Civil War
At the outbreak of the Civil War, he was chief engineer in the defense of Fort Pickens. On June 12, 1862, he was appointed brigadier general of volunteers, to rank from November 23, 1861. Tower served in I Corps when it was listed as III Corps in Major General John Pope's Army of Virginia. He led a brigade in the division of Brig. Gen. James B. Ricketts. On August 30, 1862, Tower was severely wounded at the Second Battle of Bull Run
After recovering from his wound, Tower was superintendent of West Point from July until September 1864. He then became chief engineer of the defenses of Nashville, Tennessee, and his skillful work at that place contributed to the total defeat of John Bell Hood's Army of Tennessee at the Battle of Nashville in December 1864. On January 13, 1866, President Andrew Johnson nominated Tower for the award of the honorary grade of brevet major general, U.S. Volunteers, to rank from June 12, 1865, and the U.S. Senate confirmed the award on March 12, 1866.
Read more about this topic: Zealous Bates Tower
Famous quotes related to civil war:
“Colonel Shaw
and his bell-cheeked Negro infantry
on St. Gaudens shaking Civil War relief,
propped by a plank splint against the garage’s earthquake.”
—Robert Lowell (1917–1977)