A Career Officer

Major General Frederick Steele a career United States Army officer was born January 14th 1819.

Frederick Steele was born January 14th 1819 in Delhi, New York. He attended West Point and graduated in 1843, ranking 30th out of 39 in the class. While serving in the Mexican American War he was promoted to First Lieutenant. He served after the war in California and in the Minnesota, Kansas and Nebraska Territories.

With the beginning of the Civil War Steele was assigned to the 11th Untied States Infantry as a Major and fought in the Battle of Wilson’s Creek. He continued to be promoted and by November 29th 1862 was a Major General in command of the 11th Division in the XIII Corps of the Army of Tennessee. Steele’s division would take part in Major General William Tecumseh Sherman’s siege on Vicksburg. In July of 1863 he placed in command of the Army of Arkansas where they successfully took the Confederate controlled Little Rock Arkansas.

Following the end of the war Steele was sent to Texas, where he took up command on the Rio Grande. He served there as a part of the Department of the Columbia until November 1867 when he left for health issues. Steele died two months latter January 12th 1868 in San Mateo, California from a fall from a carriage that was the result of an apoplexy attack .