Major General John Sedgwick
Commanding, Sixth Army Corps

The monument to Major General John Sedgwick is south of Gettysburg on Sedgwick Avenue. see map

The statue was created by Henry K. Bush-Brown, who also created the equestrian statues of Generals Meade and Reynolds at Gettysburg as well as the bust of Lincoln on the Lincoln Speech Memorial.

From the tablets on both sides of monument:

Major General John Sedgwick
In command of
The Sixth Corps Army of the Potomac
at Chancellorsville, Gettysburg,
The Wilderness, and Spotsylvania.
Born at Cornwall, Conn. September 13th 1813.
Killed at Spotsylvania, Va. May 9th 1864

Erected by the State of Connecticut
In grateful memory of the service
given to the nation by her honored son
John Sedgwick
Loyal citizen, Illustrious soldier
Beloved commander

John Sedgwick graduated from West Point in 1837 and served in a variety of posts, including the armies of both Taylor and Scott during the Mexican War. In 1855 he became the major of the 1st Cavalry, whose colonel was Robert E. Lee. Sedgwick took over from Lee as Colonel when Lee resigned his commission.

Sedgwick went on to command a division in the Peninsula, where he was wounded, and was wounded three more times and distinguished for gallantry at Antietam. He briefly commanded the 11th Corps before being given the 6th Corps, and performed very well during the Chancellorsville campaign.

At Gettysburg the 6th Corps was the last to arrive on the field after an epic 30 mile night and day march. Although much of the corps remained in reserve during the battle, various portions were committed as needed at scattered points about the field. At one point Sedgwick found himself commanding units on both the extreme right and left flanks of the army.

After Gettysburg Sedgwick continued to distinguish himself and the 6th Corps. He was killed by a sharpshooter at Spottsylvania on May 9, 1864 shortly after telling announcing that "they couldn't hit an elephant at this distance." He was the senior U.S. officer killed in the war.

A lifelong bachelor, Sedgwick was buried at Cornwall Hollow.

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