If there’s one thing that can be said about the general, it was that he sure was confident.
Wikimedia CommonsGeneral John Sedgwick , posing in his uniform .
“ They could n’t hit an elephant at this space . ”
These words were uttered by General John Sedgwick just moments before a Confederate hummer hit him in the leftover eye , killing him straightaway . The irony of his last lyric and unexpected death are better remembered today than Sedgwick ’s military legacy , which led him into the route of that heater at the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House in the American Civil War .
Wikimedia CommonsGeneral John Sedgwick, posing in his uniform.
General John Sedgwick’s Military Career
General Sedgwick was a calling military valet following in the footsteps of his grandfather , after whom he was advert , who had served with George Washington .
Sedgwick graduated from West Point in 1837 and was immediately commission as a 2d deputy in the U.S. Army sent to remove the Seminole Indians out of Florida . He fought in the Mexican War under Zachary Taylor and received two brevet promotion for his service . By 1860 , Sedgewick had fought in the Utah and Indian Wars and had been promoted to the rank and file of colonel .
Wikimedia CommonsGeneral John Sedgwick ’s military portrait .
Wikimedia CommonsGeneral John Sedgwick’s military portrait.
When theCivil Warbegan in 1861 , Sedgwick welcome orders to describe to Washington D.C. and serve as the assistant inspector superior general of the Military Department . He was only there for a few months before he was boost to brigadier general general of Volunteer .
He was first given program line to the2nd brigade of General Samuel Heintzelman ’s division of the Army of the Potomac , and then was given his own division to command , the 2nd Division , 2nd Corps of the Army of the Potomac . He was a well-thought-of loss leader and well - loved by his men who often cite to him affectionately as “ Uncle John . ”
General John Sedgwick and his men were send into fight against Confederate leader Stonewall Jackson ’s effect at theBattle of Antietam . They were ill - equipped for the battle , and Jackson ’s forces outnumber them and would surround them on three side . Sedgwick ’s men took heavy casualties while Sedgwick himself was shoot down three fourth dimension , in the wrist , leg and shoulder , but reported back for duty a mere ninety Clarence Day later , recovered and ready to reenter the engagement .
FlickrThe General John Sedgwick memorial at West Point.
The Infamous Shot
FlickrThe General John Sedgwick memorial at West Point .
On May 8th , 1864 , General Ulysses S. Grant move Union forces southeast from Richmond to Spotsylvania County , where he consider he would be able-bodied to fulfil Robert E. Lee ’s army on an equal field of battle and cause significant legal injury to their force-out .
The two armies met at the Spotsylvania Courthouse , in what would become know as TheBattle of Spotsylvania Court House , which lasted for over a week .
regrettably for Sedgwick , however , the battle would derive to an end for him just one day in , on May 9th , 1864 . Sedgwick had brought his military group to fall in four other Union Corps , bringing the total telephone number of Union forces up to almost 100,000 men .
On the even of May 9th , General John Sedgwick was inspecting his line and maneuver artillery placement at Spotsylvania . Confederate crack shot were firing shots at the Union regular army from around 1,000 time off , make them to hedge for cover which prompted General Sedgwick to say “ What ? Men duck this way for single bullets ? What will you do when they open up fire along the whole line ? ”
attempt to shore up his men ’s spirits , he assured them“They could n’t hit an elephant at this space . ”Just moment after he mouth those words , a Confederate marksman strike and killed him .
He was one of only two Union generals to be killed during the Civil War , and his destruction was mourned by many , let in Robert E. Lee . He ’s remember as one of the Union bomber of the Civil War and a memorial to him now stand at West Point Military Academy .
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