Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)/Sumner, Edwin Vose

SUMNER, EDWIN VOSE, an American military officer; born in Boston, Mass., Jan. 30, 1797. He was a captain in the Black Hawk War; served with distinction in the Mexican War in 1846-1847, especially at the battles of Cerro Gordo and Molino del Rey; was made major in 1846; governor of New Mexico in 1851-1853; in 1855 was made colonel and was one of the escort of Abraham Lincoln from Springfield, Ill., to Washington, D. C, in February, 1861; in March, 1861, promoted Brigadier-General U. S. A. During the Civil War he commanded a corps at the battle of Fair Oaks May 31-June 1, 1862; at Malvern Hill July 1, and at the battle of Antietam Sept. 17 of that year; he also commanded one of the three great divisions of Burnside's army at the battle of Fredericksburg Dec. 13, 1862; was given command of the Department of the Missouri in 1863, He died in Syracuse, N. Y., March 21, 1863.