Thaddeus Phelps Mott (December 7, 1831 – November 23, 1894) was an American

adventurer An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme ...

sailor A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. While the term ''sailor'' ...

and soldier of fortune. A former Union Army officer 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 also took part in wars in

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, and the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

. He was primarily responsible for recruiting former Union and

Confederate A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

soldiers for service in the

Egyptian Army The Egyptian Army (), officially the Egyptian Ground Forces (), is the land warfare branch (and largest service branch) of the Egyptian Armed Forces. Until the declaration of the Republic and the abolishment of the monarchy on 18 June 1953, it w ...

, in which he held the rank of major general, and was the first officer to take service with the Khedive

Isma'il Pasha Isma'il Pasha ( ; 25 November 1830 or 31 December 1830 – 2 March 1895), also known as Ismail the Magnificent, was the Khedive of Egypt and ruler of Sudan from 1863 to 1879, when he was removed at the behest of Great Britain and France. Shari ...

as his aide-de-camp in 1870. At the time of his death, he was also the last surviving son of the eminent surgeon

Valentine Mott Valentine Mott (August 20, 1785April 26, 1865) was an American surgeon. Life Valentine Mott was born at Glen Cove, New York. He graduated at Columbia College, studied under Sir Astley Cooper in London, and also spent a winter in Edinburgh. ...

Biography

Early life and military career

Mott was born in

New York City, New York New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on New York Harbor, one of the world's largest natural harb ...

, the son of Dr.

(1785–1865) and Louisa Dunmore Munn.Harris, Edward Doubleday. "The Descendants Of William And Elizabeth Mott, Of Great Neck, L.I." ''The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record''. XXXVI.4 (October 1905): 285+ He was one of nine children born to the couple. Little is known of his early life except that, as a child, he "developed a spirit of adventure". He was a natural linguist and was educated at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

where his father was

emeritus professor ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some c ...

of surgery.Chaille-Long, Charles. "American Soldiers In Egypt". ''Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly''. XXV.4 (April 1888): 486–487 At age 17, he left the country to fight in revolutionary Italy,Denslow, William R. ''10,000 Famous Freemasons from K to Z, Part Two''. Whitefish, Montana: Kessinger Publishing, 2004. (pg. 240–241) commissioned as a second lieutenant, serving under

Giuseppe Garibaldi Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi ( , ;In his native Ligurian language, he is known as (). In his particular Niçard dialect of Ligurian, he was known as () or (). 4 July 1807 – 2 June 1882) was an Italian general, revolutionary and republican. H ...

. Suffering from ill health following his Italian service, mostly due to exposure and privation, Mott subsequently served as a

shipmate {{multipleissues, {{original research, date=December 2020 {{refimprove, date=December 2020 A shipmate is a mate on one's own ship (i.e., a member of the same ship). Usage in Navies In the navies of English-speaking nations (and the United State ...

on various

clipper A clipper was a type of mid-19th-century merchant sailing vessel, designed for speed. The term was also retrospectively applied to the Baltimore clipper, which originated in the late 18th century. Clippers were generally narrow for their len ...

s during the next several years. He initially signed on to the ''Hornet'' bound for California, then as a

third mate A third mate (3/M) or third officer is a licensed member of the deck department of a merchant ship. The third mate is a watchstander and customarily the ship's safety officer and fourth-in-command (fifth on some ocean liners). The position i ...

on the ''Hurricane'' in 1851, a

second mate A second mate (2nd mate) or second officer (2/O) is a licensed member of the deck department of a merchant ship holding a Second Mates Certificate of Competence, by an authorised governing state of the International Maritime Organization (IMO). ...

on the ''St. Denis'' in 1852 and the mate of the ''St. Nicholas'' in 1854. He returned to California a year later and spent 1856–1857 in the

Mexican Army The Mexican Army () is the combined Army, land and Air Force, air branch and is the largest part of the Mexican Armed Forces; it is also known as the National Defense Army. The Army is under the authority of the Secretariat of National Defense o ...

under General

Ignacio Comonfort Ignacio Gregorio Comonfort de los Ríos (; 12 March 1812 – 13 November 1863), also known as Ignacio Comonfort, was a Mexican politician and soldier who was also president during La Reforma. He played a leading role in the liberal movement und ...

prior to and during the

Reform War The Reform War (17 December 185711 January 1861) or War of Reform (), also known as the Three Years' War (), and the Mexican Civil War, was a complex civil conflict in Mexico fought between Mexican liberals and conservatives with regional var ...

. In 1858, he married Emily Josephine Daunton and had two children with her, Marie Louise and Valentine Mott.

