Hollon Richardson

Richardson was born on Christmas Day, 1835, and ultimately died on Christmas Eve, 1916. He was the eldest of nine children born to Hollon and Clarissa Richardson ('''' McKenzie) at Poland, Ohio. He received a common school education and read law; he was admitted to the Ohio bar in 1857, by Justice Thomas W. Bartley, with the endorsement of Jacob Dolson Cox. The following spring, he moved to Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, and began a legal practice. He quickly distinguished himself, and, in the 1860 general election, he was elected district attorney of Chippewa County. ==Civil war service==

At the outbreak of the American Civil War, Richardson immediately resigned as district attorney, and set about gathering a company of volunteers from Chippewa County. He was offered a commission as captain of the company, but refused. He subsequently accepted commission as . The 7th Wisconsin Infantry mustered into service August 16, 1861, and went east to Washington, D.C., for service in the eastern theater of the war. He was promoted to captain in February 1863, and, at the time of the Battle of Gettysburg, he had been detailed from his regiment to serve on the brigade staff of General Solomon Meredith. During the evening after the first day of the battle, Richardson, moving alone between regiments, came upon a Confederate lieutenant and captured him. The lieutenant gave Richardson information about the Confederate plans for the second day of battle, and Richardson rushed to deliver the information to General Doubleday. Doubleday brought Richardson to the council of war, taking place that evening, where Richardson suggested locations for cannon placements. Richardson was promoted to acting lieutenant colonel on August 8, 1864, and took command of the 7th Wisconsin Infantry on December 17, 1864, following the resignation of Colonel Mark Finnicum. During the Battle of Five Forks, in the closing weeks of the war, Richardson personally saved the life of Major General Gouverneur K. Warren, and was wounded in the process. After the war, Warren offered to sponsor Richardson for a commission in the regular army, but Richardson refused. Richardson was mustered out of the volunteers on July 3, 1865. Throughout the war, he was wounded six times and received three honorary brevets, including his final brevet to brigadier general, nominated by President Andrew Johnson on January 13, 1866, and confirmed by the United States Senate on March 12, 1866. ==Postbellum years==

After the war, Richardson remained in Baltimore for several years, restarting his legal career there. While there, he also was selected as a delegate to the 1868 Republican National Convention, and was an enthusiastic supporter of General Ulysses S. Grant's presidential campaign. He returned to Wisconsin in 1870, and maintained a successful legal practice at Chippewa Falls for the next twenty years. ==Personal life and family==

During the first winter of the Civil War, in 1861, Richardson's commanding officer, Colonel William W. Robinson, brought his family to camp with the regiment in northern Virginia. While there, Richardson befriended Robinson's daughter, Leonora, and fell in love with her. Colonel Robinson objected to their relationship, saying that he did not want his daughter to become a war widow, but Richardson and Leonora defied Colonel Robinson and eloped at Washington, D.C., in the spring of 1862. Colonel Robinson refused to speak to his son-in-law for several months after the marriage, but the two later became close friends. After the war, Colonel Robinson came to live with Richardson and his wife. Richardson and Leonora had two daughters, both were still living at the time of his death in 1916. ==References==