Banks, Nathaniel P.

▪ United States politician and general

in full  Nathaniel Prentiss Banks  

born , Jan. 30, 1816, Waltham, Mass., U.S.

died Sept. 1, 1894, Waltham

 American politician and Union general during the American Civil War, who during 1862–64 commanded at New Orleans.

      Banks received only a common school education and at an early age began work as a bobbin boy in a cotton factory. He subsequently edited a weekly paper at Waltham, studied law, and, after being admitted to the bar, became active in politics. He served in the Massachusetts legislature (1849–53) and as president of the state constitutional convention in 1853. In that year he entered the U.S. Congress, holding the support of Democrats and Free-Soilers for a time, and later of the Know-Nothing Party. He joined the newly formed Republican Party in 1855 and in 1856, after a bitter and protracted contest, was elected speaker of the House of Representatives on the 133rd ballot. He served in Congress until elected governor of Massachusetts in 1858.

      Although while governor he had been a strong advocate of peace, Banks was one of the earliest to offer his services to President Lincoln, who in 1861 appointed him a major general of volunteers. He served in the campaigns of early 1862 in the Shenandoah valley and later in the year was in command of the Department of the Gulf in New Orleans. Forces under his command laid siege to Port Hudson, La., which finally fell in July 1863. In 1863 and 1864 he organized a number of expeditions in Texas, but he proved unsuccessful as a tactician, and his Red River expedition (March–May 1864) ended in disaster.

      After the war Banks reentered politics, serving several more terms in Congress and as U.S. marshal for Massachusetts (1879–88).

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