John Codman Ropes (April 28, 1836 – October 28, 1899) was an American military historian and lawyer, and the co-founder of the law firm Ropes & Gray.[1]
Early life
Ropes was born on April 28, 1836, in Saint Petersburg, the son of a leading merchant of Boston who was engaged in business in Russia.[2] At the age of fourteen, his family having returned to Massachusetts, he developed an infection of the spine which eventually became a permanent deformity.
He entered Harvard in 1853 and graduated in 1857. During his time at Harvard, he was an early member of the Fly Club.[3] His interests as a young man were chiefly religious, legal and historical, and these remained with him throughout life, his career as a lawyer being conspicuous and successful. But it was the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861 which fixed his attention principally on military history. He ceaselessly assisted with business and personal help and friendship the officers and men of the 20th Massachusetts regiment, in which his brother, Henry Ropes, was