Byron Root Pierce
{{Short description|Union Army officer of the American Civil War}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2022}}
{{Infobox military person
|name = Byron Root Pierce
|birth_date = {{birth date|1829|9|20}}
|death_date = {{death date and age|1924|7|10|1829|9|20}}
|birth_place = East Bloomfield, Ontario County, New York, United States
|death_place =
|placeofburial = Fulton Street Cemetery, Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States
|image = Byron Root Pierce.jpg
|caption =
|nickname =
|allegiance = United States of America
|branch = Union Army
|serviceyears = 1861–1865
|rank = 35px Brigadier General
File:Union Army major general rank insignia.svg Brevet Major General
|commands =
|battles =
{{tree list}}
- American Civil War
- First Battle of Manassas
- Peninsula Campaign
- Seven Days Battles
- Battle of Chancellorsville
- Battle of Gettysburg
- Overland Campaign
- Appomattox Campaign
- Battle of Sailor's Creek
{{tree list/end}}
|awards =
|laterwork =
}}
Byron Root Pierce (September 20, 1829 – July 10, 1924) was an American dentist who served as a Union Army general in the American Civil War.{{Cite book|last=Jones|first=Terry L.|title=Historical Dictionary of the Civil War|publisher=Scarecrow Press|year=2011|isbn=978-0-8108-7953-9|location=Lanham, MD|pages=1118–1119|language=en}} He was noted for fighting at First Manassas and during the Peninsula and Seven Days Campaigns. Pierce participated in all of the major battles in the East.{{Cite book|title=The Union Army: States and regiments|date=1908|publisher=Federal Publishing Company|location=Madison, Wisconsin|volume=III|pages=369|language=en}}{{Cite book|last=Herringshaw|first=Thomas William|title=American Blue-book of Biography: Prominent Americans of 1914|publisher=American Publishers Association|year=1914|location=Chicago|pages=759|language=en}}
Biography
Pierce was born on September 20, 1829, in East Bloomfield, Ontario County, New York. His parents were Silas and Mary Pierce.{{Cite book|title=National Year Book|date=1913|publisher=Sons of the American Revolution|pages=322|language=en}} He came from a family of soldiers. His grandfather, Thaddeus Root, was a veteran of the American Revolutionary War.{{Cite web|title=Byron Root Pierce|url=https://ranger95.com/civil_war_us/generals_of_the_union/generals/byron_root_pierce.htm|access-date=December 20, 2021|website=ranger95.com}} He was also the great grandson of Aaron Root, a Lieutenant Colonel of the First Berkshire County Regiment of the Massachusetts militia.
Pierce studied at an academy in Rochester, New York, and worked for his father's milling business. He obtained a degree in dentistry and in 1856 he relocated to Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he practiced his profession.
On October 12, 1881, Pierce married Abbie L. Evans of Rhode Island.
Civil War
When the American Civil War began Pierce was captain of a militia company, the Valley City Lights Guard, before entering Federal service in June 1861 and was appointed captain He then served as a company commander in the 3rd Michigan Infantry Regiment at the Battle of First Manassas. Pierce continued to serve as part of the Army of the Potomac during the Peninsula and Seven Days campaigns, rising the ranks. He also saw action at Groveton, Chantilly and Fredericksburg, commanding the regiment in the latter. Afterwards he was promoted to Colonel and then fought at Chancellorsville, where he was wounded and received a commendation for his command.
Pierce's regiment also fought Confederate forces, led by Joseph B. Kershaw, in the defense of the Peach Orchard during the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg.{{Cite book|last=Pfanz|first=Harry W.|title=Gettysburg: The Second Day|date=June 15, 2011|publisher=UNC Press Books|isbn=978-0-8078-1749-0|pages=157|language=en}} There he was wounded and his brother, Lieutenant Colonel Edwin Pierce, took over.{{Cite book|last1=Hessler|first1=James A.|title=Gettysburg's Peach Orchard: Longstreet, Sickles, and the Bloody Fight for the "Commanding Ground" Along the Emmitsburg Road|last2=Isenberg|first2=Britt C.|publisher=Casemate Publishers|year=2019|isbn=978-1-61121-456-7|location=El Dorado Hills, CA|language=en}} Some sources said that one of his legs had to be amputated. However this was rather a wound that didn't require amputation but instead was a wound addressed by the regimental surgeon that didn't require hospitalization.{{cite web|url=https://civilwarintheeast.com/people/byron-root-pierce/|title=Byron Root Pierce|website=Civil War in the East|accessdate=2024-07-19}} He was back in action commanded the 3rd Michigan Infantry Regiment in the Battle of the Wilderness, the first battle of the Overland Campaign. He also took part in the Bristoe and Mine Run campaigns, among other operations conducted in Virginia. During the final years of the war he commanded various brigades in the II Corps.{{cite book|last1=Eicher|first1=John H. and David J.|title=Civil War High Commands|date=2001|publisher=Stanford University Press|location=Stanford, CA|isbn=0-8047-3641-3|page=429}} He was promoted to brigadier general of U.S. Volunteers on June 7, 1864.{{Cite book|last1=Johnson|first1=Rossiter|title=The Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans ...|last2=Brown|first2=John Howard|date=1904|publisher=Biographical Society|language=en}} After the Battle of Sailor's Creek, on April 6, 1865, he was brevetted to major general.
Overall, Pierce was wounded five times during the war and was present in all of the major battles in the East from First Bull Run to Appomattox.{{Cite book|last1=Miller|first1=Richard F.|title=Harvard's Civil War: A History of the Twentieth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry|last2=Miller|first2=Richard|publisher=University Press of New England|year=2005|isbn=978-1-58465-505-3|location=Hanover|pages=385|language=en}}{{Cite web|title=Byron Root Pierce|url=http://www.migenweb.org/kent/biographies/famous/pierceBR.html|access-date=December 20, 2021|website=www.migenweb.org}} After the war he was active in veteran affairs, serving as the Grand Army of the Republic's commander of the Department of Michigan for two years. After retirement, Pierce was employed by the U.S. post office at Grand Rapids where he lived after the war. He was Michigan's last living Civil War general.{{Cite book|last1=Finney|first1=David|title=Remembering Michigan's Civil War Soldiers|last2=McIntosh|first2=Judith Stermer|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|year=2015|isbn=978-1-4671-1345-8|location=Charleston, NC|pages=19|language=en}}
Pierce died in 1924 and was buried in Fulton Street Cemetery in Michigan.{{Cite book|last1=Ingall|first1=David|title=Michigan Civil War Landmarks|last2=Risko|first2=Karin|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|year=2015|isbn=978-1-62619-940-8|location=Charleston, SC|pages=134|language=en}}
References
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Category:People of Michigan in the American Civil War
Category:People from East Bloomfield, New York