Samuel W. Crawford
| Samuel Wylie Crawford, Jr. | |
|---|---|
Samuel W. Crawford
|
|
| Born |
November 8, 1829 Franklin County, Pennsylvania |
| Died | November 3, 1892 (aged 62) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Place of burial | Laurel Hill Cemetery |
| Allegiance |
United States of America Union |
| Service/branch |
United States Army Union Army |
| Years of service | 1851–1873 |
| Rank |
 Brigadier General Brevet Major General
|
| Commands held | Pennsylvania Reserves |
| Battles/wars | |
| Other work | author |
Samuel Wylie Crawford (November 8, 1829 – November 3, 1892) was a United States Army surgeon and a Union general in the American Civil War.
Transferring to the infantry early in the war, he led a brigade at Cedar Mountain which routed a division that included Stonewall Jackson’s unit, though it was later driven back. Severely wounded at Antietam, he was back in action at Gettysburg, where his division drove the Confederates out of ‘Death Valley’ beside Little Round Top, with Crawford dramatically seizing the colours and leading from the front. Although this was a relatively minor engagement, Crawford tried for years to become officially acknowledged as the sole saviour of Gettysburg, but without success. The preservation of the battlefield, however, is largely due to his efforts.
In the last days of the war, his division went astray at Five Forks, causing his corps commander, Maj. Gen. Gouverneur K. Warren, to miss the attack while searching for them - one of the pretexts used by Sheridan for his controversial sacking of Warren.
Crawford was born in Franklin County, Pennsylvania. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1846 and the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in 1850. He joined the U.S. Army as an assistant surgeon in 1851 and served in that capacity for ten years.
Crawford was the surgeon on duty at Fort Sumter, South Carolina, 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 starting in September 1861. He was promoted to brigadier general of volunteers on April 25, 1862, and led a brigade in the Department of the Shenandoah, participating in the Valley Campaign against Stonewall Jackson, but the brigade saw no actual combat. Its first taste of battle was during the Northern Virginia Campaign, when it was assigned to the Army of Virginia under Maj. Gen. John Pope. At the Battle of Cedar Mountain, Crawford's brigade launched a surprise attack upon the Confederate left, routing a division that included the Stonewall Brigade. The Confederates counterattacked, however, and Crawford's brigade, which was unsupported by other units, was driven back with 50% casualties.
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