Philip Kearny

Philip Kearny was born on June 1, 1814, in New York City. Because his mother died when he was quite young, Kearny spent his early years in a series of boarding schools and made his home with his maternal grandfather. Kearny attended Columbia University and studied law, but he decided to follow a military career.

• As a second lieutenant in the First United States Dragoons, Kearny was sent to France to study cavalry tactics.
• He soon distinguished himself when he served with the Chasseurs d'Afrique in Algiers in 1840. He returned to the United States and became an aide-de-camp to General Alexander Macomb, commander-in-chief of the army, and later to his successor, General Winfield Scott.
• He then married, started a family, and resigned his commission in 1846.
• He was immediately called back into service, however, to lead the advance on Mexico City in the Mexican War of the same year.
• Kearny's left arm was shattered in battle and had to be amputated.
• Kearny again withdrew from military life, but in 1859 he served on the staff of General Morris in France.
• He returned to the United States at the outbreak of the Civil War and served as a brigadier general with the Army of the Potomac.
• He lost his life in the Battle of Chantilly, Virginia, on September 1, 1862.