John
Adams Dix was born in Boscawen, New Hampshire, on 24th July, 1798.
At fourteen he joined the Royal Artillery as a military cadet. After
the death of his father, a major in the army, Dix helped to support
his mother and his younger brothers and sisters. He served on the
Canadian frontier and reached the rank of captain.
Dix became a close friend of John C. Calhoun,
the vice-president of the United States, and with his encouragement,
in 1828 he left the army and studied law. He worked as a lawyer in
Cooperstown before being appointed adjutant governor of New York.
Dix joined the Democratic Party and
in 1845 was elected to the Senate. After serving as postmaster of
New York City he was appointed Secretary
of the Treasury by President James Buchanan
in 1861.
On the outbreak of the American Civil War
he joined the Union Army. Appointed as
a major general in May, 1861, he was placed in command of the Department
of Pennsylvania.
In July, 1862, Dix was given the task of negotiating the exchange
of prisoners with General Daniel H. Hill
of the Confederate Army. They decided
that the rate of exchange was one general for every 60 enlisted men,
a colonel for 15, a lieutenant for 4 and a sergeant for 2. In 1863
General Henry Halleck replaced Dix
in these negotiations.
Dix was commanded the Department of Virginia (June, 1862 to July,
1863) and the Department of the East (July, 1863 to April, 1865).
After the war Dix was Minister of France (1866-69) and governor of
New York (1872-74). John Adams Dix died in New
York City on 21st April, 1879.
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