John McAllister Schofield

John McAllister Schofield , 1831-1906, Union general in the American Civil War, b. Gerry, N.Y. He taught at West Point (1855-60) and on the outbreak of the Civil War became chief of staff to Nathaniel Lyon in Missouri. He was brigadier general commanding Missouri troops (Nov., 1861-Apr., 1863) and commander of the Dept. of the Missouri (May, 1863-Jan., 1864). In Feb., 1864, he was given command of the Army of the Ohio, which he led in the Atlanta campaign . He opposed John B. Hood in Tennessee (Oct.-Dec., 1864), fighting at Franklin and Nashville. Schofield was Secretary of War under Andrew Johnson (1868-69) and held various commands until 1888, when he became commander of the U.S. army. He was appointed lieutenant general shortly before he retired in 1895.

Bibliography: See his Forty-six Years in the Army (1897); study by J. L. McDonough (1972).

Schofield, John McAllister (1831–1906) U.S. military officer. Schofield's family moved from New York to Illinois when he was young. He taught at the U.S. Military Academy after graduation and at Washington University, but returned to military service during the Civil War, becoming major, 1st Missouri. As brigadier general of volunteers, Schofield had dealt with tensions between radicals who called for outright abolition of slavery and military reprisals and more conservative recruits who favored a gradual course. He took command of the Department and Army of the Ohio in 1864 and joined in Gen. William T. Sherman's assault on Atlanta. He returned to Tennessee but then, as a brigadier general, U.S. Army, rejoined Sherman, preparing the surrender statement for Sherman to present to the Confederate general Joseph E. Johnston in April 1865. Seen as a centrist, he replaced the more controversial Edwin M. Stanton as secretary of war in President Andrew Johnson's cabinet, serving from June 1868 to March 1869. Schofield continued to serve in various command posts; he was superintendent of West Point from 1776 to 1881 and, from 1888 until his retirement in 1895, held command of the army, with the rank of lieutenant general.