John McAllister Schofield (; September 29, 1831 – March 4, 1906) was an American soldier who held major commands during the American Civil War. He was appointed U.S. Secretary of War (1868–1869) under President Andrew Johnson and later served as Commanding General of the United States Army (1888–1895).
Early life John McAllister Schofield was born September 29, 1831, in Gerry, New York, the son of the Reverend James Schofield and his first wife, the former Caroline (McAllister) Schofield. His father, a Baptist minister in Sinclairville became a domestic missionary and moved his family (which then included six children and would include 10 who survived infancy) to Bristol, Illinois. When John was 12, they finally settled in Freeport, Illinois, where Rev. Schofield became the town's first Baptist minister in 1845, and where he was ultimately buried in 1888.
During the American Revolutionary War, his family consisted of both Patriots and Loyalists. His grandfather at the time was considered below the age to fight during the Revolution. Though, after settling in New York, he fought in the New York Militia during the War of 1812. His earliest ancestor who arrived in America was Richard Schofield, who came to the Massachusetts Bay Colony from England in 1635.
As a young man John Schofield was educated in the public schools, helped his family farm and build their home, and then surveyed land in northern Wisconsin before spending a year teaching school in Oneco, Illinois. Then U.S. Rep. Thomas J. Turner secured John Schofield an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point. He sold land for travel expenses and reported on June 1, 1849. In his final year at the academy, while a teaching assistant in the mathematics section, cadet Schofield was accused of allowing others in his classroom to make offensive jokes and drawings on the blackboard. He was dismissed from West Point, but after meeting with Illinois' U.S. Senator Stephen A. Douglas, appealed the decision to the Secretary of War, who referred the matter back to a Board of Inquiry at the academy. A majority of the review board voted to rescind the expulsion, but one of the two officers who voted to sustain it, cavalry and artillery instructor Lt. George H. Thomas, later became a commander of Schofield during the Civil War. Although Schofield's eventual memoirs did not mention Thomas on the review board, his persistent criticism of Thomas's generalship after the war may reflect this incident. Schofield graduated in 1853, ranking seventh in his class, and was commissioned a brevet second lieutenant in the artillery.
Schofield served for two years in the artillery. His first post was at Fort Moultrie, South Carolina, which he later noted involved the same guns that were used to bombard Fort Sumter in 1861. He then served at various places in Florida during the armed truce with the Seminole Nation, but contracted fevers and dysentery and was ultimately evacuated (with the assistance of future Confederate General A. P. Hill) and recovered at Culpeper, Virginia.
Upon regaining his health, First Lieutenant Schofield returned to West Point as assistant professor of natural and experimental philosophy from 1855 to 1860. His career seemed stalled, so he took leave (1860–1861), to work as professor of physics at Washington University in St. Louis. Several of his brothers had settled in St. Louis, following the lead of his eldest brother Rev. James Van Pelt Schofield (1825–1898).
Civil War
When the Civil War broke out, Schofield helped assure that Missouri did not join the Confederacy. He became a major in the 1st Missouri Infantry Regiment and served as chief of staff to Maj. Gen. Nathaniel Lyon until Lyon's death during the Battle of Wilson's Creek (Missouri) in August 1861. Schofield acted with "conspicuous gallantry" during the battle, and decades later received the Medal of Honor for that action.
Schofield was promoted to brigadier general of volunteers on November 21, 1861. From 1861 to 1863 he held various commands in the Trans-Mississippi Theater. He commanded the District of St. Louis from that date to April 10, 1862, the Military District of Missouri from June 5 to September 24, 1862, and the District of Southwest Missouri to November 10, 1862. He led the Army of the Frontier from October 12, 1862, to May 30, 1863. He was promoted to major general of volunteers on November 29, 1862, at the age of 31, making him one of the youngest major generals in the Civil War.
On September 30, 1862, a Federal brigade suffered a defeat at the First Battle of Newtonia in southwest Missouri. Both James G. Blunt and Schofield rushed to Newtonia, Missouri, with reinforcements and sent the Confederate force fleeing south into Arkansas. The department commander Samuel Ryan Curtis created the Army of the Frontier with Schofield in command. Blunt led the 1st Division, James Totten the 2nd Division, and Francis J. Herron the 3rd Division. The army numbered 20,000 men, but probably 14,000 were fit for duty. Schofield's army crossed into northwest Arkansas on 17 October. Blunt's division soon moved west into Indian Territory where it won the Battle of Old Fort Wayne on October 22. Meanwhile, Schofield with the 2nd and 3rd Divisions occupied Huntsville, Arkansas. Schofield's troops clashed with forces led by Thomas C. Hindman, and the Confederates retreated south on 29 October. On November 4, with the approval of his superior Samuel R. Curtis, Schofield's two divisions withdrew northeast to Springfield, Missouri while Blunt's division remained in northwest Arkansas.
He was eventually relieved of duty in the West, at his own request, due to altercations with Curtis.
