John Sedgwick graduated from West Point in 1837. He served in the Seminole War, the Mexican War, and posts in the west. By the time the Civil War broke out, he was a brigadier general. He commanded a division in the Army of the Potomac in the Battle of Antietam. He was seriously wounded, but was back and in command of the 6th Corps at Chancellorsville and Gettysburg. By the time of the Wilderness Campaign, he was second only to George Meade. On May 8, 1864, he lost the race to Spotsylvania Court House and found Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia at the crossroads. The battle ended in a bloody stalemate. On March 9, his corps was stationed in the center of the Union line. Sedgwick set up his headquarters only 100 feet from his front line. His tent was near some Yankee cannons. The area had been under sniper fire and several had been wounded, including Gen. William Morris. Sedgwick decided to advise the placement of the artillery despite the threat. His staff members tried to warn him of the danger of exposing himself. They and the artillerymen were ducking for cover. “What? Men dodging this way for single bullets? What will you do when they open fire along the whole line?” Sedgwick took no heed of the warnings. In the Civil War, it was considered necessary for officers to show their bravery to inspire their men. This partly explains why the life expectancy of a general was less than that of a private. (That and the fact that they rode horses into battle.) Sedgwick’s famous last words were: “They couldn’t hit an elephant at this dis-“. At that moment, he took a bullet in the head. Sedgwick was one of Grant’s most seasoned and competent generals. Sedgwick was one of four senior Union generals killed in the war (John Reynolds, James McPherson, Joseph Mansfield). The loss was keenly felt. Grant lamented that Sedgwick’s death was “greater than the loss of a whole division of troops.”
https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/death-john-sedgwick
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Sedgwick
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