Editing Edwin Vose Sumner (section)

==Early life and career==
Sumner was born in [[Boston, Massachusetts]], to Elisha Sumner and Nancy Vose Sumner. His early schooling was in [[Milton Academy]] in [[Milton, Massachusetts]].<ref name="appletons">{{Cite Appletons'|wstitle=Sumner, Edwin Vose|year=1900}}</ref> He was a first cousin once removed of [[Charles Sumner]], the abolitionist, and a distant cousin of the statesman, [[Increase Sumner]], and his son, the historian [[William H. Sumner]].

In 1819, after losing interest in a [[Mercantilism|mercantile]] career in [[Troy, New York]], he entered the [[United States Army]] as a [[Second lieutenant#United States|second lieutenant]] in the [[2nd Infantry Regiment (United States)|2nd US Infantry Regiment]] on March 3, 1819. He was promoted to [[First Lieutenant#United States|first lieutenant]] on January 25, 1825.

Sumner's military appointment was facilitated by Samuel Appleton Storrow, Judge Advocate Major on the staff of General [[Jacob Brown (general)|Jacob Jennings Brown]] of the Northern department. (Storrow had previously served as a mentor to Sumner in Boston.) In recognition of their long-standing friendship, Sumner would later name one of his sons Samuel Storrow Sumner.<ref>The Sumner–Storrow relationship is discussed in unpublished 19th-century correspondence of the Storrow family (copies of which are held by descendants). The Storrow–Brown relationship is described in Morris.</ref>

He married Hannah Wickersham Foster (1804–1880) on March 31, 1822. They had six children together: Nancy, Margaret Foster, Sarah Montgomery, Mary Heron, [[Edwin Vose Sumner, Jr.|Edwin Vose Jr.]], and [[Samuel S. Sumner|Samuel Storrow Sumner]]. His son Samuel was a general during the [[Spanish–American War]], [[Boxer Rebellion]], and the [[Philippine–American War]]. Sumner's daughter, Mary Heron, married General [[Armistead L. Long]] in 1860.

Sumner later served in the [[Black Hawk War]] and in various [[Native Americans in the United States|Indian]] campaigns.<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Sumner, Edwin Vose|volume=26|page=83}}</ref> On March 4, 1833, he was promoted to the rank of [[Captain (U.S. Army)|captain]] and assigned to command B Company, the [[United States Regiment of Dragoons]] (later First US Dragoons), immediately upon its creation by [[United States Congress|Congress]].

In 1838, he commanded the [[cavalry]] instructional establishment at [[Carlisle Barracks]] in [[Pennsylvania]].<ref name="EB1911"/> He was assigned to Ft. Atkinson, Iowa Territory, from 1842 until 1845. He was the fort's commander during most of that period. He was promoted to [[Major (United States)|major]] of the 2nd Dragoons on June 30, 1846. During the Mexican–American War, Sumner was brevetted for bravery at the [[Battle of Cerro Gordo]] (to [[Lieutenant colonel (United States)|lieutenant colonel]]). It was here that he gained the nickname "Bull Head" because of a story about a musket ball that bounced off his head during the battle. At the [[Battle of Molino del Rey|Molino del Rey]] he received the brevet rank of [[Colonel (United States)|colonel]]. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel of the 1st US Dragoons on July 23, 1848. He served as the military governor of the [[New Mexico Territory]] from 1851 to 1853 and was promoted to colonel of the 1st U.S. Cavalry on March 3, 1855.

In 1856 Sumner commanded [[Fort Leavenworth, Kansas]], and became involved in the crisis known as [[Bleeding Kansas]]. In 1857, as commander of the [[1st Cavalry Regiment (1855)]], he led a [[Cheyenne people#Punitive US expedition of 1857|punitive expedition against the Cheyenne]],<ref>Bertbrong, pp. 133–40; Grinnell, pp. 111–21.</ref> and in 1858 he commanded the Department of the West. On January 7, 1861, Sumner wrote to [[President of the United States|President-elect]] [[Abraham Lincoln]], advising him to carry a weapon at all times. [[Lieutenant general (United States)|Lt. Gen.]] [[Winfield Scott]] assigned Sumner as the senior officer to accompany Lincoln from [[Springfield, Illinois]], to [[Washington, D.C.]], in March 1861.{{sfn|Dupuy|1992|p=719}}