System Mechanic - Clean, repair, protect, and speed up your PC!Joseph Bailey
1825 - 1867
Joseph Bailey, Union Civil War general whose engineering skills earned him a Thanks of Congress, died March 21, 1867. He was 41.
Bailey was born May 6, 1825 near Pennsville, Ohio. A lumberman before the Civil War, Bailey was commissioned a captain in the Union army when the war began.
His initial tours of duty saw him rise from a captain of the 4th Wisconsin to colonel, and later to brigadier general of the Military Division of West Mississippi. It was in the latter duty that he would distinguish himself.
Having become an engineer commander, Bailey had become acting chief engineer of the defenses of New Orleans in the spring of 1864. An integral part of the capture of Port Hudson, Bailey was the chief engineer in the Red River Campaign when union boats had been bogged down by low water levels, leaving them in a very vulnerable position for enemy artillery barrages.
Bailey and 3,000 of his troops were able to construct a dam across the river and get the ground and amphibious forces to safe positions.
For this action, Bailey received an honorary promotion to brigadier general and became one of only 14 men in the Civil War to receive the Thanks of Congress.
The honorary promotion to brigadier became permanent, and with his successful command directing engineers at the battle of Mobile, he was promoted to brevet major general.
After the war, Bailey resigned his commission in July 1865. Less than two years later, on March 21, 1867, he was shot and killed while serving as a sheriff in Missouri.
