Absalom Baird Absalom Baird ( August 20 , 1824 – June 14 , 1905 ) was a career United States Army officer who distinguished himself as a Union Army general in the American Civil War . Baird received the Medal of Honor for his military actions . Early life . Baird was born in Washington , Pennsylvania . He graduated from the preparatory department of Washington College ( now Washington & Jefferson College ) in 1841 . He enrolled in the United States Military Academy and graduated in 1849 , ranked ninth in a class of 43 . From 1852 to 1859 , he was a mathematics instructor at West Point , where one of his students was James McNeill Whistler . From 1859 to 1861 , he served in Texas and Virginia . Civil War . When the Civil War broke out in 1861 , Baird was promoted to brevet captain . He fought at the First Battle of Bull Run under Brig . Gen . Daniel Tyler . On November 12 , 1861 , Baird was promoted to major in the Regular Army while serving as an assistant inspector general . He became chief of staff to Maj . Gen . Erasmus D . Keyes during the first part of the Siege of Yorktown , where his service earned him a further promotion to Brigadier General of U . S . Volunteers on April 30 , 1862 , to rank from April 28 , 1862 . In April 1862 , Baird took command of the 27th Brigade , 7th Division in the Army of the Ohio under Maj . Gen . Don Carlos Buell . Baird helped secure the Cumberland Gap in June 1862 under George W . Morgan . He commanded the 3rd Division , Army of Kentucky where his troops fared poorly in the battle of Thompson ' s Station though Baird was not personally involved . His troops were present at the battle of the Harpeth River before being assimilated into the Army of the Cumberland . Baird ' s division became the 1st Division of Maj . Gen . George Henry Thomas ' s XIV Corps . It was in this post that he won fame for his heroic efforts at the Battle of Chickamauga and the Chattanooga Campaign . Baird won a brevet promotion to Colonel in Regular Army for Chattanooga . In the Atlanta Campaign , Baird led a brigade charge in the Battle of Jonesborough which earned him the Medal of Honor . He led his division in Maj . Gen . William T . Sherman ' s March to the Sea and Carolinas Campaign . Baird led his division in the Battle of Bentonville in the latter campaign . On January 23 , 1865 , President Abraham Lincoln nominated Baird for appointment to the brevet grade of major general of volunteers , to rank from September 1 , 1864 , and the U . S . Congress confirmed the award on February 14 , 1865 . On April 10 , 1866 , President Andrew Johnson nominated Baird for appointment as brevet brigadier general in the Regular Army , to rank from March 13 , 1865 , and the U . S . Senate confirmed the appointment on May 4 , 1866 . On July 17 , 1866 , President Andrew Johnson nominated Baird for appointment as brevet major general in the regular U . S . Army , to rank from March 13 , 1865 , and the U . S . Senate confirmed the appointment on July 23 , 1866 . Baird was mustered out of the volunteer service on September 1 , 1866 . Postbellum life . Following the war , Baird served as commander of the department of Louisiana . He was appointed an assistant inspector general with the grade of lieutenant colonel on June 17 , 1867 . He was appointed Inspector General of the Army on March 11 , 1885 and was promoted to a full grade brigadier general on September 22 , 1885 . In 1887 , he traveled to France to observe military maneuvers , and was named a Commander of the Légion d ' honneur . Baird retired from the army on August 20 , 1888 . On April 22 , 1896 , Baird was awarded the Medal of Honor for leading " an assault upon the enemy ' s works " at the Battle of Jonesboro on September 1 , 1864 . He died at Relay , Maryland near Baltimore , Maryland , and is buried in section 1 , lot 55 , at Arlington National Cemetery , Arlington , Virginia . His son William Baird ( 1851 - 1930 ) became a Lieutenant Colonel in the army . His grandson John Absalom Baird ( 1890 - 1961 ) graduated from the US Naval Academy in 1911 , and later became a Colonel in the army . Medal of Honor citation . Citation : Voluntarily led a detached brigade in an assault upon the enemy ' s works .