Henry E. Tremain

Henry Edwin Tremain (1840–1910) was an American Civil War Medal of Honor recipient who was on the staff of several generals. He received the Medal of Honor for his actions at the Battle of Resaca, when he voluntarily rode between two brigades of Union soldiers who were mistakenly firing at each other, and stopped the firing.

Following the war he worked as a lawyer and was the author of several works on the Civil War. He was born in New York City on November 14, 1840 He is buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, New York.

Early years Henry E. Tremain was born in New York City on November 14, 1840, to Edwin Ruthven Tremain and Mary Briggs Tremain. He graduated from the College of the City of New York in 1860, He began legal studies at Columbia College Law School in 1860. He was present at numerous major battles and campaigns including Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Second Bull Run, Gettysburg, Chattanooga and Petersburg. In the latter half of the war he was an aide-de-camp with the United States Volunteers. he recruited a company that joined the Second Regiment of Fire Zouaves (73rd NY Infantry) attached to the Excelsior Brigade. As a first lieutenant he was on the staff of General Nelson Taylor and General John Pope. Taken as a prisoner of war at the Second Battle of Bull Run on August 29, 1862, he was briefly held at Libby Prison in Richmond before being paroled at Aiken's Landing, Virginia on September 21, 1862.

Postwar years Returning to New York in 1866, Tremain completed his law studies at Columbia in 1867. In 1869 he formed a law firm, Tremain & Tyler, with fellow Union officer Col. Mason Whiting Tyler. He worked as a lawyer until his death in 1910. He was politically active as a member of the Republican Party and the Grand Army of the Republic. In addition to a New York City residence, the couple maintained a home at Hillview in Bolton, New York on Lake George. The 1900 federal census shows that they employed nine resident servants, including a gardener, housekeeper, seamstress, coachman, cook and two farm laborers.

Tremain wrote several books that focused on the Civil War. They include The Last Hours of Sheridan's Cavalry and Two Days of War: a Gettysburg Narrative, and Other Excursions. The General Tremain Prize is still awarded at CCNY.

Henry Edwin Tremain died on December 9, 1910, in New York City. He is buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, New York.