{{Short description|US Army officer (1824–1901)}} {{Infobox military person |name = James Bintliff |image = General James Bintliff 1824-1901.jpg |caption = General James Bintliff |birth_date = {{Birth date|1824|11|01}} |death_date = {{Death date and age|1901|03|16|1824|11|01}} |birth_place = Salterhebble, West Yorkshire, England |death_place = South Chicago, Cook County, Illinois<ref name="Genealogy.com, family details">[http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/r/o/b/Christa-Robinson/WEBSITE-0001/UHP-0302.html Genealogy.com, family details]</ref> |burial_place = Janesville, Wisconsin |burial_label = |burial_coordinates = |nickname = |birth_name = |allegiance = United States of America |branch = United States Army<br/>Union Army |service_years = 1862&ndash;1865 |rank = 35px Brevet Brigadier General |service_number = |unit = |commands = 38th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment |battles = American Civil War |battles_label = |awards = |relations = |other_work = Newspaper owner, editor, publisher<br>Wisconsin government official |signature = }}

'''James Bintliff''' (November 1, 1824 &ndash; March 16, 1901) was a colonel in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He briefly commanded brigades for three weeks near the end of 1864 and during most of the crucial month of April 1865. In 1866, he was nominated for appointment as and confirmed as a brevet brigadier general of volunteers in recognition of his conspicuous gallantry during the Third Battle of Petersburg on the final day of the Siege of Petersburg, April 2, 1865. On January 13, 1866, President Andrew Johnson nominated Bintliff for appointment to the grade of brevet brigadier general of volunteers to rank from the final date of the fighting at Petersburg, April 2, 1865. The United States Senate confirmed the appointment on March 12, 1866. In civilian life, Bintliff was one of the founders of The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company. He was editor, publisher and proprietor of three newspapers, one before the Civil War and two after the war. He was a Wisconsin state government official for fourteen years from 1876 to 1891.

==Early life== Bintliff was born on November 1, 1824, in Salterhebble, West Yorkshire<ref name="Eicher131">Eicher, John H., and David J. Eicher, ''Civil War High Commands.'' Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2001. {{ISBN|0-8047-3641-3}}. p. 131</ref><ref>[http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/r/o/b/Christa-Robinson/WEBSITE-0001/UHP-0302.html Genealogy.com website]</ref> to [http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/r/o/b/Christa-Robinson/WEBSITE-0001/UHP-0274.html Gershom] and [http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/r/o/b/Christa-Robinson/WEBSITE-0001/UHP-0273.html Maria Hanson] Bintliff.<ref name="Butterfield713">Butterfield, Consul Willshire. [https://books.google.com/books?id=RZ6tMZU9nsUC 'History of La Fayette County, Wisconsin']. Chicago, Western Historical Society, 1881. {{OCLC|35962129}}. Retrieved February 21, 2012. p. 713.</ref> James was the third of nine children and the oldest son. In 1839 at the age of 15, he was employed as a lawyer's clerk in Halifax, West Yorkshire and later as a book-keeper for the Halifax and Wakefield Canal Company.<ref name="Butterfield713"/>

In 1842, accompanied by a younger brother and sister, he joined his father and mother and four other siblings in New York City.<ref name="Butterfield713"/> His parents had moved to New York a year earlier.<ref name="Butterfield713"/> According to an early biographical sketch, he "engaged in a woollen factory in New York State."<ref name="History785">Tuttle, Charles Richard. [https://books.google.com/books?id=wuAyAQAAIAAJ 'An illustrated history of the state of Wisconsin: being a complete civil, political and military history of the state']. Madison, Wis.: B. B. Russell & Co., 1875. {{OCLC|1393387}}. Retrieved February 21, 2012.</ref>

In 1847, he married Harriet Snook, the daughter of James Snook of Somerset, England, at Skaneateles, New York.<ref name="Butterfield714">Butterfield, 1881, p. 714.</ref><ref>A 1909 directory of "about twenty-four thousand names of the most prominent householders of Chicago and suburbs within a radius of thirty miles, published in the most convenient form for the reference of our lady patrons" lists a Mrs. Harriet Bintliff as living in the neighborhood where James Bintliff died. Nothing more about Bintliff's wife, or the Harriet Bintliff in the directory whether or not she was his wife, has been found for this article. [https://books.google.com/books?id=n3s3AAAAMAAJ 'The Chicago blue book of selected names of Chicago and suburban towns …for the year ending 1910.'] Chicago: Chicago Directory Company, 1909. pp. 17, 792. {{OCLC|34277353}}. Retrieved February 21, 2012.</ref> James and Harriet Bintliff had four children, Edward Hawkins Bintliff, born November 15, 1849, Ida M. Bintliff, born 1855, James Wilkins Bintliff, born about 1858, and Helen Bintliff, born 1861. The birth years indicate that Edward was born in New York State and the other three children were born in Green County, Wisconsin.<ref>[http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/r/o/b/Christa-Robinson/WEBSITE-0001/UHP-0304.html genealogy.com website Harriet Bintliff (Nee Snook]</ref>

