View source for Adelbert Ames

{{Short description|Union Army general and Medal of Honor recipient}}
{{For|his son, the scientist who invented the Ames room|Adelbert Ames Jr.}}
{{Use American English|date = April 2019}}
{{Use mdy dates|date = April 2019}}

{{Infobox officeholder
| name               = Adelbert Ames
| image              = Gen. Adelbert Ames - NARA - 527085.jpg
| order              = 27th and 30th
| office             = Governor of Mississippi
| term_start         = January 4, 1874
| term_end           = March 29, 1876
| lieutenant         = [[Alexander K. Davis]]
| predecessor        = [[Ridgley C. Powers]]
| successor          = [[John Marshall Stone|John M. Stone]]
| term_start2        = June 15, 1868
| term_end2          = March 10, 1870
| predecessor2       = [[Benjamin G. Humphreys]]
| successor2         = [[James L. Alcorn]]
| office3            = [[United States Senate|United States Senator]]<br />from [[Mississippi]]
| term_start3        = February 23, 1870
| term_end3          = January 10, 1874
| predecessor3       = [[Jefferson Davis]]<br />''[[Confederate States of America|Secession]]'' (vacant until 1870)
| successor3         = [[Henry R. Pease]]
| birth_date         = {{birth date|1835|10|31}}
| birth_place        = East [[Thomaston, Maine|Thomaston]] (now [[Rockland, Maine|Rockland]]), [[Maine]], U.S.
| death_date         = {{death date and age|1933|4|13|1835|10|31}}
| death_place        = [[Ormond Beach, Florida|Ormond Beach]], Florida, U.S.
| resting_place      = [[Hildreth Cemetery#Hildreth Family Cemetery|Hildreth Family Cemetery]] in [[Lowell, Massachusetts|Lowell]], Massachusetts
| resting_place_coordinates = {{coord|42.660798|-71.309928|type:landmark}}
| nationality        =
| party              = [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
| spouse             = {{marriage|[[Blanche Butler Ames|Blanche Butler]]|July 21, 1870|}}
| children           = [[Butler Ames|Butler]], Edith, Sarah, [[Blanche Ames Ames|Blanche]], [[Adelbert Ames Jr.|Adelbert Jr.]], Jessie
| relations          = [[Benjamin Butler (politician)|Benjamin Franklin Butler]] (father-in-law)
| residence          =
| alma_mater         = [[United States Military Academy]]
| occupation         =
| profession         = [[Military]]
| allegiance         = United States
| branch             = [[United States Army|U.S. Army]] ([[Union Army]])
| serviceyears       = 1861–1870<br />1898–1899
| rank               = [[File:Union Army brigadier general rank insignia.svg|border|23px]] [[Brigadier general (United States)|Brigadier general]]<br />[[File:Union Army major general rank insignia.svg|border|23px]] [[Brevet (military)|Brevet]] [[Major general (United States)|major general]]
| commands           = [[20th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment|20th Maine Volunteer Infantry]]<br />2nd Brigade, 1st Division, [[XI Corps (Union Army)|XI Corps]]<br />2nd Division, [[X Corps (Union Army)|X Corps]]<br />2nd Division, [[XXIV Corps (Union Army)|XXIV Corps]]<br />[[Fourth Military District]]<br />3rd Brigade, 1st Division, [[Fifth Army Corps (Spanish–American War)|Fifth Army Corps]]<br />1st Division, Fifth Army Corps
| unit               = [[5th Field Artillery Regiment|5th United States Artillery]]
| battles            = 
{{collapsible list|title = {{nobold|''See list''}}|
{{Tree list}}
*[[American Civil War]]
** [[First Battle of Bull Run]]
** [[Peninsula campaign]]
*** [[Siege of Yorktown (1862)|Siege of Yorktown]]
***  [[Battle of Gaines' Mill]]
*** [[Battle of Malvern Hill]]
** [[Maryland Campaign]]
*** [[Battle of Antietam]]
** [[Battle of Fredericksburg]]
** [[Battle of Chancellorsville]]
** [[Battle of Gettysburg]]
** [[Bermuda Hundred Campaign]]
** [[Overland Campaign]]
** [[Second Battle of Petersburg]]
** [[Second Battle of Fort Fisher]]
*[[Spanish–American War]]
** [[Siege of Santiago]]
{{Tree list/end}}
}}
| awards            = [[Medal of Honor]]
}}

'''Adelbert Ames''' (October 31, 1835–April 13, 1933) was an American sailor, soldier, businessman and politician who served with distinction as a [[Union Army]] general during the [[American Civil War]]. A [[Radical Republican]], he was a military governor, [[United States Senate|U.S. Senator]], and civilian governor in [[Reconstruction era of the United States|Reconstruction-era]] [[History of Mississippi|Mississippi]]. In 1898, he served as a [[United States Army]] general during the [[Spanish–American War]]. He was the last Republican to serve as the state governor of Mississippi until the election of [[Kirk Fordice]], who took office in January 1992, 116 years after Ames vacated the office.

