Civil War Union Army Major General. West Point Class of 1837. In September of 1861 he was promoted to Brig. Gen. of Vols. and given the command of a brigade in the II Corps of the Army of the Potomac, serving in that capacity during the Peninsula Campaign and at Antietam. Promoted to the rank of Major General in November 1862 he served at Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville. During the Gettysburg Campaign he was in charge of the District of Harper's Ferry, but took command of the III Corps after Gen. Daniel E. Sickles was wounded at Gettysburg. French lost his entire military reputation at the Battle of Mine Run in November 1863 when he was blamed by Gen. George Meade for being slow and for the Union failure to exploit a potential advantage over Robert E. Lee. French blamed the slowness on one of his division commander in a letter to the War Department. He was mustered out of the service on May 6, 1864.
Civil War Union Army Major General. West Point Class of 1837. In September of 1861 he was promoted to Brig. Gen. of Vols. and given the command of a brigade in the II Corps of the Army of the Potomac, serving in that capacity during the Peninsula Campaign and at Antietam. Promoted to the rank of Major General in November 1862 he served at Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville. During the Gettysburg Campaign he was in charge of the District of Harper's Ferry, but took command of the III Corps after Gen. Daniel E. Sickles was wounded at Gettysburg. French lost his entire military reputation at the Battle of Mine Run in November 1863 when he was blamed by Gen. George Meade for being slow and for the Union failure to exploit a potential advantage over Robert E. Lee. French blamed the slowness on one of his division commander in a letter to the War Department. He was mustered out of the service on May 6, 1864.
Bio by: EFB III
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