Galusha Pennypacker Galusha Pennypacker ( June 1 , 1844 – October 1 , 1916 ) was a Union general during the American Civil War . He is to this day the youngest person to hold the rank of brigadier general in the U . S . Army ; at the age of 20 , he remains the only general too young to vote for the president who appointed him . Early life . Pennypacker was born June 1 , 1844 in Valley Forge , Pennsylvania to a family who had a long history of service in the military . He was raised without having any memory of his parents after his mother died when he was still a baby and his father , who had fought in the Mexican - American War , later became an adventurer in California . His grandfather also served in the military , serving in the American Revolutionary War . Galusha and George Armstrong Custer , two of the youngest generals in the Civil War , were 5th cousins , both being descendents of Paulus Kuster ( 1643 – 1707 ) . He was also cousin to General Benjamin Prentiss through the Pennypacker family . Military career . At the age of 16 , Pennypacker enlisted as a quartermaster sergeant in the 9th Pennsylvania Infantry from West Chester , Pennsylvania . In August 1861 , he helped recruit a company of men for the 97th Pennsylvania Infantry , and was appointed as their Captain . He was promoted to Major the following October . Pennypacker and his regiment saw action in Georgia at Fort Pulaski and in the battles around Charleston . In 1864 , his regiment was transferred to Virginia , where he was engaged in the Bermuda Hundred Campaign under Maj . Gen . Benjamin Butler , in which he was wounded at the Battle of Ware Bottom Church . After the Battle of Cold Harbor and during the siege of Petersburg , he was appointed Colonel of his regiment , August 15 , 1864 . He assumed command of the 2nd Brigade , 2nd Division , X Corps of the Army of the James . He led his brigade into action at the Battle of New Market Heights and was wounded near Fort Gilmer . His brigade was attached to the Fort Fisher Expedition under Alfred Terry . Pennypacker ' s greatest moment of the war came at the Second Battle of Fort Fisher , January 15 , 1865 , where he was again severely wounded . His wound was considered fatal and General Terry promised the young officer that he would receive a brevet promotion for his conduct that day . Terry called Pennypacker " the real hero of Fort Fisher " and remarked that without his bravery the fort would not have been taken . He was much later awarded the Medal of Honor , with a citation reading , " Gallantly led the charge over a traverse and planted the colors of one of his regiments thereon , was severely wounded . " He received a brevet promotion to brigadier general dated January 15 , 1865 . He survived his wounds after 10 months in the hospital and on February 18 , 1865 , he received a full promotion to brigadier general of volunteers at age 20 , making him the youngest officer to hold the rank of general to this day in the United States Army ( the Marquis de LaFayette was just 19 when he received his Major General ' s commission in the Continental Army on 31 July 1777 ) . He was appointed a brevet major general of volunteers on March 13 , 1865 . Pennypacker stayed in the Army after the Civil War , being commissioned as Colonel of the 34th U . S . Infantry in July 1866 . His regiment merged with the 11th U . S . Infantry in 1869 to become the 16th U . S . Infantry , which he commanded until his retirement in July 1883 . He received a brevet promotion to major general in the regular army on March 2 , 1867 . Nearly fifty - two years afterward he bled to death as a result of a wound he received during the Battle of the Rebellion . He died in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania on October 1 , 1916 , and is buried in Philadelphia National Cemetery . His demise came within a month after the death of his noted cousin , former Pennsylvania Governor Samuel W . Pennypacker . His grave can be found in the officers section , grave 175 .