John Sedgwick: A Forgotten Union Hero

Union General John Sedgwick was born in Cornwall Hollow, Connecticut on Sept 13, 1813. He was well educated and graduated from West Point in 1837 and ranked 24th in his class. He served faithfully in the Seminole Indian War in Florida and served with distinction in the war with Mexico. He along with future Confederate Generals James Longsreet and George Pickett helped defeat the Mexicans at the Battle of Chapultepec.Before the Civil War started he was promoted twice to replace Robert E. Lee. The second promotion came when Lee resigned from the U.S. Army.

Sedgwick rose from the rank of Lt. Colonel to lead a corps during the Civil War and he was among the small number of men from either side to do so. On July 4, 1862 he was awarded the rank of major general becoming one of the few men in American military history to rise so fast and so far. His command was the Union Sixth Corps and it was a position that he would maintain until his untimely death. In September of 1862 he was wounded three times during the Battle of Antietam and missed three weeks of the war to recover from these wounds. Until his death this would be the only war time that John Sedgewick would miss.After serving in the heavy fighting at Fredricksburg and Chancellorsville. During the Second Battle of Fredricksburg, Sedgwick led the forces that pushed the Confederates off of Mayre's Heights. After Hooker was whipped by Lee at Chancellorsville, President Lincoln offered the command of the Army of the Potomac to General Sedgwick. Both he and fellow corps commander John F. Reynolds refused to take command and opted to remain in command of their corps. Another corps commander named George Meade took the offer and the rest is history. Sedgwick furthered his legend by his timely arrival at Gettysburg during the wars bloodiest battle. His corps was held in reserve but his troops were in position to prevent any penetration by the Army of Northern Virginia.After the Gettysburg campaign, Sedgwick's Corps marched with a new commander named U.S. Grant.

After leading his men during the Battle of the Wilderness in May 1864 his corps marched south to engage the Confederates at Spotsylvania Court House. While he placed his men into position a Confederate sharpshooter shot him dead. Just moments before Sedgwick was warned by his troops to take cover but he stated that "they couldn't hit a elephant at his distance". Well John must have grown a trunk because the rebel bullet wounded him just under his left eye. He died within minutes. The general was buried in his home town.The love that Sedgwicks men had for him was evident at Spotsylvania when many of them wept when they learned of his death. After the war several momuments and memorials were created in his honor including one at West Point. Also, Sedgwick is honored with statues at Spotsylvania near where he fell and on the battleground at Gettysburg. Today, General John Sedgwick remains virtually unknown to the average American.

He served in three wars and postive things always seemed to surround him. He was loved and respected by the troops under his command and his superior officers. So why don't more people know about John Sedgwich? Perhaps it is because he was a guy who just got the job done, didn't flaunt himself and since he didn't outlive the war he didn't make himself larger than life within his writings. Without a doubt, General Sedgwick deserves to be remembered as a great general and a great man. Its a shame that he isn't as revered as Sherman, Lee, Grant and Jackson.

Some great articles are here:http://www.sedgwick.org/na/families/robert1613/B/2/9/2/B292-sedgwick-john1813.html

Sources used:http://www.sedgwick.org/na/families/robert1613/B/2/9/2/B292-sedgwick-gen-john-article.htmlhttp://www.civilwarhome.com/sedgwickbio.htm

Further Reading:

Winslow, Richard Elliott. General John Sedgwick, the Story of a Union Corps Commander. Novato, CA: Presidio Press, 1982.

Sedgwick, John, George William Curtis, and Gary W. Gallagher. Correspondence of John Sedgwick, Major-General. Army of the Potomac series, v. 24. Baltimore, MD: Butternut and Blue, 1999.

Connecticut, and Dwight C. Kilbourn. Dedication of the Equestrian Statue of Major-General John Sedgwick. Hartford: Pub. by the state, 1913.

George G. Meade: The "No respect General"

Last night as I continued my research on the 4th Alabama I came across a few lines about George Meade that caught my eye. It wasn't a fact that I was unaware of but have you ever been reminded of something and it clicked some information within your mind? General George G. Meade has never received his just due in history. Few historians rank him as a top General of the Civil War even though he commanded the Army of the Potomac longer than anybody and he defeated Robert E. Lee at Gettysburg.

Meade took command of the Army of the Potomac in June of 1863 under extraordinary circumstances. The Army of Northern Virginia had just whipped the Union army at Fredericksburg in December 1862 and at Chancellorsville in May 1863. In fact, Lee had defeated or fought to a draw every Northern general to cross his path since taking command in June of 1862. So Meade had to face down the invincibility that Robert E. Lee had assumed in the the eyes of the public and foreign nations. Moreover, Lee's invasion of Pennsylvania was underway so he had the added pressure of beating an army that his forces had be unable to contain for nearly twelve months.

History tells us that Meade overcame these obstacles and Robert E. Lee was defeated on July 1-3 at Gettysburg. However, when you ask the common layman about the great generals of the Civil War they tend to mention Lee, Grant and Sherman. Meade is the forgotten man of the group, a great warrior and a tough soldier who doesn't get the credit that he so richly deserves. It should be noted that when Grant took command of all Union forces in 1864 he traveled with the Army of the Potomac to face Lee. General Grant kept Meade in command of the army but pulled all the strings. U.S. Grant's presence overshadowed Meade and helped make him a forgotten general.

Meade's military career was extraordinary because he served in three wars during his lifetime. During the Civil War he rose through the ranks from brigade command to army command in just two years. Meade had a terrible temper which earned little respect from the men serving in the ranks but amongst his fellow generals he was fairly respected. Many historians have accused Meade's lack of aggression but he preferred to calculate the risks and then make a decision. In many ways, Meade was the exact opposite of Robert E. Lee because he took his time and didn't over commit his forces. This lack of "aggression" emphasized Meades finest qualities as a commander which is the ability to adapt tactics.

I would argue that Meade was able to change with the times. During the Civil War the weapons had advanced warfare beyond the old style tactics that many officers still used. Just take a look at Picketts Charge and you will see Robert E. Lee using a strategy that was fairly outdated. The weapons were way ahead of the tactics. Military educators failed to emphasized Meade's unwillingness to attack fortified positions with frontal assualts as an intelligent decision. This could have been used during World War I when millions of Europeans and Americans were killed in attacks on fortifications.

Perhaps the thing that hurt Meade's image was his short lifespan after 1865. Meade died in 1872 after serving faithfully in various commands. These included; Military Division of the Atlantic, the Department of the East, and the Department of the South. Gettysburg didn't entrench itself within the national conscience until after Lee (who died in 1870) and Meade passed on into the next world. Therefore, Meade and his reputation didn't enjoy the celeberity that many Gettysburg heroes benefited from. Despite these facts there is one thing that the world cannot change and that is George G. Meade commanded the army that defeated Robert E. Lee at Gettysburg and that victory helped pave the way for the defeat of the Confederacy. Meade might have summed up his own legacy in history when he discussed warfare itself by stating "War is very uncertain in its results, and often when affairs look most desperate they suddenly assume a more hopeful state." I hope that Meade's uncertainity in history has passed and that history will continue to view Meade in a postive light. I think it will.

More infomation on Meade can be found at http://www.civilwarhome.com/meadebio.htm

This is my 25th post. I hope that you have enjoyed all of my writings up to this point. More on the way.