Civil War Union Brevet Brigadier General. When quite young Whittier's family moved from Bangor, Maine to Boston. It was in Boston that he received his early education, and later completed graduate studies at Harvard University where in 1860 he received an AB degree. He moved on to studying law after graduation, but completion was cut short because of the start of the Civil War. In 1861 he enlisted as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Twelfth Massachusetts Regiment of Volunteer Infantry. He served on the staff of Major General John Sedgwich, commanding General of the Sixth Army Corps. He was reassigned as adjutant general of the Second Corps. In March of 1865 he was promoted to Major and was one of those who near the end of the war carried messages between General Grant and General Lee concerning surrender terms. When the representatives of Lee arrived at Appomattox it was Whittier who met them. On April 9, 1865 he was appointed Brevet Brigadier General, and at the time made him one of the youngest General's in the Army. He had not yet attained his twenty fifth birthday. During the war he participated in the Battles of Ball’s Bluff, Antietam, Gettysburg, The Wilderness, Spottsylvania Courthouse and the Shenandoah Valley Campaign. After the war he remained with the Army where years later he again attained the rank of Brigadier General. He died while on a pleasure trip to England aboard the steamship Mauretania.
Civil War Union Brevet Brigadier General. When quite young Whittier's family moved from Bangor, Maine to Boston. It was in Boston that he received his early education, and later completed graduate studies at Harvard University where in 1860 he received an AB degree. He moved on to studying law after graduation, but completion was cut short because of the start of the Civil War. In 1861 he enlisted as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Twelfth Massachusetts Regiment of Volunteer Infantry. He served on the staff of Major General John Sedgwich, commanding General of the Sixth Army Corps. He was reassigned as adjutant general of the Second Corps. In March of 1865 he was promoted to Major and was one of those who near the end of the war carried messages between General Grant and General Lee concerning surrender terms. When the representatives of Lee arrived at Appomattox it was Whittier who met them. On April 9, 1865 he was appointed Brevet Brigadier General, and at the time made him one of the youngest General's in the Army. He had not yet attained his twenty fifth birthday. During the war he participated in the Battles of Ball’s Bluff, Antietam, Gettysburg, The Wilderness, Spottsylvania Courthouse and the Shenandoah Valley Campaign. After the war he remained with the Army where years later he again attained the rank of Brigadier General. He died while on a pleasure trip to England aboard the steamship Mauretania.
Bio by: Saratoga
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