Trivia 2-13-17 Young Whippersnapper

[Trivia Master]

Question: Who was the youngest general in the Civil War? At what age did this person achieve this???

credit: @JohnW.

 

[Schwallanscher]

galusha pennypacker

 

[Schwallanscher]

oops, he became a brigadeer general at the age of 20

"old enough for killin' but not for votin'"

 

[Stony]

Galusha Pennypacker (June 1, 1844 – October 1, 1916) was a Union general during the American Civil War. He is to this day the youngest person to hold the rank of brigadier general in the U.S. Army; at the age of 20, he remains the only general too young to vote for the president who appointed him.He received a brevet promotion to brigadier general[4] dated January 15, 1865. He survived his wounds after 10 months in the hospital and on April 28, 1865, he received a full promotion to brigadier general of volunteers at age 20 (backdated to February 18), making him the youngest officer to hold the rank of general to this day in the United States Army (though Marquis de LaFayette was just 19 when he received his Major General's commission in the Continental Army on 31 July 1777). He was appointed a brevet major general of volunteers on March 13, 1865.

 

[Brenal]

Galusha Pennypacker. He was 20.

 

[Reb]

Allegedly, Galusha Pennypacker was the youngest person to hold the rank of brigadier general in the U.S. Army; at the age of 20. However, there is at least some controversy about his exact age.

http://www.historynet.com/who-was-the-youngest-civil-war-general.htm

 

[hughes]

Galusha Pennypacker

Edit - The question also asked for his age.

Hoosier

 

[DBF]

Galusha Pennypacker - at age 20, February 28, 1865 - however his burial card places his birth in 1841 which matches the 1850 census report of a 9 year old boy - so when he received his promotion to general he would have been: 24 years old so if we compare that to Brig. General John Kelly of the Confederate States Army - born 1840 and received his promotion on November 16 1863 making him 23 years old - he was younger. He would die in his 24th year - but as this article states: "An 1893 register of volunteer officers hails General Pennypacker as one of the youngest generals of the war, "if not the youngest." By giving progressively later dates of birth, he may have been trying to secure that distinction for himself, but the conflicting information could also have arisen from uncertainty. If he was between one and three years older than he finally claimed, which seems to have been the case, that would more satisfactorily explain Pennypacker's assignment to some very responsible positions early in the war. It would also mean that another man was actually the war's youngest general". So the way I see it at 23 - the youngest (at least that I could find) was John Kelly as the title of this article states: Trivia buffs beware: Galusha Pennypacker's claim to being the Civil War's youngest general doesn't hold up.
http://www.historynet.com/who-was-the-youngest-civil-war-general.htm
https://www.geni.com/people/Brig-Ge...eneral-of-the-Confederacy/6000000012565975423

 

[FarawayFriend]

Oh, oh, I can remember we had a controversy about this question earlier....

Most probably this answer is expected from us:
Galusha Pennypacker was the youngest brigadier general, at the age of 20.
"Galusha Pennypacker (June 1, 1844 – October 1, 1916) was a Union general during the American Civil War. He is to this day the youngest person to hold the rank of brigadier general in the U.S. Army"
https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Galusha_Pennypacker&oldid=764312731

Although I also found this:
Trivia buffs beware: Galusha Pennypacker's claim to being the Civil War's youngest general doesn't hold up
[...]
"Pennypacker's gravestone in the Philadelphia National Cemetery is engraved with the dates 1844-1916. His burial card in the cemetery register, however, instead puts his birth in 1841, which matches his reported age on the 1850 census.
[...]
An 1893 register of volunteer officers hails General Pennypacker as one of the youngest generals of the war, "if not the youngest." By giving progressively later dates of birth, he may have been trying to secure that distinction for himself, but the conflicting information could also have arisen from uncertainty. If he was between one and three years older than he finally claimed, which seems to have been the case, that would more satisfactorily explain Pennypacker's assignment to some very responsible positions early in the war. It would also mean that another man was actually the war's youngest general."
http://www.historynet.com/who-was-the-youngest-civil-war-general.htm

