Ormbsy MacKnight (or McKnight) Mitchel (July 20, 1805 – October 30, 1862) was an American astronomer and major general in the American Civil War. is the 201st day of the year (202nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1805 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... is the 303rd day of the year (304th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about 1862 . ... Maj. ... Union County is a county located in the state of Kentucky. ... Beaufort is a city in Beaufort County, South Carolina, United States, situated on the Beaufort River. ... Insignia of a United States Air Force Major General German Generalmajor Insignia Major General is a military rank used in many countries. ... The Department of the Ohio was an administrative military district created by the United States War Department early in the American Civil War to administer the troops in the Northern states near the Ohio River. ... X Corps was a corps of the Union Army during the American Civil War. ... Combatants United States of America (Union) Confederate States of America (Confederacy) Commanders Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee Strength 2,200,000 1,064,000 Casualties 110,000 killed in action, 360,000 total dead, 275,200 wounded 93,000 killed in action, 258,000 total... The Great Locomotive Chase or Andrews Raid was a military raid that occurred April 12, 1862, in northern Georgia during the American Civil War. ... is the 201st day of the year (202nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1805 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... is the 303rd day of the year (304th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about 1862 . ... An astronomer or astrophysicist is a person whose area of interest is astronomy or astrophysics. ... Insignia of a United States Air Force Major General German Generalmajor Insignia Major General is a military rank used in many countries. ... Combatants United States of America (Union) Confederate States of America (Confederacy) Commanders Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee Strength 2,200,000 1,064,000 Casualties 110,000 killed in action, 360,000 total dead, 275,200 wounded 93,000 killed in action, 258,000 total...

A multi-talented man, he was also an attorney, surveyor, and publisher. He is notable for publishing the first magazine in the United States devoted to astronomy. Known in the Union Army as "Old Stars", he is best known for ordering the raid that became famous as the Great Locomotive Chase during the Civil War. An attorney is someone who represents someone else in the transaction of business: For attorney-at-law, see lawyer, solicitor, barrister or civil law notary. ... Surveying is concerned with the application of mathematics and physics in obtaining accurate measurements for the determination of the position of points on the Earths surface. ... A publisher is a person or entity which engages in the act of publishing. ... The 21st Michigan Infantry, a company of Shermans veterans. ... The Great Locomotive Chase or Andrews Raid was a military raid that occurred April 12, 1862, in northern Georgia during the American Civil War. ...

The U.S. communities of Mitchell, Indiana, Mitchelville, South Carolina, and Fort Mitchell, Kentucky were named for him, as was an impact crater on the planet of Mars. Mitchell is a city in Lawrence County, Indiana, United States. ... Mitchelville was a town built during the American Civil War for escaped slaves, located on what is now Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. ... Fort Mitchell is a city located in Kenton County, Kentucky. ... Tycho crater on Earths moon. ... Adjectives: Martian Atmosphere Surface pressure: 0. ...

Early life and career

Mitchel was born in Union County, Kentucky, but grew up in Lebanon, Ohio. He was a clerk, but left that job when he received an appointment to the United States Military Academy in 1825, where he was a classmate to Robert E. Lee and Joseph E. Johnston. He graduated in 1829, placing 15th out of 46 graduates. Mitchel stayed at West Point as assistant professor of mathematics for three years. He helped establish observatories for the U.S. Navy and at Harvard University. Union County is a county located in the state of Kentucky. ... Lebanon is a city in Warren County, Ohio, United States. ... “USMA” redirects here. ... // This article is about the Confederate general. ... Joseph E. Johnston Joseph Eggleston Johnston (February 3, 1807 – March 21, 1891) was a career U.S. Army officer and one of the most senior generals in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. ... Euclid, Greek mathematician, 3rd century BC, as imagined by by Raphael in this detail from The School of Athens. ... Molėtai Astronomical Observatory An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial and/or celestial events. ... The United States Navy (USN) is the branch of the United States armed forces responsible for naval operations. ... Harvard University (incorporated as The President and Fellows of Harvard College) is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA and a member of the Ivy League. ...