Bintliff was in business with his father until 1851.<ref name="Butterfield714"/> In 1851, Bintliff moved to Green County, Wisconsin, where he engaged in farming.<ref name="History785"/> An abolitionist, Bintliff helped to found the Republican Party. After two years, he moved to Monroe, Wisconsin, where he was a bookkeeper and cashier in a bank.<ref name="History785"/> In 1856, he was elected Register of Deeds of Green County and served for two years.<ref name="Butterfield714"/> By 1857 he was identified as a newspaper editor when he became one of the founders of The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company, in which he had an interest for about two years.<ref>Williamson, Harold Francis and Orange A. Smalley. [https://books.google.com/books?id=p6-PvlKTAFQC 'Northwestern Mutual Life: a century of trusteeship.'] Milwaukee, Wis: Executive Committee of the Company, 1908. Reprint 1976, Arno Press. {{ISBN|0-405-08062-X}}. Retrieved February 21, 2012. p. 334.</ref> In 1859, Bintliff was admitted to the bar of Green County.<ref name="Butterfield714"/>

Bintliff purchased a one-half interest in the ''Monroe Sentinel'' in 1860 and the other half in 1861.<ref name="History785"/> When Bintliff left the state for his Union Army service in the American Civil War, he sold a one-half interest in the ''Monroe Sentinel'' to E.E. Carr, who edited the paper for the duration of Bintliff's absence for war service.<ref name="History785"/>

==American Civil War service== On September 1, 1862, James Bintliff was commissioned as a captain in the 22nd Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment of the Union Army.<ref name="Eicher131"/> The unit served mainly in Kentucky and Tennessee.<ref>[http://www.civilwararchive.com/unionwi.htm 'The Civil War Archive, Union Regimental Histories, Wisconsin'] Retrieved February 24, 2012]</ref> Detachments of the 22nd Wisconsin Infantry, which included Bintliff, were serving on garrison duty at Brentwood, Tennessee when they were attacked by a superior force led by Confederate Major General Nathan Bedford Forrest.<ref name="Butterfield714"/><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20121108183002/http://www.nps.gov/hps/abpp/CWSII/TennesseeBattlefieldProfiles/Beans%20Station%20to%20Bulls%20Gap.pdf 'NPS Battle Summary'] Retrieved February 24, 2012. p. 37.</ref> In the Battle of Brentwood, on May 25, 1863, Forrest captured most of the garrison. Bintliff was captured and taken to Libby Prison in Richmond, Virginia, as a prisoner of war.<ref name="Butterfield714"/> He was released and exchanged in May and rejoined his regiment, which was being reorganized at St. Louis, Missouri.<ref name="Butterfield714"/> He resigned his commission on December 27, 1863.<ref name="Eicher131"/> At that time, President Lincoln appointed Bintliff as Commissioner on the Board of Enrollment for the Third Congressional District of Wisconsin.<ref name="Butterfield714"/>

On April 27, 1864, Bintliff was appointed Colonel of the 38th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment.<ref name="Eicher131"/> He commanded Brigade 1, Division 1, IX Corps, Army of the Potomac between November 28, 1864, and December 17, 1864<ref name="Eicher131"/> while Brigadier General John Hartranft was in command of the division.<ref>Eicher, 2001, p. 284</ref> He commanded Brigade 3, Division 1, IX Corps, Army of the Potomac, between April 2, 1865, and April 24, 1865.<ref name="Eicher131"/><ref>On April 2, 1865, after Brigadier General Simon G. Griffin took command of the second division when Brigadier General Robert B. Potter was wounded, all nine brigades of the three divisions of IX Corps of the Army of the Potomac were commanded by colonels or lieutenant colonels. Greene, A. Wilson. ''The Final Battles of the Petersburg Campaign: Breaking the Backbone of the Rebellion''. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2008. {{ISBN|978-1-57233-610-0}}. pp. 377&ndash;378.</ref> The IX Corps took a prominent part in the storming of Petersburg on April 2, 1865, which resulted in the evacuation of the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia, the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865, and the swift end of the war and dissolution of the Confederacy. During the Third Battle of Petersburg, on April 2, 1865, Colonel Bintliff, in command of his regiment and two others, was ordered to take a fort of five guns, known as "Reeves' Salient," which he and his men accomplished.<ref name="Butterfield714"/>

