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Maj. Gen. Ormsby M. Mitchel (b. 1809, d. 1862) Yellow fever robbed the Department of the South and X Corps of its commander, Maj. Gen. Ormsby, MacKnight Mitchel, Oct. 30, 1862. Mitchel was commanding one of the smallest departments from his headquarters in Hilton Head, South Carolina, when he came down with the illness. He died in Beaufort, South Carolina. Mitchel will be remembered most for his contributions in viewing the heavens, having been a driving force behind the establishment of the Naval Observatory and the Harvard Observatory and a director of the Cincinnati Observatory and the Dudley Observatory in Albany. Mitchel had been born in a log cabin where the current town of Morganfield, Kentucky, sits July 28, 1809. Mitchel’s father died when the future general was but an infant and his mother moved to Lebanon, Ohio. The young Mitchel entered the working world while clerking in Xenia, Ohio. In 1825, he secured an appointment to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and graduated with the Class of 1829 (15th of 56). For the next seven years, he served in a variety or roles from railroad engineer to West Point faculty member. In 1836, he joined the faculty of Cincinnati College where he lectured on astronomy. His classes were popular and this led to the foundation of the Cincinnati Observatory and Cincinnati Astronomical Society. Mitchel had stayed active in militia and felt bound to his military duty as a West Point graduate. “I only ask to be permitted to act, and in God’s name give me something to do,” Mitchel said to a crowd in New York’s Union Park April 20, 1861. Mitchel got his chance, being appointed brigadier general of volunteers Aug. 9, 1861. His assignment was to command the Department of the Ohio, which soon became part of Gen. Don C. Buell’s Army of the Cumberland. Mitchel’s men ranged into Alabama, seizing the Memphis and Charleston Railroad in Huntsville, Alabama. Raiding parties advanced to Stevenson and Decatur, Alabama. One of Mitchel’s subordinates was the highly controversial John B. Turchin, who allowed his troops to pillage the town of Athens, Alabama. For his role in the foray into Alabama, Mitchel was promoted to major general to rank from April 11, 1862. Buell ripped into Mitchel, stating his management and control of his division to be highly wanting (mainly on Mitchel’s policy of protecting slaves who aided the Federals, reopening the cotton trade with local Unionists as agents and Turchin’s crimes against the citizens of Athens, Alabama). Mitchel tried to resign, but his letter was turned down. Instead, he was transferred to the Department of the South and X Corps, holding part of the South Carolina coast. Following his death, Mitchel was buried in Brooklyn, New York.

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Mitchel’s all done, without any significant changes. Someone might want to write up John Turchin – quite an interesting individual.

Rather oddly, Heidler says he was buried in Beaufort, but findagrave.com, which is definitive on such matters, does indeed put him in Brooklyn. I wonder whether he was reinterred after the war.

Maj. Gen. Ormsby MacKnight Mitchel (b. 1809, d. 1862). Yellow fever robbed the Department of the South and X Corps of Mitchel on October 30, 1862, when he died – just six weeks after taking command. He died in Beaufort, South Carolina, a short distance from his small’s department’s headquarters at Hilton Head. Mitchel is remembered mainly for his contributions in viewing the heavens, since he was a driving force behind the establishment of the Naval Observatory and the Harvard Observatory, and served as a director of the Cincinnati Observatory and the Dudley Observatory in Albany. Mitchel was born in a log cabin where the current town of Morganfield, Kentucky now sits on July 28, 1809. His father died when the future general was but an infant, and his mother moved to Lebanon, Ohio. The young Mitchel entered the working world by clerking in Xenia, Ohio. In 1825, he secured an appointment to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and graduated with the Class of 1829 (15th of 56). For the next seven years, he served in a variety or roles, from railroad engineer to West Point faculty member. In 1836, Mitchel joined the faculty of Cincinnati College, where he lectured on astronomy. His classes were popular, which partly led to the foundation of the Cincinnati Observatory and Cincinnati Astronomical Society. During his time there, Mitchel had stayed active in militia, feeling bound to his military duty as a West Point graduate. “I only ask to be permitted to act, and in God’s name give me something to do,” Mitchel said to a crowd in New York’s Union Park on April 20, 1861, eight days after the bombardment of Fort Sumter. Mitchel got his chance, being appointed brigadier general of volunteers on August 9, 1861. His assignment was to command the Department of the Ohio, which soon became part of Gen. Don C. Buell’s Army of the Cumberland. Mitchel’s men ranged into Alabama, seizing the Memphis & Charleston Railroad in Huntsville in April 1862, and sending raiding parties to Stevenson and Decatur. One of Mitchel’s subordinates was the highly controversial Col. John B. Turchin, who allowed his troops to pillage the town of Athens, Alabama. For his role in the foray into Alabama, Mitchel was promoted to major general, to rank from April 11, 1862. However, his superior, Buell, ripped into him, stating that his management and control of his division were highly wanting – charges mainly based on Mitchel’s policy of protecting slaves who aided the Union forces, his reopening the cotton trade with local Unionists as agents, and his subordinate’s crimes against the citizens of Athens. Mitchel attempted to resign, but his letter was turned down. Instead, he was transferred to the Department of the South and the newly-formed X Corps in mid-September, which were holding part of the South Carolina coast, and soon thereafter fell terminally ill. Mitchel was buried in Brooklyn, New York. (Bio by Bill Battle)

Leadership: 4
Tactics: 3
Initiative: 4
Command: 3
Cavalry:

Start date: 14
Death date: 43

Teaches: Foragers