A staunch supporter of [[black suffrage in the United States|political equality for African Americans]], Ames' tenure as governor of Mississippi was a longstanding point of controversy in the historiography around Reconstruction, with [[Dunning School]] and other "[[Lost Cause of the Confederacy|Lost Cause]]" historians casting him as a villain in American history. Conversely, his cause was championed by Black historians and, from the 1950s onward, other [[Neoabolitionism (race relations)|neo-abolitionist]] writers.

Ames was the penultimate surviving [[general officer]] of the Civil War, dying at the age of 97 in 1933.<ref>Warner, p. 6, "This last survivor of the full-rank general officers on either side of the conflict ..."; Eicher, p. 103, "... the last surviving substantive Civil War general officer."</ref> He was outlived only by [[Aaron Daggett]], who died in 1938 at the age of 100. However, because Daggett was a [[Brevet (military)|brevet rank]] brigadier general of volunteers, Ames was the last surviving Civil War general who had held his rank in the regular U.S. or Confederate States army and was also the last surviving general of the conflict who had begun his career in the regular U.S. Army.

==Early life and career==
[[File:A Ames West Point cadet.jpg|thumb|upright|Ames as a [[West Point]] [[cadet]]]]
[[File:Inspection of the 2nd Pennsylvania Artillery by Gen Ames LCCN2004661337.jpg|thumb|200px|Inspection of the 2nd Pennsylvania Artillery by Gen Ames, by [[William Waud]]]]
Adelbert ({{IPAc-en|ə|ˈ|d|ɛ|l|b|ər|t}} {{Respell|ə|DEL|bərt}})<ref>Quigley, p. 1.</ref> Ames was born in 1835 in the town of [[Rockland, Maine|Rockland]] (then known as East [[Thomaston, Maine|Thomaston]]), located in [[Knox County, Maine|Knox County]], [[Maine]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |title=Encyclopedia of World Biography |publisher=Gale |year=1998 |location=Detroit }}</ref> He was the younger of two sons of Martha Bradbury Ames and Jesse Ames, a sea captain<ref name="The Bloody Shirt">Budiansky, pp. 64, 99.</ref> who later purchased what became the Ames Mill (renowned as the producers of [[MOM Brands|Malt-O-Meal]]) in [[Northfield, Minnesota|Northfield]], [[Minnesota]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.northfieldhistorical.org/items/show/20 |title=The Ames Mill {{!}} NorthfieldHistorical |access-date=August 8, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160731194234/http://www.northfieldhistorical.org/items/show/20 |archive-date=July 31, 2016 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref>  Adelbert Ames also grew up to be a sailor and became a mate on a [[clipper]] [[sailing ship|ship]],<ref name=Warner5>Warner, p. 5.</ref> and he also served briefly as a merchant seaman on his father's ship.

On July 1, 1856, he entered the [[United States Military Academy]] at [[West Point, New York|West Point]], [[New York (U.S. state)|New York]]; he graduated five years later in May 1861, fifth in his class of forty-five.<ref>[http://civilwarintheeast.com/west-point-officers-in-the-civil-war/class-of-may-1861/ West Point Officers in the Civil War – Class of May 1861] ''Civil War in the East.'' Web. Retrieved March 12, 2016.</ref> Two classes had graduated that year due to the beginning of the Civil War in April. Ames' class had graduated about a month earlier than usual, while a second class, set to graduate in 1862, graduated on June 24, 1861.<ref>Crafton, Luke. [https://web.archive.org/web/20120202002956/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/roadshow/fts/eugene_201101A34.html  The West Point Class of 1861] January 23, 2012. Web. Retrieved March 12, 2016.</ref>

==American Civil War==
Ames was then commissioned a [[second lieutenant]] in the 2nd U.S. Artillery. Eight days later, he was promoted to [[first lieutenant#United States|first lieutenant]] and was assigned to the 5th U.S. Artillery.<ref name=Eicher102>Eicher, p. 102.</ref> During the [[Battle of First Bull Run]] that July, Ames was seriously wounded in the right thigh but refused to leave his guns.<ref name=Bud65>Budiansky, p. 65.</ref> He was [[Brevet (military)|brevetted]] to the rank of [[Major (United States)|major]] on July 21 for his actions at [[Manassas, Virginia|Manassas]].<ref name=":0" /> In 1893, Ames received the [[Medal of Honor]] for his performance there.<ref>Eicher, p. 102; Warner, p. 5.</ref>

Returning to duty the following spring, Ames was part of the defenses of [[Washington, D.C.]]<ref name=Warner6>Warner, p. 6.</ref> He then fought in the [[Peninsula Campaign]] and saw action at the [[Battle of Yorktown (1862)|Battle of Yorktown]] from April 5 to May 4, the [[Battle of Gaines' Mill]] on June 27, and the [[Battle of Malvern Hill]] that July. Ames was commended for his conduct at Malvern Hill by [[Colonel (United States)|Col.]] [[Henry J. Hunt]], chief of the artillery of the [[Army of the Potomac]], and he received a brevet promotion to [[Lieutenant colonel (United States)|lieutenant colonel]] on July 1.<ref name=Eicher102 />

