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Rufus Saxton of Deerfield, Massachusetts had a long and distinguished career in the military. He graduated from West Point in 1849. After graduating, Saxton fought the Seminoles in Florida, taught artillery at West Point, and worked on George McClellan's staff surveying the Rocky Mountains in 1853. During the Civil War he was a Captain in General McClellan's staff in West Virginia; Brigadier General of Volunteers in 1862; and commander at Harper's Ferry in May and June of 1862. On April 25, 1893, Saxton was awarded the Medal of Honor for his service at Harper's Ferry. From 1862 to 1865, Saxton was Military Governor of the Department of the South, and in 1865, he was appointed Brigadier General of the United States Army. Saxton was Assistant Commissioner of the Freedman's Bureau for the states of South Carolina, Georgia and Florida from the end of the war until January, 1866.

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