John Wesley Turner John Wesley Turner was a career U . S . Army officer and Union Army general during the American Civil War . Turner spent much of the war as a staff officer and division commander taking a prominent part in the Appomattox Campaign . Early life . Turner was born in New York in 1833 and was appointed to West Point at age 18 . He graduated in 1855 . He was assigned to the 1st U . S . Artillery and fought in the Third Seminole War . Civil War . Early Service . When the Civil War began , Turner was 1st lieutenant and was quickly promoted to captain . He served on the staff of David Hunter first in Kansas then in the Department of the South where he rendered valuable services at the battle of Fort Pulaski . Charleston . On June 13 , 1863 Turner was appointed chief of staff in the Department of the South under Quincy A . Gillmore . He participated in the operations against Charleston , South Carolina in 1863 . On September 6 , 1863 Turner was awarded a brevet promotion to Major , U . S . Army for his service at Battery Wagner . The following day he was appointed brigadier general of U . S . Volunteers . Petersburg . In May 1864 Gillmore ' s X Corps was transferred to the Petersburg front and Turner continued as chief of staff through the Bermuda Hundred Campaign . On June 22 , 1864 he received his first infantry command of the war at the head of the 2nd Division , X Corps . Turner and his division participated in the Siege of Petersburg , primarily north of the James River . Although held in reserve at the battle of the Crater , Turner was nonetheless given a brevet promotion to lieutenant colonel , U . S . Army . During the Winter of 1864 / 1865 he served as chief of staff to the Army of the James . Fort Gregg and Appomattox . The defeat of Confederate forces in the Shenandoah Valley freed up available units in Philip H . Sheridan ' s Army of the Shenandoah to be sent to the Petersburg front . In March , Turner assumed command of the so - called Independent Division of reinforcements from the recently victorious Army of the Shenandoah . Despite its name , Turner ' s Independent Division was attached to the newly created XXIV Corps under John Gibbon . At the end of the Petersburg Campaign , Gibbon ' s corps was assigned the task of assaulting Forts Gregg and Whitworth . Turner ' s division was split between the two forts , sending one brigade against the lesser Fort Whitworth , while the other two joined Robert S . Foster in the main thrust against Fort Gregg . With the fall of Petersburg , Turner participated in the forced march to Appomattox Courthouse , where he and other troops of the Army of the James directly intercepted Robert E . Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia . Turner was given a brevet promotions to colonel , brigadier general and major general in the U . S . Army for services at Petersburg . Later life . Turner was in command of the XXIV Corps when he was mustered out of the volunteer service on September 1 , 1866 . He continued service in the U . S . Army until 1871 . In private life he worked as a banker , civil engineer and public works commissioner in St . Louis until his death in 1899 . He is buried in Calvary Cemetery .