User:Eddie891/J E tourtellotte

John Eaton Tourtellotte

Battle of Allatoona Pass
Union forces had an important supply base at Allatoona Pass, a man-made pass for the Western and Atlantic Railroad in the Allatoona Mountains in Bartow County, Georgia. Tourtellotte was in command of the post and the 4th Minnesota Infantry Regiment by October 1864. Confederate General John Bell Hood had ordered Lieutenant General Alexander P. Stewart to begin a series of attacks on the railroad in early October. Stewart had captured roughtly 600 prisoners and destroyed around 8 mi of the railway in a series of hit and run attacks by October 4. He was then ordered by Hood to dispatch a division aimed at destroying the Allatoona Pass and a bridge over the nearby Etowah River, which he did under Major General Samuel G. French. A total of 3,276 men were sent to capture Tourtellotte's post, which was thought by the Confederates to be manned by Tourtellotte's garrison of a few hundred troops. However, Tourtellotte had recently been reinforced by several thousand troops led by Brigadier General John M. Corse and it was manned by 2,025 soldiers.

Superintendent
The Goshute were historically a nomadic people who lived on the Great Basin, southwest of the Great Salt Lake and particularly in the Great Salt Lake Desert. By the early 1860s, the people had been driven off of portions of their lands by white settlers, particularly Mormons. In 1863, the United States government signed a treaty with the Goshute, bringing an end to ongoing hostilities between the tribe and settlers. Even before that treaty was announced by President Abraham Lincoln, the federal government established the Unintah Reservation in 1864, a reservation which was intended to hold many tribes in the region. The Goshute refused removal to the reservation, in part because they had a "fear of other Indian groups." Efforts to relocate the tribe continued throughout the late 1860s. In 1869, Tourtellotte proposed a separate reservation for the Goshute. Early the following year he proposed giving them a "quarter section" of land in the face of white encroachment, until a decision could be reached.

Ely Parker, then Commissioner of Indian Affairs, responded to Tourtellotte's proposal for a separate reservation by telling him to use the Unintah Reservation. Tourtellotte responded by emphasizing the tribe's refusal to do so and its lack of cultural connection to the Ute people, who were on that reservation. He instead proposed grouping the Goshute with the Shoshone. Tortellotte was removed from his role before an agreement was made. The Goshute people stayed on their land into the 1920s in the face of increasing white encroachment on their land.

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John Eaton Tourtellotte (July 3, 1833 – July 22, 1891) was an American Union brevet brigadier general during the period of the American Civil War. He received his appointment as brevet brigadier general dated to March 13, 1865.

Tourtellotte was born on July 3, 1833, in either Windham, Connecticut, or Thompson, Connecticut. He attended Brown University and studied law at New York state's Albany Law School. After pursuing his education, he moved to Mankato, Minnesota. When the Civil War began, he served as a private and a captain in the 4th Minnesota Volunteer Infantry Regiment. On September 1, 1862, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel. On October 5, 1864, he was promoted to colonel. During the war, he participated in the Siege of Vicksburg. In the Battle of Allatoona in Georgia, he commanded 2,000 Union troops to victory over 7,000 Confederates. On October 5, 1864, during the battle, he was wounded in the hip, but commanded from an ambulance instead of leaving the battlefield. The battle's victory inspired the song "Hold the Fort" by Philip Bliss. He recovered to participate in Sherman's March to the Sea and the Battle of Bentonville.

After the war, Tourtellotte entered the army again. He was assigned to be Detailed Superintendent of Indian Affairs in Utah with the 26th US Infantry. After serving, he was transferred to General Custer army, but didn't make it—he was called back to Washington D.C. by William Tecumseh Sherman. Tourtellotte served as Sherman's aide-de-camp from January 1, 1871, until February 8, 1884. He finally retired from the army on March 20, 1885.

Though he moved to Washington D.C., Tourtellotte continued to visit and boost the city of Mankato. He donated $8,800 to build the first hospital in Mankato, and he continued to practice law in the city, as well as nearby Lake Crystal, Minnesota.

Death
Tourtellotte died on July 22, 1891, and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Tourtellotte Park and Pool
The Tourtellotte helped build was torn down in 1903. Four decades later in the same location, the city developed and formed the 13-acre Tourtellotte Park. The park was built as a WPA project, and it included a bathhouse and Olympic-sized outdoor pool, which was also named after the colonel. Tourtellotte Pool and the bathhouse fell into disrepair in the 1980s, but were saved by donations from local residents.