Zenas Randall Bliss

Zenas Randall Bliss was born on April 17, 1835, in Johnston, Rhode Island. His military career would eventually span more than four decades and carry him from the antebellum frontier, through Confederate captivity, the American Civil War, Reconstruction duty, and long years of frontier command, before ending with promotion to Major General in the United States Army. His most famous act came at the Battle of Fredericksburg in 1862, but formal recognition with the Medal of Honor did not arrive until thirty-six years later. Bliss entered the United States Military Academy at West Point on July 1, 1850, and graduated with the Class of 1854. Upon graduation he was appointed a brevet second lieutenant of infantry and soon began frontier service in Texas. He subsequently became a Second Lieutenant in the 8th U.S. Infantry. During the years before the Civil War, Bliss served at a series of isolated Texas posts, including Fort Duncan, Fort Davis, Camp Hudson, Fort Inge, Fort Mason, Fort Clark, Fort Lancaster, and Fort Quitman. His assignments included scouting operations, garrison duty, escort work, and the demanding routine of the antebellum frontier Army. By October 1860, Bliss had been promoted to First Lieutenant. When the secession crisis developed into the Civil War, many Regular Army troops in Texas found themselves isolated as Confederate authorities seized federal military installations. Bliss was among those caught in this situation. Confederate Captivity In the spring of 1861, Bliss and other Regular Army personnel were moving from Fort Quitman toward San Antonio when they fell under Confederate control. On May 9, 1861, Bliss was surrendered to Confederate forces operating under General Earl Van Dorn. Shortly afterward, on May 14, 1861, he was promoted to Captain in the 8th U.S. Infantry, but he remained a prisoner. His captivity continued for nearly eleven months. Bliss was finally released on April 5, 1862. This was genuine wartime captivity, which is why his database designation: POW / Heroism: ON is historically appropriate. Unlike soldiers whose captivity ended their military careers, Bliss returned directly to service after his release. Return to Union Service After regaining his freedom, Bliss quickly received command responsibilities in volunteer forces. In May 1862 he became Colonel of the 10th Rhode Island Volunteers, serving in the defenses of Washington. Later that year, on August 21, 1862, he became Colonel of the 7th Rhode Island Infantry. The 7th Rhode Island would become the regiment most closely associated with his Medal of Honor story. Bliss led the regiment south as the Union Army prepared for another major campaign in Virginia. By December 1862, the Army of the Potomac faced General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia around Fredericksburg. For many men of the 7th Rhode Island, this would be their first major battlefield experience. Battle of Fredericksburg — December 13, 1862 The defining moment of Zenas Bliss’s career occurred during the Battle of Fredericksburg on December 13, 1862. Bliss was serving as: Colonel, 7th Rhode Island Infantry His regiment was being exposed to severe Confederate fire. Because the men had little previous combat experience, they were ordered to lie down in order to reduce casualties. Bliss recognized that his soldiers needed more than verbal instructions—they needed visible leadership. Rather than remain protected with his men, he deliberately stood up in full view of the enemy. He then moved forward in front of his regiment’s line. Completely exposed to Confederate fire, Bliss personally fired several shots at the enemy at short range. The importance of his action was psychological as much as tactical. His regiment was experiencing its first major engagement. Under heavy fire, inexperienced soldiers could easily lose cohesion or confidence. Bliss chose to expose himself deliberately so that his men could see that their commanding officer was prepared to face the same danger he expected them to endure. His official Medal of Honor recognition later emphasized precisely this conduct: he rose from cover, advanced ahead of the line, and personally fired on the enemy while fully exposed. For his gallantry at Fredericksburg, Bliss also received a brevet promotion to Major. But his Medal of Honor would not come for more than three decades. Medal of Honor Bliss’s heroic action occurred in: 1862 But the Medal of Honor was not formally presented until: December 30, 1898 At the time of the action he had been: Colonel, 7th Rhode Island Infantry By the time he received the Medal of Honor, he had already reached the highest rank of his career and had retired from active service. Because the medal was issued during the historical Army Medal of Honor period beginning in 1896, the correct VictoriaCross.ca database entry is: Medal of Honor 1896–1903 Army — 1898 Device / Clasp: None This is an important distinction. The 1898 date does not mean his heroic action occurred in that year. His action took place at Fredericksburg on December 13, 1862. The 1898 date represents the Medal of Honor presentation. No clasp, star, bar, oak leaf cluster, or other device has been verified for his Medal of Honor. Therefore the ribbon remains plain. Mississippi and Kentucky Operations Bliss remained in active service after Fredericksburg. In 1863, the IX Corps was transferred west. His service included movement