Edward Richard Canby was born in Kentucky in 1817. After graduating from West Point in 1839,he saw action in the Seminole War (1838-42) and the Mexican War (1846-48).

On the outbreak of the American Civil War Canby was appointed commander of the Department of New Mexico and successfully prevented an invasion of California by Henry Sibley.

Canby went to Washington as an assistant adjutant general and commanded troops in New York City. Appointed commander of the Military Division of Western Mississippi, he captured Mobile, Alabama, and forced the surrender of Edmund Kirby-Smith.

Edward Richard Canby, promoted to the rank of major general, remained in the army but on 11th April, 1873, while commander of the Department of Columbia, was murdered in Siskiyou, California by Modocs led by Kintpuash during negotiations over a peace treaty.

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