Curtis, Samuel R.

Born: 1805-02-03 Clinton County, New York

Died: 1866-12-26 Council Bluffs, Iowa

Flourished: Keokuk, Iowa

Samuel R. Curtis was a civil engineer, lawyer, U.S. representative, and army officer. Born near Champlain, New York, Curtis relocated from New York to Ohio as a child. He entered the United States Military Academy in July 1831, graduating in July 1831 twenty-seventh in a class of thirty-three cadets. The War Department commissioned him as a second lieutenant in the Seventh U.S. Infantry. Curtis resigned from the military in July 1832 and became a civil engineer. He next studied law, practicing his new craft in Zanesville, Ohio, from 1841 to 1846. Curtis returned to the military, becoming captain of Ohio Militia in 1833. He earned promotion to lieutenant colonel in 1837 and to colonel in 1845. From May to June 1846, Curtis was adjutant general of Ohio assigned to muster and organize volunteers for the Mexican War. He subsequently became colonel of the Third Iowa Infantry, leading his unit in the Mexican War until it disbanded in June 1847. Curtis remained in Mexico as a staff officer and military governor. After mustering out of the army, Curtis moved to Iowa, where he practiced law and worked as an engineer. In 1855 he settled in Keokuk, Iowa. In 1856, Curtis won election, as a Republican to the U.S. House of Representatives, where he served from 1857 until 1861. Upon commencement of the Civil War, Curtis received a commission as colonel of the Second Iowa Regiment. On May 17, 1861, he was commissioned brigadier-general of U.S. volunteers. In August 1861, he resigned his House seat to concentrate fully on his military career. Between August 1861 and January 1862, Curtis held various commands in Missouri, and in February 1862, he became commander of the Army of the Southwest. Troops under Curtis's command scored a victory over the Confederate Army at Pea Ridge, Arkansas, on March 6-8, 1862. On March 21, 1862, he earned promotion to major-general of volunteers. Between September 1862 and July 1865, Curtis served as head of the departments of the Missouri, Kansas, and the Northwest. In October 1864, Curtis lead an army that defeated Confederate forces at the Battle of Westport. After the war, Curtis was U.S. commissioner to negotiate treaties with various Native American nations.

Curtis married Belinda Buckingham in 1832. The couple had four surviving children.

George W. Cullum, Biographical Register of the Officers and Graduates of the U.S. Military Academy , 3rd ed. (Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin, 1891), 1:491-93; James Grant Wilson and John Fiske, eds., “Curtis, Samuel Ryan,” Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography (New York: D. Appleton, 1887-1889), 2:37; Biographical Directory of the American Congress 1774-1996 (Alexandria, VA: CQ Staff Directories, 1997), 895-96; Rodney Horace Yale, Yale Genealogy and History of Wales (Beatrice, NE: Milburn & Scott, 1908), 192; U.S., Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, 1861-1865 (Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations, 2009); Gravestone, Oakland Cemetery, Keokuk, IA.