Edwin Vose Sumner

Edwin Vose Sumner
Nickname(s)Bull, Bull Head
Born(1797-01-30)January 30, 1797
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
DiedMarch 21, 1863(1863-03-21) (aged 66)
Syracuse, New York, U.S.
Place of burial
AllegianceUnited States
Union
Service / branchUnited States Army
Union Army
Years of service1819–1863
RankMajor General
Commands1st U.S. Cavalry
Department of the Pacific
II Corps, Army of the Potomac
Battles / wars
Spouse(s)Hannah W. Foster
Children6, including Edwin Jr. and Samuel

Edwin Vose Sumner (January 30, 1797 – March 21, 1863) was a career United States Army officer who became a Union Army general and the oldest field commander of any Army Corps on either side during the American Civil War.[1] His nicknames "Bull" or "Bull Head" came both from his great booming voice and a legend that a musket ball once bounced off his head.

Sumner fought in the Black Hawk War, with distinction in the Mexican–American War, on the Western frontier, and in the Eastern Theater for the first half of the Civil War. He led the II Corps of the Army of the Potomac through the Peninsula Campaign, the Seven Days Battles, and the Maryland Campaign, and the Right Grand Division of the Army during the Battle of Fredericksburg. He died in March 1863 while awaiting transfer.

  1. ^ Warner 1964, p. 489.