Edward Richard Sprigg Canby

Canby, Edward Richard Sprigg (1817–73) Union army officer, born in Piatt's Landing, Kentucky. He fought in the Seminole War (1840–42), the Mexican War (1846–48), and the Mormon rebellion (1847–48). In the Civil War, Canby commanded Union forces in New Mexico, turning aside Confederate invaders. As an assistant to Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, he helped maintain peace in New York City after draft riots (1863). He commanded the Military Division of West Mississippi (including Gulf states), captured Mobile, Alabama (Apr. 1865), and accepted the surrender of Gen. E. Kirby Smith (May 1865).

As commander of the Department of Columbia, Canby became the first U.S. general to die at the hands of American Indians when he was shot and killed by Modoc leader Keintpoos, a.k.a. “Captain Jack,” during an extended parley in California.

Edward Richard Sprigg Canby 1817-73, Union general in the Civil War, b. Kentucky, grad. West Point, 1839. He fought in the Seminole War and in the Mexican War. In the Civil War, Canby commanded the Dept. of New Mexico, where he thoroughly repelled the Confederate invasion (1862). He was made a brigadier general of volunteers in Mar., 1862, and was on special duty in the War Dept. in Washington from Jan., 1863, to Mar., 1864, except for four months as the commander of New York City during the draft riots of 1863. Canby was promoted to major general in May, 1864, and assigned to command the Military Division of West Mississippi. He captured Mobile in Apr., 1865, and in May received the surrender of the last Confederate armies. After the war Canby held various commands in the South until 1870, when he was sent to the Dept. of the Columbia on the Pacific coast. He was killed during a peace conference with the Modoc .

Bibliography: See biography by M. L. Heyman, Jr. (1959).