Justus McKinstry (July 6, 1814 – December 11, 1897) was a United States Army officer who served in the Second Seminole War and with merit in the Mexican–American War and in the Third Seminole War. He was appointed a brigadier general and assistant quartermaster in the Union Army in the early days of the American Civil War but his appointment expired without being confirmed by the United States Senate. His actual highest rank was major. He was suspended from his appointment and held under arrest starting November 13, 1861, although his confinement was expanded to the city limits of St. Louis, Missouri after February 22, 1862, in anticipation of a court-martial in October 1862. He was convicted of graft, corruption and fraud in the quartermaster's department in the Department of the West. The court recommended his dismissal from the army. On January 28, 1863, after being held in arrest for more than a year, McKinstry was cashiered "for neglect and violation of duty to the prejudice of good order and military discipline." Despite the expiration of his brigadier general appointment without Senate confirmation, some sources, such as Ezra Warner, list McKinstry as a brigadier general. If so regarded, he was one of three Union Army generals who were cashiered. After his dismissal from the Union Army, McKinstry was a speculator and stock broker in New York City, 1864–1867, and land agent in Rolla, Missouri, 1867 – c. 1870, although he spent most of the rest of his life in reduced circumstances in St. Louis.
Early life
Justus McKinstry was born in Hudson, Columbia County, New York, on July 6, 1814.Eicher, John H., and David J. Eicher, Civil War High Commands. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2001. . p. 605.Warner, Ezra J. Generals in Blue: Lives of the Union Commanders. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1964. . p.302.Warner states that McKinstry "probably" was born in Columbia County, New York. His parents were David McKinstry (born 1778) and Nancy (née Backus) McKinstry.Driscoll, John K. Rogue: a biography of Civil War General Justus McKinstry, Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company. 2006. . p. 8. They were married in 1805. In 1815, the McKinstry family, including Justus and three siblings, moved from Hudson, New York to Detroit, Michigan.Longacre, Edward G. Justus McKinstry In Historical Times Illustrated History of the Civil War, edited by Patricia L. Faust. New York: Harper & Row, 1986. . p. 463. David McKinstry prospered in Detroit and became influential in the community.Driscoll, 2006, pp. 9–13.
With help from his father, Justus McKinstry entered the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York on July 1, 1832.Driscoll, 2006, p.13. Fearing that he would fail the math exam at the end of the term and be expelled, McKinstry resigned from the academy in a December 1832 letter and ultimately left on January 31, 1833.Driscoll, 2006, pp. 13–14. He hoped that he might be reinstated and through his father's influence he was readmitted to the next Academy class.Driscoll, 2006, p.14. McKinstry re-entered the United States Military Academy on July 1, 1833.Driscoll, 2006, p.14. McKinstry failed a math exam in 1835 but was given an extra year at the academy and graduated 40th in a class of 45 on July 1, 1838.Sifakis, Stewart. Who Was Who in the Civil War. New York: Facts On File, 1988. . p. 419.
On July 1, 1838, the day McKinstry graduated from the US Military Academy, he married his second cousin, Susan McKinstry, with whom he would have three sons, Charles, James and Carlisle (Cy).Driscoll, 2006, pp. 24, 111, 190.
McKinstry was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the 2nd Infantry Regiment (United States) on July 1, 1838.Cullum, George W. George W. Cullum's Register of Officers and Graduates of the United States Military Academy. Vol. 1, 1868. . Retrieved July 18, 2012. p. 568. Also retrieved April 21, 2018 at George W. Cullum's Register of Officers and Graduates of the United States Military Academy: Justus McKinstry In quick succession in 1838, he was stationed at Sackett's Harbor, New York and Fort Gratiot, Michigan. By November 1838, he was in Florida for service in the Second Seminole War.Driscoll, John K. Rogue: a biography of Civil War General Justus McKinstry, Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company. 2006. . pp. vii, 30-34.Driscoll, 2006, at p. 31 wrote that the Second Seminole War brought McKinstry and half the regular army to Florida.Rule, G. E. Justus McKinstry and His Enemies, 2nd paragraph, August 2001, retrieved April 21, 2018. in which he served until 1841. For 21 months, except for a few days, McKinstry commanded Company B of the 2d Infantry Regiment, in addition to his quartermaster duties, while the company commander was on recruiting duty.Driscoll, 2006, pp. 30-34. McKinstry was appointed a first lieutenant in the 2nd Infantry Regiment on April 18, 1841. He then served at Fort Niagara, New York, 1842–1844, on recruiting duty, 1845–1846 and at Fort Columbus (later Fort Jay), New York, 1846 before beginning service in the Mexican–American War later that year.
Mexican–American War
On March 3, 1847, McKinstry received the rank of captain, and served as a staff officer and assistant quartermaster.Cullum, 1868, p. 569. Although he was a quartermaster, McKinstry was awarded a brevet appointment as a major in the Regular Army (United States) for gallant and meritorious conduct after taking command of a company of volunteers at the Battles of Contreras and Churubusco, to rank from August 20, 1847. McKinstry was an original member of the Aztec Club of 1847, which was founded as a military society of officers who served with the United States Army in the Mexican–American War.Breithaupt, Jr., Richard Hoag. Aztec Club of 1847. Sesquicentenial History, 1847–1997. 1998. pp. 950–956.'Members at Aztec Club web site'. Retrieved April 21, 2018.
