Joseph Jones Reynolds was born on January 4, 1822, in Flemingsburg, Kentucky, to Edward and Sarah Reynolds. He briefly attended Wabash College in Indiana before enrolling at the United States Military Academy in 1839. He graduated in 1843 and received a commission as a brevet 2^nd lieutenant in the 4^th United States Artillery. He spent the next few years in Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Texas. In 1846, he became an assistant professor of history and geography at West Point. He later taught natural and experimental philosophy at the academy.

 

He married Mary Elizabeth Bainbridge on December 3, 1846, and they had at least three children: Sarah, born around 1847; Bainbridge, born around 1849; and Kate, born around 1859. He was promoted to 1^st lieutenant in March 1847. He returned to the field in 1855, serving in Indian Territory. He resigned from the army on February 28, 1857, and spent the next few years teaching engineering at Washington University. He moved to Lafayette, Indiana, around 1860, and he earned a living as a merchant there.

 

He remained loyal to the Union during the Civil War. In April 1861, he received a commission as colonel of the 10^th Indiana Infantry. He was promoted to brigadier general in May 1861 and then to major general in November 1862. He was assigned to the Army of the Cumberland, and he took part in the Battle of Chickamauga. He oversaw the defenses of New Orleans from January 1864 until June 1864. He helped capture Mobile, Alabama, and he commanded the Department of Arkansas during the final months of the war.

 

He remained in the Regular Army after the war. In July 1866, he was promoted to colonel of the 26^th United States Infantry. He was stationed in Texas in 1867, and he appointed hundreds of Unionists and Republicans to local office. He also oversaw a voter registration drive that disenfranchised former Confederates. In March 1869, President Ulysses S. Grant appointed him commander of the Fifth Military District.

 

Military rule in Texas ended the following year, and Reynolds spent the next few years on frontier duty. He took part in the Indian Wars, and he fought at Powder River in March 1876. His failure in the battle led to a court martial. He resigned from the army on June 25, 1877. He died in Washington, D.C., on February 25, 1899.

 

Image: Joseph J. Reynolds (courtesy Wikicommons)

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