Jesse L. Reno was a distinguished Civil War general who commanded a brigade in Burnside's Army during its North Carolina expedition and the 9th Corps of the Army of the Potomac at the Battle of South Mountain, Maryland, where he was killed. He had previously served in the Mexican War, taught at West Point, commanded several arsenals at Philadelphia and elsewhere, and wrote a manual on arsenal warfare. Raised in nearby Franklin, he gave his name to this town.