12/10/21

[Trivia Master]

This future Union General entered West Point before having reached his 14th birthday. He was killed in action leading his troops
at a famous battle in 1862.
Who is he?

credit: @sarladaise

 

[sarladaise]

Credit for question

 

[bayouace]

Joseph K. Mansfield of Connecticut graduated 2nd in his West Point class and died at Antietam.

 

[streetwiseprof]

Joseph K. Mansfield.

 

[ErnieMac]

Joseph King Fenno Mansfield.

Joseph K. F. Mansfield • Cullum's Register • 287

A biographical entry, part of a large site on West Point. Parent site on American history includes 6200 webpages, 92 books, 38,000 pages of print.

penelope.uchicago.edu

 

[DBF]

Joseph King Mansfield (1803–1862)
"Tarnished Scalpels The Court-martials of Fifty Union Surgeons", by Thomas Power Lowry, Jack D. Welsh · (Link)

 

[JOHN42768]

Maj. Gen. Joseph K. F. Mansfield, KIA at Antietam on September 17, 1862
source: https://www.battlefields.org/learn/biographies/joseph-kf-mansfield

 

[Brenal]

Joseph Mansfield.

 

[WJC]

Joseph K. F. Mansfield (1803-1862).
Source: "Joseph K. F. Mansfield", American Battlefield Trust. https://www.battlefields.org/learn/biographies/joseph-kf-mansfield

 

[James N.]

I believe it's Isaac Stephens, killed in the battle of Chantilly or Ox Hill, Va.

Edit - You're correct that Stephens was killed in battle in 1862. Chantilly may not be as famous a battle as Antietam, but it was a significant battle.

According to Wikipedia, Stevens was born March 25, 1818 and graduated from the prep school Phillips Academy in 1833, so he did finish prep school at a young age. He was accepted to the USMA, from which he graduated in 1839. I don't have a precise date for when he was accepted to West Point. If he didn't graduate until 1839, it may be that a couple of years elapsed between his graduation from Phillips and the time of his acceptance at West Point. In any event, if he didn't graduate from Phillips until 1833, I would assume he wasn't accepted at West Point before his 14th birthday, which would have been March 25, 1832.

hoosier

 

[Pollaco]

Joseph King Fenno Mansfield

 

[gentlemanrob]

Joseph Mansfield

 

[ami]

Joseph King Fenno Mansfield
Source: Wikipedia

Edit - I don't know if anybody else had this problem, but I didn't see this question until this morning. I didn't see it when I looked for it on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. Obviously, some players did see it, since most of the answers were posted on Friday and a couple on Sunday. I'm at a loss to understand why some people could see it and I didn't. The fact that relatively few answers were posted makes me wonder whether other players had trouble finding the question.

If any players had the same experience I had and honestly feel that they were deprived of an opportunity to answer this question in a timely manner, please initiate a conversation with me.

hoosier