Richard Busteed

Richard Busteed
Brig. Gen. Richard Busteed
Born	(1822-02-16)February 16, 1822 Cavan, Ireland
Died	September 14, 1898(1898-09-14) (aged 76) New York City, New York
Place of burial	Woodlawn Cemetery, The Bronx, New York
Allegiance	United States of America
Service/branch	United States Army Union Army
Years of service	1862 – 1863
Rank	Brigadier General
Unit	VII Corps
Battles/wars	American Civil War
Other work	U.S. District Judge, journalist, preacher

Richard Busteed (February 16, 1822 – September 14, 1898) was an attorney and soldier who served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He was a lawyer before and after the war, and also served as the U.S. District Judge of Alabama from 1863 – 1874. He became highly controversial in that position, and resigned to avoid likely impeachment by the U.S. House of Representatives.

Busteed was born in Cavan, Ireland. His family relocated to London, Ontario, sometime after his father, George Washington Busteed, was removed as chief secretary of Saint Lucia in 1829. After moving to Canada, the elder Busteed began publishing The True Patriot on which Richard worked as a type-setter. He accompanied his father to Cincinnati, Ohio; Hartford, Connecticut; and finally settled in New York City where he worked on the Commercial Advertiser.

Along with working as a journalist, Busteed was licensed as a Methodist preacher. He visited Ireland for health reasons in 1840. Upon returning to New York he began to study the law and was admitted to the bar in 1846, thereafter engaging in private practice. He was elected corporation counsel of New York City in 1856 and held that office until 1859. In the presidential election of 1860 he was a strong supporter of Stephen A. Douglas, and a bitter opponent of Abraham Lincoln.

Once the war erupted, Busteed became a strong Union man. He was appointed a brigadier general of volunteers on August 7, 1862, by President Lincoln and assigned duty first in New York and then in Washington, D.C.. On December 15, 1862, he was given command of an independent brigade detached from the VII Corps. The brigade was assigned to the peninsula near Yorktown, Virginia. Even though the five colonels in his brigade sent a joint letter to the Senate urging his confirmation, the Senate did not confirm the appointment. Busteed not only had enemies from the election of 1860, he had made new ones for his strong support of the administration and his stance on the slavery question. His appointment expired on March 4, 1863, and, relieved of his command, he resigned less than a week later on the 10th, ending his military career.