Josiah W. Bissell

Col. Josiah Wolcott Bissell (May 12, 1818 – November 30, 1891) was a Union Army officer during the American Civil War that commanded the Engineer Regiment of the West.

Josiah W. Bissell
Birth nameJosiah Wolcott Bissell
Born(1818-05-12)May 12, 1818
Rochester, New York, US
DiedNovember 30, 1891(1891-11-30) (aged 73)
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, US
Buried
Mount Hope Cemetery
AllegianceUnion (American Civil War) Union
Service/branchUnion Army
Years of service1861–1863
RankColonel
Commands heldEngineer Regiment of the West
Battles/warsAmerican Civil War
Spouse(s)Julia Wolcott Hooker

Biography

Bissell was born in Rochester, New York on May 12, 1818 to a man of the same name who was an early settler of Rochester.[1]

Before the onset of the American Civil War, Bissell worked in banking as well as architectural engineering.[1] He married Julia Wolcott Hooker, a descendent of Thomas Hooker, who was also from Rochester, on July 12, 1844.[2]

On May 28, 1861 Bissell was made colonel and would come to lead what would be known as the Engineer Regiment of the West.[2][3][4] He had proposed the idea of the regiment to Major General John C. Frémont in July 1861 in response to the lack of engineers and mechanics in the western theater.[5]

During the war, Bissell's regiment would get attached to Gen. Pope's army as well as work along the Mississippi river, even superintending the construction of the canal that allowed Union gunboats to enter the Battle of Island Number Ten.[1][6][7]

Despite receiving numerous accolades and participating in both the Siege of Corinth and the Vicksburg Campaign, Bissell's nomination to the rank of Brigadier General in April 1862 was tabled by the U.S. Senate. His subordinates described his manner as tyrannical and superiors, such as then Major General Ulysses S. Grant who believed he leaked information to the Memphis Press in April 1863, disliked Bissell. Rather than receiving a promotion, he was the target of several unproven charges.[4][8]

In 1863, with the threat of an insubordination charge and dishonorable discharge looming over him, Bissell submitted his resignation, in protest of what he considered was mistreatment by his superiors, which was accepted June 2 of that year.[4]

Bissell moved to Cincinnati following the war, later settling in Boston.[1]

Bissell died in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on November 30, 1891.[2] He was buried in Mount Hope Cemetery.

References
  1. Wilson, James Grant; Fiske, John (1887). Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. D. Appleton.
  2. Hooker, Edward (1909). The Descendants of Rev. Thomas Hooker, Hartford, Connecticut, 1586-1908: Being an Account of what is Known of Rev. Thomas Hooker's Family in England : and More Particularly Concerning Himself and His Influence Upon the Early History of Our Country : Also All Items of Interest which it Has Been Possible to Gather Concerning the Early Generations of Hookers and Their Descendants in America. Margaret Huntington Hooker.
  3. Simpson, Brooks D. (2013-05-02). The Civil War: The Third Year Told by Those Who Lived It (LOA #234). Library of America. ISBN 978-1-59853-261-6.
  4. Hunt, Roger D. (2019-11-07). Colonels in Blue--Missouri and the Western States and Territories: A Civil War Biographical Dictionary. McFarland. ISBN 978-1-4766-3685-6.
  5. Army, Thomas F. Jr (2016-06-01). Engineering Victory: How Technology Won the Civil War. JHU Press. ISBN 978-1-4214-1938-1.
  6. Chase, Salmon Portland (1993). The Salmon P. Chase Papers. Kent State University Press. ISBN 978-0-87338-472-8.
  7. Grant, Ulysses Simpson (June 1974). The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant: September 1TDecember 8, 1862. SIU Press. ISBN 978-0-8093-0694-7.
  8. Solonick, Justin S. (2015-03-07). Engineering Victory: The Union Siege of Vicksburg. SIU Press. ISBN 978-0-8093-3391-2.
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