Silas Colgrove

Silas Colgrove was born May 24, 1816, in Woodhull Township, Steuben County, New York. One of eighteen children, he attended common schools, studied law, and moved to Winchester, Indiana following his marriage in 1837. He was admitted to the bar two years later and began practicing law in Winchester. He served as justice of the peace from 1839 to 1844 and was elected district prosecuting attorney in 1852. He held that position until 1854 and was elected as a Republican to the Indiana House of Representatives in 1856. At the outbreak of the Civil War, he was elected captain of the 8th Indiana Infantry Regiment and was later promoted to lieutenant colonel. With the 8th, he served in western Virginia and fought at Rich Mountain. Following this service, he was assigned to the newly formed 27th Indiana Infantry and was appointed its colonel by Governor Oliver P. Morton. Colgrove, a disciplinarian, was described by his men as “tyrannical,” and they appealed for his resignation or removal by the Governor. In spite of their pleas, Silas Colgrove would be the only colonel the 27th Indiana would know. He participated in the Shenandoah Valley campaign, the battle of Winchester, and the battle of Cedar Mountain. At the battle of Antietam, the colonel was in “the thickest of the fighting” and had his horse shot from under him without injury to himself. Colgrove sustained minor injuries at Chancellorsville and Gettysburg before serving in the Atlanta campaign. In Sherman’s March to Atlanta, the 27th participated in the battles of Resaca, New Hope Church, Kolbs Farm, Peachtree Creek, and the siege of Atlanta. Colonel Colgrove was seriously wounded June 22, 1864, in the battle of Peachtree Creek, and on August 7, 1864, Colgrove was brevetted brigadier general. He served as president of the Indianapolis Treason Trials commission in 1864 and resigned from the service December 30, 1864. Following his service in the Civil War, Colgrove was appointed to a judgeship in Winchester and was elected president of the Cincinnati, Fort Wayne & Grand Rapids Railroad. He was elected circuit judge for Randolph and Delaware Counties in 1865 for a term of six years and was elected to an additional six-year term in 1873. In 1888, Colgrove moved to Washington, D.C. to work for the Pension Office. His health forced him to resign in 1893. Silas Colgrove died January 13, 1907, in Lake Kerr, Florida. It is believed he was cremated, and his ashes scattered over Lake Kerr.

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