Autobiography of Isaac Jones Wistar, 1827-1905 - Half A Century in War and Peace

Philadelphia: Wistar Institute of Anatomy & Biology. Very Good. 1937. Hardcover. vii, (1), 528 pages; Clean and secure in original blue cloth binding with gilt lettering, toned at endpapers near spine. Former owner's signature on ffep - "Rowland Evans" Illustrated with 2 plates, portraits, folding map at rear. Overland journeys to the Pacific. Frontispiece photo of the author, a lawyer, Gold Rush miner, Union General during the Civil War, and penologist. "Largely devoted to the opening development of the far West from 1849 to 1860, in which Wistar played a conspicuous part before achieving fame and fortune in Pennsylvania." He earned and lost small fortunes as a miner, trapper, muleteer, speculator and lawyer. During the Civil War he raised his own regiment and fought at Gettysburg. Fold-out map at rear shows the route taken in 1849 by Wistar from Independence, Missouri to California. [Howes, W598] Isaac Jones Wistar (1827 – 1905) was an American lawyer, miner, farmer, soldier, and author. He served in the Union Army during the American Civil War, in which he was wounded twice, and was noted for his criticized performance during the 1864 Bermuda Hundred Campaign. After the conflict Wistar became a distinguished penologist and a writer. In 1849, he moved to California to make his fortune in the Gold Rush. From then until the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861, Wistar held a great variety of vocations. Among these were: animal trapper, mountaineer, Indian fighter, farmer, and lawyer. In 1861, Wistar raised a company of men and was elected its captain. They were added to the 71st Pennsylvania Infantry, which was organized at Fort Schuyler in New York. Wistar participated in the Union defeat in the Battle of Ball's Bluff on October 21. In the fight, he was seriously wounded. Upon the death of Col. Edward D. Baker at Ball's Bluff, Wistar became the commander of the 71st Pennsylvania. They participated in the Peninsular Campaign of 1862 at the Battle of Seven Pines and during the Seven Days Battles. Wistar fought in the Battle of Antietam on September 17, 1862, and was wounded again in his left arm. In April 1864, he briefly was given divisional command of the XVIII in the Army of the James. On May 7, Wistar resumed leading a brigade and participated in the Bermuda Hundred Campaign, but 11 days later he was relieved of duty and replaced by Col. Griffen Stedman. Wistar resigned from the Union Army on September 15, 1864. Wistar resumed his law practice in Philadelphia, and he also was a noted penologist. He served as vice president of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, leading its coal and canal components. Wistar founded the Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology at the University of Pennsylvania in 1892, and also served as Inspector of the Pennsylvania State Penitentiary, both located in Philadelphia. He also served as president of the Pennsylvania State Board of Charities, the American Philosophical Society, and the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia. Wistar authored several works, including an autobiography and writings about war and penology. He retired in 1903 and died two years later at his summer home in Claymont, New Castle County, Delaware. Mount Wistar in Greenland was named after him by Robert Peary in his 1898-1902 expedition. .