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PREFACE 
 
 General John Sedgwick, 
 was written several years 
 ago for General Thomas W. Hyde, 
 who was at that time proposing 
 to write a more extended life of 
 him, but who became too busy in 
 actual work for his country to ac- 
 complish it. General Hyde, whose 
 death has occurred while this 
 sketch is passing through the press, 
 was one of my beloved brother's 
 
 ^ 
 
preface 
 
 staff officers. My purpose was es- 
 pecially to write of some of the 
 more personal and less generally 
 known incidents of my brother's 
 life. 
 
 As some of my friends have 
 wished me to publish it, and es- 
 pecially one, Mr. Carl Stoeckel, 
 who has made it possible for me to 
 preserve it in a printed form as a 
 souvenir to my friends, I herewith 
 dedicate it to him and to them, as 
 a record of a noble life of a man 
 who died for his country. 
 
 Emily Sedgwick Welch 
 
f AJOR-GENERAL JOffi* 
 
 Sedgwick was born 
 in Cornwall, Connec- 
 ticut, September 13, 
 1813. He came of good stock, 
 and had the rich inheritance of a 
 noble ancestry. He was of the 
 sixth generation from Major Rob- 
 ert Sedgwick, who was the first 
 progenitor of the family in this 
 country. Robert Sedgwick emi- 
 grated from the northern part of 
 England in 1636, and settled in 
 
General 3M)n £et>gtoicfc 
 
 Charlestown, Massachusetts, where 
 he held various offices of trust, 
 both civil and military, in the Col- 
 ony. He represented the liberal 
 Puritans, and was opposed to the 
 prevailing intolerance of the times. 
 In 1655 Cromwell appointed him 
 to an important service in the 
 West Indies, but he soon fell a 
 victim to the climate, and died in 
 Jamaica, May 24, 1656. His 
 family, consisting of three sons, 
 remained in this country. In the 
 third generation from him was 
 Benjamin Sedgwick, who removed 
 to Cornwall Hollow about 1748, 
 and purchased all that " little val- 
 ley surrounded by natural walls," 
 of which his descendants have al- 
 ways owned a large part. He 
 2 
 
% biographical £ted) 
 
 died at the early age of forty-two, 
 leaving six children. His eldest 
 son was General John Sedgwick, 
 who retained the place. The sec- 
 ond son was the Honorable Theo- 
 dore Sedgwick, who settled in 
 Berkshire County, Massachusetts. 
 Both he and his descendants were 
 noted in the political and literary 
 world. Miss Catherine Sedgwick, 
 an author of considerable repute 
 in her time, was his daughter. 
 The eldest son, General John 
 Sedgwick, was the grandfather of 
 General John Sedgwick, the sub- 
 ject of this sketch. He was an 
 officer of some distinction in the 
 Eevolutionary war. He was or- 
 dered to join his regiment at 
 Ticonderoga in 1775. The first 
 
 3 
 
General Sloftn ^ebgtDkfc 
 
 night after he left home, his house 
 was hurried, the dastardly work, 
 it was supposed, of incendiary 
 Tories. He was called hack, and 
 within a week a new frame was 
 raised on the site of the old house, 
 when he rejoined his regiment. 
 This cowardly act so exasperated 
 every loyal man in the vicinity 
 that he worked " with a will," and 
 the urgent necessities of the family 
 were supplied until the house was 
 ahle to shelter them; and then 
 this was furnished hy their gener- 
 osity, each man bringing his share 
 for the purpose. 
 
 General Sedgwick also "hut- 
 ted " with General Washington at 
 Valley Forge during the memor- 
 able winter of 1777. 
 4 
 
% S&ograpfiical £ftcttf} 
 
 It has been said of my brother 
 that when, as a young boy, he was 
 asked his name, he would reply, 
 " General John Sedgwick," and 
 this has often been told of him as an 
 evidence of his early martial spirit; 
 but I think it was because he con- 
 sidered the title as a part of his 
 name, always having heard his 
 grandfather called "the General." 
 His entering the army was the 
 result of circumstances rather than 
 from an inherited or natural fond- 
 ness for the profession. He was 
 never considered in the family as 
 in any way remarkable. He was 
 a robust, manly boy, who could al- 
 ways be trusted — whose word was 
 never questioned — of indomitable 
 will and fiery temper — and one 
 5 
 
