Follow Us
Like Us
Historical records matching Brig. Gen. (USA) George Washington Getty
view all 17
Immediate Family
-
-
-
daughter
-
father -
mother -
sister
-
sister -
brother
-
brother
-
sister
-
brother
-
brother
About Brig. Gen. (USA) George Washington Getty
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_W._Getty
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.
Early life
Getty was born in Georgetown, Washington, D.C. He was appointed to the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, at the age of 16, and graduated 15th out of 42 graduates in the Class of 1840. Among his classmates were future Civil War generals William T. Sherman and George H. Thomas of the Union Army and Richard S. Ewell and Bushrod R. Johnson of the Confederate States Army. He was assigned to the artillery as a second lieutenant. During the Mexican-American War, he campaigned with Winfield Scott's army and received a brevet appointment as captain for gallantry at Contreras and Churubusco. He fought against the Seminole Indians in Florida in the last two Seminole Wars, seeing action in 1849–50 and again in 1856–57.
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. He was appointed brevet Major General, U.S. Volunteers, in August 1864, and in the regular army in March 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 in the surrender of Robert E. Lee at Appomattox Court House.
Postbellum career
After the war, Getty was appointed colonel of the 38th U.S. Infantry in the regular army in 1866. He transferred to the 3rd U.S. Artillery in 1871, and then commanded the Artillery School at Fortress Monroe, Virginia, for six years. Getty was a member of the Board of Conduct which exonerated former V Corps commander Maj. Gen. Fitz John Porter in 1879.
After he retired from the Army in 1883, Getty lived on a farm near Forest Glen, Maryland, before his death in 1901. He was buried in Section 1 of Arlington National Cemetery.
Civil War Union Brigadier General. He graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York in 1840, and had as his classmates future Civil War Union Army commanders William T. Sherman and George H. Thomas. Posted to the 4th United States Artillery, he fought in the Mexican War, where brevetted Captain for his gallantry. In the 1850s he served in the last two wars against the Seminole Indians in Florida. A Captain in the 4th Artillery when the Civil War started, he was commissioned as a Lieutenant Colonel of Volunteers in September 1861, he commanded an artillery brigade in the 1862 Peninsular Campaign, and was the Army of the Potomac's IX artillery commander during the September 1862 Antietam Campaign. On September 25, 1862 he was promoted to Brigadier General, US Volunteers. During the December 1862 Fredericksburg Campaign and the May 1863 operations around Suffolk, Virginia, he was in command of a IX Corps division. He then served as Inspector General of the Army of the Potomac on the staff of Major General George G. Meade before being given command of an VI division, which he lead in Major General Philip Sheridan's Shenandoah Campaign during the Fall of 1864. His division then served in the final operations against the entrenched Confederates of General Robert E. Lee at Petersburg, and on April 2, 1865 his men made the initial breakthrough of the Confederate lines that led to the collapse of the rebel positions and the retreat that eventually ended with the surrender at Appomattox Court House. He was brevetted Major General in both the US Volunteers and the Regular Army, and was mustered out of volunteer service in 1866. He remained in the army until he retired with the rank of Colonel in 1883, having commanded the artillery school at Fortress Monroe, Virginia.* Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Mar 3 2020, 19:31:35 UTC
- Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Mar 3 2020, 20:17:44 UTC
view all
Brig. Gen. (USA) George Washington Getty's Timeline
| 1819 |
October 2, 1819
|
Washington, District of Columbia, District of Columbia, USA
|
|
| 1849 |
November 10, 1849
|
Tampa, Hillsborough County, Florida, USA
|
|
| 1855 |
January 17, 1855
|
Brooklyn, Kings County, New York, United States
|
|
| 1901 |
October 1, 1901
Age 81
|
Forest Glen, Montgomery County, Maryland, USA
|
|
| ???? |
Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Arlington County, Virginia, USA
|