John F . Reynolds John Fulton Reynolds ( September 20 , 1820 – July 1 , 1863 ) was a career United States Army officer and a general in the American Civil War . One of the Union Army ' s most respected senior commanders , he played a key role in committing the Army of the Potomac to the Battle of Gettysburg and was killed at the start of the battle . Early life and career . Reynolds was born in Lancaster , Pennsylvania , one of nine surviving children of John Reynolds ( 1787 – 1853 ) and Lydia Moore Reynolds ( 1794 – 1843 ) . Two of his brothers were James LeFevre Reynolds , Quartermaster General of Pennsylvania , and Rear Admiral Will Reynolds . Prior to his military training , Reynolds studied in nearby Lititz , about from his home in Lancaster . Next he attended a school in Long Green , Maryland , and finally the Lancaster County Academy . Reynolds was nominated to the United States Military Academy in 1837 by Senator James Buchanan , a family friend , and graduated 26th of 50 cadets in the class of 1841 . He was commissioned a brevet second lieutenant in the 3rd U . S . Artillery , assigned to Fort McHenry . From 1842 to 1845 he was assigned to St . Augustine , Florida , and Fort Moultrie , South Carolina , before joining Zachary Taylor ' s army at Corpus Christi , Texas , for the Mexican - American War . He was awarded two brevet promotions in Mexico — to captain for gallantry at Monterrey and to major for Buena Vista , where his section of guns prevented the Mexican cavalry from outflanking the American left . During the war , he became friends with fellow officers Winfield Scott Hancock and Lewis A . Armistead . On his return from Mexico , Reynolds was assigned to Fort Preble , Maine , New Orleans , Louisiana , and Fort Lafayette , New York . He was next sent west to Fort Orford , Oregon , in 1855 , and participated in the Rogue River Wars of 1856 and the Utah War with the Mormons in 1857 - 58 . He was the Commandant of Cadets at West Point from September 1860 to June 1861 , while also serving as an instructor of artillery , cavalry , and infantry tactics . During his return from the West , Reynolds became engaged to Katherine May Hewitt . Since they were from different religious denominations — Reynolds was a Protestant , Hewitt a Catholic — the engagement was kept a secret and Hewitt ' s parents did not learn about it until after Reynolds ' death . Civil War . Early assignments and the Seven Days . Soon after the start of the Civil War , Reynolds was offered the position as aide - de - camp to Lt . Gen . Winfield Scott , but declined . He was appointed lieutenant colonel of the 14th U . S . Infantry , but before he could engage with that unit , he was promoted to brigadier general on August 20 , 1861 , and ordered to report to Washington , D . C . While in transit , his orders were changed to report to Cape Hatteras Inlet , North Carolina . Maj . Gen . George B . McClellan intervened with the Secretary of War to get his orders changed once again , assigning him to the newly formed Army of the Potomac . His first assignment was with a board that examined the qualifications of volunteer officers , but he soon was given command of a brigade of Pennsylvania Reserves . As McClellan ' s army moved up the Virginia Peninsula in the 1862 Peninsula Campaign , Reynolds occupied and became military governor of Fredericksburg , Virginia . His brigade was then ordered to join the V Corps at Mechanicsville , just before the start of the Seven Days Battles . The brigade was hit hard by the Confederate attack of June 26 at the Battle of Beaver Dam Creek , but their defensive line held and Reynolds later received a letter of commendation from his division commander , Brig . Gen . George A . McCall . The Confederate attack continued on June 27 and Reynolds , exhausted from the Battle of Gaines ' Mill and two days without sleep , was captured in Boatswain ' s Swamp , Virginia . Thinking he was in a place of relative safety , he fell asleep and was not aware that his retreating troops left him behind . He was extremely embarrassed when brought before the Confederate general of the capturing troops ; D . H . Hill was an Army friend and colleague from before the war . Hill allegedly told him , " Reynolds , do not feel so bad about your capture , it is the fate of wars . " Reynolds was transported to Richmond and held at Libby Prison , but was quickly exchanged on August 15 ( for Lloyd Tilghman ) . Second Bull Run , Fredericksburg , and Chancellorsville . Upon his return , Reynolds was given command of the Pennsylvania Reserves Division , whose commander , McCall , had