Samuel D . Sturgis Samuel Davis Sturgis ( June 11 , 1822 – September 28 , 1889 ) was an American military officer who served in the Mexican - American War , as a Union general in the American Civil War , and later in the Indian Wars . Early life . Sturgis was born in Shippensburg , Pennsylvania . His parents were Mary Brandenburg and James Sturgis . He entered United States Military Academy at the age of twenty and was graduated in the famous class of 1846 as a brevet second lieutenant in the 2nd U . S . Dragoons . That class also included among its graduates John Gibbon , George B . McClellan , Jesse Reno , and George Stoneman , who would fight on the Union side and Ambrose Powell Hill , Thomas Jonathan " Stonewall " Jackson , and George Pickett , who would fight on the Confederate side . During the Mexican - American War , he served with the 1st U . S . Dragoons and was captured and held for eight days as a prisoner of war while making a reconnaissance near Buena Vista , Mexico . After the war , he served in the West , was promoted to first lieutenant and captain , and took part in a number of Indian campaigns . During this time , Sturgis was sent to West Ely , Missouri , where he met Jerusha Wilcox . In 1851 they married and had four children . Civil War . When the Civil War broke out , Sturgis served in the 1st U . S . Cavalry . He was promoted to major and in August 1861 , at the Battle of Wilson ' s Creek , he succeeded to command of the Federal forces after the death of Brig . Gen . Nathaniel Lyon . In March 1862 he was appointed brigadier general of volunteers to rank from August 10 , 1861 , the day of the battle . After a tour of duty in the Washington , D . C . , defenses , he was ordered to the front to support General John Pope ' s Army of Virginia just prior to the Second Battle of Bull Run . While attempting to secure priority from General Herman Haupt for movement of his troops on the railroad , he was told that he must wait his turn as other troops and supplies were going forward to support Pope . His reaction was his now - famous remark , " I don ' t care for John Pope one pinch of owl dung . " Sturgis then commanded the 2nd Division in the IX Corps at the battles of South Mountain , Antietam , and Fredericksburg . He went west with IX Corps in 1863 and later had a number of relatively unimportant commands in Tennessee and Mississippi . He also served as Chief of Cavalry of the Department of the Ohio . In June 1864 he was routed by Nathan Bedford Forrest at the Battle of Brice ' s Crossroads in Mississippi , an encounter that effectively ended his Civil War service . Postbellum service . Sturgis was breveted brigadier general ( for South Mountain ) and major general ( for Fredericksburg ) , regular army , in March 1865 and mustered out of the volunteer service in August . He reverted to his regular rank of lieutenant colonel of the 6th U . S . Cavalry . On May 6 , 1869 , he became colonel and commander of the 7th U . S . Cavalry and his lieutenant colonel was George Armstrong Custer . Sturgis was on detached duty when parts of the 7th Cavalry were destroyed at the Battle of Little Big Horn . ( One of Sturgis ' s sons , Second Lieutenant James G . Sturgis , was also an officer with the 7th and was killed in that battle . ) Samuel Sturgis then took personal command of the regiment and led the 7th Cavalry in the campaign against the Nez Percé in 1877 . Sturgis and his soldiers headed off the Nez Perce and waited to attack them after when they emerged from their passage through the wilderness of Yellowstone Park . The Indians deceived Sturgis with a feint and eluded him , continuing their flight northward toward Canada . Sturgis soon caught up with the Nez Perce but at the Battle of Canyon Creek , the Indians , although outnumbered two to one , again escaped from his grasp . Sturgis retired in 1886 and died at Saint Paul , Minnesota . He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery . His son Samuel D . Sturgis , Jr . became a general in the United States Army , and was a division commander in the American Expeditionary Force during World War I . His grandson Samuel D . Sturgis , Jr . also became a general in the United States Army and served as Chief of Engineers from 1953 - 1956 . Legacy . The town of Sturgis , South Dakota is named for Samuel D . Sturgis . A sculpture of him mounted on horseback is located at the eastern entrance of the town on South Dakota Highway 34 and 79 . , a World War II troop transport ship was named in his honor .