From April 17 to May 10, 1863, Schofield led the 3rd Division in the XIV Corps, Army of the Cumberland. He returned to Missouri as commander of the Department of Missouri from May 24, 1863, to January 30, 1864. His command in Missouri was marred by controversy after a massacre at Lawrence, Kansas, when Schofield refused to allow a posse to pursue the combatants into Missouri. Pro-Union Missourians sent a delegation to Washington, D.C., in October to plead with President Lincoln to dismiss Schofield for sympathizing with pro-Confederate Bushwhacker para-military marauders who were attacking loyal Union citizens. Lincoln backed Schofield's position, attributed the carnage to wartime conditions rather than the commander's inadequacy, and instructed Schofield to respect civil liberties unless assemblies or newspapers were working palpable harm to the military.
In 1864, as commander of the Army of the Ohio, Schofield participated in the Atlanta campaign under Major General William T. Sherman. Sherman placed him in command of a major operation to break the rail lines in late July 1864. Schofield became embroiled in another controversy prior to the Battle of Utoy Creek, with the commander of the US XIV Corps (Volunteer), Major General John Palmer, who resigned rather than serve under Schofield, whom he considered to be of lower rank, but whom Gen. Sherman backed. Schofield with his XXIII Corps and the XIV Corps then spent the month in front of Atlanta and East Point with lackluster results. Sherman resorted to a flanking movement to defeat the Confederates under Hood. Schofield was sent to cut off Hardee's retreat at Jonesboro but failed to move. He became embroiled in a further controversy, when placed under General Stanley commanding the US IV Corps, on August 30, 1864.
Sherman, after the fall of Atlanta, took the majority of his forces on a March to the Sea through Georgia. Schofield's Army of the Ohio was detached to join Major General George H. Thomas in Tennessee. When Confederate General John Bell Hood invaded Tennessee and nearly cut off Schofield's command at Spring Hill, Hood's rash assault to regain momentum at the subsequent Battle of Franklin resulted in a significant defeat. On December 15–16, Schofield took part in Thomas's crowning victory at the Battle of Nashville where Hood's Army of Tennessee was decisively defeated, and effectively destroyed as a fighting force for the remainder of the war. However, during the buildup towards the battle Schofield intrigued against Thomas, feeding Grant false information, in order to try to succeed his senior in command. For his services at Franklin he was awarded the rank of brigadier general in the regular army on November 30, 1864, and the brevet rank of major general on March 13, 1865.
Ordered to operate with Sherman in North Carolina, Schofield moved his corps by rail and sea to Fort Fisher, North Carolina, in 17 days, occupied Wilmington on February 22, 1865, fought the action at Kinston on March 10, and on March 23, joined Sherman at Goldsboro. He accompanied Sherman to Bennett Place on April 26 to meet with Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston to discuss terms of surrender for the latter's forces. At Schofield's suggestion, additional "Terms of a Military Convention" and "Supplemental Terms" were appended to the larger agreement which permitted Confederate soldiers to be allowed to return to their homes, ensured their private property rights, and offered them means of transportation.
Reconstruction After securing a final agreement from General Johnston, Sherman left Raleigh on April 28, 186528 April 1865 | The Civil War Letters of Lyman Beecher Hannaford, leaving Schofield in charge of the Department of North Carolina. With the state's Confederate civil government displaced and no Unionist civil authority available to take over, Schofield was left to govern the state under martial law. The day before Sherman's departure, Schofield issued two general orders. The first declared the end to a state of war in North Carolina while the second declared the freedom of all slaves in the state. He quickly turned his attention towards the parole of Confederate soldiers, meeting Johnston in Greensboro to discuss its implementation on May 2. He also met North Carolina Governor Zebulon Vance and informed him that his mandate was voided, but declined to arrest him, saying he had no instructions to do so. To maintain law and order, he deployed the 46,000 troops under his command across North Carolina with orders to "visit all parts of the State, disperse or capture all bands of guerillas and marauders, and collect all military arms" except those exempt under previous surrender agreements. He also directed the creation of civilian police forces in each county to arrest criminals and hand them over to military authorities for tribunal.
Schofield complained of a lack of direction from the federal government and President Andrew Johnson while he administered the occupation in North Carolia Taking matters into his own hands with regards to the status of recently-freed slaves, he issued an order to inform the former slaves and their former masters of their social responsibilities. The directive stipulated that freed slaves assumed full responsibility for their children, and if they or adult relatives were unavailable, former slaveholders assumed the role of legal guardians for freed children, elderly, and ill persons. Former masters were prohibited from evicting such persons under their care, and able freedmen were barred from vagrancy. Freedmen were permitted to travel in search of employment but were to expect only modest compensation for their labor for near future and could not receive any aid from the government or their former owners unless they worked. Schofield ordered all army officers and leaders of county police to administer his instructions. As the Freedmen's Bureau had yet to be established in the state, the general further ordered that each district commanding officer was to appoint an officer and several assistants to ensure refugees' return to their homes, distribute aid to the homeless, and mediate disputes concerning freedpeople.