Remember Reno: A Biography of Major General Jesse Lee Reno

by William F. McConnell

He was acclaimed by his contemporaries as an outstanding Civil War military leader, and his troops possibly saved the nation's capital from capture. Often confused with another Reno, who was part of the Little Big Horn expedition, Major General Jesse Lee Reno was, in fact, a true hero of two of America's wars. After his death, the cities of Reno, Nevada and El Reno, Oklahoma were named in his honor. He led two future presidents in battle and threatened to place one of them in irons. He was a friend of West Point classmate Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, but later fought him in two battles. Whether friend's or foe's bullet caused his death in 1862 has long been a matter of controversy among historians. He was buried with a famous Barbara Fritchie flag. These, and his many other achievements would seem to be the attributes for lasting fame, but it was not to be. Jesse Lee Reno is now nearly forgotten except for a few scholars and researchers. This biography is an attempt to illuminate the often overlooked accomplishments of this American hero. "Remember Reno" was shouted by his soldiers at the Battle of Antietam as they stormed across Burnside Bridge.

Genres: Biography, American Civil War, Civil War

113 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 1996

Reviews

[Jimmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not too bad for such a brief book; I can partially understand why it was so short, since there were few personal or family papers for the author to use.

On the other hand, there were other areas that Mr. McConnell could have covered better, especially during the April to September 1862 period. From mid-April, when Reno commanded a brigade in Burnside's Coastal Division, the author made a sudden jump to mid-August, with Reno a major general in command of a division. No mention was made of when Burnside's command was organized into the IX Corps, or why Reno was selected for command of a division.

Also, at Second Manassas (his only major battle), the only mention of Reno was that he attacked the Confederate positions on August 29th, and his troops were not routed on the 30th; no details at all concerning exactly what his troops were doing during the two days. Only five maps were used in the entire book; two maps each from two other Civil War books, one published in 1866, the other from 1881; the Mexican War map looked like it was from the same time period. None of the maps were good quality, and I'm puzzled why the author failed to have new maps created specifically for this book.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

My main disappointment with this book is the fact that it is so short. This was a very interesting read about a forgotten General often overlooked due to him being mistaken for being General Marcus Reno. Marcus Reno is the general who did not ride to Custer's aid during the Battle of Little Big Horn.
Jesse Lee Reno has no familial connection to Marcus Reno and was a very good battlefield commander who was killed early in the Civil War.
The writing here is very engaging and enjoyable. I would recommend this book. The author starts this book with his difficulty in finding information on Reno because most had no interest in investigating Marcus Reno. Once the author explained he was researching Jesse Reno, and not Marcus Reno, he was able to find information. Unfortunately, there is not a lot of information available about Jesse Reno.