Two Greensburg Generals

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Historical Marker #603 notes two Union generals who lived in Greensburg, William Ward and Edward Hobson.

Born in Virginia, Ward moved to Kentucky where he became a prominent attorney, officer in the Mexican War, legislator, and congressman. When the Civil War erupted, Ward was appointed a Union brigadier general. He chased John Hunt Morgan, commanded a post at Gallatin, Tennessee, and served in the Atlanta Campaign. Wounded at Resaca, Georgia, he earned acclaim at the Battle of Peachtree Creek and later fought in the Carolinas. After the war he was a lawyer. He died in Louisville in 1878.

Greensburg's other Union general, Edward Hobson, was a merchant and a Mexican War veteran who earned acclaim at the Battle of Buena Vista. During the Civil War, he led troops at the Battle of Shiloh and chased Morgan's raiders on multiple occasions. Captured by Morgan in June 1864, the remainder of his military career was fairly inactive.

Today, Green County commemorates both of these Union officers, prominent residents of Greensburg.