Early Life and Career
Seymour was born in Burlington, Vermont. The son of a Methodist minister, he attended Norwich University, beginning in 1840. After spending two years at Norwich, Seymour received an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point. He graduated in 1846, ranked nineteenth in a class of fifty-nine graduates. West Point’s Class of 1846 stands as one of the most illustrious in the academy’s storied history with George McClellan, Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson, Jesse Lee Reno, Darius Couch, George Stoneman, Sam Sturgis, David R. Jones, and George Pickett among its members. After graduating, Seymour was assigned to the 1st U.S. Artillery.
He immediately began his military service in the Mexican-American War. During that war, he was brevetted captain for his performance in the battles of Contreras and Churubusco and was promoted to first lieutenant six days later. After returning to the United States following the war, he became an assistant professor of drawing at West Point from 1850 to 1853 and fought against the Seminoles in Florida from 1856 to 1858. He was promoted to captain on November 22, 1860.
Read more about this topic: Truman Seymour
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