General John G. Foster / US Army

If it wasn’t for Nashuan General John Foster, the Confederate Army would probably have had to look for another place to start the Civil War – somewhere other than Fort Sumter.

General John Gray Foster was born in Whitefield, NH (a small town north of Bethlehem, NH) on May 27, 1823. He was the son of Perley and Mary (Gray) Foster, who became residents of Nashua in 1833. They were part of a line of Scotch-English ancestors. 

He was a “Nashua boy” who, during his youth, showed a predilection towards arms and the military. Educated in Nashua schools, he then became a student at Hancock Academy. (Author’s Note: Today, Hancock Academy promotes itself as a school educating people in the building trades. Given Forster’s then-future occupation, it is assumed that Hancock Academy was doing the same thing 100 years ago.)

From there, he went on to the Nashua Literary Institute to prepare himself for West Point. His appointment to West Point in 1842 was obtained through the influence of fellow Nashuan, Charles G. Atherton, then a member of Congress. Lieutenant Foster graduated from the institution in 1846, ranking number four in a class with McClellan, Reno, Sturgis, Stoneman, and Oakes, names now famous as commanders in the Union Army, and with Jackson and Wilcox, who were numbered with the best tacticians in the Confederate army.

At his graduation, Foster was at once appointed Brevet Second Lieutenant of Engineers. He was assigned as assistant engineer in the bureau at Washington in 1846, and during 1847-48 was attached to a company of Army Engineers in Mexico, where he was engaged in the siege of Vera Cruz from March 9 to 29, 1847. 

While engaged in the battle of Molino del Rey on Sept. 8, 1847, he was severely wounded in the hip. He was then granted a sick leave of several months, which he spent with his friends in Nashua. Upon his return to the service, he was successively promoted to First Lieutenant and then Captain for gallant and meritorious conduct in prior engagements. 

Following the war with Mexico, Captain Foster was engaged for a number of years upon the fortifications of the coast and was also at the coast survey office in Washington. From 1855 to 1857, he was assistant to the professor of engineering at West Point, and in 1858, he was engaged in building Fort Sumter in South Carolina. (Author’s Note: Followers of history will recall that this was where the Civil War started on April 12, 1861, when Confederate forces began to bombard the fort, which was situated on an island out in Charleston Harbor, from their gun placements on the shore. Had General Foster not been in charge of building and fortifying Sumter, the Confederates might have picked someplace else to start the war.) 

On July 1, 1860, after fourteen years’ continuous service, he was commissioned as a full Captain of Engineers. In 186,1 he was chief engineer of the fortifications of Charleston harbor, being engaged in strengthening the works in anticipation of an attack upon them, and was also in command when the garrison of Fort Moultrie was transported to Fort Sumter. He was engaged in the historic defense of Fort Sumter during its bombardment. He was also present when it surrendered and was evacuated, April 12 to 14. 1861. He was later promoted to Major for his gallantry.

Foster returned to “the North” and on Oct. 23, 1861, was appointed Brigadier General of Volunteers. Then, on Feb. 8, 1862, with the Burnside expedition, he participated in the capture of Roanoke, VA. He was also at the capture of Newburn, N. C, and at the bombardment of Fort Macon. 

From July 1, 1862, to July 13. In 1863, he was in command of the Department of North Carolina. It was here that several New Hampshire regiments came under his command. He participated in all the encounters of that campaign, and, on July 18, 1862, was appointed Major-General of United States volunteers. He was subsequently appointed to command the Department of Ohio, where he served from Dec. 12, 1863. to July 9, 1864. When he was obliged to ask for relief after sustaining injuries from falling from his horse. In 1863, he was made a Major in the Corps of Engineers, USA, for gallant and meritorious services in the field during the Civil War.

After the close of the war, General Foster was stationed for some time in the Department of Florida, and, in 1869, while on temporary duty in the Department of Engineers at Washington, he was detached, for reasons of “feeble health,” for special service in Boston harbor, where he instituted and completed several needed improvements necessary to navigation. During this period, he spent a portion of his time visiting with his mother at his old home in Nashua.

General Foster was said to be “a man of commanding figure, an ideal soldier, a quiet, unpretentious man of excellent deportment whose gallant career inspired the respect of those with whom he came in contact.” His contemporaries noted that during the war, the people of Nashua followed him with interest and pride.

General Foster was married twice; first to Mary L. Moule, who died in 1871. This union produced one daughter. Then he married Nannie Davis. The couple had no children.

General John G. Foster died in Nashua, Sept. 2, 1874, and was buried with full military honors. His services were held at the Church of the Immaculate Conception; the eulogy given by Rev. Robert J. Fulton, of Boston. Attending the service were many of Foster’s military friends and colleagues and fellow officers with whom he served. He is buried at the Universalist Church Cemetery in Nashua. The cemetery, founded in 1835, is the burial site of many prominent Nashuans from the city’s earliest days.

On February 28, 1899, the Nashua Post #7 of the Grand Army of the Republic was founded and named in his honor. The Post was officially dissolved as a Domestic Non-Profit Corporation in 2025. 

In June, 1903, a pedestal base was erected in what was then known as Orange Square at the confluence of Lock, Orange, and Whiney Streets. Almost two decades later, in May 1922, a statue of John Foster was placed on the pedestal. The area was then known as Foster Square.

In 1903, a time capsule was buried within the pedestal. On that day, a 4-year-old Louis Barber, who lived at 16 Orange Street, came to see what all the commotion was about. He watched the lead-covered box be sealed into the pedestal. One must wonder if there was ever a plan to unearth the box at a particular time.

Seventy-five years later, in the fall of 1978, work crews began moving the grassy area in Foster Square, along with the statue and its pedestal, to rearrange and better accommodate traffic flow through the intersection. Louis Barber found out about it and contacted Mayor Maurice Arel to let him know about the time capsule. Barber said in a Telegraph interview, “Some people thought I was nuts… but I knew it was there.”

The capsule was unearthed and opened in the presence of Nashua Mayor Maurice Arel, people from the Nashua Historical Society, and other dignitaries – including a much-older Louis Barber. Among the items found in the box was the Hillsborough County Probate Court Calendar for 1902, the annual report for the City of Nashua dated 1902, the roster for the John G. Foster GAR Post for 1903, a booklet showing the list of studies provided in the Nashua School System for 1898-1899, and two then-current copies of the Nashua Telegraph. Plans were then discussed on what to put into a new time capsule. Ultimately, a new capsule was placed under General Foster. 

• Source: History of the City of Nashua, NH from the Earliest Settlement of Old Dunstable to the Year 1895 by Judge Edward E. Parker / Published by Telegraph Publishing Company 1897
• Edited and submitted by Gary Ledoux
• Special thanks to Nashua historian Den Levesque for his help on this piece.
• Special thanks to Nashua historian and photographer Craig Michaud for his help on this piece.

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US Service Personnel Profiles
 By Gary Ledoux February 12, 2026