James H . Wilson James Harrison Wilson ( September 2 , 1837 – February 23 , 1925 ) was a United States Army topographic engineer and a Union Army Major General in the American Civil War . In the Maryland campaign , he served as an aide to McClellan , before joining Grant ’ s army in the West , where he was promoted brigadier . In 1864 , he transferred from engineering to the cavalry , where he displayed notable leadership in many engagements of the Overland campaign , though his attempt to destroy Lee ’ s supply - line failed , when he was routed by a much - smaller and irregular Confederate force . At the Battle of Franklin , he became one of the few commanders ever to defeat the legendary cavalry leader Bedford Forrest , helping to secure decisive Union victory in that campaign . Later , in Georgia , he had the honour of capturing the Confederate President Jefferson Davis . Wilson was the fourth - last surviving Union general . Early life and engineering . Wilson was born in Shawneetown , Illinois . He attended McKendree College for a year and graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1860 , sixth in his class of 41 , receiving a commission as a brevet second lieutenant in the Topographical Engineers . His initial assignment was assistant topographical engineer of the Department of Oregon at Fort Vancouver . Civil War . Engineering assignments . After the start of the Civil War , Wilson received promotions to second and first lieutenant and became the topographical engineer for the Port Royal Expeditionary Force , from September 1861 to March 1862 . As the topographical engineer for the Department of the South , he took part in the Battle of Fort Pulaski at the mouth of the Savannah River and received a brevet promotion to major in the regular army for his service . He transferred to the Army of the Potomac in April 1862 and served as its topographic engineer , but also as an aide - de - camp to Maj . Gen . George B . McClellan . He served under McClellan during the Maryland Campaign and was present at the battles of South Mountain and Antietam . Wilson was transferred to the Western Theater and joined Maj . Gen . Ulysses S . Grant ' s Army of the Tennessee as a lieutenant colonel and topographical engineer . During the Vicksburg Campaign , he was the inspector general of Grant ' s army . On October 30 , 1863 , he was promoted to brigadier general of volunteers , the only officer ever promoted to troop command from Grant ' s regular staff . He continued on staff duty during the Battle of Chattanooga and was chief engineer of the force sent to relieve Knoxville under Maj . Gen . William T . Sherman . Cavalry commands . In 1864 , Wilson switched from engineering to the cavalry . On February 17 , 1864 , he was assigned as chief of the Cavalry Bureau in Washington , D . C . He was an excellent administrator and organizer , but his true talents turned out to be as a combat leader . Grant promoted him to brevet major general on May 6 , 1864 , and had him assigned to command a division of cavalry under Maj . Gen . Philip Sheridan , which he did with boldness and skill in numerous fights of the Overland Campaign and in the Valley Campaigns of 1864 . General Wilson ' s ill - fated joint adventure with General Brigadier General August V . Kautz was launched through General Grant ' s strategy of interdicting Robert E . Lee ' s supply lines to Petersburg , Virginia . If this could be done , Lee would be compelled to abandon Petersburg . General Wilson was ordered to conduct a cavalry raid that would destroy the tracks of the South Side and Richmond & Danville railroads , and to destroy the key R & D railroad bridge over the Staunton River . The raid began on June 22 , 1864 , with over 5 , 000 Cavalry troops and 16 pieces of artillery . During the first three days of their raid , Wilson ' s cavalry tore up 60 miles of track and burned two trains and several railroad stations . Confederate General W . H . F . " Rooney " Lee pursued the Union raid , but were ineffective . The audacious raid seemed to be wildly successful , though not uncontested , and the Staunton River Bridge loomed as the great objective . The railroad bridge was over a small but deep river , The Staunton . The Confederacy had sensed its strategic importance , putting a small fort there under Captain Benjamin Farinholt , and his 296 reserve troops . A valiant stand by local volunteers of old men and boys , with help from surrounding counties , gathered almost a force of nearly 1 , 000 , which halted the 5 , 000 well - armed troops . Wilson ’ s cavalry fought the action dismounted . " Rooney " Lee ' s cavalry came up during the engagement ' s end , and routed Wilson ' s troops . There has been speculation that this damaged an otherwise brilliant career for Wilson . However , just before Sheridan ' s decisive Battle of Cedar Creek in October 1864 , Wilson was upgraded to brevet major general of volunteers and transferred back to the West to become chief of cavalry for the Military Division of the Mississippi under Sherman . As cavalry chief , he trained Sherman ' s cavalry ( under Brig . Gen . Judson Kilpatrick ) for the March to the Sea . Rather than accompanying Sherman , however , he and 17 , 000 troopers were attached to Maj . Gen . George H . Thomas ' s Army of the Cumberland for the Franklin - Nashville Campaign in November and December 1864 . His repulse of a flanking attack by Maj . Gen . Nathan Bedford Forrest was instrumental in saving the Union Army at the Battle of Franklin ; Wilson was one of only a few Union officers to best the legendary Southern cavalryman . He was promoted to brevet brigadier general in the regular army for his service in the Battle of Nashville . He led the successful Wilson ' s Raid through Alabama and Georgia , defeating the smaller force of Forrest and capturing Selma , Alabama , along with four other fortified cities . In this campaign , he commanded the troops that burned most of the buildings of the University of Alabama . On Easter Day , 1865 , his troops assaulted and captured the city of Columbus , Georgia , widely regarded as the final battle of the Civil War . His men did enormous damage to the military infrastructure of the South , but they did it with a sense of discipline that usually prevented looting and other collateral damage to civilian property . He was promoted to brevet major general in the regular army for his performance at Selma and received his full promotion to major general on May 6 , 1865 . In central Georgia , the cavalrymen under Wilson ' s command captured Confederate President Jefferson Davis , and Captain Henry Wirz , the commandant of Andersonville , as he fled through Georgia in May 1865 . At the end of the war , Wilson reverted to the rank of lieutenant colonel and was assigned to the newly created 35th U . S . Infantry , but his duty assignments continued to be in the Corps of Engineers until he resigned from the Army in December 1870 . Later life and wars . After he left the Army , Wilson worked as a railroad construction engineer and executive . He moved to Wilmington , Delaware , in 1883 . For the next 15 years he devoted his time to business , travel , and public affairs , and wrote on a number of subjects . Wilson returned to the Army in 1898 for the Spanish - American War , and served as a major general of volunteers in Cuba and Puerto Rico . He also saw service in China during the Boxer Rebellion in 1901 as brigadier - general . Retiring from the Army , in 1902 he represented President Theodore Roosevelt at the coronation of Edward VII of the United Kingdom . Wilson died in Wilmington , Delaware , in 1925 , with only three Union Civil War generals living longer . He is buried in the Old Swedes Churchyard in Wilmington .