Sylvester Churchill (August 2, 1783 – December 7, 1862) was an American

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

and

Regular Army A regular army is the official army of a state or country (the official armed forces), contrasting with irregular forces, such as volunteer irregular militias, private armies, mercenaries, etc. A regular army usually has the following: * a ...

officer.

Early life

Churchill was born in

Woodstock, Vermont Woodstock is the shire town (county seat) of Windsor County, Vermont, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town population was 3,005. It includes the villages of Woodstock, South Woodstock, Taftsville, and West Woodstock. History Cha ...

, the son of Joseph and Sarah (Cobb) Churchill. Educated in the schools of his home town, he became a journalist, and published, in 1808, a weekly newspaper, "''The Vermont Republican''." Churchill married Lucy Hunter (1786–1862), daughter of William and Mary (Newell) Hunter, August 30, 1812, in Windsor, Vermont.

Military career

At the outbreak of the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

, he was appointed 1st lieutenant, 3rd U.S. Artillery on March 12, 1812, and was promoted to captain on August 15, 1813. He transferred to 1st U.S. Artillery on June 1, 1821, promoted to major, 3rd U.S. Artillery, on April 6, 1835, and colonel and Inspector General on June 25, 1841. He received the rank of brevet brigadier general, to date from February 23, 1847, in recognition of his services under General

John E. Wool John Ellis Wool (February 20, 1784 – November 10, 1869) was a US officer in the United States Army during three consecutive American-involved wars: the War of 1812 (1812–1815), the Mexican–American War (1846–1848), and with allegiance to ...

, at the

Battle of Buena Vista The Battle of Buena Vista (February 22–23, 1847), known as the Battle of La Angostura in Mexico, and sometimes as Battle of Buena Vista/La Angostura, was a battle of the Mexican–American War. It was fought between U.S. forces, largely vol ...

during the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War (Spanish language, Spanish: ''guerra de Estados Unidos-México, guerra mexicano-estadounidense''), also known in the United States as the Mexican War, and in Mexico as the United States intervention in Mexico, ...

. At the beginning of 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 had been Inspector General of the

for 20 years. He was retired September 25, 1861, due to ill health, and succeeded by

Randolph B. Marcy Randolph Barnes Marcy (April 9, 1812 – November 22, 1887) was an officer in the United States Army, chiefly noted for his frontier guidebook, the ''Prairie Traveler'' (1859), based on his own extensive experience of pioneering in the west. This ...

Churchill-Baird Mausoleum - Oak Hill Cemetery - 2013-09-04

Churchill died on December 7, 1862, 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 ...

He was buried at Oak Hill Cemetery in Washington, D.C.

Churchill County, Nevada Churchill County is a county in the western U.S. state of Nevada. As of the 2020 census, the population was 25,516. Its county seat is Fallon. Named for Mexican–American War hero brevet Brigadier General Sylvester Churchill, the county wa ...

, established in 1861, was named after him, as was Fort Churchill, in Silver Springs, Nevada. The fort was built in 1861 and abandoned in 1869. Churchill was a distant relative of

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...

. The family resemblance evident in the portrait was noted by Winston Churchill and his contemporaries.Churchill, Winston S., ''The Hinge of Fate'' (Boston, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1950), 729.

Notes

References

* Peck, Theodore S., compiler, ''Revised Roster of Vermont Volunteers and lists of Vermonters Who Served in the Army and Navy of the United States During the War of the Rebellion, 1861–66. Montpelier, VT.: Press of the Watchman Publishing Co., 1892, pp. 678, 737. * Heitman, Francis B.. Historical Register and Dictionary of the United States Army, 1789–1903. Vol. 1. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1903, p. 301.

External links

*
Fort Churchill State Historic Park, Nevada Division of State Parks.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Churchill, Sylvester 1783 births 1862 deaths People of Vermont in the American Civil War United States Army personnel of the Mexican–American War United States Army personnel of the War of 1812 Inspectors general of the United States Army People from Woodstock, Vermont United States Army colonels Burials at Oak Hill Cemetery (Washington, D.C.)

Early life

Military career

Notes

References

Further reading

External links