A Kansas Town's Civil War Hero

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In the heart of Kansas stands a city that bears the name of a Union general who never set foot on its soil. McPherson, founded in the wake of the Civil War, tells a uniquely American story of frontier settlement and historical commemoration.

The tale begins with General James Birdseye McPherson, a promising young officer from Ohio who met a tragic end at age 35 during the Battle of Atlanta in 1864. As the second-highest-ranking Union officer killed in the Civil War, McPherson's death resonated deeply with veterans across the nation.

When Kansas began organizing new counties after the war, a group of settlers from Ashtabula, Ohio, saw an opportunity to honor their fallen commander. In 1867, they helped ensure that a newly formed county in central Kansas would bear McPherson's name. Five years later, the McPherson Town Company established the city itself along the Santa Fe Trail, strategically positioned at the county's center.

The young settlement flourished quickly. In 1873, McPherson was designated the county seat, and by 1874, it had incorporated as a city. The 1880s brought further prosperity as McPherson developed into a significant railroad junction and regional trade center. Local ambitions ran so high that city officials even mounted an unsuccessful campaign to have McPherson named the state capital in 1887.

The practice of naming frontier towns after Union heroes was common in post-Civil War Kansas, where many veterans had settled. But McPherson's commemoration went beyond just a name. In 1917, the community unveiled what would become the first life-sized equestrian statue in Kansas: a bronze monument depicting General McPherson astride his horse, positioned prominently before the county courthouse. The July Fourth dedication drew thousands, demonstrating how deeply the general's legacy had become woven into the community's identity.

Kurtis Ebling, Archivist at the McPherson Museum, added “General James B. McPherson was perhaps the most respected general in the Union both during and after the war. Aside from numerous towns and counties named in his honor, McPherson served as the face for the $2 bill for 1890 and 1891, making him one of 53 people to ever be depicted upon a United States banknote.”

Today, the statue still stands as a testament to a remarkable historical connection. A young Ohio officer, killed in Georgia, is immortalized on the Kansas prairie by settlers who transformed his memory into a cornerstone of their community's identity. The story of McPherson, Kansas, reminds us how the Civil War's impact rippled far beyond the battlefields, shaping the development and character of America's frontier communities for generations to come.

An unmounted version of the McPherson resides in his hometown of Clyde, Ohio, along with a horse mounted version in McPherson Square, Washington, D.C., but perhaps nowhere is his legacy more personally felt than in this Kansas city that bears his name. Though he never visited the town, General McPherson's spirit of service and sacrifice continues to inspire the community that chose to build their future under the banner of his memory.

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