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John F

John Fulton Reynolds (20 September 1820-1 July 1863) was a Major-General of the US Army during the American Civil War. Reynolds commanded the Army of the Potomac's I Corps at the Battle of Gettysburg, and he was killed by a Confederate sharpshooter on the first day of the battle.

Biography[]

John Fulton Reynolds was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania on 20 September 1820, and his family friend, Senator James Buchanan, nominated him to West Point in 1837. Reynolds graduated 26th of 50 cadets in 1841, and he served in the Mexican-American War, becoming a Major after Buena Vista. During the war, he befriended Lewis Armistead and Winfield Scott Hancock, future American Civil War generals. Reynolds took part in wars against the Native Americans in the American West and against the Mormons in Utah, and he served as an artillery instructor at West Point from 1860 to 1861.

American Civil War[]

Reynolds 1863

Reynolds in 1863

John F

Reynolds' death

Reynolds was promoted to Brigadier-General on 20 August 1861 and became the commander of a brigade of Pennsylvania reservists in the Army of the Potomac under George B. McClellan, serving in the 1862 Peninsula Campaign. He led a division at the Second Battle of Bull Run and commanded Pennsylvania militia at the time of the Battle of Antietam, missing the battle. In late 1862, he was given command of I Corps, and one of his divisions would break through the Confederate lines at the Battle of Fredericksburg in November 1862, leading to Reynolds being promoted to Major-General of volunteers. His corps was not engaged at the 1863 Battle of Chancellorsville, losing only 300 of its 17,000 troops during Joseph Hooker's entire campaign in northern Virginia. On 1 July 1863, however, he led the left wing of the Army of the Potomac when Robert E. Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia invaded Pennsylvania, and he arrived in time to take command of the situation when John Buford's cavalry began to hold off several Confederate corps as they advanced up the Chambersburg Pike. Reynolds was shot in the lower neck by a Confederate sniper while leading his men from horseback, causing him to fall from his horse. Abner Doubleday took command of the beloved general's corps, and he was buried in Lancaster on 4 July 1863.


Gallery[]

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