Edward F. Winslow

Edward Francis Winslow was born on September 28, 1837, in Augusta, Maine, exactly one year following his parents’ marriage. He was the eighth child born to his father, Stephen Winslow, who, at 55 years of age when Edward was born, was more nearly the age of a grandfather. Stephen was in the sixth generation of descendants of Kenselm Winslow, one of three brothers who had founded the Plymouth Colony. Edward was the first born child of his mother Elizabeth Bass Winslow, a native of Boston.

General Winslow was born into a family of builders. So in his formative years, Edward as a young boy received practical firsthand knowledge of construction methods and the coordination of construction work. In search of a better economic situation, Edward moved to Mount Pleasant, Iowa, when he was 18 years old. Equipped with his intelligence and construction experience, Edward began working on the construction of the railroad west of Mount Pleasant in 1857.

At the beginning of the Civil War Winslow raised Company F, 4th Iowa Cavalry. He was commissioned as the captain of Company F on November 23, 1861. He brought to his new role as soldier the same qualities which had marked his railroad work. As he had become self-educated in the field of railroad construction and operations, he then similarly became absorbed in self-education to become a cavalry officer. Captain Winslow and his comrades had the good fortune to be at the right place at the right time. Federal cavalry operations would experience a revolutionary change during the 36 months following the regiment’s muster. During this time, Federal cavalry morphed from performing merely scouting and screening functions into an independent offensive weapon. Through his work as provost and his personal rapport with his command, he was promoted to the rank of Major of the 4th Iowa effective January 3, 1863.

By April 1863, Major Winslow received his first break from the rather unpromising circumstances at Helena. Opportunity now arrived as Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant prepared to launch the Vicksburg campaign. Grant lacked cavalry to provide typical functions of reconnaissance and screening of movement. He sent a request for a regiment of cavalry to the commander at Helena. Maj. Edward F. Winslow solicited and won the order dispatching the 4th Iowa Cavalry to Grant’s army. By April 30, 1863, Major Winslow’s regiment had arrived and was assigned to the XV Army Corps under Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman. Winslow demonstrated the necessary trait of a successful cavalry commander: reckless attack. On July 4, 1863, Winslow was promoted to colonel, and Sherman began giving Col. Edward F. Winslow more and more responsibilities. At the age of 25, Winslow took advantage of every opportunity to learn his job of cavalry commander over the next two years, and rising to the rank of brigadier general of volunteers.