| 1. |  Bvt. Brig. Gen. Ira C. Abbott was born on 18 Dec 1824 in Burns, Allegany Co, NY (son of Edmund Austin Abbott and Nancy Gregory); died on 09 Oct 1908; was buried in Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Arlington Co, VA. Notes:
VIEW NOTES & JOURNAL
Notes and Journal of Capt. Ira C. Abbott re First Battle of Bull Run, with Comments by Orlando B. Willcox.
July 20. Remained at Centerville all day, during which [I] recd. orders from Genl. Heintzelman (Comdg. Div.) for an advance early next morning (I o'c). About 10 A.M. Maj. Bidwell sent for me & proposed that in view of the fight expected next day we make up our differences, to which I agreed, & with a cordial shake of the hand we parted for the night, & from that time I had no better friend in the regt.
2Ist. Battle of Bull Run. At one o'clock A.M. [the] regt. [was] in line & ready to move. There was a delay until about sun rise, when we heard artillery in the distance, when our march began for Sudley Ford. mmediately after crossing Cub Run we turned to the right, & our line of march was thro timber most of the way. (Mem. It was very hot & exhausting. OBW). Sudley Springs Ford is about 12 miles from Centerville. It was reached about II½ o'clock. The day was very hot, & [there] being no water from Cub Run to Sudley Springs, our men were nearly famished with thirst. On reaching [the] ford, canteens were filled & we fell back on the bluff for dinner.
From this point we could plainly see the movement of troops & explosion of shells in the air & hear the crash of arms. At 2 o'clock our regt. was ordered to the front to support Arnold's Battery & immediately advanced, crossing Bull Run (Sudley Springs) up the road to Sudley Springs Church, filed to the left into a field & took up a position at the right of the battery, lying down upon the ground. (Mem. Capt. Richard Arnold's Battery, 2d Arty., was attached to my brigade. A. himself was a captain in the 5th Arty. His officers were Lieuts. Barringer & Throckmorton. OBW.)
This position was maintained for about ½ hour, when we were ordered to advance. Accordingly [we] moved to the right across a ravine on to an open field. Marching by [the] flank & filing to the left along the ravine, we came in range of rebel batteries. The Ist man who fell was Color Sergt?, struck by a shell which severed his head from his body.
"The Memoirs, Journals & Civil War Letters of Orlando B. Willcox" by Robert Garth Scott, editor, 1999, p.686.
|
VIEW BIOGRAPHY
Born in Burns, Allegany County, New York, he moved with his family to the White Pigeon Community, St. Joseph County,Michigan in 1835. On February 13, 1850 he married Roxanna E. Brown of Elkhart County, Indiana. They were listed in the 1850 Concord Township Elkhart County, Indiana Federal Census, He was a merchant.
Roxanna died iafter childbirth in 1852 , Abbott and daughter, Harriet E. moved back to Burr Oak ,St Joseph County, Michigan. In 1855 he was appointed Postmaster in Burr Oak while running a mercantile business there. Ira was an original Trustee of the Incorporated Township of Burr Oak in 1859, also served as a Justice of the Peace . Having a young daughter he traveled to Phelps, Ontario County, New York, and married Electa Araminta Shear on May 19, 1857. After Lincoln's call for Volunteers, he resigned as Postmaster in Burr Oak and enlisted on April 24, 1861 and was Commissioned, Captain "Co. G". The lst Infantry was the first Western regiment to arrive in Washington, DC. They fought at lst Manassas(Bull Run), and suffered great casualties. His Company lost 22 men killed, wounded or captured. Though wounded himself, he was commended for personally rescuing the Regimental colors, as they were about to fall into the enemy's hands, and carried them off the field. It was these colors around ehich the Regiment rallied near the little stone Church at Sudley's Ford.At the expiration of their 3 months' commisiion, the Regiment returned to Michigan, reorganized, and Captain Abbott was reassigned to Company "B" on August 17, 1861 for three years. The Regiment was asigned to the Army of the Potomac, arriving at Fort Monroe, Virginia on March 12, 1862. He was commissioned Major, April 28, 1862, particpating in the Peninsular Campaign of 1862 under Gen. McClellan (5th Corps, lst Brigade, lst Division...Mechanicsville, White Oak Swamp, Malvern Hill, etc... ...then as part of Fitz John Porter's Corps at 2nd Manassas on August 19, 1862... ...and as part of Fifth Army Corps (MG Daniel Butterfield), First Brigade of the First Division (brig.