DeWitt Clinton Littlejohn
A late 19th century illustration of Littlejohn
Born	(1818-02-07)February 7, 1818 Bridgewater, New York, U.S.
Died	October 27, 1892(1892-10-27) (aged 74) Oswego, New York, U.S.
Place of burial	Riverside Cemetery, (Oswego, New York)
Allegiance	United States Union
Branch	United States Army Union Army
Rank	Colonel brevetbrigadier general
Battles / wars	American Civil War

DeWitt Clinton Littlejohn (February 7, 1818 – October 27, 1892) was a brevetbrigadier general in theUnion Army and aUnited States representative fromNew York during theCivil War.

Littlejohn initially pursued an academic course atGeneva College.

He did not complete college, and instead engaged in several profitable mercantile pursuits, acting for a time as a forwarder of fresh produce on the lakes and canals of the region. He later engaged in the manufacturing offlour inOswego, New York.

He wasMayor of Oswego, New York in 1849 and 1850. He was a member of theNew York State Assembly (Oswego Co., 1st D.) in1853,1854,1855,1857,1859,1860,1861,1866,1867,1870,1871, and1884. He wasspeaker in 1855, 1857, 1859, 1860 and 1861; and was the chief lieutenant toThurlow Weed.

In1861, Littlejohn was influential in the backroom politics to selectIra Harris overHorace Greeley as theRepublican Party's nominee to run for theU.S. Senate to succeedWilliam H. Seward, who had not run for re-election, expecting to join PresidentAbraham Lincoln's cabinet. In September, Littlejohn unsuccessfully sued Greeley and theNew-York Tribune forlibel.

When theCivil War began in 1861, Littlejohn worked actively to recruit troops in the Oswego area. Littlejohn used his political connections in July 1862 to secure a commission asColonel of the110th New York Infantry Regiment, a regiment he helped raise through his personal efforts. He trained his troops at Camp Patterson nearBaltimore, where it was stationed until November, when it was ordered to be relocated tofederal-occupiedNew Orleans.

Returning to politics, he successfully campaigned for theU.S. House of Representatives. He was elected as aRepublican to the38th United States Congress. He resigned from theUnion Army on February 3, 1863, and served inCongress from March 4, 1863, to March 3, 1865. During that term, he was Chairman of the Committee on Revolutionary Pensions. Littlejohn was not a candidate for renomination in 1864.

On February 26, 1867,PresidentAndrew Johnson nominated Littlejohn for appointment to the grade ofbrevetbrigadier general of volunteers, to rank from March 13, 1865, and the U.S. Senate confirmed the appointment on March 2, 1867.^[1]

In1870, the Republican state convention nominated Littlejohn forLieutenant Governor of New York on the ticket withStewart L. Woodford, but he declined to run.

In 1872, fed up with what he perceived to be the corruption of theGrant administration, Littlejohn joined theLiberal Republican Party and supported the candidacy ofHorace Greeley for president in 1872, after resolving his previous legal issues with Greeley. He then became aDemocrat, and was a delegate to several Democratic state conventions and was a political ally ofNew York governor and1876presidential candidateSamuel J. Tilden.

He then moved toBuffalo, New York, but returned to Oswego in 1867. Littlejohn wanted to afford Oswego the growth possible by a rail connection to a major port.

In 1868, he organized and served as president of theNew York and Oswego Midland Railroad (NY&OM), a route traversing much ofNew York state on its way toNew York City. He also established a steamboat service connectingLong Island to his new railroad.

He died inOswego, New York, and was interred atRiverside Cemetery in Oswego.

• List of American Civil War brevet generals (Union)

• United States Congress."DeWitt Clinton Littlejohn (id: L000357)".Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved on 2008-02-12
• [1] Obit in NYT, October 28, 1892
• Brown, John Howard, ed.,Lamb's Biographical Dictionary of the United States. Volume V. Boston: James H. Lamb Co., 1903.
• Eicher, John H., andDavid J. Eicher,Civil War High Commands. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2001.ISBN 978-0-8047-3641-1

• 1818 births
• 1892 deaths
• Politicians from Oneida County, New York
• Mayors of places in New York (state)
• Speakers of the New York State Assembly
• Republican Party members of the New York State Assembly
• Union army generals
• People of New York (state) in the American Civil War
• 19th-century American business executives in rail transportation
• New York (state) Liberal Republicans
• New York (state) Democrats
• Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state)
• Politicians from Oswego, New York
• 19th-century United States representatives
• 19th-century members of the New York State Legislature

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata