Alexander Macomb (general) - Historical Recognition

Historical Recognition

Alexander Macomb is recognized in a Michigan Historical Marker that is situated at the corner of Gratiot Avenue and Macomb Street in Mount Clemens, Michigan. It is Registered Site S0418, erected in 1974. It states:

Alexander Macomb In 1818 Territorial Governor Lewis Cass proclaimed the third Michigan county to be called Macomb. At that time the young General was Commander of the Fifth Military Department in Detroit. Born in that city in 1782, son of prominent local entrepreneurs, Macomb had entered the U.S. Army in 1799. He had gained national renown and honor during the War of 1812 for his victory at Plattsburgh in September 1814 over a far superior force of British invaders. Later as Chief Army Engineer he promoted the building of military roads in the Great Lakes area. From May 1828 to his death in June 1841, Macomb served as Commander in Chief of the Army. He is buried in the Congressional Cemetery in Washington D.C. His birthday, April 3, is honored as Macomb County Heritage Day.

He is recognized in several statues. One was sculpted by Adolph Alexander Weinman and erected in 1906 in downtown Detroit, Michigan. This statue was made from melted down cannons, and was a notable and monumental task. Another is in downtown Mount Clemens, Michigan in front of the Circuit Court building at 40 N. Gratiot Avenue. Several others exist.

Macomb died while in office at Washington, D.C. and is buried in the Congressional Cemetery. His remains, and those of his wife, Catherine, were disinterred in June, 2008 so that the brick-lined burial vault beneath their 6 ton, 13-foot-tall marble monument could be repaired to prevent its impending collapse. During the month it took to make the necessary repairs, the couple's remains were kept at the Smithsonian and were viewed by several of the general's descendants including his great-great-great granddaughter. After the $24,000 repairs were completed by the Department of Veterans Affairs, their remains were re-interred on July 17, 2008. The monument to Alexander Macomb is "one of the most unusual in the nation."

Major General Winfield Scott was named his successor, after working "hard at mending fences in the intervening 13 years . . ."

Although an amateur, Macomb is recognized as an artist. His painting Detroit as Seen from the Canadian Shore in 1821 is a watercolor and pencil in the collection of the Detroit Institute of Arts.