John Aaron Rawlins

John Aaron Rawlins 1831-69, Union general in the American Civil War, b. Galena, Ill. Admitted to the bar in 1854, he practiced law in Galena. In 1861 he joined the Union army at the request of his fellow townsman Ulysses S. Grant and was appointed a captain and assistant adjutant general of volunteers on Grant's staff. Rawlins remained with Grant throughout the war and was his most influential adviser. He was promoted to brigadier general of volunteers in 1863, was made chief of staff of the whole Union army in Mar., 1865, and became a major general in the regular army in Apr., 1865. On Grant's accession to the presidency in 1869, Rawlins became his Secretary of War, but he died of tuberculosis before the year was out. He was an ardent advocate of Cuban independence.

Rawlins, John Aaron (1831–69) secretary of war and Union army officer, born in Illinois. He was a member of the staff of Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, whose attention he had drawn while still practicing law in Illinois. Rawlins fought at the Battle of Shiloh (1862) and at Vicksburg (1862–63), after which he was promoted to brigadier general. As adjutant he headed Grant's staff throughout the war; in March 1865 he was appointed to the new position of chief of staff to the commanding general. After the war Rawlins remained Grant's chief of staff, and in 1868 Grant, then president, named him secretary of war, at his request.