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{{Infobox military person |name= Charles Russell Lowell, Jr. |born= {{birth date|1835|1|2}} |died= {{death date and age|1864|10|20|1835|1|2}} |placeofbirth= [[Boston, Massachusetts]] |placeofdeath= [[Middletown, Virginia]] |placeofburial= [[Cambridge, Massachusetts]] |placeofburial_label= Place of burial |image= [[File:CRLowell.jpg|200px]] |caption= Charles Russell Lowell |allegiance= [[United States|United States of America]]<br/>[[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] |branch=[[Union Army]] |serviceyears= |rank= [[Brigadier general (United States)|Brigadier General]] |commands= |unit= |battles= [[American Civil War]] * [[Peninsula Campaign]] * [[Battle of Antietam]] * [[Battle of Cedar Creek]] |awards= |laterwork= }} '''Charles Russell Lowell, Jr.''' (January 2, 1835 – October 20, 1864) was a railroad executive, foundryman, and general in the [[Union Army]] during the [[American Civil War]]. He was mortally wounded at the [[Battle of Cedar Creek]] and was mourned by a number of leading generals. ==Early life== Lowell was born in [[Boston, Massachusetts]]. His mother, Anna Cabot Jackson Lowell (1811–1874), a daughter of [[Patrick Tracy Jackson]], married Charles Russell Lowell, Jr., the eldest son of Unitarian Minister, [[Charles Russell Lowell, Sr.]] and brother of [[James Russell Lowell]]. She wrote verse and books on education. Lowell graduated as the [[valedictorian]] from [[Harvard College]] in 1854, and worked in an iron mill in [[Trenton, New Jersey]], for a few months in 1855. He spent two years abroad, and from 1858 to 1860 was local treasurer of the [[Burlington and Missouri River Railroad]]. In 1860, he took charge of the [[Mount Savage Iron Works]] in [[Cumberland, Maryland]]. ==Civil War== Lowell entered the Union Army in June 1861, and was commissioned as a [[Captain (U.S. Army)|captain]] in the 3rd U.S. Cavalry, transferring to the 6th U.S. Cavalry in August. He served as an aide-de-camp to [[Major general (United States)|Maj. Gen.]] [[George B. McClellan]] during the formation of the [[Army of the Potomac]] in the summer and fall of 1861 and continued at McClellan's side during the 1862 [[Peninsula Campaign]] and the [[Battle of Antietam]].<ref name=Warner>Warner, pp. 284-85.</ref> In 1863 Lowell recruited and organized the [[2nd Massachusetts Cavalry]], and on May 10 was appointed its [[Colonel (United States)|colonel]].<ref name=Eicher>Eicher, p. 355.</ref> During the winter of 1863–64, he was in charge of the outer defenses of Washington, D.C., and was engaged in repelling the raid by Confederate [[Lieutenant General (CSA)|Lt. Gen.]] [[Jubal Early]] that reached the outskirts of the capital.<ref name=Warner/> During the [[Valley Campaigns of 1864]], Lowell commanded a brigade of cavalry in [[Brigadier general (United States)|Brig. Gen.]] [[Wesley Merritt]]'s division of the Cavalry Corps of Maj. Gen. [[Philip Sheridan]]'s army. He distinguished himself at [[Battle of Opequon|Third Winchester]] and took a leading role in the Confederate rout at [[Battle of Tom's Brook|Tom's Brook]]. He was mortally wounded during the Union counterattack at the [[Battle of Cedar Creek]] on October 19, 1864. general Sheridan interceded to ensure that he was promoted to [[Brigadier general (United States)|brigadier general]] on that day. He died on the next day at [[Middletown, Virginia]], at the age of 29. He is buried in the Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Massachusetts.<ref name=Warner/> Lowell was nominated as a brigadier general two days after his death. Since he was unable to sign his new commission after his death, [[United States Secretary of War|Secretary of War]] [[Edwin M. Stanton]] authorized an exception allowing the posthumous promotion to become official.<ref>Bundy, p. 478.</ref> Upon hearing of his death, Brig. Gen. [[George Armstrong Custer]] wept and Sheridan remarked "I do not think there was a quality which I could have added to Lowell. He was the perfection of a man and a soldier."<ref>Bundy, p. 501.</ref> [[File:Josephine Shaw and Colonel Lowell 1863.PNG|left|thumb|Josephine Shaw and Colonel Lowell in 1863]] [[File:CharlesRussellLowellGrave.jpg|thumb|Grave of Charles Russell Lowell at [[Mount Auburn Cemetery]]]] In October 1863, Lowell had married [[Josephine Shaw Lowell|Josephine Shaw]] (1843–1905), a sister of Colonel [[Robert Gould Shaw]], one of his close friends. Her home when she was married was on [[Staten Island]], and she became deeply interested in the social problems of [[New York City]]. She was a member of the State Charities Aid Society, and from 1867 to 1889 was a member of the [[New York State Board of Charities]], being the first woman appointed to that board. She founded the [[Charity Organization Society of New York City]] in 1882, and wrote ''Public Relief and Private Charity'' (1884) and ''Industrial Arbitration and Conciliation'' (1893). ==See also== {{Portal box|Biography|United States Army|American Civil War}} *[[List of American Civil War generals#Union-L|List of American Civil War generals]] *[[List of Massachusetts generals in the American Civil War]] ==Notes== {{Reflist}} ==References== * Bundy, Carol, ''The Nature of Sacrifice: A Biography of Charles Russell Lowell, Jr., 1835–64'', Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2005, ISBN 0-374-12077-3. * Eicher, John H., and [[David J. Eicher|Eicher, David J.]], ''Civil War High Commands'', Stanford University Press, 2001, ISBN 0-8047-3641-3. * Emerson, Edward E. (ed.), ''The Life and Letters of Charles Russell Lowell'' (Boston, 1907). * Warner, Ezra J., ''Generals in Blue: Lives of the Union Commanders'', Louisiana State University Press, 1964, ISBN 0-8071-0822-7. *{{Cite EB1911|Lowell, Charles Russell}} ==External links== *[http://thoughtcast.org/casts/carol-bundy-civil-war-biographer Carol Bundy] speaks with [[Thoughtcast]] about her biography of Lowell, her great-great-great uncle *{{findagrave|4902}} Retrieved on 2008-11-23 {{Persondata |NAME= Lowell, Charles Russell |ALTERNATIVE NAMES= |SHORT DESCRIPTION= [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] [[Union Army|Army]] [[General officer|general]] |DATE OF BIRTH= January 2, 1835 |PLACE OF BIRTH= [[Boston, Massachusetts]] |DATE OF DEATH= October 20, 1864 |PLACE OF DEATH= [[Middletown, Virginia]] }} {{DEFAULTSORT:Lowell, Charles Russell}} [[Category:1835 births]] [[Category:1864 deaths]] [[Category:Harvard University alumni]] [[Category:People of Massachusetts in the American Civil War]] [[Category:People from Boston, Massachusetts]] [[Category:Union Army generals]] [[Category:Foundrymen]] [[Category:American military personnel killed in the American Civil War]]
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