Rufus Saxton (1824-1908)

From the collections of PVMA • Digital image © Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Assoc. • Image use information

About this item

Rufus Saxton of Deerfield, Massachusetts, graduated from West Point in 1849, and had a long and distinguished career in the military. He fought the Seminole Indigenous people in Florida, taught artillery at West Point, New York, and worked on General George McClellan’s staff surveying the Rocky Mountains in 1853. During the Civil War (1861-1865) he was a captain under McClellan in West Virginia, a Brigadier General of Volunteers in 1862, and commander at Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia,  in May and June of 1862. From 1862 to 1865, he was Military Governor of the Department of the South, and in 1865, he was appointed Brigadier General of the United States Army. Saxton was Assistant Commissioner of the Freedman’s Bureau for the states of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida from the end of the war until January, 1866. On April 25, 1893, Saxton was awarded the Medal of Honor for his service at Harper’s Ferry.

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Details

Item typeCarte de Visite
PhotographerBrassart, Johnson & Williams Photographers
Date1862–1865
TopicMilitary, Wars, Battles
EraCivil War and Reconstruction, 1861–1877
EventAmerican Civil War. 1861–1865
MaterialPaper
Process/FormatPhotography
Dimension detailsHeight: 3.50 in Width: 2.12 in Height (mount): 3.63 in Width (mount): 2.37 in
Catalog #1996.12.2292
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Brassart, Johnson & Williams Photographers, photographer. Rufus Saxton (1824-1908). Photograph. Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, American Centuries. https://americancenturies.org/collection/1996-12-2292/. Accessed on October 7, 2024.

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