There was no name given in the above article who that other young general might have been, but I figure it could have been:
Frances Jay Herron, the youngest major general, at the age of 25
"Herron was appointed major general of volunteers, becoming the youngest major general on either side at the time of his promotion"
https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Francis_J._Herron&oldid=743195686

And even good old George Armstrong Custer would play a role here, he became brigadier general at 23, which would still be younger than Pennypacker was, if the latter one's year of birth was 1841 and not 1844.
"Despite having no direct command experience, Custer became one of the youngest generals in the Union Army at age 23."
https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=George_Armstrong_Custer&oldid=765066726

But as I have to choose one name as final answer, with all due caution I will go with Galusha Pennypacker, being 20 years old at his promotion, as I think he is the one we are expected to name ...

 

[Podad]

Galusha Pennypacker

He became a Brigadier General at the age of 20

Source, Wikipedia

 

[Copperhead-mi]

Brigadier General Galusha Pennypacker, at the age of 20.

 

[57th Indiana Infantry]

Galusha Pennypacker
20 years old

 

[Pavel]

Galusha Pennypacker (June 1, 1844 – October 1, 1916) was a Union general during the American Civil War. He is to this day the youngest person to hold the rank of brigadier general in the U.S. Army; at the age of 20, he remains the only general too young to vote for the president who appointed him.Pennypacker was born June 1, 1844 in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, to a family who had a long history of service in the military. He was raised without having any memory of his parents, Joseph Judson Pennypacker (1814-1845) and Tamson A. Workheiser, after his mother died when he was still a baby and his father, who had taken part in the Mexican-American War, later became an adventurer in California. His grandfather also served in the military, fighting in the American Revolutionary War.[citation needed] Galusha and George Armstrong Custer, two of the youngest generals in the Civil War, were 5th cousins, both being descendents of Paulus Kuster (1643–1707). He was also cousin to General Benjamin Prentiss through the Pennypacker family.At the age of 16, Pennypacker enlisted as a quartermaster sergeant in the 9th Pennsylvania Infantry from West Chester, Pennsylvania. In August 1861, he helped recruit a company of men for the 97th Pennsylvania Infantry, and was appointed as their Captain. He was promoted to major the following October. Pennypacker and his regiment saw action in Georgia at Fort Pulaski and in the battles around Charleston. In 1864, his regiment was transferred to Virginia, where he was engaged in the Bermuda Hundred Campaign under Maj. Gen. Benjamin Butler, in which he was wounded at the Battle of Ware Bottom Church. After the Battle of Cold Harbor and during the siege of Petersburg, he was appointed Colonel of his regiment, August 15, 1864. He assumed command of the 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division, X Corps of the Army of the James. He led his brigade into action at the Battle of New Market Heights and was wounded near Fort Gilmer. His brigade was attached to the Fort Fisher Expedition under Alfred Terry.
Pennypacker's greatest moment of the war came at the Second Battle of Fort Fisher, January 15, 1865, where he was again severely wounded. His wound was considered fatal and General Terry promised the young officer that he would receive a brevet promotion for his conduct that day. Terry called Pennypacker "the real hero of Fort Fisher" and remarked that without his bravery the fort would not have been taken. He was much later awarded the Medal of Honor, with a citation reading, "Gallantly led the charge over a traverse and planted the colors of one of his regiments thereon, was severely wounded."

He received a brevet promotion to brigadier general[4] dated January 15, 1865. He survived his wounds after 10 months in the hospital and on April 28, 1865, he received a full promotion to brigadier general of volunteers at age 20 (backdated to February 18), making him the youngest officer to hold the rank of general to this day in the United States Army (though Marquis de LaFayette was just 19 when he received his Major General's commission in the Continental Army on 31 July 1777). He was appointed a brevet major general of volunteers on March 13, 1865.