Bintliff was mustered out of the volunteers on June 26, 1865.<ref name="Eicher131"/> Soon thereafter, Bintliff was recognized for his success in commanding his regiment and two others during the Siege of Petersburg, especially for his conspicuous gallantry on April 2, 1865, during the Third Battle of Petersburg<ref name="Hunt55">Hunt, Roger D. and Jack R. Brown, ''Brevet Brigadier Generals in Blue.'' Gaithersburg, MD: Olde Soldier Books, Inc., 1990. {{ISBN|1-56013-002-4}}. p. 55</ref> when the city fell to the Union Army. On January 13, 1866, President Andrew Johnson nominated Bintliff for appointment to the grade of brevet brigadier general of volunteers, to rank from April 2, 1865, and the U.S. Senate confirmed the appointment on March 12, 1866.<ref>Eicher, 2001, p. 740.</ref>

Bintliff's brother Gersham, served as a private in the 38th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment, of which James was colonel.<ref name="Roster">Wisconsin. Adjutant General's Office. [http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/roster/searchresults.asp?lastName=Bintliff&firstName=James 'Roster of Volunteers in the War of the Rebellion,1861&ndash;1865'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304211100/http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/roster/searchresults.asp?lastName=Bintliff&firstName=James |date=2016-03-04 }}. Volume 1. Madison, Wis: Democrat Printing Company, 1886. {{OCLC|3781010}} Retrieved February 24, 2012. p. 79.</ref> His brother Thomas was a lieutenant in the 20th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment and his youngest brother, Alfred, was a musician in the 5th Independent Battery Wisconsin Light Artillery.<ref name="Roster"/>

==Later life== After he returned from the war, Bintliff sold his one-half interest in the ''Monroe Sentinel'' and considered moving to Missouri.<ref name="History785"/> He found the area to be in turmoil and "did not deem it wise to remove any family there."<ref name="History785"/> He then bought a book, stationery and wallpaper business which he ran until 1870.<ref name="History785"/> In 1868, 1872 and 1876, Bintliff was a delegate to the Republican National Conventions at Chicago, Philadelphia and Cincinnati.<ref name="History785"/><ref name="Butterfield714"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://coplien.com/vets/soldier-summary.asp?vetRec=313|title=Brig. General James Bintliff|publisher=Coplien.com|accessdate=2012-02-18}}</ref>

In 1870, Bintliff purchased a one-half interest in the ''Janesville Gazette'' at Janesville, Wisconsin, and became its editor until December 1877.<ref name="History785"/><ref name="Blair128">Blair, Emma Helen. [https://books.google.com/books?id=f_oCAAAAYAAJ 'Annotated catalogue of newspaper files in the library of the State Historical Society.'] Madison, Wis.: Democrat Printing Company, 1898. {{OCLC|1932147}}. Retrieved February 21, 2012. p. 128.</ref>

thumb|right|upright|Wisconsin soldiers orphans home 1870s Between 1870 and 1877, he also was a member of the board of trustees, and for two years president of the board, of the Wisconsin Soldiers' Orphans' home.<ref name="History785"/><ref name="Butterfield714"/> In early 1878, Bintliff and R. L. Colvin sold their interests in the ''Janesville Gazette.''<ref name="Blair128"/> In April 1878, Bintliff bought a one-half interest in the Darlington Republican at Darlington, Wisconsin, and became its editor and publisher.<ref name="Blair109">Blair, 1898, p. 109.</ref> The other one-half interest was bought by his son, Edward H. Bintliff.<ref name="Blair109"/> Later in 1878, James Bintliff was a founder of the Darlington Literary Club which was established for the purpose of studying, presenting papers on and conversing about English literature.<ref name="Butterfield537">Butterfield, Consul Willshire. [https://books.google.com/books?id=RZ6tMZU9nsUC 'History of La Fayette County, Wisconsin']. Chicago, Western Historical Society, 1881. {{OCLC|35962129}}. Retrieved February 21, 2012. p. 537.</ref> Bintliff prepared the list of the first twelve studies ranging from Chaucer to Addison and Steele.<ref name="Butterfield537"/> In April 1883, James Bintliff sold his one-half interest in the ''Darlington Republican'' to J. G. Monahan.<ref name="Blair109"/> Two years later, Monahan had bought the interest of Edward Bintliff and was running the paper as sole proprietor.<ref name="Blair109"/><ref name="Baker2443">Usher, Ellis Baker. [https://books.google.com/books?id=Qp4UAAAAYAAJ 'Wisconsin: its story and biography, 1848-1913, Volume 8']. Chicago and New York: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1914. {{OCLC|228664264}}. Retrieved February 21, 2012. p. 2443.</ref>

