Henry Wager Halleck

Henry Wager Halleck (1815-1872), Union general during the American Civil War (1861-1865). Halleck was born in Westernville, New York, and educated at Union College and the United States Military Academy at West Point. He was an expert in military fortifications. In 1846 he wrote Elements of Military Art and Science, which was used during the Civil War as a training manual for volunteer officers.

Halleck served in California during the Mexican War (1846-1848). He resigned from the army in 1854 and had a successful career as a lawyer and industrialist until the outbreak of the Civil War, when he reentered the army with the rank of major general. He commanded the Department of Missouri and planned the western campaign of 1862. In July 1862 he was appointed general in chief of the United States armies, and he held that post until 1864, when President Abraham Lincoln replaced him with General Ulysses S. Grant. Halleck then served as chief of staff of the army until 1865. Although Halleck was an excellent administrator, historians generally agree that he was overly cautious as a field commander and was a poor military strategist. After the war Halleck remained in the army, serving at San Francisco and, after 1869, at Louisville, Kentucky. His writings include Bitumen: Its Varieties, Properties, and Uses (1841) and International Law (1861).