The Death of General John Sedgwick

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This is a Confederate soldier with a Whitworth rifle, the most accurate rifle on the battlefield, imported from Great Britain. And I have to say though there aren't many differences between the two sides, the Confederates made the better sharpshooters. This is the rifle that John Sedgwick was believed to be killed by.

That's a great photo! Even if it did come out reversed! That good ol' boy has the look of someone you wouldn't want prowling the battle area if you were a Union commander. I suspect he took a few artillery crews out of action too. Do you know his name?
 
Indeed. With Stonewall Jackson, A.P. Hill, and Leonidas Polk as the Confederate corps commanders killed.

Ryan

I have visited the sites where Johnston, Jackson and Hill were shot. And the site where Polk was cut in half by a Federal shell.....

Confederate Lt. General James Longstreet almost made this list during the Battle of the Wilderness.

Bill
 
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Thank you so much @Buckeye Bill. I never knew that was there. Is that supposed to be where he fell?
Right at the entrance to Spotsylvania battlefield.
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Did they rank higher than McPherson and (comparatively) A.S. Johnston?

As I recall, Sedgwick was the highest ranking Federal officer to be killed in battle during the American Civil War. Before McPherson death in the Battle of Atlanta, he was given the command of the Army of Tennessee after Sherman was promoted commander of the Western armies by Grant. Sedgwick was a corps commander and McPherson was the Army of Tennessee commander at their time of death. But Sedgwick had McPherson by time in rank as a Major General.
 
Thanks. I wondered if seniority in rank had something to do with it.

In reference to my original post on Page 1, Reynolds was the highest ranking Federal officer to be killed in battle at that time (July 1, 1863). I should have elaborated. James Mansfield was a Brigadier General when he was killed at the Battle of Antietam. He was promoted to Major General after his death.
 
South Carolina sharpshooter Ben Powell was most likely the man who killed Sedgwick:

http://www.sedgwick.org/na/families/robert1613/B/2/9/2/powell-benjaminm1841.html

But there were other Whitworth armed Confederate sharpshooters prowling the battlefield that day also.
There are a few problems with Ben Powell's claim. He said he fired on a mounted officer while Sedgwick was on foot. Also he was in the Third Corps which was not in front of Sedgwick's VI Corps that day.

Ben Powell was in the 12th South Carolina. But Charles Grace of the 4th Georgia and Thomas Burgess of the 15th South Carolina were also in the area with Whitworth rifles that day. There may be other candidates. But Ben Powell is usually cited as the most probable.
Actually Powell was in Dunlop's Sharpshooter Battalion of McGowan's SC Brigade; they were in the Third Corps which was not in Sedgwick's front. It wouldn't have been Charles Grace either, as he was in the Second Corps. It was Longstreet's First Corps that fronted Sedgwick's Corps, so Thomas Burgess of the 15th South Carolina in Kershaw's Brigade is a possibility, however it is also said that he fired on a mounted officer. Another claim is that it was "Kansas Tom" Johnson of Longstreet's corps of sharpshooters.

Brig. Gen. William H. Morris was also killed that day while mounted, so many might have mistaken him for Sedgwick.

See this article by Fred L. Ray here: http://www.cfspress.com/sharpshooters/articles.html#killing_of_uncle_john
 
Here's Sedgwick's monument and grave (across the street from each other) in Cornwall Hollow, CT.View attachment 136594 View attachment 136595
Sharon, thank you so much for sharing! We often have the markers/monuments on battlefields for those who died, get to see and visit those, but miss out on the actual grave sites if they have one.

May 'Uncle John' RIP, and 'God bless his ashes', too. :smile:
 
Never seen this one before @Bruce Vail. Thanks for sharing :smile: He looks kind of jovial in this photo (more natural than in some of the other shots I've seen of him), and that seems to fit the descriptions I've read of him - a very affable guy.
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A couple more from Spotsylvania. The South Carolina monument and the western side of the Horshoe near the apex of the Bloody Angle. There are a few good walks you can take there.
 
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