into Kentucky, followed by operations connected with the campaign around Vicksburg, Mississippi. The corps later participated in an expedition toward Jackson, Mississippi, resulting in the reoccupation of the city in July 1863. Afterward Bliss returned with the IX Corps to the Department of the Ohio. During the later months of 1863 he exercised increasingly substantial command responsibility, including command at Lexington, Kentucky. By early 1864 he was commanding the District of Middle Tennessee. These assignments demonstrated that Bliss was developing from a regimental commander into a more senior field leader. Wilderness Campaign In 1864, the IX Corps returned east to participate in Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant’s great campaign against the Army of Northern Virginia. Bliss commanded a brigade during part of the campaign. At the Battle of the Wilderness on May 5–6, 1864, he led troops during exceptionally confused and violent fighting through dense wooded terrain. His conduct during the Wilderness brought further recognition, including brevet advancement. The fighting did not stop there. Spotsylvania Court House Bliss’s brigade continued south with Grant’s army and participated in the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House. The battle, fought in May 1864, became one of the bloodiest engagements of the Overland Campaign. Bliss remained involved in active command during this period before illness temporarily removed him from duty. After recovering sufficiently, he returned to operational command during the Petersburg Campaign. Siege of Petersburg By July 1864, Bliss was again commanding a brigade of the IX Corps around Petersburg, Virginia. The Petersburg operations represented a major transformation in Civil War warfare. Instead of brief battles followed by large movements, the armies became locked into extensive defensive lines of trenches, forts, artillery positions, and fieldworks. Bliss served during the Siege of Petersburg, one of the longest and most important campaigns of the war. His command responsibilities placed him in the middle of this new form of sustained warfare. Battle of the Crater On July 30, 1864, the IX Corps launched one of the most famous and disastrous Union attacks of the war: the Battle of the Crater, sometimes referred to in contemporary military records as the Mine Assault. Union engineers had tunneled beneath Confederate defenses and detonated an enormous mine. The explosion created a massive crater and temporarily shattered part of the Confederate line. The Union intended to exploit the breach quickly. Instead, the assault became disorganized. Thousands of soldiers crowded into and around the crater, where Confederate troops were eventually able to fire down upon them. Bliss commanded a brigade during the Petersburg operations that included this assault. The attack ended in severe Union losses. Although Fredericksburg remained the action for which Bliss ultimately received the Medal of Honor, the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Petersburg, and the Crater demonstrate how extensive his Civil War combat record actually was. End of Civil War Service Bliss’s health again forced periods of absence later in 1864. He subsequently served on examination boards and recruiting duty. His volunteer service ended on June 28, 1865. He nevertheless remained an officer of the Regular United States Army. This distinction became important to the remainder of his career. The Civil War had transformed Bliss from a young Regular Army officer into an experienced regimental and brigade commander. His military career, however, was far from over. Reconstruction and Freedmen’s Bureau Service After the war, Bliss served in South Carolina. In 1866 he commanded the District of Chester, South Carolina, and worked as an assistant commissioner connected with the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, commonly known as the Freedmen’s Bureau. The Bureau operated during Reconstruction and dealt with the enormous social and administrative challenges created by emancipation and the destruction of slavery. After this assignment, Bliss continued his Regular Army career. He was promoted to Major of the 30th U.S. Infantry in 1867. Postwar Frontier Service Much of Bliss’s later career brought him back to the American frontier. His assignments included command at numerous military posts in Texas, Louisiana, Kansas, New Mexico, and Indian Territory. Among his commands were: Fort Duncan Fort Stockton Fort Davis Fort Bliss Fort Clark Fort Hays Fort Supply and Fort Bayard The similarity between his surname and Fort Bliss is coincidental—the fort had been named for Lieutenant Colonel William Wallace Smith Bliss, not Zenas Bliss. These assignments placed Bliss within the broad historical context of the American Indian Wars and western frontier Army. His postwar duties included command of troops, protection of frontier installations, movement of prisoners, administration of military posts, and control of regimental forces spread over vast territories. 