James Nagle ( general ) James Nagle ( April 5 , 1822 – August 22 , 1866 ) was an officer in the United States Army in both the Mexican War and the Civil War . During the latter conflict , he recruited and commanded four infantry regiment s from the commonwealth of Pennsylvania and led two different brigade s in the Eastern Theater . As the war progressed , worsening health problems precluded prolonged field service , but Nagle is perhaps best known for his actions at the 1862 Battle of Antietam , where his brigade played a key role in securing Burnside ' s Bridge , a key crossing over the contested Antietam Creek . Early life and career . Nagle was born in Reading , Pennsylvania , as the eldest of eight children born and raised by Daniel and Mary Nagle . His grandfather had been a drummer in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War . His family moved several times when he was a child , finally settling in 1835 in Pottsville , Pennsylvania , where in 1842 he organized what became the Washington Artillery Company . He learned the trades of paperhanger and painter from his father . When war was declared against Mexico a few years later , he enlisted with his men as Company B of the 1st Pennsylvania Volunteers . His regiment was stationed at the Perote Castle to keep open the communication with Veracruz during its siege . He assisted in routing a force of guerillas at La Hoya , fought at Huamantla , Puebla , and Atlixco , entered the city of Mexico , and was finally stationed at San Ángel until the close of the war . He was mustered out of service with his company at Philadelphia on July 27 , 1848 , and the inhabitants of Schuylkill County , Pennsylvania , presented him with a commemorative silver and gold - plated sword . Nagle subsequently resumed his business as a painter and paperhanger . In 1852 , he was elected as the Sheriff of Schuylkill County , a post he would occupy until war erupted in 1861 . Also in 1852 , Nagle married Elizabeth Kaercher , who bore nine children , seven of which lived to maturity . He was also on the Pottsville School Board , and was a member and then president of the borough council . Civil War service . In 1861 , following the outbreak of the Civil War , Nagle was commissioned as the colonel of the 6th Pennsylvania Infantry , a regiment with a three - month term of enlistment . Later that year , after his regiment mustered out of the service , he organized the three - years ' 48th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry Regiment , of which he was made colonel . Among his men were four of his brothers , as well as much of the current membership of his old Washington Artillery . Nagle initially served at Fort Monroe in Virginia , and then in Hatteras Island and Newbern in North Carolina . On April 23 , 1862 , he was assigned command of the 1st Brigade of Maj . Gen . Jesse Reno ' s 2nd Division of the Department of North Carolina . Nagle commanded his brigade ( now in the IX Corps under Reno ) in the Second Battle of Bull Run . He was appointed brigadier general of volunteers on September 10 , 1862 , and at Antietam his brigade performed an important part in carrying what later became known as Burnside ' s Bridge , which , according to army commander George B . McClellan , saved the day . Nagle ' s appointment expired on March 4 , 1863 , but was renewed nine days later and he served with his brigade in Kentucky until May 9 , when he resigned due to impaired health ( he suffered from heart disease ) . He returned home to recuperate . When General Robert E . Lee invaded Pennsylvania in June 1863 , General Nagle organized the 39th Pennsylvania Volunteer Militia and was commissioned its colonel by Governor Andrew Curtin . He subsequently commanded a brigade of emergency militia , and was mustered out on August 2 , 1863 , following the end of the Gettysburg Campaign and the retreat of Lee ' s army into Virginia . In 1864 he organized the 149th Pennsylvania Infantry for 100 days ' service , became its colonel , and guarded the approaches to Baltimore , Maryland , until the expiration of his service . Postbellum . After the war , Nagle resumed civilian life , but was in poor health from his ailing heart and liver . He died in 1866 at his Pottsville home , surrounded by his family . His well attended funeral was held on Saturday , August 25 , and he was buried in Pottsville ' s Presbyterian Cemetery . He is honored with a statue on the 48th Pennsylvania ' s monument on the Antietam Battlefield near Sharpsburg , Maryland .