Robert Cumming Schenck (4 October 1809 – 23 March 1890) was a member of the US House of Representatives (W-OH 3) from 4 March 1843 to 3 March 1851 (succeeding Patrick Gaines Goode and preceding Hiram Bell) and from OH-3 from 4 March 1863 to 5 January 1871 (succeeding Clement Vallandigham and preceding Lewis D. Campbell) and Union Army Major-General during the American Civil War.
Biography[]
Robert Cumming Schenck was born in Franklin, Ohio in 1809, the son of William Cortenus Schenck and the younger brother of James F. Schenck. When his father died in 1821, he was put under the guardianship of James Findlay, and he graduated with honors from Miami University in 1827. He became a lawyer in Dayton in 1831, and he was elected to the state legislature in 1841. During the 1840 presidential election, he distinguished himself as a Whig speaker, and he went on to serve in the US House of Representatives from 1843 to 1851, opposing the Mexican-American War as a war of aggression to further slavery and supporting the repeal of the gag rule on slavery. From 1851 to 1853, he served as ambassador to Brazil, and, in 1859, he recommended that the Republican Party nominate Abraham Lincoln for President. When the American Civil War broke out, Schenck visited Lincoln, who told him that he would make him a general in the Union Army. Although he had no military experience, he was a diligent student of military science, and he was commissioned a Brigadier-General. He commanded a brigade in Daniel Tyler's division at the First Battle of Bull Run in 1861, and he took part in the 1862 Valley Campaign and commanded I Corps in Franz Sigel's absence. He was severely wounded at the Second Battle of Bull Run, after which he was promoted to Major-General. While recovering, Schenck was given command of VIII Corps, suppressing Confederate sympathizers in Maryland before returning to the US Congress. He opposed desertion, vigorously advocated the draft and disenfranchised draft dodgers, and was a firm friend of volunteers. He lost re-election by just 53 votes in 1870, and he served as Minister to the United Kingdom from 1871 to 1876. After returning, he became a lawyer in Washington DC, and he died in 1890 at the age of 80.
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