Samuel Peter Heintzelman
Born	(1805-09-30)September 30, 1805 Manheim, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died	May 1, 1880(1880-05-01) (aged 74) Washington, D.C., U.S.
Place of burial	Forest Lawn Cemetery,Buffalo, New York
Allegiance	United States of America
Branch	United States Army Union Army
Years of service	1826–1869
Rank	Major General
Commands	III Corps XXII Corps
Battles / wars	Second Seminole War Mexican–American War Battle of Huamantla Yuma War Battle of Coyote Canyon Battle of the Gila River Cortina Troubles Battle of La Ebonal Battle of Rio Grande City American Civil War First Battle of Bull Run Peninsula campaign Battle of Yorktown Battle of Williamsburg Battle of Seven Pines Battle of Oak Grove Battle of Glendale (WIA) Second Battle of Bull Run
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Samuel Peter Heintzelman (September 30, 1805 – May 1, 1880) was aUnited States Armygeneral. He served in theSeminole War, theMexican–American War, theYuma War and theCortina Troubles. During the early months of theAmerican Civil War, he was a prominent figure, rising to the command of acorps.

TheWorld War IILiberty shipSSSamuel Heintzelman, launched on 30 September 1942, was named in his honor.

Heintzelman was born inManheim, Pennsylvania, to Peter and Ann Elizabeth Grubb Heintzelman. His paternal grandparents were German immigrants to the American colonies, while his maternal side was of English and Scottish descent, with ancestors arriving during the colonial era in the 17th century.^[1] He graduated from theUnited States Military Academy in 1826, 17th in a class of 41. and was commissioned abrevetsecond lieutenant in the3rd U.S. Infantry, July 1, 1826, then in the2nd U.S. Infantry and served on the Northern frontier atFort Gratiot,Fort Mackinac, andFort Brady. On March 4, 1833, he was promoted to first lieutenant and served on quartermaster's duty in Florida during theSecond Seminole War. On July 7, 1838, he was appointed captain in the Quartermaster's Department, remaining in Florida with the 2nd Infantry until the close of the war in 1842. In 1844, He married Margaret Stuart of Albany, NY. In 1847, during theMexican–American War, he joined GeneralWinfield Scott's army inMexico, taking part in several engagements, for which he was appointedbrevetmajor on October 9, 1847. In 1848–49, he accompanied his regiment aroundCape Horn to California, and for several years served in California and theArizona Territory.

In December 1851, Major Heintzelman led theYuma Expedition from the post ofSan Diego to put down theYuma uprising, called theYuma War. His expedition establishedFort Yuma, and peace was made in October 1852. He received the brevet oflieutenant colonel for his conduct in the campaign against the Yuma Indians, and on March 3, 1855, he was promoted to major of the1st U.S. Infantry and served with that unit on the Texas frontier.^[2] In 1859, during theFirst Cortina War in Texas, he was largely responsible for the defeat ofJuan Cortina's forces.

Heintzelman was the first president of theSonora Exploring and Mining Company, which establishedCerro Colorado, amining town in southernArizona. The town became famous during the American Civil War for the massacre of mine employees by Mexicanoutlaws and forburied treasure.

When the Civil War began, Heintzelman was promoted to colonel of the17th U.S. Infantry and brigadier general of volunteers in May 1861. He led a division atFirst Bull Run in July and was wounded in the elbow.

Heintzelman was in overall command of the2nd Michigan Infantry regiment that was responsible for the raid, ransacking, and devastation ofPohick Church inLorton, Virginia, on November 12, 1861. The historic church was built in 1769 byGeorge Washington,George Mason, andGeorge William Fairfax, among others, and restored after theWar of 1812 by PresidentMartin Van Buren,John Quincy Adams, andFrancis Scott Key, among others. This ransacking caused the loss of a myriad of irreplaceable artifacts.^[3]

In March 1862, President Lincoln organized the Army of the Potomac into corps, and Heintzelman received theIII Corps of theArmy of the Potomac in thePeninsula Campaign. His corps played a prominent role in theSiege of Yorktown where Heintzelman and division commanderFitz-John Porter were among the first to use theUnion Army Balloon Corps. The corps bore the brunt of the fighting atWilliamsburg and saw significant action atFair Oaks,Oak Grove, andGlendale. His corps was temporarily attached to theArmy of Virginia and took part in theSecond Battle of Bull Run. He was commissioned as a brevetbrigadier general in theregular army for the battle of Fair Oaks and amajor general of volunteers for the battle of Williamsburg. At theBattle of Glendale, Heintzelman was bruised in the wrist by a spent bullet and was unable to use his left arm for a few weeks. After theSeven Days Battles, he was promoted to major general of volunteers to rank from May 5. His popularity and confidence in the army were eclipsed by the aggressive nature of his subordinate division commandersJoseph Hooker andPhilip Kearny, and he did not display any notable leadership or tactical prowess in either the Peninsula Campaign or Second Bull Run, although following the Union retreat from Gaines Mill, he was one of three corps commanders to advocate launching a counterattack against the Army of Northern Virginia.^[4]

The Second Bull Run campaign had been hard on the III Corps, which sustained heavy losses, including one of its division commanders, and had come close to being driven from the field in panic. On September 4, Heintzelman was relieved from command, being judged as too old and insufficiently aggressive. He was reassigned to the Washington D.C. defenses and served there until being transferred to the Northern Department in January 1864. He remained in that post for ten months, but received no further assignments for the rest of the war. Heintzelman's volunteer commission expired on August 24, 1865 and he reverted to the regular army rank of colonel. He served on army boards of inquiry and on occupation duty in Texas as part of Reconstruction.

Heintzelman retired on February 22, 1869 after reaching the army's mandatory retirement age of 62 and was granted a promotion to major general, entitling him to the pension of that rank. After leaving the army, he served on the board of directors of several companies in New York and Washington D.C. before retiring completely in 1874. He died in Washington on May 1, 1880, at the age of 74. He is buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery,Buffalo, New York. According to his doctor, he died of complications arising from an attack of pleurisy during the Peninsula Campaign eighteen years earlier.^[5]

His grandsonStuart Heintzelman, a West Point alumnus of the class of 1899, served in World War I and rose to the rank ofMajor General.

• List of American Civil War generals (Union)

Notes

Bibliography

• Eicher, John H., andDavid J. Eicher.Civil War High Commands. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2001.ISBN 0-8047-3641-3.
• Robinson, John C.Obituary Notice of Major General Samuel P. Heintzelman, First Commander of the Third Army Corps. New York: Charles H. Ludwitt, 1881.]
• Warner, Ezra J.Generals in Blue: Lives of the Union Commanders. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1964.ISBN 0-8071-0822-7.
• Pohick Church history
• Biography
• Summary of Diary Donation

Wikimedia Commons has media related toSamuel P. Heintzelman.

• "Heintzelman, Samuel Peter" .Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. 1892.
• "Heintzelman, Samuel Peter" .The New Student's Reference Work . 1914.

• 1805 births
• 1880 deaths
• Union army generals
• American military personnel of the Mexican–American War
• American people of German descent
• American people of English descent
• American people of Scottish descent
• United States Military Academy alumni
• Military personnel from Buffalo, New York
• People of Pennsylvania in the American Civil War
• Yuma War
• People from Manheim, Pennsylvania

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