Interior of adjutant general's office, Charleston, W. Va.
Description:
Adjutant General John W. M. Appleton, Assistant Adjutant General Colonel D. T. E. Casteel, and First Lieutenant Douglas Settle, sit at a desk in the office of the adjutant general in Charleston, West Virginia. Settle served as inspector general.John W. M. Appleton was born in Massachusetts in 1833. He attended Harvard Medical School and worked as an assistant librarian at the Boston Public Library. At the start of the Civil War, he enrolled as a private in the Massachusetts Independent Cadet Corps. In April 1862, Appleton was mustered into the regular army and stationed at Fort Warren in Boston Harbor. On February 9, 1863, he was commissioned as second lieutenant in the 54th Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteers. Having been promoted to captain, Appleton fought at the Battle of Fort Wagner on July 18, 1863 in South Carolina. By the end of the war, Appleton had attained the rank of major. He moved his family to West Virginia where he engaged in various business enterprises. He received commissions in the West Virginia Militia and National Guard. In May, 1882, he moved to Salt Sulphur Springs and worked at the resort there. On March 4, 1897, West Virginia Governor George W. Atkinson appointed him to the post of adjutant general in Charleston. He served for four years. In September 1913, Appleton was killed when a bull gored him on his farm.Source: West Virginia and Regional History Collection Newsletter, v. 8, no. 3, fall/winter 1992, 1-4.
