Topic summary

John H. Kelly

John H. Kelly


John Herbert Kelly (March 31, 1840 – September 4, 1864) was, at the time of his promotion, the youngest brigadier general in the Confederate States Army. He became one of the youngest generals to die during the American Civil War, at the age of 24. His death occurred during an engagement at Franklin, Tennessee, on September 2, 1864, during Major GeneralJoseph Wheeler's raid into Tennessee in August and early September 1864 in an attempt to destroy the railroad that Union ArmyMajor GeneralWilliam Tecumseh Sherman was using to supply his force from Chattanooga, Tennessee, during the Atlanta campaign.