Lieutenant George A. Woodruff / Lieutenant George A. Woodruff

Lieutenant George A. Woodruff (1840-1863) graduated early from West Point because of the start of the Civil War. Young Woodruff served valiantly with the Army of the Potomac. At Gettysburg he was mortally wounded while defending the center of the Union line with his First U.S. Field Artillery (Battery I) against General George Pickett’s Confederate charge on July 3, 1863. Lingering through the night, George A. Woodruff died the following day. After learning of the death of his son, the Honorable George Woodruff, a well-known Calhoun County judge, traveled to Gettysburg to bring young George’s body back to this city. Last rites for the gallant Civil War veteran were held in Marshall and he was buried in Oakridge Cemetery. His brother William was wounded in the Battle of Petersburg. He died on June 28, 1864, in Washington, D.C., and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.