Charles Adam Heckman Charles A . Heckman was a brigadier general in the Union Army during the American Civil War . He fought in many of the early battles in North Carolina and later served in the Army of the James during the siege of Petersburg . Biography . Heckman was born in Pennsylvania and graduated from Minerva Seminary in 1837 . He served in the volunteer army during the Mexican War becoming a sergeant by the time he was mustered out of service in 1848 . Apart from the Civil War , Heckman spent most of his career as a conductor for the New Jersey Central Railroad . Immediately after the Civil War began , Heckman enlisted in the 1st Pennsylvania Volunteer Regiment and was elected captain . Before seeing any action in that regiment he was appointed major of the 9th New Jersey Volunteer Regiment . On October 8 , 1861 he became the regimental lieutenant colonel and joined Ambrose Burnside ' s expedition to North Carolina . He fought at Roanoke Island and was promoted colonel just two days after the battle . He was wounded at the battles of New Berne and Young ' s Crossroads . On November 29 , 1862 he was promoted to brigadier general of U . S . volunteers . When General Burnside left for Virginia , he left Union forces in North Carolina under the command of John G . Foster . In the winter of 1862 , Foster led an expedition against the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad at Goldsboro , NC . General Heckman led a brigade in Foster ' s expedition at the battles of Kinston , White Hall and Goldsboro . Throughout most of 1863 Heckman was in command of the District of Beaufort , briefly commanding the Union defenses at New Bern . By the end of 1863 he was sent to Virginia to command the Union garrison at Newport News , Virginia . He temporarily commanded George W . Getty ' s division at the beginning of 1864 . On April 28 , 1864 Heckman was assigned to command the 1st Brigade , 2nd Division , XVIII Corps in the Army of the James . He was wounded at the battle of Port Walthall Junction and taken prisoner at the battle of Proctor ' s Creek . In September 1864 he was exchanged and , when he returned to duty , was assigned to command the 2nd Division in the XVIII Corps . Heckman led his division at the battle of Chaffin ' s Farm in support of General George J . Stannard ' s main attack against Fort Harrison . When Heckman moved forward his troops veered off far to the north . Instead of coming directly to the aid of Stannard ' s division , Heckman ' s men launched a costly attack against Confederate trenches near Forts Gilmer and Johnson . During the fighting in Fort Harrison , XVIII Corps commander Edward O . C . Ord was severely wounded and carried from the field . Heckman then assumed command of the corps . With this change in command at a crucial point the fighting ground to a halt and the Union forces constructed a defensive line . After an undistinguished show of leadership during the fighting on September 29 , army commander Benjamin F . Butler decided to replace Heckman in command of the corps with his chief of staff , Godfrey Weitzel . Returning to command his division , Heckman helped repulse the Confederate attack the following day . In December Heckman was transferred to command the 3rd Division in the newly created XXV Corps . Briefly from January to February in 1865 he was in command of the XXV Corps , but resigned from the army on May 25 , 1865 . Heckman returned to work for the New Jersey Central Railroad as a conductor and railroad dispatcher following the war .