Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library

Hugh Judson Kilpatrick (1836-1881)
1860-1900
E. & H. T. Anthony
USA: New York, New York City
Photograph on paper mounted on board
overall: 4 x 2 6/16 in.; 10.16 x 6.0325 cm
Gift of Mrs. Doris Hudson May
78.14.12.6

Carte-de-visite photograph; portrait of Hugh Judson Kilpatrick in Civil War uniform with hat on and hands in pockets, plain background; printed on back "Published by / E. & H. T. ANTHONY, / 501 Broadway, / New York. / EA. / FROM / PHOTOGRAPHIC NEGATIVE / in / BRADY'S / National Portrait Gallery"; written above photographic information in pencil "Kilpatrick."

Hugh Judson Kilpatrick was born January 14, 1836 near Deckertown New Jersey. He graduated from West Point in May 1861 and joined the war effort, quickly becoming a captain in the 5th New York Infantry. At the Battle of Big Bethel June 10, 1861, Kilpatrick became the first U.S. Army officer to be injured in the war. He fought through the Chancellorsville Campaign and was promoted to brigadier general in June of 1863 before bringing his troops to Gettysburg. There, Kilpatrick ordered a disastrous cavalry charge that killed General Elon Farnsworth and earned Kilpatrick the nickname “Kil-Cavalry” for his reckless endeavors. In February 1864, Kilpatrick conducted a raid in Richmond in an effort to release Union prisoners held at Belle Isle and Libby Prison. The raid was a failure and Colonel Ulric Dahlgren was killed, causing a scandal and Kilpatrick’s transfer under Sherman’s command. He fought in Sherman’s “March to the Sea” and through the Carolina Campaigns. After the war Kilpatrick became minister to Chile until 1868. He ran unsuccessfully for Congress as a Republican in 1880. President Garfield renamed him minister to Chile in 1881, but he died on December 4, soon after his arrival in Santiago. Kilpatrick is buried at West Point.