Samuel P . Heintzelman Samuel Peter Heintzelman ( September 30 , 1805 – May 1 , 1880 ) was a United States Army General . He served in the Seminole War , the Mexican - American War , the Yuma War and the Cortina Troubles . During the American Civil War he was a prominent figure in the early months of the war rising to the command of a corps . Early life and military service . Heintzelman was born in Manheim , Pennsylvania , to Peter and Ann Elizabeth Grubb Heintzelman . He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1826 and was commissioned a brevet second lieutenant in the 3rd U . S . Infantry , July 1 , 1826 , then in the 2nd U . S . Infantry in the and served on the Northern frontier at Fort Gratiot , Fort Mackinac , and Fort Brady . On March 4 , 1833 , he was promoted to first lieutenant and served on quartermaster ' s duty in Florida during the Second Seminole War . On July 7 , 1838 , he was appointed captain in the Quartermaster ' s Department , remaining in Florida until the close of the war in 1842 . In 1847 , during the Mexican - American War , he joined General Winfield Scott ' s army in Mexico , taking part in several engagements , for which he was appointed brevet major on October 9 , 1847 . In 1848 - 49 he accompanied his regiment around Cape Horn to California , and for several years served in California and the Arizona Territory . In December 1851 , Major Heintzelman led the Yuma Expedition from the post of San Diego to put down the Yuma uprising , called the Yuma War . His expedition established Fort Yuma and peace was made in October , 1852 . He received the brevet of lieutenant colonel for his conduct in the campaign against the Yuma Indians and on March 3 , 1855 , he was promoted to major of the 1st U . S . Infantry and served with that regiment on the Texas frontier . In 1859 , during the First Cortina War in Texas , he was largely responsible for the defeat of Juan Cortina ' s forces . Heintzelman was the first president of the Sonora Exploring and Mining Company which established the Cerro Colorado , Arizona mining town in southern Arizona . The town became famous during the American Civil War for the massacre of mine employees by Mexican outlaws and for buried treasure . Civil War . At the outbreak of the Civil War , Heintzelman became the colonel of the 17th Pennsylvania Infantry , and was soon promoted to command of a division in the Army of Northeastern Virginia . He was wounded at the July 1861 battle of Bull Run , but soon recovered and resumed his duties . Heintzelman was in overall command of the 2nd Michigan Infantry regiment that was responsible for the raid , ransacking , and devastation of the Pohick Church in Lorton , Virginia , on November 12 , 1861 . The historic church was built in 1769 by George Washington , George Mason , and George William Fairfax , among others , and restored after the War of 1812 by President Martin Van Buren , John Quincy Adams , and Francis Scott Key , among others . This ransacking caused the loss of a myriad of irreplaceable artifacts . He commanded the III Corps of the Army of the Potomac in the Peninsula Campaign . His corps played a prominent role in the siege of Yorktown where Heintzelman and division commander Fitz John Porter were among the first to use the Union Army Balloon Corps . The corps bore the brunt of the fighting at Williamsburg and saw significant action at Fair Oaks and Oak Grove . His corps was temporarily attached to the Army of Virginia and took part in the Second Battle of Bull Run . He was commissioned as a brevet brigadier general in the regular army for the battle of Fair Oaks and a major general of volunteers for the battle of Williamsburg . His popularity and confidence in the army were eclipsed by the aggressive nature of his subordinate division commanders Joseph Hooker and Philip Kearny . Relieved of duty with the Army of the Potomac in late 1862 , he was assigned to the defense of Washington , D . C . in command of the Department of Washington . For the remainder of the war he commanded the Northern Department . Heintzelman retired in 1869 as a major general in the regulars . He died in Washington , D . C . , and is buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery , Buffalo , New York . His grandson Stuart Heintzelman served in World War I , and also rose to the rank of Major General