Although Ames was becoming an excellent artillery officer, he realized that significant promotions would be available only in the infantry. He returned to Maine and politicked to receive a commission as a regimental infantry commander and was assigned to command the [[20th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment]] on August 20, 1862.<ref name=Eicher102 /> The 20th Maine fought in the [[Maryland Campaign]] but saw little action at the [[Battle of Antietam]] on September 17 while in a reserve capacity. During the Union defeat at the [[Battle of Fredericksburg]] that winter, Ames led his regiment in one of the last charges on December 13 against Marye's Heights. During the Chancellorsville Campaign in May 1863, Ames volunteered as an [[aide-de-camp]] to [[Major general (United States)|Maj. Gen.]] [[George G. Meade]], commander of the [[V Corps (Union Army)|V Corps]].

Probably as a result of this staff duty and his proximity to the influential Meade,{{Citation needed|date=January 2009}} Ames was promoted to [[Brigadier general (United States)|brigadier general]] in the Union Army on May 20, 1863, two weeks following the [[Battle of Chancellorsville]].<ref name=Eicher102 /> Ames assumed brigade command in the [[XI Corps (Union Army)|XI Corps]] of the Army of the Potomac, relinquishing his command of the 20th Maine to Lt. Col. [[Joshua L. Chamberlain]], who would soon lead the regiment to fame in the [[Battle of Gettysburg]] that July.

[[File:A Ames and staff UA ACW.JPG|thumb|right|Ames (seated, center) and his staff during the American Civil War]]
While his experience at Gettysburg did not achieve the renown of Chamberlain's, Ames performed well under challenging circumstances. During the massive assault by [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] [[Lieutenant General (CSA)|Lt. Gen.]] [[Richard S. Ewell]] on July 1, 1863, Ames's division commander, Brig. Gen. [[Francis C. Barlow]], moved his division well in front of other elements of the XI Corps to a slight rise, now known as Barlow's Knoll. The enemy quickly overran this salient position, wounding and capturing Barlow. Ames took command of the division and led it in retreat through the streets of Gettysburg to a position on [[Cemetery Hill]]. On July 2, the second day of battle, Ames's battered division bore the brunt of the assault on East Cemetery Hill by [[Major General (CSA)|Maj. Gen.]] [[Jubal Anderson Early|Jubal A. Early]] but was able to hold the critical position with help from surrounding units. At one point, Ames himself participated in the hand-to-hand fighting. After the battle, the men of the 20th Maine presented Ames with their battle flag as a token of their esteem.

[[File:Adelbert Ames.jpg|thumb|upright|Ames as a [[Brevet (military)|brevet]] [[major general]] in the Union Army]]
Ames returned to brigade command following the battle, receiving a brevet promotion to colonel in the [[Regular Army (United States)|regular army]]. His division, under the command of Brig. Gen. [[George Henry Gordon|George H. Gordon]], was transferred to the Department of the South, where it served in actions in [[South Carolina in the American Civil War|South Carolina]] and [[Florida in the American Civil War|Florida]].

In 1864, Ames's division, which became part of the [[X Corps (Union Army)|X Corps]] of the [[Army of the James]], served under Maj. Gen. [[Benjamin Butler (politician)|Benjamin Franklin Butler]] in the [[Bermuda Hundred Campaign]] and the [[Siege of Petersburg]]. In the future, he would become Butler's son-in-law. That winter, the division was reassigned to the [[XXIV Corps (Union Army)|XXIV Corps]] and sent to [[North Carolina in the American Civil War|North Carolina]].

During the two years following his service in the Army of the Potomac, Ames shifted between brigade and division command (and even led his corps on two occasions). However, he generally can be identified as a division commander. He led the successful assault in the [[Second Battle of Fort Fisher]] (commanding the 2nd Division, XXIV Corps), accompanying his men into the formidable coastal fortress as most of his staff were shot down by Confederate snipers.<ref name=Bud65 /> He received a brevet promotion to [[Major general (United States)|major general]] in the Union Army (and brigadier general in the Regular Army) on March 13, 1865, for his role in the battle.<ref name=Eicher103>Eicher, p. 103.</ref>

==Mississippi politics==
In 1868, Congress appointed Ames as provisional governor of Mississippi. His command soon extended to the [[Fourth Military District]], which consisted of Mississippi and [[Arkansas]].<ref name=BDUSC>{{cite web |url=http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=A000172 |title=Ames, Adelbert |access-date=2009-04-11 |work=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress |publisher=[[United States Congress]]}}</ref> During his administration, he took several steps to advance the rights of formerly enslaved people, appointing the first Black officeholders in state history. During his tenure in 1869, a general election was held in the state, which was one of the last to comply with Reconstruction, despite the prevalence of white supremacist terrorism and violence. The legislature convened at the beginning of the following year.<ref name="The Bloody Shirt" />

Around 1868, Ames became an original companion of the [[Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States]], a military society of former Union officers and their descendants.

