- Listenly
- Public Library
- All Authors
- Orlando B. Willcox
author
Orlando B. Willcox
1823–1907
A Union general, Medal of Honor recipient, and memoirist, he wrote from direct experience of war, captivity, and military service. His life connects the Mexican-American War, the Civil War, and the long memory that followed both.
1 Audiobook
Famous Adventures and Prison Escapes of the Civil War
by Basil Wilson Duke, Thomas Henry Hines, Frank E. Moran, William Pittenger, A. E. (Adolphus Edwards) Richards, W. H. (William Henry) Shelton, Orlando B. Willcox, John Taylor Wood
About the author
Born in Detroit in 1823, Orlando B. Willcox graduated from West Point in 1847 and began his army career in the Mexican-American War. He later became a Union general in the Civil War, where he was wounded and captured at the First Battle of Bull Run, then returned to service after being exchanged.
Willcox went on to hold important commands in the Army of the Potomac and later received the Medal of Honor for his actions at Bull Run. After the war, he remained in the U.S. Army for many years, eventually retiring as a brigadier general.
He also left a written record of his experiences. His memoir, Army Life of an Illinois Soldier, reflects a life shaped by military duty, imprisonment, and firsthand observation of nineteenth-century American warfare.