What was john sedgwick last words

The Sixth Corps arrived at Spotsylvania on the afternoon of May 8 after a severe march. After dark, it took its place in the center of the Union line, its right flank resting on the Brock Road.

Sedgwick established his headquarters feet or so from this spot. Confederate sharpshooters had been peppering the area all morning on May 9, wounding, among others, General William Morris.

Staff officers cautioned Sedgwick not to approach the road, but he forgot their warnings a few minutes later when he walked over here to untangle a snarl in his line. When Grant heard the news, he could hardly believe it. Civil War Article. Meade were greatly saddened at his death, as was his old friend on the other side of the war, Robert E. Yet, his last words have had a lasting power.

Depending on how you look at his death, his last words illustrate courage, bravura, or stupidity. You have to give some kudos to the guy, though, and many have. There is a monument to Sedgwick at West Point. Colorado and Kansas also named counties after Sedgwick. Meanwhile, nobody remembers the name of the man who killed him. Several Confederate soldiers claimed responsibility, though many believe Benjamin Medicus Powell fired the fatal shot using a long-range Whitworth sharpshooter rifle with telescope from England.

What are your favorite last words? At the U. Civil War skirmish of Spotsylvania Court House, Sedgwick was deploying his men to face the enemy, with Confederate snipers hindering their preparations.

His statement "They couldn't hit an elephant at this distance" are probably some of the best-known of all 'famous last words'. They may sound contrived, but are in fact precisely what he said just before being shot. The alternative version "They couldn't hit an elephant at this dist I gave the necessary order to move the troops to the right, and as they rose to execute the movement the enemy opened a sprinkling fire, partly from sharp-shooters.

As the bullets whistled by, some of the men dodged.