Major General Samuel R. Curtis
Born in New York, Curtis graduated from West Point in 1831. He moved to Ohio, where he took several civilian jobs. During the Mexican War, he served as military governor of several occupied cities. After the war, he moved to Iowa, and was elected to Congress in 1856 as a Republican. He was a supporter of eventual President Abraham Lincoln, and was considered for a cabinet position; however, when the Civil War broke out, Curtis took command of the 2nd Iowa Regiment.
After organizing the chaos in St. Louis, Missouri, Curtis was given command of the Army of the Southwest in 1861 by Major General Henry W. Halleck. Curtis moved to solidify the Union control in Arkansas. His units fought at the Battle of Pea Ridge in 1862, and in July, they captured the city of Helena, Arkansas. He was promoted to Major General for his success. Although in September Curtis was given command of the Department of Missouri, Lincoln was soon forced to reassign him, after his abolitionist views led to conflict with the governor of Missouri.
In 1864, he returned to Missouri, fighting against the Confederate invasion led by General Sterling Price. When that invasion was halted at the Battle of Westport, Curtis was given a position until the end of the war in the frontier, commanding the Department of the Northwest. After the war, he returned to Keokuk, Iowa, where he was involved with the Union advances in railroads, until his death in 1866. Although most historical works do not focus on him, Samuel Curtis was probably the most successful Union general in the beginning of the Civil War.