Pennypacker stayed in the Army after the Civil War, being commissioned as Colonel of the 34th U.S. Infantry in July 1866. He received a brevet promotion to major general in the regular army on March 2, 1867. His regiment merged with the 11th U.S. Infantry in 1869 to become the 16th U.S. Infantry, which he commanded until his retirement in July 1883 at the age of 39.

In 1889 Pennypacker became an honorary member of the Pennsylvania Society of the Cincinnati. He also was a first class companion of the Pennsylvania Commandery of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States.

Nearly fifty-two years after the Civil War, Pennypacker died from complications of his Civil War injuries.. He died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on October 1, 1916, and is buried in Philadelphia National Cemetery. He died less than a month after the death of his noted cousin, former Pennsylvania Governor Samuel W. Pennypacker. His grave can be found in the officers section, grave 175.

 

[adisciu9]

Galusa pennypacker age 20

 

[kholland]

Galusha Pennepacker did this at age 20.

 

[Wallyfish]

He was Galusha Pennypacker and at the age of 20 became a brigadier general for the union.

Quite interesting. Never heard of him.

 

[MRB1863]

Galusha Pennypacker (June 1, 1844 – October 1, 1916) was a Union general during the American Civil War. He is to this day the youngest person to hold the rank of brigadier general in the U.S. Army; at the age of 20, he remains the only general too young to vote for the president who appointed him.

 

[William G Hendry]

Galusha Pennypacker - Wikipedia

1. Cached
2. Similar

Galusha Pennypacker (June 1, 1844 – October 1, 1916) was a Union general during the American Civil War. He is to this day the youngest person to hold the rank of brigadier general in the U.S. Army; at the age of 20 ...

 

[MajGenl.Meade]

This claim was made by my friend Galusha Pennypacker, a hero of Second Fort Fisher about which I am currently writing in the General Lyon book.

This article suggests that Pennypacker created a spurious birth date, accidentally or not, in order to make the claim. http://www.historynet.com/who-was-the-youngest-civil-war-general.htm by former Lincoln Prize finalist William Marvel who wrote (among other books) "Tarnished Victory: Finishing Lincoln's War"


For his valor at Fort Fisher, Pennypacker was commissioned a brigadier general on April 28, 1865, to date from February 18, when he was still ostensibly 20 years old. That would have made him the youngest general of the entire war. But those calculations are based on a birth date of June 1, 1844, which Pennypacker only began citing in later life—a date that is almost certainly incorrect. Most of the other official documents that indicate his age suggest he was born between 1840 and 1843.


The boy originally known as Uriah Galusha Pennypacker was first listed on the U.S. Census in Schuylkill Township, Pa., on August 29, 1850, as a 9-year-old boy who had presumably been born in 1840 or 1841. He again appeared on the census—though without his Dickensian first name—on June 26, 1870, when he was serving with Federal occupation forces in Mississippi. In this case he was listed as being 27, which would mean that he had been born in 1842 or 1843.


On April 14, 1883, when Pennypacker disembarked from the steamer Indiana at Philadelphia on his return from Liverpool, England, he told authorities he was 39 years old, implying a birthday in 1843 or early in 1844. In 1900 the census marshal requested a month and year for each person's birth, and Pennypacker finally settled on June 1844.


Pennypacker's gravestone in the Philadelphia National Cemetery is engraved with the dates 1844-1916. His burial card in the cemetery register, however, instead puts his birth in 1841, which matches his reported age on the 1850 census.

 

[DBF]

Just to show how much I learn on this site - my 1st answer was my "opening statement" - now here is my "rebuttal". If you count a rank of "brevet" Brig. General - then George Custer at 23 years 6 months, beats Kelly and Pennypacker, if you believe the census report of 1850 showing an 1841 birth date. John Kelly was promoted to Brig. General at 23 years 8 months, thereby, since the exact date of birth on Pennypacker appears to be questionable, it looks George A. Custer would be the man, although all internet searches will say it was Pennypacker. Are there anymore that qualify? I give up.