William H . French William Henry French ( January 13 , 1815 – May 20 , 1881 ) was a career United States Army officer and a Union Army General in the American Civil War . He rose to temporarily command a corps within the Army of the Potomac , but was relieved of active field duty following poor performance during the Mine Run Campaign in late 1863 . Early life and career . William H . French was born in Baltimore , Maryland . He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1837 and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the 1st U . S . Artillery . He briefly served in the Second Seminole War and was then assigned to garrison duty along the Canadian border from late 1837 through 1838 , when he was reassigned to other military posts for the next decade . During the Mexican - American War , French was aide - de - camp to General Franklin Pierce , and also on the staff of General Robert Patterson . He was engaged in the siege of Vera Cruz , and received two brevet promotions for bravery : to captain for Cerro Gordo and to major for Contreras and Churubusco . Between 1850 and 1852 , he again served against the Seminole Indians in Florida and was the commanding officer of Stonewall Jackson . The two disagreed often and French ' s assignment with Jackson led to the two filing numerous charges against each other with U . S . Army authorities . After Florida , French served on frontier duty until 1861 . He was the co - author of " Instruction for Field Artillery " ( 1860 ) , along with William F . Barry and Henry J . Hunt . Marriage and Children . He was married to Caroline French , ( b . 1820 - d . 1884 ) . They had five children : 1 ) Frank French , ( b . 1842 - d . 1865 ) ; 2 ) Anna Clem , ( b . 1852 - d . 1899 ) ; 3 ) Frederick French , ( b . 1855 - d . 1906 ) ; 4 ) George French , ( b . 1857 - d . 1895 ) ; and 5 ) Rosalie Conklin , ( b . 1861 - d . 1891 ) . Civil War . At the start of the Civil War , Captain French and the 1st U . S . Artillery were stationed at Eagle Pass , Texas . He refused to surrender his garrison to the Confederate - aligned state authorities as they requested . Instead , he moved his men to the mouth of the Río Grande in sixteen days and sailed to Key West , where he quartered at the Federal military post there . Shortly thereafter , he was elevated to major and assumed command of the base . In conjunction with the Union Navy , he was instrumental in shutting off Key West to slave traders . He was promoted to brigadier general of volunteers as of September 28 , 1861 , and was assigned to the Army of the Potomac , where he commanded a brigade of the II Corps in the Peninsula Campaign . He was engaged at the battles of Yorktown , Seven Pines , Oak Grove , Gaines ' Mill , Garnett ' s & Golding ' s Farm , Savage ' s Station , Glendale , and Malvern Hill . French received praise in official reports for his actions and leadership , and was promoted to command a division during the Northern Virginia Campaign . French commanded the 3rd Division of the II Corps at the Battle of Antietam , making the first attack on the Confederate Division in the Sunken Road . He was promoted to major general on November 29 , 1862 . He led his division in the battles of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville . French commanded elements of the VIII Corps and the District of Harpers Ferry during the Gettysburg Campaign , but shortly after Maj . Gen . Daniel E . Sickles was wounded at the Battle of Gettysburg , French assumed command of the battered III Corps . His military reputation was ruined during the Mine Run Campaign in November 1863 when Maj . Gen . George G . Meade claimed that French ' s corps moved too slowly to exploit a potential advantage over Gen . Robert E . Lee . This engagement was the last for the III Corps , which was reorganized out of the Union Army in the spring of 1864 , and French was mustered out of volunteer service on May 6 , 1864 . He remained in the regular army , and for the remainder of the war , he served on military boards in Washington , D . C . . French ended the war with the regular army rank of colonel of the 4th U . S . Artillery . Postbellum career . Following the war , French commanded the 2nd Artillery on the Pacific Coast from 1865 until 1872 , including an assignment as commander of Fort McDowell in San Francisco Bay . In 1875 , he was appointed the commander of Fort McHenry near Baltimore . In July 1880 , at his own request , being over sixty - two years of age , he was retired . French died in Washington , D . C . , and is buried there in Rock Creek Cemetery . His grandson , John French Conklin ( 1891 – 1973 ) , was also a graduate of the U . S . Military Academy and a brigadier general in the United States Army .