Civil War Commanders: Eliakim Scammon

Born in Whitefield, Maine on December 27, 1816, Eliakim Scammon was graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1837, ninth in a class of 50. Among his classmates were future Civil War notables Braxton Bragg, Jubal Early and Joseph Hooker. He remained at West Point as an instructor of mathematics for a short time afterward.

Scammon spent most of his pre-war years in the Army on surveying and engineering projects, punctuated by service in the Seminole and Mexican-American wars. However, he was dismissed from the Army in 1856. The reasons behind this action remain unclear. For the next five years, Scammon was employed in higher education, including three years as president of Cincinnati College.

Returning to the Army at the outbreak of hostilities in 1861, Scammon was given command of the 23rd Ohio Volunteers in what would become known as the Kanawha Division. Among its ranks were two future U.S. presidents: Rutherford B. Hayes and William McKinley. This unit served in Western Virginia in the earlier months of the war.

By the spring of 1862, Scammon was commanding a brigade of the Kanawha Division, now attached to the Army of the Potomac. In fierce fighting at South Mountain prior to the battle of Antietam, Scammon took over as interim division commander due to the death of General Jesse Reno.

Following Antietam, Scammon was promoted to Brigadier General and reassigned as commander of the Subdistrict of the Kanawha. In February, 1863, he was captured by Confederate guerillas and spent six months in captivity before being exchanged. Given a new command in South Carolina, he was captured once again in late 1863, but exchanged once more a few days afterward. He served out the rest of the war as commander of the District of Florida.

After the war, Scammon served as U.S. Consul to Prince Edward Island in Canada for four years before accepting a post as professor of mathematics at Seton Hall College. He died on December 7, 1894 in New York City, and is buried on Long Island.

When not pursuing his passion for history, Edwin Dreyer writes web content on a range of subjects, including water beds for Best Furniture Tips.