CIVIL WAR GENERAL COLONEL 103rd USCT BUFFALO SOLDIERS 127th NY INFANTRY GOVERNOR

Description: INVREF#CL5-66 STEWART LYNDON WOODFORD (1835 1913) CIVIL WAR UNION BVT BRIGADIER GENERAL, COLONEL AND COMMANDER OF THE 103rd U.S. COLORED TROOPS INFANTRY, LT. COLONEL OF THE NY 127th INFANTRY REGIMENT, LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK, U.S. SENATOR FROM NY & U.S. MINISTER TO SPAIN APPOINTED BY PRESIDENT MCKINLEY DURING THE SPANISH AMERICAN WAR! Woodford was also a Delegate to the 1860 Chicago Convention which Nominated Abraham Lincoln for President of the United States, and served as Chief of Staff to Major General Quincy A. Gilmore! At the Battle of Honey Hill, Coosawhatchie and Tulafinny, Woodfords bravery was conspicuous, and he received marked commendation from his superiors. His men were always willing to follow where their plucky colonel led. HERES WOODFORDS SIGNATURE REMOVED FROM A 19th CENTURY AUTOGRAPH ALBUM, SIGNED and DATED: Stewart L. Woodford, Brooklyn, N.Y., November 14/1882 >::<< Biography of the Honorable Stewart Lyndon Woodford Stewart Lyndon Woodford was born on September 3, 1835 in New York City to Josiah Curtis Woodford of Hartford County, Connecticut. His mother, Susan Terry, was a native of New York from Suffolk County, Long Island. Stewart Woodford was a boy of good promise, whose success in life was foreshadowed by his industry and tenacity of purpose. Before he was fifteen years of age, he entered the Freshman Class of Columbia College (now Columbia University), from which he graduated with high honors in 1854. He then turned his attention to the study of law in the office of Brown, Hall, & Vanderpool at New York, and was admitted to the bar in 1857. That same year, on October 15, 1857, Woodford married Julia Evelyn Capen (May 13, 1838 - June 14, 1899). They had four children together: Stewart Lyndon Woodford Jr. (September 11, 1864 - December 9, 1864), Evelyn Capen Woodford (July 20, 1858 - June 20, 1891), Mary Eames Woodford (October 4, 1861 - November 8, 1894), and Susan Curtis Woodford (November 21, 1869 - April 27, 1923). In the year 1860, he was a delegate to the convention at Chicago, which nominated Abraham Lincoln for the Presidency. On his return, he entered into the canvass with great spirit, and worked unceasingly for the Republican cause. His eloquence was heard from the rostrum, and his energies were felt in private councils in behalf of the great interests which he was willing subsequently to defend in the field. It was his privilege, after that memorable canvass, to convey the vote of the Electoral College of New York, to Washington. Closely following the honor thus conferred upon him was his election as Chairman of the Young Men's Republican Committee, of the City of New York. On April 11, 1861, Mr. Woodford was appointed Assistant United States Attorney, for the Southern District of New York. This was an office of importance, requiring a high order of abilities for the proper discharge of its weighty duties, and Woodford filled it in an unexceptionable manner. After the breaking out of the rebellion, the blockade of the Southern ports rendered necessary the creation of a bureau in that office, for the legal prosecution of the vast number of naval captures made by the government. Woodford was placed in charge of the bureau, and his industry, aided by natural talent and keen discrimination, enabled him to successfully present to the court the intricate questions arising for adjudication. In 1862, after the gloomy retreat of McClellan across the Peninsula, a general feeling of the necessity of renewed action and sacrifice pervaded the hearts of the people. Woodford hastened to obey the common impulse, resigned his lucrative office, and enlisted for the war as a private. He was immediately elected captain of his company, which was assigned to the 127th regiment New York Volunteers, under Col. William Gurnet. Before leaving for the front, he was again promoted to a Lieutenant-Colonelcy of the 103rd Regiment of the U.S. Colored Infantry. About this time, he removed his residence to Brooklyn. The winter of 1862-3 was spent by his regiment in and around Washington, which was then threatened by the rebel forces; but the life of comparative inaction was interrupted by the siege of Suffolk Va., by General Longstreet. Colonel Woodford's command was sent to Suffolk, and subsequently to the Peninsula, under General Dix. He afterward served in the 11th Corps, and was then transferred to the department of the South where he won for himself distinguished military honors. When General Gillmore