General William H Lytle Commemoration

The General William H Lytle Camp will conduct a ceremony honoring one of Cincinnati’s most beloved military heroes on Sunday, September 18, 2022 at 2:00 PM at the site of the General Lytle monument at Spring Grove Cemetery.

William Haines Lytle (November 2, 1826 – September 20, 1863) was born in Cincinnati, the grandson of one of Cincinnati’s first pioneer settlers. He was a politician, renowned poet, and military officer in the Mexican American War and American Civil War. He was mortally wounded at the Battle of Chickamauga in Georgia while leading a counterattack against the Confederates on horseback. Once his identity was known, respectful Confederates placed a guard around his body, and many recited his poetry over their evening campfires.

No event during the Civil War produced such a demonstration of grief in Cincinnati as did General Lytle’s death at the age of thirty six. It was Cincinnati’s most impressive funeral. So many people lined the streets that the funeral cortege did not reach Spring Grove until dusk.

Lytle Park, Lytle Tunnel and other Cincinnati Landmarks are named for the fallen general.

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