been captured just two days after Reynolds . The V Corps joined the Army of Virginia , under Maj . Gen . John Pope , at Manassas . On the second day of the Second Battle of Bull Run , while most of the Union Army was retreating , Reynolds led his men in a last - ditch stand on Henry House Hill , site of the great Union debacle at First Bull Run the previous year . Waving the flag of the 2nd Reserves regiment , he yelled , " Now boys , give them the steel , charge bayonets , double quick ! " His counterattack halted the Confederate advance long enough to give the Union Army time to retreat in a more orderly fashion , arguably the most important factor in preventing its complete destruction . At the request of Pennsylvania Governor Andrew G . Curtin , Reynolds was given command of the Pennsylvania Militia during General Robert E . Lee ' s invasion of Maryland . Generals McClellan and Joseph Hooker complained that " a scared governor ought not to be permitted to destroy the usefulness of an entire division , " but the governor prevailed and Reynolds spent two weeks in Pennsylvania drilling old men and boys , missing the Battle of Antietam . However , he returned to the Army of the Potomac in late 1862 and assumed command of the I Corps . One of his divisions , commanded by Brig . Gen . George G . Meade , made the only breakthrough at the Battle of Fredericksburg , but Reynolds did not reinforce Meade with his other two divisions and the attack failed ; Reynolds did not receive a clear understanding from Brig . Gen . William B . Franklin about his role in the attack . After the battle , Reynolds was promoted to major general of volunteers , with a date of rank of November 29 , 1862 . At the Battle of Chancellorsville in May 1863 , Reynolds clashed with Maj . Gen . Hooker , his predecessor at I Corps , but by this time the commander of the Army of the Potomac . Hooker originally placed the I Corps on the extreme left of the Union line , southeast of Fredericksburg , hoping to threaten and distract the Confederate right . On May 2 , Hooker changed his mind and ordered the corps to conduct a daylight march nearly 20 miles to swing around and become the extreme right flank of the army , to the northwest of the XI Corps . The march was delayed by faulty communications and by the need to move stealthily to avoid Confederate contact . Thus , the I Corps was not yet in position when the XI Corps was surprised and overrun by Lt . Gen . Thomas J . " Stonewall " Jackson ' s flank attack , a setback that destroyed Hooker ' s nerve for offensive action . Hooker called a council of war on May 4 in which Reynolds voted to proceed with the battle , but although the vote was three to two for offensive action , Hooker decided to retreat . Reynolds , who had gone to sleep after giving his proxy vote to Meade , woke up and muttered loud enough for Hooker to hear , " What was the use of calling us together at this time of night when he intended to retreat anyhow ? " The 17 , 000 - man I Corps was not engaged at Chancellorsville and suffered only 300 casualties during the entire campaign . Reynolds joined several of his fellow officers in urging that Hooker be replaced , in the same way he had spoken out against Maj . Gen . Ambrose Burnside after Fredericksburg . On the previous occasion , Reynolds wrote in a private letter , " If we do not get some one soon who can command an army without consulting ' Stanton and Halleck ' at Washington , I do not know what will become of this Army . " President Abraham Lincoln met with Reynolds in a private interview on June 2 and is believed to have asked him whether he would consider being the next commander of the Army of the Potomac . Reynolds supposedly replied that he would be willing to accept only if he were given a free hand and could be isolated from the political influences that had affected the Army commanders throughout the war . Unable to comply with his demands , Lincoln promoted the more junior George G . Meade to replace Hooker on June 28 . Gettysburg . On the morning of July 1 , 1863 , Reynolds was commanding the " left wing " of the Army of the Potomac , with operational control over the I , III , and XI Corps , and Brig . Gen . John Buford ' s cavalry division . Buford occupied the town of Gettysburg , Pennsylvania , and set up light defensive lines north and west of the town . He resisted the approach of two Confederate infantry brigades on the Chambersburg Pike until the nearest Union infantry , Reynolds ' I Corps , began to arrive . Reynolds rode out ahead of the 1st Division , met with Buford , and then accompanied some of