Civil War Service
At the start of the American Civil War, Poe assisted in organizing the volunteers from Ohio; later, he was made a member of Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan's staff in western Virginia and took part in the Rich Mountain campaign. He went with McClellan to Washington and assisted by organizing the defense of Washington, D.C., and was promoted to colonel of volunteers that September, when he was placed in charge of the 2nd Michigan Volunteer Infantry. He commanded them successfully from Yorktown through the Battle of Seven Pines during the Peninsula Campaign and was then given field command of a brigade prior to the Northern Virginia Campaign of 1862. His brigade anchored the far right of the Union line at the August 29–30 battle of Second Bull Run but was only lightly engaged. Several days later on September 1, Poe and his men participated in the Battle of Chantilly. His brigade was present, but not active during the December 1862 Battle of Fredericksburg.
Poe was appointed brigadier general of volunteers effective November 29, 1862, however the appointment was rejected by Congress in the spring of 1863. Poe reverted to his old rank of lieutenant in the regular army but was soon promoted to captain and then transferred to the Western Theater, where, in his capacity as chief engineer of the XXIII Corps, he was a key factor in the defense of Knoxville, Tennessee. This city was successfully defended against a siege led by Confederate Lt. Gen. James Longstreet, which culminated in the November 29, 1863, Battle of Fort Sanders. For essentially this action, Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman selected Poe as his chief engineer in 1864. Poe oversaw the burning of Atlanta, for which action he was honored by Sherman. He continued to serve as chief engineer during Sherman's March to the Sea as well as in the war's concluding Carolinas Campaign.
Read more about this topic: Orlando Metcalfe Poe
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