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(1837 - 1915)
Home State: Pennsylvania
Command Billet: Company Commander
Branch of Service: Infantry
Before Antietam
He was a civil engineer in Reading at the outbreak of War, immediately enlisted in the Ringgold Artillery, and was in Washington in April 1861 as one of the First Defenders. In May he was appointed Adjutant of the 25th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, but soon accepted appointment as 1st Lieutenant in the 17th United States Infantry, to date from 14 May 1861.
On the Campaign
He commanded Company E, 1st Battalion of the 17th at Antietam.
The rest of the War
Some time after Antietam he was promoted to Captain, to date from 16 Aug 1862.
He served in the Division of Regular Infantry, Fifth Army Corps, at the siege of Yorktown, battles of Gaines Mill, Malvern Hill, Second Bull Run, Antietam and Fredericksburg. He was on the staff of Major General Howard, commanding Eleventh Army Corps, at the battles of Chancellorsville and Gettysburg; transferred with Howard's Army Corps to the Army of the Cumberland, and was present at the battles of Wauhatchie, Chattanooga, and the various actions and skirmishes of the Atlanta campaign, having his horse shot under him at the battle of Jonesboro when Atlanta was captured. When General Howard was promoted to command the Army of the Tennessee, he asked for the transfer of Pearson, who, as his staff officer, accompanied the right wing on General Sherman's march to the sea, and participated in the battle of Bentonsville, N.C. (Who's Who in Pennsylvania, 1904 - bio online)He was honored during the War by brevet to Major (3 May 1863) and Lieutenant Colonel (1 Sept 1864) for gallant and meritorious service at Chancellorsville and during the Atlanta Campaign, respectively.
After the War
He continued in the Army with the 17th Infantry after the War, serving in Texas, the Dakota and Montana Territories, and finally made Major - of the 21st US Infantry - 19 May 1881. He saw service in the 21st in Idaho, Oregon, Nebraska and Wyoming. He was promoted Lieutenant Colonel, 24th Infantry on 19 Apr 1886, and Colonel of the 10th US 14 Oct 1891 - both regiments also serving in the West.
The announcement of the engagement and approaching marriage of Colonel Edward P. Pearson, Tenth infantry, to Miss [Maud] Eskridge [1871-1917], daughter of Major [Richard Isaac] Eskridge, of the same regiment, was quite a surprise to the colonelÔøΩs many friends in this city, but congratulations are in order and these and best wishes for the future are hereby sent Colonel Pearson at Fort Reno, by his many well wishers in this city. (Santa Fe New Mexican, 9 April 1898)He led the 3rd Brigade, V Corps at San Juan Hill on 1 Jul 1898 in the War with Spain and was rewarded with a commission as Brigadier General of Volunteers (12 July 1898 - 30 Nov 1898). He retired on 16 May 1899, after battling malaria in Cuba. He and his wife were buried in the Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery in 1915 and 1917.
Birth
1837; Lebanon, PA
Death
1915; burial in Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery, Point Loma, CA
1 Heitman, Francis Bernard, Historical Register and Dictionary of the United States Army 1789-1903, 2 volumes, Washington DC: US Government Printing Office, 1903, pg. 779 [AotW citation 862]
2 Reese, Timothy J., Sykes' Regular Infantry Division, 1861-1864: A History of Regular United States Infantry Operations in the Civil War's Eastern Theater, Jefferson (NC): McFarland&Company, Inc., 1990, pg. 386 [AotW citation 863]