Frank A . Haskell Franklin Aretas Haskell ( July 13 , 1828 – June 3 , 1864 ) was a Union Army officer during the American Civil War who was killed during the Battle of Cold Harbor . Haskell wrote a famous account of the Battle of Gettysburg that was published posthumously . Early life . Haskell was born at Tunbridge , Vermont to Aretas and Anna E . Folsom Haskell . He moved to Wisconsin to study law in the office of his brother Harrison . He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1854 , and returned to Madison , Wisconsin to practice law . During this period , Haskell became the drill master of a militia company . Civil War . When the Civil War began , Haskell enlisted in Col . Lysander Cutler ' s 6th Wisconsin Infantry of Brig . Gen . Rufus King ' s Brigade . This brigade would eventually be known as the Iron Brigade . He served as adjutant for the regiment with the rank of first lieutenant until April 1862 , when he was made aide - de - camp for Brig . Gen . John Gibbon , the new Commander of the Iron Brigade . While with the Iron Brigade , Haskell saw action during the Northern Virginia Campaign and the Maryland Campaign . When Gibbon was promoted to command of the 2nd Division , I Corps , Haskell went with him and remained his aide . This division saw action at the Battle of Fredericksburg . After Gibbon suffered a wound at Fredericksburg , he took time off to recuperate and had been replaced in command of his division . He was given command of the 2nd Division , II Corps and again Haskell remained his aide . This division saw action during the Chancellorsville Campaign . Gettysburg . Gibbon ' s Division headed north toward Pennsylvania during the Gettysburg Campaign and was in Taneytown , Maryland when the Battle of Gettysburg began . Gibbon was given temporary command of II Corps after I Corps Commander Maj . Gen . John F . Reynolds was killed and Maj . Gen . George G . Meade ordered II Corps Commander Maj . Gen . Winfield S . Hancock to Gettysburg to assume command . Haskell and II Corps did not arrive on the battlefield until July 2 , 1863 . There they took part in the defense of Cemetery Ridge , the area around the Nicholas Codori Farm , and supported the III Corps of Daniel E . Sickles in their defense of the Peach Orchard . In his recollections of the Battle , Haskell was highly critical of Sickles as a soldier and a person as well as his move forward that led to his III Corps being attacked by the Confederates . That night , Gibbon took part in a council of war called by Meade which Haskell recorded in his recollections of the Battle . On July 3 , Gibbon was back in command of his division and Haskell was by his side . Late that morning , Gibbon hosted a meal for much of the Union high command which Haskell also recorded for posterity . Shortly after the luncheon broke up Confederate artillery began to shell the area where Gibbon ' s men were positioned . Gibbon ' s position bore the brunt of the Confederate attack known as Pickett ' s Charge . Haskell rallied Gibbon ' s men after the Confederates had breached the stone wall and Gibbon had been wounded . Hancock , Brig . Gen . William Harrow , and Gibbon commended Haskell for his performance , with Gibbon writing that " I have always thought that to him , more than to any one man , are we indebted for the repulse of Lee ' s assault . " A few weeks after the Battle , Haskell wrote the account of what he had experienced at Gettysburg to his brother Harrison in Portage , Wisconsin . At the time , Harrison could not even get a newspaper to publish the account . Haskell ' s account would be published in 1898 as a book called " The Battle of Gettysburg . " This account was hailed by Bruce Catton as " One of the genuine classics of Civil War literature . " Gibbon and Haskell returned to Gettysburg in November 1863 to attend the dedication of the Soldiers ' National Cemetery and witnessed President Abraham Lincoln ' s Gettysburg Address after recreating their role in the battle for some tourists on Cemetery Ridge . Death . On February 9 , 1864 , Haskell was appointed colonel of the 36th Wisconsin . On June 3 , he assumed command of the 1st Brigade , 2nd Division , II Corps when its commander Col . Henry Boyd McKeen was killed during the Battle of Cold Harbor . Shortly after taking command he was shot through the temple and killed while leading a charge . A distraught Gibbon cried out : " My God ! I have lost my best friend , and one of the best soldiers in the Army of the Potomac has fallen ! " Gibbon wrote to his wife that he had planned to promote " poor Haskell " to field command after the battle .