Monroe County MI Archives Biographies.....Spalding, George 1836 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/mi/mifiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Pat McArthur http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00025.html#0006091 February 3, 2009, 3:38 pm Author: Munsell & Co., New York, Talcott E. Wing, Editor GENERAL GEORGE SPALDING. George Spalding was born in Scotland in the year 1836. Andrew Spalding, his father, was a farmer; with his wife and family he emigrated to America in 1843, settling in Buffalo, New York. In 1853 lie purchased a farm near Monroe, on the River Raisin. The parents of General Spalding were of the sturdy Presbyterian stock, and have always been consistent members of that church. The home discipline received by the son, together with the instructions imparted by the public schools of Buffalo, formed the basis of' an education and character which have proved their usefulness avd value both in the field and in civil life. General Spalding lived at home until the winter of 1860-61, when he taught a district school. He was a Douglass Democrat, and was elected clerk of his township in the spring of 1861. When Fort Sumter was fired upon he immediately enlisted as a private soldier in what was subsequently Company A, Fourth Michigan Infantry, which was mustered into the United States service in May, 1861, at A(Irian, Michigan, and Colonel D. A. Woodbury was appointed its colonel. George Spalding was made first sergeant of this company, and moved to the seat of war at an early day, passing through Baltimore shortly after the attack by rebels upon the First Massachusetts Regiment. The regiment moved with the forces under General McDowell toward Bull Run, but before reaching that place was stopped at Fairfax Court House, and established a courier line between the telegraph office at that place and General McDowell's headquarters at Bull Run battle- field. In the summer of 1861, Sergeant Spalding was promoted to first lieutenant and assigned to command of Company B, same regiment. In the fall of 1861 he was commissioned captain of Company B. In the reorganization of the army the Fourth Michigan Infantry was assigned to General Fitz John Porter's corps. During the winter of 1861-62 the regiment was constantly occupied doing picket duty, encountering many sharp skirmishes with the enemy. After MacClellan's change to the Peninsula, General Porter's corps had the right of the line resting on York River. On arriving in front of Yorktown, General Porter called upon Colonel Woodbury to send an officer and thirty picked men to reconnoitre the enemy's position at Yorktown, to learn, if possible, the number of their heavy guns, etc. Captain Spalding was assigned to this hazardous enterprise and succeeded to the satisfaction of the commanding general, but in doing so he received a severe gunshot wound in the left shoulder. As the army soon commenced moving, he declined a "leave of absence" tendered him, and took command of his company with his arm in a sling; he participated in all the engagements, in the advance upon Richmond, and at New Bridge, during a sharp skirmish, he narrowly escaped death by being shot at by a rebel officer, who had surrendered to him, but fired his rifle when within ten feet of him, tearing away his pistol and belt, inflicting a painful but not dangerous wound. The Fourth Regiment participated in the following battles: Hanover Court House, May 27th, 1862; at Mechanicsville, June 26; on the 27th at Gaines Mill; Savage Station, June 29th; at Turkey Bend, June 30th; White Oak Swamp, same day; and July 1st at Malvern Hill, when it became conspicuously engaged, losing its colonel, D. A. Woodbury, Captains Dupuy and Rose, while Captain Spalding was severely wounded in the left of the neck and reported in press dispatches as killed. The loss in Fourth Michigan Infantry in six days was 53 killed, 144 wounded and 52 missing. Leave of absence was tendered Captain Spalding, which'he accepted, and when about to leave, General Griffin, the brigade commander, handed him a sealed letter addressed to Governor Blair. It subsequently turned out to be a letter to the Governor urging Captain Spalding's promotion to the rank of major. The Governor commissioned him major of the Fourth Regiment, but Captain Spalding waived it in favor of the senior captain, and afterwards accepted the lieutenantcolonelcy of the Eighteenth Michigan Infantry, then at Hillsdale, Miclhigan, Hon. Henry Waldron in command. Colonel Spalding, with his regiment, was ordered to report to General Lew. Wallace, in command at Cincinnati, which was then threatened by an attack from General Kirby Smith. An advance was soon made over the Ohio River, and the troops marched over what was known as the Dry Ridge of Kentucky, to Lexington. Here the regiment was camped in the winter of 1862-63. Early in the spring the campaign opened, and before midsummer the rebels were driven out of Kentucky. Soon after this the regiment was ordered to report to General Rosecrans, Army of the Cumberland. On its arrival at Nashville, Tennessee, Colonel Spalding was made provost marshal of the city, and the Eighteenth Michigan Infantry, with all its officers and men, reported to him for duty as provost