John Watson Foster

John Watson Foster (March 2, 1836 – November 15, 1917) was an American diplomat and military officer, as well as a lawyer and journalist. His highest public office was U.S. secretary of state under Benjamin Harrison, although he also proved influential as a lawyer in technically private practice in the international relations sphere. Early life Foster was born on March 2, 1836, in Petersburg, Indiana, and raised in Evansville, Indiana. He was the son of Matthew Watson Foster, an Indiana farmer,merchant, and judge, and the former Eleanor Johnson. He graduated from the fledgling Indiana University in 1855, but decided not to become a preacher as his parents hoped. Instead, Foster attended Harvard Law School, then moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, to begin his legal career. In 1861, Foster volunteered in the Union Army in the American Civil War. Initially commissioned as a major, he rose to the rank of colonel, serving with the 25th Indiana Volunteer Infantry, the 65th Indiana Volunteer Mounted Infantry and the 136th Indiana Volunteer Infantry. Foster's troops became the first to enter Knoxville, Tennessee, after the successful campaign by General Ambrose Burnside.