SPECIAL PROGRAM: An illustrated lecture examining the hero for whom our County is named: Major General John Sedgwick. Presented by Historian, Educator and Filmmaker, Ken Spurgeon in the Sedgwick County Historial Museum’s Devore Auditorium – on Saturday, May 16th at 2:00 p.m.
Program is free with regular Museum admission – Adults $ 5.00, Children under 12 years $ 2.00.
In the late 19th century, Kansas was known as the “Great Soldier State” because it attracted so many Civil War veterans. Forty-five of the state’s 105 counties are named for Civil War heroes, including Sedgwick County, incorporated in 1870 and named in honor of Major General John Sedgwick. Major General Sedgwick was born in Connecticut in 1813 and was killed by a sharpshooter at the Battle of Spotsylvania on May 9, 1864. Sedgwick was the highest ranking Union casualty in the Civil War, and his last words are some of the most famous of the War: “They couldn’t hit an elephant at this distance.
Also enjoy a special case exhibit about Sedgwick on the Museum’s 3rd floor, featuring a letter dated April 22, 1860 from Sedgwick while at Fort Riley, to Brigadier General Thomas S. Jessup, Quartermaster General of the United States Army, recommending Lieutenant J.E. B. Stuart for an appointment in the Quarter Master Department.