He passed the bar and became an attorney, but in 1836 became assistant professor of mathematics and natural philosophy at Cincinnati College. He was instrumental in establishing the college's law school, and on his first vacation, surveyed and recommended the route of the planned Little Miami Railroad between Cincinnati and Springfield, Ohio. An attorney is someone who represents someone else in the transaction of business: For attorney-at-law, see lawyer, solicitor, barrister or civil law notary. ... The University of Cincinnati is located in Cincinnati, Ohio. ... The Little Miami Railroad, now defunct, was a railway of Southwestern Ohio, running from the eastern side of Cincinnati to Xenia. ... Cincinnati, Ohio viewed from the SW, across the Ohio River from Kentucky. ... Springfield is the county seat of Clark County in the State of Ohio. ...

In 1845, he was appointed director of an observatory established at Cincinnati College through his initiative. At the time, it featured the second-largest refracting telescope in the world. He published the first monthly magazine in the United States devoted specifically to astronomy. In 1859, Mitchel became superintendent of the Dudley Observatory at Albany, New York, where he continued his pioneering work on the development of telegraphic determination of longitude. Image of a refracting telescope from the Cincinnati Observatory in 1848 A refracting or refractor telescope is a dioptric telescope that uses a lens as its objective to form an image. ... Dudley Observatory is an astronomical observatory located in Schenectady, New York, United States. ... For other uses, see Albany. ... Longitude is the east-west geographic coordinate measurement most commonly utilized in cartography and global navigation. ...

Civil War

During the Civil War, he entered the Union Army with a commission as brigadier general of volunteers. He first organized the northern Kentucky defenses around Cincinnati. He commanded the Department of the Ohio from September to November 1861. During this time, he conspired with espionage agent James J. Andrews on plans to steal a train in Georgia and disrupt a railroad vital to the Confederate States Army coincident with Mitchel's planned attack on Chattanooga, Tennessee. The raid failed, as did Mitchel's military operation. Andrews and a number of his men were captured. Andrews himself was among eight men who were tried in Chattanooga. They were hanged in Atlanta by Confederate forces, but were buried in the National Cemetery at Chattanooga. The 21st Michigan Infantry, a company of Shermans veterans. ... A Brigadier General, or one-star general, is the lowest rank of general officer in the United States and some other countries, ranking just above Colonel and just below Major General. ... Official language(s) English[1] Capital Frankfort Largest city Louisville Area  Ranked 37th  - Total 40,444 sq mi (104,749 km²)  - Width 140 miles (225 km)  - Length 379 miles (610 km)  - % water 1. ... Cincinnati, Ohio viewed from the SW, across the Ohio River from Kentucky. ... The Department of the Ohio was an administrative military district created by the United States War Department early in the American Civil War to administer the troops in the Northern states near the Ohio River. ... Spy and Secret agent redirect here. ... James J. Andrews (about 1829 – June 7, 1862) was an American Civil War espionage agent who led a daring raid on the Western and Atlantic Railroad that became famous as the Great Locomotive Chase. ... Some Confederate soldiers The Confederate States Army (CSA) was organized in February 1861 to defend the newly formed Confederate States of America from military action by the United States government. ... “Chattanooga” redirects here. ... This article is about the state capital of Georgia. ...

Although a military failure, the story of Andrew's Raid became known to American history as the Great Locomotive Chase, and has been retold in publications and film. The pursuit of Andrews' Raiders formed the basis of the Buster Keaton silent film The General and a dramatic 1956 Walt Disney film, The Great Locomotive Chase. The Great Locomotive Chase or Andrews Raid was a military raid that occurred April 12, 1862, in northern Georgia during the American Civil War. ... Buster Keaton (born Joseph Frank Keaton, October 4, 1895 – February 1, 1966) was an American silent film comic actor and filmmaker. ... The General is a 1927 silent comedy about a bumbling Confederate engineer (train driver) who pursues Union spies who steal his beloved locomotive, The General, which incidentally also carries his estranged girlfriend as well. ... Year 1956 (MCMLVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... For the company founded by Disney, see The Walt Disney Company. ... The Great Locomotive Chase is a 1956 Disney film based on the real Great Locomotive Chase that occurred during the American Civil War. ...

