{{Short description|American businessman and Civil War general (1816–1890)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=November 2021}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Julius White | image = Brig General Julius White.jpg | caption = | office = 10th [[List of ambassadors of the United States to Argentina|United States Minister to Argentina]] | president = [[Andrew Johnson]]<br />[[Ulysses S. Grant]] | term_start = June 5, 1868 | term_end = July 8, 1869 | predecessor = [[Robert C. Kirk]] | successor = [[Thomas O. Osborn]] | office1 = [[Chairman of the Cook County Board of Commissioners]] | term_start1 = December 4, 1871 | term_end1 = December 1872 | predecessor1 = ''office established'' | successor1 = Henry B. Miller | state2 = Wisconsin | state_assembly2 = Wisconsin | district2 = [[Milwaukee County, Wisconsin|Milwaukee]] 3rd | term_start2 = January 1, 1849 | term_end2 = January 7, 1850 | predecessor2 = [[William W. Brown (Wisconsin politician)|William W. Brown]] | successor2 = [[Edward McGarry (Wisconsin politician)|Edward McGarry]] | party = {{unbulleted list | [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] | [[Whig Party (United States)|Whig]] (before 1854) }} | birth_date = {{birth date|1816|09|23}} | birth_place = [[Cazenovia, New York]], U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|1890|05|12|1816|09|23}} | death_place = [[Evanston, Illinois]], U.S. | resting_place = [[Rosehill Cemetery]], {{nowrap|[[Chicago]], Illinois}} | signature = Signature of Julius White.png | spouse = Catherine Frances Collins (died 1892) | children = {{unbulleted list | Edward Macon White | {{sup|(b. 1841; died 1873)}} | Mildred (Roanne) | {{sup|(b. 1846; died 1881)}} | Fremont White | {{sup|(b. 1850; died 1851)}} | Lizzie Ruggles (Sullivan) | {{sup|(b. 1852; died 1917)}} | Henry Teneyck White | {{sup|(b. 1853; died 1942)}} }} | allegiance = {{flag|United States|1862}} | branch = {{flag|United States Army}}<br />[[Union Army]] | service_years = 1861–1865 | rank = {{unbulleted list | [[File:Union Army brigadier general rank insignia.svg|35px]] [[Brigadier general (United States)|Brig. General]] | [[File:Union Army major general rank insignia.svg|35px]] [[Brevet (military)|Brevet]] [[Major general (United States)|Major General]] }} | commands = {{unbulleted list | [[37th Illinois Infantry Regiment|37th Reg. Ill. Vol. Infantry]] | 2nd Div., [[XXIII Corps (Union Army)|XXIII Corps]] | 1st Div., [[IX Corps (Union Army)|IX Corps]] }} | unit = | battles = {{tree list}} *[[American Civil War]] **[[Battle of Pea Ridge]] **[[Battle of Harpers Ferry]] **[[Battle of Campbell's Station]] **[[Siege of Knoxville]] **[[Battle of the Crater]] **[[Battle of Globe Tavern]] {{tree list/end}} }} '''Julius White''' (September 23, 1816{{spaced ndash}}May 12, 1890) was an [[Americans|American]] businessman and [[Brigadier general (United States)|brigadier general]] in the [[Union Army]] during the [[American Civil War]]. [[Reconstruction era of the United States|After the war]], he served as [[List of ambassadors of the United States to Argentina|U.S. Minister (ambassador)]] to [[Argentina]].
