Charles Patrick Eagan – Brigadier General, United States Army

He served in the Civil War with the 1st Washington Territorial Infantry. He was commissioned Second Lieutenant, 9th U.S. Infantry, in 1866 and was promoted through the ranks to Brigadier General and Commissary General, United States Army, January 3, 1898.

During the Spanish-American War he was in charge of the Commissary Department of the Army and in January 1899 was tried by court-martial for criticizing General Nelson A. Miles during an investigation into the character of supplies furnished to the Army during that war. He was suspended from rank and duty for six years. On February 9 he was restored and immediately retired on December 16, 1900. He had been born in Ireland on January 16, 1841 and was educated at San Francisco. He married Emma Johnson, November 5, 1863.

He was appointed First Lieutenant, 1st Washington Territorial Infantry, June 21, 1862 and served until April 1, 1865. Appointed from Washington as First Lieutenant, 9th U.S. Infantry, August 30, 1866; assigned to the 12th Infantry, December 31, 1870; Captain of Commissary and Subsistence, June 23, 1874; Major, March 12, 1892; Lieutenant Colonel, Assistant Commisary General, January 26, 1897; Colonel, March 11, 1898; Brigadier General, Commissary General, May 3, 1898. He was brevetted Captain, U.S. Army, February 27, 1890 for gallant service against hostile Indians in Lava Beds, California, April 17, 1873, where he was wounded.

He made his home in New York City following his retirement and died there on February 2, 1919. He was buried in Section 3 of Arlington National Cemetery. His wife, Emma Jane Johnson Eagan (1844-1916), is buried with him.


NEW YORK, February 3, 1919 – The death of Brigadier General Charles Patrick Egan, who won fame as an Indian fighter in the '70s, died at a hospital last night.  Born in Ireland, the General came to America when a boy and had been serving in the Army for 20 years when he was retired at his own request in 1900.

During the Indian uprising in Californina in 1873, General Egan, then a Lieutenant, appeared on the battlefield in full uniform as an answer to a charge of cowardice again the company to which he was attached.  He was wounded during the battle which his men won.

cpeagan

cpeagan-gravesite-photo-by-john-michael-may-2011-001

EAGAN, CHARLES P
BRIG GEN USA RTD
DATE OF DEATH: 02/01/1919
BURIED AT: SECTION S-W  SITE LOT 1877
ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY

EAGAN, EMMA J W/O CHARLES P
DATE OF DEATH: 06/20/1916
BURIED AT: SECTION SD/ES  SITE LOT 1877
ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY

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