James W. Forsyth family papers, 1803-2004

James William Forsyth (1834-1906) was a United States Major General who graduated from West Point in 1856. He served under General Philip H. Sheridan both during and after the Civil War and was the commander at Wounded Knee Massacre in 1890.

Forsyth was born in Maumee City, Ohio on August 26, 1834. He was the son of James Henry and Charlotte Templeton Jackson Forsyth. He was a grandson of William Forsyth and Margret Lyttle Forsyth of Detroit, Michigan, and a descendent of William Forsyth of Blackwater, Ireland, who fought under General Wolf at the siege of Quebec and received large grants of land from England. James had eight siblings, including sisters Charlotte and Ada, as well as brothers Henry A. ("Alan") and George Duncan, each of whom are represented in these papers.

After attending West Point, Forsyth served in the 9th US Infantry, spending time in Washington Territory at Fort Bellingham and on the San Juan Islands at Camp Pickett. As a lieutenant, Forsyth served in the Civil War with the Army of the Potomac and Major General Philip H. Sheridan. It was during time that Forsyth met George A. "Sandy" Forsyth. James and Sandy refer to each other as "brother" in many of their letters.

In 1867, Forsyth married Lizzie Dennison, daughter of William Dennison, governor of Ohio. Lizzie's siblings include Erasmus, Herman and Jennie. James and Lizzie had three daughters, Bessie, Mary, and Marion, and one son, William Dennison Forsyth. Bessie would marry Colonel Dallas Bache, a Civil War surgeon and a great grandson of Benjamin Franklin. Marion wed Lieutenant William Fitzgerald. Mary wed General John M. Bacon who served as a Captain in the 9th Cavalry under Major George A. Forsyth.

Forsyth remained Chief of Staff for Sheridan after the war. Moving to the Gulf of Mexico, he served as acting inspector general of the Military Division there. Forsyth followed Sheridan when he became commander of the Department of Missouri in 1866. Forsyth first served as an inspector and then obtained an appointment in the cavalry. From 1868 to 1869 he engaged in military campaigns against Comanche, Arapaho, Cheyenne, and Kiowa Indians. In 1870, Forsyth went to Europe as an official observer to the Franco-Prussian War.

Upon returning to the United States in the late 1870s, Forsyth spent time inspecting and monitoring relations with various Indian agencies. He also commanded cavalry units in the 1878 Bannock campaign. By 1885, Forsyth was the commander of Fort Maginnis in Montana. Here he monitored the Crow, Cree, and the Gros Ventres (Atsina) Indians. In 1886, he received a promotion to the rank of colonel and was placed in command of the 7th at Fort Riley, Kansas.

Forsyth's work at Fort Riley led to his role as commander in the Wounded Knee Massacre of December 1890, in which he attempted to disarm some members of the Sioux community near Pine Ridge agency in South Dakota, resulting in a chaotic conflict with many fatalities. Forsyth further engaged the Sioux the following day at Drexel Mission. The matter spurred an official investigation, but Forsyth was cleared of any wrongdoing and many of the officers involved received Medals of Honor. In 1894, as Commander of California, Forsyth was promoted to Major General and retired to his birthplace of Ohio in 1897. On October 24, 1906, James William Forsyth died in Columbus, Ohio.