Return to the United States and the American Civil War

He eventually returned to the United States and enlisted in the Union Army shortly before the

where he was assigned as captain of artillery at the Chain Bridge fortification 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 initially served as

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 the 3rd Independent Battery, New York Volunteer Artillery, which was active on the upper Potomac during the first year of the war. Mott and the 3rd New York Artillery saw action during the

Seven Days Battles The Seven Days Battles were a series of seven battles over seven days from June 25 to July 1, 1862, near Richmond, Virginia, during the American Civil War. Confederate States Army, Confederate General Robert E. Lee drove the invading Union Army ...

fought for five consecutive hours defeating each Confederate force put against them though sustaining heavy casualties. All the officers from the battery were promoted from the ranks. Mott resigned as battery commander to accept a commission to the 19th Infantry Regiment but briefly returned in September 1862 to lead the regiment at

Lewinsville, Virginia Lewinsville is an unincorporated community in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. Traditionally, the center of Lewinsville has been located at the crossroads of Lewinsville and Chain Bridge Roads. Together with Langley, Lewinsville forms ...

in battle with the famed Washington Battery and forced them to retreat. A year later, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel of cavalry, and then reassigned to the 14th Regiment New York Volunteer Cavalry. Mott was one of the organizers of the regiment which mustered in on

Rikers Island Rikers Island is a prison island in the East River in the Bronx, New York (state), New York, United States, that contains New York City's largest jail. Named after Abraham Rycken, who took possession of the island in 1664, the island was orig ...

as part of a volunteer brigade sponsored by the New York Metropolitan Police. He led the regiment during the New York City draft riots later that year. On the third day of the riots, in what would be the first major engagement of the day, Mott was dispatched along with units commanded by Captain John H. Howell and General

Charles C. Dodge Charles Cleveland Dodge (September 16, 1841 – November 4, 1910) was a Brigadier general (United States), brigadier general in the American Civil War and one of the youngest in history, receiving his commission at the age of twenty-one. He was the ...

to confront rioters reportedly gathering at 32nd Street and Eighth Avenue. With orders to confront and disperse the mob, Mott led a troop of cavalry and a battery of

howitzer The howitzer () is an artillery weapon that falls between a cannon (or field gun) and a mortar. It is capable of both low angle fire like a field gun and high angle fire like a mortar, given the distinction between low and high angle fire break ...

s supporting General Dodge and the

8th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment The 8th New York Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It was also known as the First German Rifles or Blenker's Rifles. Service The 8th (the ist German Rifles) was recruited in ...

. Upon reaching Eighth Avenue, the soldiers discovered three

African Americans African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa ...

hanging to lamp posts ''"while a gang of ferocious women crowded about the dangling bodies, slashing them with knives as a mob of men estimated at more than five thousand yelled and cheered"''. The crowd fell back as the soldiers advanced and Mott charged forward on his horse to cut one of the men down from the lamp post. As he was doing so, a rioter attempted to drag Mott off his horse and Mott was forced to kill him with his cavalry sabre. Asbury, Herbert. ''The Gangs of New York''. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1928. (pg. 148–149) Almost immediately after returning to his command, Mott and his men were assaulted by bricks and stones hurled by the rioters, followed by "a brisk fire from muskets and pistols". The mob charged down the street. Believing they intended to capture the regiment's guns, Mott ordered Captain Howell to bring two howitzers into position in Seventh Avenue and prepare to sweep Thirty-Second Street with artillery fire. Mott led his men against the rioters; the cavalry and infantry units charged with sabre and bayonet and managed to drive the mob back to Eighth Avenue. The rioters returned, however, when the soldiers withdrew to protect the artillerymen. Howell shouted to the rioters to surrender. The crowd's jeers and taunts prompted Howell to give the order to fire. The howitzers, loaded with

grape A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus ''Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of grapes began approximately 8,0 ...

and

canister shot Canister shot is a kind of anti-personnel artillery ammunition. It has been used since the advent of gunpowder-firing artillery in Western armies, and saw particularly frequent use on land and at sea in the various wars of the 18th and 19th cent ...

, ripped through the tightly packed mob and inflicted heavy casualties. The crowd withstood six volleys before scattering and moving northward. The soldiers were broken up into small groups to clear the side streets and cut down the men hanging from the lamp posts before returning to their headquarters on Mulberry Street. A half-an-hour after the soldiers left, the rioters returned to carry away their dead and wounded, and "again strung up the Negros". The bodies would remain there until an NYPD squad under Captain Samuel Brower could safely remove them from the site. Afterwards, Mott was transferred to the

Department of the Gulf The Department of the Gulf was a command of the United States Army in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and of the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War, Civil War. History United States Army (Civil War) Creation The ...

where he was chief of outposts before finally resigning his commission in 1864.

