Charles Adam Heckman was born on December 3, 1822, in Easton, Pennsylvania, to John and Mary Heckman. His father was a clerk who owned $5,000 of real estate by 1850. He served as a sergeant in the Mexican American War. He returned to Easton afterward and earned a living as a clerk. He married Eliza Craig, and their son Frank was born around 1850. He moved to Phillipsburg, New Jersey, in the 1850s, and he worked as a railroad conductor there. By 1860, he owned $2,500 of real estate and $500 of personal property.

 

In April 1861, he received a commission as a captain in the 1^st Pennsylvania Infantry. He was promoted to major in the 9^th New Jersey Infantry in October 1861. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel in December 1861 and then to colonel in February 1862. He took part in General Ambrose Burnside’s North Carolina expedition, and he was wounded in the Battle of New Bern in March 1862.

 

He was promoted to brigadier general in November 1862. He commanded the District of Beaufort for most of 1863, and he was transferred to the Army of the James in April 1864. He was wounded again in the Battle of Port Walthall Junction the following month. Confederates captured him at Drewry’s Bluff in May 1864, and he spent a few months as a prisoner of war. He eventually rejoined the Army of the James, and he served until the end of the war. He resigned on May 25, 1865.

 

He returned to Phillipsburg after the war, and he worked as an insurance agent. By 1870, he owned $2,500 of real estate and $500 of personal property. He later worked as a railroad clerk. He applied for a federal pension in May 1886 and eventually received one. He died in Germantown, Pennsylvania, on January 14, 1896.

 

Image: Charles A. Heckman (courtesy Wikicommons)

 

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