William Woolsey Winthrop

His father Francis Bayard Winthrop Jr (1787-1841), a prosperous New York City merchant like his father before him, died when William was 10. After getting an education in the law, William went West at age 26 in 1857 and was a lawyer at Saint Anthony in Hennepin County, MN, but by 1860 he was practicing law in New York and living with his widowed mother and 3 siblings in the household of prosperous lawyer William F Johnson at Port Richmond on Staten Island.

He enrolled in Company F of the 7th New York State Militia on 17 April 1861 and mustered for 3-months' war service with them on 26 April in New York City. He mustered out on 3 June and enrolled again, in New York City, on 1 October 1861 and mustered on 29 November as First Lieutenant of Company H, First United States Sharpshooters.

He led his men in Maryland, and at Shepherdstown on 19 September 1862 ...

... Lieutenant (now Captain) W. W. Winthrop, who in leading the line was the first to set foot on Virginia soil.

He was promoted to Captain on 22 September 1862 and was mustered out on 16 September 1864 to accept the commission as Major and Judge Advocate, US Volunteers. He was honored by brevets to Lieutenant Colonel and Colonel of Volunteers on 13 March 1865 for his war service "in the field" and "in the bureau of justice."

He continued in service and was appointed Major and Judge Advocate, US Army on 25 February 1867. He traveled extensively in the service, but by 1880 was living in Washington, DC. He was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and Deputy Judge Advocate General (JAG) on 5 July 1884 and to Colonel and Assistant JAG on 3 January 1895. He retired at that rank on 3 August 1895.

His service from Heitman1 and his New York Muster Roll Extract, online from fold3. His role on 19 September quoted from Captain Isler's report. Personal details from family genealogists, the Minnesota Territorial Census of 1857, the US Census of 1860 & 1880, and his obituary in the Washington Evening Star of 10 April 1899. His gravesite is on Findagrave.

He married Alice S Worthington (1846-1900) in July 1877.

His brother Theodore Woolsey Winthrop (b. 1828) was among the first Union officers killed in action in the war, at Big Bethel near Newport News, VA in June 1861. His uncle Theodore Dwight Woolsey (1801-1889) was President of Yale while William was a student there.

Some of his pre-war and wartime letters are among the Winthrop-Weston family papers in the Archives at Yale [finding aid].

He is probably best known today for his textbook Military Law and Precedents (1886, 1896, reprint 1920), available online from Hathi Trust and others.

08/03/1831; New Haven, CT

04/08/1899; Atlantic City, NJ; burial in Rock Creek Cemetery, Washington, DC