author
Orlando B. Willcox
1823–1907
A career army officer turned Civil War general, he saw action from the Mexican-American War to some of the Union Army’s hardest campaigns. His life also included capture in battle, a Medal of Honor, and years of public service after the war.
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 Bolivar Willcox graduated from West Point in 1847 and began his military career in the final phase of the Mexican-American War. He later served on frontier and garrison duty, resigned from the army in the 1850s, and practiced law before returning to service when the Civil War began.
He entered the war as colonel of the 1st Michigan Infantry and was wounded and captured at First Bull Run in July 1861. After being exchanged, he rose to higher command in the Union Army, serving in major campaigns including Antietam, Fredericksburg, Knoxville, the Overland Campaign, and Petersburg. He received the Medal of Honor for bravery at First Bull Run, though the award itself came many years later.
After the war, Willcox remained a respected veteran figure and wrote about military subjects, including a memoir of his experiences as a prisoner of war. He died in 1907 in Cobourg, Ontario, and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.