Hiram Scofield

Hiram Scofield (July 1, 1830 – December 30, 1906) was a lawyer and Union Army officer during the American Civil War. He entered the Army as a private in 1861 and mustered out as a brevet brigadier general in 1866.

Scofield was born in rural Saratoga County, New York. He attended Union College and graduated from Albany Law School in 1856. He established a law practice in Washington, Iowa, in 1858.

Scofield enlisted as a private in the Union Army in April 1861 and was assigned to Company H of the 2nd Iowa Infantry. He was promoted to second and then to first lieutenant, taking command of the company in February 1862 at the time of the Battle of Fort Donelson. He was adjudant to Brig. Gen. Jacob G. Lauman at the Battle of Shiloh where Scofield was wounded in the leg. He returned to duty within a month. He was transferred to the staff of Brig. Gen. John McArthur at the Battle of Vicksburg and the Battle of Memphis.

In spring of 1863, Scofield organized and commanded the 8th Louisiana Regiment Infantry (African Descent) at Lake Providence, Louisiana. The regiment participated in the expedition up the Yazoo River. In the spring of 1864, he was assigned to command the 2nd Brigade of Maj. Gen. Edward Canby's division. The regiment was transferred to Pensacola, Florida, and then participated in the Battle of Fort Blakely and the capture of Mobile, Alabama. Scofield and his men thereafter were stationed in Louisiana and Texas.

He mustered out in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on May 22, 1866, as a brigadier general.

After the Civil War, Scofield resumed his law practice in Iowa, which he continued until his death in 1906 in Seattle, Washington.

Hiram Scofield held "one of the largest private libraries in the nation. After his death his personal library was split between the cities of Washington and Wellman."