Years of service 1863–1881 Role U.S. representative Name William Dunn | Other work U.S. Representative Rank Brigadier General Education Hanover College | |
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Born December 12, 1814
Hanover, Indiana ( 1814-12-12 ) Buried at Oak Hill Cemetery, Georgetown, Washington, D.C. Commands held Judge Advocate General of the Army Battles/wars American Civil War
Indian Wars Died July 24, 1887, Dunn Loring, Virginia, United States Place of burial Oak Hill Cemetery, Washington, D.C., United States, Georgetown, Washington, D.C., United States Battles and wars American Civil War, American Indian Wars Service/branch United States Army, Union Army Allegiance United States of America, Union | ||
William McKee Dunn (December 12, 1814 – July 24, 1887) was a U.S. Representative from Indiana and the Judge Advocate General of the United States Army.
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Early life and career
Born in Hanover, Jefferson County, Territory of Indiana, Dunn attended school in the first schoolhouse in Hanover. He was graduated from Indiana College in 1832 and from Yale College in 1835. He subsequently studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1837. He then established a legal practice. Dunn served as member of the Indiana House of Representatives in 1848. He was delegate to the state constitutional convention in 1850.
Dunn was elected as a Republican to the Thirty-sixth and Thirty-seventh Congresses. He served from March 4, 1859, until March 3, 1863. He served as chairman of the Committee on Patents (Thirty-seventh Congress). He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1862 to the Thirty-eighth Congress.
Civil War
During the early part of the American Civil War, in addition to his congressional duties, Dunn served in the Union Army as a volunteer aide-de-camp to General George B. McClellan from June 19, 1861, to August 1861, in the campaign in western Virginia.
Following his unsuccessful bid to remain in Congress, Dunn accepted a military commission from the Governor of Indiana, fellow Republican Oliver P. Morton. He was a major and judge advocate general in the Department of the Missouri from March 13, 1863, until July 6, 1864. He was appointed lieutenant colonel and Assistant Judge Advocate General of the United States Army on June 22, 1864. At the end of the war, he was brevetted as a brigadier general dating from March 13, 1865.
Postbellum career
Following the Civil War, Dunn stayed in the Regular Army. He was promoted to brigadier general and Judge Advocate General on December 1, 1875. He retired from the army on January 22, 1881.
He died at his summer residence, "Maplewood," in Dunn Loring, Fairfax County, Virginia, on July 24, 1887. He was interred in Oak Hill Cemetery, Washington, D.C.