1815-1862

Rensselaer W. Foote

Captain Rensselaer William Foote
November 12, 1815 – June 27, 1862
6th Infantry, United States Army

Born in Delhi, Delaware County, New York, Rensselaer William Foote was the son of Charles Augustus and Maria De Hart Baldwin Foote. He dedicated his life to military service, spending 24 years in the United States Army.

Foote served in several key regions during his career, including Florida during the Seminole Wars (also known as the Florida Wars) in 1841, and later in Arizona and California during the Army’s westward expansion efforts.

Tragically, after more than two decades of peacetime military service, Captain Foote was killed in his first combat engagement—at the Battle of Gaines’ Mill in Hanover County, Virginia, on June 27, 1862. This battle was part of the Seven Days Battles during the Peninsula Campaign of the Civil War.

Captain Foote was laid to rest on the battlefield where he fell. A cenotaph in his honor stands in Woodland Cemetery in his hometown of Delhi, New York, serving as a tribute to his long service and ultimate sacrifice.