Joseph P. Sanger

Joseph P. Sanger (May 4, 1840 – March 15, 1926) was a career officer in the United States Army. A Union Army veteran of the American Civil War, after the war he served as an aide-de-camp for generals Emory Upton and John Schofield, and was secretary and military assistant for President Benjamin Harrison. After service in Cuba during the Spanish–American War, in 1903, he was assigned to supervise the first census of the Philippines following the end of the Philippine–American War. Sanger attained the rank of major general, and retired in January 1904. Sanger was a native of Detroit, Michigan and attended the University of Michigan for two years before joining the Union Army for the American Civil War. After service in the 1st Michigan Infantry Regiment, a unit enlisted for three months at the start of the war, Sanger joined the 1st Regiment of Artillery, with which he served until the end of the war. Sanger remained in the army after the war, and served in a variety of assignments as he rose through the ranks in the 1870s and 1880s, including command of several batteries of the 1st Artillery. In addition to his artillery assignments, Sanger also served as an aide-de-camp for General Emory Upton during Upton's inspection and observation tour of Asia and Europe in the mid-1870s, and General John Schofield during Schofield's command of the Military Division of the Atlantic and assignment as Commanding General of the United States Army. During the presidential administration of Benjamin Harrison, Sanger served as his military aide and acted as his presidential secretary. During the Spanish–American War and Philippine–American War, Sanger commanded several brigades and divisions, then supervised censuses in Puerto Rico, Cuba, and the Philippines. He was promoted to major general on January 20, 1904, and retired the following day. In retirement, Sanger resided in Washington, D.C. He died there on March 15, 1926, and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.