John Peter Cleaver Shanks (June 17, 1826 – January 23, 1901) was a U.S. Representative from Indiana from 1867 to 1875 and an officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War.

During the Civil War he served in the Union Army as a colonel and aide-de-camp to Major General John C. Fremont from September 20, 1861 to June 1862.

[1] On December 12, 1864, President of the United States Abraham Lincoln nominated Shanks for appointment to the grade of brevet brigadier general of volunteers, to rank from December 8, 1864, and the United States Senate confirmed the appointment on February 14, 1865.

[2] He then commanded Brigade 1 of the Cavalry Division of the Department of Mississippi from December 8, 1864 to September 19, 1865, when he was mustered out of the volunteers.

This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress