John Adams Dix
Portrait byMathew Brady, 1861
24th Governor of New York
In office January 1, 1873 – December 31, 1874
Lieutenant	John C. Robinson
Preceded by	John T. Hoffman
Succeeded by	Samuel J. Tilden
22ndUnited States Minister to France
In office December 23, 1866 – May 23, 1869
President	Andrew Johnson Ulysses S. Grant
Preceded by	John Bigelow
Succeeded by	Elihu B. Washburne
24thUnited States Secretary of the Treasury
In office January 15, 1861 – March 6, 1861
President	James Buchanan Abraham Lincoln
Preceded by	Philip Thomas
Succeeded by	Salmon P. Chase
Postmaster of New York City
In office May 17, 1860 – January 15, 1861
United States Senator fromNew York
In office January 27, 1845 – March 3, 1849
Preceded by	Henry A. Foster
Succeeded by	William H. Seward
Member of theNew York State Assembly fromAlbany County
In office January 4, 1842 – September 7, 1842
16thSecretary of State of New York
In office January 15, 1833 – February 4, 1839
Governor	William L. Marcy William H. Seward
Preceded by	Azariah C. Flagg
Succeeded by	John Spencer
Personal details
Born	(1798-07-24)July 24, 1798 Boscawen, New Hampshire, U.S.
Died	April 21, 1879(1879-04-21) (aged 80) New York City, U.S.
Party	Democratic(Before 1872) Republican(1872–1879)
Other political affiliations	Free Soil(1848–1849)
Spouse	Catherine Morgan
Children	Morgan
Signature
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch/service	United States Army Union Army
Years of service	1813–1828 1861–1865
Rank	Major General
Commands	Department of Virginia
Battles/wars	American Civil War

John Adams Dix (July 24, 1798 – April 21, 1879) was an American politician and military officer who wasSecretary of the Treasury,Governor of New York andUnionmajor general during theCivil War. He was notable for arresting the pro-SouthernMaryland General Assembly, preventing that divided border state from seceding, and for arranging a system for prisoner exchange via theDix–Hill Cartel, concluded in partnership with Confederate Major GeneralDaniel Harvey Hill.

Dix was born inBoscawen, New Hampshire, on July 24, 1798, the son of Timothy Dix and Abigail Wilkins, and brother of composerMarion Dix Sullivan.^[1] He was educated atPhillips Exeter Academy, and joined theUS Army as anensign in May 1813, serving under his father until the latter's death a few months later. He attained the rank of captain in August 1825 and resigned from the Army in December 1828.^[2]

In 1826, Dix married Catherine Morgan, the adopted daughter of CongressmanJohn J. Morgan, who gave Dix a job overseeing his upstate New York land holdings inCooperstown. Dix and his wife moved to Cooperstown in 1828, where he also practiced law. In 1830, he was appointed by GovernorEnos T. Throop asAdjutant General of New York, and moved toAlbany. He wasSecretary of State of New York from 1833 to 1839, and a member of theNew York State Assembly (Albany Co.) in1842.

Dix was elected as aDemocrat to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation ofSilas Wright, Jr., and held office from 1845 to 1849. InNovember 1848, he was theBarnburner/Free-Soil candidate for Governor of New York, but was defeated by WhigHamilton Fish. InFebruary 1849, he ran for re-election to the U.S. Senate as the Barnburners' candidate, but the Whig majority of theState Legislature electedWilliam H. Seward.

In 1853 Dix was president of theMississippi and Missouri Railroad. He was appointedPostmaster of New York City and served from 1860 to 1861.

In addition to his military and public duties, Dix was the president of theUnion Pacific from 1863 to 1868 during construction of theFirst transcontinental railroad. He was thefigurehead for rail baronThomas C. Durant, in both of his railroad presidencies. He was also briefly president of theErie Railroad in 1872.

Dix was appointedUnited States Secretary of the Treasury byPresidentJames Buchanan in January 1861 for the remainder of thelame duck president's term, ending on March 4. At the outbreak of the Civil War, he sent a telegram to the Treasury agents inNew Orleans ordering that: "If any one attempts to haul down the American flag, shoot him on the spot." Although the telegram was intercepted byConfederates, and was never delivered to the Treasury agents, the text found its way to the press, and Dix became one of the first heroes of the North during the Civil War. The saying is found on manyCivil War tokens minted during the war, although the wording is slightly modified.

At the start of the American Civil War, Dix was appointed amajor general in theNew York Militia. WithGeorge Opdyke andRichard Milford Blatchford, he formed the Union Defense Committee, empowered by PresidentAbraham Lincoln to spend public money during the initial raising and equipping of the Union Army.^[3][4] He joined theUnion Army as the highest ranking major general ofvolunteers during the war, effective May 16, 1861; also appointed on that day wereNathaniel P. Banks andBenjamin Franklin Butler, but Dix's name appeared first on the promotion list, meaning that he had seniority over all major generals of volunteers.^[5] In the summer of 1861, he commanded the Department of Maryland and theDepartment of Pennsylvania. His importance at the beginning of the Civil War was in arresting six members of theMaryland General Assembly and thereby preventing the legislature from meeting.^[6] This prevented Maryland from seceding, and earned him PresidentLincoln's gratitude. That winter, he commanded a regional organization known as "Dix's Command" within Maj. Gen.George B. McClellan'sDepartment of the Potomac.^[7] Dix commanded theDepartment of Virginia from June 1862 until July 1863, and theDepartment of the East from July 1863 until April 1865.

On July 22, 1862, Dix and Confederate Major GeneralDaniel Harvey Hill concluded an agreement for the general exchange of prisoners between the Union and Confederate armies.^[8] This agreement became known as theDix-Hill Cartel. It established a scale of equivalents, where an officer would be exchanged for a fixed number of enlisted men, and also allowed for the parole of prisoners, who would undertake not to serve in a military capacity until officially exchanged. (The cartel worked well for a few months, but broke down when Confederates insisted on treating black prisoners asfugitive slaves and returning them to their previous owners.)

On October 10, 1862, Lincoln'sSecretary of the Navy,Gideon Welles wrote that "a scheme for permits, special favors, Treasury agents, and improper management" existed and was arranged by Treasury SecretarySalmon P. Chase for General John A. Dix. The motive of Chase appeared to be for political influence and not for financial gain.^[9]

Dix was considered too old for field command. Some believe that his most distinguished contribution to the war was the suppression of theNew York City draft riots in July 1863, although the rioting had already subsided by the time he replaced GeneralJohn E. Wool.^[10] He was also active in thedefense of Suffolk, which was part of his department. He served as the temporary chairman of the1866 National Union Convention.

He wasUnited States Minister to France from 1866 to 1869.

He wasGovernor of New York from 1873 to 1874, elected on theRepublican ticket inNovember 1872, but was defeated for re-election bySamuel J. Tilden inNovember 1874. He suffered another defeat when he ran for theMayor of New York City in 1876.

Dix died on April 21, 1879, in New York City at age 80 and was buried at theTrinity Church Cemetery in Lower Manhattan.^[11]

• His memoirs, contained in two volumes, were compiled by his son,Morgan Dix.^[12]
• Fort Dix, aUnited States Armypost inNew Jersey, is named for Dix, as isDix, Illinois, andDix Township, Ford County, Illinois. Severalrevenue cutters were also named for him.
• Dix Mountain, one of theAdirondack High Peaks, was named for him. The name was later extended toits entire range.
• There is a memorial to Dix at theCathedral of All Saints inAlbany, New York.
• Thewindmill at his home inWesthampton Beach, New York was donated to the village, which plans to restore it.

• List of American Civil War generals (Union)

• Eicher, John H., andEicher, David J.,Civil War High Commands, Stanford University Press, 2001,ISBN 0-8047-3641-3.
• Union Pacific Railroad,UP - History of the UP logo. Retrieved June 8, 2005. Timeline that also includes UP presidency successions.
• Warner, Ezra J.,Generals in Blue: Lives of the Union Commanders, Louisiana State University Press, 1964,ISBN 0-8071-0822-7.

• Dix, Morgan (compiler).Memoirs of John Adams Dix, (1883).Vol. IVol. II
• Dix, John Adams.Speeches and Occasional Addresses. Volume II (1864)online edition
• U.S. War Department,The War of the RebellionArchived September 13, 2009, at theWayback Machine:a Compilation of theOfficial Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1880–1901.

Wikimedia Commons has media related toJohn Adams Dix.

• Likenesses of New Hampshire War Heroes & Personages
• Spartacus Educational: John A. Dix
• Mr. Lincoln and New York: John A. DixArchived October 3, 2006, at theWayback Machine

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