William Neil Dennison

Son of Ohio Governor (1860-62) and US Postmaster (1864-66) William Dennison, Jr., he was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant, 2nd US Artillery on 5 August 1861, and promoted to First Lieutenant on 12 November 1861.

He commanded one of the sections of the battery in Maryland. He is mentioned by Captain Tidball in his after-action Report.

He was honored by brevets (6 July 1864) to Captain for Antietam and Major for Gaines Mill and Malvern Hill. He commanded Battery G from November 1863 to June 1864, then returned to Battery A, commanding it into February 1865. He received a third brevet (15 March 1865) to Lieutenant Colonel, for War service.

He continued in US Army service and was promoted to Captain on 3 January 1867. He was discharged 31 December 1870 at his own request. He lived in Columbus, OH and was later district attorney in Denver, CO, with a reputation for shady dealing, having possibly abandoned his wife and 4 children back in Ohio.

Basic service information from Heitman1. His photograph from one in the MOLLUS Massachusetts album2. Command details from W.A. Simpson's Second Regiment of Artillery (1900) [via USAMHI].

He's seen also in a James F. Gibson photo taken earlier in 1862, at Gaines Mill, here. His gravesite is on Findagrave.

12/10/1841; Cincinnati, OH

12/31/1904; Columbus, OH; burial in Green Lawn Cemetery, Columbus, OH