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John McAllister Schofield (September 29, 1831 – March 4, 1906)
was an American soldier who held major commands during the Civil
War. He later served as U.S. Secretary of War and Commanding
General of the U.S. Army.
Schofield was born in Gerry, New York, and graduated from the
United States Military Academy at West Point in 1853. He served
for two years in the artillery, was assistant professor of
natural and experimental philosophy at West Point from 1855 to
1860, and while on leave (1860–1861) was professor of physics at
Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.
Civil War
When the Civil War broke out, Schofield became a major in a
Missouri volunteer regiment and served as chief of staff to
Major General Nathaniel Lyon until Lyon's death during the
Battle of Wilson's Creek (Missouri) in August 1861. Schofield
acted with "conspicuous gallantry" during the battle, and was
awarded the Medal of Honor in 1892 for that action.
Schofield was promoted to brigadier general of volunteers on
November 21, 1861, and to major general on November 29, 1862.
From 1861 to 1863 he performed various military duties in
Missouri.
On
April 17, 1863, he took command of a division in the XIV Corps
of the Army of the Cumberland. In 1864, as commander of the Army
of the Ohio, he took part in the Atlanta Campaign under Major
General William T. Sherman.
Sherman, after the fall of Atlanta, took the majority of his
forces on a March to the Sea through Georgia. Schofield's Army
of the Ohio was detached to join Major General George H. Thomas
in Tennessee. Confederate General John Bell Hood invaded
Tennessee, and on November 30 Hood managed to attack Schofield's
smaller Army of the Ohio in the Battle of Franklin. Schofield
successfully fought off Hood and joined his forces with Thomas.
On December 15 and 16, Schofield took part in Thomas's crowning
victory at the Battle of Nashville. For his services at Franklin
he was awarded the rank of brigadier general in the Regular Army
on November 30, 1864, and the brevet rank of major general on
March 13, 1865.
Ordered to operate with Sherman in North Carolina, Schofield
moved his corps by rail and sea to Fort Fisher, North Carolina,
in 17 days, occupied Wilmington on February 22, 1865, fought the
action at Kinston on March 10, and on March 23 joined Sherman at
Goldsboro.
Post-war
After the war Schofield was sent on a special diplomatic mission
to France, on account of the presence of French troops in
Mexico. During Reconstruction Schofield was appointed by
President Andrew Johnson to serve as military governor of
Virginia.
From June 1868 to March 1869, Schofield served as Secretary of
War. President Johnson had forced Edwin M. Stanton, a Radical
Republican who had served as Secretary of War since 1862, from
his cabinet. Schofield served in an interim capacity until the
United States Senate confirmed John Aaron Rawlins.
In
1873 Schofield was given a secret task by Secretary of War
William Belknap to investigate the strategic potential of a
United States presence in the Hawaiian Islands. Schofield's
report recommended that the United States establish a naval port
at Pearl Harbor.
From 1876 to 1881 Schofield was superintendent of the U.S.
Military Academy. During his tenure as superintendent at West
Point, an African American cadet, Johnson Chesnut Whittaker, was
court-martialed and expelled for allegedly faking an assault on
himself staged by his fellow cadets. A Congressional
investigation into the incident resulted in Schofield's removal
from his post as superintendent.
From 1888 until his retirement in 1895 he was commanding general
of the United States Army. He had become a major general on
March 4, 1869, and on February 5, 1895, he was made lieutenant
general.
General Schofield died at St. Augustine, Florida, and is buried
in Arlington National Cemetery. His memoirs, Forty-six Years in
the Army, were published in 1897. He is memorialized by the
military installation Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.
Today, Schofield is remembered for a lengthy quotation that all
cadets at the United States Military Academy at West Point and
the United States Air Force Academy are required to memorize:
The
discipline which makes the soldiers of a free country reliable
in battle is not to be gained by harsh or tyrannical treatment.
On the contrary, such treatment is far more likely to destroy
than to make an army. It is possible to impart instruction and
give commands in such a manner and such a tone of voice as to
inspire in the soldier no feeling, but an intense desire to
obey, while the opposite manner and tone of voice cannot fail to
excite strong resentment and a desire to disobey. The one mode
or the other of dealing with subordinates springs from a
corresponding spirit in the breast of the commander. He who
feels the respect which is due to others cannot fail to inspire
in them respect for himself. While he who feels, and hence
manifests, disrespect towards others, especially his
subordinates, cannot fail to inspire hatred against himself.
References
Eicher, John H., & Eicher, David J.: Civil War High Commands,
Stanford University Press, 2001, ISBN 0-8047-3641-3.
This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica
Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
Preceded by:
Edwin M. Stanton United States Secretary of War
1868–1869 Succeeded by:
John Aaron Rawlins
Preceded by:
Thomas H. Ruger Superintendents of the United States Military
Academy
1876–1881 Succeeded by:
Oliver Otis Howard
Preceded by:
Philip H. Sheridan Commanding General of the United States Army
1888–1895 Succeeded by:
Nelson A. Miles
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URL of Original Article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_M._Schofield
Date Article Copied:
August 6, 2006
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