Brigadier General, Brevet Major General Samuel Wylie Crawford Commander of the 1st Brigade, 1st Division, Union XII Corps
“CRAWFORD, Samuel Wylie, soldier, b. in Franklin county, Pa., 8 Nov., 1829. He was graduated at the University of Pennsylvania in 1846, after which he studied medicine, and in 1851 became an assistant surgeon in the U. S. army. He served in various forts in the southwest, principally in Texas, until 1860, when he was stationed at Fort Moultrie and later at Fort Sumter, being one of the garrison of that fort at the beginning of the civil war, and having command of a battery during the bombardment. From that time till August, 1861, he was at Fort Columbus, New York harbor. He then vacated his commission of assistant surgeon by accepting the appointment of major in the 13th infantry, and in 1862 was commissioned a brigadier-general of volunteers. Gen. Crawford served with distinction in the Shenandoah campaign, being present at the battles of Winchester and Cedar Mountain, losing one half of his brigade in the last named action. At the battle of Antietam he succeeded Gen. Mansfield in command of his division, and was severely wounded. Early in 1863 he was placed in command of the Pennsylvania reserves, then stationed about Washington, and with these troops, forming the 3d division of the 5th army corps he was engaged at Gettysburg, serving with great bravery. Subsequently he participated in all the operations of the Army of the Potomac until the close of the war. He was brevetted successively from colonel, in 1863, up to major-general in 1865, for conspicuous gallantry in the battles of the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Petersburg, Five Forks, and other engagements. Gen. Crawford was mustered out of the volunteer service in 1866, and then served with his regiment in the south, becoming colonel of the 16th infantry in February, 1869, and later of the 2d infantry. He continued in the service until February, 1873, when, owing to disability resulting from wounds, he was retired with the rank of brigadier-general.”
Source: Wilson, James Grant, & Fiske, John (Eds.). Appleton's Cyclopaedia of American Biography. New York: Appleton, 1888, 1915.
Eicher, John H., and David J. Eicher. Civil War High Commands. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2001.
U.S. War Department. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. 128 vols. Washington, DC: GPO, 1881-1901. Series 1.
Warner, Ezra J. Generals in Blue: Lives of the Union Commanders. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1964, pp. 99-100.
