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1084…….(Born
Pa.)
John F. Reynolds
(Ap’d Pa.)………26
Military History.
– Cadet at the Military Academy, July 1, 1837, to July 1, 1841, when he was
graduated and promoted in the Army to
Bvt. Second Lieut., 3d
Artillery, July 1, 1841.
Second Lieut., 3d
Artillery, Oct. 23, 1841.
Served: in
garrison at Ft. McHenry, Md., 1841-42, -- Ft. Pickens, Fla., 1842, -- Ft.
Marion, Fla., 1842, 1842-43, -- and Ft. Moultrie, S. C., 1843-45; in
Military Occupation of Texas, 1845-46; in the War
(First Lieut., 3d Artillery, June 18, 1846)
with Mexico, 1846-48, being
engaged in the defense of Ft. Brown, Tex.,
(Bvt. Cap., Sep. 23, 1846, for Gallant and
Meritorious Conduct in the Battle of Monterey, Mex.)
May 3-9, 1846, -- Battle of
Monterey, Sep. 21-23, 1846, -- and Battle of Buena Vista, Feb. 22-23, 1847;
in garrison at Ft. Trumbull, Ct., 1848, --
(Bvt. Major, Feb. 23, 1847, for Gallant and
Meritorious Conduct in the Battle of Buena Vista, Mex.)
Ft. Preble, Me., 1848-50,
-- Ft. Adams, R. I., 1851-52; as Quartermaster, 3d Artillery, Oct. 25, 1850,
to Feb. 14, 1852; as Aide-de-Camp to Major-General Twiggs, Feb. 14, 1852,
to Nov. 30, 1853; in garrison at Ft. Lafayette, N. Y., 1854, -- and Ft.
Wood, N. Y., 1854; on frontier duty, on March to Utah, 1854, -- Salt Lake
City, Utah, 1854-55, -- Ft. Yuma,
(Captain, 3d Artillery, Mar. 3, 1855)
Cal., 1855, -- Benicia,
Cal., 1855, -- Ft. Orford, Or., 1855-56, -- and Rogue River Expedition,
1856, on which he was engaged in several Skirmishes with Oregon Indians; in
garrison at Ft. Monroe, Va., 1856-58; on frontier duty at Ft. Leavenworth,
Kan., 1858, -- Utah Expedition, 1858-59, -- March to Columbia River, 1859,
-- and Ft. Vancouver, Wash., 1859-60; and at the Military Academy, as
Commandant of Cadets (ex officio Lieut.-Colonel), and Instructor of
Artillery, Infantry, and Cavalry Tactics, Sep. 8, 1860, to June 25, 1861.
Served during the
rebellion of the Seceding States, 1861-63: in command
(Lieut.-Colonel, 14th
Infantry, May 14, 1861)
of his regiment, at Ft.
Trumbull, Ct., July 6 to Sep. 8, 1861, -- of Brigade of
(Brig.-General, U. S. Volunteers, Aug. 20,
1861)
Pennsylvania Reserve Corps,
on the right of the lines before Washington, D. C., Sep. 16, 1861, to June
9, 1862; in the Virginia Peninsular Campaign, June, 1862, being engaged in
the Battle of Mechanicsville, June 26, 1862, -- Battle of Gaines’ Mill, June
27, 1862, -- and Battle of Glendale, June 30, 1862, where he was captured;
as Prisoner of War, June 30 to Aug. 8, 1862; in the Northern Virginia
Campaign, Aug.-Sep., 1862, commanding Division, being engaged in the Second
Battle of Bull Run, Aug. 29-30, 1862; in command of the Pennsylvania
Volunteer Militia, in Defense of the State during the Maryland Campaign,
Sep. 14-26, 1862;* in command of 1st Corps of the Army of the
Potomac, Nov. 29, 1862, to July 1, 1863; on the March to Falmouth, Va.,
(Major-General, U. S. Volunteers, Nov. 29,
1862)
Oct.-Nov., 1862; in the
Rappahannock Campaign (Army of the Potomac), Dec., 1862, to June, 1863,
being engaged in the Battle of Fredericksburg, Dec. 13, 1862, -- and Battle
of Chancellorsville (in reserve), May 2-4, 1863; and in the Pennsylvania
Campaign (Army of the Potomac),
(Colonel, 5th
Infantry, June 1, 1863)
June-July, 1863, being in
command of the engaged forces at the opening of the Battle of Gettysburg,
and while urging on his men with animating words, was
Killed, July 1, 863: Aged
42.†
*Governor Curtin,
Sep. 26, 1862, tendered to General Reynolds his thanks in behalf of the
State of Pennsylvania, in the following terms: --
“General: Having relieved you from duty as Commander of the Pennsylvania
Volunteer Militia, recently called for the defense of the State, I deem it
proper to express my strong sense of the gratitude which Pennsylvania owes
for the seal, spirit, and ability which you brought to her service at a
period when her honor and safety were threatened. That for her security you
left the command of your brave division, the Pennsylvania Reserves, thus
losing the opportunity of leading this gallant corps at South Mountain and
the Antietam, is a just demonstration of the true affection you bear for
your native State, which, be assured, her freedom reciprocate, and for
which, in their behalf, I am happy to make you this acknowledgment.”
†General Reynolds
“was struck with a rifle-shot that caused almost instant death, -- a
grievous loss to the Army of the Potomac, one of whose most distinguished
and best beloved officers he was: one whom, by the steady growth of the
highest military qualities, the general voice of the whole Army had marked
out for the largest fame.”
