graduated in 1862. Armstrong married Emma Dean Walker of Stockbridge, Massachusetts on October 13, 1869, but she died on November 10, 1878 after giving birth to daughters Louise H. Armstrong Scoville and Edith E. Armstrong, both of whom would later teach briefly at the Hampton Institute (and Louise's husband William Scoville would serve for decades as a trustee). He remained a widower for more than a decade. Armstrong remarried in Montpelier, Vermont on September 10, 1890, to Mary Alice Ford, a teacher at the Hampton Institute. Their son, Daniel Armstrong, would become a career U.S. Naval officer and commanded the Negro Recruit Training Program at the Great Lakes Naval Training Center near Waukegan, Illinois during World War II (1939–1945). Their daughter, Margaret Armstrong, would marry Hampton's Institute's president during the Great Depression (1931-1940), Arthur Howe, and their sons would, in turn, serve as trustees from the 1950s into the 1970s. Civil War During Samuel Armstrong's studies at Williams College, the American Civil War divided the United States. Like his father, Armstrong supported the abolition of slavery but considered himself a Hawaiian. Nonetheless, on August 15, shortly after graduating with future General and President James A. Garfield, Armstrong volunteered to serve in the Union Army. By August 26, he had recruited a company near Troy, New York and received the rank of captain in the 125th New York Infantry, a three-years regiment in George L. Willard's brigade. Within weeks Armstrong and his troops were among the 12,000 man garrison at Harpers Ferry, who though without combat training initially held their position during the Confederate Maryland Campaign on September 13, 1862, but were surrendered two days later by career U.S. Army officer Dixon S. Miles (who was rumored to have been killed by his own men that day, but officially died as a result of enemy fire) to Confederate General Stonewall Jackson shortly before the Battle of Antietam. After being paroled in a prisoner exchange, Capt. Armstrong returned to the front lines in Virginia in December. The following summer, as part of the 3rd Division of the II Corps under Alexander Hays Armstrong fought at the Battle of Gettysburg in July 1863, defending Cemetery Ridge against Pickett's Charge. Armstrong subsequently received a promotion to major on August 26, 1863 (but effective July 3, 1863, the third day of the Battle of Gettysburg). Armstrong volunteered to lead African-American troops, resigned from his New