his soldiers , probably from Brig . Gen . Lysander Cutler ' s brigade , into the fighting at Herbst ' s Woods . Troops began arriving from Brig . Gen . Solomon Meredith ' s Iron Brigade , and as Reynolds was supervising the placement of the 2nd Wisconsin , he yelled at them , " Forward men ! For God ' s sake forward ! " At that moment he fell from his horse with a wound in the back of the upper neck , or lower head , and died almost instantly . Command passed to his senior division commander , Maj . Gen . Abner Doubleday . The loss of General Reynolds was keenly felt by the army . He was loved by his men and respected by his peers . There are no recorded instances of negative comments made by his contemporaries . Historian Shelby Foote wrote that many considered him " not only the highest ranking [ sic ] but also the best general in the army . " His death had a more immediate effect that day , however . By ratifying Buford ' s defensive plan and engaging his I Corps infantry , Reynolds essentially selected the location for the Battle of Gettysburg for Meade , turning a chance meeting engagement into a massive pitched battle , committing the Army of the Potomac to fight on that ground with forces that were initially numerically inferior to the Confederates that were concentrating there . In the command confusion that followed Reynolds ' death , the two Union corps that reached the field were overwhelmed and forced to retreat through the streets of Gettysburg to the high ground south of town , where they were rallied by his old friend , Maj . Gen . Winfield S . Hancock . Reynolds ' body was immediately transported from Gettysburg to Taneytown , Maryland , and then to his birthplace , Lancaster , Pennsylvania , where he was buried on July 4 , 1863 . Befitting his importance to the Union and his native state , he is memorialized by three statues in Gettysburg National Military Park ( an equestrian statue on McPherson Ridge , one by John Quincy Adams Ward in the National Cemetery , and one on the Pennsylvania Memorial ) , as well as one in front of the Philadelphia City Hall . Kate Hewitt had agreed with Reynolds that if he were killed in the war and they could not marry , she would join a convent . After he was buried , she traveled to Emmitsburg , Maryland , and joined the St . Joseph Central House of the Order of the Daughters of Charity . Death controversies . Historians disagree on the details of Reynolds ' death , including the specific time ( either 10 : 15 a . m . or 10 : 40 – 10 : 50 a . m . ) , the exact location ( on East McPherson Ridge , near the 2nd Wisconsin Infantry , or West McPherson Ridge , near the 19th Indiana ) , and the source of the bullet ( a Confederate infantryman , a Confederate sharpshooter , or friendly fire ) . One primary source was Sergeant Charles Henry Veil , his orderly and unit Color Guard , who described the events in a letter in 1864 and then contradicted some of the details in another letter 45 years later . A letter from Reynolds ' sister , Jennie , stated that the wound had a downward trajectory from the neck , implying that he was shot from above , presumably a sharpshooter in a tree or barn . Historians Bruce Catton and Glenn Tucker make firm assertions that a sharpshooter was responsible ; Stephen Sears credits volley fire from the 7th Tennessee against the 2nd Wisconsin ; Edwin Coddington cites the sister ' s letter and finds the sharpshooter theory to be partly credible , but leans towards Sears ' conclusion ; Harry W . Pfanz agrees that the location was behind the 2nd Wisconsin , but make no judgment about the source of the fire . Steve Sanders , writing in " Gettysburg " magazine , suggested the possibility of friendly fire based on some accounts , and concludes that it is as equally likely as enemy fire . In popular media . Reynolds plays a role in Michael Shaara ' s 1974 Pulitzer Prize winning novel " The Killer Angels " , as well as the 1993 film based on that novel , " Gettysburg " ( in which he was played by John Rothman ) . The film portrays Reynolds as being deliberately targeted by a Confederate sharpshooter , a scene based on the Don Troiani painting of the event . Reynolds is also significant in the prequel to " The Killer Angels " , Jeffrey Shaara ' s novel " Gods and Generals " , although his role was deleted from the 2003 film based on the novel . A significant portion of the song " The Devil to Pay " by Jon Schaffer of Iced Earth in the Gettysburg trilogy is dedicated to John Reynolds , with the song " When Johnny Comes Marching Home " played and stylized using both electric guitar and an orchestra .