Background
William H. French was born on January 13, 1815, in Baltimore, Maryland.
William H. French was born on January 13, 1815, in Baltimore, Maryland.
William H. French was appointed to West Point in 1833 from the District of Columbia, where his father, William French, was then living as an employee of the Post Office Department. Graduating in 1837, in the class of Sedgwick, Hooker, Bragg, Early, and Pemberton, he was commissioned in the 1st Artillery and went at once to service in the Florida War.
He was promoted to first lieutenant in 1838. In the Mexican War, he was engaged in the siege of Vera Cruz, the battles of Cerro Gordo, Contreras, and Churubusco, and the capture of the city of Mexico; and was an aide to Franklin Pierce, then a brigadier-general of volunteers, for some months after the city was taken.
He reached his captaincy in 1848. In when Gen. Twiggs surrendered the government property in Texas to the secessionists, French moved the garrison of Fort Duncan, at Eagle Pass, to Fort Brown, at the mouth of the Rio Grande, marching over four hundred miles in sixteen days, and there embarked it for Key West.
He remained in command there until November, meanwhile being promoted to major in the regular artillery and brigadier-general of volunteers. Assigned to the Army of the Potomac, he commanded a brigade in the Peninsular campaign and a division at Antietam.
He was appointed major-general of volunteers, November 29, commanded a division at Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, and the Harper’s Ferry district during the Gettysburg campaign.
He commanded the III Corps during the fall of 1863, at first with success, but Gen. Meade ascribed to the slowness of this corps the failure of the Mine Run campaign and held French primarily to blame. In the reorganization of the army in 1864, and the consequent consolidation of corps, French was displaced, was mustered out of the volunteer service, and saw no further field service.
He was promoted lieutenant-colonel in the regular army, February 8, 1864, and colonel, July 2, 1877. He was retired from active service in 1880. His death occurred in Washington.
Until the failure at Mine Run, French was a more than an ordinarily successful leader of troops, advancing step by step to the command of a brigade, a division, and finally a corps, but his conduct on that occasion destroyed Meade’s previous confidence in him. French subsequently expressed the opinion that the difficulty was due to the personal enmity of one of his division commanders (unpublished letter).
French was a tall, bulky man. He had a high reputation as an artillerist, assisted in the preparation of the system of light-artillery tactics used during the Civil War, and was employed frequently on technical board and inspection duties.
Quotes from others about the person
“French is a jovial companion, full of wit and sparkling humor, ” according to Gen. Cullum.
William H. French was married to Caroline Read. They had six children.
1891–1973
4 June 1861 - 26 April 1891
24 May 1852 - 15 September 1899
8 July 1857 - 13 August 1895
1855 - 26 June 1906
1842 - 6 September 1865
