John Sedgwick was the highest-ranking Union officer (Major General) killed in the Civil War. Sedgwick was born in Cornwall, CT and was a West Point graduate. He had served his entire career in the military. Having never married the military was his whole life. He served bravely at Seven Pines, the Seven Days battles, Antietam and Gettysburg. As was his habit the evening before his death after the Battle on Laurel Hill he slept outside with his men next to a hay bale. On the morning of May 9th Sedgwick was busy extending his lines further to the northeast, while across the battlefield Lee was doing the same. The Federals had placed an artillery battery near the base of Laurel Hill. That area soon became a hotbed of activity for sharpshooters on both sides. Sedgwick had tried to visit it in the morning but his Chief of Staff, Colonel Martin McMahon, cautioned him against it. However, about an hour later Sedgwick went to the battery to reorganize his men. While there his soldiers were ducking from bullets fired by sharpshooters. His troops were about a thousand yards away from the Confederate skirmish line. Sedgwick’s chastised his men while walking behind them stating “What? Men dodging this way for single bullets! What will you do when they open fire along the whole line? I am ashamed of you. They couldn’t hit an elephant at this distance”. Shortly after saying this Sedgwick was shot just under the left eye and killed by a Confederate sniper using a rifled-barrel Whitworth rifle. He fell toward his Assistant Adjutant General, Lieutenant Colonel Thomas McMahon, who managed to break his fall somewhat, but fell to the ground with him. Dr. Ludwig Emil Ohlenschlager poured some water on Sedgwick’s face to examine the wound but there was nothing that could be done. Sedgwick’s death, illustrates how some Generals failed to understand the way that innovations in weaponry were changing the nature of war. Grant would say that Sedgwick’s loss was greater than that of a whole division. His death is memorialized on the battlefield with a tablet and a monument. The monument dedicated on May 12, 1887, is the oldest on the battlefield. Sedgwick was extremely popular with his men who called him affectionately “Uncle John”.

Text- Sedgwick was essentially a soldier. He had never married; the camp was his home, and the members of his staff were his family. He was always spoken of familiarly as “Uncle John,” and the news of his death fell upon his comrades with a sense of grief akin to the sorrow of a personal bereavement.Lieutenant Colonel Horace Porter, USA Staff

General John Sedgwick, a much-admired bachelor from Connecticut, commanded the Army of the Potomac’s Sixth Corps. On May 9, 1864, Sedgwick was seated at his headquarters, a few feet behind you, when he noticed confusion among some of his troops here at the front. Ignoring earlier warnings of danger, he walked over to this spot to sort things out. No sooner did he arrive than a sharpshooter’s bullet sped past, causing a young private at his side to drop to the ground in fear. Sedgwick gently chided the man, saying, “They couldn’t hit an elephant at this distance.” A second shot followed, then a third—the last followed by a sickening thud. The general pitched to the ground, blood gushing from a hole just below his left eye. He was the highest-ranking Union officer to die in the Civil War.

Text- Erected to commemorate this spot where Maj Genl John Sedgwick, U.S. Vols. Commanding Sixth Army Corps was killed in action on the morning of the 9th of May 1864.

The barrel of a rifled musket is shown below. A rifled musket had spiral grooves inside the barrel. Unlike their smooth-bored predecessors they were accurate at a range of 500-1000 yards; smooth-bore muskets used in the Revolutionary war were only accurate at distances of 50-100 yards.

When a conical bullet was fired it left the barrel spinning, making it far more accurate. Rifled muskets made frontal assaults against troops behind barricades and earthworks virtually impossible. A trained soldier could get off three shots with a rifled-musket in a minute. Running across an open field the enemy would have multiple opportunities to target an individual soldier. For this reason, such charges as occurred by Lee’s army at Gettysburg (Picket’s charge), John Bell Hood’s charge at the battle of Franklin, and the Union army charge ordered by Grant at Cold Harbor were spectacular failures. In addition, both armies created companies of sharpshooters whose job it was to specifically target officers. 

Shown below are pictures of General Sedgwick’s monument and grave in Cornwall Hollow, CT.

Text- This memorial including ordnance used in the Mexican and Civil Wars and given by the government of the United States is in honour of Major General John Sedgwick Commander of the Sixth Corps Army of the Potomac who gave his life for the preservation of the Union. A skilled soldier, a brave leader, a beloved commander and a loyal gentleman. The fittest place where man can die is where man dies for man.

Text- Vera Cruz, Cerro Gordo, Puebla, Cherubusco, Molino del Rey, Mexico

Text- Fair Oaks, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, the Wilderness
Spotsylvania

Dr. Ohlenschlager would only live another 5 months after the death of General Sedgwick. While riding in an ambulance from Winchester, Virginia, near Newtown, his party was ambushed by a group of Mosby’s Rangers. Dr. Ohlenschlager was shot in the abdomen. He was brought back to Sheridan’s headquarters near Cedar Creek but died 2 days later from his wounds. The episode is detailed below from Mosby’s Rangers: A Record of the Operations of the Forty-Third Battalion of Virginia Cavalry from its Organization to the Surrender by James J. Williamson (Link).

Next- Upton’s Attack- May 10, 1864