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Vol. II |
(Born Va.) |
Jesse L. Reno |
(Ap'd Pa.) |
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Jesse Lee Reno: Born June 20, 1823, Wheeling, WV.º Military History. — Cadet at the Military Academy, July 1, 1842, to July 1, 1846, when he was graduated and promoted in the Army to Bvt. Second Lieut., Ordnance, July 1, 1846. Served: as Asst. Ordnance Officer at Watervliet Arsenal, N. Y., 1846; in the War with Mexico, 1846‑48, being engaged with Howitzer (Second Lieut., Ordnance, Mar. 3, 1847) Battery at the Siege of Vera Cruz, Mar. 9‑29, 1847, — Battle of Cerro Gordo, Apr. 17‑18, 1847, — Battle of Contreras, Aug. 19‑20, 1847, —
(Bvt. First Lieut., Apr. 18, 1847,
Battle of Churubusco, Aug. 20, 1847, — and Battle of Chapultepec, Sep. 13, 1847, where he was wounded; on Special duty at Erie, Pa.,
(Bvt. Capt., Sep. 13, 1847,
1848; at the Military Academy, as Asst. Professor of Mathematics, Jan. 9 to July 16, 1849; as Secretary of Board for preparing a "System of Instruction for Heavy Artillery," Oct. 1, 1849, to Oct. 15, 1850; as Assistant to Ordnance Board at Washington Arsenal, D. C., 1851‑52, 1853; on (First Lieut., Ordnance, Mar. 3, 1853) Topographical duty, Aug. 2, 1853, to Apr. 25, 1854, making Survey of Military Road from the mouth of the Big Sioux to Mendota, Min.; on Coast Survey, Apr. 25 to July 15, 1854; as Asst. Ordnance Officer at Frankford Arsenal, Pa., 1854‑57; as Chief of Ordnance on Utah Expedition, July 15, 1857, to June 25, 1859; in command of Mount Vernon Arsenal, Ala., 1859, till its seizure by the Rebels, Jan. 4, 1861. Captain, Ordnance, July 1, 1860, for Fourteen Years' Continuous Service. Served during the Rebellion of the Seceding States, 1861‑62: in command of Leavenworth Arsenal, Kan., Feb. 2 to Dec. 6, 1861; in General (Brig.‑General, U. S. Volunteers, Nov. 12, 1861)
(Major-General, U. S. Volunteers, July 18, 1862) Movement to Newport News and the Rappahannock, Aug., 1862; in the Northern Virginia Campaign, commanding 9th Corps, Aug.‑Sep., 1862, being engaged in the Battle of Manassas, Aug. 29‑30, 1862, — and Battle of Chantilly, Sep. 1, 1862; and in the Maryland Campaign, commanding 9th Corps (Army of the Potomac), Sep., 1862, being engaged in the Battle of South Mountain, where, "while gallantly leading his men," he was Killed, Sep. 14, 1862: Aged 39. Buried, Oak Hill Cemetery, Washington, DC. Biographical Sketch.Major-General Jesse L. Reno was born, June 20, 1823, in Wheeling, Va.º He was of French descent, the name being originally Renault. p263 Upon his graduation from the Military Academy, July 1, 1846, he was promoted to the Ordnance Corps, and, immediately after, ordered to Mexico as a subaltern of a Howitzer Battery. He was engaged in all of the operations of General Scott's invasion of Mexico, from the Siege of Vera Cruz to the Storming of Chapultepec, receiving, for his "gallant and meritorious conduct," a brevet for the Battle of Cerro Gordo and another for Chapultepec, where he was wounded.
After the Mexican War, Reno was detailed as Assistant Professor of Mathematics at the Military Academy; then as Secretary of a Board to prepare a "System of Instruction for Heavy Artillery;" and, subsequently, was placed on Topographical and Coast Survey duty. In 1857 he accompanied Colonel General Burnside, who had been a Cadet with Reno, knowing his resolute and ambitious character, applied for him to command a Brigade in the North Carolina Expedition, then being organized. Reno, at once appointed a Brigadier-General, U. S. Volunteers, joined the Expedition, which sailed from Hampton Roads, and, after a stormy passage, reached Hatteras Inlet, the batteries defending which were silenced by the naval vessels. The Expedition then proceeded to Roanoke Island, the northern end of which was strongly fortified. On the afternoon of Feb. 7, 1862, 10,000 Union troops were landed near the middle of the island under cover of the gunboats, and on the morning of the 8th the land attack was made in three columns, General Foster leading the centre one, with Reno on the left and Parke on the right. Foster's advance had to be made over a narrow causeway with densely wooded swamps on either side, and swept by a Rebel battery in front. The movement of the Union flanking columns, under Reno and Parke, had not been observed by the Confederates, they relying upon the supposed impenetrability of the wooded morasses, which, notwithstanding, were penetrated through deep mud and water by the gallant troops, which thus turned the enemy's flanks and put them to disorderly rout. Thus was effected the capture of the island, its forts, artillery, munitions, and garrison of 3,000 men. General Burnside, in his official despatch of Feb. 10, 1862, says: "I will be excused for saying, in reference to this action, that I owe everything to Generals Foster, Reno, and Parke, as more full details will show." The Expedition now proceeded to Neuse River, the entrance to which was strongly fortified, but the gunboats cleared the way for the advance of the troops to the vicinity of Newberne, where the Confederates were strongly intrenched behind a broad and deep ditch, swampy ground, and a dense undergrowth of trees, many of which were felled to form a thick abatis. Notwithstanding these formidable obstacles, the enemy's works were carried after a hard struggle, and immediately Newberne was in our possession. The action of Camden soon followed, and, for ship participation in these successes, Reno was promoted, July 18, 1862, to be a Major-General, U. S. Volunteers.
Burnside, as now ordered, forwarded reinforcements to Newport News designed to aid
The Confederate Army having now driven its antagonist into the fortifications of Washington, "By the death of this distinguished officer the country loses one of its most devoted patriots, the Army one of its most thorough soldiers. In the long list of battles in which General Reno had fought in his country's service, his name always appears with the brightest lustre, and he has now bravely met a soldier's death while gallantly leading his men at the Battle of South Mountain. "For his high character and the kindly qualities of his heart in private life, as well as for the military genius and personal daring which marked him as a soldier, his loss will be deplored by all who knew him, and the Commanding General desires to add the tribute of a friend to the public mourning for the death of one of the country's best defenders." |
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Page updated: 20 Aug 16