Sidney Burbank
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[edit] Sidney Burbank
Sidney Burbank served as an officer in the regular army before and during the American Civil War.
Burbank was born in Massachussetts in 1807, the son of Sullivan Burbank, an officer in the U. S. Army. Sidney Burbank attended the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, graduating 17th in a class of 46 in 1829. Burbank was assigned to the infantry, serving in Indian wars, including the Seminole War. As a captain he established Fort Duncan near Eagle Pass, Texas in 1849. Most often, he served in the 1st U.S. Infantry. Burbank was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel on May 14, 1861 and colonel on September 16, 1862. He served on recruiting duty and organized the 13th U.S. Infantry at Jefferson Barracks in Missouri. Burbank succeeded to command of the 2nd U.S. Infantry following the death of Dixon Miles.[1]
Colonel Burbank joined the Army of the Potomac in 1863. Burbank served as a brigade commander in the second division of V Corps under General George Sykes at the Battle of Chancellorsville. His brigade was composed of regiments of regular infantry. Burbank led the same brigade under Brig Gen Romeyn B. Ayres at the Battle of Gettysburg. It lost heavily when it was attacked in the flank while deploying in the Wheatfield on July 2, 1863. The attack was executed by the brigade of Brig Gen William T. Wofford, and it cost Burbank's brigade 447 casualties.[2] Afterwards, Burbank's regular brigade was combined with that of Hannibal Day, serving in the Bristoe Campaign and the Mine Run Campaign. Burbank commanded the brigade through most of this period.
Burbank's health was not good, and in the winter of 1863-1864 his eyesight was failing. Burbank left the Army of the Potomac for less demanding assignments.[3] (The regulars were made part of a brigade under Ayers in General Charles Griffin's first division V Corps.) Thereafter Burbank commanded a draft rendezvous in Columbus, Ohio and the headquarters of the 2nd U.S. Infantry in Kentucky until the end of the war. A [[brevet[[ rank of brigadier general was awarded to him for Gettysburg. He rebuilt his regiment, as well as serving on boards and commissions, until he retired in 1870. Burbank lived in Newport, Kentucky until he died on December 7, 1882 of an intestinal blockage.[4]
Burbank's son, Capt Sullivan Burbank, was killed in the Battle of the Wilderness.[5]
[edit] Sources
- Boatner, Mark M., Civil War Dictionary, New York, D. McKay Co. [1959]. ISBN 0-8071-0882-7
- Pfanz, Harry W., Gettysburg – The Second Day, University of North Carolina Press, 1987, ISBN 0-8078-1749-X.[6]
- Reese, Timothy J., Sykes' Regular Division 1861-1864, Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1990. ISBn 0-89950-447-7
