>George Greene holds the distinction of being one of the oldest-serving Civil War generals, as he was born when Thomas Jefferson was president and graduated West Point in 1823, second in his class which entitled him to the prestigious Army Corps of Engineers. He taught mathematics at West Point for a while and Robert E. Lee was among his pupils. Greene's wife and children died in a tuberculois epidemic and he resigned from the Army in 1836 as peacetime service meant probable decades at a low rank with little pay. He became a civil engineer, remarried, and had six children with his second wife.>Greene decided to reenter the Army when the Civil War began although he celebrated his 60th birthday in spring 1861 and had been a civilian for 25 years. He obtained a commission as colonel of the 60th New York Infantry to the dismay of younger officers who hoped for the colonelcy of the regiment themselves; New York governor Edward Morgan was initially reluctant to appoint him due to his age, but finally decided a West Pointer's talents shouldn't go to waste. Greene became a brigadier general in April 1862 and led a brigade in Nathaniel Banks's army in the Shenandoah Valley; despite his age, he was an energetic and aggressive officer. He led his brigade at Cedar Mountain and rose to division command at Antietam. Greene's division was in the thick of the fight at Chancellorsville and Gettysburg, in which he distinguished himself in the fighting on Culp's Hill, and after the latter battle he and the XII Corps were transferred west. He was shot in the face at Wauhatchie and suffered permanent injuries.
>He returned to active field duty with Sherman's army in the closing days of the war in 1865 as a brigade commander. Greene resumed his career as a civil engineer after the war. In 1887 the 86 year old Greene inspected the 30 mile Croton Aqueduct in New York on foot. The oldest living Union general and oldest living West Point graduate by 1892, he asked Congress for a captain's pension to help his family after he died. However, the highest rank Greene had held in the regular army was 1st lieutenant so by law that was all he could be given. He accepted the lieutenant's pension and died in Morristown, New Jersey in 1899 at age 97.
A total chad, beloved by his men who called him “Pappy” after some initial doubts about being led by an old man. His actions at Gettysburg saved the Union right and probably their whole position, as he dug in on Culp’s Hill and with a small number of troops fended off Confederate assaults. Little Round Top and Pickett’s Charge get all the hype but he deserves more credit.
>>18282360>>18282358>walks 30 miles at 86He just had great genetics I guess.
>>18282739>his men who called him “Pappy”
>>18282756I guess so but also mobility issues in elderly people were less of a problem back then because they lived in a world of dirt and wooden floors. It so happens to be that modern metal, concrete, and asphalt flooring does a number on your back and legs.
