Samuel D. Sturgis was born in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, on June 11, 1822; after graduating from West Point in 1846, he was commissioned a second lieutenant and assigned to the 2nd U. S. Dragoons. During the Mexican-American War, Sturgis was captured near Buena Vista, Mexico, and held as a prisoner of war for eight days. He remained in the army following the war, and saw frontier service in California, New Mexico, Kansas, and the Indian Territory.

At the start of the Civil War, Sturgis was a major with the 1st U. S. Cavalry; at the Battle of Wilson’s Creek on August 10, 1861, he assumed command of the Union forces after Brigadier General Nathaniel Lyon was killed.

Assigned to command of the 2nd Division, 9th Army Corps, he led his forces at the battles of South Mountain, Antietam, and Fredericksburg.

In the summer of 1864 Sturgis led a force against Confederate Major General Nathan Bedford Forrest, and was soundly defeated by Forrest at Brice’s Cross Roads on June 10, ending his Civil War career.

After the war, Sturgis reverted to his regular rank of lieutenant colonel and was assigned to the 6th U. S. Cavalry. On May 6, 1869, he was promoted to colonel and assumed command of the 7th U. S. Cavalry; his second-in-command was Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer. Colonel Sturgis was on detached duty when portions of the 7th U. S. Cavalry were destroyed at the Battle of the Little Big Horn.

Sturgis retired from the army in 1886, died at St. Paul, Minnesota, and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Sturgis, South Dakota is named for General Sturgis.

Carte-de-Visite by E. & H.T. Anthony, New York, N.Y.

Image Courtesy Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield; WICR 11542