MAY, CHARLES AUGUSTUS (1818-1864). Major, lieutenant colonel and colonel by brevet, United States Army. North American Family History details that Charles’s family history could be traced to John May who came from Sussex, England to Roxbury in America in 1640. Charles is listed as one of the eight children of Frederick May (born 1773) and Julia Matilda Slacum (born 1793). Charles was born in Washington, D.C., the son of a prominent Baltimore physician, on August 9, 1818 ...
May’s distinguished military career began with his enrollment as a second lieutenant in the United States Army, Second Regiment of Dragoons, on June 8, 1836, and subsequent promotions to first lieutenant on December 15, 1837, and to captain on February 2, 1841. During the Second Seminole War, May was responsible for the capture of King Philip, the Seminole nation’s main chieftain.
May then achieved fame in the Mexican War. He was brevetted major on May 8, 1846, “for gallant and distinguished service in the Battle of Palo Alto, Texas.” As per The Military Heroes of the War with Mexico by Charles J. Peterson (1849), May had brought back intelligence about the garrison though the dragoons were inactive until the following day at Resaca de la Palma. His service in the Mexican War also merited brevets to lieutenant colonel on May 9, 1846, “for gallant and distinguished conduct at the Battle of Resaca de la Palma, Texas,” and to colonel on February 23, 1847, “for gallant and meritorious conduct in the Battle of Buena Vista, Mexico.” His brevets were mentioned in his obituaries in the National Republican and in The New York Times. ...
May married into wealth on February 8, 1853, when he wed Josephine Law, the 19-year-old daughter of George Law, a steamboat proprietor and Know-Nothing Party presidential candidate. They married at the Old South Dutch Reformed Church on Fifth Avenue at 21st Street, where the bride wore a white satin dress with lace embroidery that reportedly cost $1,500. The lavish reception at Law’s mansion was attended by 400 guests who dined on the finest wines and delicacies. Their marriage is recorded in Dutch Reformed Church Records in Selected States, 1639-1989 and was announced in the London Free Press on February 26, 1853, which noted that the bride’s father was a well-known steam ship owner. ...
According to the 1860 census, May and Josephine were living in the Nebraska Territory where he was the commander at Fort Kearny Reservation; his personal estate was valued at $4,000. ...
