List of Union Generals Killed during the Civil War

 

Introduction

 

We often associate the rank of general with a cushy desk job and little if any combat risk, but during the Civil War the Union Army general often led his brigade or division into the fray, resulting in high casualties. Some common questions asked: Who was the highest ranking Union general killed in battle? Where or in which battle did the highest ranking Union general die? How many generals died in combat? The answers vary, with some generals being wounded and captured, only to be listed as dead, meaning mortally wounded, in some field hospital. The list contains the Union generals killed in battle, with location and statement of death. Presently, the main reason why generals rarely lead men on any battlefield, is because generals, the leaders, can't be readily replaced. While combat has also evolved from Napoleonic charges to high technology warfare, we have learned some very important lessons from previous wars. Japan, in World War Two, lost its best generals and leaders during battle, only to be left with inexperienced officers who found themselves forced into battle without proper training and leadership, thus resulting in very high casualties. So today's generals must always be leading as well as training each generation to become the best generation of generals and leaders. So, how many Union generals were killed during the Civil War? Which Civil War battle claimed the most generals in killed? You will also notice on the list that there were several colonels killed during battle, but although each held the rank of colonel, they were fulfilling the responsibilities and duties of a brigadier general at the time of their death.

General Officers Killed in Action

Army Commanders.

Corps Commanders

Division Commanders

Brigade Commanders

       

Colonel Edward D Baker	71st Pennsylvania	Ball's Bluff
Colonel Julius Raith	43d Illinois	Shiloh
Colonel Everett Peabody	25th Missouri	Shiloh
Colonel George Webster	98th Ohio	Chaplin Hills
Colonel John A Koltes	73d Pennsylvania	Manassas
Colonel William B Goodrich	60th New York	Antietam
Colonel George W Roberts	42d Illinois	Stones River
Colonel Frederick Schaefer	2d Missouri	Stones River
Colonel George C Spear	61st Pennsylvania	Marye's Heights
Colonel David S Cowles	128th New York	Port Hudson
Colonel George B Boomer	26th Missouri	Vicksburg
Colonel Edward E Cross	5th New Hampshire	Gettysburg
Colonel George L Willard	125th New York	Gettysburg
Colonel Eliakim Sherrill	126th New York	Gettysburg
Colonel Haldinand S Putnam	7th New Hampshire	Fort Wagner
Colonel James E Mallon	42d New York	Bristoe Station
Colonel Edward A King	68th Indiana	Chickamauga
Colonel Hans C Heg	15th Wisconsin	Chickamauga
Colonel Philemon P Baldwin	6th Indiana	Chickamauga
Colonel William R Creighton	7th Ohio	Ringgold
Colonel Patrick E Burke	66th Illinois	Rome Cross Roads
Colonel Orlando H Morris	66th New York	Cold Harbor
Colonel Lewis O Morris	7th New York (H A)	Cold Harbor
Colonel Henry Boyd McKeen	81st Pennsylvania	Cold Harbor
Colonel Frank A Haskell	36th Wisconsin	Cold Harbor
Colonel Jeremiah C Drake	112th New York	Cold Harbor
Colonel Richard Byrnes	28th Massachusetts	Cold Harbor
Colonel Patrick Kelly	88th New York	Petersburg
Colonel William Blaisdell	11th Massachusetts	Petersburg
Colonel Simon Mix	3d New York Cavalry	Petersburg
Colonel Calvin A Craig	105th Pennsylvania	Deep Bottom
Colonel Nathan T Dushane	1st Maryland	Weldon Railroad
Colonel Joseph Theburn	1st West Virginia	Cedar Creek
Colonel Louis Bell	4th New Hampshire	Fort Fisher

Recommended Reading: The Gallant Dead: Union and Confederate Generals Killed in the Civil War (Hardcover). Description: More than 400 Confederate and 580 Union soldiers advanced to the rank of general during the course of the Civil War, and more than 1 in 10 would die. A total of 124 generals died--78 for the South and 46 for the North. The work contains the list and histories of the men who held the rank of general at the time of their death, and not those who were promoted posthumously. Continued below...

