Rufus Saxton (October 19, 1824 – February 23, 1908) was a Union Army brigadier general 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 ...

who received America's highest military decoration, the

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, military decoration and is awarded to recognize American United States Army, soldiers, United States Navy, sailors, Un ...

, for his actions defending

Harpers Ferry Harpers Ferry is a historic town in Jefferson County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 269 at the 2020 United States census. Situated at the confluence of the Potomac River, Potomac and Shenandoah River, Shenandoah Rivers in the ...

during Confederate General Jackson's Valley Campaign. He was appointed military governor of the

Department of the South The Department of the South was a military department of the United States Army that existed in several iterations in the 19th century during and after the American Civil War. 1862–65 After the first 11 months of the American Civil War, startin ...

in May 1862 and was involved with the

Port Royal Experiment The Port Royal Experiment was a program begun during the American Civil War in which former slaves successfully worked on the land abandoned by planters. They were given the chance to be paid wages and this was a good test for the reconstruction ...

. After the war, Saxton was a strong advocate for the enfranchisement of African Americans and served as the

Freedmen's Bureau The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, usually referred to as simply the Freedmen's Bureau, was a U.S. government agency of early post American Civil War Reconstruction, assisting freedmen (i.e., former enslaved people) in the ...

's first assistant commissioner. He was removed from his position in the government agency by President

Andrew Johnson Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808July 31, 1875) was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. The 16th vice president, he assumed the presidency following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Johnson was a South ...

. Saxton died in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

in 1908.

Early life

Saxton was born in

Greenfield, Massachusetts Greenfield is the county seat, and sole city, of Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. Greenfield was first settled in 1686. The population was 17,768 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Greenfield is home to Greenfield Commun ...

, to Jonathan and Miranda Saxton.SAXTON, Rufus
in ''

Who's Who in America Marquis Who's Who, also known as A.N. Marquis Company ( or ), is an American publisher of a number of directories containing short biographies. The books usually are entitled ''Who's Who in...'' followed by some subject, such as ''Who's Who in A ...

'' (1901-1902 edition); via

archive.org The Internet Archive is an American non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including websites, software applic ...

His father was a Unitarian and a Transcendentalist whose

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

and

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. The first country to fully outlaw slavery was Kingdom of France, France in 1315, but it was later used ...

writings were heard on the

lyceum circuit The lyceum is a category of educational institution defined within the education system of many countries, mainly in Europe. The definition varies among countries; usually it is a type of secondary school. Basic science and some introduction to ...

. He descended from a family of Unitarian ministers (Ashley, Williams, Edwards). His father attempted to secure a place for Rufus Saxton at

Brook Farm Brook Farm, also called the Brook Farm Institute of Agriculture and EducationFelton, 124 or the Brook Farm Association for Industry and Education,Rose, 140 was a utopian experiment in communal living in the United States in the 1840s. It was ...

West Roxbury, Massachusetts West Roxbury is a neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, bordered by Roslindale and Jamaica Plain to the northeast, the village of Chestnut Hill and the town of Brookline to the north, the city of Newton to the northwest, t ...

, a transcendentalist community started by

George Ripley George Ripley may refer to: *George Ripley (alchemist) (died 1490), English author and alchemist *George Ripley (transcendentalist) George Ripley (October 3, 1802 – July 4, 1880) was an American social reformer, Unitarian minister, and jour ...

and attended by

Nathaniel Hawthorne Nathaniel Hawthorne (né Hathorne; July 4, 1804 – May 19, 1864) was an American novelist and short story writer. His works often focus on history, morality, and religion. He was born in 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts, from a family long associat ...

. Rufus Saxton's brother Samuel Willard "Will" Saxton attended Brook Farm in his stead, learning the printing trade for the Farm's publication '' The Harbinger''. Rufus Saxton was educated at the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

, graduating in 1849. His antebellum career included posts fighting Seminoles in Florida, teaching artillery tactics at West Point,

surveying Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the land, terrestrial Plane (mathematics), two-dimensional or Three-dimensional space#In Euclidean geometry, three-dimensional positions of Point (geom ...

the uncharted Rocky Mountains on

George B. McClellan George Brinton McClellan (December 3, 1826 – October 29, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 24th governor of New Jersey and as Commanding General of the United States Army from November 1861 to March 186 ...

