Hollon Richardson

Hollon Richardson (December 25, 1835 – December 24, 1916) was an American lawyer and Union Army officer throughout the American Civil War. He served in the famous Iron Brigade of the Army of the Potomac and was awarded an honorary brevet to brigadier general after the war.

Early life Richardson was born on Christmas Day, 1835, and ultimately died on Christmas Eve, 1916. He was the eldest of nine children born to Hollon and Clarissa Richardson ( McKenzie) at Poland, Ohio. He received a common school education and read law; he was admitted to the Ohio bar in 1857, by Justice Thomas W. Bartley, with the endorsement of Jacob Dolson Cox.

The 7th Wisconsin Infantry mustered into service August 16, 1861, and went east to Washington, D.C., for service in the eastern theater of the war.

He was promoted to captain in February 1863, and, at the time of the Battle of Gettysburg, he had been detailed from his regiment to serve on the brigade staff of General Solomon Meredith.

During the evening after the first day of the battle, Richardson, moving alone between regiments, came upon a Confederate lieutenant and captured him. The lieutenant gave Richardson information about the Confederate plans for the second day of battle, and Richardson rushed to deliver the information to General Doubleday. Doubleday brought Richardson to the council of war, taking place that evening, where Richardson suggested locations for cannon placements. While there, he also was selected as a delegate to the 1868 Republican National Convention, and was an enthusiastic supporter of General Ulysses S. Grant's presidential campaign. He returned to Wisconsin in 1870, and maintained a successful legal practice at Chippewa Falls for the next twenty years.

Personal life and family During the first winter of the Civil War, in 1861, Richardson's commanding officer, Colonel William W. Robinson, brought his family to camp with the regiment in northern Virginia. While there, Richardson befriended Robinson's daughter, Leonora, and fell in love with her. Colonel Robinson objected to their relationship, saying that he did not want his daughter to become a war widow, but Richardson and Leonora defied Colonel Robinson and eloped at Washington, D.C., in the spring of 1862.

Colonel Robinson refused to speak to his son-in-law for several months after the marriage, but the two later became close friends. After the war, Colonel Robinson came to live with Richardson and his wife.

Richardson and Leonora had two daughters, both were still living at the time of his death in 1916.