Arthur Charles Ducat was born on February 24, 1830, in Kingstown (present-day Dún Laoghaire), Ireland, to Mungo Moray Ducat. He immigrated to America in the early 1850s and settled in Chicago, Illinois. He married Mary Augusta Dorchester, and they had at least two children: Arthur, born around 1857; and Catherine, born around 1859. He worked as a civil engineer and insurance agent, and by 1860, he owned $2,000 of real estate and $400 of personal property.

 

On May 3, 1861, he received a commission as a 1^st lieutenant in the 12^th Illinois Infantry. According to his service records, he was 6 feet tall, with brown hair and blue eyes. His initial term of enlistment expired on August 1, 1861. The 12^th Illinois reorganized as a three-year regiment, and Ducat received a commission as captain of Company A.

 

He was promoted to major on September 24, 1861, and to lieutenant colonel on April 1, 1862. He was wounded in the Battle of Fort Donelson. He subsequently served as Inspector General for the Army of the Tennessee and the Army of the Cumberland. He resigned from the army on February 19, 1864.

 

Ducat settled in Evanston, Illinois, after the war, and he earned a living as a fire insurance agent. By 1870, he owned $15,000 of real estate and $2,000 of personal property. His wife died around 1880, and he married Mary Lyon on October 6, 1881. He died in Downers Grove, Illinois, on January 29, 1896.

 

Image: Arthur Charles Ducat (courtesy Wikicommons)

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