Jasper Adalmorn Maltby

Brigadier General Jasper A. Maltby was born in 1826 in Kingsville, Ohio. Maltby fought in the Mexican-American War as a Private in the 15th U.S. Infantry from 1846-48 He was wounded in action on September 20, 1847, during the Battle of Chapultepec. He was discharged on August 3, 1848 and settled in Chicago. Influenced by a book written by Radcliff Chapman which described the target telescopes being produced by a gun maker.

During the mid-1850s, Maltby moved to Galena to establish a gunsmith shop at 184 Main Street. Purchased English-made guns manufactured by W.J. King in London and sold them as "Maltby Rifles". He was a talented gunsmith and was the inventor of one of the first telescopic sites. He lived above the shop with his wife and one son at 184 Main St. Became foreman of the Galena volunteer Neptune Fire Company.

When the Civil War broke out, he helped organize the 45th Illinois Volunteers with John E. Smith and was elected Lieutenant Colonel of the regiment. His military and gunsmith experience was valuable in the formation of the unit. After being wounded in the 1862 attack at Fort Donelson, Maltby returned to Galena to recover. On November 29, 1862 he was promoted to Colonel. He returned to the battlefield and participated in the Siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi. Maltby led the 45th as it charged into the crater in the battle of Fort Hill on June 25, 1863.

In that battle he received severe injuries to his head and right side from artillery shells and never fully recovered. Maltby was promoted to Brigadier General on August 4, 1863. He remained primarily in Vicksburg until the end of the war. Maltby's brother, William H. Maltby, captain of a confederate artillery battery, was taken prisoner during a skirmish on Mustang Island along the Texas Gulf Coast. Maltby used his influence to have his brother released and sent to Vicksburg until he could be exchanged. After the war ended, Maltby engaged in some business ventures in Vicksburg. He was appointed the Military Mayor of Vicksburg on September 6, 1867 and stepped down on December 12th of the same year due to illness. Maltby died 10 days later, on Dec. 22, 1867. He was held in a temporary tomb in Vicksburg. His body was returned to Galena and he was buried in March of 1868 in Greenwood Cemetery.

A member of the Masonic Order in Illinois, he received Masonic observances at his funeral.
Post 520 of the Grand Army of the Republic in Stockton, Illinois is named in Honor of Brigadier General Jasper A. Maltby.