George David Ruggles – Brigadier General, United States Army

George David Ruggles of New York
Appointed from New York, Cadet, United States Military Academy, 1 September 1851 (19)
Brevet Second Lieutenant, 1st U. S. Infantry, 1 July 1855
Second Lieutenant, 2nd U. S. Infantry, 1 July 1855
First Lieutenant, 2 May 1861
Regimental Adjutant, 10 September 1857 to 1 July 1861
Brevet Captain, 17 July 1862
Colonel, Aide-de-Camo, 28 August 1862 to 31 May 1866
Lieutenant, Assistant Adjutant General, 15 June 1880
Colonel, Assistant Adjutant General, 7 June 1889
Brigadier General, Adjutant General of the Army, 6 November 1893
Breveted Lieutenant  Colonel and Colonel, 13 March 1865, for gallant and meritorious service during the war
Breveted Brigadier General, 13 March 1865, for gallant service during the campaign terminating with the surrender of the insurgent army of Northern Virginia and Brigadier General, U. S. Volunteers, 9 April 1865, for gallant and meritorious service during the operations resulting in the fall of Richmond, Virginia, and the surrender of the insurgent army under General Robert E. Lee
Retired 11 September 1897

Born at Newburgh, New York, September 11, 1833, the son of David and Sarah Colden Ruggles. He graduated from West Point in 1855, 19th in a class of 34, and was assigned to the Infantry.

He served on the Frontier and was promoted to First Lieutenant, Assistant Adjutant General, August 3, 1861. After serving as Pope’s Chief of Staff and Adjutant General, he was Assistant Adjutant General of the Army of the Potomac in Maryland. He served on special duty in the War Department until March 19, 1863 and in the Provost Marhsal’s Department until August 16, 1864. Then he was on inspection duty, named Adjutant General of the Army of the Potomac, February 1-June 30, 1865.

He continued in the Regular Army after the Civil War, receiving brevets to Brigadier General, U.S. Army and U.S. Volunteers, April 9, 1865 for war services. He retired from the Army as a Brigadier General in 1897. Under orders of the President, he was the Governor of the Soldiers’ Home, 1898-1903.

He died in 1904 and was buried in Section 3 of Arlington National Cemetery.

GENERAL GEORGE D. RUGGLES DEAD
Brilliant Civil War Record of Veteran Who Expired at Washington

WASHINGTON, October 19, 1904 – General George D. Ruggles, retired, for several years manager of the Soldiers’ Home in the city, died here tonight.

General Ruggles was a native of New York and a graduate of West Point, but at the outbreak of the Civil War entered the volunteer Army and became Adjutant General of a brigade from Pennsylvania, later taking the leading part in organizing the Army of the Potomac.

His first battle was at Ball’s Bluff.  He won the confidence of the commanders of the Army of the Potomac and became Adjutant General and Chief of Staff to General Pope.  He participated in the battles at Bull Run, Antietam and Chancellorsville, and after the battle of Gettysburg became Adjutant General of Meade’s army.  In 1893 General Ruggles was appointed Adjutant General of the Army, retiring for age just prior to the Spanish-American War.

A widow and four children survive him.

His son, Colden L’Hommedieu Ruggles, Brigadier General, United States Army, is buried nearby in Arlington National Cemetery.

Michael Robert Patterson

Michael Robert Patterson was born in Arlington and is the son of a former officer of the US Army. So it was no wonder that sooner or later his interests drew him to American history and especially to American military history. Many of his articles can be found on renowned portals like the New York Times, Washingtonpost or Wikipedia.

Reviewed by: Michael Howard