== Early life and career == Born September 23, 1816, in [[Cazenovia, New York|Cazenovia]], [[New York (state)|New York]], White left New York at the age of twenty for [[Chicago]], [[Illinois]], where he took up various business pursuits. He later moved to [[Milwaukee]], [[Wisconsin]], to pursue commercial business there, including as an [[insurance agent]].<ref>Buck, James Smith. ''Pioneer History of Milwaukee: Under the Charter'' Milwaukee: Symes, Swain & Co., Printers: 1884; p. 231</ref> He was elected in 1848 to the [[2nd Wisconsin Legislature]] as a [[Whig Party (United States)|Whig]] member of the [[Wisconsin State Assembly]], serving a single one-year term. Soon after that, he returned to the Chicago area, where he became a prominent insurance agent and [[underwriter]], becoming president of the Chicago Board of Underwriters <ref name="Andreas, Alfred Theodore 1886. p. 636">Andreas, Alfred Theodore. ''History of Chicago: From the earliest period to the present time''. Chicago: A. T. Andreas, 1884-1886. Vol. 3, p. 636</ref> and a member of the [[Chicago Board of Trade]]. During the [[Presidential election of 1860]], White invited [[Abraham Lincoln]] (a former fellow Whig and described in contemporary accounts as an "old friend" of Lincoln) to visit him in his newly-purchased home in [[Evanston, Illinois|Evanston]] in April, where he was entertained, feted and is described as enjoying himself before staying overnight.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=1rXfAAAAMAAJ&q=Abraham+Lincoln's+Visit+to+Evanston+in+1860 Currey, Josiah Seymour. ''Abraham Lincoln's Visit to Evanston in 1860'' Evanston: City National Bank, 1914]</ref>
On March 30, 1861, now-President Lincoln appointed White [[import duties|customs collector]] for the [[Port of Chicago]].<ref>Andreas, Alfred Theodore. ''History of Chicago: From the earliest period to the present time''. Chicago: A. T. Andreas, 1884-1886. Vol. 3, p. 385</ref>
==Civil War== White resigned his post in Customs when he received a commission as [[Colonel (United States)|colonel]] of the [[37th Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment]] on September 19, 1861. He led the [[regiment]] in the southwest [[Missouri]] campaign of [[John C. Fremont]] in late 1861. At the [[Battle of Pea Ridge]] on March 7, 1862, his brigade of two [[Illinois in the American Civil War|Illinois]] regiments blunted the attack of [[Louis Hebert (colonel)|Louis Hebert]]'s [[Confederate States Army|Confederates]]. On March 8, his troops participated in the final attack that defeated the Southern army.
White was promoted brigadier general on June 9, 1862, and led the "Railroad" Brigade, [[VIII Corps (ACW)|VIII Corps]].<ref>Eicher p.566</ref> During the [[Second Battle of Bull Run]], this unit was posted in [[Martinsburg, West Virginia]], on the [[Baltimore & Ohio Railroad]]. In the face of [[Robert E. Lee]]'s invasion of [[Maryland]], White retreated into [[Harper's Ferry, West Virginia]], and joined Colonel [[Dixon S. Miles]] and his large garrison there. "White outranked Miles, but he followed military protocol by putting himself under the officer commanding on the scene in a crisis."<ref>Sears, p. 122.</ref> This was an unfortunate decision for White because Miles proved to be incapable of mounting an effective defense of the position. The [[Battle of Harpers Ferry]] was fought September 12–15, 1862, from a highly disadvantageous position compounded by Miles's numerous strategic mistakes. After he ran up the white flag, one of the last shots mortally wounded Miles. Therefore, White had to carry out the formal surrender of the place. For surrendering, White was brought before a court of inquiry, but he was acquitted when the court "found that he acted with capability and courage."<ref name="Boatner, p. 914">Boatner, p. 914.</ref>
White was assigned to the [[XXIII Corps (ACW)|XXIII Corps]] where he commanded the 2nd Division in the [[Knoxville Campaign]] in 1863.<ref>Battles & Leaders, p. 751.</ref> In July 1864, he was sent to the Eastern Theater to command a division in the IX Corps. He briefly served as [[Ambrose Burnside]]'s chief of staff during the [[battle of the Crater]]. He commanded the 1st Division in the IX Corps at the [[battle of Globe Tavern]]. This division was discontinued late in the Summer of 1864 and White resigned on November 19, 1864. He was breveted [[Major general (United States)|major general]] for war service.
