Charles Champion Gilbert
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Charles Champion Gilbert (March 1, 1822 – January 17, 1903) was a U.S. Army officer during the Mexican-American War and the Civil War.
Gilbert was born in Zanesville, Ohio. He graduated from West Point in the famed Class of 1846, finishing 29th out of 59 students. His classmates included twenty future Civil War generals, including George B. McClellan, "Stonewall" Jackson, George Stoneman, Darius N. Couch, and George Pickett. He served in Veracruz and Mexico City during the Mexican-American War before serving in Texas for two years. He returned to West Point in 1850 as an instructor, then served on the Western frontier.
Shortly after the Civil War started, 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 the siege of Corinth. During the Confederate Heartland Offensive William Nelson's Army of Kentucky was added to the Army of the Ohio, becoming its 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 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 the Senate. Despite this He was appointed major in the 19th U.S. Infantry and brevetted colonel in the regular army holding administrative posts for the remainder of the war.
Gilbert served on the frontier until he retired in 1886. He died in Baltimore, Maryland, and was buried in Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville, Kentucky. He was the brother of Union Brig. Gen. Samuel A. Gilbert.
