Ten Union Generals: Killed in Action Quiz

Answer: Near Baton Rouge, La.

(1815-1862) General Williams was born on the 10th of January in Albany, New York. He had a long military career during his life. He fought in the Black Hawk Wars as a youth serving under his father. He graduated from West Point in 1837 ranked 12th in his class.

He participated in the Seminole Wars in Florida, Taught for a while at West Point, and served under Winfield Scott in the Mexican War. On August 5th during the attack on New Orleans he died on the field, shot through the heart.

Answer: Chantilly, Va.

(1815-1862) General Kearney was born on June 2nd in New York City. When he was nine his mother died and he went to live with his grandfather. He graduated from Columbia University in 1833. When his grandfather died he left him one million dollars. In 1859 he went to the French Cavalry School in Saumer and served in Algiers while overseas. Back in the United States he served in the Mexican War where he was wounded and lost an arm fighting at Churubusco.

After the war he retired and got married. In 1859 he served in the Italian War with Napolion III's Imperial Guards. On September 1st, 1862 while assessing his situation he accidently rode into enemy lines and was shot and killed instantly.

Answer: Chantilly, Va

(1818-1862) General Stevens was born in Andover, Mass. on March 25th. He was born of Puritan descent and as a youth was sickly and slight of build (barely 5 foot tall). He graduated from West Point in 1839 first in his class. Prior to the Mexican War he worked as an engineer. During the Mexican War he nearly died after being shot in the foot and developing blood poisoning.

After the war he wrote the book "Campaigns of the Rio Grande and of Mexico" which was published in 1851. In 1853 he became Governor of the "Washington Territory" and won two terms to the House of Representatives for the "Washington Territory" beginning in 1856.

After several previous engagements he was shot in the head and killed while trying to repel troops under "Stonewall" Jackson's command on September 1st.

He was raised in rank to Major General posthumously.

Answer: Perryville, Ky

(1827-1862) General Terrill was born in Covington, Va. on April 21st. His brother James B. Terrill fought for the Confederacy and was killed in 1864. Prior to the Civil War William Terrill fought the Seminole Indians in Florida and helped quell the Kansas-Missouri border wars.

He graduated from West Point in 1853 ranking 16th in his class. During the Civil War he fought as an artillery commander at Shiloh, Corinth, and in Kentucky. On October 8th at Perryville he was hit by artillery fragments and died later that night.

Answer: Murfreesboro, Tenn.

(1831-1862) General Sill was born at Chillicothe, OH. on December 6th. He graduated from West Point in 1853, 3rd in his class of 52 seniors. Prior to the Civil War he was an ordnance expert and taught at West Point for a while. During the Civil War he fought at Rich Mt.,Va. as well as helping drive the Confederate Army out of Kentucky. On New Year's Eve, 1862 his troops were surprised by enemy forces. General Sill was killed while rallying his troops against one of several waves of Confederate attacks.

Answer: Shiloh, Tennessee

(1821-1862) General Wallace was born on July 8th in Urbana, Ohio and moved to La Salle City, Illinois, as a boy. He studied law on his own and passed the bar exam to become a lawyer. In 1846 he joined the 1st Illinois as a private and mustered out in 1848 after moving up in the ranks.

He practiced law and became the D.A. of La Salle county until the Civil War started. In April of 1861 he reenlisted in the 11th Illinois as a Colonel. Fighting at Ft. Donaldson with bravery, he was promoted to Brigadier General. On April 6th, 1862, the battle at Shiloh began.

While leading his men on the Federal right, far in front of most of the other Union troops, his troops had to finally fall back under heavy pressure. He and his troops fell into line to the right of General Prentiss' troops who were defending the "Hornet's Nest".

As the "Hornet's Nest" became endangered of being overrun the two generals made a pact to fight to the last man. Shortly there after General Wallace was hit in the head by a piece of artillery shell and fell mortally wounded. General Prentiss was forced to surrender shortly after that, and General Wallace lay dying behind enemy lines.

