Lysander Cutler | |
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 Lysander Cutler, photo taken between 1862 and 1864 | |
| Member of theMaine Senate from the 9th district | |
| In office January 6, 1841 – January 5, 1842 Serving with Solomon Parsons | |
| Preceded by | Levi Bradley andSamuel H. Blake |
| Succeeded by | Joel Scott |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1807-02-16)February 16, 1807 |
| Died | July 30, 1866(1866-07-30) (aged 59) |
| Cause of death | Stroke |
| Resting place | Forest Home Cemetery Milwaukee, Wisconsin |
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| Nickname | "Gray Wolf" |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch/service |  United States Army |
| Years of service | 1861–1865 |
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Lysander Cutler (February 16, 1807 – July 30, 1866) was an American businessman, educator, politician, andWisconsin pioneer. He served as aUnion Army officer through almost the entireAmerican Civil War, notably commanding the famedIron Brigade of theArmy of the Potomac. He rose to the rank ofbrigadier ganeral and received an honorarybrevet tomajor general. Earlier in his career, he was a member of theMaine Senate.
Cutler was born inRoyalston, Massachusetts, the son of a farmer.[1][2] Despite objections from his father, he desired a better education than the rudimentary courses he received in the local school, so he studied surveying and then began a career as a schoolmaster. Moving toDexter, Maine, at the age of 21, he was forced to confront unruly pupils who had "flogged and ejected" the last several teachers who had attempted to discipline them. Cutler established his reputation by spending his first day in the "thorough flogging of every bully in the school."[2]
Although he received some military experience fighting Indians as acolonel in theMainemilitia in the 1830s,[3]: 196 the majority of his time before the Civil War was engaged in a variety of business pursuits. He started a woolen mill, a foundry, a flour mill, and a sawmill, becoming very wealthy in the process. Cutler invested in various factories and intenement housing.[4]
He was prominent in civic affairs as aselectman, director of a railroad, trustee ofTufts College, and a member of theMaine State Senate in 1841.[5] Cutler's woolen mill, built in 1843, burned to the ground in 1853, causing him to lose his entire investment. The financial panic of 1856 anddepression of 1857 ruined him financially, and he decided to leave Maine and move toMilwaukee, Wisconsin, to restart his career.[1]
In Wisconsin, Cutler worked as a claims investigator for a mining company. He was required to make frequent trips into Indian territory, where he was often threatened with ambush and death. The mining company eventually failed, but a grain business that he founded in Milwaukee provided him with a living.[2]
In the first summer of the Civil War, Cutler, a respected 54-year-old businessman and Indian-fighter, was commissioned colonel of the6th Wisconsin Infantry on July 16, 1861.[3]: 196 This regiment would eventually become one of the units to comprise the famousIron Brigade of theArmy of the Potomac.[6]: 444
During the fall and winter, he got off to a bad start as a commander, alienating his junior officers by insisting that they pass examinations on military topics, and removing them from command if he was displeased with the results. Many men of the regiment were of recent immigrant status and he sometimes enraged the enlisted men of the company by replacing their officers with men of different national backgrounds, and sometimes speaking different languages. Despite these problems, Cutler was elevated to temporary brigade command in theI Corps of theArmy of the Potomac on March 13, 1862.[7]
Cutler's men rejoiced when this temporary position was filled by Brig. Gen.John Gibbon that summer. The regiment's first significant action was theSecond Battle of Bull Run, where he demonstrated that he was a tenacious fighter. One soldier in his regiment said that he was "rugged as a wolf."[7]: 19 During the fighting againstStonewall Jackson at Brawner's Farm, Cutler was severely wounded in the right thigh, causing him to miss theMaryland Campaign and theBattle of Antietam of September 1862.
When Gen. Gibbon was promoted to division command, he recommended that the recuperating Cutler be given command of the Iron Brigade, but Col.Solomon Meredith of the 19th Indiana had better political connections and received the appointment, dismaying Cutler. During theBattle of Fredericksburg in December, division commander Maj. Gen.Abner Doubleday placed Cutler in temporary command of the Iron Brigade for a few hours, dissatisfied with what he considered tardy execution of orders by Col. Meredith. After the battle, Cutler was promoted tobrigadier general, to rank from November 29, 1862.[3]: 196
In the spring of 1863, Cutler was given command of the 2nd Brigade,James S. Wadsworth's 1st Division, I Corps, which he led at theBattle of Chancellorsville in May, but his unit was only lightly engaged. In theBattle of Gettysburg, they were heavily engaged north of the Chambersburg Pike, (76th New York,147th New York, and56th Pennsylvania) withstanding multipleConfederate assaults from the divisions ofMaj. Gens.Henry Heth andRobert E. Rodes, coming in from the west and north, respectively.
The brigade itself had been split earlier by Maj. Gen.John Reynolds, with a demi-brigade (14th Brooklyn and 95th New York), under the command of ColonelFowler of the 14th Brooklyn, to engageBrig. Gen.James Archer's brigade south of the Chambersburg Pike. By the time the I Corps line broke around 4 p.m., his brigade had suffered over 50% casualties.
During the frantic retreat through the town of Gettysburg, Cutler had two horses shot out from under him. For the remainder of the three-day battle, Cutler's brigade occupied defensive positions onCulp's Hill and, taking advantage of the entrenchments there, suffered few additional casualties.
The Army of the Potomac was reorganized in the spring of 1864 and Cutler was given command of the 1st Brigade, 4th Division,V Corps, on March 25. After Gen. Wadsworth was mortally wounded at theBattle of the Wilderness, Cutler assumed command of the 4th Division on May 6. He led the division through the rest of theOverland Campaign and into theSiege of Petersburg.
At theBattle of Globe Tavern on August 21, 1864, he was struck in the face and badly disfigured by a shell fragment and he was forced to leave field command.[3]: 196 He spent the remainder of the war as an invalid, administering the draft inJackson, Michigan.[3]: 196 On December 12, 1864, PresidentAbraham Lincoln nominated Cutler for appointment to the grade ofbrevetmajor general to rank from August 19, 1864, and the U.S. Senate confirmed the nomination on February 14, 1865.
Cutler resigned from the Army on June 30, 1865, his health deteriorating rapidly. He died from a stroke,[7]: 20 which doctors attributed to complications from his Globe Tavern wounds,[3]: 197 [note 1] inMilwaukee,Wisconsin, and is buried there inForest Home Cemetery.[3]: 197
{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)| Military offices | ||
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| Regiment created | Command of the6th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment July 16, 1861 – November 29, 1862 | Succeeded by |
| Maine Senate | ||
| Preceded by Levi Bradley andSamuel H. Blake | Member of theMaine Senate from the 9th district 1841 – 1842 Served alongside:Solomon Parsons | Succeeded by Joel Scott |
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