==U.S. senator==
The [[Mississippi Legislature]] elected Ames to the US Senate after the readmission of Mississippi to the Union. He served from February 24, 1870, to January 10, 1874, as a [[United States Republican Party|Republican]].<ref name="The Bloody Shirt" /><ref name=BDUSC /> In [[Washington, D.C.|Washington]], Ames met and married on July 21, 1870, [[Blanche Butler Ames|Blanche Butler]], daughter of his former commander, then [[US Representative]] [[Benjamin Butler (politician)|Benjamin Butler]], later a one-term [[governor of Massachusetts]]. The couple had six children, including [[Blanche Ames Ames]] (the suffragist and cartoonist), [[Adelbert Ames Jr.]], and [[Butler Ames]].<ref name="The Bloody Shirt" /> As a senator, Ames became a talented public speaker, to the point where even some of his [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] opponents acknowledged his ability.<ref name="The Bloody Shirt" />

In the US Senate, Ames was chairman of the Senate Committee on Enrolled Bills.<ref name=BDUSC /> Upon being elected governor of Mississippi, he resigned his seat to assume his duties.<ref name="The Bloody Shirt" />

==Governor==
Ames battled [[James Lusk Alcorn]], a former Confederate general, for control of the Republican Party, which then had mostly Black voters. [[White Southerners]] who sided with the Republican Party were derisively referred to as "[[scalawag]]s". Southern Democrats painted so-called scalawags and "[[carpetbaggers]]" as traitors exploiting the Southern United States and trying to set up "Negro rule." In reality, the promises made by Republicans to rebuild the Southern United States, restore prosperity, create public schools, and expand railroads attracted some white Southerners. The Ames-Alcorn struggle reflected deep fissures in the party. In 1873, both Ames and Alcorn sought a decision by running for the position of governor. The Radicals and most Black voters supported Ames, and Alcorn won the votes of scalawags and moderate [[Whig Party (United States)|Whiggish]] whites. Ames won by a vote of 69,870 to 50,490.

As governor, Ames fought to cut spending and lower the tax rate with moderate success. The state rate of 14 1/2 mills in 1874 was reduced to 9 1/2 in 1875 and 6 1/2 in 1876.<ref>''Cincinnati Daily Gazette'', September 16, 1875</ref>

Even his enemies agreed that the governor had rigorous integrity and was incorruptible and sincere.<ref>Lemann, ''Redemption'', 69.</ref> His appointments included some so-called scalawags and a few former Confederates, but he was often unhappy in Mississippi, while his wife and family spent much of their time in the North, where the weather was cooler and the socioeconomic conditions were more favorable. Ames was proud of his record and considered himself one of the best Republican governors of any of the reconstructed states. This opinion has been generally shared by historians ever since.<ref>Ames,''Adelbert Ames'', 387–89.</ref> However, he had little success in winning over his enemies in the party and was quick to attribute sinister motives to them.

His real problems came from the Democratic efforts to undo Reconstruction and gain control. Democrats in [[Vicksburg, Mississippi|Vicksburg]] launched a coup in December 1874. When the sheriff called on his supporters to restore him to office, a battle ended in the [[Vicksburg massacre|Vicksburg Massacre]]. Ames had no forces to send and depended on the federal government for troops to reinstate the ousted officials.<ref>Lemann, ''Redemption'', 75-92.</ref> In the following months, he failed to mobilize a state militia to cope with renewed troubles. By August, the Democratic Party had united to carry the legislative elections that fall and carried out what came to be called the "[[Mississippi Plan]]". A riot in Yazoo County drove out the Republican sheriff and resulted in some Blacks and party officers being lynched. The [[Clinton Riot]] on September 4 ended with white Democratic paramilitaries riding over the county, shooting every Black person they chanced upon. With no other means of protection, Ames appealed to the federal government for assistance. It was not refused, but authorities urged him to exhaust state resources first.<ref>Lemann, ''Redemption'', 120–24.</ref>

Ames, unable to organize a state militia in time, signed a peace treaty with Democratic leaders. In return for disarming the few militia units he had assembled, they promised to guarantee a full, free, fair election, a promise they did not keep.<ref>Lemann, ''Redemption'', 128–47.</ref>

That November, Democrats terrorized a large part of the Republican vote into staying home, driving voters from the polls with shotguns and cannons, and gaining firm control of both houses of the legislature. The state legislature, convening in 1876, drew up [[Article of impeachment|articles]] of [[Impeachment in the United States|impeachment]] against Ames; with a five-to-one majority and deeply hostile feelings towards him, their investigations "failed to trace a dollar of unearned money to his pockets," one reporter noted. "Whatever Ames may be, he is not dishonest."<ref>''Cincinnati Commercial'', November 4, 1875, March 30, 1876;</ref> Though insiders agreed that their case was very weak, removal was certain, particularly after his black lieutenant governor had been removed and the line of succession led to a Democrat. Rather than face an [[impeachment trial]] that would entail great expense, Ames's lawyers made a deal: once the legislature had dropped all charges, he would resign his office, which occurred on March 29, 1876.<ref>Ellem (1992); ''New York Times'', March 30, 1876'</ref>

