{{short description|American surgeon and military officer (1826–1909)}} {{Infobox military person | name = Gabriel Grant | image = Gabriel Grant.jpg | image_upright = | alt = | caption = | birth_date = {{birth date|1826|9|4}} | death_date = {{death date and age|1909|11|8|1826|9|4}} | birth_place = Newark, New Jersey, US | death_place = Manhattan, New York, US | burial_place = Sleepy Hollow, New York, US | allegiance = {{flag|United States of America|1861|name=United States}} | branch = Union Army | service_years = 1861–65 | rank = Major | unit = 3rd Brigade, 1st Division, II Corps | battles = {{tree list}} *American Civil War **Battle of Fair Oaks {{tree list/end}} | awards = {{Flagicon image|Medal of Honor ribbon.svg}} Medal of Honor | alma_mater = Williams College (MA)<br />Columbia University | spouse = Caroline Manice | children = 4 }} Dr. '''Gabriel Grant''' (September 4, 1826 – November 8, 1909) was an American surgeon and Union Army major who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions during the Civil War.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://valor.defense.gov/Recipients/Army-Medal-of-Honor-Recipients/ |title=U.S. Army Medal of Honor Recipients |publisher=United States Department of Defense |access-date=April 13, 2015}}</ref><ref name=MHS>{{cite web |url=http://health.mil/About-MHS/Military-Health-Medal-of-Honor-Recipients/Civil-War-Recipients/Maj-Gabriel-Grant |title=Maj. Gabriel Grant (Surgeon) |publisher=health.mil (the official website of the Military Health System and the Defense Health Agency |access-date=April 13, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150627221712/http://health.mil/About-MHS/Military-Health-Medal-of-Honor-Recipients/Civil-War-Recipients/Maj-Gabriel-Grant |archive-date=2015-06-27 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
==Early life== Gabriel Grant was born in Newark, New Jersey, in 1826. His father was Charles Grant, an officer in the War of 1812, and he was a descendant of Robert Treat, one of the Puritan founders of Newark.
He attended Williams College, graduating in 1846 with a master's degree. He later graduated from the College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1851.<ref name="NYT">{{cite news |date=November 9, 1909 |title=Dr. Gabriel Grant Dead. |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/2206656/gabriel_grant_obituary/ |newspaper=The New York Times |via=Newspapers.com}} {{Open access}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Manuscript Group 251, Gabriel Grant (1826-1907) {{!}} The New Jersey Historical Society |url=https://jerseyhistory.org/manuscript-group-251-gabriel-grant-1826-1907/ |access-date=2024-03-05 |language=en-US}}</ref>
==Career== In 1852, he worked as a surgeon in Panama during the height of the California Gold Rush<ref name=NYT/> at a time when hordes of prospectors traveled across the isthmus on their way to the gold fields by sea and organized the American Hospital the following year.<ref name=Herald>{{cite news |title=Dr. Gabriel Grant Dead. |newspaper=Washington Herald |date=November 9, 1909 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/2206782/gabriel_grant_obituary_in_the_herald/ |via = Newspapers.com}} {{Open access}}</ref><ref name=UMag>{{cite journal |year=1892 |title=Dr. Gabriel Grant. |journal=The University Magazine |volume=6 |pages=303–304 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vmE9AQAAMAAJ&q=Dr.+Gabriel+Grant&pg=PA303 |access-date=April 13, 2015}}</ref> While there, he also edited the ''Panama Herald''.<ref name=Herald/> He then returned to practice medicine in his hometown of Newark. In 1854, he was part of a special commission set up to fight the cholera epidemic in the city.<ref name=MHS/><ref name="NJ">{{cite web |title=Manuscript Group 251: Gabriel Grant (1826-1912) |url=http://www.jerseyhistory.org/findingaid.php?aid=0251 |access-date=April 13, 2015 |publisher=New Jersey Historical Society |archive-date=September 2, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140902163857/http://www.jerseyhistory.org/findingaid.php?aid=0251 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
===Civil War=== With the onset of the Civil War, he joined the 2nd Infantry Regiment of New Jersey Volunteers as a surgeon from June to October 1861. He was then appointed to the U.S. Volunteers before joining the brigade under the command of William French.<ref name=MHS/><ref>{{Cite web |title=Manuscript Group 251, Gabriel Grant (1826-1907) {{!}} The New Jersey Historical Society |url=https://jerseyhistory.org/manuscript-group-251-gabriel-grant-1826-1907/ |access-date=2024-03-05 |language=en-US}}</ref> He won distinction during the Battle of Fair Oaks on June 1, 1862 after he rescued several soldiers while under heavy fire, and was awarded the Medal of Honor on July 21, 1897.<ref name=MHS/><ref name=NJ/> His citation reads:
{{blockquote|Removed severely wounded officers and soldiers from the field while under a heavy fire from the enemy, exposing himself beyond the call of duty, thus furnishing an example of most distinguished gallantry.<ref name=MHS/>}}
In February 1863, he was appointed Medical Director of Hospitals in Evanston, Indiana,<ref name=NJ/><ref name=UMag/> and was placed in charge of the United States Army Hospital in Madison, Indiana, on September 4 of the same year.<ref name=MHS/><ref name=UMag/> He resigned his commission in January 1865<ref name=MHS/><ref name=Cevasco>{{cite book|last1=Cevasco|first1=George A.|last2=Harmond|first2=Richard P.|title=Modern American Environmentalists: A Biographical Encyclopedia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mTSIPaCr2DYC&pg=PA182|access-date=April 13, 2015|date=May 8, 2009|publisher=JHU Press|isbn=9780801895241|page=182}}</ref> due to a wound he had received while operating in the field.<ref name=NYT/>
After the war, he was elected as a companion of the New York Commandery of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States.
==Personal life== Grant married Caroline Manice in 1864. After the war, they lived in Newark, but soon moved to New York City, where all four of their children (three sons, one daughter) were born. The eldest was the lawyer, eugenicist, and conservationist Madison Grant.<ref name=Cevasco/>
Gabriel Grant died at his home at 22 East 49th Street, Manhattan, New York, at the age of 83.<ref name=NYT/> He was survived by his wife and three sons.<ref name=NYT/>
==See also== {{Portal|Biography|American Civil War}} *List of American Civil War Medal of Honor recipients: G–L
==References== {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Grant, Gabriel}} Category:1826 births Category:1909 deaths Category:Place of death missing Category:American Civil War recipients of the Medal of Honor Category:Medical doctors from Newark, New Jersey Category:Union army surgeons Category:Union army officers Category:United States Army Medal of Honor recipients Category:Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons alumni Category:Williams College alumni