BIRTH: 1788, Westmoreland Co.,Virginia
DEATH: 15 JUL 1852, Washington,D.C.
BURIAL: Washington,D.C.
Father: Catesby JONES
Mother: Lettice Corbin TURBERVILLE
Family 1: Mary_Ann Mason PAGE
MARRIAGE: 20 NOV 1818, Frederick Co.,Virginia
Adjutant General, U.S.A.
He was appointed 2d lieutenant of marines on 29 Jan. 1809, and on 12 July 1812 was transferred to the artillery, with the rank of captain. He received the brevet of major for services in the battles of Chippewa and Lundy's Lane, and lieutenant-colonel for gallantry in the sortie from Fort Erie. On 10 Aug 1818 he was appointed adjutant-general with the rank of colonel, and on 17 Sept, 1824, was brevetted colonel. On 7 March 1825 he was appointed adjutant general of the army, which post he held till his death. He was brevetted brigadier general in June, 1832, and major-general in May, 1848.
---Appleton's Cyclopaedia of American Biography
As a young officer my father's services in the War of 1812 were comspicuous and won for him a marked recognition at the time, and he was advanced to adjutant-general before he was 30. But it was as adjutant=general from 1825 to 1852 that he mad his mark, and left the impress of his strong character and independent nature upon the army, the effect of which is felt even to the present time (1888)...
For gallant conduct in the War of 1812 the State of Virginia presented him with a handsome sword. (Now in the possession of John Donald Frey, Rochester, N.Y.)
---Jones (1891), p. 73.
He molded the office of the Adjutant General into the central bureau of the War Department.
He is mentioned repeatedly in his son Catesby ap Roger Jones's Private Journal. The references include President Tyler on vacation with him to various hot springs in Virginia (now West Virginia).
A description of the presentation of swords on Feb. 22, 1841, to Thomas ap Catesby Jones and his brother Roger Jones, in "Southern literacy messenger; devoted to every department of literature and the fine arts" Vol. 7, Issue 4 entitled "Honors to the Brave"
Gen. Jones was buried at the Congressional Cemetery, July 15, 1852. President Fillmore was part of his funeral procession.
His son Roger Jones is described in Appleton's Encyclopedia.
For a description of "brevet" rank, see here. In Roger Jones case, I believe it may be that the few available slots of the rank he was brevetted to only went to officers in the field.
Fort Jones was named after him, in Siskiyou County, California. It only lasted 5 years from 1853-1858.
Gen. William T. Sherman's memoirs (Vol. 1, Ch. IV) indicate that Roger Jones's brother was a "militia general" and lead the escort to the funeral of President Zachary Taylor (July 1850). It was his second cousin Gen. Walker Jones who was Major General of the Militia of the District of Columbia.
In 1856, Congress voted to give relief to the widow of Roger Jones.
A portrait of Roger Jones is(was) on the halls of Northumberland Court House.
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