Civil War Union Major General, Medal of Honor Recipient, US Congressman. Born in De Peyster, New York, he was a teacher at Gouverneur Wesleyan Seminary and postmaster of De Peyster, at the outbreak of the Civil War. Commissioned a Captain, he was in command of Company G, 16th Regiment, New York Infantry, Union Army. Serving with distinction he fought in many campaigns and rose to the rank of Brigadier General in command of the 1st Brigade, 2nd Division, X Corps. In January 1865, his brigade was at the second Battle of Fort Fisher, North Carolina. General Curtis, leading his men was the first man to pass through the stockade. He personally led each assault on the traverses and was wounded four times. For his actions, he was brevetted Major General on of US Volunteers on March 13, 1865 and awarded the Medal of Honor. After the war, he was appointed collector of customs for Oswegatchie, New York, in 1866 and was special agent of the US Treasury Department, (1867-80). He was employed by the Department of Justice, (1880-82) and a member of the New York State Assembly, (1884-90). In 1891, he was elected as a Republican to the Fifty-second Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Leslie W. Russell, reelected to the Fifty-third and Fifty-fourth Congresses, serving until 1897. Not a candidate for re-nomination, he was Assistant Inspector General of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, until his death at age 74 in New York City.
Civil War Union Major General, Medal of Honor Recipient, US Congressman. Born in De Peyster, New York, he was a teacher at Gouverneur Wesleyan Seminary and postmaster of De Peyster, at the outbreak of the Civil War. Commissioned a Captain, he was in command of Company G, 16th Regiment, New York Infantry, Union Army. Serving with distinction he fought in many campaigns and rose to the rank of Brigadier General in command of the 1st Brigade, 2nd Division, X Corps. In January 1865, his brigade was at the second Battle of Fort Fisher, North Carolina. General Curtis, leading his men was the first man to pass through the stockade. He personally led each assault on the traverses and was wounded four times. For his actions, he was brevetted Major General on of US Volunteers on March 13, 1865 and awarded the Medal of Honor. After the war, he was appointed collector of customs for Oswegatchie, New York, in 1866 and was special agent of the US Treasury Department, (1867-80). He was employed by the Department of Justice, (1880-82) and a member of the New York State Assembly, (1884-90). In 1891, he was elected as a Republican to the Fifty-second Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Leslie W. Russell, reelected to the Fifty-third and Fifty-fourth Congresses, serving until 1897. Not a candidate for re-nomination, he was Assistant Inspector General of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, until his death at age 74 in New York City.
Bio by: John "J-Cat" Griffith
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