List of Union General Officers who graduated from the United States Military Academy (West Point), with their Class and the order in which they were graduated. At this stage, officers who were only brevetted to the rank of Brigadier General are not included. There is also a brief list of those Union Generals who attended West Point, but did not graduate.

Graduates

Name	Class
ABERCROMBIE, John Joseph	1822 (37)
ALLEN, Robert	1836 (33)
ALVORD, Benjamin	1833 (22)
AMES, Adelbert	1861 (5)
AMMEN, Jacob	1831 (12)
ANDERSON, Robert	1825 (15)
ANDREWS, George Leonard	1851(1)
ARNOLD, Lewis Golding	1837 (10)
ARNOLD, Richard	1850 (13)
AUGUR, Christopher Columbus	1843 (16)
AVERELL, William Woods	1855 (26)
AYRES, Romeyn Beck	1847 (22)
BAIRD, Absalom	1849 (9)
BARNARD, John Gross	1833 (2)
BARNES, James	1829 (5)
BARRY, William Farquhar	1838 (17)
BAYARD, George Dashiell	1856 (11)
BENHAM, Henry Washington	1837 (1)
BRANNAN, John Milton	1841 (23)
BROOKS, William Thomas Harbaugh	1841 (46)
BUCHANAN, Robert Christie	1830 (31)
BUCKINGHAM, Catharinus Putnam	1829 (6)
BUELL, Don Carlos	1841 (32)
BUFORD, John	1848 (16)
BUFORD, Napoleon Bonaparte	1827 (6)
BURNS, William Wallace	1847 (28)
BURNSIDE, Ambrose Everett	1847 (18)
CANBY, Edward Richard Sprigg	1839 (30)
CARLIN, William Passmore	1850 (20)
CARR, Eugene Asa	1850 (19)
CARROLL, Samuel Sprigg	1856 (44)
CASEY, Silas	1826 (39)
CHAMBERS, Alexander	1853 (43)
COOKE, Philip St George	1827 (23)
COUCH, Darius Nash	1846 (13)
CROOK, George	1852 (38)
CULLUM, George Washington	1833 (3)
CURTIS, Samuel Ryan	1831 (27)
CUSTER, George Armstrong	1861 (34)
DANA, Napoleon Jackson Tecumseh	1842 (29)
DAVIDSON, John Wynn	1845 (27)
DAVIES, Thomas Alfred	1829 (25)
DELAFIELD, Richard	1818 (1)
DENT, Frederick Tracy	1843 (33)
DOUBLEDAY, Abner	1842 (24)
DYER, Alexander Brydie	1837 (6)
EATON, Amos Beebe	1826 (36)
EMORY, William Hemsley	1831 (14)
EUSTIS, Henry Lawrence	1842 (1)
FORSYTH, James William	1856 (28)
FOSTER, John Gray	1846 (4)
FRANKLIN, William Buel	1843 (1)
FRENCH, William Henry	1837 (22)
FRY, James Barnet	1847 (14)
GARRARD, Kenner	1851 (8)
GETTY, George Washington	1840 (15)
GIBBON, John	1847 (20)
GIBBS, Alfred	1846 (42)
GILBERT, Charles Champion	1846 (21)
GILLEM, Alvan Cullem	1851 (11)
GILLMORE, Quincy Adams	1849 (1)
GORDON, George Henry	1846 (43)
GRANGER, Gordon	1845 (35)
GRANGER, Robert Seaman	1838 (28)
GRANT, Ulysses Simpson	1843 (21)
GREENE, George Sears	1823 (2)
GREGG, David McMurtrie	1855 (8)
GRIFFIN, Charles	1847 (23)
GROVER, Cuvier	1850 (4)
HALLECK, Henry Wager	1839 (3)
HAMILTON, Charles Smith	1843 (26)
HAMILTON, Schuyler	1841 (24)
HANCOCK, Winfield Scott	1844 (18)
HARDIE, James Allen	1843 (11)
HARDIN, Martin Davis	1859 (11)
HARKER, Charles Garrison	1858 (16)
HARTSUFF, George Lucas	1852 (19)
HASCALL, Milo Smith	1852 (14)
HASKIN, Joseph Abel	1839 (10)
HATCH, John Porter	1845 (17)
HAUPT, Herman	1835 (31)
HAWKINS, John Parker	1852 (40)
HAYS, Alexander	1844 (20)
HAYS, William	1840 (18)
HAZEN, William Babcock	1855 (28)
HEINTZELMAN, Samuel Peter	1826 (17)
HITCHCOCK, Ethan Allen	1817 (17)
HOOKER, Joseph	1837 (29)
HOWARD, Oliver Otis	1854 (4)
HOWE, Albion Parris	1841 (8)
HUMPHREYS, Andrew Atkinson	1831 (13)
HUNT, Henry Jackson	1839 (19)
HUNT, Lewis Cass	1847 (33)
HUNTER, David	1822 (25)
INGALLS, Rufus	1843 (32)
JOHNSON, Richard W	1849 (30)
JUDAH, Henry Moses	1843 (35)
KAUTZ, August Valentine	1852 (35)
KEYES, Erasmus Darwin	1832 (10)
KILPATRICK, Hugh Judson	1861 (17)
KING, Rufus	1833 (4)
KIRBY, Edmund	1861 (10)
LOCKWOOD, Henry Hayes	1836 (22)
LYON, Nathaniel	1841 (11)
