View source for Edward McGarry (soldier-politician)

{{Short description|American politician}}
{{Infobox military person
| honorific_prefix =
| name          = Edward McGarry
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| image         = Edward McGarry, American Civil War Union Brevet Brigadier General.jpg
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| caption       = Edward McGarry during the American Civil War
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| birth_date    = c. 1820
| birth_place   = [[Rochester, New York]], U.S.
| death_date    = {{death date and age|1867|12|31|1820}}
| death_place   = [[San Francisco, California]], U.S.
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| allegiance    =
| branch        = [[United States Army]]
*[[Union Army]]
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| rank          = [[Colonel (United States)|Colonel]]<br />[[Brevet (military)|Bvt.]] [[Brigadier General (United States)|Brigadier General]]
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| unit          = [[10th Infantry Regiment (United States)|10th U.S. Infantry Regiment]]<br />[[32nd Infantry Regiment (United States)|32nd U.S. Infantry Regiment]]
| commands      = [[2nd California Cavalry Regiment]]
| battles       = [[Mexican-American War]]<br />[[American Indian Wars]]<br />[[American Civil War]]
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'''Edward McGarry''' (c. 1820 – December 31, 1867) was an officer in the [[Mexican American War]], a Californian politician, and officer of [[List of California Civil War units|California Volunteers]] in the [[American Civil War]]. He led cavalry at the [[Bear River Massacre]], was later colonel of the [[2nd California Cavalry Regiment]], and later commander of the [[District of California]]. He received a [[Brevet (military)|brevet]] promotion to [[brigadier general]] of volunteers. After the Civil War he rejoined the [[Regular Army]] as a [[lieutenant colonel]].
Edward McGarry was a native of [[New York (state)|New York]], who served as a [[second lieutenant]] in the [[Mexican–American War]] with the [[10th Infantry Regiment (United States)|10th U.S. Infantry Regiment]]. He saw no action except as part of the garrison army before the peace took effect.<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/mexicanwarvetera00roba#page/26/mode/1up  Mexican War veterans: a complete roster of the regular and volunteer troops in the war between the United States and Mexico, from 1846 to 1848; the volunteers are arranged by states, alphabetically (1887), p.26]</ref> McGarry left the Army and traveled to [[California]] after the end of the war and became involved in California politics serving as an assemblyman from [[Napa County]]'s 20th District from 1853 to 1854. Subsequently, from 1854 to 1855, he was a state senator from Napa, [[Solano County|Solano]] and [[Yolo County|Yolo Counties]].<ref>[http://www.joincalifornia.com/candidate/10255 Edward McGarry]</ref> When the American Civil War broke out, he assisted in raising the [[2nd California Cavalry Regiment]], serving first as a major under Col. [[Columbus Sims]]. After marching to [[Fort Ruby]], in [[Nevada Territory]], Sims was relieved of his command by the [[Department of the Pacific]] on August 19, 1862. He was replaced in command of the 2nd California Cavalry detachment by McGarry by Col. [[Patrick Edward Connor]]. Under Connor's command the 2nd Cavalry served in Nevada and Utah during the rest of the Civil War, fighting various native tribes.
In the early 1860s, the [[Bannock people|Bannock]] and [[Shoshone]] Indians in southern Idaho were becoming increasingly aggressive toward passing wagon trains. Travelers reported instances of thievery and attacks. McGarry was sent to investigate, and executed some Shoshone for their actions. McGarry's executions angered the Shoshone even more, prompting them to threaten to kill any white person they found above the [[Bear River (Great Salt Lake)|Bear River]]. American forces, led by Colonel [[Patrick Edward Connor]], were sent to confront the Shoshone, and the resulting [[Bear River Massacre]] left at least 250 Shoshone civilians dead.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=qHObJArDHZMC&pg=PA217 Frances H. Kennedy, The Civil War battlefield guide, Conservation Fund (Arlington, Va., pp. 217-278 Battle of Bear River]</ref>
On February 26, 1864, McGarry was promoted to [[lieutenant colonel]] and took command of [[Camp Union]], from Lt. Colonel O. M. Brown, who went to Los Angeles.<ref>[http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~npmelton/sacevt64.htm  SACRAMENTO CITY AND COUNTY Record of Local Events 1864]</ref> He was afterwards appointed [[colonel]] and was given command of the 2nd California Cavalry from November 29, 1864, to March 31, 1866. In this capacity Col. McGarry presided over the  military commission that tried the [[California in the American Civil War#Salvador Pirates|Salvador Pirates]] and found them guilty in May 1865.
