Charles Griffin (general)

Charles Griffin
Maj. Gen. Charles Griffin
Born	(1825-12-18)December 18, 1825 Granville, Ohio
Died	September 15, 1867(1867-09-15) (aged 41) Galveston, Texas
Place of burial	Oak Hill Cemetery, Washington, D.C.
Allegiance	United States of America Union
Service/branch	United States Army Union Army
Years of service	1847–1867
Rank	Major General
Commands held	V Corps
Battles/wars	Mexican-American War American Civil War First Battle of Bull Run Peninsula Campaign Second Battle of Bull Run Battle of Antietam Battle of Fredericksburg Battle of Chancellorsville Battle of Gettysburg Overland Campaign Siege of Petersburg Battle of Five Forks Appomattox Campaign

Mexican-American War American Civil War

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 campaigns in the Eastern Theater.

After the war, he commanded the Department of Texas during Reconstruction. He was an ardent supporter of the Congressional policies of the Radical Republicans and of freedmen's rights, and controversially disqualified a number of antebellum state officeholders in Texas, replacing them with loyal Unionists.

Griffin was born in Granville, Ohio, the son of Apollos Griffin. He attended the nearby Kenyon College in Gambier, and graduated from the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York, placing 23rd out of 38 in the Class of 1847. Commissioned as a brevet second lieutenant, he served with the 2nd U.S. Artillery during the final campaign of the Mexican-American War.

He was promoted to first lieutenant in 1849 and served in the New Mexico Territory against Navajo Indians until 1854, when he left the Southwest frontier. He then taught artillery tactics at West Point, forming an artillery battery from the academy's enlisted men shortly after the Southern states began seceding from the Union.