the board for retiring disabled officers from July 15, 1863, until his resignation and retirement from the army on May 6, 1864. Postbellum activities Following his war service, Keyes moved to San Francisco, where he soon became financially successful and prominent. He converted to Catholicism in San Francisco in 1866. He was president of a Mexican gold mining company in 1867–1869, and vice president of the California vine-culture society from 1868 to 1872. He also was engaged in the savings and loan business. General Keyes became a member of the California Commandery of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States - a military society of Union officers and their descendants. Keyes was the author of The Rear Guard at Malvern Hill as part of The Century Company's Battles and Leaders of the Civil War series, as well as Fifty Years' Observation of Men and Events (New York, 1884). This was later reprinted as Fighting Indians in Washington Territory (Fairfax, Washington, 1988). His work From West Point to California was published posthumously in 1950. While on a trip to Europe with his wife, Keyes died in Nice, France, at age 85. He is buried in West Point Cemetery. His son, Edward Lawrence Keyes became a leading American urologist. See also List of American Civil War generals (Union) List of Massachusetts generals in the American Civil War Massachusetts in the Civil War Notes References Bancroft, Hubert H. History of Washington, Idaho, and Montana, 1845-1889. San Francisco: The History Company, 1890. . Boatner, Mark Mayo, III. The Civil War Dictionary. New York: McKay, 1988. . First published 1959 by McKay. Eicher, John H., and David J. Eicher. Civil War High Commands. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2001. . Meehan, Thomas. "Erasmus Darwin Keyes." In The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 8. New York: Robert Appleton Co., 1910. Rodenbough, Theophilus F., and William L. Haskin. The Army of the United States: Historical Sketches of Staff and Line with Portraits of Generals-in-Chief. New York: Maynard, Merrill, and Co., 1896. . Further reading Sears, Stephen W. To the Gates of Richmond: The Peninsula Campaign. Ticknor and Fields, 1992. . External links 1810 births 1895 deaths People of Maine in the American Civil War People from Brimfield, Massachusetts Union Army generals United States Military Academy alumni People from Kennebec County, Maine Burials at West Point Cemetery Military personnel from Massachusetts