In 1876, Wisconsin established the State Board of Health of the State of Wisconsin.<ref name="Health2">Wisconsin. State Board of Health, Wisconsin. State Bureau of Vital Statistics, Wisconsin. Hygienic Laboratory, Madison. [https://books.google.com/books?id=gE5NAAAAMAAJ 'First Annual Report of the State Board of Health, of the State of Wisconsin, for the Year Ending December 31, 1876.']. Madison, Wis.: E. B. Bolens, 1876. {{OCLC|5521484}}. Retrieved February 21, 1876. p. 2.</ref> Bintliff was chosen as a member of the Board for four years, ending January 31, 1880.<ref name="Health2"/> He was the only one of the seven members who was not a doctor.<ref name="Health2"/> From 1881 to 1891, Bintliff served on the State Board of Supervision of Wisconsin Charitable, Reformatory and Penal Institutions, which was renamed the State Board of Control of Wisconsin Charitable, Reformatory and Penal Institutions in 1891.<ref>Wisconsin. [https://books.google.com/books?id=MSwtAAAAYAAJ 'Fourth Biennial Report of the State Board of Control of Wisconsin Charitable, Reformatory and Penal Institutions for the Two Fiscal Years Ending September 30, 1898']. Madison, Wis.: Democrat Printing Company, 1898. {{OCLC|183310849}}. Retrieved February 21, 2012. p. 165.</ref>

A brief sketch of his life by the Wisconsin Historical Society states that Bintliff retired to private life to spend time with his family and his studies after his term on the Board of Supervision expired.<ref name="Historical14">Wisconsin. ''Proceedings of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin at its Forty-Ninth Annual Meeting''. Madison, Wis: Democrat Printing Company, 1902. {{OCLC|12772347}}. Retrieved February 21, 2012. p. 114.</ref> His home was in Darlington, Wisconsin until 1895 when he moved "to Chicago."<ref name="Historical14"/> In the first edition of a book published just before Bintliff's death, the author stated about Bintliff: "It is with much regret that I learn that he is nearly blind and past work at his home in Chicago. (1900.)"<ref>Brown, William Fiske. [https://books.google.com/books?id=LUEVAAAAYAAJ 'Rock County, Wisconsin: A New History of its Cities, Villages Towns, Citizens and Varied Interests, from the Earliest Times, Up To Date']. Volume 1. Chicago: C. F. Cooper & Co. {{OCLC|3490416}}. Retrieved February 21, 2012. p. 498.</ref> Bintliff died of a stroke on March 16, 1901, in South Chicago, Cook County, Illinois.<ref name="Genealogy.com, family details"/><ref name="Eicher131"/><ref name="Hunt55"/> James Bintliff was buried in Oak Hill Cemetery, Janesville, Wisconsin.<ref name="Eicher131"/><ref name="Hunt55"/>

Bintliff's former home in Monroe, Wisconsin, now known as the Gen. James Bintliff House, is on the National Register of Historic Places.

