Tag: Getty (George W.)

Wikipedia says: George Washington Getty (October 2, 1819 – October 1, 1901) was a career military officer in the United States Army, most noted for his role as a division commander in the Army of the Potomac during the final full year of the American Civil War.

…At the beginning of the Civil War, Getty was a captain in the 4th U.S. Artillery. In September, 1861, he was appointed lieutenant colonel. He commanded four batteries in Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan’s 1862 Peninsula Campaign. Named Chief of Artillery of Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnside’s IX Corps, he served at the battles of South Mountain and Antietam during the Maryland Campaign. On September 25, 1862, Getty was promoted to the rank of brigadier general of volunteers and assigned to the infantry. During the Battle of Fredericksburg in December, he commanded the 3rd Division of IX Corps. In March, 1863, Getty’s division was sent to Suffolk, Virginia, where the Federal Army under Maj. Gen. John A. Dix successfully resisted Lt. Gen. James Longstreet’s investment of the town, which guarded the southern approaches to Norfolk and Hampton Roads.

After subsequent engineering duty and command of a diversion to the South Anna River during the Gettysburg Campaign, Getty served as acting Inspector General of the Army of the Potomac in early 1864, He was assigned to command 2nd Division, VI Corps. He was wounded in the Battle of the Wilderness, but recovered to lead his troops during the lengthy Siege of Petersburg, and later in Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan’s Shenandoah Valley Campaign. Getty became acting commander of VI Corps when Brig. Gen. James B. Ricketts was wounded leading the corps at the Battle of Cedar Creek. On December 12, 1864, President Abraham Lincoln nominated Getty for appointment to the brevet grade of major general of volunteers, to rank from August 1, 1864, confirmed by the U.S. Senate on February 14, 1865. Getty’s division, including the famed Vermont Brigade, made the initial breakthrough at Petersburg on April 2, 1865, and took part in the final campaign of the Army of the Potomac, which concluded with the surrender of Robert E. Lee at Appomattox Court House. On July 17, 1866, President Andrew Johnson nominated Getty for appointment to the brevet grade of major general, U.S. Army (Regular Army), to rank from March 13, 1865, which the U.S. Senate confirmed the appointment on July 23, 1866. Getty was mustered out of the volunteer force on October 9, 1866.