John Milton Brannan was born on July 1, 1819, in Washington, D.C. He served as a messenger in the House of Representatives until the late 1830s, when he enrolled at the United States Military Academy. He graduated in 1841, and he was assigned to the 1^st U.S. Artillery. He fought in the Mexican American War, taking part in the Battles of Vera Cruz, Cerro Gordo, Contreras, and Churubusco.

 

Brannan married Eliza Crane on September 16, 1850. He was promoted to captain on November 4, 1854, and he took part in the Third Seminole War in the mid-1850s. He was stationed throughout the Southeast until the outbreak of Civil War. His wife disappeared on July 20, 1858, while shopping in New York City. After days of searching, officials concluded that she was dead. In 1860, however, she notified her brother that she was living in Paris, France. She had gotten remarried to Powell Tremlett Wyman, who was an officer in the 1^st U.S. Artillery. Brannan obtained a divorce in 1863.

 

Brannan remained loyal to the Union. He was appointed brigadier general in the volunteer army on September 28, 1861, and he served as commander of the Department of Key West until January 1863. He served in the Tullahoma campaign and the Chickamauga campaign in 1863, and he spent the remainder of the war as chief of artillery in the Department of the Cumberland. He took part in the Battle of Missionary Ridge and the Atlanta campaign, and he received brevet promotions to major general in the Regular Army and the volunteer army.

 

Brannan remained in the army after the war. He was stationed in Georgia until May 1866, when army officials assigned him to Fort Trumbull, Connecticut, and then Fort Wadsworth, New York. He married Evelyn Way in 1870. He was transferred to the 4^th U.S. Artillery in 1877, and he retired on April 19, 1882, with the rank of colonel. He settled in New York City after leaving the army, and he died there on December 16, 1892.  

 

Image: John Milton Brannan (courtesy Wikicommons)

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