|
1174…..(Born N.
Y.) John
J. Peck
(Ap’d N. Y.)……………….8
Military
History. – Cadet at the Military Academy, July 1, 1839, to July 1, 1843,
when he was graduated and promoted in the Army to
Bvt. Second Lieut., 2d
Artillery, July 1, 1843.
Served: in
garrison at Ft. Columbus, N. Y., 1843-44, -- and Ft. Hamilton, N. Y.,
1844-45; in Military Occupation of Texas, 1845-46; in the
(Second Lieut., 2d
Artillery, Apr. 16, 1846)
War with Mexico, 1846-48,
being engaged in the Battle of Palo Alto, May 8, 1846, -- Battle of
Resaca-de-la-Palma, May 9, 1846, -- Battle of Monterey, Sep-. 21-23, 1846,
-- Siege of Vera Cruz, Mar. 9-29, 1847, --
(First Lieut., 2d
Artillery, Mar. 3, 1847)
Battle of Cerro Gordo, Arp.
17-18-1847, -- Skirmish of Amazoque, May 14, 1847, -- Capture of San
Antonio, Aug. 20, 1847, -- Battle of
(Bvt. Captain, Aug. 20,
1847, for Gallant and Meritorious
Conduct in the Battles of
Contreras and Churubusco, Mex.)
Churubusco, Aug. 20, 1847,
-- Battle of Molino del Rey, Sep. 8, 1847, -- Storming
(Bvt. Major, Sep. 8, 1847, for Gallant and
Meritorious Conduct in the Battle of Molino del Rey, Mex.)
Of Chapultepec, Sep. 13,
1847, -- and Assault and Capture of the City of Mexico, Sep. 13-14, 1847; on
Recruiting service, 1848; on frontier duty, on the march from Jefferson
Barracks, Mo., to New Mexico, 1849, -- Santa Fe, N. M., 1849, -- Scouting,
1849, being engaged against the Navajo Indians in the Skirmish of Tuni Cha,
N. M., Aug. 31, 1849, -- and at Santa Fe, N. M., 1849-50; on Recruiting
service, 1851-52; and on leave of absence, 1852-53.
Resigned, Mar. 31, 1853.
Civil History. –
Treasurer of projected Railroad from New York to Syracuse, via Newburg, N.
Y., 1853-57. Cashier of Burnet Bank, Syracuse, N. Y., 1853-66. President
of the Board of Education, Syracuse, N. Y., 1859-61. Delegate to the
Democratic Convention for the Nomination of President, at Cincinnati, O.,
1856, -- and at Charleston, S. C., 1860.
Military
History. -- Served during the Rebellion of the Seceding States, 1861-65:
in the Defense of Washington, D. C., Aug., 1861, to
(Brig.-General, U. S. Volunteers, Aug. 9,
1861)
Mar., 1862; in the
Virginia Peninsular Campaign (Army of the Potomac), Mar. to July, 1862,
being engaged in the Siege of Yorktown, Apr. 5 to May 4, 1862, -- Battle of
Williamsburg, May 5, 1862, -- Battle of Fair Oaks, May 31 to June 1, 1862,
-- and Operations of the Seven Days’ Change of Base to the James River, June
26 to July 2, 1862; in the Defenses of
(Major-General, U. S. Volunteers, July 4,
1862)
Yorktown, July to Sep.,
1862; in Operations about Suffolk, Va., Sep., 1862, to June, 1863, being
engaged in the Defense of Suffolk, Apr. 10 to May 4, 1863, in numerous
Skirmishes and Demonstrations, and the Removal of 40 miles of railroad
track; on sick leave of absence, having been seriously injured at Suffolk,
Apr. to Aug., 1863; in command in North Carolina, Aug. 14, 1863, to Apr. 25,
1864, being engaged in numerous Skirmishes and Minor Actions; in the
Department of the East, July 5, 1864, being in command on the Canada
frontier, Nov. 5, 1864, to Aug. 24, 1865, regulating Intercourse with the
British Provinces.
Mustered Out of Service,
Aug. 24, 1865.
Civil History. –
President of New York State Life Insurance Company, 1866-78.
Died, Apr. 21, 1878, at
Syracuse, N. Y.: Aged 57.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH.
Major-General
John James Peck was born Jan. 4, 1821, at Manlius, N. Y., his father having
been among the earliest and most active settlers of Onondaga County. The
son received a liberal education, and at the age of eighteen entered the U.
S. Military Academy, from which he was, July 1, 1843, graduated eighth in
the same class with President Grant and many who subsequently rose to fame.
Commissioned in the Second Regiment of Artillery as a Brevet Second
Lieutenant, he was on duty in New York harbor till 1845, when he joined
General Taylor’s “Army of Occupation,” participating in all its operations
in Texas till it reached the Rio Grande. Having, Apr. 16, 1846, been
promoted a full Second Lieutenant, he was attached to Captain Duncan’s
celebrated battery, and was distinguished in the Battles of Palo Alto and
Resaca-de-la-Palma. In September he was one of the “forlorn hope” which,
under the noble soldier, C. F. Smith, stormed Federation Hill, and was
active and conspicuous in all the after operations which culminated in the
fall of Monterey. He accompanied the mass of Taylor’s regulars to Lobos,
and, under General Scott, participated in his uninterrupted career of
victory at Vera Cruz, Cerro Gordo, Amazoque, San Antonio, Churubusco, Molino
del Rey, and Chapultepec, terminating in the Capture of the City of Mexico.
