Charles Champion Gilbert
From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.
Charles Champion Gilbert was a United States army officer during the Mexican-American War and the Civil War.
Gilbert was born in Zanesville, Ohio on March 1, 1822 and graduated from West Point in 1846. He served through the Mexican-American War and returned to West Point as an instructor.
When the Civil War broke out, Gilbert was appointed captain in the 1st U.S. Infantry and fought in the Battle of Wilson's Creek where he was wounded. He was made inspector general in the Army of the Ohio during the Battle of Shiloh and advance on Corinth. During the Confederate Heartland Offensive William Nelson's Army of Kentucky was added to the Army of the Ohio, becoming it's III Corps. When Nelson was killed in late September, all other ranking officers in the army refused the appointment to corps command. Therefore Gilbert was advanced from captain all the way to acting Major General in command of the III Corps. A week later he was engaged in the Battle of Perryville. Although his troops were successful in checking the last of the Confederate attacks and driving a Confederate brigade back through Perryville, Gilbert was criticized for his slow action in battle and his appointment to major general was never approved by Senate. He was appointed Major in the 19th U.S. Infantry and served in administrative duties for the remainder of the war.
Gilbert served on the frontier until he retired in 1886. He died in Baltimore, Maryland on January 17, 1903.