25th and 24th U.S. Infantry Bliss was transferred to the 25th U.S. Infantry in 1869. The 25th Infantry was one of the African American Regular Army regiments whose enlisted soldiers became popularly known as Buffalo Soldiers. Bliss eventually commanded posts and parts of the regiment during long frontier assignments. He later reached the grade of Lieutenant Colonel of the 19th Infantry in 1879. His career continued upward. On April 20, 1886, he was promoted to: Colonel, 24th U.S. Infantry The 24th was another African American Regular Army regiment. Bliss subsequently commanded the regiment and major western posts, including Fort Supply and Fort Bayard. He remained in command of the 24th Infantry and Fort Bayard for years. Senior General Officer After decades of service, Bliss finally entered the general officer ranks. On April 25, 1895, he was promoted to: Brigadier General, United States Army He then commanded the Department of Texas. Two years later, on May 14, 1897, Bliss reached the highest rank of his career: Major General, United States Army This was a substantive Major General appointment—not merely a Civil War brevet. His career rank therefore must be clearly distinguished from his Medal of Honor action rank. Medal of Honor action rank: Colonel Highest verified rank: Major General The database’s Major General — U.S. Army selection is therefore correct. Retirement Bliss retired from active service on May 22, 1897. His career had stretched from his admission to West Point in 1850 through nearly half a century of military life. He had served before the Civil War. He had endured Confederate captivity. He had commanded Rhode Island volunteers. He had fought at Fredericksburg. He had commanded troops in the Wilderness and at Spotsylvania. He had participated in the Petersburg Campaign and Battle of the Crater. He had worked during Reconstruction. He had commanded frontier posts. He had led Regular Army regiments. And he had ultimately become a Major General. Only after retirement did formal Medal of Honor recognition finally arrive. Final Medal History For the current VictoriaCross.ca profile, the verified published ribbon rack should remain: Medal of Honor 1896–1903 Army — 1898 — No device or clasp Civil War Campaign Medal Bliss unquestionably served extensively during the Civil War. However, the Army Civil War Campaign Medal was not established until 1907, seven years after Bliss’s death. No recipient-specific issuance or entitlement record has been verified for him. Therefore: Civil War Campaign Medal — DO NOT ADD Indian Campaign Medal Bliss also spent many years on western frontier duty during the broader American Indian Wars era. But military assignment during a qualifying historical period does not automatically establish personal entitlement to the later Indian Campaign Medal. The medal itself was also established after Bliss’s death, and recipient-specific entitlement has not been proven. Therefore: Indian Campaign Medal — DO NOT ADD No devices or additional decorations should currently be inferred merely from his long career. Death and Burial Zenas Randall Bliss lived only a few years after retirement. He died on January 2, 1900, in Washington, D.C., at the age of sixty-four. He was buried at: Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia His grave is located in Section 1. His death came only slightly more than a year after he finally received the Medal of Honor for the courage he had shown at Fredericksburg thirty-six years earlier. Legacy Zenas Randall Bliss’s military career was extraordinary in both duration and variety. He entered West Point as a teenager. He graduated into the small antebellum Regular Army. He served across the Texas frontier. He was captured by Confederate forces before he could play an active role in the opening stages of the Civil War. After nearly eleven months as a prisoner, he returned to Union service and accepted command of volunteer troops. At Fredericksburg on December 13, 1862, faced with a regiment experiencing major combat for the first time, he deliberately stood up under enemy fire, walked in front of his soldiers, and personally fired upon the enemy at close range. That act demonstrated the style of battlefield leadership that defined his Medal of Honor citation. But Bliss’s service continued far beyond Fredericksburg. He later commanded troops at the Wilderness, Spotsylvania Court House, Petersburg, and the Battle of the Crater. After the war, he served during Reconstruction and then returned to decades of frontier command. He commanded African American Regular Army soldiers in the 25th and 24th Infantry, held responsibility for numerous western posts, became a colonel, then a brigadier general, and finally reached Major General. His final verified profile is: Full Name: Zenas Randall Bliss Branch: United States Army Medal of Honor Action Rank: Colonel Highest Verified Rank: Major General Medal of Honor Unit: 7th Rhode Island Infantry Conflicts / Service Eras: American Civil War; American Indian Wars/frontier service POW: May 9, 1861 – April 5, 1862 Major Documented Engagements: Fredericksburg, Wilderness, Spotsylvania Court House, Petersburg, Battle of the Crater Defining Action: Battle of Fredericksburg — December 13, 1862 Combat Specialty: Infantry Verified Decoration: Medal of Honor 1896–1903 Army — 1898 — No device or clasp From prisoner of war to Civil War combat commander and eventually Major General, Zenas Randall Bliss spent virtually his entire adult life in military service. Yet the moment that ultimately brought him the Medal of Honor remained the one at Fredericksburg when, with an inexperienced regiment pinned down under fire, he deliberately rose from cover and placed himself in front of his men to show them by personal example how to face the enemy.