John P. Sedgwick (13 September 1813-9 May 1864) was a Major-General of the US Army during the American Civil War. Sedgwick, a corps commander of the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House was, along with John F. Reynolds, one of the higest-ranking Union generals to be killed in the war.
Biography[]
John P. Sedgwick was born in Cornwall, Connecticut in 1813, and he graduated from West Point in 1837, 24th of 50 cadets. Sedgwick fought against the Seminoles in Florida before fighting in the Mexican-American War, being promoted to Major after the Battle of Chapultepec. Sedgwick later fought against the Mormons in Utah, the Border Ruffians in Kansas, and the Native Americans in the American West, and he was promoted to Brigadier-General on 31 August 1861 at the start of the American Civil War. He commanded a division of the Army of the Potomac during the Peninsula Campaign before being promoted to Major-General on 4 July 1862. At the Battle of Antietam, Edwin V. Sumner sent Sedgwick's division into a killzone, and he lost half of his division; he was wounded three times, and he was out of action until after Fredericksburg. He took command of the VI Corps, leading it in northern Virginia in 1864. At the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House on 9 May 1864, Sedgwick directed artillery placements 900 meters away from Confederate lines, putting himself in the line of fire. Some artillerymen told him to fall back to a safer position, but Sedgwick quipped, "They couldn't hit an elephant at this distance." Moments later, he was shot under the left eye and killed instantly.
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