's staff in advance of the Northern Pacific Railroad (1853), and map work for the Coastal Survey. He was promoted to

first lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a se ...

in March 1855. Rufus Saxton married a Philadelphian missionary, Mathilda Thompson, who had come South to teach the newly freed blacks with her newspaper journalist brother. His brother Will joined Rufus Saxton in South Carolina as his aide-de-camp and printer during the

Civil War

As the Civil War broke out, Saxton served as a quartermaster and ultimately a brigadier general for the Union forces. During the war, he commanded the Union defenses at

and he was awarded the Medal of Honor for his "gallant service" there in May and June 1862. In an April 22, 1893 report about Saxton's award, ''The New York Times'' stated that "So far to only two other general officers have been awarded the medals, Gens. Schofield and

Miles The mile, sometimes the international mile or statute mile to distinguish it from other miles, is a British imperial unit and United States customary unit of length; both are based on the older English unit of length equal to 5,280 English f ...

." In 1862, he was appointed quartermaster of the South Carolina Expeditionary Corps based at

Hilton Head Hilton Head Island, often referred to as simply Hilton Head, is a Lowcountry resort town and barrier island in Beaufort County, South Carolina, United States. It is northeast of Savannah, Georgia (as the crow flies), and southwest of Charlesto ...

during much of Union occupation of the Island and was in charge of supplying contraband colonies in the region including on

Edisto Island Edisto Island is one of South Carolina's Sea Islands, the larger part of which lies in Charleston County, with its southern tip in Colleton County. Edisto Beach is in Colleton County, and the Charleston County part of the island is unincorpor ...

and at

Port Royal Port Royal () was a town located at the end of the Palisadoes, at the mouth of Kingston Harbour, in southeastern Jamaica. Founded in 1494 by the Spanish, it was once the largest and most prosperous city in the Caribbean, functioning as the cen ...

He was appointed military governor of the

in May 1862 and was headquartered in

Beaufort, South Carolina Beaufort ( , different from that of Beaufort, North Carolina) is a city in Beaufort County, South Carolina, United States, and its county seat. Chartered in 1711, it is the second-oldest city in South Carolina, behind Charleston, South Carolina ...

. As the military governor, he directed the recruitment of the first regiments of black soldiers called the First South Carolina Volunteer Infantry (33rd USCT) who fought in the Union army. Saxton recruited

Gullah The Gullah () are a subgroup of the African Americans, African American ethnic group, who predominantly live in the South Carolina Lowcountry, Lowcountry region of the U.S. states of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida within ...

men from the surrounding

South Carolina Sea Islands South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþ ...

and other contrabands from Georgia and Florida. The recruitment and training of the 1st South Carolina took place at the Smith plantation that was renamed Camp Saxton after him.

Postbellum career

In 1865, Saxton gave a speech at a

black church The Black church (sometimes termed Black Christianity or African American Christianity) is the faith and body of Christian denominations and congregations in the United States that predominantly minister to, and are led by, African Americans, ...

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint of South Carolina's coastline on Charleston Harbor, an inlet of the Atla ...

I want the colored men in this department to petition the president of the United States and congress for the right to exercise the elective franchise—the right to vote for those who are to rule over them. Nobody can say a word in this department against the colored men signing a petition and sending it to the
President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...
. I want to see 150,000 colored men voting in South Carolina. I want to see the black man in the future save a nation's honor. Your petition will have to be sent to President
Johnson Johnson may refer to: People and fictional characters *Johnson (surname), a common surname in English * Johnson (given name), a list of people * List of people with surname Johnson, including fictional characters *Johnson (composer) (1953–2011) ...
and to the congress, and congress will insure the right of the black man to vote in this country. I cannot see how it can be otherwise. I want you now to elect and choose a committee to draft this petition. Have it clearly, strongly worded, with good reasons why you should vote, and get every colored man to sign it. I can get 3,000 at Beaufort to sign it. But I want it started here in the city of Charleston, the leading city of the rebellion. I want it to lead off in the movement to insure your political equality.

