Andrew L. Harris
An Ohio farm boy who rose to heroism at Gettysburg, then brought his steadfast character to the governor's office decades later.
1835–1915 (age 80)·44th Governor of Ohio·Birthday: November 17
Biography
Andrew Lintner Harris was the last American Civil War veteran to serve as a state governor, and his life was bookended by service. A farmer and lawyer from Butler County, Ohio, he helped raise a company of volunteers at the war's outbreak. As a colonel in the Union Army, his moment of destiny came on the third day at Gettysburg. During Pickett's Charge, he found himself in command of a battered brigade at the very center of the Union line on Cemetery Ridge. He helped rally his men to hold against the Confederate onslaught, a pivotal act in preserving the victory. After the war, he returned to Ohio, building a long career in state politics as a staunch Republican. He became lieutenant governor and, in 1906, ascended to the governorship upon his predecessor's death. His two-year term was marked by Midwestern pragmatism, focusing on fiscal conservatism and infrastructure. Harris embodied a direct line from the defining trauma of the 19th century to the progressive dawn of the 20th.
#1 When Andrew Was Born
The biggest hits of 1835
Andrew's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1835Born
1840Started school
1848Became a teenager
1851Could drive
1853Could vote
1856Turned 21
1865Turned 30
President: Andrew Johnson
1875Turned 40
President: Ulysses S. Grant
1885Turned 50
Karl Benz builds the first gasoline-powered automobile
President: Grover Cleveland
1895Turned 60
First public film screening by the Lumiere brothers
President: Grover Cleveland
1905Turned 70
Einstein publishes the theory of special relativity
President: Theodore Roosevelt
1915Turned 80
The Lusitania is sunk by a German U-boat
President: Woodrow Wilson
Key Achievements
- Commanded the 75th Ohio Infantry and a brigade at the Battle of Gettysburg, helping repel Pickett's Charge on July 3, 1863.
- Served as the 44th Governor of Ohio from 1906 to 1909, completing the term of Governor John M. Pattison.
- Was the last veteran of the American Civil War to serve as a state governor in the United States.
Did You Know?
He was wounded at the Battle of Chancellorsville just two months before Gettysburg.
Before the war, he was a successful farmer known for breeding Shorthorn cattle.
His portrait hangs in the Ohio Statehouse, a testament to his dual legacy as soldier and statesman.
“Hold the line at all costs; the fate of the army depends upon it.”
