Amos Beebe Eaton:

A Soldier's Journal of the Second Seminole Indian War

Biographical Sketch

Amos Beebe Eaton was born on May 12, 1806 in Catskill, New York. He graduated from West Point in 1826 and served as a lieutenant of infantry during the Second Seminole Indian War. Eaton was assigned to various garrisons throughout the state, and received a promotion to captain in 1838. During the Mexican War, Eaton served as chief commissary of subsistence in the army of General Zachary Taylor. Promotion to the rank of major followed "gallant and meritorious conduct" at Buena Vista. Eaton then served as commissariat of the Department of the Pacific in San Francisco, California until 1855. His next post, depot commissary at New York City, lasted until 1861.

Eaton's Civil War Service record notes that "millions...passed through his hands in the discharge of the important position committed to him, and in the selection of General Eaton the government was particularly fortunate." In 1864 Eaton was appointed commissary general of the United States Army, and served for a decade with the rank of brigadier general. He retired from military service in 1874, following more than forty-five years of distinguished service. In his later years, Eaton traveled throughout Europe with his wife, and made his home in New Haven, Connecticut, where his son held a distinguished professorship. Eaton died there, presumably of heart disease, on February 21, 1877.

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Bibliography

Warner, Ezra J. Generals in Blue: Lives of the Union Commanders. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1964.