Calvin Goddard was born around 1838 in Norwich, Connecticut. He moved to Chicago, Illinois, in the 1850s and worked as a bookkeeper and assistant cashier at a bank. On January 9, 1862, he received a commission as a 1^st lieutenant in Company A of the 12^th Ohio Infantry. The regiment took part in the Battle of South Mountain and the Battle of Antietam.

 

He was promoted to major on November 14, 1862, then to lieutenant colonel on January 9, 1863. He served on General William Rosecrans’ staff, and he eventually became adjutant general of the Army of the Cumberland. He took part in the siege of Vicksburg and the Chattanooga campaign.

 

He married Caroline E. Atwater on April 3, 1862, and they had at least two children: Caroline, born around 1866; and Herbert, born around 1869. They settled in South Orange, New Jersey, after the war, and Goddard worked as treasurer for Wells, Fargo & Co. By 1870, he owned $25,000 of real estate and $10,000 of personal property, and he employed five servants. They moved to New York City in the 1870s, and he served as president of a mining company. He returned to Chicago around 1890, and he died in San Francisco on April 4, 1892.

 

Image: Calvin Goddard (Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, 1861-1865, available from Ancestry.com)

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