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Francis Channing Barlow (1834-1896) was a Union general during the Civil War.
Barlow was born in Brooklyn, New York on October 19. He studied law and was admitted tot he bar, and was practicing law when the Civil War broke out in 1861.
He joined the New York National Guard and served in the Shenandoah Valley campaign of 1862. He was promoted colonel of the 61st New York and fought in the Seven Days Battles and at the Battle of Antietam. In September, 1862 he was promoted brigadier general of volunteers. He commanded the 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division, XI Corps at the Battle of Chancellorsville. He subsequently commanded the 1st Division, XI Corps at the Battle of Gettysburg, where on the first day he was wounded during the Union retreat from Seminary Ridge and left for dead on the field. He was found and taken care of by Confederate General John B. Gordon. Gordon even allowed Barlow's wife to enter the Confederate camp to tend to her wounded husband. He was exchanged in time to assume command of the 1st Division, II Corps at the Battle of the Wilderness. At the Battle of Spotsylvania his division incorporated tactics developed by Col. Emory Upton to quickly assault the rebel lines effecting a breakthrough which could be exploited by reinforcements. Hand-to-hand fighting ensued for 21 hours, the longest hand-to-hand combat in the entire war, before Barlow's division finally broke through. He fought at the Battle of Cold Harbor and the Siege of Petersburg in the same command. At Petersburg he took a brief sick leave but returned to command the 2nd Division, II Corps during the Appomattox Campaign.
After the war he served as a Unites States Marshal and the state attorney general of New York, before he returned to his law practice.
He died on January 11, 1898 in New York City.
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