May 6, 1825 – March 21, 1867
Ohio-born Brigadier General Joseph Bailey served in the Union Army throughout the American Civil War. He is most remembered for planning and supervising the construction of Bailey's Bridge during the Red River Campaign in 1864.
Joseph Bailey was born on May 6, 1825, near the town of Pennsville in southeastern Ohio. As a youth, he moved with his family to Illinois, where he was raised. On December 24, 1846, Bailey married Mary Spaulding of New York. In 1850, the Bailey's settled in Kilbourn City (now Wisconsin Dells) in central Wisconsin. There, he became employed in the lumber business and gained practical experience in large construction projects, including dams on the Wisconsin River.
When the American Civil War began, Bailey enlisted in the 4th Regiment Wisconsin Infantry. He was commissioned as a captain of Company D on July 2, 1861. Bailey's regiment served in the area around Washington, D.C., until it was assigned to the Army of the Gulf and sent south to engage in the campaign against New Orleans in early 1862. After the fall of that city in April 1862, Bailey was named acting chief engineer of New Orleans.
In the spring of 1863, Bailey was redeployed to participate in the Siege of Port Hudson, Louisiana (May 22-July 9). He was promoted to major on May 30, 1863 and again to lieutenant colonel on July 15.
In spring of 1864, Bailey was detached from the 4th Wisconsin and accompanied Major General Nathaniel Banks on the ill-fated Red River Campaign (March 10-May 22). Following a Confederate victory at the Battle of Mansfield (April 8, 1864) Banks abandoned his goal of capturing the city of Shreveport, Louisiana and attempted to retrace his 150-mile journey up the Red River. An unusually low water level in the river that spring prevented Rear Admiral David Porter's fleet of gunboats from passing back over the waterfalls and rapids at Alexandria. With the fleet in danger of being stranded, Bailey proposed raising the water level of the river by constructing a winged dam with a spillway in the center. Bailey's design was similar to dams he had worked on in Wisconsin. Unable to find a better alternative, Union leaders authorized Bailey to try his plan. With thousands of men at his disposal, Bailey began construction on April 30. A little over one week later, the water had raised enough to allow Porter's lighter boats to traverse the falls. By May 13, all of the fleet had moved out of danger. In his after-action report, Porter wrote,
The highest honors that the Government can bestow on Colonel Bailey can never repay him for the service he has rendered the country. He has saved the Union a valuable fleet, worth nearly two million dollars, and he has deprived the enemy of a triumph which would have emboldened them to carry on this war a year or two longer.
A grateful Congress responded by brevetting Bailey to the rank of brigadier general and by awarding him the Thanks of Congress. Bailey was one of only fourteen men to receive the distinction during the Civil War and the only one who was not an army or corps commander at the time.
On November 10, 1864, President Abraham Lincoln appointed Bailey brigadier general of volunteers (effective November 19) and submitted the nomination to the Senate on December 12. The nomination expired on March 4, 1865, because the Senate failed to act upon it. Lincoln resubmitted the nomination on March 7, but Bailey resigned from the army on July 7, 1865, before the Senate acted upon the nomination.
After resigning from the army, Bailey returned to Wisconsin. In late 1865, he moved his family to a farm in Vernon County, Missouri. The next year, Bailey was elected to the office of county sheriff, with his office in Nevada City. Even though Bailey was out of the service, on January 13, 1866, President Andrew Johnson nominated him for promotion to brigadier general (effective November 10, 1864). The Senate finally confirmed the nomination on February 23, 1866.
In 1867, two former Confederate bushwhackers murdered Bailey as he was escorting them to jail after arresting them for rustling. Bailey's killers, Lewis and Perry Pixley, were never brought to justice. Bailey is buried at Evergreen Cemetery, near Fort Scott, Kansas.
On March 28, 1867, President Johnson nominated Bailey posthumously for the award of the brevet grade of major general of volunteers, effective March 13, 1865. The Senate confirmed the nomination on March 30, 1867.