Biographical Sketch.
Major-General
John F. Reynolds was born, Sep. 20, 1820, at Lancaster, Pa., where he
received a good elementary education. Through the influence of James
Buchanan, subsequently President of the United States, he was appointed a
Cadet in the U. S. Military Academy, from which he was graduated and
promoted to the Artillery, July 1, 1841. After four years of seaboard
garrison duty, he was ordered to the Texas frontier, and in the Mexican War
was engaged in the Defense of Ft. Brown and the Battles of Monterey and
Buena Vista, receiving for his “gallant and meritorious conduct” therein the
brevets of Captain and Major. In 2852-53 he was Aide-de-Camp to
Major-General Twiggs; in 1856 was actively engaged against the Rouge River
Indians in Oregon; and in 1858-59 took part in the Utah Expedition, -- all
of which duties were performed with zeal, efficiency, and success.
Reynolds, from
Sep. 8, 1860, to June 25, 1861, holding the ex officio rank of
Lieutenant-Colonel, was the soldierly, energetic, and accomplished
Commandant of Cadets at West Point, where he won golden opinions from all
the officials of the Military Academy.
Upon the outbreak
of the Rebellion, Reynolds was made Lieut.-Colonel of the 14th
Infantry, May 14, 1861, and appointed Brig.-General, U. S. Volunteers, Aug.
20, 1861. By request of Governor Curtin, he was assigned to the command of
a Brigade of the Pennsylvania Reserve Corps, holding the right of the lines
before Washington city. In May, 1862, he was made Military Governor of
Fredericksburg, and in June accompanied the Army of the Potomac in the
Peninsular Campaign, being engaged in the Battles of Mechanicsville,
Gaines’s Mill, and Glendale, where he was captured, remaining a Prisoner of
War till Aug. 8, 1862, when he took command of a Division of Pennsylvania
Reserves, with which he bore a distinguished part in the Northern Virginia
Campaign, being engaged in the Battle of Manassas, Aug. 29-30, 1862.
During the
threatened invasion of Pennsylvania, in September, 1862, by the request of
its Governor, Reynolds was placed in command of all the State Volunteer
Militia for its defense. Promotae Major-General, and the danger of invasion
being frustrated, he was assigned to the command of the First Corps, Army of
the Potomac, with which he marched to Falmouth, Va., and was engaged in the
Battle of Fredericksburg in Meade’s brilliant assault on the enemy’s right,
and at Chancellorsville was in reserve. On June 12, 1863, in the
Pennsylvania campaign, he took command of the united forces of the First,
Third, and Eleventh Corps and Buford’s Cavalry. While, with animating
words, urging on his men in the engagement preliminary to the great Battle
of Gettysburg, he was struck by a rifle-ball fired by a sharpshooter and
mortally wounded, falling dead from his horse a few moments after.
Thus nobly
perished, in defense of his native State, one of the most distinguished and
best-loved officers of the Army of the Potomac, in which he had most
faithfully served, held a very elevated command, could have been at its
head, and was, by both officers and men, greatly esteemed as one of their
brightest ornaments. Had he lived, he would doubtless have inscribed his
name conspicuously in the Valhalla of his country’s heroes.
Professor
Kendrick, who was intimate with Reynolds, both as a cadet and an officer,
says: “Although Reynolds entered the Military Academy as one of its
youngest members, he quickly took a very prominent place in the confidence
and esteem of his classmates, many of whom have since loyally written their
names high in the military annals of the country, while his frank and manly
bearing gained him the respect of the corps of instructors. Independent in
thought and action, of clear and definite perceptions, his opinions, on all
subjects within the range of a young man’s discussion, were well formed and
well maintained, and yet so calmly and courteously as to leave no sting in
the breast of an opponent, but rather higher respect and greater
friendship. He worshiped truth and duty in the highest acceptance of those
words; with all these great qualities he went forth from the Academy to the
wider field of army service, and as word came back again and again of his
enviable progress, it was recognized as the expected fulfillment of his
early promise. It was his good fortune to serve, in the beginning of his
military career, in intimate connection with that other great man and
soldier, George H. Thomas. Together and in the same battery they served in
the gallant Defense of Ft. Brown at the commencement of the Mexican War;
together they fought successfully at Monterey, and together they struggled
in the desperate and important Battle of Buena Vista, which largely aided in
the Capture of Vera Cruz and the victory of Cerro Gordo. In all these
conflicts on General Taylor’s line, Reynolds was greatly distinguished for
his calm courage, his modest self-reliance, and his military conduct. Of
him General Taylor’s accomplished Chief of Staff, Colonel Bliss, wrote:
‘Your young friend has the general’s high regard, and he is the idol of his
men.’ In his great and varied service in Florida, in Texas, in Mexico,
California, Oregon, Utah, Reynolds always showed himself without fear,
without reproach, and without an enemy. When he yielded up his life, still
so full of promise, in the defense of his native State and of his country in
the turning victory of the war at Gettysburg, it was but the fitting
termination of his whole life. England ‘almost regretted the victory of
Trafalgar.’ Since it caused her the death of Nelson; our Amy and ‘thinking
men’ throughout the North, who knew his high worth and high prospects,
regretted that Gettysburg could not be won without the loss of General John
F. Reynolds.”
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