Degree Recipient

Life Experience

Aden Gainey Cavens resided in Bloomfield, Indiana. He was educated at Asbury University (now DePauw) for three years and then came to IU to obtain his law degree. He was an attorney-at-law. He moved to Arkansas shortly after graduation. In 1858, he moved to Nebraska. From 1860 to 1861, he was a member of the Nebraska Territorial Legislature.

At the outbreak of the Civil War, Cavens returned to Bloomfield and recruited Union soldiers. From 1861 to 1862, he was captain of Company E of the 59th Indiana Volunteers under General Pope. He participated in military actions at Fort Pillow and New Madrid and the siege of Corinth. In 1862, he was promoted to major of the 97th Regiment, then to lieutenant colonel. He was promoted to colonel and commanded a prominent battalion at Kingston, North Carolina. He joined his regiment at Goldsboro and was in pursuit of General Albert Sidney Johnston when the war ended. He was mustered out in Washington, DC, in 1865.

Cavens lived another forty-one years. He practiced law in a partnership with his brother, Elijah, and then retired to his home. He maintained a connection with Bloomfield, the town he had served. “Even in his declining years he walked to town every morning and afternoon at precisely the same hour each day,” according to the local newspaper obituary, and he “lived a quiet life, spending the greater part of his time in the companionship of his books and in the society of his friends – and nothing gave him greater pleasure....he was an extensive reader of history and standard literature and his memory retained everything that he read.”

Marriage and Family

Cavens married Julia Taylor in 1851; she died in 1854, leaving two infant sons. He then married Matilda Livingston; together they had five children. His daughter, Wilhelmina, later married and moved to Santa Ana, California, where Cavens’ descendants still live today.

Interesting Anecdote

Cavens distinguished himself during the Civil War by participating in the siege of Vicksburg, the Battle of Missionary Ridge, and the Battle of Jackson, Mississippi. At the latter, his horse was killed by a cannon ball. In the winter of 1863, he relieved General Burnside at Knoxville. He also participated in the Battles of Kennesaw Mountain, Resaca, Dallas, Big Shanty Station, Ezra Chapel, Jonesboro, Lovejoy, and the July 22, 1864, battle in Atlanta. In one engagement, his regiment captured 700 Confederate soldiers and officers.

References

1. Wylie
2. Findagrave.com
3. Ancestry.com
4. Davisson and Hensley (1850) 20th Annual Circular of the University of Indiana Comprising the Catalogue, The Course of Studies, Etc.
5. The Bloomfield News 04/13/1906