MACKENZIE, Ranald Slidell	1862 (1)
MANSFIELD, Joseph King Fenno	1822 (2)
MARCY, Randolph Barnes	1832 (29)
MARTINDALE, John Henry	1835 (3)
MASON, John Sanford	1847 (9)
MCCALL, George Archibald	1822 (26)
MCCLELLAN, George Brinton	1846 (2)
MCCOOK, Alexander McDowell	1852 (30)
MCDOWELL, Irvin	1838 (23)
MCKEAN, Thomas Jefferson	1831 (19)
MCKINSTRY, Justus	1838 (40)
MCPHERSON, James Birdseye	1853 (1)
MEADE, George Gordon	1835 (19)
MEIGS, Montgomery Cunningham	1836 (5)
MERRITT, Wesley	1860 (22)
MITCHEL, Ormsby MacKnight	1829 (15)
MONTGOMERY, William Reading	1825 (28)
MORELL, George Webb	1835 (1)
MORGAN, Charles Hale	1857 (12)
MORRIS, William Hopkins	1851 (27)
MORTON, James St Clair	1851 (2)
NAGLEE, Henry Morris	1835 (23)
NEILL, Thomas Hewson	1847 (27)
NEWTON, John	1842 (2)
ORD, Edward Otho Cresap	1839 (17)
PAINE, Eleazar Arthur	1839 (24)
PALMER, Innis Newton	1846 (38)
PARKE, John Grubb	1849 (2)
PATRICK, Marsena Rudolph	1835 (48)
PAUL, Gabriel RenÈ	1834 (18)
PECK, John James	1843 (8)
PHELPS, John Wolcott	1836 (24)
PITCHER, Thomas Gamble	1845 (40)
PLEASONTON, Alfred	1844 (7)
PLUMMER, Joseph Bennett	1841 (22)
POE, Orlando Metcalfe	1856 (6)
POPE, John	1842 (17)
PORTER, Fitz John	1845 (8)
POTTER, Joseph Haydn	1843 (22)
PRINCE, Henry	1835 (30)
QUINBY, Isaac Ferdinand	1843 (6)
RAMSAY, George Douglas	1820 (26)
RENO, Jesse Lee	1846 (8)
REYNOLDS, John Fulton	1841 (26)
REYNOLDS, Joseph Jones	1843 (10)
RICHARDSON, Israel Bush	1841 (38)
RICKETTS, James Brewerton	1839 (16)
RIPLEY, James Wolfe	1814 (12)
ROBERTS, Benjamin Stone	1835 (53)
ROSECRANS, William Starke	1842 (5)
RUGER, Thomas Howard	1854 (3)
RUSSELL, David Allen	1845 (38)
SANDERS, William Price	1856 (41)
SAXTON, Rufus	1849 (18)
SCAMMON, Eliakim Parker	1837 (9)
SCHOFIELD, John McAllister	1853 (7)
SEDGWICK, John	1837 (24)
SEYMOUR, Truman	1846 (19)
SHERIDAN, Philip Henry	1853 (34)
SHERMAN, Thomas West	1836 (18)
SHERMAN, William Tecumseh	1840 (6)
SILL, Joshua Woodrow	1853 (3)
SLEMMER, Adam Jacoby	1850 (12)
SLOCUM, Henry Warner	1852 (7)
SMITH, Andrew Jackson	1838 (36)
SMITH, Charles Ferguson	1825 (19)
SMITH, William Farrar	1845 (4)
SMITH, William Sooy	1853 (6)
STANLEY, David Sloane	1852 (9)
STEELE, Frederick	1843 (30)
STEVENS, Isaac Ingalls	1839 (1)
STOKES, James Hughes	1835 (17)
STONE, Charles Pomeroy	1845 (7)
STONEMAN, George	1846 (33)
STOUGHTON, Edwin Henry	1859 (17)
STRONG, George Crockett	1857 (5)
STURGIS, Samuel Davis	1846 (32)
SULLY, Alfred	1841 (34)
SYKES, George	1842 (39)
TERRILL, William Rufus	1853 (16)
THOMAS, George Henry	1840 (12)
THOMAS, Lorenzo	1823 (17)
THRUSTON, Charles Mynn	1814 (15)
TODD, John Blair Smith	1837 (39)
TORBERT, Alfred Thomas Archimedes	1855 (21)
TOTTEN, Joseph Gilbert	1805 (3)
TOWER, Zealous Bates	1841 (1)
TURNER, John Wesley	1855 (14)
TYLER, Daniel	1819 (14)
TYLER, Robert Ogden	1853 (22)
UPTON, Emory	1861 (8)
VAN CLEVE, Horatio Phillips	1831 (24)
VAN VLIET, Stewart	1840 (9)
VIELE, Egbert Ludovicus	1847 (30)
VINTON, Francis Laurens	1856 (10)
VODGES, Israel	1837 (11)
WARNER, James Meech	1860 (40)
WARREN, Gouverneur Kemble	1850 (2)
WEBB, Alexander Stewart	1855 (13)
WEED, Stephen Hinsdale	1854 (27)
WEITZEL, Godfrey	1855 (2)
WESSELLS, Henry Walton	1833 (29)
WHIPPLE, Amiel Weeks	1841 (5)
WHIPPLE, William Denison	1851 (31)
WILLCOX, Orlando Bolivar	1847 (8)
WILLIAMS, Seth	1842 (23)
WILLIAMS, Thomas	1837 (12)
WILSON, James Harrison	1860 (6)
WOOD, Thomas John	1845 (5)
WOODBURY, Daniel Phineas	1836 (6)
WOODS, Charles Robert	1852 (20)
WRIGHT, George	1822 (24)
WRIGHT, Horatio Gouverneur	1841 (2)

