Henry Shaw Briggs Henry Shaw Briggs ( August 1 , 1824 – September 23 , 1887 ) was brigadier general in the Union Army during the American Civil War . During the war , Briggs served as a captain with the 8th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry . He was the colonel and first commander of the 10th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry . After suffering serious wounds during the Battle of Fair Oaks in 1862 , Briggs was promoted to brigadier general and served primarily administrative commands in Baltimore , Washington , D . C . and Alexandria , Virginia . He was , however , periodically assigned various brigade commands in the field for brief periods during the latter half of the war . Both prior to and after the war , Briggs was a lawyer and politician . He served as a state legislator , Massachusetts Auditor and a judge . Early years . Briggs was born to George Nixon Briggs , ( governor of Massachusetts from 1844 – 1851 ) on August 1 , 1824 in Lanesborough , Massachusetts . Henry Briggs graduated from Williams College in 1844 and was admitted to the Massachusetts Bar in 1848 . On August 6 , 1849 , Briggs married Mary Elizabeth Talcott , daughter of Nathianiel P . Talcott of Lanesborough , Massachusetts . Shortly before the war , Briggs established a law practice in Pittsfield , Massachusetts . He took an interest in military affairs as well and became captain of a company of state militia in Pittsfield known as the " Allen Guards . " Briggs also took an active interest in politics . In 1856 , he served as a member of the Massachusetts Legislature . Civil War service . 8th Massachusetts . In the days following the attack on Fort Sumter , Briggs ' s company became Company K of the 8th Massachusetts . After reaching Maryland , Company K was detached from the regiment and assigned garrison duty at Fort McHenry near Baltimore . The company eventually rejoined the rest of the regiment and labored to repair and guard the railroads in the vicinity of Baltimore . 10th Massachusetts . On June 21 , 1861 , Briggs was detached from service with the 8th Massachusetts , promoted to colonel and placed in command of the newly formed 10th Massachusetts . The regiment reached Washington , D . C . on July 28 and spent the remainder of 1861 in camp near Washington , drilling and preparing for the spring campaign . The regiment was eventually attached to the IV Corps . In March 1862 , Major General George B . McClellan commenced his Peninsular Campaign aimed at capturing the Confederate capital of Richmond , Virginia . As the Army of the Potomac ( of which the 10th Massachusetts was a part ) , moved by water to the Virginia Peninsula , Col . Briggs was placed in command of the 1st Brigade , 1st Division of the IV Corps on March 13 , 1862 . He served in this capacity until May 1862 when he was replaced by Brig . Gen . Charles Devens and returned to command the 10th Massachusetts . The 10th Massachusetts , led by Briggs , saw its first major action during the Battle of Fair Oaks on May 31 , 1862 . The regiment suffered severe casualties during this engagement and Col . Briggs was seriously wounded , shot through both legs . Brigade commands . The severity of his wounds obliged Briggs to relinquish command of the 10th Massachusetts . He returned to Massachusetts for the remainder of the summer of 1862 to recover . For his " gallant conduct on the field " during the Battle of Fair Oaks , Briggs was promoted to brigadier general on July 17 , 1862 . In September 1862 , Briggs was re - assigned to command Camp Chase on Arlington Heights just outside of Washington . This was a training camp for new regiments arriving in Washington from across the country . During the Maryland Campaign in September 1862 , Briggs was briefly assigned to command the 2nd Brigade , 3rd Division of the V Corps taking several fresh regiments to reinforce McClellan ' s Army of the Potomac . Briggs , however , had not fully recovered from his wounds and was unable to take the field . In February 1863 , Briggs was assigned to the Army ' s Middle Department , commanding a brigade in the VIII Corps serving guard duty in Maryland . Serving in this capacity until July 1863 , Briggs ' s headquarters was in Baltimore . For two weeks in the latter part of July 1863 , during the Confederate retreat from Gettysburg , Pennsylvania , Briggs was placed in command of a brigade of the 1st Division , I Corps . His brigade did not see any significant action during this time . August 1863 found Briggs in command of another training camp in Alexandria , Virginia known as the " Rendezvous for Draftees , " a post he maintained until July 1864 . From that date until his resignation on December 4 , 1865 , Briggs served on court - martial boards in Washington . Post - war career . Briggs returned to a political and law career after the war . From 1865 to 1868 , he served as Massachusetts Auditor . With the establishment of the District Court of Central Berkshire in 1869 , Briggs was appointed a standing justice of that court in recognition of his law career and his duty on court - martial boards during the war . Briggs resigned from the bench in 1873 . Briggs died of heart disease on September 23 , 1887 .