John F. Reynolds

John Fulton Reynolds (September 20, 1820 – July 1, 1863) was a career U.S. Army officer and a general in the American Civil War. One of the Union army's most respected corps commanders, he was killed at the Battle of Gettysburg.

John F. Reynolds was born at Lancaster, Pennsylvania in 1820. His brothers were James LeFevre Reynolds, Quartermaster General of Pennsylvania, and Rear Admiral William Reynolds. He graduated from the U.S. Military Academy in 1841, and was posted to the artillery. He was awarded two brevet promotions during the Mexican War, to captain for Monterrey and major for Buena Vista. Between Mexico and the Civil War, he was an instructor and, briefly, Commandant of Cadets at West Point. While in these academic roles, between 1855 and 1861, he was formally assigned as a captain in the 3rd U.S. Artillery.

Reynolds received the lieutenant colonelcy of the 14th U.S. Infantry at the start of the Civil War. He was promoted to brigadier general about a month after First Bull Run, and was given command of a brigade of Pennsylvania Reserves. That unit played an important role in the Peninsula Campaign. General Reynolds was captured after falling asleep in Boatswain's Swamp, Virginia, separated from his troops, the day after the Battle of Gaines' Mill. He was extremely embarrassed when brought before the Confederate general of the capturing troops; D.H. Hill was an Army friend and colleague from before the war. Hill allegedly told him, "Reynolds, do not feel so bad about your capture, it is the fate of wars." Reynolds was exchanged in time to command the Pennsylvania Reserves Division of the V Corps in the Union defeat at Second Bull Run.

Reynolds, at his request, was given command of the Pennsylvania Militia during General Robert E. Lee's invasion of Maryland, and therefore missed the Battle of Antietam. However, he returned to the Army of the Potomac in late 1862, and assumed command of the I Corps. One of his divisions, commanded by Brig. Gen. George G. Meade (who would later become his superior), made the only breakthrough at the Battle of Fredericksburg.

In the Battle of Chancellorsville, it is widely believed that Major General Joseph Hooker, the commander of the Army of the Potomac, blundered when he failed to use his best troops (those of I Corps, II Corps, and perhaps certain elite troops in other units) when the inexperienced troops of the XI Corps were overrun by General Stonewall Jackson's flank attack. This disgusted General Reynolds, whose troops were almost untouched.

After accepting General Hooker's resignation, President Abraham Lincoln considered choosing Reynolds as the next commander of the Army of the Potomac. Although most of the general staff of the army believed that General Reynolds would be the best choice, he refused when his demands of complete autonomy from political interference were denied. Major General George G. Meade was promoted in his place. Some have speculated that had Gen. Reynolds accepted the command, the outcome at Gettysburg may have been very different.

On the morning of July 1, 1863, Brigadier General John Buford's cavalry division was defending against heavily superior numbers west of the town of Gettysburg. He called upon the nearest infantry, General Reynolds' I Corps, to help. (Reynolds that day was commanding the "left wing" of the Army of the Potomac, with operational control over the I, II, III, and XI Corps. This demonstrates the high regard Meade had for his judgment and command ability.) Reynolds arrived with the 1st Division and accompanied some of its soldiers, probably from Brig. Gen. Lysander Cutler's brigade, into the fighting at McPherson's Woods. While supervising the action, he fell from his horse with a wound in the back of the neck, and died almost instantly. Command passed to his senior division commander, Major General Abner Doubleday.

The loss of General Reynolds was keenly felt by the army. He was loved by his men and respected by his peers. Many of the other contemporary high-ranking generals were either too old (Edwin V. Sumner), politically appointed (Daniel Sickles), or simply no more than competent (Oliver O. Howard, George Sykes). Reynolds was considered one of the best corps commanders, ranking with his colleagues John Sedgwick (VI Corps) and Winfield S. Hancock (II Corps).

John Reynolds was immediately transported from Gettysburg to his birthplace, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where he is buried. Befitting his importance to the Union and his native state, he is memorialized by no fewer than three statues in Gettysburg National Military Park and one in front of the Philadelphia City Hall.

The Death of General Reynolds

There are few reliable sources regarding General Reynolds's death. Even his time of death cannot be pinpointed. Staff officers have stated that it was somewhere between 10:40 and 10:50 AM. General Abner Doubleday stated that his death was closer to 10:15 AM. (Due to the lack of time standards and the inaccuracies of clocks during that era, all Civil War time references lack precision.)

Ben Thorpe, a sharpshooter of the 26th North Carolina Infantry, stated that he killed the general, while he was posting a battery (of artillery). However, there is a flaw in his claim: according to staff reports, General Reynolds was not posting a battery at his death. Also, Thorpe states that he killed the officer from 700 or so yards away. This was unlikely, as Reynolds was screened by thick woods (McPherson's Woods).

Members of the 1st Tennessee Infantry and the 13th Alabama Infantry both claimed to have killed Reynolds. The former's statement is unlikely, as they joined in the fighting much later than General Reynolds's death. However, the latter's statement is possible, and even likely, as those troops were near the fighting. However, whoever killed Reynolds probably did not step forward, due to one of several reasons. He could have not known the magnitude of whom he killed (many officers rode on their horses, much as General Reynolds did, during battle), he may have died during the fighting, or he simply may not have known that he killed anyone (volleys of more than 200 rifles at once were common, meaning that nobody knew who killed specific people).

The consensus of historians is that General Reynolds was killed by a stray bullet fired by an anonymous regular private Confederate infantryman, not a sharpshooter deliberately targeting the general. It is reasonably certain that General Reynolds was killed by a minié ball, or bullet, rather than by artillery fire, as some have speculated. The entrance and exit wounds on his neck are characteristic of rifle fire, not shrapnel (and certainly not a solid-shot cannonball).

References

• Eicher, John H., & Eicher, David J.: Civil War High Commands, Stanford University Press, 2001, ISBN 0-8047-3641-3