Richard J . Oglesby Richard James Oglesby ( July 25 , 1824April 24 , 1899 ) was an Illinois statesman and U . S . Army officer . He served in the Mexican - American War and was a major general in the Union Army during the American Civil War . He also served Illinois in the legislature . Near the end of the civil war , he was elected the 14th Governor of Illinois , and reelected three times . He was also a U . S . Senator from Illinois . The town of Oglesby , Illinois is named in his honor . Early years . Oglesby was born in Floydsburg , Oldham County , Kentucky . He was orphaned and moved to live with his uncle in Decatur , Illinois , in 1832 , where he later worked as a farmhand , ropemaker , and carpenter . Mexican - American War . With the outbreak of the Mexican - American War , he enlisted as a 1st Lieutenant in Company C , 4th Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment taking part in the battles of Veracruz and Cerro Gordo " where his regiment almost captured Mexican President General Santa Anna , but they had to settle for his cork leg , carriage and $ 20 , 000 in gold " . He might have participated in what may have been the first ball $ 2 $ 3 game ever played outside the U . S . , at the end of April 1847 , a few days after the Battle of Cerro Gordo , " with the wooden leg captured ( by the Fourth Illinois regiment ) from General Santa Anna " . He was mustered out of the volunteer service in May 1847 . 1848 - 1860 . He studied at Louisville Law School in 1848 , but traveled to California for the gold rush in 1849 , where he tried his hand at gold mining . After two years of traveling in Europe , he returned to Illinois in 1851 , joined the Republican Party at its formation , ran unsuccessfully for the U . S . Congress in 1858 , and was elected to the Illinois Senate in 1860 . Civil War . At the start of the Civil War , Oglesby was appointed colonel of the 8th Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment on April 25 , 1861 , and was soon given command of the 1st Brigade , 1st Division , District of Cairo , Department of the Missouri , serving under the command of Ulysses S . Grant . He was a well liked commander known to his troops as " Uncle Dick " . He commanded his brigade at the battles of Fort Henry and Fort Donelson and soon after was promoted to brigadier general ( March 21 , 1862 ) . He commanded the 2nd Brigade , 2nd Division , Army of the Tennessee , during the Siege of Corinth . He was severely wounded in his chest and back at the Battle of Corinth in October 1862 . Oglesby was promoted to major general on November 29 , and after a period of recovery , commanded the Left Wing of the XVI Corps , Army of the Tennessee , in western Tennessee and northern Mississippi from April to July 1863 . He resigned his commission on May 26 , 1864 , to run for governor on the Republican ticket . He was present in the room at the Petersen House when President Abraham Lincoln died April 15 , 1865 . Illinois politics . Oglesby was elected by a large majority and served as the Governor of Illinois between 1865 and 1869 . During his tenure as governor , he advocated improving the quality of care of the mentally ill and for other groups of disabled citizens . He signed legislation expanding the State Hospital system from one campus to three . After his term ended , he practiced law until 1872 , when he agreed to a scheme in which Oglesby ran again for governor , but turned the office over to the lieutenant governor immediately after inauguration in return for a seat in the U . S . Senate . He served as a Senator from 1873 until 1878 . In 1884 he was reelected governor for a third time , becoming the first man in Illinois history to serve three times as governor . At the end of his third term as governor , he tried unsuccessfully to be reelected to his Senate seat . He spent his remaining years in retirement and died at his " Oglehurst " estate in Elkhart , Illinois . He is buried there in Elkhart Cemetery . There is a statue of Oglesby in Lincoln Park , Chicago . His son , John G . Oglesby , was a two time Lieutenant Governor of Illinois .