John Reynolds was a career United States Army officer and a famous general in the Civil War. He was one of the Union Army's most respected senior commanders and played a key role in committing the Army of the Potomac to the Battle of Gettysburg.
He was killed on Day 1 of Gettysburg, and his death was a serious blow to the Union Army.
Reynolds was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1841.
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He served in the Mexican-American War and the Indian Wars. In 1861, he was commissioned a brigadier general of volunteers and given command of a brigade of Pennsylvania Reserves.
He was promoted to major general in 1862 and given command of the I Corps of the Army of the Potomac.
At the Battle of Gettysburg, Reynolds arrived on the field early on July 1, 1863, and quickly assessed the situation.
He ordered his troops to engage the advancing Confederate forces and personally led the 2nd Wisconsin Infantry Regiment into battle. He was shot and killed during the fighting, becoming the highest-ranking Union officer to be killed at Gettysburg.
Despite the setback of his death, his decision to commit his troops to battle west of Gettysburg set the course of the fighting, and his death helped to ensure that the Union Army would ultimately win the battle.
After Reynolds' death, command of the I Corps passed to Major General Abner Doubleday. Doubleday would go on to lead the corps through the rest of the Battle of Gettysburg, and he would later be promoted to brevet major general.
Family Overview
The Reynolds family was a well-known family in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and even had ties to President James Buchanan.
John Reynolds's grandfather had migrated from Ireland to Lancaster, where the family stayed for many generations and still have descendants there.
Despite his parents having many children, the men did not reproduce any children. Much of this was due to them being military men, and each of the boys who served in the military spent their careers traveling and being away from their spouses.
The daughters of John's parents produced seven children, with some of the children bearing their brother's names.
John met and was engaged to a lady, but they never were married due to his death at Gettysburg.
Family Tree Chart
John Reynolds (1787 - 1853) - He was for many years editor of the Lancaster Journal before it became consolidated with the Intelligencer. After his retirement from editorial work, he was chosen guardian of the children of Thomas B. Coleman and assumed charge of the famous Coleman Iron Works at Cornwall, Lebanon County, until 1847. He was a member of the Legislature from Lancaster in 1822 and 1823.
Lydia Moore (1794 - 1843) - She was the daughter of Captain Moore, who fought in the Pennsylvania Line during the American Revolution. She went on to marry and give birth to 13 children. Many would fight in the Civil War.
Spouse:
None - He was secretly engaged to Katherine May Hewitt. Since they were from different religious denominations-Reynolds was a Protestant, Hewitt a Catholic-the engagement was kept a secret, and Hewitt's parents did not learn about it until after Reynolds' death.
Children: None
Siblings:
Samuel Moore Reynolds (1814 - 1888) - Civil War Union Army Officer. Served during the Civil War as Major and Paymaster, US Volunteers. He was brevetted Lieutenant Colonel, USV. He married but did not have any children.
William Reynolds (1815 - 1879) - Civil War Union Naval Officer. In 1831, at the age of 18, he was appointed a Naval midshipman by Pennsylvania congressman (and later president) James Buchanan. Just prior to the Civil War, Reynolds served in the Hawaiian Islands in the Pacific Ocean. During the Civil War, he served as a commander on the "USS New Hampshire" in the Union Navy's blockade of southern ports. After the war, he served in a number of posts, rising to the rank of Rear Admiral. Reynolds was given command of the Asiatic Station (which is equivalent to serving as Commander-in-Chief of the Pacific Fleet in the contemporary Navy) until his retirement on December 10, 1877. When he died, he was buried next to his brother John.
Jane Moore Reynolds (1817) - she died as an infant
Lydia Moore Reynolds (1818 - 1896) - She would be the first of the Reynolds family to give her parents grandchildren. She married and had four children.
James Lefevre Reynolds (1822 - 1880) - After a collegiate course at Marshall College, Mercersburg, he entered as a student-at-law in the office of John R. Montgomery, Esq., Lancaster, but completed his studies with John Weidman, Lebanon, Pennsylvania. He was admitted to the Lancaster Bar on November 22, 1844. In 1854, Governor Packer offered him a position on the Supreme Bench, but he did not accept. In 1862, he was appointed superintendent of the draft. On November 6, 1863, Governor Curtin appointed him quartermaster-general for Pennsylvania, and he served in that capacity until the end of the war. In 1872, he was elected on the Republican ticket, a member at large of the Convention which framed the Constitution of 1874.
Catherine Ferree Reynolds (1825 - 1905) - She was the younger sister of Union General John Fulton Reynolds and Admiral William Reynolds. She married Captain Henry D. Landis on August 8, 1854. The two had three children together.
Edward Reynolds (1827 - 1828) - He died at 8 months old.
Anne Elizabeth Reynolds (1827 - 1832) - She died at 4 years of age. She would be the third of the Reynolds children to die before she reached adulthood.
Edward B Reynolds (1829) - He died as an infant.
Harriet Sumner Reynolds (1822 - 1880) - She never married but was born and grew up in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Eleanor Reynolds (1835 - 1923) - She never married and died in Washington, D.C.