Charles Greene Sawtelle was born on May 10, 1834, in Norridgewock, Maine, to Cullen Sawtelle. His father was a Democratic politician who served in the House of Representatives in the 1840s. He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1854, and he received a commission as a 2^nd lieutenant in the 6^th United States Infantry. He campaigned against Native Americans in the late 1850s, and he was promoted to 1^st lieutenant in June 1860.

 

He served in the Quartermaster’s Department during the Civil War. He was promoted to captain in May 1861, and he took part in the Peninsula campaign, the Maryland campaign, and the Battle of Fredericksburg. In the fall of 1862, he served as acting chief quartermaster for the Army of the Potomac. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel in November 1862, and in August 1863, he became chief quartermaster of the Cavalry Bureau in Washington, D.C. From June 1864 until June 1865, he served as chief quartermaster of the Military Division of West Mississippi, and he was promoted to colonel in May 1865.

 

He remained in the Regular Army after the war, and he served as a quartermaster in departments across the country. He married Alice Chester Munroe on March 30, 1869, and they had three children: Charles, born around 1870; Edmund, born around 1872; and Alice, born around 1873. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel in the Regular Army in January 1881 and promoted to colonel in September 1894. From 1894 until 1896, he served as assistant quartermaster general. He was promoted to brigadier general in August 1896, and he retired in February 1897. He settled in Washington, D.C., after leaving the army. He died there on January 4, 1913.

 

Image: Charles G. Sawtelle (courtesy Wikicommons)

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