April 24, 1807

[Barrycdog]

Born today, April 24, 1807, this Union general would be a West Point graduate, Commadant of Cadets at West Point, a Mexician War veteran, and participate in the Utah Expedition with A.S. Johnston before the Civil War.

At the battle of Fort Donelson his rallying cry was "...you volunteered to be killed for the love of country, now you can be!" He was in charge of the expedition up the Tennessee River to Pittsburg Landing before being seriously injured while jumping into a small boat. He would die on April 24, 1862, from tetanus. Who was he?

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Shiloh National Military Park
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[NedBaldwin]

Chuck Frickin' Smith

One of the great what-ifs of the war -- if he had lived...

 

[ole]

C.F. Smith it is. After Donelson, Halleck placed him in command over Grant. Then he scraped his shin with fatal results.

He might have been one of the greats but, like Sid Johnston, we won't ever know.