Saxton later served as assistant commissioner for the

, where he pursued the policy of settling freed slaves in land confiscated from white landowners in the

Sea Islands The Sea Islands are a chain of over a hundred tidal and barrier islands on the Atlantic Ocean coast of the Southeastern United States, between the mouths of the Santee and St. Johns rivers along South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. The la ...

, until he was removed from his position by President

. After the Civil War, Saxton remained in the Army, serving in the

Quartermaster Corps Following is a list of quartermaster corps, military units, active and defunct, with logistics duties: * Egyptian Army Quartermaster Corps - see Structure of the Egyptian Army * Hellenic Army Quartermaster Corps (''Σώμα Φροντιστών ...

. He retired in 1888 as a colonel and assistant quartermaster general and lived in Washington, D.C. until his death. He was a member 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 ...

and the

Sons of the American Revolution The Sons of the American Revolution (SAR), formally the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (NSSAR), is a federally chartered patriotic organization. The National Society, a nonprofit corporation headquartered in Louisvi ...

. He is interred in

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is the largest cemetery in the United States National Cemetery System, one of two maintained by the United States Army. More than 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington County, Virginia. ...

African-American relations

Saxton was an

and proponent for greater civil rights for blacks. According to an account by his close personal friend, author

Thomas Wentworth Higginson Thomas Wentworth Higginson (December 22, 1823May 9, 1911), who went by the name Wentworth, was an American Unitarianism, Unitarian minister, author, Abolitionism, abolitionist, politician, and soldier. He was active in abolitionism in the United ...

, Saxton "had been almost the only cadet in his time at West Point who was strong in anti-slavery feeling, and who thus began with antagonisms which lasted into actual service." In 1866, Saxton testified before Congress's

Joint Committee on Reconstruction The Joint Committee on Reconstruction, also known as the Joint Committee of Fifteen, was a joint committee of the 39th United States Congress that played a major role in Reconstruction in the wake of the American Civil War. It was created to "in ...

, saying "I think if the Negro is put in possession of all his rights as a citizen and as a man, he will be peaceful, orderly, and self-sustaining as any other man or class of men, and that he will rapidly advance." Saxton also spoke in Congress against widespread confiscation of firearms owned by African-Americans, stating such actions were "clear and direct violation of their personal rights" as described in the

Second Amendment The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of Un ...

.David B. Kopel (2005-02-15)
The Klan's Favorite Law. Reason, accesses 01 June 2021
/ref> Saxton appointed his friend, author and abolitionist

, colonel of the 1st South Carolina Volunteers, the first official black regiment. Rufus Saxton figures prominently in Higginson's book '' Army Life in a Black Regiment'' (1870). On the anniversary of the

Emancipation Proclamation The Emancipation Proclamation, officially Proclamation 95, was a presidential proclamation and executive order issued by United States President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, during the American Civil War. The Proclamation had the eff ...

, Higginson and Saxton were both presented with engraved silver ceremonial swords by the freedmen.

Namesake

The Saxton School established to educate African Americans in Charleston was named for him. Battery Barlow-Saxton at

Fort MacArthur Fort MacArthur is a former United States Army installation in San Pedro, Los Angeles, California (now the port community of Los Angeles). A small section remains in military use by the United States Air Force as a housing and administrative ann ...

is named in his honor.

Medal of Honor citation

Rank and Organization: :Brigadier General, U.S. Volunteers. Place and date: The Shenandoah Valley Campaign at Harpers Ferry, Virginia, 26 to May 30, 1862. Entered service at: Deerfield, Massachusetts Birth: Greenfield, Massachusetts Date of issue: April 25, 1893. Citation: :Distinguished gallantry and good conduct in the defense.

Notes

External links

* Rufus and S. Willard Saxton papers (MS 431). Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saxton, Rufus 1824 births 1908 deaths American Civil War recipients of the Medal of Honor 19th-century American explorers American Unitarians Burials at Arlington National Cemetery Deerfield Academy alumni People from Greenfield, Massachusetts People of Massachusetts in the American Civil War Members of the Sons of the American Revolution Union army generals United States Army Medal of Honor recipients United States Military Academy alumni United States military governors American abolitionists