Recommended Reading: Generals in Blue: Lives of the Union Commanders (Hardcover). Description: More than forty years after its original publication, Ezra J. Warner’s Generals in Blue is now available in paperback for the first time. Warner’s classic reference work includes intriguing biographical sketches and a rare collection of photos of all 583 men who attained the rank of general in the Union Army. Here are the West Point graduates and the political appointees; the gifted, the mediocre, and the inexcusably bad; those of impeccable virtue and those who abused their position; the northern-born, the foreign-born, and the southerners who remained loyal to the Union. Continued below...

Warner’s valuable introduction discusses the criteria for appointment and compares the civilian careers of both Union and Confederate generals, revealing striking differences in the two groups. Generals in Blue is that rare book—an essential volume for scholars, a prized item for buffs, and a biographical dictionary that the casual reader will find absorbing.

 

Recommended Reading: Gangrene and Glory: Medical Care during the American Civil War (University of Illinois Press). Description: Gangrene and Glory covers practically every aspect of the 'medical related issues' in the Civil War and it illuminates the key players in the development and advancement of medicine and medical treatment. Regarding the numerous diseases and surgical procedures, Author Frank Freemon discusses what transpired both on and off the battlefield. The Journal of the American Medical Association states: “In Freemon's vivid account, one almost sees the pus, putrefaction, blood, and maggots and . . . the unbearable pain and suffering.” Interesting historical accounts, statistical data, and pictures enhance this book. Continued below...

This research is not limited to the Civil War buff, it is a must read for the individual interested in medicine, medical procedures and surgery, as well as some of the pioneers--the surgeons that foreshadowed our modern medicine.

 

Recommended Reading: Civil War High Commands (1040 pages) (Hardcover). Description: Based on nearly five decades of research, this magisterial work is a biographical register and analysis of the people who most directly influenced the course of the Civil War, its high commanders. Numbering 3,396, they include the presidents and their cabinet members, state governors, general officers of the Union and Confederate armies (regular, provisional, volunteers, and militia), and admirals and commodores of the two navies. Civil War High Commands will become a cornerstone reference work on these personalities and the meaning of their commands, and on the Civil War itself. Continued below...

 

Recommended Reading: The History Buff's Guide to the Civil War (400 pages). Description: Exploring the Civil War can be fascinating, but with so many battles, leaders, issues, and more than 50,000 books on these subjects, the task can also be overwhelming. Was Gettysburg the most important battle? Were Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis so different from each other? How accurate is re-enacting? Who were the worst commanding generals? Thomas R. Flagel uses annotated lists organized under more than thirty headings to see through the powder smoke and straighten Sherman’s neckties, ranking and clarifying the best, the worst, the largest, and the most lethal aspects of the conflict. Major sections are fashioned around the following topics:

 

Recommended Reading: Hardtack & Coffee or The Unwritten Story of Army Life. Description: Most histories of the Civil War focus on battles and top brass. Hardtack and Coffee is one of the few to give a vivid, detailed picture of what ordinary soldiers endured every day—in camp, on the march, at the edge of a booming, smoking hell. John D. Billings of Massachusetts enlisted in the Army of the Potomac and survived the hellish conditions as a “common foot soldier” of the American Civil War. "Billings describes an insightful account of the conflict – the experiences of every day life as a common foot-soldier – and a view of the war that is sure to score with every buff." Continued below...

The authenticity of his book is heightened by the many drawings that a comrade, Charles W. Reed, made while in the field. This is the story of how the Civil War soldier was recruited, provisioned, and disciplined. Described here are the types of men found in any outfit; their not very uniform uniforms; crowded tents and makeshift shelters; difficulties in keeping clean, warm, and dry; their pleasure in a cup of coffee; food rations, dominated by salt pork and the versatile cracker or hardtack; their brave pastimes in the face of death; punishments for various offenses; treatment in sick bay; firearms and signals and modes of transportation. Comprehensive and anecdotal, Hardtack and Coffee is striking for the pulse of life that runs through it.