As a popular officer and famed for his role in the [[Cache Valley]] victory, McGarry was appointed one of the judges that declared the first of three famous California races between the thoroughbreds Norfolk and Lodi a dead heat.<ref>[http://www.tbheritage.com/Portraits/Lodi.html Thoroughbred Heritage, Portraits, Lodi, from www.tbheritage.com accessed 1/24/2011]</ref> In June 1865 he was ordered to succeed Brigadier General [[George Wright (general)|George Wright]], in command of the [[District of California]].<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7KNMAAAAYAAJ |title=The Military Situation |journal=The United States Army and Navy Journal and Gazette of the Regular and Volunteer Forces |volume=3 |publisher=[[Army and Navy Journal]] |location=New York |date=September 2, 1865 |page=18}}</ref>
After the war ended McGarry rejoined the Regular Army and was appointed lieutenant colonel of the [[32nd Infantry Regiment (United States)|32nd U.S. Infantry Regiment]], one of its newly organized regiments. In 1867, he was commanding a garrison at [[Tubac, Arizona]], when he showed up for a [[military parade]] in the plaza in a state of intoxication.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.huachuca.army.mil/sites/History/PDFS/garrisoning.pdf |title=Huachuca Illustrated |access-date=2011-01-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717134728/http://www.huachuca.army.mil/sites/History/PDFS/garrisoning.pdf |archive-date=2011-07-17 |url-status=dead }}</ref>  Consequently, McGarry was reassigned to San Francisco, California, but no disciplinary action was taken against him. However, he had been drinking very heavily. On the night of his death, he manifested symptoms of [[Alcohol intoxication|''mania a potu'']], and the staff in the Occidental Hotel confined him to his room. About 11 o'clock he told the servant to clear out, locked the door and was found early the next morning, December 31, 1867, lying on the floor of his room in his own blood, his throat cut and an open pen knife by his side.<ref>{{cite news |title=Horrible Suicide of an Army Officer |work=[[San Francisco Examiner]] |date=December 31, 1867 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-san-francisco-examiner/23504854/| quote="Lieutenant-Colonel Edward McGARRY was found dead at an early hour this morning lying on the floor of his room in the Occidental Hotel weltering in his blood, his throat cut and an open pen-knife by his side. Deceased had been drinking very hard of late. Last night he manifested symptoms of mania-a-potu, and the Hotel folks endeavored to confine him to his room. About eleven o'clock he told the servant to clear out, locked the door and was found this morning in the condition stated."}}</ref> No cause was found for his action, nothing was left in writing. It was supposed it was done in a temporary fit of insanity.<ref>"No cause is known for the act, and he has left no writing giving a clue. It is supposed it was done in a temporary fit of insanity."- Stockton Daily Independent, 1 Jan 1868</ref>
McGarry was 45 years of age when he died. His funeral was held at the Unitarian Church. General [[H. W. Halleck]], commander of the [[Military Division of the Pacific]] and a large number of other officers of the Regular Army, ex-governor [[Frederick Low|Low]] and several judges of the state courts attended. A military escort and many friends accompanied his body to the Cemetery.<ref>San Francisco, Jan. 3 - The funeral of Colonel McGARRY took place today from the Unitarian Church. General HALLECK and a large number of other officers of the Regular Army, ex-Governor Low, General MILLER, and several Judges of the State Courts were present at the Church. Company D, Battalion Engineers, Batteries B, D and G and the 2nd United States Artillery composed the military escort; and a large number of friends of the deceased accompanied them to the Cemetery." - ''Stockton Daily Independent'', 4 Jan. 1868.</ref>
[[Camp McGarry]], a U.S. military camp in northern Nevada, was named for him.<ref>{{cite journal |first=Colonel George |last=Ruhlen |title=Early Nevada Forts |page=44 |journal=Nevada Historical Society Quarterly |volume=VII |number=3–4 |url=http://www.onlinenevada.org/sites/default/files/EarlyForts_Ruhlen_1964_Part2.pdf |access-date=February 11, 2020}}</ref>
==See also==
*[[List of American Civil War brevet generals (Union)]]
== References ==
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{{DEFAULTSORT:McGarry, Edward}}
[[Category:1820s births]]
[[Category:1867 deaths]]
[[Category:1860s suicides]]
[[Category:19th-century American legislators]]
[[Category:American military personnel of the Mexican–American War]]
[[Category:American military personnel who died by suicide]]
[[Category:American murderers of children]]
[[Category:American people of the Indian Wars]]
[[Category:California state senators]]
[[Category:Members of the California State Assembly]]
[[Category:19th-century New York (state) politicians]]
[[Category:People of California in the American Civil War]]
[[Category:Union army colonels]]
[[Category:United States Army officers]]
[[Category:Suicides by sharp instrument in the United States]]
[[Category:Native American genocide perpetrators]]
[[Category:19th-century California politicians]]