Assignments: 1849–1861
McKinstry resumed his career as a captain on January 12, 1848, vacating his position as a captain in the 2nd Infantry Regiment and serving as a quartermaster with the commissioners running the boundary line on the United States-Mexico border in 1848–1849 and in California, 1850–1855. While in California, McKinstry engaged in a profitable land transaction with his second cousin and brother-in-law, George McKinstry Jr.Hunt, Rockwell Dennis. John Bidwell, prince of California pioneers, Caldwell, ID: The Caxton Printers, Ltd., 1942. . pp. 247–249. In 1849, George (1810–1882) bought Rancho Arroyo Chico, a Mexican land grant in present-day Butte County, California, from William Dickey, who had been granted the land in 1844 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena.Hoffman, Ogden. Reports of Land Cases Determined in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, San Francisco: Numa Hubert, 1862. . Also in 1849, McKinstry sold a one-half interest in the land to John Bidwell and in 1850 sold the other half-interest to Justus McKinstry. In 1851, Justus McKinstry sold this half-interest to John Bidwell.
After his service in California, McKinstry was assigned to Fort Myers, Florida in 1856 and Fort Brooke, Florida, 1856–1858. During this 30-month period in Florida, McKinstry served as quartermaster under the close control of Brigadier General William S. Harney and Colonel Gustavus Loomis.Driscoll, John K. Rogue: a biography of Civil War General Justus McKinstry. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company. 2006. . p. 110. In May 1858, McKinstry developed a skin condition at Fort Brooke and was on leave awaiting orders from September 1858 until January 1860.Driscoll, 2006, p. 111. McKinstry was stationed at St. Louis, Missouri as chief quartermaster of the Department of the West on January 10, 1860.
American Civil War
On July 3, 1861, President Abraham Lincoln appointed Major General John C. Fremont to command the Department of the West, headquartered at St. Louis.Eicher, 2001, p. 243. Already chief quartermaster when Fremont took command of the department, McKinstry was appointed a major and assistant quartermaster in the U.S. Army on August 3, 1861, and continued his assignment in the Department of the West. On August 14, 1861, Department of the West commander Major General John C. Fremont authorized McKinstry to purchase goods at any price and on any terms he found acceptable and also appointed him provost marshal at St. Louis with broad authority to issue regulations and orders.Gerteis, Louis S., Civil War St. Louis. Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas, 2001. . p. 169. McKinstry's actions in restricting movements into and out of the city, instituting a 9:00 p.m. curfew and censoring the press made him, and Fremont, unpopular with many of the city's residents.Gerteis, 2001, p. 147.
Historian Bruce Catton cites McKinstry as performing a great service to the Union cause by introducing Brigadier General Ulysses S. Grant to Fremont. Fremont had considered appointing Brigadier General John Pope to the important post at Cairo, Illinois but after his meeting with Grant, Fremont decided to appoint Grant instead.Catton, Bruce. The Centennial History of the Civil War. Vol. 2, Terrible Swift Sword. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1963. . p. 27.Catton describes McKinstry's introduction of Grant to Fremont as follows: "He [Fremont] considered sending John Pope to Cairo, but Major McKinstry took Grant in to see him, and after the war Fremont wrote that he saw in Grant the qualities of 'unassuming character not given to self elation, of dogged persistence, of iron will.'"Catton, 1963, p. 27Allan Nevins stated simply that Fremont preferred Grant over Pope, whom some of Fremont's subordinates supported, "because he saw in him a man of iron will, dogged determination, great activity, and 'promptness in obeying orders without question.'" Nevins, 1959, p. 330. McKinstry was an old West Point and regular army friend of Grant and assured Fremont that rumors of Grant's drinking habits were exaggerated and he would be stable if given a responsible command.Kurtz, Henry I. Men of War: Essays on American Wars and Warriors. Philadelphia: Xlibris Corporation, 2006. . p. 107. Fremont had kept Grant waiting for hours after having summoned him to his headquarters in St. Louis. When McKinstry passed by and asked Grant about his wait, Grant told him the circumstances. McKinstry immediately got Fremont's attention and told him that he had observed Grant's gallantry in Mexico and that he was a reliable man for the job.Church, William Conant. Ulysses Grant. New York: Fred Defau & Company, 1897. . pp. 82-83.
In response to growing pressure from influential persons such as Missouri Congressman Frank Blair, who was interested in obtaining more contracts for his friends but was unsuccessful in obtaining them from McKinstry,Nevins, Allan. The War for the Union. Vol. 1, The Improvised War 1861 – 1862. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1959. . pp. 324-325. Fremont obtained McKinstry's removal as quartermaster from Quartermaster General Montgomery C. Meigs but kept him as provost marshal and then assigned him to a division command from September 2, 1861, to November 7, 1861, although he was relieved from duty on October 24, 1861.Gerteis, 2001, pp. 147–148.