John Sedgwick, The General Shot Just Moments After Claiming He Couldn’t Be Shot
Public DomainGeneral John Sedgwick was the highest-ranking Union officer to be killed in the Civil War.
General John Sedgwick was a career soldier, but he is better remembered for his infamous last words than for his military accolades.
Sedgwick was wounded several times during the Civil War. During the Seven Days Battle, for instance, he sustained injuries to his arm and leg at Glendale. At the Battle of Antietam, he was shot three times — once in the wrist, once in the leg, and once in the shoulder.
Just 90 days later, he reported back for duty.
Sedgwick was, if nothing else, a confident man. And this confidence ultimately led to his downfall.
On May 8, 1864, when General Ulysses S. Grant sent Union forces to Spotsylvania County to meet Robert E. Lee’s army on the battlefield, Sedgwick answered the call to action. He led his men to Spotsylvania Court House, bringing the total number of Union soldiers present to nearly 100,000, per the American Battlefield Trust.
The next evening, on May 9, Sedgwick was inspecting his line and directing artillery placements. Meanwhile, Confederate sharpshooters were firing rounds from barely 3,000 feet away. Naturally, the Union soldiers facing the onslaught of bullets were ducking for cover. Sedgwick did not approve of this.
“What? Men dodging this way for single bullets?” he reportedly asked. “What will you do when they open fire along the whole line?”
To set his men’s minds at ease, Sedgwick said his infamous final words: “They couldn’t hit an elephant at that distance.”
At that very moment, a Confederate sharpshooter’s bullet struck him dead.
