John L. Gardner

John Lane Gardner served in the U.S. Army eventually achieving the rank of brevet Brigadier General after serving in the American Civil War having also served in the War of 1812, the Seminole War and the Mexican–American War before that. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1793 during George Washington's second term Gardner joined the U.S. Army during the War of 1812 where he found his place as a career army officer. Just before the Civil War he was commander of the garrison at Fort Moultrie but was relieved of command because he undermined the plans of Secretary of War John B. Floyd, who would soon join the Confederacy, and was planning to place control of the forts in Charleston Harbor in Confederate hands. Gardner served over 40 years in the U.S. Army.