== Postbellum career == White returned to the insurance industry after the war. In 1871, when [[Cook County, Illinois|Cook County]] adopted a new form of government by a [[Cook County Board of Commissioners]], White was not only elected to the board from one of the non-Chicago districts, but was elected its first [[chairman]], even though ten of the fifteen commissioners were from Chicago.<ref>Johnson, Charles B. ''Growth of Cook County Vol. 1: A History of the Large Lake-Shore County That Includes Chicago'' Chicago: Board of Commissioners of Cook County, Ill., 1960; pp. 100-101</ref>
In 1872, White left the insurance business and went into [[real estate]].<ref name="Andreas, Alfred Theodore 1886. p. 636"/> He was one of the founding members of First Congregational Church of Evanston in 1869.<ref>[https://evanstonnow.com/first-congregational-marks-150-years/ "First Congregational marks 150 years" ''Evanston Now'' October 9, 2019]</ref>
White served as [[United States Ambassador to Argentina|U.S. Minister to Argentina]] from November 1873 to March 1874.<ref name="Boatner, p. 914"/> [[File:Julius White's grave at Rosehill Cemetery, Chicago 1.jpg|200px|thumb|right|Julius White's grave at Rosehill Cemetery, Chicago]] He died May 12, 1890, in Evanston, and is buried at [[Rosehill Cemetery]] in Chicago.
Locust Street in Chicago's [[Chicago Loop|Loop]] was formerly named White Street after White.<ref>Andreas, Alfred Theodore. ''History of Chicago: From the earliest period to the present time''. Chicago: A. T. Andreas, 1884-1886. Vol. 1, p. 196</ref><ref>Currey, Josiah Seymour. ''Chicago: Its History and Its Builders: A Century of Marvelous Growth'' Chicago: S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1912; vol. 3, p. 353</ref>
==See also== {{Portal|American Civil War|Politics}} *[[List of American Civil War generals (Union)]]
==References== * ''Battles and Leaders of the Civil War,'' Volume 3. Secaucus, NJ: Castle. {{ISBN|0-89009-571-X}} * {{Civil War Dictionary}} * Eicher, John H., and [[David J. Eicher|Eicher, David J.]], ''Civil War High Commands'', Stanford University Press, 2001, {{ISBN|0-8047-3641-3}}. * Sears, Stephen W. ''Landscape Turned Red: The Battle of Antietam.'' New Haven: Ticknor & Fields, 1983. {{ISBN|0-89919-172-X}}
==Footnotes== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *{{commons category-inline}}
{{s-start}} {{s-mil}} |- {{s-non|reason = Regiment established }} {{s-ttl|title = Command of the [[37th Illinois Infantry Regiment]] |years= September 18, 1861{{spaced ndash}}June 9, 1862 }} {{s-aft|after = Col. Myron S. Barnes}} {{s-par|us-wi-hs}} {{s-bef|before = [[William W. Brown (Wisconsin politician)|William W. Brown]] }} {{s-ttl|title = {{nowrap|Member of the [[Wisconsin State Assembly]]}} {{nowrap|from the [[Milwaukee County, Wisconsin|Milwaukee]] 3rd district}} |years= January 1, 1849{{spaced ndash}}January 7, 1850 }} {{s-aft|after = [[Edward McGarry (Wisconsin politician)|Edward McGarry]] }} {{s-dip}} {{s-bef|before = [[Robert C. Kirk]] }} {{s-ttl|title = [[List of ambassadors of the United States to Argentina|United States Minister to Argentina]] |years= June 5, 1868{{spaced ndash}}July 8, 1869 }} {{s-aft|after = [[Thomas O. Osborn]] }} {{s-end}} {{US Ambassadors to Argentina}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:White, Julius}} [[Category:1816 births]] [[Category:1890 deaths]] [[Category:Burials at Rosehill Cemetery]] [[Category:People of Illinois in the American Civil War]] [[Category:Union army generals]] [[Category:Ambassadors of the United States to Argentina]] [[Category:Members of the Wisconsin State Assembly]] [[Category:Wisconsin Whigs]] [[Category:United States Customs Service personnel]] [[Category:Insurance agents]] [[Category:Insurance underwriters]] [[Category:Members of the Cook County Board of Commissioners]] [[Category:19th-century American diplomats]] [[Category:19th-century members of the Wisconsin Legislature]] [[Category:Military personnel from Cook County, Illinois]] [[Category:Presidents of the Cook County Board of Commissioners]]