Eli Long Eli Long ( June 16 , 1837 – January 5 , 1903 ) was a General in the Union Army during the American Civil War . Early life . Long was born on June 16 , 1837 in Woodford County , Kentucky , and graduated from the Kentucky Military Institute in 1855 . In 1856 , he was appointed second lieutenant in the 1st U . S . Cavalry Regiment , serving in a variety of frontier outposts and occasionally battling hostile Indians . He was promoted to first lieutenant on March 1 , 1861 . American Civil War . Long served in the Western Theater of the American Civil War . At the outset of the war , on May 24 , 1861 , Long was promoted to captain in the 1st U . S . Cavalry . On August 3 , 1861 , he was transferred to the 4th U . S . Cavalry Regiment . On December 31 , 1862 , Long was wounded in the left shoulder at the Battle of Stones River ( Murfreesboro ) while commanding Company K of the regiment . On February 23 , 1863 , Long was appointed colonel of the 4th Ohio Cavalry , a regiment which recently had surrendered to the Confederate raider , Brigadier General John Hunt Morgan . Long improved the morale of the regiment and led it in the Tullahoma Campaign . He commanded the regiment ' s brigade , the 2nd Brigade , 2nd Division , Cavalry Corps of the Department of the Cumberland between March 1863 and August 20 , 1864 , including service at the Battle of Chickamauga . Long was wounded in the left side at the Battle of Farmington , Tennessee , October 7 , 1863 . He was distinguished in the Atlanta Campaign where he suffered a head wound at the Battle of Jonesboro , Georgia , August 20 , 1864 and wounds in the right arm and right thigh at the Battle of Lovejoy ' s Station , Georgia , August 21 , 1864 . Long received brevet grade appointments as major , lieutenant colonel , and colonel in the Regular Army of the United States for " gallant and meritorious services " at the Battle of Farmington and Battle of Fort Sanders ( Knoxville ) in Tennessee and Battle of Lovejoy ' s Station in Georgia , respectively . On August 18 , 1864 , President Abraham Lincoln appointed Long a brigadier general in the volunteer army to rank from the same date . The President submitted the nomination to the U . S . Senate on December 12 , 1864 and the U . S . Senate confirmed the appointment on February 14 , 1865 . Between November 16 , 1864 and April 2 , 1865 , Long commanded the 2nd Division of the Cavalry Corps of the Military Division of Mississippi under Major General James H . Wilson . On April 2 , 1865 , during Wilson ' s Raid , Long was severely wounded in the head at the Battle of Selma , Alabama . During that battle he led the 2nd Division in a charge upon the entrenchments that resulted in the capture of that town . During the Civil War , Long was wounded five times and also cited for gallantry five times . On January 13 , 1866 , President Andrew Johnson nominated Long for appointment to the brevet grade of major general of volunteers , to rank from March 13 , 1865 , and the U . S . Senate confirmed the appointment on March 12 , 1866 . Aftermath . Long was mustered out of the volunteer service on January 15 , 1866 On April 10 , 1866 , President Andrew Johnson nominated Long for appointment to the brevet grade of brigadier general in the Regular Army of the United States , to rank from March 13 , 1865 , for gallantry at the Battle of Selma , and the U . S . Senate confirmed the appointment on May 4 , 1866 . On July 17 , 1866 , President Andrew Johnson nominated Long for appointment to the brevet grade of major general in the Regular Army , to rank from March 13 , 1865 , for his services during the war , and the U . S . Senate confirmed the appointment on July 23 , 1866 . After recovering from the wound suffered at the Battle of Selma , Long was assigned to command the Military District of New Jersey . Long retired from the U . S . Army with the full rank of major general , USA , on August 16 , 1867 . He then lived in Plainfield , New Jersey , earning a living as a lawyer and borough recorder . He died on January 5 , 1903 after an operation in a New York City hospital . Eli Long is buried in Hillside Cemetery at Plainfield .