Full Name:
- Henry Wager Halleck
Birth Date:
- January 16, 1815
Birth Location:
- Oneida County, New York
Parents:
- Joseph and Catherine Wager Halleck
Education:
- United States Military Academy (1839)
Occupation:
- Miltary officer, lawyer
Career Summary:
- General-in-Chief of the Armies of the United States, Chief of Staff of the United States Army
Spouse:
- Elizabeth Hamilton (1855)
Nickname(s):
- Old Brains
Place of Death:
- Louisville, Kentucky
Date of Death:
- January 9, 1872
Place of Burial:
- Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York
Significance:
- Henry Halleck was the third of 14 children of Joseph Halleck and Catherine Wager Halleck.
- Henry Halleck’s father was a lieutenant who served in the War of 1812.
- Henry Halleck ran away from home at an early age and was raised by an uncle, David Wager of Utica, New York.
- Henry Halleck received a common-school education Hudson Academy, N. Y., and attended Union College.
- Henry Halleck graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1839, third in his class.
- Henry Halleck was appointed as a second lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers on July 1, 1839.
- Henry Halleck served as an assistant professor of engineering at the United States Military Academy from July 6, 1839, to June 28, 1840.
- Henry Halleck was promoted to first lieutenant on January 1, 1845.
- Henry Halleck served in California during the Mexican-American War (1846 – 1848).
- Henry Halleck served as military governor of California from August 13, 1847, to December 20, 1849.
- Henry Halleck was promoted to the rank of brevet captain on May 1, 1847.
- Henry Halleck was promoted to captain on July 1, 1853.
- Henry Halleck was a member of the Convention to form, and of the Committee to draft, the Constitution of the State of California in 1849.
- Henry Halleck resigned from the army on August 1, 1854.
- Henry Halleck married Elizabeth Hamilton, the granddaughter of Alexander Hamilton, on April 10, 1855.
- When the American Civil War began, Henry Halleck rejoined the army at the rank of major general on August 19, 1861.
- Henry Halleck’s first Civil War assignment was commander of the Department of the Missouri from November 9, 1861 through March 11, 1862.
- Henry Halleck commanded the Missouri Militia from November 25, 1861, to July 11, 1862.
- Henry Halleck commanded the Department of Mississippi from March 13, 1862 to September 19, 1862.
- Henry Halleck commanded the field operations of Union forces during the Corinth Campaign (April – May 1862).
- Henry Halleck served as General-in-Chief of the Armies of the United States from July 11, 1862 to March 12, 1864.
- Henry Halleck served as Chief of Staff of the United States Army from March 12, 1864 to April 19, 1865.
- Henry Halleck commanded the Military Division of the James, headquarters at Richmond, Virginia from April 22 to July 1, 1865.
- Henry Halleck commanded the Military Division of the Pacific, headquarters at San Francisco, California from August 30, 1865 to August 12, 1866.
- Henry Halleck commanded the Division of the Pacific, headquarters at San Francisco, California, from August 12, 1866, to June 1869.
- Henry Halleck commanded the Division of the South, headquarters at Louisville, Kentucky, from June 17, 1869, to Jan. 9, 1872.
