CDV, General George H. Thomas

"The Rock of Chickamauga"

Native born Virginian and confidant of Robert E. Lee who fought for the Union which cost him his family!

(1816-1870) He was born at Newsom's Depot, Southampton County, Virginia, which was five miles from the North Carolina border, and his family led an upper-class plantation lifestyle owning 685 acres and slaves. George Thomas, his sisters, and his widowed mother were forced to flee from their home and hide in the nearby woods during Nat Turner's 1831 slave rebellion. He taught as many as 15 of his...  

CDV, Commodore Charles Wilkes, U.S. Navy

He became a Northern hero after arresting Confederate diplomats Mason & Slidell in what became known as the famous "Trent Affair"

(1798-1877) Born in New York City, he was a very distinguished United States naval officer. He entered the U.S. Navy as a midshipman in 1818, was prominent in the department of charts and instruments, and in 1838 he commanded a squadron of 6 ships and scientists to Antarctica, where an area there is named "Wilkes Land." Promoted to captain in 1855, at the outbreak of the Civil War, he was...  

Photograph, Jennie Wade of Gettysburg

She was the only civilian killed during the Battle of Gettysburg!

Wet plate photograph, 5 1/2 x 3 7/8, on thick 7 x 5 card mount. Shows a portrait of Jennie Wade at the upper right, the house where she was killed on July 3, 1863, at Gettysburg in the center, and her grave site monument in Evergreen Cemetery, Gettysburg, Pa., at left. Jennie Wade was 19 years old when she was killed in the kitchen of her sister's house, while baking bread for the Union soldiers. A stray Confederate sharpshooter's bullet pierced through two wooden doors and...  

CDV, General Gideon Pillow

Wounded in the Mexican War battles of Cerro Gordo and Chapultepec

Earned the Thanks of Confederate Congress for his heroic actions at the Battle of Belmont, Missouri

(1806-78) Born in Williamson County, Tennessee, he graduated from the University of Nashville, and was a law partner of James K. Polk, future President of the United States, in Columbia, Tennessee. He was active in Democratic politics, and was floor leader in support of the nomination of fellow Tennessean James K. Polk at the 1844 Democratic National Convention. Pillow...  

CDV, General Don Carlos Buell

1862 dated image

Commanded Union troops at the Battles of Shiloh and Perryville

(1818-1898) Born in Lowell, Ohio, he graduated in the celebrated West Point class of 1841 which contributed 20 general officers to the Civil War. He was a first cousin of Union General George P. Buell, who also served as Colonel of the 58th Indiana Infantry. He was seriously wounded in the Mexican War at the battle of Churubusco, and earned the brevets of captain and major. At the outbreak of the Civil War, he was in San Francisco as adjutant of the...  

CDV, General George P. Buell

Colonel 58th Indiana Infantry

(1833-83) Born at Lawrenceburg, Indiana, he graduated from Norwich University, in 1856, and was a civil engineer before the Civil War. He enlisted on December 4, 1861, and was commissioned lieutenant colonel, of the 58th Indiana Infantry. During the winter of 1861-62, Buell's regiment served in central Kentucky in the army commanded by his first cousin, General Don Carlos Buell. They arrived on the field of Shiloh on the second day in time to save the Union army from disaster, and participated in the siege of...  

CDV, General Daniel Butterfield

Medal of Honor Recipient for gallantry at the Battle of Gaines's Mill, Virginia

He was wounded at Gaines's Mill, Va., and Gettysburg, Pa.

(1831-1901) Born in Utica, New York, he was mustered into the Federal service as colonel of the 12th New York Infantry, on May 2, 1861, the first Union regiment to set foot on Virginia soil. He was appointed brigadier general to rank from September 7, 1861; commanded a brigade and division of the 5th Corps; he fought at the First Battle of Bull Run on July 21, 1861; in the Seven Days Battles; was...  

CDV, General Israel B. Richardson

Mortally wounded in the battle of Antietam, Maryland in 1862

(1815-62) Born in Fairfax, Vermont, he graduated in the celebrated West Point class of 1841 which produced 23 generals that fought in the Civil War. Richardson served as a second lieutenant in the Second Seminole Indian War in Florida, and he was promoted to first lieutenant on September 21, 1846. He distinguished himself during the Mexican War fighting under General Winfield Scott and earned the brevets of captain and major at Contreras, Churubusco and Chapultepec and the nickname...  

CDV, General Nathaniel Lyon

Killed at the Battle of Wilson's Creek, Missouri in 1861

He was the first Union general to be killed in the Civil War!

(1818-61) Born in Ashford, Connecticut, he graduated in the West Point class of 1841. After graduation he was assigned as a 2nd lieutenant in the 2nd U.S. Infantry with whom he fought with in the Florida Seminole War in Florida. In the Mexican War, he was promoted to first lieutenant for "conspicuous bravery in capturing enemy artillery" at the Battle for Mexico City, and received a brevet promotion to...  

CDV, General George Stoneman

A leading Union cavalry commander during the Civil War

Captured in 1864 while leading a raid attempting to free the Union prisoners at Andersonville, Georgia

Governor of California

(1822-94) He was born in the western New York hamlet of Bustion, and graduated from the United States Military Academy in the celebrated class of 1846. His classmates were future Civil War Generals Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson, George B. McClellan, Ambrose Powell Hill, Darius N. Couch, George E. Pickett, and Cadmus M. Wilcox. Stoneman...  

CDV, General William B. Franklin

Wounded in 1864 at the Battle of Mansfield, Louisiana refusing to leave the field of battle

(1823-1903) Born in York, Pennsylvania, he graduated #1 in the West Point class of 1843, and he joined the elite U.S. Corps of Topographical Engineers. He fought in the Mexican War earning a brevet for gallantry at the Battle of Buena Vista. As an engineer officer, he was in charge of the construction of the new U.S. Capitol dome in Washington, D.C. He commanded a brigade at the 1st Battle of Bull Run, and led a division, and subsequently the 6th...  

CDV, General James Longstreet

Commanded the 1st Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia

Severely wounded in the Battle of the Wilderness, Virginia

(1821-1904) Born in Edgefield District, South Carolina, he was one of the foremost Confederate generals of the Civil War, and the principal subordinate to General Robert E. Lee, who called him his "Old War Horse." An 1842 graduate of West Point, Longstreet fought in the Mexican War, and was wounded in the Battle of Chapultepec. Throughout the 1850s, he served on the western frontier. In June 1861, he...