Altera! 3fof)n ^ctigtoicfc 
 
 who was specially beloved in the 
 family. He was possessed of 
 wonderful magnetic power, which 
 always made him a leader among 
 his young associates, carrying his 
 points by love and fear. He was 
 my special delight and admiration, 
 as he was always my sworn knight 
 and defender in all the combats in- 
 cident to a family of children. I 
 have heard my mother say that 
 when I was born it was said to him, 
 " Now, John, you have a sister," 
 implying that my elder sister be- 
 longed to an older brother, and 
 that he never seemed to lose sight 
 of the fact that I was specially in- 
 trusted to his care. My earliest 
 recollections of him are his draw- 
 ing me to school upon a hand-sled, 
 
 6 
 
% $iogra#)icai £&ctcf) 
 
 and wheeling me around upon a 
 wheel-barrow, and always tipping 
 my sister over if she usurped my 
 place. I also recollect how my 
 hens' nests were always mysteri- 
 ously filled with eggs, so that I 
 might triumph over the same sis- 
 ter. These things may seem trivial 
 and even ridiculous, but I mention 
 them to show how intimately we 
 were drawn together in our ear- 
 liest years. And the bond thus 
 early formed was only strength- 
 ened up to the fatal day of May 
 9, 1864. 
 
 Thus quietly and uneventfully 
 passed his childhood. But as he 
 grew into manhood, he became 
 restless and his ambition led him 
 to desire a different life from a 
 
 7 
 
General Slofjn £cfcgtoich 
 
 farmer's. His father, not being 
 able to give him a classical educa- 
 tion, which he desired, secured his 
 appointment to the Military Acad- 
 emy at West Point, mainly through 
 the influence of the Honorable 
 Jabez Huntington, who was United 
 States Senator from Connecticut. 
 His preparation to enter the Mili- 
 tary Academy must have been 
 limited, for, according to my recol- 
 lection, he never attended any but 
 our common district school, except- 
 ing for a few months at a time an 
 academy in a neighboring town, 
 Sharon, Connecticut, until he was 
 sixteen years of age. He then 
 taught school for two successive 
 winters, and his family thought 
 that his schools were more noted 
 
3t ^Biographical £ftcttf) 
 
 for his scholars having a good time 
 than for any literary advancement. 
 During the summer seasons he 
 worked on the farm. After he 
 received his appointment to West 
 Point he attended school for some 
 months preparatory to entering 
 there. He must have heen poorly 
 prepared, however, as the examin- 
 ing hoard told him that it would 
 be of no use for him to remain, as 
 he could never pass the second 
 examination, even if he did the 
 first. But his indomitable will, 
 strong intellect, and cool head did 
 him good service then, as after- 
 wards, and he was graduated in 
 July, 1837, as Second Lieutenant 
 of Artillery, twenty-fourth in a 
 class of fifty. 
 
General 3(ofjn £c&gtoitfc 
 
 He immediately went into ac- 
 tive service, and from that time 
 he was always at his post. He 
 first went to Florida in the Semi- 
 nole War, and in 1838 was with 
 General Scott when the Cherokee 
 Indians were removed across the 
 Mississippi. From there he was 
 ordered to the northern frontier 
 during the Canadian rebellion. 
 In 1846, at the beginning of the 
 Mexican War, he was sent to 
 Texas under General Taylor, and 
 he afterwards served under Gen- 
 eral Scott. He was at the capture 
 of Vera Cruz, and engaged in all 
 the battles in the valley. He was 
 brevetted a Captain at Cherubusco 
 and a Major at Chapultepec. He 
 commanded his company and was 
 10 
 
% S&osrapfjical £fcctcf) 
 
 distinguished in the attack upon the 
 San Cosmo gate at Mexico City. 
 He was made a full Captain in 
 December, 1848, and assigned to 
 Duncan's Battery, Light Artillery. 
 He commanded this battery until 
 1855, when he was appointed 
 Major in one of the new regiments 
 of cavalry, and was ordered to 
 Kansas. He remained there dur- 
 ing the disturbance between the 
 pro-slavery and free-soil parties 
 until December, 1856, when he 
 obtained a furlough and came to 
 Cornwall, where he remained with 
 us until after the death of our 
 father, early in March. The tie 
 between father and son was unu- 
 sually strong, and it seemed to us a 
 special mercy of God that he was 
 11 
 
lateral Sofjn ^cbgtoicfc 
 
 permitted to minister to his fa- 
 ther's comfort during the last weary 
 months of his life. It was only 
 two or three days before his fa- 
 ther's death that his leave of 
 absence expired. He then imme- 
 diately returned to his post at Fort 
 Leavenworth. 
 
