A Civil War Biography

William Grose

Grose was born 16 December 1812 near Dayton in Montgomery County, Ohio. His family moved to Fayette County, Indiana in 1816 then settled in Henry County, Indiana when Grose was 17. He helped on the family farm while studying the law. He was admitted to the bar and established a law practice in New Castle, Indiana. He ran unsuccessfully as a Democrat for the a seat in the US Congress in 1852. In 1856 he was elected to the state legislature. In 1860 he was elected judge of the Common Pleas Court.

When the war started Grose resigned his judgeship and on 23 October 1861 accepted a commission as colonel of the 36th Indiana. The 36th saw action during the first day at Shiloh, the only Indiana regiment in Don Carlos Buell's Army of the Ohio to see action the first day. Grose was wounded and his horse was shot from under him. He commanded the 10th brigade, 4th division during the Kentucky campaign, during the siege of Corinth and at Stones River. He commanded the 3rd brigade, 2nd division, XXI Corps during the Vicksburg campaign, at Chickamauga where he was wounded in the neck, Chattanooga, and during the Atlanta campaign. He was promoted to brigadier general of volunteers on 30 July 1864 while under fire in front of Atlanta. He commanded the 3rd brigade, 1st division, IV Corps at Franklin and Nashville. In June 1865 Grose asked to be relieved of his command and submitted his resignation but it was not accepted. He was appointed president of a court martial in Nashville. He was brevetted major general of volunteers on 13 August 1865. He resigned his commission on 31 January 1866.

Following the war Grose returned to Indiana and was an internal revenue collector until 1874. He served on a state commission tasked to build mental hospitals. He was elected to the Indiana state senate in 1887. He published a history of the 36th Indiana, "Story of the Marches, Battles and Incidents of the 36th Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry", in 1891. He died at his home in New Castle on 30 July 1900. He was 87.

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