Gen. David Hunter (1802-1886)
Major-General in the Union Army & Commander of the Western Department
He graduated (1822) from West Point and served in the Dragoons. In 1842, he was appointed Paymaster of the Army and after Abraham Lincoln became President, he was placed in charge of Lincoln's escort to Washington D.C. On the outbreak of Civil War, he was Colonel of the 3rd U.S. Cavalry before his promotion to Brigadier-General. In August, 1862, he was promoted to Major-General as Commander of the Western Department. He helped organize the first black regiments in the Union Army that fought in Georgia, Florida and South Carolina. He was appointed Assistant Inspector-General of the Department of the Gulf and participated in the Valley Campaigns of 1864. After the war, he was appointed President of the Military Commission that prosecuted the conspirators behind Lincoln's assassination and he served in the Honor Guard at Lincoln's funeral, accompanying his body to Springfield. He retired from the army in 1866 and lived at Fancy Farm (see images) in Bedford County, Virginia, originally built in 1794 by Andrew Donald. He died without children at Washington D.C.
