William Hopkins Morris was born on April 22, 1827, in New York City, to George and Mary Morris. His father was a prominent newspaper editor, poet, and songwriter. He enrolled at West Point in 1846 and graduated in 1851. He served as a 2^nd lieutenant in the United States Army, and he was stationed in Fort Yuma, California. He resigned in February 1854. By 1860, he was living in Cold Spring, New York, and working as a newspaper editor alongside his father. He invented a “conical repeating carbine” in 1859.

 

Morris joined the Union army in 1861, serving as a captain and assistant adjutant general on the staff of Brigadier General John J. Peck. He took part in the Peninsula campaign, the siege of Yorktown, the Battle of Williamsburg, and the Battle of Seven Pines.

 

In September 1862, Morris received a commission as colonel of the 135^th New York Infantry, which was redesignated the 6^th New York Heavy Artillery soon afterward. He was promoted to brigadier general in November 1862, and he took part in the Gettysburg campaign, the Battle of the Wilderness, and the Overland Campaign. He was wounded on May 9, 1864, during the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House. Army officials granted him a leave of absence to recover his health, and he mustered out in August 1864. He later received a brevet promotion to major general.

 

Morris settled in Putnam County, New York, after the war, and he edited the New York Home Journal. He published a book on infantry tactics in the 1860s. He also served in the New York Constitutional Convention in 1866, and he became a brigadier general and inspector general in the state militia. He died in Long Branch, New Jersey, on August 26, 1900.

 

Image: William Hopkins Morris (courtesy Wikicommons)

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