Henry Jackson Hunt Henry Jackson Hunt ( September 14 , 1819 – February 11 , 1889 ) was Chief of Artillery in the Army of the Potomac during the American Civil War . Considered by his contemporaries the greatest artillery tactician and strategist of the war , he was a master of the science of gunnery and rewrote the manual on the organization and use of artillery in early modern armies . His courage and tactics affected the outcome of some of the most significant battles in the war , notably Gettysburg . Early life . Hunt was born in the frontier outpost of Detroit , Michigan , the son of Samuel Wellington Hunt , a career infantry officer . He was named after his uncle , Henry Jackson Hunt , who was the second mayor of Detroit . As a child in 1827 , he accompanied his father on the expedition to the future Kansas Territory that founded Fort Leavenworth . He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1839 as a brevet second lieutenant in the 2nd U . S . Artillery . He served in the Mexican War under Winfield Scott , and was appointed a brevet captain for gallantry at Contreras and Churubusco and to major at Chapultepec . On October 5 , 1856 , Brevet Major Hunt commanded Company M , 2nd U . S . Artillery from Fort Leavenworth , that protected the polls at Eaton , Kansas , during the territorial legislature elections . Hunt served with the same unit during the Utah War in 1857 against the Mormons . His permanent ( regular army ) promotions to captain and major were in 1852 and 1861 , respectively . Artillery doctrine . In 1856 Hunt was a member of a three - man board that revised field artillery drill and tactics for the army . The " Instructions for Field Artillery " manual written by the three ( Hunt , William H . French , and William F . Barry ) was published by the War Department in 1861 and was the " bible " of Northern field artillerists during the war . He was a principal proponent of the organizational doctrine that allowed infantry brigade s to retain artillery batteries for close - in support , but that moved batteries formerly assigned to division s and corps to an Artillery Reserve at the army level for more strategic control . Hunt was also a proponent of artillery practices that reflected his conservative nature . Although acknowledging the power of massed batteries to repel infantry assaults ( such as at Malvern Hill or against Pickett ' s Charge in the Battle of Gettysburg ) , he urged his gun crews to fire slowly and deliberately and reprimanded them if they exceeded an average of one shot per minute . He believed that faster rates impaired accurate targeting and depleted ammunition faster than could be replenished . A story often told about Hunt was when he exclaimed to a gunner of a fast - firing gun , " Young man , are you aware that every round you fire costs $ 2 . 67 ? " Fast firing also implied to him that the gun crew was not brave enough to stand fast on the battlefield , wanting to get back behind the lines for resupply . Civil War . Early years of the war . Hunt achieved some fame in the First Battle of Bull Run in 1861 , when his four - gun battery covered the retreat of a Union force with a close - in artillery duel . He soon afterward became chief of artillery in the Department of Northeast Virginia , defending Washington , D . C . As a colonel on the staff of Maj . Gen . George B . McClellan , Hunt organized and trained the artillery reserve of the Army of the Potomac and fought with it in the Peninsula Campaign . Throughout the war he contributed more than any officer to the effective employment of the artillery arm . With the artillery reserve at the Battle of Malvern Hill , his 250 guns repelled repeated Confederate infantry assaults with such gruesome efficiency that the Union infantry had little to do . He personally commanded a group of 60 guns that he employed as if they were a single battery ( usually Union batteries contained six guns ) . On September 15 , 1862 , the day after the Battle of South Mountain , Hunt was promoted to brigadier general of volunteers and McClellan assigned him as chief of artillery in the Army of the Potomac for the imminent Battle of Antietam , where he deployed the Artillery Reserve to great effect . At the Battle of Fredericksburg in December , his gun emplacements on Stafford Heights effectively eliminated any possibility that Gen . Robert E . Lee could counterattack Union forces across the Rappahannock River . In the run - up to the Battle of Chancellorsville in May 1863 , Hunt fell out of favor of Army of the Potomac commander Maj . Gen . Joseph Hooker and lost direct command of the Artillery Reserve , reducing him in effect to an administrative staff role . The lack of coordination of the artillery forces that resulted from this snub were well recognized as a contributing factor in the embarrassing Union defeat . Although Hooker restored Hunt ' s command after three days of battle , it was too late to affect the outcome . Success at Gettysburg , and the Siege of Petersburg . Hunt ' s most famous service in the war was at the Battle of Gettysburg in July 1863 . His new commander , Maj . Gen . George G . Meade , had considerably more respect for Hunt than Hooker did and not only gave him great latitude in directing the artillery , but also used him on occasion as his personal representative . For example , on July 2 , Meade sent Hunt to visit III Corps commander Maj . Gen . Daniel E . Sickles in an attempt to get his defensive lines to conform to orders . ( Sickles ' insubordinate movement from Cemetery Ridge , where he had been ordered to defend , to the Peach Orchard caused considerable difficulty for the entire Union defense . ) Hunt was unable to influence the irascible political general , but his masterful analysis of terrain and placement of batteries on the ridge were important factors in the Union ' s eventual success on the second day . His handling of the artillery was conspicuous in the repulse of Pickett ' s Charge on July 3 . With the Union line on Cemetery Ridge under massive bombardment , Hunt was able to resist command pressure that would have expended all his ammunition in counter - battery fire , reserving sufficient amounts for anti - personnel fire in the attack he knew was coming . His orders to cease firing ( despite the strong orders of fiery II Corps commander Maj . Gen . Winfield S . Hancock ) fooled the Confederates into thinking his batteries were destroyed and triggered their disastrous charge . His concealed placement of Lt . Col . Freeman McGilvery ' s batteries north of Little Round Top caused massive casualties in the infantry assault . He was rewarded for his service with the brevet of colonel in the regular army . Hunt reported in detail on the artillery ' s role at Gettysburg . The rest of the war was an anticlimax for Hunt . He served in Virginia to the end of the war , managing the siege operations of Petersburg in 1864 and 1865 . He attained the brevet ranks of major general of volunteers and brigadier general in the regular army . Postbellum career . When the U . S . Army was reorganized in 1866 , Hunt became colonel of the 5th U . S . Artillery and president of the permanent Artillery Board . He held various commands until 1883 , when he retired to become governor of the Soldiers ' Home in Washington , D . C . . He died in 1889 and is buried in the Soldiers ' Home National Cemetery . In addition to " Instructions for Field Artillery " , Hunt was the author of papers on Gettysburg in the " Battles and Leaders " series . His brother , Lewis Cass Hunt ( 1824 – 1886 ) , served throughout the Civil War in the infantry , becoming brigadier general of volunteers in 1862 , and brevet brigadier general of regulars in 1865 . In popular media . Hunt is featured prominently in the alternate history novel " " by Newt Gingrich and William R . Forstchen . He also appears in the sequel novels of the series , " Grant Comes East " and " " .