serviceyears laterwork branch commands death_date death_place birth_place allegiance placeofburial_label battles birth_date nickname placeofburial rank article_title name
1861 & ndash ; 1865 lawyer usa union army maine 4th maine volunteer infantry 23 january 1917 boston , ma swanville , me usa 1861 united states of america union place of burial american civil war 27 august 1826 `` frank '' forest hills cemetery 35px brigadier general franklin s. nickerson
 franklin s. nickerson
franklin s. nickerson

franklin stillman nickerson was a union general during the american civil war .
he primarily served in the department of the gulf .
nickerson was born in swanville , maine in 1826 .
he graduated from the east corinth academy in maine and practiced law .
he worked as a u.s. customs agent prior to the civil war .
in 1861 nickerson joined the 4th maine volunteer regiment as a major .
he fought at the first battle of bull run where he was commended by oliver o. howard .
he became lieutenant colonel , then colonel of the 14th maine volunteer regiment and was sent to louisiana .
he fought in the battle of baton rouge and was subsequently promoted to brigadier general of volunteers on november 29 , 1862 .
general nickerson took command of the 3rd brigade in general thomas w. sherman 's 2nd division of the army of the gulf .
he led the brigade at the siege of port hudson .
on may 28 generals sherman and dow were wounded in the union assault across the slaughter field , but nickerson being the ranking officer in the division was n't notified until later in the day .
therefore the division briefly fought leaderless .
nickerson led the division for only a short time until replaced by general william dwight two days later .
nickerson continued to lead his brigade throughout the siege .
he was transferred to command the 1st brigade , 2nd division in the xix corps during the red river campaign .
in july 1864 he was placed in command of the defenses of new orleans and resigned in may 1865 .
after the war nickerson resumed his law practice .
he died in boston , massachusetts in 1917 .
