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John Sedgwick
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Birth: Sep. 13, 1813
Death: May 9, 1864

Civil War Union Major General. One of the best known Corps commanders of the Army of the Potomac during the Civil War. General Sedgwick, a 1837 West Point graduate, served in the Mexican War and on the US Frontier, often with many army officers who would become generals for both the South and the North in the war. He commanded a division in the Second Corps during General George B. McClellan's Pennisular compaign, the Second Bull Run campaign, and the Battle of Antietam, where his command was nearly cut off and destroyed. General Sedgwick was wounded three times in the battle. He assumed command of the AOP's VI Corps just before the Battle of Chancellorsville, and led it during the adjunct Battle at Salem Church. His Corps was held in reserve at Gettysburg, where General Sedgwick was positioned to stop any serious break in Union lines. He directed with great skill Corps operations in successive engagments right up to the Battle of Spotsylvania in May 1864. There he jokingly berated some of the soldiers in the position for ducking from fire by Confederate sharpshooters. He is reported to have told them "They couldn't hit an elephant at this distance" a few moments before was shot below the left eye and instantly killed. His death was a great shock to both Federals and Confederates (he had been affectionately called "Uncle John" by his troops). General Ulysses Grant reportedly kept asking "Is he really dead?" upon hearing the news. (bio by: Russ Dodge) 

 
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Burial:
Cornwall Hollow Cemetery
Cornwall Hollow
Litchfield County
Connecticut, USA
 
Maintained by: Find A Grave
Record added: Sep 27, 1999
Find A Grave Memorial# 6475
John Sedgwick
Added by: Bobb Edwards
 
John Sedgwick
Added by: Russ Dodge
 
John Sedgwick
Added by: Russ Dodge
 
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May GOD Bless You!::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::It is on Major General Benjamin Butler's in Lowell, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, the monument reads."the true touchstone of civil liberty is not that all men are equal but that every man has th...(Read more)
- AAAAmerican.Com
 Added: May. 19, 2013
Good Luck with those elephants
- Jeb
 Added: May. 15, 2013
Rest in peace, General. Thank you for your service and sacrifice. May God bless you for your gallant defense of our Union. Because of you, the nation did have "a new birth of freedom."
- Sharon
 Added: May. 9, 2013
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