Samuel Wylie Crawford (November 8, 1829 – November 3, 1892) was a

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

surgeon and a

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

general in the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

. He served as a surgeon at

Fort Sumter, South Carolina Fort Sumter is a sea fort built on an artificial island protecting Charleston, South Carolina from naval invasion. Its origin dates to the War of 1812 when the British invaded Washington by sea. It was still incomplete in 1861 when the Battle ...

during the confederate bombardment in 1861. He transferred to the infantry early in the war and led a brigade at Cedar Mountain which routed a division that included Stonewall Jackson’s unit, though it was later driven back. He was severely wounded at

Antietam The Battle of Antietam (), or Battle of Sharpsburg particularly in the Southern United States, was a battle of the American Civil War fought on September 17, 1862, between Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia and Union G ...

and returned to action at Gettysburg, where his division drove the Confederates out of "the valley of Death" beside

Little Round Top Little Round Top is the smaller of two rocky hills south of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania—the companion to the adjacent, taller hill named Big Round Top. It was the site of an unsuccessful assault by Confederate troops against the Union left f ...

, with Crawford dramatically seizing the colors and leading from the front. The preservation of the battlefield, however, is largely due to his efforts. During the

Battle of Five Forks The Battle of Five Forks was fought on April 1, 1865, southwest of Petersburg, Virginia, around the road junction of Five Forks, Dinwiddie County, at the end of the Siege of Petersburg, near the conclusion of the American Civil War. The Union ...

, his division went astray which caused his corps commander, Maj. Gen.

Gouverneur K. Warren Gouverneur Kemble Warren (January 8, 1830 – August 8, 1882) was an American civil engineer and Union Army general during the American Civil War. He is best remembered for arranging the last-minute defense of Little Round Top during the Battle ...

, to miss the attack while searching for them – one of the pretexts used by

Philip Sheridan General of the Army Philip Henry Sheridan (March 6, 1831 – August 5, 1888) was a career United States Army officer and a Union general in the American Civil War. His career was noted for his rapid rise to major general and his close as ...

for his controversial removal of Warren. Crawford was present for Robert E. Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House in April 1865 which made him one of the few soldiers to be present at both the beginning and the end of the Civil War.

Early life

Crawford was born in

Franklin County, Pennsylvania Franklin County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 155,932 Its county seat is Chambersburg. Franklin County comprises the Chambersburg–Waynesboro, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area, whi ...

. He graduated from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

in 1846 and the

University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine The Perelman School of Medicine, commonly known as Penn Med, is the medical school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1765, the Perelman School of Medicine is the oldest medi ...

in 1850. He joined the U.S. Army as an assistant surgeon in 1851 and served in that capacity for ten years.

Civil War

Crawford was the surgeon on duty at

, during the Confederate bombardment in 1861, which represented the start of the Civil War. Despite his purely medical background, he was in command of several of the artillery pieces returning fire from the fort. A month after Fort Sumter, Crawford decided on a fundamental career change and accepted a commission as a major in the 13th U.S. Infantry. He served as Assistant Inspector General of the

Department of the Ohio The Department of the Ohio was an administrative military district created by the United States War Department early in the American Civil War to administer the troops in the Northern states near the Ohio River. 1st Department 1861–1862 Gener ...

starting in September 1861. He was promoted to

brigadier general Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

of volunteers on April 25, 1862, and led a brigade in the Department of the Shenandoah under Major General

Nathaniel Banks Nathaniel Prentice (or Prentiss) Banks (January 30, 1816 – September 1, 1894) was an American politician from Massachusetts and a Union Army, Union general during the American Civil War, Civil War. A millworker by background, Banks was promine ...

. The brigade participated in the Valley Campaign but saw no actual combat. Its first taste of battle was during the Northern Virginia Campaign, when it was assigned to the

Army of Virginia The Army of Virginia was organized as a major unit of the Union Army and operated briefly and unsuccessfully in 1862 in the American Civil War. It should not be confused with its principal opponent, the Confederate Army of ''Northern'' Virginia ...

under

Maj. Gen. Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

John Pope. At the

Battle of Cedar Mountain The Battle of Cedar Mountain, also known as Slaughter's Mountain or Cedar Run, took place on August 9, 1862, in Culpeper County, Virginia, as part of the American Civil War. Union forces under Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks attacked Confederate ...

, Crawford's brigade launched a surprise attack upon the Confederate left, routing a division that included the

Stonewall Brigade The Stonewall Brigade of the Confederate Army during the American Civil War, was a famous combat unit in United States military history. It was trained and first led by General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson, a professor from Virginia Military ...

. The Confederates counterattacked, however, and Crawford's brigade, which was unsupported by other units, was driven back with 50% casualties. At the Battle of Antietam, Crawford temporarily commanded his division when Brig. Gen. Alpheus S. Williams was elevated to command the XII Corps. Crawford's temporary command was short, however, when he was wounded in the right thigh. He stayed on the field until he became weak from loss of blood and had to be carried off. The wound took eight months to heal properly and he was unable to return to the field until May 1863, when he was given command of the Pennsylvania Reserves Division in the defenses of

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

In commanding this division, Crawford was following in the footsteps of two Union Army luminaries: John F. Reynolds and

George G. Meade George Gordon Meade (December 31, 1815 – November 6, 1872) was a United States Army officer and civil engineer best known for decisively defeating Confederate General Robert E. Lee at the Battle of Gettysburg in the American Civil War. H ...