For more details on this topic, see Great Locomotive Chase.

General Mitchel led a division in the Army of the Ohio from December 1861 to July 1862, and was placed in charge of the defense of Nashville, Tennessee, with headquarters in the vicinity of Shelbyville, Tennessee. He became famous when he seized the city of Huntsville, Alabama in April 1862 without a shot being fired, after he led his troops there from Shelbyville in a surprise maneuver. He was promoted to major general for his efforts. The Great Locomotive Chase or Andrews Raid was a military raid that occurred April 12, 1862, in northern Georgia during the American Civil War. ... Symbol of the Polish 1st Legions Infantry Division in NATO code A division is a large military unit or formation usually consisting of around ten to twenty thousand soldiers. ... The Army of the Ohio was the name of two Union armies in the American Civil War. ... “Nashville” redirects here. ... Shelbyville is a city in Bedford County, Tennessee, United States. ... Huntsville, Alabama (top center), near the Tennessee border, is north of Birmingham and northeast of Decatur, across the Tennessee River flowing northwest. ... Insignia of a United States Air Force Major General German Generalmajor Insignia Major General is a military rank used in many countries. ...

In September 1862, he assumed command of the X Corps and the Department of the South at Hilton Head, South Carolina, but died in Beaufort of yellow fever shortly after assuming his post. He is buried in Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York. his life was filled with grief over the death of his wife in 1900 X Corps was a corps of the Union Army during the American Civil War. ... Hilton Head Island is a town located in Beaufort County, South Carolina. ... Beaufort is a city in Beaufort County, South Carolina, United States, situated on the Beaufort River. ... Green-Wood Cemetery was founded in 1838 as a rural cemetery in Kings County, New York, now in Brooklyn. ... For other meanings, see Brooklyn (disambiguation). ...

Legacy

• A persistently bright region near the Mars south pole that was first observed by Mitchel in 1846 is named in his honor - 'The Mountains of Mitchel'. It is located near 70°S, 40°E.

• An impact crater on Mars was named in his honor.

• The new town (and later city) of Mitchell, Indiana was name for him after he surveyed it for the owners while working on the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad in the 1850s. (The second "L" was added later).

• The first post-Civil War freedmen's town created in the United States (on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina), Mitchelville, was name for him.

• Fort Mitchell, Kentucky — an aberrant spelling — was also named for him.

• A descendant and namesake, Lt. Ormsby M. Mitchel, Jr., was awarded the Navy Cross in 1943 for extraordinary heroism in trying to save the crew of his doomed USS Plymouth after it had been struck by a torpedo fired by a German U-boat off the Virginia coast.

Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the solar system, named after the Roman god of war (the counterpart of the Greek Ares), on account of its blood red color as viewed in the night sky. ... Tycho crater on Earths moon. ... Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the solar system, named after the Roman god of war (the counterpart of the Greek Ares), on account of its blood red color as viewed in the night sky. ... Mitchell is a city in Lawrence County, Indiana, United States. ... A freedman is a former slave who has been manumitted or emancipated. ... Mitchelville was a town built during the American Civil War for escaped slaves, located on what is now Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. ... Fort Mitchell is a city located in Kenton County, Kentucky. ... The Navy Cross is the second highest medal that can be awarded by the Department of the Navy and the second highest award given for valor. ... The torpedo, historically called a locomotive torpedo, is a self-propelled explosive projectile weapon, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater toward a target, and designed to detonate on contact or in proximity to a target. ... U-boat is also a nickname for some diesel locomotives built by GE; see List of GE locomotives October 1939. ... This article is about the U.S. state. ...

References

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
• Stealing the General: The Great Locomotive Chase and the First Medal of Honor by Russell S. Bonds

Encyclopædia Britannica, the eleventh edition The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1910–1911) is perhaps the most famous edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica. ... The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ...

External links

• Ohio History Central biography
• Biography on a website devoted to The Great Locomotive Chase
• National Park Service website for the Cincinnati Observatory
• Short biography
• Portrait at Dudley Observatory site
• Photograph of his grave
• Fort Mitchell, Kentucky