WILLIAM J. L. NICODEMUS Born: August 1, 1834, near Hagerstown, Maryland Died: January 6, 1879, Janesville (near Madison), Wisconsin Unit: 11th U.S. Infantry, later 12th U.S. Infantry Rank: 1st Lieutenant, later Captain William Joseph Leonard Nicodemus took part in the first U.S. combat use of signal flags, under command of E.R.S. Canby, during the 1861 Navajo Expedition. He was breveted Major for Gallant and Meritorious Service at the Battle of Valverde. Photo courtesy of Jerry Rogers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Returning east, he commanded the Signal Corps Camp of Instruction in Georgetown, D.C., and later the entire Signal Corps. After the war he returned to the 12th Infantry as Captain until 1870, when he resigned and became a professor of civil and mechanical engineering at the University of Wisconsin. Thanks to William J. L. Nicodemus's descendant, Jerry Rogers, for making this page possible.