John W . Fuller John Wallace Fuller ( July 28 , 1827 – March 12 , 1891 ) was a British - born American publisher , businessman , and soldier . He served as a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War . After the war Fuller engaged in the wholesale footwear trade as well as in civil affairs in Ohio . Early life and career . John W . Fuller was born in the village of Harston , located in the English county of Cambridgeshire . His father was a minister of the Baptist faith and also a graduate of Bristol College in England , and was responsible for much of Fuller ' s primary education . In 1833 Fuller relocated with the family to Oneida County , New York . There the rest of his education came from reading in a bookstore in Utica , and starting in 1841 Fuller began working there . By 1852 Fuller owned and operated a publishing business in Utica , and later was the city ' s treasurer . He was also active in the New York State Militia , serving as an officer . In 1853 Fuller married Anna B . Rathbun , also a resident of Utica . The couple would have six children together ; three sons named Edward , Rathbun , and Frederick , and three daughters named Florence ( later married to Thomas A . Taylor ) , Jennie , and Irene . In 1858 Fuller ' s business was destroyed by a fire , and he moved to Toledo , Ohio , where he again began operating a book publishing firm . Civil War service . When the American Civil War began in 1861 , Fuller chose to follow his home state and the Union cause . He was ordered to train soldiers in Grafton , Virginia , which is in modern - day Taylor County , West Virginia . He also briefly served on the staff of Brig . Gen . Charles W . Hill . On August 18 Fuller was given command of the 27th Ohio Infantry with the rank of colonel . Fuller and the 27th first served in Missouri under Brig . Gens . John Pope and David Hunter . He and his command then participated in Pope ' s efforts at New Madrid on March 14 , and then the Battle of Island Number Ten from February 28 to April 8 , 1862 . In the fall of 1862 Fuller was given brigade command in the Army of the Mississippi . He led it in Mississippi during the Battle of Iuka on September 19 , and the Second Battle of Corinth on October 3 – 4 . On December 31 his command fought at Battle of Parker ' s Cross Roads in Tennessee . During the battle , Fuller ' s brigade approached undetected and got behind Confederate Brig . Gen . Nathan Bedford Forrest ' s position . Left with no choice but to attack the Federal forces in his front and rear , Forrest had his men charge and repel Fuller ' s command , and then quickly reverse and move past and through the rest of the Union soldiers . Fuller and the other Federal units managed to capture six pieces of artillery , about 300 prisoners , and 350 horses , but Forrest ' s scattered men were able to escape and recrossed the Tennessee River four days later . Fuller spent most 1863 on garrison duty within the Army of the Tennessee , and was promoted to brigadier general on January 5 , 1864 . In March 1864 Fuller led his command across the Tennessee River and captured the city of Decatur , Alabama . He participated in the Atlanta Campaign that summer , and temporarily lead a division during the Battle of Atlanta on July 22 . He again led his brigade during the March to the Sea in late 1864 , and in the Carolinas Campaign of 1865 . Fuller was brevetted to the rank of major general in the Union Army on March 13 , and after the end of the war he resigned that fall . Fuller was one of the few generals in the Civil War who was not born in the United States . Postbellum . Fuller resigned from the Union Army on August 15 , 1865 , and returned to his civilian life in Ohio . He was the senior partner of the firm Fuller , Childs & Company in Toledo , a business dealing in the wholesale of boots and shoes . In 1874 Fuller was appointed the collector of customs for Toledo , a post he held until 1881 . On October 3 – 4 , 1878 , the members of the " Ohio Brigade " held a reunion at Columbus , Ohio , in which Fuller attended and made a speech . During the event a permanent organization was created for future reunions , with Fuller as its first president . In 1888 he retired from his business concerns . Fuller was in Toledo when he died in 1891 , and was buried in the city ' s Woodlawn Cemetery .