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mikeejay2 -> Brig Gen Joseph King Fenno Mansfield (3/31/2007 3:35:18 AM)
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Brig Gen Joseph King Fenno Mansfield (b 1803 - d 1862) was born in New Haven, Connecticut. He attended West Point and graduated second in a class of forty in 1822. He was commissioned a 2nd lieutenant in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Advancement came slowly in the peacetime Army and he was promoted to 1st lieutenant in 1832, captain in 1838. In the Mexican War, he received a promotion to major for the action at Fort Brown, Texas, on May 9, 1846. He was wounded in the leg at the Battle of Monterrey, and he received a second promotion to lieutenant colonel for his actions there. He was promoted a third time to colonel for the Battle of Buena Vista in 1847. After the war he became the Inspector General of the U.S. Army (May 1853). At the start of the Civil War, Mansfield commanded the Department of Washington, receiving a promotion to brigadier general in May of 1861. He was a brigade commander in the Department of Virginia from March to June of 1862. His only combat activity during this period was the firing of coastal batteries from Hampton Roads against the ironclad Virginia in its naval battle against the Monitor on March 9, 1862. From July to Sept, Mansfield commanded the Suffolk Division of the VII Corps of the Department of Virginia in the vicinity of Suffolk. During the Maryland Campaign, when Lee invaded the North for the first time, Mansfield was given command of the XII Corps of the Army of the Potomac just two days prior to Battle of Antietam. He arrived in the camp with 40 years of army experience, but no recent combat. He was white-haired and white-bearded, but had a vigorous manner that belied his age. His officers considered him nervous and fussy, but his men, many of whom were new recruits, liked him well enough due to his enthusiasm and fatherly assurance. On the morning of September 17, 1862, the 1st Corps under Hooker attacked from the north, parallel to the Hagerstown Turnpike, smashing into the Confederate left flank. Mansfield's corps came immediately behind. As the lead brigade moved through an open field east of the Miller farmstead, they were subjected to fire by Confederate gunners, which caused terrible causalities among the new troops. The men were advancing in column formation, more suitable for marching, and their officers ordered deployment into open battle lines, which would reduce the risk of casualties from artillery shelling. Mansfield countermanded these orders, insisting they stay in column, because he was concerned that outside of the immediate control of their officers, the men would break and run. Mansfield personally led troops on his left flank into the East Woods. He returned to the rear to bring up more troops, and when he reached the line again he saw soldiers from the 10th Maine Infantry regiment firing into the woods. Mansfield, assuming that men from Hooker's corps were in the woods, rode down the regimental line crying out, "You are firing on our own men!" The soldiers convinced Mansfield that in fact they were not and were receiving heavy fire from the woods. Mansfield replied, "Yes, yes, you are right," and just a bullet caught the general squarely in the stomach. He was able to dismount and lead his horse to the rear before collapsing. He was taken to a field hospital at the George Line farm, where he died the next morning. He is buried in Indian Hill Cemetery, Middletown, Connecticut, and received a posthumous promotion to major general for his gallantry at Antietam.
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