John Fulton Reynolds
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1820-1863
John Fulton Reynolds was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania on September
20, 1820, the son of John and Lydia Moore Reynolds. He graduated from
West Point in 1841, ranking 26th in a class of 52. His career in the
Regular Army included the usual succession of assignments to garrison
duty, punctuated by service in the Mexican War, the Utah Expedition,
and various campaigns against the Indians. He received two brevet
promotions for gallantry and meritorious conduct during the Mexican
War. In 1860 he was appointed commandant of cadets and instructor of
tactics at West Point, where he served until the outbreak of the war.
On May 14, 1861, Reynolds was promoted and assigned as lieutenant
colonel of the newly activated 14th U.S. Infantry. He was promoted to
brigadier general of volunteers on August 26th. He commanded troops
in the defense of Washington, served as military governor of
Fredericksburg, then took command of a brigade in the Army of the
Potomac in June of 1862. Reynolds was captured by the Confederates
after falling asleep and being cut off from his troops after the
battle of Gaines' Mill (June 28, 1862), and was exchanged in August.
He commanded a division of the Pennsylvania Reserves at Second
Manassas and led the Pennsylvania militia during the Maryland
campaign.
Promoted to major general, U.S. Volunteers on November 29, 1862,
Reynolds commanded the First Corps of the Army of the Potomac at
Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville. Before being relieved of command
of the Army of the Potomac three days before Gettysburg, Joe Hooker
placed Reynolds in command of the three corps which formed the left
wing of the army. When Buford's cavalry encountered significant
Confederate forces at Gettysburg on July 1, 1863, Reynolds
immediately rushed his First Corps into action and ordered up the
other two corps under his command. While personally directing the
deployment of the famous Iron Brigade, he was struck down by a rifle
bullet, dying almost instantly.
John Fulton Reynolds was the epitome of the thoroughly competent,
completely reliable, hard-fighting officer of the "Old Army."
Possessed of considerable personal courage and an excellent tactical
sense, he was trusted and respected by both his subordinates and his
superiors. Joe Hooker called him "the ablest officer" under his
command. Perhaps the highest compliment paid him was the nickname
bestowed on him by his troops: "Old Common Sense." On the first day
of the battle of Gettysburg, the Union Army lost one of its most
solidly capable general officers.
