Charles Russell Lowell III (January 2, 1835 – October 20, 1864) was a railroad executive, foundryman, and General in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He was mortally wounded at the Battle of Cedar Creek and was mourned by a number of leading generals.
Lowell entered the Union Army in June 1861, and was commissioned as a captain in the 3rd U.S. Cavalry, transferring to the 6th U.S. Cavalry in August.[2] He served as an aide-de-camp to General George B. McClellan during the formation of the Army of the Potomac in the summer and fall of 1861 and continued at McClellan's side during the 1862 Peninsula Campaign and the Battle of Antietam.[1]
In 1863 Lowell recruited and organized the 2nd Massachusetts Cavalry, and on May 10 was appointed its colonel. During the winter of 1863–1864, he was in charge of the outer defenses of Washington, D.C., and was engaged in repelling the raid by Confederate Lt. Gen.Jubal Early that reached the outskirts of the capital. In February, 1864, near Vienna, Virginia Lowell ordered the drumhead execution of William E. "Pony" Ormsby, a deserter and traitor who fled to join Colonel John S. Mosby's (CSA) campaign.[citation needed]
Lowell was nominated as a brigadier general two days after his death. Since he was unable to sign his new commission after his death, Secretary of WarEdwin M. Stanton authorized an exception allowing the posthumous promotion to become official. Upon hearing of his death, General George Armstrong Custer wept and Sheridan remarked "I do not think there was a quality which I could have added to Lowell. He was the perfection of a man and a soldier."[4]
Josephine Shaw and Colonel Lowell in 1863Grave of Charles Russell Lowell at Mount Auburn Cemetery
In October 1863, Lowell married businesswoman Josephine Shaw (1843—1905), a sister of his close friend and fellow Union Army casualty Colonel Robert Gould Shaw (1837—1863). Her home when she was married was on Staten Island, and she became deeply interested in the social problems of New York City. She was a member of the State Charities Aid Society, and from 1876 to 1889 was a member of the New York State Board of Charities, being the first woman appointed to that board. She founded the Charity Organization Society of New York City in 1882, and wrote Public Relief and Private Charity (1884) and Industrial Arbitration and Conciliation (1893).[2] They had one daughter, Carlotta Russell Lowell (November 30, 1864 — September 19, 1924).
^"Charles Russell Lowell". Harvard Memorial Biographies. Vol. I. Sever and Francis. 1866. p. 327. Retrieved May 9, 2022 – via Internet Archive.
Further reading
Bartol, C.A. The Purchase by Blood: A Tribute to Brig.-Gen. Charles Russell Lowell, Jr. Spoken in the West Church, Oct. 30, 1864. Boston: John Wilson and Son, 1864.
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