Abraham Myers
Abraham Myers (also Abram Myers; 14 May 1811 – 20 June 1889) was a military officer in the United States and Confederate States Armies.
Abraham Myers | |
|---|---|
 Undated photo of Myers in uniform | |
| Born | Abraham Charles Myers 14 May 1811 |
| Died | 20 June 1889 (aged 78) Washington, D.C., US |
| Resting place | St. Paul's Cemetery Alexandria, Virginia, US |
| Other names | Abram |
| Alma mater | US Military Academy (1833) |
| Occupation | Soldier |
| Spouse(s) | Marion Twiggs |
| Confederate military career | |
| Allegiance | Confederate States |
| Branch | Confederate States Army |
| Years | 1861–1863 / 1864 |
| Rank | Colonel |
| Unit | Quartermaster-General |
| Conflicts | American Civil War |
| US military career | |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Branch | United States Army |
| Years | 1833–1861 |
| Rank | Lieutenant colonel / Colonel |
| Unit | |
| Conflicts | |
Personal life
Abraham Charles Myers[1] (also Abram) was born in Georgetown, South Carolina on 14 May 1811.[2] Myers was accepted to the United States Military Academy on 1 July 1828; after repeating his freshman year, he graduated on 1 July 1833. Before 1861, Myers married Marion Twiggs, daughter of David E. Twiggs. In 1864 and 1865, Myers lived in the state of Georgia, "almost in want, on the charity of friends". The Dictionary of American Biography believes Myers traveled through Europe from 1866–1877 before he died in Washington, D.C. on 20 June 1889.[1] Myers was buried at St. Paul's Cemetery in Alexandria, Virginia.[2]
Military career
United States
After accepting the rank of brevetted second lieutenant in the United States Army on 1 July 1833, Myers was stationed in Baton Rouge, Louisiana with the 4th Infantry Regiment. He received a promotion to full second lieutenant on 31 December 1835 before serving in the Second Seminole War. Myers served in Florida from 1836–1838, fighting at Camp Izard and Oloklikaha, and receiving his promotion to first lieutenant on 6 September 1837. From 1838–1840, Myers worked in the recruiting service; with a promotion to staff captain on 21 November 1839, he transferred to the Quartermaster Department in St. Augustine, Florida. Myers returned to fighting in the Second Seminole War from 1841–1842.[3]
Captain Myers was stationed at Fort Moultrie from 1842–1845.[3] During the Mexican–American War, Myers served under Zachary Taylor at the Battle of Palo Alto and the Battle of Resaca de la Palma; his "gallant and meritorious conduct" thereat earned him a promotion to brevetted major. After his transfer to Winfield Scott's command, Myers fought at the Battle of Churubusco (receiving a brevetted promotion to colonel[1] or lieutenant colonel[3][2] for "gallant conduct"), and was the Army of Mexico's chief quartermaster from April–June 1848.[3]
| Assignments[3] | Dates |
|---|---|
| Charleston, South Carolina Savannah, Georgia |
1848–1849 |
| Department of Florida | 1849–1851 |
| New Orleans, Louisiana | 1851–1854 |
| Department of Texas | 1854–1857 |
| New York City | 1857–1858 |
| New Orleans, Louisiana | 1858–1861 |
From 1848 to 1861, Myers served the Quartermaster Department at various posts, mostly in the Southern United States. While stationed in New Orleans on 28 Jan 1861, at the behest of Louisiana state officials, Myers "surrendered the quartermaster and commissary stores in his possession" before immediately resigning from the US Army.[1]
Confederate States
On 16 Mar 1861, Myers was appointed a lieutenant-colonel in the Confederate Quartermaster-General's Department. He was made the Confederacy's first acting quartermaster-general on 25 March 1861; the role was made official that December, with a promotion to colonel on 15 Feb 1862. As quartermaster-general, Myers was hampered by insufficient funds, the failure of the Confederate States dollar, and the poor railroads in the South; the Confederate States Army was never adequately supplied by Myers, especially with regard to clothing and shoes. By the 1930s, it was determined that while Myers had been very skilled at accountancy, he couldn't think outside his US training and experience nor could he rise above "the laxity, carelessness, and inefficiency of remote subordinates."[1]
End of service
Myers was ousted as quartermaster-general around the turn of 1864.
The 1934 Dictionary of American Biography says that Confederate President Jefferson Davis appointed Brigadier General Alexander Lawton as Myers' replacement on 7 August 1863 "in the interest of efficiency", but that the Confederate States Senate rejected the appointment on procedural grounds. Davis resubmitted Lawton to the Confederate Congress, and that body confirmed the general on 17 February 1864. When Myers refused to serve under Lawton, he "found himself, on a technicality, 'out of the army'".[1]
Bruce Allardice's 2008 book Confederate Colonels instead says that the Confederate Congress passed legislation in 1863 making the quartermaster-general's billet a brigadier general's, assuming Myers would be promoted in-place. President Davis signed the legislation into law, but appointed Lawton instead, allegedly because Myers' wife had called Varina Davis a "squaw". Myers then resigned on 10 August 1863.[2]
Legacy
Fort Myers, a town and former military installation in Lee County, Florida, was named for Abraham Myers.[4]
References
- Malone, Dumas, ed. (1934). Dictionary of American Biography. 13. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. pp. 375–376. OCLC 1042961533.
- Allardice, Bruce S. (2008). "The Register". Confederate Colonels: A Biographical Register. Columbia, Missouri: University of Missouri Press. p. 287. ISBN 978-0-8262-1809-4.
- Cullum, George W. (1891). Biographical Register of the Officers and Graduates of the U. S. Military Academy at West Point, N. Y. from its Establishment, in 1802, to 1890 with the Early History of the United States Military Academy. I. Houghton, Mifflin and Company. p. 562. LCCN 01017674.
- Gannett, Henry (1905). The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States (second ed.). Washington, D.C.: United States Government Publishing Office. p. 129. LCCN 05000751.