John Adams Dix

Born on July 24, 1798, John Adams Dix spent decades in public service. The positions he held were: military officer ( two tours, decades apart), Adjutant General of NY, NY State Assemblyman, New York City Postmaster, NY Secretary of State, US Senator from New York, US Secretary of the Treasury, US Minister to France and Governor of New York. For the purposes of this article ( and brevity), we will detail his service to the Union, both as a civilian and as a soldier, during the War of the Rebellion.

With the Union dissolving around him, lame duck President James Buchanan needed to fill the vacant position of Secretary of the Treasury for the few months remaining of his term, choosing Dix for the position. Southern separatists at this time were seizing Federal property and whole states had seceded. No lame duck himself, Dix getting word of the growing unrest  in New Orleans, sent a telegram with instructions to the Treasury agents in that city. Their orders were clear and blunt: “ If anyone attempts to haul down the American flag, shoot him on the spot.” Confederates intercepted the telegram preventing its delivery.  However, the text soon found its way to the press becoming an early rally cry for the Union.

Immediately after his Cabinet term ended Dix was appointed a Major General in the NY Militia transferring  in May of 1861 to the Union Army as a Major General of Volunteers. In the summer of 1861 Dix assumed command of the Department of Maryland and Pennsylvania. It was in this capacity that he ordered the arrest of six secession supporting members of the Maryland General Assembly. This prevented the legislature from meeting, stopping Maryland from seceding.

In July of 1862, Dix and Confederate Major General D.H. Hill negotiated what became known as the Dix-Hill Cartel. It established a prisoner parole system as well as scale of exchange for a specified number of enlisted soldiers for an officer of a given rank.

Dix, now considered too old for any form of field command, concluded his Civil war service in July of 1863, by taking command of the units involved in suppressing the New York City draft riots and successfully concluding the engagement.

Resigning his commission shortly after the draft riots, Dix assumed the presidency of the Union Pacific Railroad during the construction of the first transcontinental railroad

Dix died on April 21, 1879 in New York City at the age of 80. John Adams Dix was honored in July of 1917 when the US Army established Camp Dix as a basic training facility for new recruits. Camp Dix grew in scope and size eventually becoming Fort Dix. In 2009 Fort Dix was combined with adjacent Air Force and Navy facilities to form the rather uninspiringly named Joint Base McGuire -Dix – Lakehurst. However, to most soldiers that have ever served there it will always be referred to by its  original name of honor, Fort Dix.

Jon Taylor, Patriotic Instructor.