Civil War Union Army Brigadier General. A graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York (Class of 1845), during the Civil War he was appointed as Colonel and commander of the 7th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry in January 1862 and was engaged in the Peninsula Campaign and at the Battle of Antietam. Promoted to Brigadier General of Volunteers in November 1862, he commanded a brigade at December 1862 Battle of Fredericksburg. In May of 1863 his troops stormed Marye's Heights in Fredericksburg during the Chancellorville Campaign, losing heavily. At Rappahannock Station in November General Russell, temporarily in command of the division, he personally lead a charge on a bridgehead considered so strong that the Confederate commander felt he could hold the position against the entire Union Army. The position was overrun and captured netting four pieces of artillery and eight battle flags which General Russell personally took to Washington DC at Army of the Potomac commander Major General George G. Meade's behest. General Russell was given permanent division command and distinguished himself during from time period between the May 1864 Battle of the Wilderness to the June 1864 Battle of Petersburg, Virginia. In July 1864 his division was hurriedly sent north to help ward off Confederate Major General Jubal Early's raid on Washington DC and then to pursue the Confederates into the Shenandoah Valley. General Russell was killed by a shell fragment that tore through his heart at the Third Battle of Winchester on September 19, 1864. Today a marker is at the spot where he fell and a Monument to him is in the National Cemetery in Winchester.
Civil War Union Army Brigadier General. A graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York (Class of 1845), during the Civil War he was appointed as Colonel and commander of the 7th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry in January 1862 and was engaged in the Peninsula Campaign and at the Battle of Antietam. Promoted to Brigadier General of Volunteers in November 1862, he commanded a brigade at December 1862 Battle of Fredericksburg. In May of 1863 his troops stormed Marye's Heights in Fredericksburg during the Chancellorville Campaign, losing heavily. At Rappahannock Station in November General Russell, temporarily in command of the division, he personally lead a charge on a bridgehead considered so strong that the Confederate commander felt he could hold the position against the entire Union Army. The position was overrun and captured netting four pieces of artillery and eight battle flags which General Russell personally took to Washington DC at Army of the Potomac commander Major General George G. Meade's behest. General Russell was given permanent division command and distinguished himself during from time period between the May 1864 Battle of the Wilderness to the June 1864 Battle of Petersburg, Virginia. In July 1864 his division was hurriedly sent north to help ward off Confederate Major General Jubal Early's raid on Washington DC and then to pursue the Confederates into the Shenandoah Valley. General Russell was killed by a shell fragment that tore through his heart at the Third Battle of Winchester on September 19, 1864. Today a marker is at the spot where he fell and a Monument to him is in the National Cemetery in Winchester.
Bio by: EFB III
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