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R. Williams
(1829 - 1897)
Home State: Virginia
Education: US Military Academy, West Point, NY, Class of 1851;Class Rank: 19
Command Billet: Commanding Regiment
Branch of Service: Cavalry
Before Antietam
When he graduated from West Point he was brevetted 2nd Lieutenant, First United States Dragoons on 1 July 1851 and was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant on 15 July 1853. He had instructor duty and at posts in New Mexico and California. He was promoted to First Lieutenant on 7 June 1855 and was at Fort Walla Walla, Washington Territory then at the Academy as Instructor in cavalry and infantry tactics.
At the start of the war he was appointed brevet staff Captain and Assistant Adjutant General and assigned to General Banks' staff. He was formally commissioned at that rank on 3 August 1861, but accepted the Volunteer commission as Colonel of the First Massachusetts Cavalry in 7 October 1861 (meanwhile, he was promoted to Major of Staff, USA in July 1862).
On the Campaign
He led the regiment in Maryland.
The rest of the War
He resigned his Volunteer commission on 1 October 1862 and continued on staff duty in Washington, DC to the end of the war. He was honored by brevets to Lieutenant Colonel, Colonel, and Brigadier General for his war service.
After the War
He was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and Assistant Adjutant General on 22 February 1869 and Colonel on 1 July 1881. He was appointed Brigadier General and Adjutant General of the US Army on 5 July 1892 and retired on 5 November 1893.
References & notes
Birth
11/05/1829; Culpeper, VA
Death
1/10/1897; Boston, MA; burial in Christ Church Unity Boston, Brookline, MA
1 Heitman, Francis Bernard, Historical Register and Dictionary of the United States Army 1789-1903, 2 volumes, Washington DC: US Government Printing Office, 1903, Vol. 1, pg. 1042 [AotW citation 29522]
2 Cullum, George Washington, Biographical Register of the Officers and Graduates of the US Military Academy, 2nd Edition, 3 vols., New York: D. Van Nostrand, 1868-79, Vol. II, pp. 453-454; V. IV, pp. 81-82 [AotW citation 29523]
3 US Army, Heritage and Education Center (USAHEC), Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States (MOLLUS)-Massachusetts Photograph Collection, Published 2009, <https://arena.usahec.org/web/arena>, Source page: Vol. 95, pg. 4851 [AotW citation 29524]