Born on April 5, 1831, in Mifflintown, Pennsylvania, Cummins enlisted in the Ninety-Ninth Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry on August 6, 1862. He received his commission as a lieutenant colonel in the Ninety-Ninth Regiment on August 26, 1862.
John E. Cummins was a brevet brigadier-general in the Union Army by the American Civil War's conclusion.
Born on April 5, 1831, in Mifflintown, Pennsylvania, Cummins enlisted in the Ninety-Ninth Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry on August 6, 1862. He received his commission as a lieutenant colonel in the Ninety-Ninth Regiment on August 26, 1862. He participated in several battles with the regiment during 1862, 1863, and 1864, including the Battles of Stones River and Chickamauga and the Chattanooga and Atlanta Campaigns. On December 31, 1864, Union military authorities consolidated the Ninety-Ninth Regiment with the Fiftieth Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Officials transferred Cummins to the Fiftieth Regiment, assigning him as the organization's lieutenant colonel. Cummins resigned from the Fiftieth Regiment on February 16, 1865. He did this to become the commanding officer of the newly created 185th Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry. This regiment saw little bloodshed in the war. On September 26, 1865, Cummins and his regiment mustered out of military duty at Lexington, Kentucky. Military authorities promoted Cummins to the rank of brevet brigadier-general on November 4, 1865, to thank him for his military service.
Upon the war's conclusion, Cummins moved to Denver, Colorado, where he died on April 9, 1875.