Those who departed before graduation

Name	Dates
CORSE, John Murray	Entered West Point 1853; resigned 1855.
CROCKER, Marcellus Monroe	Entered West Point 1847; resigned 1849.
DE RUSSY, Gustavus Adolphus	Entered West Point 1835; permitted to resign 1838 (for drinking).
DWIGHT, William	Entered West Point 1849; dismissed 1853 for academic reasons.
ELLIOT, Washington Lafayette	Entered West Point 1841; resigned 1844
EWING, Hugh Boyle	Entered West Point 1844; resigned 1848.
PORTER, Andrew	Entered West Point 1836; resigned 1837.
ROBINSON, John Cleveland	Entered West Point 1835; dismissed 1838 (for insubordination).
MORGAN, George Washington	Entered West Point 1841; resigned 1843 for academic reasons.
TILLSON, Davis	Entered West Point 1849; resigned 1851 after an accident in which he lost a foot.
WILLIAMS, Nelson Grosvenor	Entered West Point 1839; resigned 1840.

Acknowledgements

These lists have been based on several works: Ezra Warner's Generals in Blue, Francis Heitman's Historical Register and Dictionary of the U.S. Army and John and David Eicher's Civil War High Commands.

Recommended Reading: Generals in Blue: Lives of the Union Commanders (Hardcover). Description: More than forty years after its original publication, Ezra J. Warner’s Generals in Blue is now available in paperback for the first time. Warner’s classic reference work includes intriguing biographical sketches and a rare collection of photos of all 583 men who attained the rank of general in the Union Army. Here are the West Point graduates and the political appointees; the gifted, the mediocre, and the inexcusably bad; those of impeccable virtue and those who abused their position; the northern-born, the foreign-born, and the southerners who remained loyal to the Union. Continued below.

Warner’s valuable introduction discusses the criteria for appointment and compares the civilian careers of both Union and Confederate generals, revealing striking differences in the two groups. Generals in Blue is that rare book—an essential volume for scholars, a prized item for buffs, and a biographical dictionary that the casual reader will find absorbing.

Stephen Taaffe takes a close look at this command cadre, examining who was appointed to these positions, why they were appointed, and why so many of them ultimately failed to fulfill their responsibilities. He demonstrates that ambitious officers such as Gouverneur Warren, John Reynolds, and Winfield Scott Hancock employed all the weapons at their disposal, from personal connections to exaggerated accounts of prowess in combat, to claw their way into these important posts. Once appointed, however, Taaffe reveals that many of these officers failed to navigate the tricky and ever-changing political currents that swirled around the Army of the Potomac. As a result, only three of them managed to retain their commands for more than a year, and their machinations caused considerable turmoil in the army's high command structure. Taaffe also shows that their ability or inability to get along with generals such as George McClellan, Ambrose Burnside, Joseph Hooker, George Meade, and Ulysses Grant played a big role in their professional destinies. In analyzing the Army of the Potomac's corps commanders as a group, Taaffe provides a new way of detailing this army's chronic difficulties-one that, until now, has been largely neglected in the literature of the Civil War.

