Simonson, John S.

Born: 1796-06-02 Fayette County, Pennsylvania

Died: 1881-12-05 New Albany, Indiana

Simonson spent his childhood in his native state, where he received a limited education. In 1814, as the War of 1812 raged, he volunteered for service in the Niagara theater, seeing action at the Battle of Lundy Lane and operations around Fort Erie. Honorably discharged in November 1814, Simonson moved to Indiana in 1817, settling in Charlestown. In 1820, he married Elizabeth Watson. He engaged in local politics, winning election as sheriff of Clarke County in 1822 and re-election in 1824, serving as sheriff until 1828. In August 1828, Clarke County voters elected him as a Jacksonian Republican to the Indiana Senate, where he served until 1830, when he resigned to become justice of the peace for Charlestown. In 1833, he commenced a business manufacturing flour, and also took up farming. In August 1841, voters sent him as a Democrat to the Indiana House of Representatives, and he served in that body until 1846. When the Mexican War commenced Simonson received a commission into the U.S. Army as a captain of a company in the newly created Mounted Riflemen under the command of Persifor F. Smith. Simonson and his company participated in General Winfield Scott's expedition from Veracruz to Mexico City. He led his company at the battles of Cerro Gordo, Contreras, Churubusco, Chapultepec, and Garita de Belén. He was wounded at Garita de Belén and was breveted major on September 13, 1847 for his gallant and meritorious service at Chapultepec. At the end of war, he remained in the Army, moving his company along the Oregon Trail across the plains to the Oregon Territory. From 1849 to 1861, he constructed forts, conducted scientific explorations, and battled various Native American tribes in Texas, the New Mexico Territory, and other areas of the American Southwest. In May 1853, the War Department promoted him to major, and in May 1861, he received promotion to colonel of the soon to be renamed Third Regiment of Cavalry. In September 1861, the War Department placed him on the retired list, but he was immediately recalled into duty as superintendent of volunteer recruiting services in Indianapolis. He remained in that position for the duration of the war, and in March 1865, he was breveted brigadier general for long and faithful service upon the recommendation of General Ulysses S. Grant.

Gravestone, Charlestown Cemetery, Charlestown, IN; Wm. Hugh Robarts, Mexican War Veterans: A Complete Roster of the Regular and Volunteer Troops in the War Between the United States and Mexico, From 1846 to 1848 (Washington, DC: Brentano's, 1887), 13; Francis B. Heitman, Historical Register and Dictionary of the United States Army (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1903), 1:68, 888; John H. B. Nowland, Sketches of Prominent Citizens of 1876 (Indianapolis: Tilford & Carlon, 1877), 129-34.