Maj. Gen. Charles W. Field

[jkBluesman]

Maj. Gen. Charles William Field (b. 1828, d. 1892). Although Field started the war as cavalry officer his main service was with the infantry in which he rose to division command. Born in Woodford County, Kentucky, he graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1849. Receiving a commission in the cavalry he served on the frontier before returning to West Point in 1856 to serve as a cavalry instructor. He resigned his commission as captain on May 30, 1861 and soon accepted one as colonel of the 6th Virginia Cavalry that was incorporated in fall of 1861 into Gen. J.E.B. Stuart’s brigade. Field did not stay long in the cavalry. On March 9, 1862 he was promoted to brigadier general and switched therefore to the infantry. His brigade was stationed near Fredericksburg to watch the force of Union Gen. Irvin McDowell and keep it from coming to the Peninsula. But for the Seven Days Field and his men were summoned to the Army of Northern Virginia, where they became the first brigade in Gen. A.P. Hill’s division. Placed in the first line of attack they opened the fighting at Mechanicsville on June 26, 1862, the first of the Seven Days battles. Field led his men also at Gaines’ Mill and Frayser’s Farm. In the Second Manassas campaign, Field’s brigade arrived only for the closing of the battle at Cedar Mountain. It saw heavy action on the first day of Second Manassas. Posted on the Confederate left it was hard pressed by Federals in the afternoon. Although the Southerners held their line, Field was severely wounded in the fight. After recovering several months Field was still not fit for field duty but from May 1863 on he served in the Bureau of Conscription in the War Department, making important connections with Confederate leaders. On February 12, 1864 Field was promoted to major general but received no assignment. He served on the board of generals court-martialling Gen. Lafayette McLaws. Although McLaws was cleared of most charges, he was transferred from the I corps, in which two divisions were then without commander. Field got the old division of Gen. John B. Hood, while McLaws’ went to Gen. Joseph Kershaw. In the Overland Campaign of 1864, Field was tested in his new capacity. He was lightly wounded in the Battle of the Wilderness but stayed with his command and fought at Spotsylvania Court House and Cold Harbor. During the siege of Petersburg Field fought notably at the Second Battle of Deep Bottom, where his counterattack drove the Federals from the North side of the James River. When Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox Court House, Field’s division was one of the largest left. After the war, he was involved in business and engineering in Baltimore, Maryland and Georgia until 1875, when he returned to military service. For three years he served as engineer and instructor in the Egyptian Army. When he returned to the United States in 1878 he was soon elected doorkeeper of the House of Representatives. In the 1880’s he again worked as engineer and became superintendent of an Indian reservation in Arkansas. He died in Washington and was buried in Baltimore’s Loudon Park Cemetery.

Ldr: 4
Tact: 3
Init: 3
Cmd: 3
Cav: 2

Teaches: Chargers, Resilient

[Gil R.]

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