The Death of Sedgwick

General John Sedgwick, a much-admired bachelor from Connecticut who commanded the Army of the Potomac’s Sixth Corps, was known familiarly as “Uncle John,” a soldier whose home was the camp and whose staff was his family. On May 9, 1864, while seated at his headquarters a few feet behind this spot, he noticed confusion among some of his troops at the front and, ignoring earlier warnings of danger, walked over to sort things out. As he arrived, a sharpshooter’s bullet passed by, causing a young private at his side to drop to the ground in fear. Sedgwick gently rebuked him, saying, “They couldn’t hit an elephant at this distance.” A second shot followed, then a third, and the general fell with a wound just below his left eye. His death brought his comrades grief like a personal bereavement, and he was the highest-ranking Union officer to die in the Civil War.

Spotsylvania Courthouse, Virginia · United States