Biography of William Selby Harney Excerpted from "Collections of the Kansas State Historical Society, 1911-1912", Edited by Geo. W. Martin, Secretary. Vol XII., State Printing Office, Topeka, Kansas 1912. submitted by Teresa Lindquist (merope@radix.net); (copyright) 2001 by Teresa Lindquist ----------------------------------------------------------------------- KSGENWEB INTERNET GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY COPYRIGHT NOTICE: In keeping with the KSGenWeb policy of providing free information on the Internet, this data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages cannot be reproduced in any format for profit or other gain. Copying of the files within by non-commercial individuals and libraries is encouraged. Any other use, including publication, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission by electronic, mechanical, or other means requires the written approval of the file's author. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- WILLIAM SELBY HARNEY was born near Haysboro, Davidson county, Tennessee, August 27, 1800. He received his appointment to the army from Louisiana, February 13, 1818, as second lieutenant in the Nineteenth infantry. On the 15th of August, 1836, he became lieutenant colonel of the newly organized Second dragoons, and under his direction the regiment did noteworthy service in Florida, winning its spurs in the deadly swamps of the Everglades. Harney was a picturesque soldier, an Apollo in form, standing something over six feet in height, and fairly a giant in strength. He became a conspicuous figure in the Mexican War, and that over, he and his regiment came back to patrol the frontier and again fight Indians. Shortly after his campaign against the Sioux he was ordered to Kansas, May, 1857, where he served during part of the "troubles." It was Harney who told Governor Walker that Kansas had been the graveyard of every governor and general sent there, and that he did not intend it to be his. His appearance at this time is described as patriarchal, probably on account of his long, silvery hair, but that he was a profane old patriarch seems to be a well-established fact. His vocabulary of expletives was large and extensive, and he never hesitated to draw liberally upon it on the slightest provocation. When he was sent down the eastern border of the state to quiet difficulties in Linn and Bourbon counties he was especially profuse in "damns" for sending him, a brigadier general, on a mission that should have been entrusted to a lieutenant. When he was ordered to the command of the Utah expedition, and Brigham Young had defied the United States to send an army into Salt Lake valley, Harney said: "I am ordered there, and I will winter in the valley or in hell." He was not to carry out this threat, however, for the President had other plans for him. In writing Governor Walker, Buchanan said: "General Harney has been selected to command the expedition to Utah, but we must continue to leave him with you, at least until you are out of the woods. Kansas is vastly more important at the present moment than Utah." So Col. Albert Sidney Johnston was placed in command of the expedition, and on August 28, 1857, was directed to repair to Fort Leavenworth without delay. General Harney remained on duty in Kansas until April, 1858, when he was again ordered to Utah. In September of that year he was relieved from duty with the expedition and put in command of the department of Oregon, where he remained until July, 1860. He was then ordered to St. Louis and the command of the Department of the West. General Harney was retired August 1, 1863, and on March 13, 1865, was brevetted major general for "long and faithful service." He had been brevetted colonel December 7, 1840, for "gallant and meritorious conduct" in engagements against hostile Indians in Florida, and brigadier general April 18, 1847, for "gallant and meritorious conduct" in the battle of Cerro Gordo. General Harney died May 9, 1889. (Included with the article: "With Albert Sidney Johnston's Expedition to Utah, 1857," page 306)