Harvard memorial biographies ...

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Harvard Memdrial Biographies.

in the Army of the Potomac. His merit was appreciated
wherever he was known, and his reputation was spreading in
the army. He was recognized throughout his corps as a model
commander; and that corps was the sturdy Second, which was
reported long after his death to be the only corps in the army
which never had lost a gun or a color. General Sedgwick,
who knew him well, declared with emphasis that he was "a
wonderfully good soldier"; and his division commander, General Gibbon, pronounced his military services and ability to be
of the highest order, and declared that in him he had lost the
best regimental officer in his division. The knowledge of his
extraordinary merit had even reached General Meade, under
whose immediate command he had never served; and when
he heard of Abbott's death, he turned to General Grant, and
spoke of the departed in strong terms of praise and regret.
His corps commander, General Hancock, in a letter written
nearly ten months after his death, used the following language:" He was perhaps more widely known in the army than any officer of equal rank, and was an officer of great promise..... His
reputation was built upon a solid foundation, and the closest scrutiny could not diminish it..... Had Major Abbott lived,.... and
continued in the profession of arms, he would have been one of our
most distinguished commanders."
From the beginning of the war to his death, Major Abbott
was a diligent student of his profession. His mind was well
adapted for grasping and for retaining its principles and its
details. He made himself thoroughly familiar with the school
of the soldier, of the company, and of the battalion, and
with the army regulations and the articles of war. He informed himself, by methodical reading, of the military systems
of other nations, and was constantly adding to his knowledge
of the great campaigns of history, especially of those of Napoleon. He took especial delight in tactics. He loved to
think about movements, and to talk about them, and found
great pleasure in discussing difficult questions, and in seeking to discover the simplest and most rapid methods of putting