Nathaniel P. Banks was commissioned Major General of U.S. Volunteers in 1861 and held command of the Fifth Corps, Army of the Potomac, the Defences of Washington, and the Department of the Gulf. He served as Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1851–52, was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1853, served as Speaker of the national House from 1855 to 1857, was Governor of Massachusetts from 1858 to 1860, and was a Member of Congress from 1865 to 1877 and again in 1888–90.