began his extensive operations against Charleston, Colonel Woodford, with his regiment, took a prominent part in them. In the spring of 1864, he commanded the several forts on Morris Island, which shelled the city of Charleston so destructively. During the summer of that year, he acted as Judge-Advocate General of the department of the South, and, in the early autumn, was entrusted with the supervision of the exchange of prisoners at Charleston Harbor. But staff duty was not congenial to his taste, and as Sherman neared the coast, he applied for leave to rejoin his regiment, and participate in the operations undertaken by General Foster, against the Charleston and Savannah Railroad. His request was granted, and he was actively engaged in the movements which followed. At the battle of Honey Hill, Coosawhatchie and Tulafinny, his bravery was conspicuous, and received marked commendation from his superiors. His men were always willing to follow where their plucky colonel led. Just before the surrender of Lee, and after active movements had ceased on the coast, Colonel Woodford was appointed Provost-Marshal-General of the Southern Department; and, a short time after, was made the first Military Governor of Charleston. It was in this city that the rebellion was conceived and born. The populace, at the time of the breaking up of the gigantic cabal, were filled with hatred and disloyalty. The aristocratic Southrons illy submitted to the dictation of a Northern man. Disloyal citizens on the one hand, and rebel deserters and desperadoes on the other, smoldering buildings, half famished and homeless families, the absence of civil law, and a chaotic state of society, all conspired to bring into play the highest order of administrative capabilities. Under the authority of Colonel Woodford, these volcanic elements were harmonized, much to the delight of those who had suffered by the reign of terror. By his courteous, but iron firmness, he soon convinced even the disloyal that the best course for them was to submit quietly to the authority of the Military Governor, who had been placed over them by an outraged but vindicated government. Order was restored so perfectly at last, that ten thousand colored people, in the celebration of the Emancipation Proclamation, and weeks before the surrender of Lee, marched triumphantly through the principal streets of the city, with the flag of the Republic floating over them, with banners inscribed with mottoes commemorative of the termination of their bondage, and bearing a coffin emblematic of the death and burial of slavery. It is not to be supposed that the citizens relished this demonstration, but the cool decision of Governor Woodford awed them into a state of outward submission; and they well knew, that any molestation would have drawn summary punishment upon themselves. For the remarkable administrative abilities displayed at this important juncture, he was made Chief of Staff by Major-General Gillmore. While the city of Charleston was under Colonel Woodford's command, order prevailed on all sides; the loyalist felt safe in the enjoyment of his privileges, and the secessionist was forced to admit that the colonel manifested tenacity of purpose to administer justice to all. It was while acting in this capacity that he was commissioned Brigadier-General by brevet, for meritorious services. Subsequently, he succeeded the gallant General Grover in command of the city of Savannah; and his administration in that city was also a complete success. Among the distinguishing acts of his course, was the practical assistance which he gave to the negroes in founding their schools and churches. On every hand he saw hundreds of colored people eager to be taught. They were a distinct and peculiar race that had been shut out from educational advantages for many generations; and he determined that every possible avenue should now be opened to them. He reestablished the police force, relighted the streets, and demonstrated that he was not only bravely just to the blacks, but wise and energetic in his management of all the civil affairs of the important city that had been confided to his control. General Woodford subsequently reassumed the position of Chief of Staff to the Department Commander; and in August, 1865, resigned his commission, and returning to his home in Brooklyn, resumed the practice of the law. In October of the same year, he was unanimously nominated by the Republican party in New York city as their candidate for Judge of the Court of Common Pleas; but he decided not to change his residence from Brooklyn (to which