Everything about Gordon Granger totally explained
Gordon Granger (
November 6,
1822 –
January 10,
1876) was a career U.S. army officer and a
Union Major General during the
American Civil War.
Early life & Mexico
Granger was born in Joy,
Wayne County, New York, in 1822. He graduated from the
United States Military Academy in 1845. During the
Mexican-American War, he fought in
Winfield Scott's army. Between wars, he served on the
western frontier.
Civil War service
Granger's first fight in the Civil War was the Union defeat at
Wilson's Creek, Missouri, in August 1861, where he was in command of a volunteer regiment of cavalry. He was promoted to
brigadier general of volunteers on
March 26,
1862, and commanded the Cavalry Division in the
Army of the Mississippi during the
Battle of New Madrid and the
Siege of Corinth. He was promoted to
major general of volunteers on
September 17,
1862, and took command of the
Army of Kentucky. He conducted cavalry operations in central Tennessee before his command was merged into the
Army of the Cumberland, becoming the Reserve Corps.
He is most famous for his actions commanding the Reserve Corps at the
Battle of Chickamauga. There on
September 20,
1863, the second day of the battle, he reinforced, without orders, Major General
George H. Thomas's XIV Corps on Snodgrass Hill. This action staved off the Confederate attackers until dark, permitting the Federal forces to retreat in good order and helping earn the sobriquet "Rock of Chickamauga" for Thomas.
Granger's success at Chickamaugua earned him command of the newly formed
IV Corps in the
Army of the Cumberland. Under his command, this force distinguished itself at the third
Battle of Chattanooga. Two of the IV Corps' divisions, those commanded by
Thomas J. Wood and
Philip Sheridan, were among the force of units that assaulted the reinforced center of the Confederate line on top of
Missionary Ridge. There, the Union forces broke through and forced the
Confederates, under
General Braxton Bragg, to retreat. After Chattanooga, Granger took part in lifting the siege at
Knoxville, Tennessee. Despite these successes, his outspokenness prevented him from gaining more prominent commands. Nevertheless, he was sent to the Department of the Gulf and continued to lead troops and gain recognition. He commanded the land forces that captured
Forts Gaines and
Morgan in conjunction with the Union naval victory at the
Battle of Mobile Bay. He commanded the
XIII Corps during the
Battle of Fort Blakely, which led to the fall of the city of
Mobile, Alabama.
Postbellum
When the war ended, Granger remained in the Army, and was given command of the Department of Texas. On
June 19,
1865 in the city of
Galveston he declared the institution of slavery dead in the state, setting off joyous demonstrations by freedmen and originating the annual "
Juneteenth" celebration, which commemorates the freeing of the blacks in Texas.
In 1876, Granger died in
Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he was serving in command of the District of New Mexico. He is buried at
Lexington Cemetery in
Kentucky.
Further Information
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