In June 1863, the Pennsylvania Reserves Division was added to the

Army of the Potomac The Army of the Potomac was the principal Union Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. It was created in July 1861 shortly after the First Battle of Bull Run and was disbanded in June 1865 following the surrender of the Confede ...

for the Gettysburg Campaign. Crawford was in a difficult situation. His training was as a surgeon, not as an infantry officer, and although he had experience at the brigade level, his eight-month recuperation meant that his skills were at minimal levels at the start of a critical campaign. Furthermore, the troops of his division had just spent six months on easy garrison duty around Washington and were not fully combat ready. On July 2, 1863, Crawford and his division arrived at Gettysburg in the rear of the V Corps, led by Maj. Gen.

George Sykes George Sykes (October 9, 1822 – February 8, 1880) was a career United States Army officer and a Union General during the American Civil War. He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1842, and served in numerous conflicts, ...

. He was ordered to the front to assist the brigade of Col.

Strong Vincent Strong Vincent (June 17, 1837 – July 7, 1863) was a lawyer who became famous as a U.S. Army officer during the American Civil War. He was mortally wounded while leading his brigade during the fighting at Little Round Top on the second day of ...

, but the battle had already petered out by the time his division arrived. Meanwhile, the Confederate troops of Lt. Gen. James Longstreet's Corps had swept through the

Devil's Den Devil's Den is a boulder-strewn hill on the south end of Houck's Ridge at Gettysburg Battlefield, used by artillery and sharpshooters on the second day of the 1863 Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War. A tourist attraction since ...

, driving the Union defenders back to Plum Run, a stream just to the west of Little Round Top, and an area that became known to the soldiers as "the Valley of Death". Crawford's division swept down the slope of Little Round Top along with the brigades of Colonels

William McCandless William McCandless (September 29, 1834 – June 17, 1884) was an American military officer and politician from Pennsylvania. He served in the Union Army during the American Civil War and commanded a regiment and then a brigade in the Pennsylva ...

and David J. Nevin. McCandless's brigade led the charge, but Crawford apparently desired some of the glory and seized his own division's colors from a surprised sergeant to lead them in the charge, too. The charge was successful, meeting little resistance, and the Confederates were driven from the Valley of Death. Samuel-Crawford-Monument-Getty-02

Crawford remained in command of the Pennsylvania Reserve Division in the V Corps for the rest of the war. In the Richmond–Petersburg Campaign he also commanded a garrison in the siege that consisted of his first two brigades, a division from the IX Corps, and a few other regiments and artillery units; his third brigade was temporarily assigned to another V Corps division. On December 12, 1864, President

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

nominated Crawford for appointment to the brevet grade of major general, to rank from August 1, 1864, and the U.S. Senate confirmed the nomination on February 14, 1865. On August 18, he was wounded at the chest in the action at the Weldon Railroad. He received a brevet promotion to brigadier general in the

regular army A regular army is the official army of a state or country (the official armed forces), contrasting with irregular forces, such as volunteer irregular militias, private armies, mercenaries, etc. A regular army usually has the following: * a standin ...

for the

and to major general on March 13, 1865. At Five Forks, his division drifted away through heavy woods from the main attack on the Confederate left. Maj. Gen.

, commander of V Corps, personally rode off to retrieve Crawford's division. His absence during the attack was one of the reasons cited by Maj. Gen.

to relieve Warren. Although Crawford was the senior general in the corps, Sheridan named a more junior officer (Brig. Gen.

Charles Griffin Charles Griffin (December 18, 1825 – September 15, 1867) was a career officer in the United States Army and a Union general in the American Civil War. He rose to command a corps in the Army of the Potomac and fought in many of the key campaign ...

) to replace Warren. Crawford was present for Robert E. Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House in April 1865, making him one of the few soldiers to be present at both the beginning and the effective end of the Civil War.

Postbellum life

Crawford retired from the Army on February 19, 1873, and was given the rank of brigadier general, U.S. Army Retired. He authored the book ''The Genesis of the Civil War'', published in 1887. He died in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, and was interred in

Laurel Hill Cemetery Laurel Hill Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery in the East Falls neighborhood of Philadelphia. Founded in 1836, it was the second major rural cemetery in the United States after Mount Auburn Cemetery in Boston, Massachusetts. The cemetery is ...

Legacy

In 1988, a statue of Crawford was dedicated at Gettysburg depicting him clutching a bullet-riddled American flag.

Bibliography

The Genesis of the Civil War - The Story of Sumter 1860-1861
New York, Charles L. Webster & Company, 1887

Citations

Sources

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Crawford, Samuel W. 1829 births 1892 deaths 19th-century American people Union Army surgeons Burials at Laurel Hill Cemetery (Philadelphia) Pennsylvania Reserves People from Franklin County, Pennsylvania People of Pennsylvania in the American Civil War Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania alumni Union Army generals Writers from Pennsylvania