The American Civil War was a hard time for the United States. It was also a hard time for the separated Union, many
of whom actually fought for the cause of their separation. The military would suffer many losses on both sides, and it
even rose to the ranks. Even if you were a general, you were not guaranteed of being spared in the endless action
of these four years of domestic chaos. Not all of those who struggled or died were in battle, but even generals
would have a hard time not taking their own lives in response to some of the stress they suffered through because
of the domestic crisis. Some of the fatalities were an accident and not even combat related. I’m going to be listing
the top 10 Civil War generals who died during the American Civil War.
Generals Who Died During the American Civil War
1. John Sedgwick
John Sedgwick was an American military officer and Union Army general who was born in Cornwall, Connecticut in 1813. Known for being competent and experienced, Cornwall graduated from West Point in 1837 and served in the Seminole War. Later on he served in the Mexican-American War, serving at various posts in the west.
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He later served as a brigadier general at the beginning of the American Civil War, leading a division at the
Battle of Antietam in 1862 and being seriously wounded during the battle. He later was but on hiatus and returned to
duty after a wait until the next year, being placed in command of the Sixth Corps he had led earlier on in the
war at Chancellorsville and Gettysburg.
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Later on, by the Overland campaign, he was the highest ranking officer, later arriving at Spotsylvania after
a severe march. It was then, during the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House in May of 1864, that Sedgwick would meet his demise.
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The Confederates had been peppering the area with bullets all morning, and after Sedgewick had forgotten an order he received from other officers to avoid a certain area near the road, he was shot in the face by a sharpshooter
and killed instantly trying to untangle a snarl in his line. General Grant could barely believe what he heard when
hearing about his death.
2. Albert S. Johnston
Albert Sidney Johnston was a Confederate Army general who was born in Washington, Kentucky in 1803. Later on when he died, it was considered an irreparable loss by the South, being the highest-ranking officer to have died
during the American Civil War, period.
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Johnston started out studying in private schools, later being enrolled at Transylvania University in Lexington
and changing from medicine to military and joining the United States Military Academy at West Point. He would
end up befriending Confederate president-to-be Jefferson Davis, graduating high in his class.
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Johnston would later get involved in the Black Hawk War, a war in Texas for Independence, and the Mexican-American War, Johnston having rose through the ranks in the Texan army and becoming a brigadier general. After the annexation of Texas, he was appointed commanding officer of the 2nd U.S. Cavalry, meeting many future compatriots to the Confederate cause, including Robert E. Lee. He would later be brevetted a brigadier general after the Utah Wars of 1857, later being given command of the Department of the Pacific.
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Texas would later secede and Johnston would side with his state over his country, later riding to Virginia and
being commissioned a full general by Jefferson Davis and placed him in command of the Western theater. He would
later lose many battles, including at Mill Springs, Fort Henry, and Fort Donelson, causing the South to lose faith.
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He would later try to maintain his popularity by cutting of Grant’s troops at the Battle of Shiloh, leading to
a great first day. However, the next day he tried to boost moral by leading his troops from the front, being shot
in the leg while on his horse. This would end up severing an artery and killing him shortly after, leading the
South to great sorrow.
Generals Who Died During the American Civil War
3. Robert S. Garnett
Robert Selden Garnett was a Confederate Army general who was born in Essex County, Virginia in 1819. Garnett grew up on his family’s plantation, later attending West Point with his cousin who was later killed in Gettysburg. He
graduated in the middle of his class and was assigned to the 4th U.S. Artillery, serving under General Zachary
Taylor during the Mexican-American War. During this war, he gained several promotions for distinguished service,
serving at the Battle of Buena Vista.
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Garnett would later serving in the Seminole Wars in Florida and Pacific northwest, having to later bury his wife
and son who died from disease in 1858. Later on, when the Civil War began, he left the US Army and served Robert E. Lee in Virginia as Adjutant General of Virginia troops. He was assigned to Western Virginia to defend a vital Confederate supply route through the mountains. His brigades were later defeated by Union general George B. McClellan at the Battle of Rich Mountain in 1861. He was later killed by being shot during a volley at Corrick’s Ford, later being buried in Baltimore.
