Archival Materials in Special Collections

1856-1869

0.5 Linear feet; 1 archival box, 108 folders

Hitchcock, Ethan Allen, 1798-1870

Ethan Allen Hitchcock (May 18, 1798 – August 5, 1870) was an author and career officer in the U.S. Army. He was born in Vermont, grandson of Ethan Allen, and graduated from the U.S. Military Academy in 1817. He served at West Point, in the Seminole War, in the Pacific Northwest, and in the Mexican-American War. By 1851 he had reached the rank of colonel, and he resigned from the army in 1855, retiring to St. Louis, Mo.

In retirement, Hitchcock occupied himself with the study of literature and philosophy, as he had done in his spare time in the army. As evidenced within this collection, Hitchcock had numerous correspondents with whom he discussed his studies. An author of several books, Hitchcock’s most prominent works are “Swedenborg: A hermetic philosopher” (1858), “Remarks upon Alchemy and the Alchemists” (1857), and “Christ the Spirit: being an attempt to state the primitive view of Christianity” (1861).

When the American Civil War broke out Hitchcock returned to Washington, D.C. and was commissioned a major-general in the U.S. Army in 1862. He served as an advisor to Secretary of War Stanton and eventually was chairman of the War Board, an advisory body of military officers that served the President. He served on the court-martial of Fitz John Porter along with Napoleon B. Buford, a correspondent represented in this collection. Following that, Hitchcock was occupied with his duties as Commissioner for Prisoner of War Exchange until November 1865, at which time he became Commissary-General of Prisoners until 1867. He was mustered out of service in 1867 and moved to Charleston, SC and then to Sparta, Ga., where he died in 1870.