John Reese Kenly

{{Short description|Union Army general}} {{Infobox military person |name = John Reese Kenly |birth_date = {{birth date|1818|1|11}} |death_date = {{death date and age|1891|12|20|1818|1|11}} |image = John Reese Kenly Postbellum (cropped).png |caption = |nickname = |birth_place = [[Baltimore|Baltimore, Maryland]], U.S. |death_place = Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. |burial_place = [[Green Mount Cemetery]] Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. |burial_label= Place of burial |allegiance = {{Flag|United States of America|1865}} [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] |branch = [[United States Army]] [[Union Army]] |service_years = 1846–1848, 1861–1865 |rank = [[File:Union Army brigadier general rank insignia.svg|35px]] [[Brigadier general (United States)|Brigadier General]] [[File:Union Army major general rank insignia.svg|35px]] [[Brevet (military)|Brevet]] [[Major general (United States)|Major General]] |unit= |commands = [[1st Maryland Infantry Regiment (Union)|1st Maryland Infantry Regiment]] 3rd Division, [[I Corps (Union Army)|I Corps]] 3rd Brigade, [[Middle Department]] |battles = {{tree list}} * [[Mexican–American War]] * [[American Civil War]] ** [[Battle of Front Royal]] ** [[Battle of Harpers Ferry]] {{tree list/end}} |awards = |relations = |other_work = Lawyer |signature = Signature of John Reese Kenly.png }} '''John Reese Kenly''' (January 11, 1818 – December 20, 1891) was an American lawyer, and a [[Union Army]] general in the [[American Civil War]].

==Biography== [[File:John Reese Kenly.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Brig. Gen. John Reese Kenly during the American Civil War.]]

Kenly was born in [[Baltimore, Maryland]]. He studied law and was admitted to the [[bar association|bar]] in 1845, but went to the [[Mexican–American War]] as a lieutenant with a company of [[List of U. S. Army, Navy and Volunteer units in the Mexican American War|volunteers]] he had raised and was later promoted to the rank of major.

As a [[captain (armed forces)|captain]] he led a company in the Baltimore-Washington Battalion and wrote a book about his experiences, ''Memoirs of a Maryland Volunteer''.{{sfn|Eisenhower|1989|pp=117–118}} The battalion was part of the division of [[David E. Twiggs]]'s 1st Division.{{sfn|Eisenhower|1989|p=123}} During the [[Battle of Monterrey]] on September 21–24, 1846, Kenly's battalion was involved in heavy fighting and Colonel [[William H. Watson]] was killed.{{sfn|Eisenhower|1989|pp=133–142}}

He entered the [[American Civil War]] as colonel of the [[1st Maryland Infantry Regiment (Union)|1st Maryland Infantry Regiment]] organized at [[Baltimore]], [[Maryland]], which was mustered into Union service on May 16, 1861. Together with some Pennsylvania companies, it was captured by [[Stonewall Jackson]], after hard fighting, at [[Front Royal, Virginia|Front Royal]] on the [[Shenandoah River|Shenandoah]], May 23, 1862. Kenly himself was severely wounded when he was taken prisoner, but his stand had saved [[Nathaniel P. Banks|General Banks]]'s division at Winchester, and he was raised to the command of a brigade in 1862, which he led at [[Hagerstown, Maryland|Hagerstown]], [[battle of Harpers Ferry|Harpers Ferry]], and elsewhere.

Kenly joined the [[Army of the Potomac]] after the [[Battle of Gettysburg]] and was assigned to [[I Corps (ACW)|I Corps]] during the [[Bristoe Campaign]] and the [[Battle of Mine Run]], commanding the third division of the corps. Afterward, he was assigned to the [[Middle Department]], commanding the Third Separate Brigade in 1864.

Kenly died of pneumonia on December 20, 1891, at his West Baltimore street in [[Baltimore, Maryland]]. He was buried in Baltimore's [[Green Mount Cemetery]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-baltimore-sun-death-of-gen-kenly-2/191943273/ |title=Death of Gen. Kenly |date=1891-12-21 |newspaper=[[The Baltimore Sun]] |page=8 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=2026-02-22}}{{Open access}}</ref>

==See also== {{Portal|American Civil War}} * [[List of American Civil War generals (Union)]]

==Notes== {{Reflist|3}}

==References== * Eicher, John H., and [[David J. Eicher|Eicher, David J.]], ''Civil War High Commands'', Stanford University Press, 2001, {{ISBN|0-8047-3641-3}}. * {{cite book |last=Eisenhower |first=John |author-link=John Eisenhower |title=So Far From God: The U.S. War with Mexico 1846–1848 |year=1989 |publisher=Random House |location=New York, N.Y. |isbn=0-394-56051-5 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/sofarfromgodus00eise }} :{{NIE}}

==External links== *{{commons category-inline}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kenly, John R.}} [[Category:1818 births]] [[Category:1891 deaths]] [[Category:Lawyers from Baltimore]] [[Category:American military personnel of the Mexican–American War]] [[Category:United States Army officers]] [[Category:Union army generals]] [[Category:People of Maryland in the American Civil War]] [[Category:Burials at Green Mount Cemetery]] [[Category:Deaths from pneumonia in Maryland]] [[Category:19th-century American lawyers]]