John Watts de Peyster Jr.
{{Infobox military person
|name=John Watts de Peyster Jr.
|birth_date= {{birth date|1841|12|2}}
|death_date= {{death date and age|1873|4|12|1841|12|2}}
|birth_place=New York City, US
|death_place=New York City, US
|placeofburial=
|placeofburial_label= Place of burial
|image=
|caption=
|nickname=
|allegiance=United States of America
|serviceyears=1862–1864
|rank= Brevet brigadier general (New York Militia)
Colonel (Union Army)
|commands=
|unit=
|battles= American Civil War
Battle of Williamsburg
Battle of Fredericksburg
Battle of Chancellorsville
|awards=
|laterwork=
}}
John Watts De Peyster Jr. (December 2, 1841 – April 12, 1873) was a Union Army officer during the American Civil War and a member of the famous de Peyster family of New York. His father was Brevet Major General John Watts De Peyster of the New York Militia.
Biography
John Watts De Peyster Jr. was born in New York City.{{Cite web|url=https://www.newnetherlandinstitute.org/history-and-heritage/dutch_americans/john-watts-de-peyster/|title=John Watts de Peyster|website=www.newnetherlandinstitute.org|language=en|access-date=2018-02-04}} In March 1862, while attending the Columbia Law School, he decided to join the staff of his father's first cousin, Union Army Major General Philip Kearny as volunteer aide. After Kearny's death at the Battle of Chantilly, he then joined the 11th New York Cavalry Regiment in June 1862 as a lieutenant, but was mustered out the same month, and assigned to the 1st New York Light Artillery as a major and served until 1863 when he joined the staff of General John J. Peck.{{sfn|Wilson|Fiske|1900|p=}}
He was then stricken by a severe illness of several months and was unable to return to the field until late 1863. For actions in the Chancellorsville campaign and in the Battle of Fredericksburg, he was promoted to colonel. He remained with the army until the summer of 1864, when his increasing weakness compelled him to resign. He later received a brevet promotion to brigadier general of the New York Militia in 1865. His brothers Frederic and Johnston de Peyster also served in the war.{{sfn|Wilson|Fiske|1900|p=}}
He died on April 12, 1873, in New York City.{{cite news |title=Brevet Col. John Watts de Peyster Jr. |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9D07EEDB163DE43BBC4C52DFB2668388669FDE |quote=J. Watts de Poyster Jr., Major of the First New-York Volunteer |work=The New York Times |date=April 14, 1873 |accessdate=2008-12-25 }}
Notes
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{{Portal|American Civil War}}
References
- {{Cite Appletons'|wstitle=De Peyster, Johannes|year=1900}}
- {{cite news |title=Brevet Col. John Watts de Peyster Jr. |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9D07EEDB163DE43BBC4C52DFB2668388669FDE |quote=J. Watts de Poyster Jr., Major of the First New-York Volunteer |work=The New York Times |date=April 14, 1873 |accessdate=2008-12-25 }}
{{de Peyster family tree}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:De Peyster, John Watts Jr.}}
Category:Columbia Law School alumni
Category:People of New York (state) in the American Civil War
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