Alexander Eakin Shiras

Alexander E. Shiras (10 August 1812 – 14 April 1875) was a career officer in the United States Army. A veteran of the American Indian Wars, Mexican–American War, and American Civil War, in 1874 he attained the rank of brigadier general when he was appointed as the army's commissary general. While serving in the Union Army from 1861 to 1866, he attained the ranks of brigadier general and major general by brevet as commendations for his distinguished Civil War service.

Shiras was a native of Philadelphia, and was raised and educated in Mount Holly, New Jersey. In 1829, he was appointed to the United States Military Academy at West Point. Upon graduating in 1833, he began his career as a Field Artillery officer. Shiras served in Florida during the Second Seminole War and as a professor of mathematics at West Point. During the Mexican–American War, he performed commissary of subsistence duties in New York City and Washington, D.C. After the war, he continued to perform commissary duties. During the American Civil War he served as assistant commissary general and a member of the United States Sanitary Commission.

After the Civil War, Shiras continued to serve as assistant commissary general. In June 1874, he was appointed as commissary general and promoted to brigadier general. He became ill in 1875, and died in Washington on 14 April. He was buried at Saint Andrew's Graveyard in Mount Holly.

Early life Alexander Eakin Shiras was born in Philadelphia on 10 August 1812, a son of George B. Shiras and Joanna Eakin (Greenman) Shiras. He was raised and educated in Mount Holly, New Jersey, and in 1829 his uncle Constant M. Eakin, an 1817 graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, successfully advocated for Shiras to receive appointment as a cadet. Shiras's classmates who attained prominence in the careers included John G. Barnard, George Washington Cullum, Rufus King, Francis Henney Smith, David Bullock Harris, William Wallace Smith Bliss, John Addison Thomas, Henry du Pont, Benjamin Alvord, Henry W. Wessells, Abraham Myers, Daniel Ruggles, and Henry Lee Scott.

At graduation in July 1833, Shiras was appointed a second lieutenant of Field Artillery by brevet and assigned to the Field Artillery School at Fort Monroe, Virginia. During 1833 and 1834, he took part in the forced removal of the Muscogee Nation from Georgia and Alabama to the Indian Territory during the Trail of Tears. During the American Civil War, Shiras served in the Union Army from 1861 to 1866; he was assistant to the commissary general from April 1861 to February 1863, then received appointment as assistant commissary general. News accounts after his death indicated that Shiras's estate was valued at over $500,000, which was disseminated to his heirs at law.

Dates of rank Shiras's dates of rank were:

Second Lieutenant (Brevet), 1 July 1833 Second Lieutenant, 6 October 1835 First Lieutenant, 31 May 1837 Captain, 3 March 1847 Major, 11 May 1861 Colonel, 9 February 1863 Brigadier General, 23 June 1874

Honors Shiras received brevet promotions to brigadier general (17 September 1864) and major general (13 March 1865) in recognition of the commendable service he rendered during the Civil War.