 During the summer of 1857 he 
 had command of a reconnoitering 
 expedition, consisting of four com- 
 panies, three hundred and twenty 
 strong, with a train of fifty-six 
 mule- wagons. He went up the 
 Arkansas River, six hundred miles 
 across to the South Fork of the 
 Platte, to join Colonel Sumner. 
 They marched over eighteen hun- 
 dred miles, and suffered innumer- 
 able hardships. They had one 
 12 
 
SU 2&O0ra*>f)ical £fccttf) 
 
 quite severe engagement with the 
 Indians. At one time they were 
 obliged to live twenty days on 
 fresh beef that had been driven 
 over fifteen hundred miles, and 
 without any salt. They were all 
 summer without tents, with but 
 little bedding and few clothes (I 
 copy from his letters). He men- 
 tions some sport in killing the 
 buffaloes, which they encountered 
 more than a thousand in a herd. 
 They had a large variety of game, 
 which would have been a great 
 luxury with the accompaniment 
 of salt, butter, or vegetables. He 
 returned to Fort Leavenworth for 
 the winter of 1857 and 1858. 
 
 In the summer of 1858 he was 
 ordered to Utah, and, as nearly as 
 
 13 
 
General Sloljn £e&gtoich 
 
 I can learn from his letters, he 
 spent the time marching and 
 counter-marching between Fort 
 Riley and Fort Laramie, accom- 
 plishing about as much as the King 
 of France when 
 
 " With twice ten thousand men 
 He marched up the hill 
 And then marched down again." 
 
 The winter of 1859 and 1860 
 seems to have been divided be- 
 tween the two forts — Eiley and 
 Laramie. 
 
 Early in the summer of 1860 
 he had command of an expedition 
 against the Kiowa Indians, which 
 involved much marching and dis- 
 comfort, without achieving any 
 material results. He mentions one 
 
 14 
 
2d biographical £fcctct) 
 
 slight engagement with the Kio- 
 was, killing two, taking sixteen 
 prisoners, with forty horses, and 
 destroying their plunder. After 
 marching hundreds of miles on 
 their way back, they were ordered 
 to retrace their steps and establish 
 a military post, to be called Fort 
 Wise, in the neighborhood of Pike's 
 Peak. There they had to build 
 their quarters for the winter. He 
 writes, " Such buildings are never 
 seen in the East. No boards, 
 shingles, or floorings or windows 
 are to be used. Thick stone walls 
 laid up in mud, eighteen feet wide 
 and more than a mile long, with 
 dirt roofs, are to be our habitation 
 this winter. The doors will be 
 beef hides, straightened on frames, 
 
 15 
 
<*Benerai %o§n J>ct»gtoicfc 
 
 windows the same, to be taken out 
 for light when the weather will 
 permit." He actually spent a large 
 part of the winter in tents. Un- 
 der date of November 17, 1860, 
 he writes, " The last mail brought 
 a complimentary letter from the 
 Secretary of War extolling our en- 
 ergy and perseverance. I had 
 previously written to Washington 
 that if Providence had not fa- 
 vored us more than the Depart- 
 ment, there would have been in- 
 tense suffering here this winter." 
 During that campaign he often 
 expressed disgust for the service, 
 and a determination to resign his 
 commission the following spring 
 and spend the remainder of his 
 days at his old home in Cornwall. 
 
 16 
 
% S&ograpjica* &Mt§ 
 
 But he was so far away that he 
 did not know of the excitements 
 and mutterings which were agitat- 
 ing the political world at the East 
 — the forerunner of that dreadful 
 conflict which was so soon to hurst 
 over the country, and which cost 
 him his life. The firing on Fort 
 Sumter in the spring reverberated 
 even to that distance, and as a 
 man of honor he felt that, edu- 
 cated at his country's expense, he 
 could not desert her in her hour 
 of need. He was soon ordered to 
 the East to take his part in the 
 suppression of the rebellion, and 
 like an old war-horse he straight- 
 ened himself for the conflict, with 
 what results the different engage- 
 ments in which he took a com- 
 
 17 
 
General 5Mn £c&gtoich 
 
 manding part will bear witness. 
 The tale is told in the battles of 
 the Peninsula and Antietam, where 
 he received dangerous wounds and 
 had two horses shot under him, 
 at Fredericksburg, by the phe- 
 nomenal march to Gettysburg, and 
 in his last campaign under Gen- 
 eral Grant, in the battle of the 
 Wilderness, when he rallied his dis- 
 heartened men by the touching ap- 
 peal, " Follow Uncle John, boys," 
 until the fatal ninth of May, 1864, 
 when he made his crowning sac- 
 rifice for his beloved country. 
 
