This is a photograph of Samuel Ryan Curtis, who was born near Champlain, New York. Curtis graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1831, and moved to Ohio, where he was a lawyer and worked on several civilian jobs. During the Mexican-American War, he was appointed a colonel and served as military governor of several occupied cities. At the beginning of the Civil War, Curtis was given command of the Army of the Southwest. In March 1862, his army won the Battle of Pea Ridge in northwest Arkansas. Later he was assigned to command the Department of Kansas & Indian Territory. In 1864, Curtis and his troops fought against the Confederate invasion led by Maj. Gen. Sterling Price. Curtis gathered the forces of his department together, including several regiments of Kansas State Militia, calling his force the Army of the Border. Price was halted by Curtis' victory at the Battle of Westport. After the war, he returned to Iowa where he was involved with the Union Pacific Railroad until his death the following year in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
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