The Battle of South Mountain
General Reno, Fox's Gap
Major General Jesse Lee Reno, USA (1823-1862)
Jesse graduated from West Point in 1846. Cadet
Reno ranked 8th in a class of 59 that included such notables as George B. McClellan,
Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, and George Pickett. Reno won honors for bravery in
the Mexican War and later taught mathematics at West Point. At war's outbreak he commanded
the Federal Arsenal at Mount Vernon, Alabama. In November of 1861 Reno was commissioned a
Brigadier General and assigned to command a brigade in General Burnside's North Carolina
expedition. Reno quickly rose to Major General and by July of 1862 commanded two divisions
in the Union IX Corps. He led the divisions at Second Manassas and Chantilly prior to the
Maryland Campaign. Reno was promoted to command of the IX Corps at the start of the
Maryland Campaign. General Reno was a soldier's soldier. He was often seen at the head of
his troops rarely wearing an emblem of command or a sword by his side. He was mortally
wounded at
Fox's Gap while reconnoitering in front of the Union lines. It was
felt by many that had Reno survived the Battle of South Mountain he would have emerged as
one of the Civil War's most notable generals. Reno is buried in Georgetown's Oak Hill
Cemetery, Washington DC. A monument to General Reno has been erected at Fox's
Gap.
Jesse graduated from West Point in 1846. Cadet
Reno ranked 8th in a class of 59 that included such notables as George B. McClellan,
Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, and George Pickett. Reno won honors for bravery in
the Mexican War and later taught mathematics at West Point. At war's outbreak he commanded
the Federal Arsenal at Mount Vernon, Alabama. In November of 1861 Reno was commissioned a
Brigadier General and assigned to command a brigade in General Burnside's North Carolina
expedition. Reno quickly rose to Major General and by July of 1862 commanded two divisions
in the Union IX Corps. He led the divisions at Second Manassas and Chantilly prior to the
Maryland Campaign. Reno was promoted to command of the IX Corps at the start of the
Maryland Campaign. General Reno was a soldier's soldier. He was often seen at the head of
his troops rarely wearing an emblem of command or a sword by his side. He was mortally
wounded at