Theodore Runyon
Illustration inHarper's Weekly, 1891
1st United States Ambassador to Germany
In office October 26, 1893 – January 27, 1896
President	Grover Cleveland
Preceded by	Himself as Minister
Succeeded by	Edwin F. Uhl
United States Minister toGermany
In office June 4, 1893 – October 26, 1893
President	Grover Cleveland
Preceded by	William Walter Phelps
Succeeded by	Himself as Ambassador
Personal details
Born	(1822-10-25)October 25, 1822 Somerville, New Jersey, U.S.
Died	January 27, 1896(1896-01-27) (aged 73) Berlin,Germany
Resting place	Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Newark, New Jersey
Signature
Military service
Allegiance	United States of America Union
Branch/service	United States Army New Jersey Militia
Years of service	1857–1864 1866–1873
Rank	Major General
Battles/wars	American Civil War Battle of First Bull Run

Theodore Runyon (October 25, 1822 – January 27, 1896) was an American politician, diplomat, andAmerican Civil Warbrigadier general in theNew Jersey Militia, serving with theUnion Army at theBattle of First Bull Run. Runyon was a lawyer before the Civil War and mayor ofNewark, New Jersey, amajor general in command of theNew Jersey National Guard until 1873, first president of the Manufacturers' National Bank of Newark,chancellor ofNew Jersey for 14 years and, between 1893 and 1896, envoy and laterambassador to Germany.

Theodore Runyon was born inSomerville, New Jersey ofHuguenot descent. He was a direct descendant of Vincent Rongion (1644–1713), a Huguenot who was born inPoitiers, France and settled in New Jersey.^[1] Theodore Runyon graduated fromYale University, where he helped foundScroll and Key Society. Runyon was admitted to the New Jersey bar in 1846 and began the practice of law inNewark, New Jersey.

As a brigadier general in the New Jersey militia, Runyon commanded the Fourth Division of theArmy of Northeastern Virginia in June and July 1861.^[2][3] The division was composed of 90-day New Jersey volunteer regiments and new 3-year New Jersey volunteer regiments which had been organized for less than a month.^[3][4] Union Army commander,Major GeneralIrvin McDowell held this division in reserve during theFirst Battle of Bull Run and they were not engaged in the battle.^[3][5]

Although the Historians John and David Eicher show Runyon in charge of the division and as mustered out of the volunteers on July 31, 1861, they do not show him with a formal Union Army commission.^[2] Also, neither the 1906 War Department list of Union Army generals nor HistorianEzra J. Warner'sGenerals in Blue show Runyon as a commissioned Union Army general rather than or in addition to a New Jersey militia general.^[6][7][8] Runyon held his position as division commander as a State militia or short-term volunteer general, not as a formally commissioned Union Army general.^[9] On February 25, 1862, Runyon was appointed abrevet major general in the New Jersey militia.^[2] After the war, he was elected a companion of the Pennsylvania Commandery of theMilitary Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States - a military society of officers of the Union armed forces and their descendants.

Fort Runyon, named in Theodore Runyon's honor, was atimber andearthwork fort constructed by the Union Army following the occupation of northernVirginia in order to defend the southern approaches to the Long Bridge as part of the defenses ofWashington, D.C. during that war.^[10]

From 1864 to 1866, Runyon served as mayor of Newark as aDemocrat. He had previously been city attorney and city counsel. Runyon was appointedmajor general in charge of theNew Jersey National Guard, and served in this post until 1873. He was the first president of the Manufacturers' National Bank of Newark until he becamechancellor of New Jersey, an office he held for 14 years.

In 1893, Runyon became envoy and laterambassador to Germany, where he died in 1896.^[11] He is buried atMount Pleasant Cemetery in Newark, New Jersey.^[12]

• Davis, William C.Battle at Bull Run: A History of the First Major Campaign of the Civil War. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1977.ISBN 0-8071-0867-7.
• Detzer, David.Donnybrook: The Battle of Bull Run, 1861. New York: Harcourt, 2004.ISBN 978-0-15-603143-1.
• Eicher, John H., andDavid J. Eicher,Civil War High Commands. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2001.ISBN 0-8047-3641-3.
• United States War Department, The Military Secretary's Office,Memorandum Relative to the General Officers in the Armies of the United States During the Civil War, 1861-1865 (Compiled from Official Records.) 1906. Retrieved August 5, 2010.
• Warner, Ezra J.Generals in Blue: Lives of the Union Commanders. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1964.ISBN 0-8071-0822-7.

Wikimedia Commons has media related toTheodore Runyon.

• All Biographies: Brigadier-General Theodore Runyon, U.S.V.
• The Political Graveyard: Index to Politicians: Rugh to Rusch
• "Theodore Runyon".Find a Grave. RetrievedFebruary 12, 2008.

• Union militia generals
• People of New Jersey in the American Civil War
• Mayors of Newark, New Jersey
• New Jersey Democrats
• Ambassadors of the United States to Germany
• Burials at Mount Pleasant Cemetery (Newark, New Jersey)
• Yale University alumni
• 1822 births
• 1896 deaths
• Politicians from Somerville, New Jersey
• American people of French descent
• 19th-century American diplomats
• 19th-century mayors of places in New Jersey

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