According to Harper’s Weekly, 150 years ago today a statue of Union General John Sedgwick was dedicated at West Point. At least as of 2008 the monument was still standing.
Harper’s Weekly October 24, 1868
Harper’s Weekly October 24, 1868
aging greenfully
“Uncle John”
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John Sedgwick was killed at Spotsylvania on May 9, 1864. As the general was trying to encourage his men who were under fire from Confederate sharpshooters, his next to last words were: “They couldn’t hit an elephant at this distance.” He got shot under his eye moments later and died.
Related to the “you never know” theme is the experience of the New York 33rd Infantry, a two year regiment which served in the Sixth Corps from May 1862 and was scheduled to muster out around the end of May 1863. The regiment took relatively few casualties until early May 1863 with less than a month left for the two year soldiers. During the Chancellorsville Campaign the 33rd suffered heavy losses during the battles of Second of Fredericksburg and Salem Church. John Sedwick had become the Sixth Corps’ commander by then.
In the aftermath of the American Civil War Harper’s Weekly has also been showing pictures of monuments dedicated to all the soldiers of particular localities.
The paper’s October 24, 1868 issue published the information about the Sedgwick monument. Read all about at the Internet Archive. I got the portrait and Ahodges7’s December 2008 photo of the statue at West Point from Wikipedia. The 33rd’s table of casualties can be found at the New York State Military Museum.
New York 33rd Infantry casualties
October 22, 2018: I just found out that Harper’s also covered the actual unveiling on October 21, 1868:
Harper’s Weekly November 7, 1868 page 717