 " Duty, stern daughter of the 
 voice of God," was always his 
 watchword. When he heard her 
 voice he was ready to follow. 
 What he was ordered to do, he 
 
 18 
 
3d biographical gfoctfy 
 
 did cheerfully, with the unflinch- 
 ing and unquestioning ohedience of 
 a good soldier. And he always 
 exacted a like obedience from his 
 men, which resulted in the perfect 
 discipline and success of the fa- 
 mous old Sixth Corps. During his 
 long term of service he had but 
 three furloughs. He combined 
 great tenderness with great sever- 
 ity of character. He would be 
 moved to tears by a tale of suffer- 
 ing, especially of those he loved. 
 But no quarter would be given to 
 any soldier who was guilty of a 
 mean or dishonorable action, or 
 who dared to disobey his orders. 
 I cannot refrain from giving 
 some more of the private incidents 
 of his life, as they illustrate some of 
 
 19 
 
General 5Mn £c&gtoick 
 
 the noble traits of his character. 
 In the year 1852, his father hav- 
 ing become somewhat financially 
 embarrassed, and also blind, he 
 generously consented to take the 
 old homestead upon his hands, and 
 from that time his heart always 
 seemed to be there. It was sanc- 
 tified to him as the place of his 
 birth, and by the toils of his father 
 and his grandfather. No hills or 
 mountains seemed to him so beau- 
 tiful as those which encircled his 
 own farm, and he was always antic- 
 ipating the time when he would 
 be able to resign his commission 
 and return to spend the evening 
 of his days in the home he loved 
 so well. He always expressed 
 the desire to be buried among his 
 20 
 
5t biographical £&etcf> 
 
 own people. Thank God, that wish 
 was granted him ! 
 
 Upon taking the homestead, he 
 made every effort in his power to 
 improve it. In the summer of 
 1858 he made extensive improve- 
 ments of the house. In the winter 
 of 1859, on the 22d of February, 
 it was burned, and with it the ac- 
 cumulations of years : everything 
 he had sent home from Mexico, a 
 valuable library, and family relics 
 which no money could replace. 
 My mother and I were occupying 
 it at the time, and I can never 
 forget with what anxiety, amount- 
 ing almost to anguish, I looked 
 forward to the first news from 
 him. It almost seemed as if he 
 might blame me for such a catas- 
 21 
 
General 5Mn ^cbgtamfc 
 
 trophe, and I was so sordid as 
 to regret the money which had 
 just heen expended on the place. 
 But my plummet had not sounded 
 the depths of his noble nature. He 
 at once reassured me, and said, 
 " I am glad that we had done 
 so much for the dear old home," 
 as if it were a sentient being 
 grateful for every dollar that had 
 been expended upon it. He at 
 once applied for a leave of ab- 
 sence, but as he was expected to 
 take command of another expedi- 
 tion the following summer, he could 
 get only thirty days. He declined 
 to accept it, as it would leave him 
 so little time at home. But upon 
 application to the Secretary of 
 War, explaining the circumstances, 
 
 22 
 
3U 25iogtapljical £ftctcf) 
 
 he got leave for six months. He 
 reached Cornwall Hollow early in 
 May, and the following day com- 
 menced preparations to rehuild, 
 which resulted in the present house 
 upon the same site, and of the 
 same size, as the home which was 
 burned in 1775. He returned to 
 Fort Riley late in the autumn of 
 1859. When he departed, his house 
 was enclosed and partly plastered, 
 and it was left in my hands to 
 finish. He never saw it until after 
 the battle of Antietam, when, 
 being badly wounded, he came 
 home to recuperate. After he had 
 looked the place all over, inspect- 
 ing the stables which had been re- 
 built, the grounds which had been 
 graded, and the garden blooming 
 23 
 
(Dcncral 5ofjn ^cfcgtoicfe 
 
 with flowers as if to welcome 
 their chief home, I said to him, 
 " Does it please you, John '? " He 
 replied, with tears in his eyes, " I 
 should he very ungrateful to you 
 if I w^ere not pleased, hut I would 
 gladly give it all up for the dear 
 old home." And that was John 
 Sedgwick, unswerving devotion to 
 the things he once loved. He 
 stayed with me for nearly three 
 months, and it always has heen 
 a comfort to me, in the pleasant 
 and stormy days I have passed 
 through since, that as he took me 
 in his arms for his final embrace, 
 he said that the days he had spent 
 with me then had been the hap- 
 piest of his life. 
 
 24