-General Charles Griffin) , then at Antietam, Maryland, and as Lt.Col (promoted August 30, 1862), in the December 1862 Campaign at Fredricksburg (wounded 12/1262). On March 18, 1863 he was promoted to Colonel, and was wounded twice May 2, 1863 at Chancellorsville, Va. Then his Regiment was at Gettysburg where he was again wounded at Little Round Top, July 2, 1863 , fighting as part of the Army of the Potomac (MG George G. Meade) with lst Infantry, Michigan Volunteers under Major General George Sykes' "Fifth Army Corps", First Brigade (Colonel William S. Tilton) of the First Division (BG James Barnes). Ira C. Abbott served in the Civil War first as Lieutenant Colonel, then Colonel and commander of the 1st Michigan Volunteer Infantry regiment. He was wounded in the face at the Battle of Fredericksburg. At the Battle of Gettysburg, his regiment was part of Colonel William S. Tilton's brigade that fought against attacking Confederates in the Stony Hill area West of the Wheatfield on July 2, 1863. Under intense fire, he kept his Michigan soldiers on the battle line until he him self was shot and seriously wounded, and had to retreat to the rear of the Union lines. He was brevetted Brigadier General, US Volunteers on March 13, 1865 for "gallant and meritorious services during the war". A monument to his regiment stands in the Loop on Sickles Avenue in the Gettysburg National Military Park. On December 22, 1864, having served with honor and distinction nearly four years,having participated in most of the truly, hard-fought Campaigns, and having been wounded several times, he found his health seriously impaired, his resignation from active service was accepted and he was discharged. Because of that service, Colonel Abbott was brevetted a Brigadier General on March 13, 1865. He returned to Michigan, where during the period 1866 through 1869 he served an appointment with the United States Revenue Service. In 1873 he moved to Evansville, Rock County, Wisconsin, where he resided until he moved to Delevan, then Elkhorn in 1880, where he was the State Sales Agent for Fairbanks Scale Manufacturing Co.(home-based in St. Johnsbury, Vermont). He later removed to and was living in Washington, DC, where he was a member of MOLLUS, DC Commandery and in January, 1908 was President of the Michigan State Association which met there at the Arlington Hotel for their National Annual Banquet. General Abbott died later that year in October, and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery..(Section 2, Grave # 876-ES)....near the Old Amphitheater & Custiss-Lee Home. Pension # 282114
Buried:
Buried: Section 2, Grave #876-ES
Ira married Electa Araminta Shear on 19 May 1857 in Phelps, Ontario Co, NY. Electa (daughter of Henry Shear and Caroline COUCH) was born on 21 Jul 1840 in Allegany Co, NY; died on 19 May 1914 in Washington DC; was buried in Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Arlington Co, VA. [Group Sheet]
Children:
- Charles E. Abbott was born on 16 Nov 1858 in Burr Oak, St. Joseph Co, MI; died on 07 Aug 1918; was buried in Eldon, Wapello Co, IA.
- William Coray Abbott was born on 22 Jul 1860 in Burr Oak, St. Joseph Co, MI; died on 19 Apr 1907 in Jamestown, Chatauqua Co, NY.
- Caroline Philena Abbott was born on 04 Apr 1871 in Benton Harbor, Berrien Co, MI; died after 1920.
Ira married Roxanna E. Brown in 1850. Roxanna was born on Yes, date unknown; died in 1852. [Group Sheet]
Children:
- Harriet E. Abbott was born in 1852.
|
Generation: 2
|
1824 - 1908 (83 years)