The next day Union troops were able to pick him up and carry him to Pittsburg Landing where his wife waited, after arriving the previous day. He was taken to Savannah, Tennessee, where he died on the 10th of April. After the battle had ended General Burnside referred to him as "one of the country's best defenders".

Answer: South Mountain, Md.

(1823-1862) General Reno was born in Wheeling, Va. on June 20th. When he was 9 his family moved to Pennsylvania. He graduated from West Point in 1846 ranked 8th in his class. After fighting in the Mexican War and teaching briefly at West Point he commanded several different weapon arsenals until the Civil War broke out.

He accepted a Brig. General position under General Burnside during the expedition through North Carolina the winter of 1861-62. In April of 1862 he took command of a division in the Dept. of North Carolina and went to Virginia in time for the second of fighting at Bull Run, after which his division persued General "Stonewall" Jackson's cavalry through Maryland. On September 14th near Fox's Gap in the foothills of South Mountain the 9th Corp. was attempting to push Confederate forces off the slopes of South Mountain. General Reno fell during this attempt.

Answer: Antietam, Md.

(1803-1862) General Mansfield was born in New Haven, Conn. on December 22nd. He entered a military academy at age 13 and graduated five years later in 1822. The next 20 years Mansfield a engineer, helped build defenses along the southern coast. During the Mexican War he served as chief engineer for General Zachary Taylor.

In 1853 Secretary of War, Jefferson Davis, nominated him for Staff Col. in the Inspector General's Department which he held untill the Civil War broke out. On April 28th, 1861 he took command of the Department of Washington, D.C. and soon was promoted to Brig. General. Before leaving this position he helped secure Washington by taking over and fortifying positions on the Virginia side of the Potomac River.

In March of 1862 he served at Fort Monroe and in operations near Suffolk.

In September he helped chase the invading R. E. Lee at Fredrick, Md. Five days later the fighting at Antietam began. While commanding troops, Mansfield and his men ran into concealed Confederate troops.

As firing started, thinking the troops were Federal soldiers, Mansfield went to the front to stop the shooting. He fell as a reult of a stomach wound and was carried to a field hospital where he died the next day. He was promoted posthumously to Major General.

Answer: Fredricksburg, Va.

(1835-1862) General Bayard was born at Seneca Falls, NY on the 18th of December. He was raised in the Iowa Territory when his pioneering family went west. He graduated from West Point in 1856 ranked 11th in his class. He received a 2nd Lieutenant's bars in the cavalry.

He spent the next five years fighting indians on the Kansas and Colorado frontiers. In September of 1861 while teaching cavalry tactics at West Point he was promoted to Col. in the 1st Penn. Cavalry and assigned duties in the defense of Washington, DC. On April 28th, 1862 he was promoted to Brig. General and appointed Chief of Cavalry in the 3rd Corp. Among other battles, he fought in the Shenandoah Valley, at Fort Republic, and at Cedar Mountain. On December 13th 1862 while at the headquarters of W. B. Franklin he was badly wounded by an enemy artillery round and died the next day.

Answer: Antietam, Md.

(1815-1862) General Richardson was born in Fairfax, Va. on December 26th. He graduated from West Point in 1841. Prior to the Civil War he fought in the Seminole Wars, the Mexican War, and spent some time on frontier duty. He resigned from the army in 1855 to become a farmer in Michigan.

When the Civil War came he was involved in many conflicts including First Bull Run, The Peninsula, Yorktown, the Seven Pines, and the Seven Days fighting. Finally, at Antietam, while attacking the enemy center, while supervising his artillery he was wounded.

Not considering it serious he didn't bother with it but later died from his wounds while at General McClellan's headquarters. I hope all of you enjoyed the quiz and maybe learned a little more about some of the men who fought in the Civil War.

There is a companion quiz on 10 Confederate Generals KIA, if you enjoyed this one.