 

Recommended Reading: The Gallant Dead: Union and Confederate Generals Killed in the Civil War (Hardcover). Description: More than 400 Confederate and 580 Union soldiers advanced to the rank of general during the course of the Civil War. (More than 1 in 10 would die.) A total of 124 generals died--78 for the South and 46 for the North. Continued below...

Weaving their stories into a seamless narrative of the entire conflict, Derek Smith paints a fascinating and often moving portrait of the final moments of some of the finest American warriors in history, including Stonewall Jackson, Albert Sidney Johnston, Jeb Stuart, James B. McPherson, John Reynolds, and numerous others.

 

Recommended Reading: Civil War High Commands (1040 pages) (Hardcover). Description: Based on nearly five decades of research, this magisterial work is a biographical register and analysis of the people who most directly influenced the course of the Civil War, its high commanders. Numbering 3,396, they include the presidents and their cabinet members, state governors, general officers of the Union and Confederate armies (regular, provisional, volunteers, and militia), and admirals and commodores of the two navies. Civil War High Commands will become a cornerstone reference work on these personalities and the meaning of their commands, and on the Civil War itself. Continued below...

Errors of fact and interpretation concerning the high commanders are legion in the Civil War literature, in reference works as well as in narrative accounts. The present work brings together for the first time in one volume the most reliable facts available, drawn from more than 1,000 sources and including the most recent research. The biographical entries include complete names, birthplaces, important relatives, education, vocations, publications, military grades, wartime assignments, wounds, captures, exchanges, paroles, honors, and place of death and interment. In addition to its main component, the biographies, the volume also includes a number of essays, tables, and synopses designed to clarify previously obscure matters such as the definition of grades and ranks; the difference between commissions in regular, provisional, volunteer, and militia services; the chronology of military laws and executive decisions before, during, and after the war; and the geographical breakdown of command structures. The book is illustrated with 84 new diagrams of all the insignias used throughout the war and with 129 portraits of the most important high commanders. It is the most comprehensive volume to date...name any Union or Confederate general--and it can be found in here. [T]he photos alone are worth the purchase. RATED FIVE STARS by americancivilwarhistory.org

 

Recommended Reading: Leaders of the American Civil War: A Biographical and Historiographical Dictionary (Hardcover) (504 pages). Description: Covering both the great military leaders and the critical civilian leaders, this book provides an overview of their careers and a professional assessment of their accomplishments. Entries consider the leaders' character and prewar experiences, their contributions to the war effort, and the war's impact on the rest of their lives. The entries then look at how history has assessed these leaders, thus putting their longtime reputations on the line. Continued below...

The result is a thorough revision of some leaders' careers, a call for further study of others, and a reaffirmation of the accomplishments of the greatest leaders. Analyzing the leaders historiographically, the work shows how the leaders wanted to be remembered, how postwar memorists and biographers saw them, the verdict of early historians, and how the best modern historians have assessed their contributions. By including a variety of leaders from both civilian and military roles, the book provides a better understanding of the total war, and by relating their lives to their times, it provides a better understanding of historical revisionism and of why history has been so interested in Civil War lives.

 

Recommended Reading: Generals in Bronze: Interviewing the Commanders of the Civil War (Hardcover). Description: Generals in Bronze: Revealing interviews with the commanders of the Civil War. In the decades that followed the American Civil War, Artist James E. Kelly (1855-1933) conducted in-depth interviews with over forty Union Generals in an effort to accurately portray them in their greatest moment of glory. Kelly explained: "I had always felt a great lack of certain personal details. I made up my mind to ask from living officers every question I would have asked Washington or his generals had they posed for me, such as: What they considered the principal incidents in their career and particulars about costumes and surroundings." Continued below…

During one interview session with Gen. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, Kelly asked about the charge at Fort Damnation. Gen. Chamberlain acquiesced, but then added, "I don't see how you can show this in a picture." "Just tell me the facts," Kelly responded, "and I'll attend to the picture." And by recording those stirring facts, Kelly left us not only his wonderful art, but a truly unique picture of the lives of the great figures of the American Civil War. About the Author: William B. Styple has edited, co-authored, and authored several works on the Civil War. His book: "The Little Bugler" won the Young Readers' Award from the Civil War Round Table of New York. He is currently writing the biography of Gen. Phil Kearny.