Thomas Jonathan Coffin Amory (November 27, 1828 – October 7, 1864) was an officer in the
Regular
Regular may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Music
* "Regular" (Badfinger song)
* Regular tunings of stringed instruments, tunings with equal intervals between the paired notes of successive open strings
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* Regular character, ...
Army of the United States prior to and during the
Civil War
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...
.
Early service and Utah War
After graduating 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 ...
in 1851, as 30th out of 42 graduates, Amory received the rank of brevet
second lieutenant and was assigned to the
7th U.S. Infantry Regiment.
[Eicher, 103.] The 7th Infantry served in the
American West
The Western United States (also called the American West, the Western States, the Far West, the Western territories, and the West) is census regions United States Census Bureau
As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the mea ...
. In 1857, Amory (by that time a
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 ...
) participated in the Utah War—an armed dispute between the U.S. government and the Mormon settlers in
Utah Territory
The Territory of Utah was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Utah, the 45th st ...
.
[Bowen, 877.]
Civil War
Early in 1861, Amory returned to Massachusetts from active duty with the Regular Army to act as a recruiting officer. In May 1861, he was promoted to
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 ...
in the Regular Army. On September 2, 1861, he was commissioned a colonel of the Massachusetts volunteers by Gov.
John Andrew and placed in command of the
17th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry
The 17th Massachusetts was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.
Service
The 17th Massachusetts was organized at Camp Schouler in Lynnfield, Massachusetts and mustered in for a three-year enlistment ...
.
[
The 17th Massachusetts was assigned to the ]Department of North Carolina
Department may refer to:
* Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility
Government and military
*Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...
and shortly after the regiment arrived in North Carolina, Amory was promoted to command the 1st Brigade, 1st Division of the XVIII Corps under the overall command of Maj. Gen. John G. Foster
John Gray Foster (May 27, 1823 – September 2, 1874) was an American soldier. A career military officer in the United States Army and a Union general during the American Civil War, he served in North and South Carolina during the war. A recons ...
. Early in 1864, he was promoted to the command of the army District of Beaufort, North Carolina
Beaufort ( , different from that of Beaufort, South Carolina) is a town in Carteret County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. Established in 1713 and incorporated in 1723, Beaufort is the fourth oldest town in North Carolina ( ...
. In the fall of 1864, an epidemic of yellow fever swept through Beaufort. Amory and his wife (who had been staying in garrison with him) both fell victim to the epidemic. Amory died in New Bern, North Carolina
New Bern, formerly Newbern, is a city in Craven County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. It had a population of 31,291 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is located at the confluence of the Neuse River, Neuse a ...
on October 7, 1864.[
Amory was posthumously awarded the grade of brevet brigadier general. It made retroactively effective to the date of his death; October 7, 1864.][
]
See also
*List of Massachusetts generals in the American Civil War
There were approximately 120 general officers from Massachusetts who served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. This list consists of generals who were either born in Massachusetts or lived in Massachusetts when they joined the army ( ...
*Massachusetts in the American Civil War
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts played a significant role in national events prior to and during the American Civil War (1861–1865). Massachusetts Republicans dominated the early antislavery movement during the 1830s, motivating activists ac ...
Notes
References
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Amory, Thomas J.C.
Union army colonels
People of Massachusetts in the American Civil War
1828 births
1864 deaths
Military personnel from Boston
United States Military Academy alumni
Deaths from yellow fever