4. Michael Corcoran
Michael Corcoran was an Irish-American Union general who was born in County Sligo, Ireland in 1827. Corcoran
joined the revenue police in Donegal before leaving for American in 1849, working as a clerk in Hibernian House,
New York. He would later become involved in local politics, enlisting as a private in the New York militia and
becoming a colonel. In 1860, he refused to parade his regiment in honor of the Prince of Wales, being stripped
of his command and placed under arrest until the Civil War broke out.
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Corcoran led the 69th New York militia at the first Battle of Bull Run in 1861 before being taken prisoner in
Richmond Jail where he could have been hung. He was later exchanged in a prisoner swap, being made brigadiel
general and hosted at the White House by Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln told Corcoran to recruit more Irish, Corcoran
later raising an Irish legion of four regiments to defend Washington. Unfortunately, Corcoran fractured his skull
in Fairfax Virginia during the late Winter of 1863 after flying off his horse, dying shortly after and being buried
in New York.
Generals Who Died During the American Civil War
5. Philip St. George Cocke
Philip St. George Cocke was an Confederate general who was born in Bremo Bluff, Virginia in 1809. He started off as a wealthy plantation owner, having accumulated hundreds of slaves and thousands of acres of land. Cocke later found
interest in agriculture and served as president of the Virginia State Agricultural Society, promoting agricultural
education.
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Earlier on, Cocke served as a lieutenant in the United States Army during the South Carolina Nullification Crisis
in 1832. He would later organize a cavalry of troops in response to the raid on Harpers Ferry, later serving in
the American Civil War. His rank dropped from general to colonel, him growing despondent over the fact that he was
not praised enough during the First Battle of Manassas by Confederate general Pierre G.T. Beauregard. In a state
of anguish over his feelings being hurt and ego being threatened by Robert E. Lee, he shot himself in the head in December
of 1961.
6. Joseph K. Mansfield
Joseph King Fenno Mansfield was an American Union general who was born in New Haven, Connecticut in 1803. Mansfield would enter the West Point Academy at a ripe young age of 13, graduating second in his class of forty that included many other future Civil War generals. After completing his education, Mansfield was commissioned second lieutenant in the Army Corps of Engineers who were tasked with the coastal defense in the South. Later on, he would be promoted twice, eventually being promoted to Captain.
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Mansfield was later brevetted a total of three times during the Mexican-American War, by the end of the war being
a colonel. He was later appointed colonel in the office of the inspector general by recommendations he received
by then Secretary of War Jefferson Davis. After the war broke out, he was appointed to brigadier general in the
regular army and given responsibility to protect the capital.
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Mansfield later seized and fortified several positions along the Potomac River, being commander of the Department of Washington and later being stationed in North Carolina. In 1862, he was involved at the Battle of Hampton Roads, Mansfield not complying and continuing to fight. He would later be commanding the Twelfth Corps after having commanded the Seventh Corps for several months. After the outbreak of the Battle of Antietam, he was sent into last minute action and ordered some of his men from the 10th Maine to stop firing at what he thought were his own troops. He would then be shot in the chest and killed because of a fatal error in halting his troops against Confederates, dying the next morning on a field hospital.
Generals Who Died During the American Civil War
7. James B. McPherson
James Birdseye McPherson was an American general who was born in Clyde, Ohio in 1828. He graduated first in his class at the United States Military Academy in 1853, a class that included other famous future officers. He then
went on to the Corps of Engineers, participating in building improvements to New York Harbor and elsewhere.
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After the outbreak of the Civil War, he served on the staff of General Henry Halleck after having been in San Francisco helping on Alcatraz Island. He would later be under the command of Ulysses S. Grant, serving as his Chief Engineer during the capture of Fort Henry and Fort Donelson. During the Battle of Shiloh, McPherson warned Grant of indefensible camps and later was promoted to Brigadier General and then Major General of volunteers after the Battle of Corinth.
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After gaining command of the Seventeenth Corps in the Army of Tennessee under Grant, serving in the Vicksburg Campaign and Battle of Raymond in 1863. He was later made a brigadier general in the regular army, being given command of the Army of Tennessee in March of 1864 after General Sherman was promoted to command all armies in the West.
