Mahlon Dickerson Manson

Mahlon Dickerson Manson (February 20, 1820 – February 4, 1895) was a druggist, Indiana politician, and a Union general in the American Civil War.

Biography

Manson was born in Piqua, Ohio, to David Manson Jr., and Sarah Cornwall. He was a descendant of David Manson, an aide to Revolutionary War General George Washington. His family moved to Crawfordsville, Indiana. He was a school teacher in Montgomery County, Indiana. He studied medicine in Cincinnati, Ohio, and gave medical lectures in New Orleans. During the Mexican–American War he served with the 5th Indiana Volunteers as a captain. He was a druggist in Crawfordsville, Indiana, and a member of the Indiana Legislature.

At the beginning of the Civil War, he was appointed a captain in the 10th Indiana Infantry and was promoted to colonel in less than a month. He commanded a brigade in the Army of the Ohio at the Battle of Mill Springs in 1862 and was promoted to brigadier general on March 24, 1862, based on his actions there. General Manson was wounded in the thigh and captured by Confederate forces at the Battle of Richmond, Kentucky. He was exchanged two months later and fought Morgan on his raid into Ohio. In the span of two months, Manson advanced from brigade, to division and then to command the XXIII Corps. He led the corps during the Knoxville Campaign seeing action at Campbell's Station and Knoxville. General Manson returned to brigade command, in the Army of the Ohio, during the Atlanta campaign and was seriously wounded in the Battle of Resaca, Georgia.

After the war, he served in the United States House of Representatives as a Democrat from 1871 to 1873, was state auditor, and the 20th Lieutenant Governor of Indiana from 1885 to 1886.

Manson died in Frankfort, Indiana, and is buried in Oak Hill Cemetery, Crawfordsville.

See also

• List of American Civil War generals (Union)

• Eicher, John H., and Eicher, David J., Civil War High Commands, Stanford University Press, 2001, ISBN 0-8047-3641-3.
• Lambert, D. Warren, When the Ripe Pears Fell, The Battle of Richmond, Kentucky, Madison County Historical Society, 1996, ISBN 0-9615162-3-2.
• Perry, Oran, Adjutant-General, Indiana in the Mexican War, Indianapolis, 1908.
• Warner, Ezra J., Generals in Blue: Lives of the Union Commanders, Louisiana State University Press, 1964, ISBN 0-8071-0822-7.

External links

• Media related to Mahlon Dickerson Manson at Wikimedia Commons
• at the Wayback Machine (archived February 8, 2008)
• Mahlon Dickerson Manson collection of papers at the Indiana State Library
• Mahlon Dickerson Manson Papers Berea KY Library
• General Mahlon D. Manson family papers, 1848-1910s Indiana Historical Society
• Civil War Longcoat at Indiana State Museum
• Mahlon Manson items at Battle of Richmond KY referenced here
• A good bit of info can be found here. Battle of Richmond KY
• Mural with his likeness in Campbellsville KY
• He was a commissioner for the Soldiers & Sailors Monument at the center of Indianapolis Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument (Indianapolis)
• He was actually born in 1818, not 1820 as most sources - including his tombstone state. . Besides the article quoting Mahlon I referenced here, I also have a photograph of the family Bible showing 1818 as his birthdate. This article is from the Indiana Weekly Argus News Jan 5, 1894 p3, column 4 “The Loiterer”