Zealous Bates Tower | |
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| Born | (1819-01-12)January 12, 1819 Cohasset,Massachusetts |
| Died | March 20, 1900(1900-03-20) (aged 81) Cohasset, Massachusetts |
| Place of burial | Central Cemetery, Cohasset, Massachusetts |
| Allegiance | United States of America Union |
| Service | United States Army Union Army |
| Years of service | 1841–1883 |
| Rank |  Brigadier General BrevetMajor General |
| Battles / wars | |
Zealous Bates Tower (January 12, 1819 – March 20, 1900) was an American soldier andcivil engineer who served as a general in theUnion Army during theAmerican Civil War. He was most noted for constructing the solid defenses of Federal-occupiedNashville, Tennessee, which proved to withstand repeated attacks by theConfederates.
Tower was born atCohasset,Massachusetts to a family settled at adjacentHingham since its founding. He graduated with first honors atWest Point in 1841. He served underGeneral Scott in theMexican War, led the storming column atContreras, and was wounded atChapultepec.[1] After the war, Tower served as an engineer. He was responsible for the initial construction of the Federal facilities onAlcatraz Island inSan Francisco Bay andFort Point, San Francisco.
At the outbreak of the Civil War, he was chief engineer in the defense ofFort Pickens. On June 12, 1862, he was appointedbrigadier general of volunteers, to rank from November 23, 1861.[2] Tower served inI Corps when it was listed as III Corps in Major GeneralJohn Pope'sArmy of Virginia. He led a brigade in the division of Brig. Gen.James B. Ricketts. On August 30, 1862, Tower was severely wounded at theSecond Battle of Bull Run.
After recovering from his wound, Tower was superintendent of West Point from July until September 1864. He then became chief engineer of the defenses ofNashville, Tennessee, and his skillful work at that place contributed to the total defeat ofJohn Bell Hood'sArmy of Tennessee at theBattle of Nashville in December 1864. On January 13, 1866,PresidentAndrew Johnson nominated Tower for the award of the honorary grade ofbrevet major general,U.S. Volunteers, to rank from June 12, 1865, and theU.S. Senate confirmed the award on March 12, 1866.[3]
Tower stayed in theregular army after the Civil War. In November 1865, he became alieutenant colonel in theEngineer Corps. Tower supervised the work of improving several major harbors, both for commercial and military purposes. He was promoted tocolonel in January 1874. Tower retired from the service in 1883. He then returned to Cohasset, Massachusetts where he lived until his death on March 30, 1900. He was buried in Central Cemetery in Cohasset.
He was an original founding member of theAztec Club of 1847, a social organization for officers who served in the Mexican-American War. He was president of the Aztec Club from 1885 to 1887.[4] He was also a Companion of theMilitary Order of Foreign Wars.
Attribution
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This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Wilson, J. G.;Fiske, J., eds. (1891).Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. New York: D. Appleton.{{cite encyclopedia}}:Missing or empty|title= (help)| Military offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Superintendent of the United States Military Academy 1864 - 1866 | Succeeded by |
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