Maj. William Silvey

William Silvey graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in the Class of 1849. He returned to West Point after his initial line service as Assistant Professor of Ethics and English Studies, an appointment that combined the cadet- formation work of moral instruction with the practical training of Academy English-composition coursework.

Civil War service

During the Civil War, Silvey served as General Superintendent of Volunteer Recruiting for the U.S. Army — the staff role that organized the recruitment and mustering of volunteer regiments across the Union states. After the war he handled the administrative work of mustering the volunteer army out of federal service.

Muckross title-holder, 1864–1866

In July 1864 the Federal government seized Arthur Herbert Person Arthur Herbert b. 1829 · d. 1919 Co-founder of Burke & Herbert Bank (1852), Confederate officer in the 17th Virginia Infantry, and longtime master of "Muckross" on Seminary Hill. Born at Carlyle House; died on the … ’s 57¼-acre Muckross estate on Alexandria’s Seminary Hill under the Confiscation Act and sold the property at auction to Major Silvey for one hundred twenty-five dollars ^[1] Source 1 DAC, 'Arthur Herbert — Muckross,' 2020 Website . Silvey held the deed for under two years. On April 8, 1866 — eleven months after Appomattox — Silvey and his wife Isabella sold the property back to Herbert for sixteen hundred dollars. The 1864–66 Silvey ownership is the only documented break in Herbert family title to Seminary Hill (off Seminary Road, near St. Stephens Road) Place Seminary Hill (off Seminary Road, near St. Stephens Road) Layered Seminary Hill site that was the country estate "Muckross" of Burke & Herbert Bank co-founder Arthur Herbert, the Civil War earthwork Fort Worth (1861-1865), and finally the … across its sixty-three-year residential life.

Freedmen’s Relief Association

Postwar, Silvey served on the Executive Committee of the Freedmen’s Relief Association, the Reconstruction-era civilian organization that sent teachers and supplies to formerly enslaved people in the Southern states. The Association complemented the federal Freedmen’s Bureau’s work with private philanthropic relief.

Death

Silvey retired from the U.S. Army on May 1, 1875 and died in October 1875, less than six months later. His wife Isabella survived him by nearly four decades and died in 1914. He is buried at the West Point Cemetery.