Civil War Union Major General. He was born in Munfordville, Kentucky, and received a rural education. He attended West Point, graduating 5th of 41 in the class of 1845. He served in the Mexican War and was later transferred to the cavalry, where he saw much action on the frontier. At the start of the Civil War, he spent time on recruitment duty in Indiana. Because so many cavalry officers resigned to join the Confederacy, he rose rapidly during the first months of the war. On October 11, 1861, he received a commission as Brigadier General of Volunteers. He first saw action at Shiloh, Tennessee, leading the 6th Division in Major General Don Carlos Buell's Army of the Ohio, then fought at the Battle of Perryville in October 1862, and was wounded 2 months later during the Battle of Stone's River, remaining on the field until nightfall. On September 19, 1863, at Chickamauga, his division was stationed in the Union center. The next morning, Major General William S. Rosecrans received a false report that a gap existed between himself and Major General Joseph J. Reynolds' 4th Division. (In fact, Brigadier General John M. Brannan's 3rd Division was positioned there, though it was somewhat concealed.) Ordered by Rosecrans to close up "as fast as possible" on Reynolds, he protested, then dutifully moved his 2 brigades. A very real gap now existed in the Federal line. Quick to exploit the situation, Confederate Lieutenant General James Longstreet's 5 divisions sliced through the Federal center and came very close to destroying Rosecrans' army. For the battle, he received a regular army brevet of Brigadier General. Later that month he and the Army of the Cumberland were besieged in Chattanooga, and on November 25 his division participated in the successful assault on Missionary Ridge. He then took part in Major General William T. Sherman's Atlanta Campaign, and was wounded severely in the leg during the Federal repulse at Lovejoy's Station. In December 1864, he was placed in command of the IV Corps and sent to Nashville, where he participated in the destruction of General John B. Hood's Army of Tennessee. He was brevetted Major General for this action, and was promoted to Major General, Regular Army, on March 13, 1865, for his outstanding combat record. He was mustered out of the volunteers on September 1, 1866, and reverted back to the rank of Colonel. After the war, he served in Reconstruction Mississippi, due in part to his old wounds, he retired from the army in 1868 as a Major General, however his rank was reduced in 1875 to Brigadier General. Died in Dayton,Ohio.

Cenotaph here