-252-09070-7.

Further reading

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Military offices
Preceded by Command of the 2nd Wisconsin Infantry Regiment
February 9, 1864 – August 14, 1864 		Regiment disbanded
Political offices
Preceded by Lieutenant Governor of California
January 8, 1880 – January 10, 1883 		Succeeded by
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