The Biographical Dictionary of America/Ammen, Jacob

AMMEN, Jacob, soldier, was born in Botetourt county, Va., Jan. 7, 1808. He was graduated from West Point in the class of 1831, and was appointed assistant instructor in mathematics and subsequently of infantry tactics at the academy. He was on active duty in Charleston harbor during the nullification troubles in South Carolina, and resigned from the army in 1837, going to Georgetown, Ky., to accept the position of professor of mathematics in Bacon college, afterwards teaching in Jefferson college, Miss., and the University of Indiana in 1839, '40, '43, '48. He engaged in civil engineering at Ripley, O., from 1855 to 1861, and when the civil war broke out he joined the army as captain of the 12th Ohio volunteers, serving in the campaigns of West Virginia, Tennessee and Mississippi. He gained the rank of brigadier-general of volunteers in July, 1862, and commanded the district of East Tennessee, when he resigned Jan. 14, 1865. He died Feb. 6, 1894.