Civil War Union Army Officer. Served during the Civil War as Colonel and commander of the 3rd Iowa Volunteer Cavalry. He led the cavalry forces that caotured Little Rock, Arkansas, on September 10, 1863. The next year, President Abraham Lincoln appointed the native Iowan to be a United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Arkansas. He remained a district judge until 1891, when President Benjamin Harrison appointed him to the newly-created United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, where he became that court’s first Chief Judge. He retired from the bench in 1903. At his death, Judge Caldwell was hailed as the most prominent citizen of Little Rock, the city he had once captured.  Family links:  Parents:  Van Caldwell (1799 – 1856)  Susan Moffet Caldwell (____ – 1887)  Spouse:  Harriet Benton Caldwell (1836 – 1921)*  Siblings:  Melissa Virginia Caldwell Purnell (1821 – 1868)**  Samuel Tomlinson Caldwell (1824 – 1878)**  Benjamin Franklin Caldwell (1828 – 1910)*  Henry Clay Caldwell (1832 – 1915)  Adeline Caldwell (1847 – 1847)**  Murat Caldwell (1847 – 1924)**  Belle Caldwell (1850 – 1852)**  Belle R. Caldwell (1854 – 1854)** *Calculated relationship**Half-sibling