Service to the Ottoman Empire

Mott remained in the United States for several years after the war. While in New York, he was a member of both the

Freemasons Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

' Holland Lodge No. 8 and Jerusalem Chapter No. 8, R.A.M. In 1867, he was nominated to replace General Lawrence as U.S. Minister to

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

but declined the offer. A year later, he travelled to

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

to join the

Ottoman Army The Military of the Ottoman Empire () was the armed forces of the Ottoman Empire. It was founded in 1299 and dissolved in 1922. Army The Military of the Ottoman Empire can be divided in five main periods. The foundation era covers the years ...

and then on to

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

where he was appointed a major general or '' "ferik-pacha"''. That same year, he was named Grand Officer of the Imperial Order of the Madjidieh by Sultan

Abdulaziz Abdulaziz (; ; 8 February 18304 June 1876) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 25 June 1861 to 30 May 1876, when he was overthrown in a government coup. He was a son of Sultan Mahmud II and succeeded his brother Abdulmejid I in 1861. Ab ...

. He also became a member of the "Conseal de Guerre" and saw plenty of service in the

Balkans The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...

during the next few years. In early 1869, Mott was contacted by the then Egyptian Khedive

to enlist his help in recruiting American officers to reorganize Egypt's military forces. Being subordinate to the Ottoman Empire, and thus without official diplomatic representation, Isma'il was not able to request assistance directly from the U.S. government and instead had to rely on independent agents. Mott was an ideal candidate given his mercenary background and family connections to the Ottomans. His father, Valentine Mott, had been personal physician to Sultan

Abdulmejid I ʻAbd al-Majīd (ALA-LC romanization of , ), also spelled as Abd ul Majid, Abd ul-Majid, Abd ol Majid, Abd ol-Majid, and Abdolmajid, is a Muslim male given name and, in modern usage, surname. It is built from the Arabic words '' ʻabd'' and ''al-Maj ...

and one of his sisters was married to the Ottoman ambassador to the United States, Blacque Bey. Generals Charles Pomeroy Stone, Henry H. Sibley, and

William W. Loring William Wing Loring (December 4, 1818 – December 30, 1886) was an American soldier, politician, and lawyer. His military career spanned fifty years and saw him serve in the armies of the United States, the Confederate States, and the Khedi ...

, all recommended by General

William T. Sherman William is a masculine given name of Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle Ages and into the modern era. It is ...

, accompanied Mott to Egypt later that year. Many of the men recruited by Mott had fought on one side or the other during the Civil War, were graduates from

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 ...

and

Annapolis Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (USNA, Navy, or Annapolis) is a United States Service academies, federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as United States Secre ...

and helped rebuild both the Egyptian army and navy. Mott and others also commanded troops in exploration missions not only to improve the overall Egyptian military establishment but also to increase knowledge of Egypt's geography. In 1870, Mott was made the first aide-de-camp to the Isma'il Pasha. Two years later, he also became a Grand Officer of the Imperial Order of the Osmanieh. He remained in Egyptian service until his contract expired four years later. Declining to renew it, Mott instead turned over command to Charles Stone and returned to Turkey to take part in the wars between Serbia, Russia, and the Ottoman Empire. He later distinguished himself during the

Battle of Shipka Pass The Battle of Shipka Pass consisted of four battles that were fought between the Russian Empire, aided by Bulgarian volunteers known as opalchentsi, and the Ottoman Empire for control over the vital Shipka Pass during the Russo-Turkish War (18 ...

Retirement and later years

In September 1876, he visited

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

to consult a French physician regarding a chronic ailment. He was forced to retire from military service for health reasons three years later. Prior to his retirement, he was awarded the war medal of the "Croissant Rouge" which, at the time, had been awarded to only 18 men including the Sultan himself. He settled in

Toulon Toulon (, , ; , , ) is a city in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the French Riviera and the historical Provence, it is the prefecture of the Var (department), Var department. The Commune of Toulon h ...

to work as an American

consular agent A consul is an official representative of a government who resides in a foreign country to assist and protect citizens of the consul's country, and to promote and facilitate commercial and diplomatic relations between the two countries. A consu ...

Karl Baedeker. ''Southern France: From the Loire to the Spanish and Italian frontiers, including Corsica''. ''Handbook for Travellers''. Leipzig: K. Baedeker, 1891. (pg. 439) and continued to live there with his family for over ten years until his death on November 23, 1894. He was the last surviving son of the Mott family. Mott's military career in Egypt, as well as those of other American officers, was featured in ''Real Soldiers of Fortune'' (1906) by

Richard Harding Davis Richard Harding Davis (April 18, 1864 – April 11, 1916) was an American journalist and writer of fiction and drama, known foremost as the first American war correspondent to cover the Spanish–American War, the Second Boer War, and World War ...

References

External links

"The American Naval Mission In Egypt" by Frederick J. Cox
at

The Journal of Modern History ''The Journal of Modern History'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering European intellectual, political, and cultural history, published by the University of Chicago Press. Established in 1929, the journal covers events from appro ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mott, Thaddeus P. 1831 births 1894 deaths American expatriates in the Ottoman Empire American mercenaries Revolutions of 1848 in the Italian states Union army officers People of New York (state) in the American Civil War Pashas Military personnel from New York City People from Toulon American people in the khedivial Egyptian Army New York University alumni