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He would later be involved much throughout the Atlanta Campaign, involving himself in the Battle of Rocky Face Ridge and an assaulting of the steep slopes of Kennesaw Mountain. Later on, Jefferson Davis replaced Joe Johnston with General John Bell Hood, a former classmate of McPherson’s. In front of Atlanta, an attack was launched against the Union forces near Atlanta, McPherson getting shot and killed by a line of Confederate skirmishers as he was trying to escape capture on the way back to Sherman.
8. A.P. Hill
Ambrose Powell Hill was a Confederate general who was born in Culpeper, Virginia in 1825. Hill ended up going
to West Point and graduated 15th out of 38 in the class of 1847, later serving in an artillery unit during the
Mexican-American War and Third Seminole War.
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Later on, after the onset of the Civil War, he resigned from the United States Army, becoming colonel of the 13th
Virginia Infantry and commanding a unit at the Battle of First Manassas. In 1862, he would receive a promotion to
brigadier general and fight at the Battle of Williamsburg and Peninsula Campaign. Because of his leadership skills,
Hill was promoted to major general later on in 1862 before fighting in the Seven Days Battles, becoming very
important to Stonewall Jackson.
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Later on, he would see action at the Battle of Cedar Mountain and Second Manassas, playing a critical role at the
Battle of Antietam. He would later become a lieutenant general after the Battle of Chancellorsville and gained
control over the Third Corps. He was then involved in the Battle of Gettysburg, being criticized for some bad
decisions before dealing with some illness. He remained with the Army of Northern Virginia throughout the Overlord
Campaign on 1864 before getting shot and killed during the Breakthrough at Petersburg in April of 1865.
Generals Who Died During the American Civil War
9. John F. Reynolds
John Fulton Reynolds was an American general who was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania in 1820. Being one of eleven children, he was nominated to go to West Point by future President James Buchanan, a friend of his father’s. He ended up graduating in 1841, finishing middle in this class and being classmates with several prominent future generals of the Civil War.
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He would later serve in several locations as commissioned 2nd lieutenant in the 3rd United States Artillery before
serving in the Mexican-American War. This is where he served under General Zachary Taylor and got brevetted twice. He was involved at the Battle of Buena Vista, stopping a flanking attack and forcing the Mexican army to withdraw.
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He would later serve at several posts before becoming Commandant of the Cadets at West Point in 1860 and being
appointed brigadier general in 1861. During the Seven Days Campaign, he commanded his brigade at the Battle of
Beaver Dam Creek and Gaines’ Hill before getting captured and later exchanged. He was later put in charge of the
entire division of Pennsylvania Reserves, bringing time for the Union Army escape at the Battle of Second Manassas.
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He would later command a division at Fredericksburg, avoid Antietam for reason of commanding a local militia beforehand. Reynolds was later given command of General Joseph Hooker’s old First Corps, later joining in the Battle of Chancellorsville and being offered command of the Army of the Potomac by President Lincoln. He was declined the
offer for his vigilance in not being told what to do, later being killed during the Battle of Gettysburg from a
bullet through the neck.
10. Leonidas Polk
Leonidas Polk was a bishop and Confederate general who was born in Raleigh, North Carolina in 1806. Being raised
in extreme wealth, he grew up on over 100,000 acres of land. He later excelled at the University of North Carolina
and moved to West Point after that. After his graduation, he resigned shortly after his graduation and put religion
ahead of the military.
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By 1838, he was a recognized Episcopal Bishop who was living in Tennessee. He then began the construction of the
University of the South in 1860 Tennessee. He was later commissioned as a major general by his ex-classmate
Jefferson Davis in the Confederate States Army. He had no earlier military experience beyond his time at
West Point where he ranked at the top of his class.
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Lacking military qualities, Polk was granted much authority and later embarking on an expedition into Kentucky.
He later got involved at the battles of Shiloh, Perryville, and Stones River, gaining bad blood between him and
his superior officer Braxton Bragg. This was due to him not following orders. After the 1863 Battle of Chickamauga, the
Confederates had won, but Polk received further criticism for his lax attitude. This was in spite of having control of
half of the army, later being transferred to take charge of a military department in Mississippi.
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He later returned to the Army of Tennessee before being nearly blown in two by cannon-fire shot on order by
General Sherman during the Hundreds Day Battle between Chattanooga and Atlanta. He obviously died, riding the blue lines on June 14, 1864.
Generals Who Died During the American Civil War
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