For his gallantry at Churubusco he was brevetted a Captain, and for Molino
del Rey a Major; and, says his division commander, General Worth, “the name
and services of this officer will be found in the official account of every
battle save one, from the commencement of the war to the conquest of the
basin of Mexico.”
On his return to
his home, in 1848, he was tendered a public dinner, and received an elegant
sword with appropriate devices; declined the promotion to Captain in the
Quartermaster’s Department, 1849; served, 1849-50, against the Navajo
Indians in New Mexico, besides interesting himself in the civil
administration of this newly acquired territory; and, after a tour of
recruiting duty, resigned from the Army, Mar. 31, 1853, much to the regret
of the General-in-Chief, who was sorry to lose a meritorious officer “who
had been baptized in fire with him in Mexico.”
Upon entering
civil life he interested himself in a projected railroad from New York, via
Newburg, to Syracuse, being its Treasurer till 1857; and also organized the
Burnet Bank of Syracuse, being its Cashier and Manager till the Rebellion
broke out, when he tendered his resignation which was not accepted till
after his return from the war, in 1866. He received the honorary degree of
A.M., in 1856, from Hamilton College, N. Y.; was President, 1859-61, of the
Syracuse Board of Education, and for some years a Vice-President of the
Franklin Institute; was twice (1856 and 1858) nominated for Congress, and
once declined a foreign mission; and was a Delegate to the National
Democratic Convention at Cincinnati in 1856, and to that at Charleston in
1860, voting there for Douglas as candidate for the Presidency of the United
States.
Upon the
breaking out of the Rebellion, he, like most of the graduates of the
Military Academy in civil life, promptly tendered his sword to his country
in any position he could fill, at the same time declining to participate
with the New York delegation in Congress in their movement to secure him a
high commission, as showing more a personal than patriotic motive. He was,
notwithstanding, appointed, Aug. 9, 1861, a Brigadier-General, U. S.
Volunteers; was assigned to an important command in the Defenses of
Washington; and in 1862 accompanied General McClellan in the Virginia
Peninsular campaign, rendered signal service at Yorktown, won an envied
reputation at Williamsburg, fought with skill and daring at Fair Oaks, where
he had a horse killed under him, and held an important place in the Seven
Days’ “change of base,” terminating in the bloody Battle of Malvern Hill and
the occupation of Harrison’s Landing. Here he was, July 4, 1862, promoted
to be a Major-General of Volunteers for his distinguished services in the
campaign; and, when our troops fell back from before Richmond, he was
ordered to Yorktown, which place he put in a proper condition for defense.
He was, Sep. 22,
1862, assigned to the command of all our troops in Virginia south of the
James. In the spring of 1863 the attention of the Confederates was drawn to
the importance of Suffolk, the reduction of which would involve both that of
Norfolk and Portsmouth. Accordingly, General Longstreet, with a
well-appointed force more than double our own, was assigned to this
important duty. His well-designed plan was to cut the Nansemond six miles
below the city, and the railroad on left and rear, while at the same time
endeavoring to divert a part of our troops by a threatened raid on Little
Washington. The Confederate commander confidently expected by these
combined operations that our ten thousand men would be the rich spoils of
his enterprise, but fortunately a captured mail disclosed to his sagacious
opponent enough for him to divine the plans of his wily adversary.
Longstreet then attempted, but failed, to take the place by assault, and our
gunboats prevented his cutting the river. At length, on the 18th
of April, a battery for five heavy guns was thrown up at Hill’s Point, six
miles below Suffolk, which commanded the river, and which our light-armed
flotilla could not batter. Peck, undismayed, with a small detachment
stormed and captured this strong position, which virtually terminated, May
4, 1863, the Siege of Suffolk, which had been invested for three weeks. For
his brilliant defense, Peck received the well-deserved commendations of his
superiors, Generals Dix and Meade.
From Aug. 14,
1863, to Apr. 25, 1864, Peck held command in North Carolina, where little of
importance occurred. In consequence of ill health he returned home, and
July 5, 1864, was ordered under General Dix, at his request, to the
Department of the East, in which he commanded on the Canada frontier,
regulating intercourse with the British Provinces, from Nov. 5, 1864, till
he was, on the conclusion of the war, mustered out of service, Aug. 24,
1865.
After once more
entering civil life, he in 1867 organized the New York State Life Insurance
Company at Syracuse, of which he was President till Apr. 21, 1878, when,
broken in health by the fatigues and hardships of two wars, he died in the
midst of his usefulness at the early age of fifty-seven.
General Peck was
warm, true-hearted friend, a good citizen, of the strictest integrity, and
methodical in all his transactions; a patriot devoted to the Union in her
darkest hour; and a soldier firm in command, strict in discipline, but
always just and considerate to subordinates, and as much the protector of
private as public rights.
|
