Jesse Lee Reno (April 20, 1823 – September 14, 1862) was a career United States Army officer who served in the Mexican–American War, in the Utah War, on the western frontier and as a Union General during the American Civil War from West Virginia. Known as a "soldier's soldier" who fought alongside his men, he was killed while commanding a corps at Fox's Gap during the Battle of South Mountain. Reno, Nevada; Reno County, Kansas; Reno, Ohio; El Reno, Oklahoma; Reno, Pennsylvania; Fort Reno (Oklahoma); and Fort Reno Park in Washington, D.C. were named after him. Early life Reno was born in Wheeling, Virginia (now West Virginia), the third-oldest of eight children of Lewis Thomas and Rebecca (Quinby) Reno. His ancestors changed the spelling of their surname "Renault" to the more Anglicized "Reno" when they arrived in the United States from France in 1770, landing west of the present city of Richmond, Virginia on the James River. The family roots are French and they were among the first Huguenots on North American soil. His family moved to the Franklin, Pennsylvania, area in 1830, and Reno spent his childhood there. Reno was admitted to the United States Military Academy in 1842 and graduated eighth in his class of 59 cadets in 1846, initially commissioned a brevet second lieutenant of Ordnance. Reno and Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson became close friends while at West Point. Other classmates and friends included George B. McClellan, George Pickett, Darius N. Couch, A. P. Hill, and George Stoneman. Reno married Mary Cross Reno on November 1, 1853. The couple had five children, including Conrad Reno and Jesse W. Reno (the man who invented the first working escalator). Mexican–American War During the Mexican–American War in 1847, Reno commanded an artillery battery under General Winfield Scott and fought in the Siege of Vera Cruz and other battles in Mexico. Reno was brevetted twice during the war—once for "gallant and meritorious conduct" at the Battle of Cerro Gordo, and later for bravery at the Battle for Mexico City and the Battle of Chapultepec, where he was seriously wounded while commanding a howitzer battery. During the occupation of Mexico City, Reno became an original member of the Aztec Club of 1847. After the Mexican–American War ended, Reno served in several locations, including as a mathematics instructor at West Point, as the secretary of a group assigned to "create a system of