William B. Franklin

He rose to the rank of a corps commander in the Army of the Potomac, fighting in several notable battles in the Eastern Theater of the Civil War.

In 1857, he received promotion to captain and was named the Army Engineer Secretary of the Light House Board with the task to oversee the construction of several lighthouses along the Atlantic Coast in New Hampshire and Maine.

Soon after the beginning of the Civil War, Franklin was appointed colonel of the 12th U.S. Infantry Regiment, but three days later, on May 17, 1861, he was promoted to brigadier general of volunteers.

[5] Franklin was a staunch ally of Major General George B. McClellan, part of the reason he was not considered for command of the Army of the Potomac following the latter's dismissal in November 1862.

Then he was unaware that his subordinate Maj. Gen. George G. Meade, instead of sweeping around the Confederate army's right flank, as Burnside likely intended, turned in a half mile too soon and slammed directly into Stonewall Jackson's troops.

Had Meade, Reynolds, or Hancock been in command on the left that day, I feel confident that Fredericksburg would have been recorded a glorious victory instead of a horrible slaughter.

"[10] As political intrigue swept the Union Army after the Battle of Fredericksburg and the infamous Mud March, Franklin allegedly became a principal instigator of the cabal against Burnside's leadership.

Burnside caused considerable political difficulty for Franklin in return, offering damaging testimony before the powerful U.S. Congress Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War and keeping him from field duty for months.

During the 1863 Gettysburg Campaign, Franklin was home in York, Pennsylvania, and assisted Maj. Granville Haller in developing plans for the defense of the region against an expected enemy attack.

The operation ended abruptly after the combined Union Army and Navy invasion force of four gunboats and seven troop transports under Franklin's command lost two warships.

[11] In March–May 1864, Franklin participated in the ill-fated Red River Campaign under Banks to occupy eastern Texas as commander of XIX Corps.

He was unable to serve in any more senior commands, even with the assistance of his West Point classmate, friend, and future president, Ulysses S. Grant.

In June 1888, after his retirement from Colt Firearms, he was named as the U.S. Commissioner-General for the Paris Exposition of 1889, when he was made a grand officer of the Legion of Honour.

[2] William Franklin died in Hartford, Connecticut, on March 8, 1903, of complications of senility and was buried in Prospect Hill Cemetery (York, Pennsylvania).

Hughes, Sitgreaves, and Franklin's Map Showing the Line of March of the Centre Division, Army of Mexico, under the Command of Brigr. Genl. John E. Wool, from San Antonio de Bexar, Texas, to Saltillo, Mexico , 1846-1850
William B. Franklin in 1861, by Alfred Waud