Gabriel Grant
Gabriel Grant (September 4, 1826 – November 8, 1909) was an American surgeon and Union Army major who received the Medal of Honor for his actions during the Civil War.
He was born in Newark, New Jersey, the son of Charles Grant and a descendant of Robert Treat, one of Newark’s founders. He studied at Williams College, earning a master’s degree in 1846, and later graduated from the College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1851. In 1852 he worked as a surgeon in Panama during the Gold Rush era and edited the Panama Herald before returning to Newark to practice medicine. He helped fight the cholera outbreak there in 1854.
When the Civil War began, Grant served as a surgeon with the 2nd New Jersey Infantry and then joined the U.S. Volunteers, serving in Brigadier General William French’s brigade. At the Battle of Fair Oaks on June 1, 1862, he risked heavy fire to remove wounded officers and soldiers from the field, an act of gallantry that earned him the Medal of Honor (awarded in 1897).
In 1863 he was named Medical Director of Hospitals in Evanston, Indiana, and later took charge of the U.S. Army Hospital in Madison, Indiana. He resigned his commission in January 1865 after being wounded in the field.
After the war, Grant joined the Loyal Legion and married Caroline Manice in 1864. They lived in Newark for a time before moving to New York City, where four children were born (three sons and one daughter). Their eldest son, Madison Grant, became a lawyer, eugenicist, and conservationist.
Gabriel Grant died at his home in Manhattan on November 8, 1909, at age 83. He was buried in Sleepy Hollow, New York, and was survived by his wife and three sons.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 06:34 (CET).