|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Jeff Davis County, Texas
JAMES VAN HORN
1834-1898
James Judson Van Horn, army
officer, was born in Mount Gilead, Marrow County, Ohio, in 1834. He
was a cadet at the United States Military Academy at West Point, New
York, from 1854 to 1858. He stood fourteenth in his class of
twenty-seven at West Point and upon graduating was promoted to brevet
second lieutenant of infantry. He was promoted to second lieutenant
in 1858 and served in the garrison at Fort Columbus, New York, until
1859, when he was placed on frontier duty at Fort Davis, Jeff Davis
County, Texas. Van Horn commanded Company F of the Eighth Infantry,
which also occupied Van Horn Wells, in what is now Culberson County.
The wells were known to Indians and travelers on the San Antonio-El
Paso Road as a dependable watering place and were the site of a stage
station on the Butterfield Overland Mailqv route. After the outbreak
of the Civil Warqv Fort Davis was seized by Confederate troops, and
Van Horn was taken prisoner on May 8, 1861. He spent eleven months as
a prisoner of war before being exchanged on April 4, 1862; while a
prisoner he was promoted to first lieutenant. He served in various
other capacities during the Civil War. He was aide-de-camp to the
provost marshal general of the Army of the Potomac in 1862-63. He was
promoted to captain in February 1862 and was present at the battle of
Antietam in September of that year. In 1863-64 he was mustering and
disbursing officer at Trenton, New Jersey; he served in the Richmond
campaign and operations before Petersburg, Virginia, in 1864. He was
promoted to brevet major in June 1864 for his service at the battle
of Cold Harbor, Virginia, and in 1865 was aide-de-camp to Maj. Gen.
W. F. Smith, who commanded the Eighteenth Army Corps.
In the years immediately
following the Civil War Van Horn served in Raleigh and New Bern,
North Carolina; Charleston, Columbia, and Summerville, South
Carolina; and David's Island, New York. In 1872 and again in 1873 he
was on frontier duty with the Yellowstone expedition. He also served
at Fort D. A. Russell and Camp Robinson in Wyoming, the Red Cloud
Agency in the Dakota Territory, and Fort Whipple and Fort Mojave in
Arizona; at the last he was commander. He was promoted to major in
1879. In the early 1880s Van Horn commanded the Mount Vernon Barracks
in Alabama and the garrisons at Fort Wingate, Fort Union, and Fort
Stanton in New Mexico. He commanded a regiment at Fort Snelling,
Minnesota, in 1885 and 1886 and was promoted to lieutenant colonel in
June 1885. He commanded the troops at Fort Shaw in Montana from 1888
to 1890 and served at Fort Keogh, Montana, in 1891. He was promoted
to colonel in April 1891 and commanded a regiment at Fort McKinney,
Wyoming, until 1894. After four more years at Fort D. A. Russell,
Wyoming (not to be confused with Fort D. A. Russell in Marfa, Texas),
Van Horn briefly commanded the Department of Colorado in Denver
(March and April 1898). He commanded a regiment and infantry division
at Camp Thomas, Georgia, and the first brigade, second division,
Fifth Corps, at Tampa, Florida, and en route to Santiago de Cuba
until June 1898. He was subsequently on sick leave until August 30,
1898, when he died at Fort D. A. Russell, Wyoming. His son later rose
to the rank of colonel in the army and from 1911 to 1915 was
stationed at Fort D. A. Russell in Texas. Handbook of Texas Online
TXGenWeb Project USGenWeb Project
This site is owned and maintained by Peggy Trammell Allen. Content of this site has been gathered from many sources and transcribed records. Therefore, errors may occur. When in doubt as to the accuracy of data contained herein, go to the actual records yourself. If you find any inaccurate data, please let me know. The information contained in this website is for your personal use only. All pages, compilations, transcriptions and abstracts are protected by copyright law and may not be published in whole or in part without written consent of the author, contributor and/or webmaster.
© Copyright 2004-Present Peggy Trammell Allen
