Biography

Civil War Union Brigadier General. He graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York in 1822, placing 37th of 40 (his classmates included future Union Generals J.K.F. Mansfield, David Hunter and George A. McCall, as well as future Confederate General Isaac R. Trimble). He then served in the United States Army continuously from his graduation to the Civil War, and was one of the oldest field-grade officers to serve on the battlefield in the conflict. He was on garrison duty in various posts within the South and Northwest, and fought in the Seminole and Mexican Wars. When the Civil War broke out, he was one of the few full-rank Colonels in the Regular Army, being in command of the 7th United States Regular Infantry regiment. On August 31, 1861 he was commissioned Brigadier General, US Volunteers and was assigned command of the 2nd Brigade, 1st Division, IV Corps in the Army of the Potomac. He led the brigade throughout the 1862 Peninsular Campaign, and was wounded at the Battle of Fair Oaks (Seven Pines). He was at the head of his brigade during the Battle of Malvern Hill (July 1, 1862), where his troops helped repulse the Confederate attack on the Union Army. After the conclusion of the Peninsular Campaign his command was given to younger officers, and he spent the balance of the war first in command of some of the defenses in Washington, DC, then various supply depots in Virginia during the 1864 Overland Campaign. On March 13, 1865 he was brevetted Brigadier General, US Regular Army in recognition of his long service, and he retired from active duty on June 12 of that year. Despite being retired, though, he served time on court-martial duty for the next 3 years. He died in 1877 in Long Island, and is interred under a monument that has his birth date incorrect.

Children: Sara "Sallie" Iowa Abercrombie Goodman (1842 - 1935)*
  John Joseph Abercrombie (1845 - 1919)*
  William Ralph Abercrombie (1857 - 1943)*
  Ida Abercrombie Newlin (1860 - 1888)*