John Rodgers Meigs was the son of General Montgomery Meigs and grandson of Commodore John Rodgers. He had graduated from West Point the year before and assigned to the Engineers. While surveying near Dayton, Virginia, he was killed by Confederate guerillas. An angry General Philip Sheridan ordered the burning of Dayton and an area five miles around. He later cancelled the order but not before significant destruction had taken place. Meigs was buried in Arlington with President Lincoln and other notables at his graveside. (By John Osborne)
Source Citation
John Rodgers Meigs, Mary A. Giunta (ed.), A Civil War Soldier of Christ And Country: The Selected Correspondence of John Rodgers Meigs 1859 – 1864 (Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Press, 2006), 7.
Record Data
Date Certainty
Exact
Type
Battles/Soldiers