==Later life==
After leaving office, Ames settled briefly in Northfield, Minnesota, where he joined his father and brother in their flour-milling business. During his residence there, in September 1876, [[Jesse James (outlaw)|Jesse James]] and his gang of former Confederate guerrillas raided the town's bank, primarily because of Ames's (and controversial Maj. Gen. [[Benjamin Butler (politician)|Benjamin Butler's]]) investment in it, but their attempt to rob it ended in catastrophic failure. Ames next headed to [[New York City]], then later settled in [[Tewksbury, Massachusetts|Tewksbury]], Massachusetts<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://extras.lowellsun.com/gettysburg/|title=Our Gettysburg Hero|website=extras.lowellsun.com|access-date=May 31, 2011|archive-date=January 11, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120111102602/http://extras.lowellsun.com/gettysburg/|url-status=dead}}</ref> as an executive in a flour mill, along with other business interests in the nearby city of [[Lowell, Massachusetts|Lowell]].<ref name=BDUSC />

In 1898, he was appointed brigadier general of volunteers in the [[Spanish–American War]] and fought in [[Cuba]].<ref name=BDUSC /> During the [[Battle of San Juan Hill]] the 3rd Brigade of the 1st Division suffered particularly high casualties, with its brigade commander killed and the next two ranking regimental commanders wounded. General Ames was assigned to command the brigade during the [[Siege of Santiago]]. He commanded the 1st Division when the V Corps was mustered out in New York.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/America/United_States/Army/USMA/Cullums_Register/1892*.html|title=Adelbert Ames • Cullum's Register • 1892|website=penelope.uchicago.edu}}</ref>

Several years afterward, he retired from business pursuits in Lowell but continued in [[real estate]] and entertainment projects in [[Atlantic City, New Jersey|Atlantic City]], New Jersey, and [[Florida]]. Ames corresponded extensively with the historian [[James Wilford Garner]] during this period; Garner's dissertation viewed Reconstruction as "unwise" but absolved Ames of personal corruption.<ref name=Lemann>Lemann, np.</ref> Ames's widow compiled a collection of her correspondence with Ames, ''Chronicles from the Nineteenth Century'', published posthumously in 1957.

Around 1900, Ames joined the Massachusetts [[General Society of Colonial Wars|Society of Colonial Wars]].

Ames died in 1933 at 97 at his winter home in [[Ormond Beach, Florida]], where he had been a frequent golfing partner of oil tycoon [[John D. Rockefeller]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=1928-04-04 |title=ROCKEFELLER ENDS FLORIDA SOJOURN; Beats General Adelbert Ames Seven Up in Farewell NineHole Golf Game.SAYS GOOD-BYE, GIVES DIMESTakes Train for Pocantico Hills in High Spirits and theBest of Health. (Published 1928) |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1928/04/04/archives/rockefeller-ends-florida-sojourn-beats-general-adelbert-ames-seven.html |access-date=2025-07-28 |language=en}}</ref> 

At the time of his death, Ames was the last surviving full-rank general who had served in the Civil War. (The last Union general officer, Aaron S. Daggett, lived five years longer than Ames, but he had been a brevet brigadier general of [[United States Volunteers|U.S. Volunteers]] in March 1865, while Ames had been promoted to the permanent rank of brigadier general in the [[Regular Army (United States)#Civil War|Regular Army]] about the same period.)

Ames is buried in the Hildreth family cemetery—the family of his mother-in-law, Sarah Hildreth Butler—behind the main cemetery (also known as [[Hildreth Cemetery]]) on Hildreth Street in Lowell, Massachusetts. Buried with him are his wife, Blanche Butler Ames, their six children, and the spouses of his son Butler and his daughter Edith.

==Notable descendants==
Ames was the son-in-law of Civil War General [[Benjamin Butler]].

His daughter [[Blanche Ames Ames]] (she married into another Ames family) was a noted [[suffragist]], inventor, artist, and writer. The mansion she designed and built is now part of [[Borderland State Park]] in Massachusetts.

His son [[Adelbert Ames Jr.]] was a noted scientist and inventor of the [[Ames Room]] and the [[Ames trapezoid|Ames Window]].

