Napoleon Jackson Tecumseh Dana was born on April 15, 1822, in Eastport, Maine, to Nathaniel G. Dana. His father was an officer in the United States Army, and he died in 1833. He enrolled at the United States Military Academy in 1838, and he graduated four years later. In July 1842, he received a commission as a 2nd lieutenant in the 7th United States Infantry. He spent the next few years stationed in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. He married Susan Sanford on June 11, 1844, and they had at least three children: Mary, born around 1845; Charles, born around 1849; and Alfred, born around 1851.
He took part in the Mexican American War, and he fought at Monterey, Vera Cruz, and Cerro Gordo. He was promoted to 1st lieutenant in February 1847. He was severely wounded in the hip at Cerro Gordo in April 1847. He resigned from the army in 1855, and he settled in St. Paul, Minnesota. He worked as a banker, and by 1860, the family owned $58,000 of real estate and $5,000 of personal property.
In October 1861, he received a commission as colonel of the 1st Minnesota Infantry. He was promoted to brigadier general in February 1862 and to major general in November 1862. He took part in the Peninsula campaign, the Seven Days’ Battles, and the Battle of Antietam. He resigned from the army on May 27, 1865.
After the war, he worked as an agent for the American-Russian Commercial Company from 1866 until 1871. He spent the next few decades working in the railroad industry. President Grover Cleveland appointed him 1st Deputy Commissioner of Pensions in 1895, and he held the position for the next two years. By 1900, he was living in his daughter Mary’s household in Montclair, New Jersey. He died of “Angina Pectoris” in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on July 15, 1905.
Image: Napoleon J. T. Dana (courtesy Wikicommons)