==Notes== {{Reflist|2}}

==References== * Blair, Emma Helen. [https://books.google.com/books?id=f_oCAAAAYAAJ 'Annotated catalogue of newspaper files in the library of the State Historical Society.'] Madison, Wis.: Democrat Printing Company, 1898. {{OCLC|1932147}}. Retrieved February 21, 2012. * Brown, William Fiske. [https://books.google.com/books?id=LUEVAAAAYAAJ 'Rock County, Wisconsin: A New History of its Cities, Villages Towns, Citizens and Varied Interests, from the Earliest Times, Up To Date']. Volume 1. Chicago: C. F. Cooper & Co. {{OCLC|3490416}}. Retrieved February 21, 2012. * Butterfield, Consul Willshire. [https://books.google.com/books?id=RZ6tMZU9nsUC 'History of La Fayette County, Wisconsin']. Chicago, Western Historical Society, 1881. {{OCLC|35962129}}. Retrieved February 21, 2012. * [https://books.google.com/books?id=n3s3AAAAMAAJ 'The Chicago blue book of selected names of Chicago and suburban towns …for the year ending 1910.'] Chicago: Chicago Directory Company, 1909. {{OCLC|34277353}}. Retrieved February 21, 2012. * Eicher, John H., and David J. Eicher, ''Civil War High Commands.'' Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2001. {{ISBN|0-8047-3641-3}}. * Greene, A. Wilson. ''The Final Battles of the Petersburg Campaign: Breaking the Backbone of the Rebellion''. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2008. {{ISBN|978-1-57233-610-0}}. * Hunt, Roger D. and Jack R. Brown, ''Brevet Brigadier Generals in Blue.'' Gaithersburg, MD: Olde Soldier Books, Inc., 1990. {{ISBN|1-56013-002-4}}. * Tuttle, Charles Richard. [https://books.google.com/books?id=wuAyAQAAIAAJ 'An illustrated history of the state of Wisconsin: being a complete civil, political and military history of the state']. Madison, Wis.: B. B. Russell & Co., 1875. {{OCLC|1393387}}. Retrieved February 21, 2012. * Usher, Ellis Baker. [https://books.google.com/books?id=Qp4UAAAAYAAJ 'Wisconsin: its story and biography, 1848-1913, Volume 8']. Chicago and New York: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1914. {{OCLC|228664264}}. Retrieved February 21, 2012. * Williamson, Harold Francis and Orange A. Smalley. [https://books.google.com/books?id=p6-PvlKTAFQC 'Northwestern Mutual Life: a century of trusteeship.'] Milwaukee, Wis: Executive Committee of the company, 1908. Reprint 1976, Arno Press. {{ISBN|0-405-08062-X}}. Retrieved February 21, 2012. * Wisconsin. Adjutant General's Office. [http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/roster/searchresults.asp?lastName=Bintliff&firstName=James 'Roster of Volunteers in the War of the Rebellion,1861&ndash;1865'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304211100/http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/roster/searchresults.asp?lastName=Bintliff&firstName=James |date=2016-03-04 }}. Volume 1. Madison, Wis: Democrat Printing Company, 1886. {{OCLC|3781010}} Retrieved February 24, 2012. * Wisconsin. Board of Control. [https://books.google.com/books?id=MSwtAAAAYAAJ 'Fourth Biennial Report of the State Board of Control of Wisconsin Charitable, Reformatory and Penal Institutions for the Two Fiscal Years Ending September 30, 1898']. Madison, Wis.: Democrat Printing Company, 1898. {{OCLC|183310849}}. Retrieved February 21, 2012. * Wisconsin. State Board of Health, Wisconsin. State Bureau of Vital Statistics, Wisconsin. Hygienic Laboratory, Madison. [https://books.google.com/books?id=gE5NAAAAMAAJ 'First Annual Report of the State Board of Health, of the State of Wisconsin, for the Year Ending December 31, 1876.']. Madison, Wis.: E. B. Bolens, 1876. {{OCLC|5521484}}. Retrieved February 21, 1876. * Wisconsin. ''Proceedings of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin at its Forty-Ninth Annual Meeting'']. Madison, Wis: Democrat Printing Company, 1902. {{OCLC|12772347}}. Retrieved February 21, 2012.

==External links== *[http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Content.aspx?dsNav=Ro:20,N:4294963828-4294963805&dsNavOnly=N:1104&dsRecordDetails=R:CS3262 Bintliff, Col. James (1824-1901) | Wisconsin Historical Society]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bintliff, James}} Category:Military personnel from Halifax, West Yorkshire Category:English emigrants to the United States Category:People from Monroe, Wisconsin Category:People from Janesville, Wisconsin Category:People from Darlington, Wisconsin Category:Union army generals Category:People of Wisconsin in the American Civil War Category:Wisconsin Republicans Category:American abolitionists Category:Editors of Wisconsin newspapers Category:1824 births Category:1901 deaths Category:American male journalists Category:Journalists from New York City Category:Burials at Oak Hill Cemetery (Janesville, Wisconsin)