Elon J. Farnsworth

This article is about the Civil War general. For the Michigan politician, see Elon Farnsworth (Michigan Attorney General).

Elon John Farnsworth

Born	(1837-07-30)July 30, 1837 Green Oak, Michigan
Died	July 3, 1863(1863-07-03) (aged 25) Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
Place of burial	Rockton Cemetery, Rockton, Illinois
Allegiance	United States of America Union
Service/branch	United States Army Union Army
Years of service	1861–1863
Rank	Brigadier General
Commands held	8th Illinois Cavalry Regiment 1st Brigade, 3rd Division, Cavalry Corps, Army of the Potomac
Battles/wars	Utah War American Civil War Battle of Chancellorsville Battle of Gettysburg †
Signature

Elon John Farnsworth (July 30, 1837 – July 3, 1863) was a Union Army cavalry general in the American Civil War, killed at the Battle of Gettysburg.

Early life and career

Farnsworth was born in Green Oak, Michigan, nephew of John F. Farnsworth, a prominent politician in the Democratic Party who later became a Republican, also serving as a Civil War general. His family moved to Illinois in 1854. A member of the Chi Psi Fraternity, Farnsworth was expelled from the University of Michigan following a drinking party in which a classmate died after being thrown from a window.^[1] He joined the army as a civilian foragemaster and served on the staff of Albert Sidney Johnston during the Utah War of 1857–1858. He also worked as a buffalo hunter and scout in the Colorado Territory.

Civil War

At the outbreak of the Civil War, Farnsworth was appointed a first lieutenant in the 8th Illinois Cavalry, the regiment commanded by his uncle, serving with distinction throughout the early stages of the war. Being promoted to captain on December 25, 1861, he was made Assistant Chief Quartermaster of the IV Corps, and in early 1863, he served as aide-de-camp to Brig. Gen. Alfred Pleasonton through the Battle of Chancellorsville and early stages of the Gettysburg Campaign. On June 29, 1863, just two days before the Battle of Gettysburg, he was promoted to brigadier general of volunteers by Pleasonton, although this appointment was never confirmed by the United States Senate. He was given command of 1st Brigade, 3rd Division, Cavalry Corps, Army of the Potomac.

Death at Gettysburg

South Cavalry Field at Gettysburg

Confederate

Union

After the collapse of Pickett's Charge and the defeat of Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart's Confederate cavalry on July 3, the third day of the Battle of Gettysburg, Brig. Gen. Hugh Judson Kilpatrick, commanding the 3rd Division, ordered Farnsworth to make a charge with his brigade against Confederate positions south of the Devil's Den area of the battlefield, below Little Round Top. Farnsworth initially balked, arguing there was no hope of success, and only agreed to it when Kilpatrick allegedly accused him of cowardice. Farnsworth made the charge, against elements of John B. Hood's division, under Evander M. Law (Hood having been wounded the previous day). Farnsworth rode with the second battalion of the 1st Vermont Cavalry, alongside Maj. William Wells.

The charge was repulsed with heavy losses, and Farnsworth himself was shot five times in the chest. An account by Confederate Colonel William C. Oates claimed that Farnsworth was surrounded by Confederate soldiers and committed suicide to avoid capture, but this has been disputed by other witnesses and discounted by most historians.^[2] Kilpatrick received much criticism for ordering the charge, but no official action was taken against him.

Farnsworth is buried in Rockton Cemetery, Rockton, Illinois.

Memorials

Battery Farnsworth, a coastal defense built between 1897 and 1899 near Fort Constitution at New Castle, New Hampshire, was named in his honor.

Notes

↑ Petruzzi, J. David, "Elon J. Farnsworth", Faded Hoofbeats blog, June 13, 2007.
↑ Wert, p. 278: "Subsequent accounts by Confederates alleging that he had committed suicide are bogus."

References

Boatner, Mark Mayo, III. The Civil War Dictionary. New York: McKay, 1988. ISBN 0-8129-1726-X. First published 1959 by McKay.
Eicher, John H., and David J. Eicher. Civil War High Commands. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2001. ISBN 0-8047-3641-3.
Symonds, Craig L. American Heritage History of the Battle of Gettysburg. New York: HarperCollins, 2001. ISBN 0-06-019474-X.
Wert, Jeffry D. Gettysburg: Day Three. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2001. ISBN 0-684-85914-9.

External links

"Elon J. Farnsworth". Find a Grave. Retrieved August 15, 2010.
"Farnsworth, John Franklin". Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. 1900.

Gettysburg figures

Confederate leaders	Lee Alexander R. Anderson G. Anderson Archer Armistead Barksdale Benning Brockenbrough Chambliss Daniel Davis Doles Early Ewell Garnett Gordon Hampton Hays Heth Hill Hood Humphreys Imboden Iverson Jenkins Johnson J. Jones W. Jones Kemper Kershaw Lane Law F. Lee W. Lee Longstreet Mahone Marshall McLaws O'Neal Oates Pender Pettigrew Perrin Pickett Posey Ramseur Robertson Rodes Scales Semmes Smith G. Steuart J. E. B. Stuart Thomas Trimble J. Walker R. Walker Wilcox Wofford Wright

Union leaders	Meade Ames Ayres Barlow Barnes Baxter Biddle Birney Buford Caldwell Candy Carpenter Carr J. Chamberlain Claflin Cross Curtin Cushing Custer Cutler Crawford Doubleday Farnsworth Geary Gibbon Gilsa Graham Greene Gregg Hancock Harrow Hays Hooker Howard Humphreys Hunt Kilpatrick Krzyzanowski Lincoln Meredith Merritt Newton Nolan Paul Pleasonton Reynolds Rice Robinson Rowley Ruger Schimmelfennig Schurz Sedgwick Sickles Slocum Stannard Starr Steinwehr Sykes Tilton Tyler Vincent Wadsworth Ward Warren Weed Webb Willard Williams Zook

Other notable military personnel	Alger Avery Baker Belo Berdan Biddle Brooke Brown Bryan Burgwyn Burling Carroll Carter T. Chamberlain Colvill Corby Coster Dearing Devin Ellis Enderlin Fremantle Fry Gamble Garrard Godwin Goree Gregg Grimes Gwyn Hall Harrison Haskell Hazlett Howell Humiston Jeffords Jones Kelly Keogh Lang Latimer Lewis McCandless McDougall McFarland McIntosh Mayo Melcher Morrill Muhlenberg O'Rorke Pardee Pegram Perrin Poague Salomon Smith Sorrel Spear Stone Taylor Trobriand Wainwright Ward

Local civilians	Broadhead Bryan Burns McClean McConaughy McPherson Wade Wills

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