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Geary family papers
John White Geary, born in Westmoreland County, was a colonel in the Mexican War, first mayor of San Francisco, Calif., territorial governor of Kansas, a major general in the Union Army at the end of the Civil War, and governor of Pennsylvania, 1867-1873. He began his Civil War service as a colonel...
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| Main Author: | |
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| Collection: | Geary Family Papers |
| Collection Number: | 2062 |
| Format: | Manuscript |
| Language: | English |
| Subjects and Genres: | |
| Online Access: | Link to finding aid |
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| Physical Description: |
6.0 Linear feet 1 box, 26 volumes |
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| Summary: |
John White Geary, born in Westmoreland County, was a colonel in the Mexican War, first mayor of San Francisco, Calif., territorial governor of Kansas, a major general in the Union Army at the end of the Civil War, and governor of Pennsylvania, 1867-1873. He began his Civil War service as a colonel of the 28th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers, at Harpers Ferry, and continuing with battles at Manassas and Leesburg. As brigadier general, Geary commanded troops with the Army of Virginia at Cedar Mountain (where he was wounded), with the Army of the Potomac at Chancellorsville and Gettysburg, with the Army of the Cumberland at Wauhatchie, Lookout Mountain, and Missionary Ridge. He remained with the Cumberland for the March to the Sea, his Corps, the 20th, being the first to enter Atlanta, and was appointed military governor in Savannah after its capture. In January, 1865, he was breveted major general and participated in the Carolinas campaign.
His letters, 1859-1865, to his second wife Mary (Mrs. Mary Church Henderson), include some pre-Civil War letters on family financial and legal concerns involving the Girard and James R. Logan estates, and on farm matters and politics. The bulk of the letters detail his Civil War military services. Geary's letters to his wife, reporting on these campaigns in detail, show clearly a general on the make, but they also increasingly reveal a horror of the death, destruction, and devastation around him. He expresses opinions on non-military matters as well: the Emancipation Proclamation, abolitionists, Copperheads, Abraham Lincoln's election and assassination, Pennsylvania politics, southern landscapes, people, and cities.
Geary's son, Lt. Edward R. Geary, served in the Civil War with his father. Edward's letters, 1861-1863, to his step-mother, provide another perspective on life in the Union army. Lt. Geary was killed at Wauhatchie.
Other letters to Mrs. John W. Geary, include those from her brother-in-law, Rev. Edward R. Geary, 1862-1864. |