city he had moved his family soon after he entered the army), and declined the nomination. In the autumn of 1866, and after a canvass in which he visited nearly every county in the State, General Woodford was elected Lieutenant-Governor of New York by the Union Republican party, receiving a majority of 15,024 votes alongside Governor Reuben E. Fenton. The Democratic Party was confident of the success of their candidate, Mr. Pruyn, but the ballot of the people gave a sweeping verdict in favor of General Woodford. As Lieutenant-Governor, Woodford combined, with an agreeable appearance and pleasing address, the graces and polish of a gentleman. He was a cultivated scholar, and a close and logical lawyer. His eloquence was of the highest order, and his presence before an audience was strangely magnetic, as thousands who had heard him from the political rostrum and in the court-room could have testified. At that time, Woodford was the youngest man to have ever been President of the Senate of New York, at thirty-one years of age. On January 13, 1866, President Andrew Johnson nominated Woodford for the award of the honorary grade of brevet brigadier general of volunteers, to rank from May 12, 1865 and the U. S. Senate confirmed the award on March 12, 1866. In 1870, Woodford was the Republican candidate for Governor but was defeated by the incumbent Democrat John T. Hoffman. In 1872, he was elected as a Republican to the 43rd United States Congress and served from March 4, 1873, to July 1, 1874. Also in 1872 he was chosen to be a presidential elector. He was U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York from 1877 to 1883. In June 1897, President William McKinley appointed Woodford to the post of Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Spain. Spain severed diplomatic relations with the U.S. on April 21, 1898, and Woodford left his post the same day. The United States declared war on Spain as of that date by Act of Congress approved on April 25, 1898. Julia Woodford died on June 14, 1899 and Woodford remarried on September 26, 1900 to Isabel Hansen. He resumed the practice of law in New York City and died thirteen years later, on February 14, 1913. Woodford was buried in Woodland Cemetery, Stamford, Connecticut. Source: Samuel R Harlow and H. H. Boone, Life sketches of the State Officers, Senators, and Members of the Assembly of the State of New York > History of the NEW YORK ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SEVENTH INFANTRY (Three Years) One Hundred and Twenty-seventh Infantry.-Col., William Gurney; Lieut.-Cols., Stewart L. Woodford, Edward H. Little; Majs., Edward H. Little, Frank K. Smith. This regiment, known as the National Volunteers or Monitors, was principally recruited on Long Island and in New York city, where it was mustered into the U. S. service for three years, Sept. 8, 1862, and left two days later for Washington. It served during the siege of Suffolk in the spring of 1863 in Hughston's (3d) brigade, Gurney's division, and in June was engaged in minor affairs at Diascund bridge and at Nine-mile Ordinary, Va. In August it was ordered to South Carolina, where it participated in the various operations about Charleston harbor in 1863, including the siege of Fort Wagner and the bombardment of Fort Sumter, attached to the 1st brigade, Gordon's division, 10th corps. It was present during the actions at Bull's island in March, 1864, and at Fort Johnson in July, sustaining its first severe loss at the battle of Honey Hill, S. C., in November, its casualties in this action amounting to 7 killed, 49 wounded and 15 missing. It was then serving in Potter's (1st) brigade, Hatch's division, and was again warmly engaged at Deveaux neck in December, losing 14 killed, 67 wounded, and 3 missing. Shortly after the evacuation of Charleston, the regiment was detailed by order of Gen. Sherman for permanent city garrison, on account of its good reputation for discipline, Col. Gurney being appointed post commander. It was there mustered out on June 30, 1865. The regiment left for the war about 1,000 strong, and returned home with 25 officers and 530 men. It lost by death during service 35 men killed in action; 1 officer and 94 men died of disease and other causes, a total of 130. Source: The Union Army, Vol. 2, p. 143 PROVENANCE ORIGIN OF PURCHASE HISTORY Proud member of the Universal Autograph Collectors Club (UACC), The Ephemera Society of America, the Manuscript Society and the American Political Items Collectors (APIC) (member name: John Lissandrello). 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