His son [[Butler Ames]] was a businessman and politician, representing Massachusetts in Congress for ten years.<ref>{{cite BDA1906 |wstitle= Ames, Adelbert |volume= 1 |page= 100 |short=1}}</ref>

Adelbert Ames was also the great-grandfather of [[George Plimpton]]. [[John F. Kennedy]], through George Plimpton, is indirectly responsible for a full-length biography of General Ames. In ''[[Profiles in Courage]]'', Kennedy relied on [[Reconstruction Era of the United States|Reconstruction]]-era historical texts to produce a brief but misleading, false, and devastating portrait of Ames's administration of Mississippi in his profile of Mississippi Senator [[Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar|Lucius Q. C. Lamar]]. Ames's daughter Blanche Ames Ames, a formidable figure in Massachusetts, bombarded the then-senator with letters complaining about the depiction and continued her barrage after Kennedy entered the [[White House]]. President Kennedy then turned to his friend Plimpton to tell Blanche, Plimpton's grandmother, that she was "interfering with state business." Her response was to write a book about her father, ''Adelbert Ames'', in 1964.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2023/12/jfk-profiles-in-courage-book-lucius-lamar/675815/|title=John F. Kennedy's Confederacy Problem|last=Virtue|first=Jordan|magazine=[[The Atlantic]]|date=November 13, 2023|access-date=November 13, 2023}}</ref>

==In memoriam==
[[File:General Ames' Medal of Honor Plaque.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Medal of Honor]] plaque at Ames' grave at the Hildreth family cemetery in Lowell, Massachusetts]]
A [[Medal of Honor]] plaque for Ames's gravesite was dedicated at a ceremony honoring Benjamin Butler's 191st birthday, held at the Hildreth family cemetery—the only time of the year it is open to the public—on November 1, 2009.

The United Spanish War Veterans established Camp 19, General Adelbert Ames Post, in Lowell, Massachusetts.

===Ames Hill Castle===
After settling in Massachusetts, Ames built a seventeen-room estate in Tewksbury known locally as "the Castle" on Prospect Hill, now called Ames Hill, in 1906. Local developer John D. Sullivan purchased the Ames Hill Castle in 1986 and illegally converted it into a multi-unit rental property. However, Sullivan has been subject to several court rulings for zoning violations on the property, including one in 1991 and again in 1999. In August 2010, Sullivan's attorney brought forth a proposal to Tewksbury's [[board of selectmen]] for modifications to the Ames Hill Castle to fall under the [[Massachusetts Comprehensive Permit Act: Chapter 40B]], which would allow him to maintain the property as a multi-unit rental legally. The board elected unanimously to table the proposal, citing several concerns—both with Sullivan's absence (as he had sent his attorney rather than present the proposal in person) and reluctance to meet with residents, and his previous legal issues with the property.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://homenewshere.com/tewksbury_town_crier/article_7572db27-d10e-594a-8d48-2df756a30f7c.html |title=40B for Ames Hill Castle? |work=Homenewshere.com|date=August 14, 2010 }}</ref>

In March 2012, the Ames Hill Castle was unanimously voted "preferably preserved" by the Tewksbury Historic Commission due to its unique architectural features, the current state of preservation, and its association with General Ames. This allowed the commission to invoke a nine-month delay in possible demolition of the property to pursue alternatives.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lowellsun.com/local/ci_20212668/ames-hill-castle-wins-9-month-reprieve |title=Ames Hill Castle wins 9-month reprieve |date=20 March 2012 }}</ref> In November, local developer Marc Ginsburg purchased the castle and surrounding plot from Sullivan for $360,000, just as the delay expired. Ginsburg ultimately decided on the castle's demolition to make way for smaller single-family dwellings.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lowellsun.com/ci_22175327/bulldozers-storm-ames-castle |title=Bulldozers storm Ames Castle |date=12 December 2012 }}</ref>

==Popular culture==
Ames was portrayed by actor [[Matt Letscher]] in the 2003 film [[Gods and Generals (film)|''Gods and Generals'']].

