Cornwall Hollow, Litchfield, Connecticut

Grave of Maj Gen John Sedgwick, New Cornwall Hollow, Connecticut, July 1906
New Haven Colony Historical Society MSS-B46 Box 19 Folder E Photo 5027

Monument to Maj Gen John Sedgwick, Cornwall Hollow, Connecticut, photo June 1906
New Haven Colony Historical Society Sedgwick Collection MSS-B46 Box 19 Folder E
The monument is across the road from the cemetery.

Inscription front side:

JOHN SEDGWICK

MAJOR GENERAL

US ARMY

THIS MEMORIAL INCLUDING ORDNANCE USED IN MEXICAN AND CIVIL WARS
AND GIVEN BY THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES IS IN HONOUR OF
MAJOR GENERAL JOHN SEDGWICK

COMMANDER OF THE SIXTH CORPS
ARMY OF THE POTOMAC
WHO GAVE HIS LIFE FOR THE PRESERVATION OF THE UNION

A SKILLED SOLDIER
A BRAVE LEADER
A BELOVED COMMANDER
AND A LOYAL GENTLEMAN

THE FITTEST PLACE WHERE MAN CAN DIE IS WHERE MAN DIES FOR MAN

Inscriptions on back side - Sedgwick's battle engagements:

VERA CRUZ
CERRO GORDO
PUEBLA
CHERUBUSCO
MOLINO DEL REY
MEXICO

FAIR OAKS
ANTIETAM
FREDERICKSBURG
GETTYSBURG
THE WILDERNESS
SPOTTSYLVANIA

Newer photos, courtesy Grace (Kronmiller) Kehlet:

General John Sedgwick's House at Cornwall (behind the cemetery)

Gettysburg National Park, Pennsylvania

Monument to Maj Gen John Sedgwick, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
Grace (Kronmiller) Kehlet

Inscription right (south, visible) side:

ERECTED BY THE STATE OF CONNECTICUT
IN GRATEFUL MEMORY OF THE SERVICE
GIVEN TO THE NATION BY HER HONORED SON
JOHN SEDGWICK
LOYAL CITIZEN, ILLUSTRIOUS SOLDIER
BELOVED COMMANDER

Inscription left (north, hidden) side:

MAJOR GENERAL JOHN SEDGWICK
IN COMMAND OF
THE SIXTH CORP ARMY OF THE POTOMAC
AT CHANCELLORSVILLE, GETTYSBURG,
THE WILDERNESS, AND SPOTSYLVANIA
BORN AT CORNWALL, CONN. SEPTEMBER 13TH 1813
KILLED AT SPOTSYLVANIA, VA. MAY 9TH 1864

Monument to Maj Gen John Sedgwick, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, photo July 1963
Stephen Schall's parents

United States Military Academy, West Point, Orange, New York

Monument to Maj Gen John Sedgwick, United States Military Academy, West Point

"This memorial to Major General John Sedgwick from the members of his last command, the 6th Army Corps, was dedicated in 1868. Sedgwick was an 1837 USMA graduate who fought in many of the major battles of the Mexican War. During the Civil War Battle of the Wilderness, he rallied his soldiers to victory. Sedgwick was later killed at the Battle of Spottsylvania in 1864. His statue reportedly was cast from the Confederate cannon captured by his 6th Corps."

"Legend holds that if a cadet is deficient in academics, the cadet should go to the monument at midnight the night before the term-end examination, in full dress, under arms, and spin the rowels on the monument’s spurs. With luck, the cadet will pass the test."

Photo and text quoted from the website of the United States Military Academy, used by permission.
To view it there, click here and select it from the list of monuments.

Spotsylvania, Spotsylvania, Virginia

Monument to Maj Gen John Sedgwick, Spotsylvania, Virginia, photo abt 1995
Taken by Melvin Jones, whose great grandfather S.B. Cummins Diary was at the scene when General Sedgwick was killed. For his eyewitness account, see the S.B. Cummins Diary at http://pasty.com/book/diary.html.

Inscription::

THE DEATH OF SEDGWICK

Maj. Gen. John Sedgwick, commander of the Sixth Corps, was one of the most popular senior officers in the Army of the Potomac. On the morning of May 9, 1864, Sedgwick arrived here to direct some minor redeployment of his troops. Ignoring warnings from his chief-of-staff, Sedgwick stalked about admonishing his men to cease worrying about the occasional fire of Confederate sharpshooters concealed in the woodline far to your front. "I am ashamed of you. dodging that way," scolded Segdwick. "They couldn't hit an elephant at this distance." Shortly thereafter, a bullet slammed into the General's face, killing him almost instantly.

The shot that killed John Sedgwick, the highest-ranking Northern officer to die on a Civil War battlefield, came from a Whitworth rifle at a distance of more than 500 yards. The identity of the marksman who fired the fatal shot remains a mystery, although at least five Confederate soldiers later claimed responsibility.

See also this account of The Death of General John Sedgwick

Liberty Ship SS John Sedgwick, built during World War II