guard. As provost marshal of Nashville, Colonel Spalding was given almost plenary powers. The military and civil police of the entire city reported and received orders from him. He remained in this position until February, 1864, when he resigned to accept the colonelcy of the Twelfth Tennessee Cavalry. Colonel Spalding was immediately assigned to the command of a brigade of cavalry, and ordered to take charge of the Nashville and NorthWestern Railroad. The entire line of this road was invested by large bodies of guerrillas, and their extermination began at once. In a few months Colonel Spalding had cleaned out all the organized troops in that section. He and his command were then ordered to protect the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad, and he was assigned to the command of a division of cavalry known as the Fifth Division of Cavalry, A. C. He established his headquarters at Pulaski, Tennessee. Here during the summer and fall of 1864 his troops were constantly engaged in fighting Generals Roddy, Wheeler and Forrest, who were in large force constantly attempting to break the railroad. During the invasion of General Hood into Tennessee, Colonel Spalding was ordered with his division to try and prevent the enemy from crossing the Tennessee River, and to report to General Thomas his observations and opinions of the force and character of the troops of the enemy. On arriving at Florence, Alabama, he found the enemy in strong force on the opposite side of the river, and immediately dispatched to General Thomas that General Hood's entire army was preparing to invade Tennessee and would undoubtedly cross the river at or near Florence, Alabama. Forrest's entire cavalry command was covering the movements of Hood's army. Several severe battles were fought during the retreat to Nashville, including the battles of Spring Hill, Franklin, etc. At Nashville, General Thomas reorganized his army and prepared to give battle. On the morning of December 15th the attack was begun, and waged with terrible violence until Hood's army was put to flight. Colonel Spalding was complimented by a general order, which was read at the head of each regiment; also received honorable nlention in the report of General Hatch for his bravery and energy. The following is an extract from the official report of General George H. Thomas: "As the Fourth Corps pursued the enemy on the Franlklin Pike, General Wilson hastily mounted Knipe's and Hatch's divisions of his command and directed then to pursue along the Granny White Pike and endeavor to reach Franklin in advance of the enemy. After proceeding about a mile they came upon the enemy's cavalry under General Forrest, posted across the road and behind barricades. The position was taken by the Twelfth Tennessee Cavalry, Colonel Spalding commanding, and the enemy's lines broken, scattering them in all directions and capturing quite a number of prisoners, among them General E. W. Ruckel." In the Nashville battle General Spalding received a severe wound in the left knee. Colonel Spalding was brevetted brigadier-general for "gallant and meritorious service" in the battle of Nashville. He was selected with one hundred picked men to follow the broken remnants of Hood's command until the last man had crossed the Tennessee River. General Spalding was assigned to the command of tie First Brigade, Fifth Division Cavalry Corps, Military Division of the Mississippi, and ordered to report to Major-General Pope, headquarters at St. Louis, Missouri. He arrived in St. Louis May 17th, 1865, and by General Pope he was assigned to command tile District of Northern Missouri, headquarters at Macon; from there he was assigned to a district in Kansas, with headquarters at Lawrence. October 24th, 1865, the war being over, his command was mustered out of service, and General Spalding returned to Monroe, Michigan, where in 1866 he was appointed postmaster. In 1871 he was appointed Special Agent of the Treasury Department, where he served four years, going to the Rio Grande River to report upon the commerce between Mexico and the United States. In 1876 he was elected mayor of the Democratic city of Monroe, and the same year he was elected president of the board of education. In the spring of 1877 he was elected a director of the First National Bank and in a short time appointed its cashier, which office he now holds. In 1878 he was admitted to the bar. General Spalding has been an ardent and hard-working Republican, being chairman of the county committee and holding it for quite a number of years. He has during each presidential campaign stumped his own county, and frequently made speeches in Lenawee and Hillsdale, where he has many warm admirers and friends among his old army comrades, as well as others who have formed his acquaintance since the war, and have learned that in General Spalding are embodied those qualities which go to make up a true friend, a good citizen and an honest man. Additional Comments: History of Monroe County, Michigan Illustrated Talcott E. Wing, Editor New York: Munsell & Company, Publishers 1890 Copyright, 1890 By Munsell & Co., New York Blade Printing & Paper Co., Engravers, Printers and Bookbninders, Toledo, Ohio. 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