23 Facts About Nathan Kimball

Nathan Kimball was a physician, politician, postmaster, and military officer, serving as a general in the Union army during the American Civil War.

Nathan Kimball was the first statewide commander of the Grand Army of the Republic veterans organization in Indiana.

Nathan Kimball attended the Washington County Seminary and then Indiana Asbury College from 1839 until 1841 before leaving to teach school and farm in Independence, Missouri.

Nathan Kimball studied medicine under his brother-in-law at the University of Louisville Medical School in 1844 and established a private practice in Salem and Livonia.

Nathan Kimball married Martha A McPheeters in Washington County, Indiana, on September 22,1845.

Nathan Kimball was distinguished at the Battle of Buena Vista, where he rallied his company and held them fast even as the rest of the regiment crumbled and fled in disorder.

Nathan Kimball mustered out in June 1847 and returned to Indiana, where he resumed his medical practice, expanding it to Loogootee.

Nathan Kimball was defeated for election as a Whig to the Indiana State Senate in 1847.

Nathan Kimball's wife died in early 1850, and he married Emily McPheeters in August.

Nathan Kimball led his regiment in the campaigns in western Virginia, seeing his first combat at the Battle of Cheat Mountain in the autumn.

In July 1862, Nathan Kimball led his regiment, the 8th Ohio Infantry, and the 7th West Virginia Infantry to join the Army of the Potomac.

Nathan Kimball's men formed the right of the division during its series of assaults on the Sunken Road at the Battle of Antietam, losing over 600 men killed or wounded.

Nathan Kimball's brigade became known as the "Gibraltar Brigade" for their steadfast ability to withstand enemy fire.

In early 1863, Nathan Kimball was nominated to run for the Lieutenant Governor of Indiana, but he declined the nomination to remain in the army.

Nathan Kimball's was one of three divisions in that corps that were ordered to Mississippi in to join the Siege of Vicksburg, although they arrived too late to participate in much of the actual fighting.

Nathan Kimball commanded the rear echelon in the Camden Expedition.

Nathan Kimball was on detached duty under Sherman until May 1864, when he was given command of a brigade in the IV Corps at the beginning of the Atlanta Campaign.

Nathan Kimball returned to Indiana at Governor Morton's request to help subdue the Knights of the Golden Circle in that state, then returned to active field duty in the late fall, serving as a division commander in the battles of Franklin and Nashville.

Nathan Kimball had originally been selected to stand as the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor in the 1864 gubernatorial election, but he would decline the nomination in the midst of the campaign.

Nathan Kimball received a brevet as a major general February 1,1865, and mustered out of the army on August 24,1865, following the close of the war.

Nathan Kimball returned to Indiana, where he became associated with the newly organized Grand Army of the Republic, serving as its first state commander.

Nathan Kimball won election to the Indiana House of Representatives in 1873 from Marion County.

Nathan Kimball served in this role until his death in 1898.