Joseph Bloomfield Leake (April 1, 1828 – June 8, 1913) was an attorney and an Iowa State Senator who entered the Union Army during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

. He became a Brevet Brigadier General before the war was over. After the war he became the

United States Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal ...

for the

Northern District of Illinois The United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (in case citations, N.D. Ill.) is the federal trial court with jurisdiction over the northern counties of Illinois. It is one of the busiest federal trial courts in the Uni ...

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Biography

Early life and career

Leake was born in

Deerfield Township, New Jersey Deerfield Township is a township in Cumberland County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is part of the Vineland-- Bridgeton metropolitan statistical area, which encompasses those cities and all of Cumberland County for statistical purposes ...

, and later moved to

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

. He graduated from

Miami University Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public university, public research university in Oxford, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1809, it is the second-oldest List of colleges and universities in Ohio, university in Ohi ...

in 1846 and then studied law. He was admitted to the bar in 1850 and set up a practice in

Davenport, Iowa Davenport ( ) is a city in Scott County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. It is situated along the Mississippi River on the eastern border of the state. Davenport had a population of 101,724 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 cen ...

. Leake was elected to the

Iowa House of Representatives The Iowa House of Representatives is the lower house of the Iowa General Assembly, the upper house being the Iowa Senate. There are 100 seats in the Iowa House of Representatives, representing 100 single-member districts across the state, formed ...

on the Republican ticket and served during the war session of 1861. The following year, he was elected to the

Iowa Senate The Iowa Senate is the upper house of the Iowa General Assembly. There are 50 seats in the Iowa Senate, representing 50 single-member districts across the Iowa, state of Iowa with populations of approximately 60,927 per constituency, . Each Senat ...

Military service

Leake resigned his seat in the state senate and became a

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

of Company G of the 20th Iowa Infantry. He was commissioned a Lieutenant Colonel when the regiment was organized at Camp Kirkwood in

Clinton, Iowa Clinton is a city in and the county seat of Clinton County, Iowa, United States. It borders the Mississippi River. The population was 24,469 as of 2020 United States census, 2020. Clinton, along with DeWitt, Iowa, DeWitt (also located in Clinto ...

. He led the regiment at Prairie Grove, Vicksburg,

Yazoo City Yazoo City is the county seat of Yazoo County, Mississippi, United States. It was named after the Yazoo River, which, in turn was named by the French explorer Robert La Salle in 1682 as "Rivière des Yazous" in reference to the Yazoo tribe livi ...

, and Port Hudson. On September 29, 1863, in an engagement called the Battle of Stirling's Plantation near

Morganza, Louisiana Morganza is an incorporated village near the Mississippi River in Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 610 at the 2010 census, down from 659 in 2000. As of 2020 the population was 525. It is part of the Baton Rouge ...

Leake was injured and captured by the Confederates. He was held prisoner at Camp Ford near

Tyler, Texas Tyler, officially the City of Tyler, is a city in and the county seat of Smith County, Texas, United States. As of 2020, the population is 105,995. Tyler was the List of municipalities in Texas, 38th most populous city in Texas (as well as the m ...

. He was the highest ranking Union officer in the camp and he looked after the needs of the other Union POWs. He was released from Camp Ford in a prisoner exchange in July 1864. Some of the soldiers from the 19th Iowa Infantry presented Leake with a new sword to replace the one he lost when he was taken prisoner. He returned to his regiment and participated in the capture of Fort Gaines and Fort Morgan near

Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. After a successful vote to annex areas west of the city limits in July 2023, Mobil ...

. On March 13, 1865, he was awarded the rank of brevet brigadier general. The following month Leake led his regiment during the

Battle of Fort Blakeley The Battle of Fort Blakeley took place from April 2 to April 9, 1865, in Baldwin County, Alabama, about north of Spanish Fort, Alabama, as part of the Mobile Campaign of the American Civil War. At the time, Blakeley, Alabama, had been the count ...

in Alabama.

Later life and death

After the war Leake returned to Davenport and was re-elected to the Iowa Senate. He moved to Chicago in 1871 and was appointed the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. On September 21, 1887, he was elected the attorney for the Chicago Board of Education. He was a member of the Ulysses S. Grant Post #28 of the

Grand Army of the Republic The Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) was a fraternal organization composed of veterans of the Union Army (United States Army), Union Navy (United States Navy, U.S. Navy), and the United States Marine Corps, Marines who served in the American Ci ...

and served as State Commander of the

Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States The Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States (MOLLUS), or, simply, the Loyal Legion, is a United States military order organized on April 15, 1865, by three veteran officers of the Union Army. The original membership was consisted ...

from 1894 to 1895. Leake was married twice. His first wife was Cordellia Scott and he married his second wife, Mary P. Hill, on December 9, 1865. He had no children. Leake died in Chicago on June 8, 1913, and was buried in Oakdale Cemetery in Davenport.

References

External links