Lander, Frederick W.

• Frederick William Lander (December 17, 1821 – March 2, 1862) was a transcontinental United States explorer, general in the Union Army during the American Civil War, and a prolific poet.

• Civil War Union Brigadier General. He was a brilliant engineer-explorer whom as a Colonel in the US Army, made five transcontinental surveys. When the Civil War began, he was sent in behalf of President Lincoln on a secret mission to Governor Houston of Texas and was appointed Brigadier General in May, 1861. At Edwards Ferry, he was badly wounded but still led an outstanding charge at Blooming Gap. On March 2, 1862, he died unexpectedly of pneumonia.
• He served with another Salem native, Barstow, Simon Forrester in the Civil War.
• Lander was born in Salem, Massachusetts, the son of Edward and Eliza West Lander. He was also great-grandson of Elias Hasket Derby.
• He was educated at Governor Dummer Academy, Phillips Academy, Andover and Norwich Military Academy in Vermont and thereafter took up the profession of civil engineering as an army officer.
• The United States government employed him on transcontinental surveys to select a route for a Pacific railroad.
• Lander was the husband of English-born stage actress Jean Margaret Davenport, who served as a nurse during the Civil War. They were married in October 1860. Lander published a popular poem on the Battle of Ball's Bluff, as well as several other patriotic poems that drew national attention.
• Lander is buried in Broad Street Cemetery in Salem.
• His two sisters also found notoriety: Louise Lander (1826–1923) was a sculptress and Sarah West Lander (1819-72) wrote travelogues for young people in a series called "Spectacles for Little Eyes".

See Also

Vertical in the Salem Collection- Lander, Frederick W.

"Salem and the Civil War" Salem Evening News, May 26,1999, p. A3

Frederick William Lander Find a grave info