==Dates of rank==
{| class="wikitable"
|+
! Insignia !! Rank !! Date !! Component
|-
|No insignia || [[Cadet#United States|Cadet, USMA]] || 1 July 1856 || [[Regular Army (United States)|Regular Army]]
|-
|[[File:Union army 2nd lt rank insignia.jpg|75px]] || [[Second lieutenant#United States|Second Lieutenant]] || 6 May 1861 || Regular Army
|-
|[[File:Union army 1st lt rank insignia.jpg|75px]] || [[First lieutenant#United States|First Lieutenant]] || 14 May 1861 || Regular Army
|-
|[[File:Union_army_maj_rank_insignia.jpg|75px]] || [[Major (United States)|Major]] || 21 July 1861 (brevet) || Regular Army
|-
|[[File:Union_Army_LTC_rank_insignia.png|75px]] || [[Lieutenant colonel (United States)|Lieutenant Colonel]] || 1 July 1862 (brevet) || Regular Army
|-
|[[File:Union_Army_colonel_rank_insignia.png|class=noviewer|75x75px]]|| [[Colonel (United States)|Colonel]] || 29 August 1862 || [[United States Volunteers|Volunteers]]
|-
|[[File:Union army brig gen rank insignia.jpg|75px]] || [[Brigadier general (United States)|Brigadier General]] || 20 May 1863 || Volunteers
|-
|[[File:Union_Army_colonel_rank_insignia.png|class=noviewer|75x75px]]|| Colonel || 1 July 1863 (brevet) || Regular Army
|-
|[[File:Union army cpt rank insignia.jpg|75px]] || [[Captain (United States O-3)|Captain]] || 11 June 1864 || Regular Army
|-
|[[File:Union army maj gen rank insignia.jpg|75px]] || [[Major general (United States)|Major General]] || 15 January 1865 (brevet)|| Volunteers
|-
|[[File:Union army brig gen rank insignia.jpg|75px]] || Brigadier General || 13 March 1865 (brevet) || Regular Army
|-
|[[File:Union army maj gen rank insignia.jpg|75px]] || Major General || 13 March 1865 (brevet) || Regular Army
|-
|[[File:Union_Army_LTC_rank_insignia.png|75px]] || |Lieutenant Colonel || 28 July 1866 || Regular Army
|-
|[[File:Union army brig gen rank insignia.jpg|75px]] || Brigadier General || 20 June 1898 || Volunteers
|}
<ref>{{cite book |last=Cullum |first=George W. |date=1891 |title=Biographical register of the officers and graduates of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., from its establishment in 1802 to 1890 |url=https://archive.org/details/biographicalregi02bost/page/772/mode/2up |location=Boston |publisher=[[Houghton Mifflin Harcourt|Houghton Mifflin]] |volume=II |edition=3rd |pages=772–773 |isbn=}}</ref>

==Medal of Honor citation==
Rank and Organization: First Lieutenant, 5th U.S. Artillery. Place and Date: At Bull Run, Va., July 21, 1861. Entered Service At: Rockland, Maine. Birth: East Thomaston, Maine. Date of Issue: June 22, 1894.

'''Citation:'''

<blockquote>Remained upon the field in command of a section of Griffin's Battery, directing its fire after being severely wounded and refusing to leave the field until too weak to sit upon the caisson where he had been placed by men of his command.<ref name=AMOHW>{{cite web |access-date=June 8, 2009 |url=http://www.history.army.mil/html/moh/civwaral.html |publisher=[[United States Army Center of Military History]] |title=Medal of Honor citations |work=American Medal of Honor recipients for the American Civil War (A-L) |date=June 8, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090619234504/http://www.history.army.mil/html/moh/civwaral.html |archive-date=19 June 2009  |url-status=dead}}</ref></blockquote>

==See also==
{{Portal|Biography|American Civil War}}
* [[List of American Civil War Medal of Honor recipients: A–F]]
* [[List of American Civil War generals (Union)]]

{{clear}}

==References==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==References and further reading==
:{{ACMH}}
* Ames, Blanche. ''Adelbert Ames, 1835–1933''. New York: Argosy-Antiquarian, 1964. {{OCLC|221717458}}.
* Budiansky, Stephen. ''The Bloody Shirt: Terror After Appomattox''. New York: Viking, 2008. {{ISBN|978-0-670-01840-6}}.
* Current, Richard Nelson. ''Those Terrible Carpetbaggers: A Reinterpretation''. New York: Oxford University Press, 1988. {{ISBN|978-0-19-504872-8}}.
* Eicher, John H., and [[David J. Eicher]]. ''Civil War High Commands''. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2001. {{ISBN|0-8047-3641-3}}.
* Ellem, Warren A. "The Overthrow of Reconstruction in Mississippi." ''Journal of Mississippi History'' 1992 54(2): 175-201.
* Garner, James Wilford. [https://archive.org/details/reconstructioni01garngoog ''Reconstruction in Mississippi'']. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1968. First published in 1901.
* Harris, William C. ''The Day of the Carpetbagger: Republican Reconstruction in Mississippi''. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1969. {{ISBN|978-0-8071-0366-1}}.
* Harris, William C. ''Presidential Reconstruction in Mississippi''. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1967. {{OCLC|647759}}.
* Lemann, Nicholas. ''Redemption: The Last Battle of the Civil War''. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2006. {{ISBN|978-0-374-53069-3}}.
* Lord, Stuart B. "Adelbert Ames, Soldier and Politician: a Reevaluation." ''Maine Historical Society Quarterly'' 13(2) (1973): 81–97.
* Megelsh, Michael J. ''Adelbert Ames, the Civil War, and the Creation of Modern America''. Kent: Kent State University Press, 2024. {{ISBN|978-1606354674}}. [https://thereconstructionera.com/adelbert-ames-the-civil-war-and-the-creation-of-modern-america-by-michael-megelsh/ online review of this book]
* Quigley, Robert D. ''Civil War Spoken Here: A Dictionary of Mispronounced People, Places and Things of the 1860s''. Collingswood, NJ: C. W. Historicals, 1993. {{ISBN|0-9637745-0-6}}.
* {{cite Americana |wstitle=Ames, Adelbert |year=1920 }}
* Stiles, T. J. ''Jesse James: Last Rebel of the Civil War''. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2002. {{ISBN|978-0-375-40583-9}}.
* {{cite book |access-date=October 5, 2010 |url=http://www.rocemabra.com/~roger/tagg/generals/ |title=The Generals of Gettysburg |author=Tagg, Larry |location=Campbell, CA |publisher=Savas Publishing |year=1998 |isbn=1-882810-30-9 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141022014655/http://www.rocemabra.com/~roger/tagg/generals/ |archive-date=October 22, 2014 }}
* Warner, Ezra J. ''Generals in Blue: Lives of the Union Commanders''. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1964. {{ISBN|0-8071-0822-7}}.
* {{cite Appletons'|wstitle=Ames, Adelbert|year=1900 }}

