Charles Griffin Charles Griffin ( December 18 , 1825 – September 15 , 1867 ) was a career officer in the United States Army and a Union general in the American Civil War . He rose to command a corps in the Army of the Potomac and fought in many of the key campaigns in the Eastern Theater . After the war , he commanded the Department of Texas during Reconstruction . He was an ardent supporter of the Congressional policies of the Radical Republicans and of freedmen ' s rights , and controversially disqualified a number of antebellum state officeholders in Texas , replacing them with loyal Unionists . Early life and career . Griffin was born in Granville , Ohio , the son of Apollos Griffin . He attended the nearby Kenyon College in Gambier , and graduated from the U . S . Military Academy in West Point , New York , placing 23rd out of 38 in the Class of 1847 . Commissioned as a brevet second lieutenant , he served with the 2nd U . S . Artillery during the final campaign of the Mexican - American War . He was promoted to first lieutenant in 1849 and served in the New Mexico Territory against Navajo Indians until 1854 , when he left the Southwest frontier . He then taught artillery tactics at West Point , forming an artillery battery from the academy ' s enlisted men shortly after the Southern states began seceding from the Union . Civil War . Captain Griffin led the " West Point Battery " ( officially designated as Battery D , 5th U . S . Artillery ) at the First Battle of Bull Run in July 1861 . He received a brief furlough from the army and married Sallie Carroll , the scion of a prominent Maryland family , on December 10 , 1861 . Griffin commanded his battery during the early part of the 1862 Peninsula Campaign . He was promoted to brigadier general on June 9 , 1862 , and assigned command of a brigade of infantry . He served with distinction at Gaines ' Mill and Malvern Hill . During the Second Battle of Bull Run , his brigade was held in reserve . His men were also lightly engaged at the Battle of Antietam . Griffin ' s irascibility frequently led to conflict with his superiors , but his leadership abilities brought steady promotion . Assigned command of a division in the V Corps , he served at the Battle of Fredericksburg and during the Chancellorsville Campaign . Stricken with illness , he turned over command of the division to a subordinate and did not accompany it during the early part of the Gettysburg Campaign . Arriving as the Battle of Gettysburg was winding down , his return was widely celebrated by his men . The popular officer led the division throughout the year , including during the Mine Run Campaign . Griffin participated in most of the major battles of the Army of the Potomac in 1864 , including the Overland Campaign and Siege of Petersburg . Griffin was promoted to brevet major general in the regular army on March 13 , 1865 , for his service at the Battle of Five Forks , and to major general of volunteers on April 2 , 1865 . He assumed command of V Corps during its final campaign and was present when Robert E . Lee surrendered at Appomattox Court House . In August , he was assigned command of the district of Maine , with his headquarters in Portland . Postbellum . After the war , Griffin ' s rank reverted to colonel in the regular army , in command of the 35th U . S . Infantry . He briefly commanded the Department of Maine before being sent west to Galveston , Texas . He served as assistant commissioner of the Freedmen ' s Bureau for Texas in 1867 , serving under Philip H . Sheridan . He became entangled in political issues and registered both black and white voters under the Reconstruction Acts in the spring of that year . He strictly enforced the ironclad oath of allegiance ( forcing men to publicly swear that they had never served the Confederacy ) as the basis for jury selection . Dissatisfied with the performance of appointed Governor James W . Throckmorton , Griffin persuaded General Sheridan to remove him from office and replace him with a Republican and loyal Unionist , Elisha M . Pease . Together , they used their power and position to remove several Democratic antebellum state officeholders who had supported the Confederacy , replacing them with other Unionists . Griffin was assigned command of the Fifth Military District , replacing Sheridan , and was ordered to report to New Orleans . However , before he could leave for Louisiana and his new headquarters , he died in an epidemic of yellow fever that swept through Galveston . He is buried at Oak Hill Cemetery in Washington , D . C . . Fort Griffin on the Texas frontier was later named in his honor .