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Subject: [IA-CIVIL-WAR] 1903 Bio of John M. Corse
Date: Sat, 14 Dec 2002 09:22:58 EST

JOHN M. CORSE was born April 27, 1835, at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  In 1842
his father removed to the new Territory of Iowa, locating at Burlington.  The
son, John, after acquiring an education became a clerk in a drug and book
store.  In 1853 General A.C. Dodge, who was a friend of the father, secured
the son an appointment in the Military Academy at West Point.  After two
years' instruction he left the Academy and engaged in business with his
father at Burlington.  Later he studied law with C. Ben Darwin, finally took
the law course at Albany, New York, and was admitted to the bar.  He was a
"Douglas Democrat" and in 1860 received the nomination of that party for
Secretary of State, but with his party was defeated.  When the Civil War
began he helped raise men for the First Battery of Light Artillery.  Soon
after he received the appointment of major of the Sixth Regiment of Infantry
and was in the Battle of Shiloh.  In May he was promoted to
lieutenant-colonel and was in command of the regiment.  In March, 1863, he
was commissioned colonel and in August was promoted to Brigadier-General.  In
1864 he was in Sherman's great campaign through the Gulf States and greatly
distinguished himself by an heroic defense of Allatoona against an assault by
a greatly superior force.  He served with distinction to the close of the war
and was brevetted Major-General of volunteers in April, 1866.  In 1867 he was
appointed Collector of Internal Revenue in Chicago.  He was one of the
incorporators of the Texas Pacific Railroad Company.  In 1871 he removed to
Boston where in 1886 he was appointed postmaster.  He died in that city on
the 27th of April, 1893.


Debbie Clough Gerischer

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