Samuel Curtis
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{{Infobox Military Person
|name= Samuel Ryan Curtis
|lived= {{birth date|1805|2|3}} – {{death date and age|1866|12|26|1805|2|3}}
|placeofbirth= [[Champlain, New York]]
|placeofdeath= [[Council Bluffs, Iowa]]
|image= [[Image:samuelcurtis.jpg|150px]]
|caption=Samuel R. Curtis at the time of the Civil War
|nickname=
|allegiance= [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]]
|branch= [[Union Army]]
|serviceyears=
|rank=[[Major General#United States| Major General]]
|commands=[[Army of the Southwest]]<br/>[[Army of the Border]]
|unit=
|battles= [[Mexican-American War]]<br/>[[American Civil War]]<br/>*[[Battle of Pea Ridge|Pea Ridge]]<br/>*[[Battle of Westport|Westport]]
|awards=
|laterwork= U.S. Congressman<br/>Indian Peace Commissioner<br/>Railroad commissioner
}}
'''Samuel Ryan Curtis''' ([[February 3]], [[1805]] – [[December 26]], [[1866]]) was an [[United States|American]] military officer, most famous for his role in the [[Trans-Mississippi Theater of the American Civil War]].
Born near [[Champlain]], [[New York]], Curtis graduated from the [[United States Military Academy]] in 1831. He moved to [[Ohio]], where he was a lawyer and took several other civilian jobs. During the [[Mexican-American War]], he served as military [[governor]] of several occupied cities. After the war, he moved to [[Iowa]], was the mayor of [[Keokuk, Iowa|Keokuk]] in 1856, and served in [[United States Congress|Congress]] from 1857 to 1861 as a [[United States Republican Party|Republican]]. He was a supporter of eventual [[President of the United States|President]] [[Abraham Lincoln]], and was considered for a [[cabinet]] position; however, after the Civil War broke out, Curtis was appointed [[Colonel (United States)| colonel]] of the [[2nd Iowa Regiment|2nd Iowa Infantry]] on [[June 1]], [[1861]]. He was subsequently promoted to [[Brigadier General#United States| brigadier general]], effective [[May 17]].
After organizing the chaos in [[St. Louis, Missouri]], Curtis was given command of the [[Army of the Southwest]] on [[December 25]], [[1861]], by [[Major General#United States| Maj. Gen.]] [[Henry W. Halleck]]. Curtis moved his headquarters south to [[Rolla, Missouri]], to solidify [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] control in [[Arkansas]]. In March 1862, his army won the [[Battle of Pea Ridge]] in northwest Arkansas. His success made him pensive rather than triumphant. A few days after the battle he wrote, "The scene is silent and sad. The vulture and the wolf now have the dominion and the dead friends and foes sleep in the same lonely graves."<ref>Shea & Hess, p 275</ref> He was promoted to major general for his success, effective [[March 21]], [[1862]]. Tragically, on the same day in late March that he heard about his promotion, he also found out that his twenty year old daughter Sadie died of [[typhoid fever]] in [[St. Louis]].<ref>Shea & Hess, p 290</ref>
After Pea Ridge, Curtis' small army moved east and invaded northeast Arkansas, capturing the city of [[Helena, Arkansas]] in July. In September, Curtis was given command of the District of Missouri, but Lincoln was soon forced to reassign him, after Curtis's [[abolitionism|abolitionist]] views led to conflict with the governor of Missouri.
In October 1863, his son [[Major (United States)|Major]] Henry S. Curtis, [[adjutant]] to [[Brigadier General#United States|Brig. Gen.]] [[James G. Blunt]], was killed by [[Quantrill's Raiders]]. In this surprise attack at the [[Battle of Baxter Springs]], Quantrill's men wore Federal uniforms and gave no quarter.<ref>Boatner, p 51</ref>
In 1864, Curtis returned to Missouri, fighting against the [[Confederate States Army|Confederate]] invasion led by Maj. Gen. [[Sterling Price]]. When Price's incursion was halted by Curtis' victory at the [[Battle of Westport]], he was given a position until the end of the war on the [[frontier]], commanding the Department of the Northwest.
After the war, he returned to [[Keokuk, Iowa]], where he was involved with the Union advances in [[railroad]]s, until his death in 1866 in [[Council Bluffs, Iowa]]. He is buried in Oakland Cemetery, [[Keokuk]].
==References==
* Boatner, Mark M. III. ''The Civil War Dictionary.'' New York: David McKay, 1959. ISBN 0-679-50013-8
* Eicher, John H., and Eicher, David J., ''Civil War High Commands'', Stanford University Press, 2001, ISBN 0-8047-3641-3
* Shea, William & Hess, Earl, ''Pea Ridge: Civil War Campaign in the West.'' University of North Carolina Press, 1992. ISBN 0-8078-4669-4
*[http://www.nps.gov/peri/curtis.htm National Park Service Biography]
==Footnotes==
<references/>
{{DEFAULTSORT:Curtis, Samuel}}
[[Category:1805 births]]
[[Category:1866 deaths]]
[[Category:Members of the United States House of Representatives from Iowa]]
[[Category:People from Clinton County, New York]]
[[Category:People from Pottawattamie County, Iowa]]
[[Category:People from Keokuk, Iowa]]
[[Category:People of Iowa in the American Civil War]]
[[Category:American military personnel of the Mexican-American War]]
[[Category:Union Army generals]]
[[Category:United States Army generals]]
[[Category:United States Military Academy alumni]]
[[ar:صامويل كورتيس]]
[[fr:Samuel Ryan Curtis]]