==Further reading==
* Benson, Harry King. "The Public Career of Adelbert Ames, 1861–1876." PhD U. Of Virginia. ''Dissertation Abstracts International''; 1976 36(7): 4705-A, 342 pp.
* Wainwright, Charles S. ''A Diary of Battle: The Personal Journals of Colonel Charles S. Wainwright''. Edited by [[Allan Nevins]]. New York: Da Capo Press, 1998. First published 1962 by Harcourt.

==Additional Information==
* [https://findingaids.smith.edu/repositories/2/resources/751 Ames Family papers, 1835-1933], [https://www.smith.edu/libraries/special-collections/about/sophia-smith-collection-womens-history Sophia Smith Collection of Women's History], Smith College.

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* {{CongBio|A000172}} Retrieved on February 15, 2008
* {{cite web |access-date=September 27, 2010 |url=http://www.maine.gov/sos/arc/exhibits/20flag.htm |title=Maine state archives: 20th Maine Battle Flag |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100922050046/http://www.maine.gov/sos/arc/exhibits/20flag.htm |archive-date=22 September 2010  |url-status=live}}
* {{cite web |access-date=March 17, 2010 |url=http://purl.oclc.org/umarchives/MUM00400/ |title=A photocopy of a published speech by Adelbert Ames is available at The University of Mississippi, Archives and Special Collections in the Small Manuscript Collection (MUM00400).}}
* {{cite web |access-date=March 17, 2010 |url=http://www.tjstiles.net/bio.htm |title=Adelbert Ames's account of his role during the James-Younger gang's raid on the First National Bank of Northfield, Minnesota, in 1876.}}
* {{cite web|access-date=March 17, 2010 |url=http://www.harvardsquarelibrary.org/unitarians/ames.html |title=Biography of Blanche Ames Ames |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110101152203/http://harvardsquarelibrary.org/unitarians/ames.html |archive-date=January 1, 2011 }}
* {{cite web |access-date=March 17, 2010 |url=http://www.homeofheroes.com/moh/citations_1862_cwa/ames_adelbert.html |title=Home of Heroes |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081204172841/http://www.homeofheroes.com./moh/citations_1862_cwa/ames_adelbert.html |archive-date=December 4, 2008 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}
* {{cite web |access-date=March 17, 2010 |url=http://www.historycentral.com/bio/UGENS/USAAmes.html |title=History Central}}

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{{s-ttl|title=[[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] nominee for [[List of Governors of Mississippi|Governor of Mississippi]]|years=[[1873 Mississippi gubernatorial election|1873]]}}
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| alongside=[[Hiram Rhodes Revels|Hiram R. Revels]], [[James L. Alcorn]]
| years=1870–1874}}
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{{succession box
| title = Most senior living U.S. senator <br /> (Sitting or former)
| before = [[Cornelius Cole]]
| after = [[Henry C. Hansbrough]]
| years = November 3, 1924 – April 12, 1933
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{{succession box
| title = Oldest living U.S. senator
| before = [[Rebecca Latimer Felton|Rebecca Felton]]
| after = [[Elihu Root]]
| years = January 24, 1930 – April 12, 1933
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{{S-ref|Because Mississippi declared secession from the United States in 1861, the seat was declared vacant from 1861 to 1870 when [[Jefferson Davis]] withdrew from the Senate}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ames, Adelbert}}
[[Category:1835 births]]
[[Category:1933 deaths]]
[[Category:Butler–Ames family|Adelbert]]
[[Category:People from Rockland, Maine]]
[[Category:Union army generals]]
[[Category:United States Army Medal of Honor recipients]]
[[Category:Republican Party governors of Mississippi]]
[[Category:American military personnel of the Spanish–American War]]
[[Category:United States Military Academy alumni]]
[[Category:People of Maine in the American Civil War]]
[[Category:People from Ormond Beach, Florida]]
[[Category:19th-century American Episcopalians]]
[[Category:Politicians from Lowell, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Republican Party United States senators from Mississippi]]
[[Category:American Civil War recipients of the Medal of Honor]]
[[Category:People from Tewksbury, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Radical Republicans]]
[[Category:Impeached governors]]
[[Category:19th-century United States senators]]