Brigadier General George L. Andrews

General George Leonard Andrews was departmental Chief of Staff under Union Commander General Banks at Port Hudson.

One noteworthy incident involving General Andrews occurred on May 27, 1863.  When General Thomas Sherman, commander of the Union division on the left flank did not move his troops to attack on the morning of May 27th as ordered, an angry General Banks sent General Andrews to relieve Sherman of his command.  When Andrews arrived, he found Sherman and his men moving out to attack, and he chose not to deliver the order.  During the subsequent battle the division was severely battered, and Sherman was seriously wounded in the leg, which was later amputated.  Upon hearing of Sherman's disabling wound, Andrews took command of the shattered division and attempted to restore order among the disorganized troops.

It was Andrews who led the commission which met with General Gardner on July 9th and accepted his surrender of  Confederate forces at Port Hudson, ending the battle.  He was named the commander of the newly-occupied  Union post of Port Hudson.

George Leonard Andrews was born at Bridgewater, Massachusetts, on August 31, 1828.  After finishing state normal school in Bridgewater, he attended the United States Military Academy, graduating at head of the class of 1851.  He was assigned to the Corps of Engineers and took part in the construction of Fort Warren in Boston Harbor and, after brief tour at West Point as an Assistant Professor, he resigned from the Army in 1855 to pursue a career in civil engineering.

Andrews returned to the Army as Lieutenant Colonel of the 2nd Massachusetts Infantry, of which he became Colonel in June 1862.  On November 10, 1862, he was appointed Brigadier General of Volunteers and was involved in some of the early battles in Eastern theater of the war, including Cedar Mountain and Sharpsburg. 

He was mustered out in August 1865, having been brevetted Major General of Volunteers.  His civil occupations included being a planter in Mississippi from 1865 to 1867, U.S. Marshal of Massachusetts until 1871, and Professor of French at West Point.  He retired in 1892 and made his residence in Brookline, Massachusetts, where he died April 4, 1899.  He was buried with full military honors in Section 2 (Grave 930) of Arlington National Cemetery.

 

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