George D. Ramsay

257…….(Born Va.) George D. Ramsay (Ap’d D. C.)………26

Military History. – Cadet at the Military Academy, Aug. 20, 1814, to July 1, 1820, when he was graduated and promoted in the Army to

Second Lieut., Light Artillery, July 1, 1820.

Second Lieut., 1^st Artillery, in Re-organization of Army, June 1, 1821.

Served: in garrison at New England Posts, 1820-23; on Topographical

(First Lieut., 1^st Artillery, Mar. 1, 1826)

duty, Jan. 30, 1824, to Mar. 6, 1828; in garrison at Ft. Monroe, Va. (Artillery School for Practice), 1828; on Topographical duty, Dec. 2, 1828, to dec. 31, 1833; as Adjutant, 1^st Artillery, at Regimental headquarters, Dec. 1, 1833, to Feb. 25, 1835; as Assistant Ordnance Officer,

(Captain, Ordnance, Feb. 25, 1835)

at Washington Arsenal, D. C., 1835; on leave of absence in Europe, 1835-36; in selecting site for North Carolina Arsenal, 1836; in command of New York Ordnance Depot, 1836, -- of Washington Arsenal, D. C., 1836-38, -- of Frankford Arsenal, Pa., 1838-40, and as Ordnance Officer at Camp Washington, near Trenton, N. J., 1839, -- of Augusta Arsenal, Ga., 1840, -- and of Frankford Arsenal, Pa., 1840-45; in Military Occupation of Texas, as Ordnance Officer at Corpus Christi and Point Isabel, 1845-46; in the War with Mexico, 1846-48, being engaged in the Battle of Monterey, Sep. 21-23, 1846, -- and as Chief of

(Bvt. Major, Sep. 23, 1846, for Gallant and Meritorious Conduct in the Several Conflicts at Monterey)

Ordnance of the Army commanded by Major-General Taylor, June 5, 1847, to May 11, 1848; in command of Frankford Arsenal, Pa., 1848-51, -- of Ft. Monroe Arsenal, Va., 1851-55, -- of St. Louis Arsenal, Mo., 1855-58, -- and of Washington Arsenal, D. C., 1858-61; and as Member of

(Major, Ordnance, Apr. 22, 1861)

Ordnance Board, June 12 to Dec. 28, 1860.

Served during the Rebellion of the Seceding States, 1861-66: in command

(Lieut.-Colonel, Ordnance, Aug. 3, 1861)

of Washington Arsenal, D. C., 1861-63; as Chief of Ordnance of

(Colonel, Ordnance, June 1, 1863)

the U. S. Army, in charge of the Ordnance Bureau at Washington, D. C.

(Brig.-General, and Chief of Ordnance of the U. S. Army, Sep. 15, 1863)

Sep. 14, 1863, to Sep. 12, 1864; and as Inspector of Arsenals, etc.,

(Retired from Active Service, Sep. 12, 1864,

Under the Law of July 17, 1862, He Being Over “The Age of 62 Years”)

Sep. 12, 1864, to June 8, 1866.

Served: in command of Washington Arsenal, D. C., June 8, 1866, to Feb. 21, 1870; and as Member of Board to examine Ordnance Officers for Promotion, Mar., 1867.

Bvt. Major-General, U. S. Army, Mar. 13, 1865, for Long and Faithful Services in the Army.

Died, May 23, 1882, at Washington, D. C.: Aged 80.

OBITUARY ORDER.

Upon the death of Bvt. Major-General Ramsay the following order was issued by the War Department.

“It becomes the painful duty of the Secretary of War to announce to the Army the death of brevet Major-General George D. Ramsay, Brigadier-General, U. S. Army (retired), who died at his residence in this city on the 23d of May, 1882.

“General Ramsay graduated at the Military Academy in July, 1820, and was assigned to the Corps of Light Artillery as Second Lieutenant. In June, 1821, when the four regiments of artillery were organized, he was attached to the 1^st Regiment. In March, 1826, he was promoted to the grade of First Lieutenant, and was made Regimental Adjutant in December, 1833, having served on topographical and ordnance duty prior to that date. In Feb., 1835, he was appointed Captain of Ordnance, and held that rank for over twenty-six years, serving in command of arsenals, in the military occupation of Texas, and in the field in Mexico. During the Mexican War he was engaged in the Battle of Monterey, in Sep., 1846, and received the brevet of Major ‘for gallant and meritorious conduct in the several conflicts at Monterey, Sep. 23, 1846.’ From June, 1847, to the close of the war in May, 1848, he served as Chief Ordnance Officer of the Army commanded by Major-General Taylor, in command of arsenals, and as a member of the Ordnance Board in 1860. He was promoted to be Major of Ordnance in April, 1861, and Lieutenant-Colonel in August, 1861, and Colonel in June, 1863. He was appointed Chief of Ordnance in Sep., 1863, with the rank of Brigadier-General, U. S. Army, and served in that position until Sep., 1864, when he was retired from active service under the Act of July 17, 1862, being over the age of sixty-two years, but continued to serve, by assignment, in command of Washington Arsenal until June 8, 1866. Mar. 13, 1865, he was awarded the brevet of Major-General, U. S. Army, ‘for long and faithful service in the Army.’”

General Ramsay died in the eighty-first year of his age, having enjoyed, almost to the very last, “a green old age,” with but few serious infirmities, and leaving only very few survivors of those who preceded or accompanied him to the Military Academy in 1814. During his long military service he faithfully earned a high repute for official integrity and personal excellence, well meriting emulation.