Robert Brown Potter

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Robert Brown Potter (1829–1887) was a United States lawyer and a General in the American Civil War.

His father was Alonzo Potter (1800-1865), American bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church of Pennsylvania, and his mother was Andrea Miralia, childhood friend of Mary Todd Lincoln. Potter served as an attorney in New York City prior to the outbreak of the Civil War.

Potter was commissioned as a major and then promoted to lieutenant colonel during the early days of the war. He commanded the 51st New York Volunteers at Cedar Mountain, Second Bull Run and Antietam. He was wounded at Antietam and at Petersburg, was commissioned a Major General of volunteers in September 1865, and was mustered out in 1866.

Potter had at least five brothers:

• Clarkson Nott Potter (1825-1882) was a Democratic member of the National House of Representatives after the Civil War.
• Henry Codman Potter (1835-1908) succeeded Horatio Potter as Bishop of New York in 1887.
• Edward Tuckerman Potter an architect who designed the Nott Memorial at Union College.
• William Appleton Potter (1842–1909) was an American architect who designed numerous buildings, including the Church of the Presidents (New Jersey) in Elberon, New Jersey.
• Eliphalet Nott Potter