General john f reynolds biography

He was killed in the early hours of the Battle of Gettysburg. John Reynolds was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania on September 21, His parents, John and Lydia Moore Reynolds, had eight other children that survived to adulthood. He was a cadet in the West Point Class of , and ranked 26 out of 50 cadets at graduation. Richardson, Horatio G. Wright and Amiel W.

Whipple — 22 graduates of the class reached the rank of general.

General john f reynolds biography

Reynolds was commissioned on July 1, as a brevet second lieutenant in the Third United States Artillery Regiment. On June 18 Reynolds was promoted to First Lieutenant. He was appointed Quartermaster of the Third Artillery on Oct. On Feb. Lysander Cutler 's brigade, into the fighting at Herbst's Woods. Troops began arriving from Brig.

Solomon Meredith 's Iron Brigade , and as Reynolds was supervising the placement of the 2nd Wisconsin, he yelled at them, "Forward men forward for God's sake and drive those fellows out of those woods. Command passed to his senior division commander, Maj. Abner Doubleday. For the Union side, the death of John Reynolds meant more than the loss of an inspiring leader; it also removed from the equation the one person with enough vision and sense of purpose to manage this battle.

The loss of General Reynolds was keenly felt by the army. He was loved by his men and respected by his peers. There are no recorded instances of negative comments made by his contemporaries. By ratifying Buford's defensive plan and engaging his I Corps infantry, Reynolds essentially selected the location for the Battle of Gettysburg for Meade, turning a chance meeting engagement into a massive pitched battle, committing the Army of the Potomac to fight on that ground with forces that were initially numerically inferior to the Confederates that were concentrating there.

In the command confusion that followed Reynolds' death, the two Union corps that reached the field were overwhelmed and forced to retreat through the streets of Gettysburg to the high ground south of town, where they were rallied by his old friend, Maj. Winfield S. Reynolds' body was immediately transported from Gettysburg to Taneytown, Maryland , and then to his birthplace, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where he was buried on July 4, Katherine Hewitt had agreed with Reynolds that if he were killed in the war and they could not marry, she would join a convent.

After he was buried, she traveled to Emmitsburg, Maryland , and joined the St. Historians disagree on the details of Reynolds' death, including the specific time either a. One primary source was Sergeant Charles Henry Veil, his orderly and unit Color Guard, who described the events in a letter in and then contradicted some of the details in another letter 45 years later.

A letter from Reynolds' sister, Jennie, stated that the wound had a downward trajectory from the neck, implying that he was shot from above, presumably a sharpshooter in a tree or barn. Historians Bruce Catton and Glenn Tucker make firm assertions that a sharpshooter was responsible; Stephen Sears credits volley fire from the 7th Tennessee against the 2nd Wisconsin; Edwin Coddington cites the sister's letter and finds the sharpshooter theory to be partly credible, but leans towards Sears' conclusion; Harry W.

Pfanz agrees that the location was behind the 2nd Wisconsin, but makes no judgment about the source of the fire. Steve Sanders, writing in Gettysburg magazine, suggested the possibility of friendly fire based on some accounts, and concludes that it is as equally likely as enemy fire. There was a John F. The film portrays Reynolds as being deliberately targeted by a Confederate sharpshooter, a scene based on the Don Troiani painting of the event.

Reynolds is also significant in the prequel to The Killer Angels , Jeffrey Shaara 's novel Gods and Generals , although his role was deleted from the film based on the novel. Scholar Brian Reynolds Myers is a relative of Reynolds, his middle name a reference to him. Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read Edit View history.

Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects. Wikimedia Commons Wikidata item. Career officer of the United States Army. For the Wisconsin politician, see John F. At the request of Pennsylvania Governor Andrew G. Curtin, the army placed Reynolds in command of a Pennsylvania brigade. Reynolds returned to active duty in time to command three brigades during the Second Battle of Bull Run.

When Robert E. Curtin successfully lobbied to have Reynolds returned to his home state to mobilize the militia. During his brief absence, Reynolds missed the Battle of Antietam. One month later, the War Department promoted Reynolds to major general of volunteers. Lincoln either could not or would not offer Reynolds the autonomy he requested. During the Battle of Gettysburg , Reynolds arrived on the field in mid-morning on July 1, , and began deploying his troops.

At roughly , while Reynolds was positioning soldiers at Herbst Woods, a musket ball struck him in the back of the neck, killing him instantly. Reynolds was buried in his hometown of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, on July 4, As a youth, Reynolds attended private schools, including the Lancaster County Academy. Reynolds was a cadet at the academy from to , graduating twenty-sixth in his class of fifty-two.

Garnett CSA. Following his graduation from West Point, on July 1, , Reynolds received a brevet promotion to second lieutenant with the 3rd U. Artillery at Fort McHenry, Maryland. On Oct. For the next five years, Reynolds served in the garrison at various posts in the South. On June 18, , officials promoted him to first lieutenant. In , the army reassigned him to frontier duty in the American West for two years.

On March 3, , officials promoted Reynolds to captain. He next served in garrison duty at Fort Monroe, Virginia from to before returning west and taking part in the Utah Expedition against the Mormons March —July John F. Title Major General. Date of Birth - Death September 20, - July 1, Topic s :. Related Biographies. War of Biography. View All Related Resources.

Add to My Battlefields Educators Library.