William Francis Bartlett (June 6, 1840 – December 17, 1876) was a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War and, later, an executive in the iron industry. Bartlett enlisted as a private to serve in the Civil War, leaving in the midst of his studies at Harvard College. By the end of the war, he had risen to the grade of brigadier general, U.S. Volunteers and was awarded the honorary grade of brevet major general, U.S. Volunteers. He successively commanded two regiments, a brigade and a division. Over the course of the war, he was wounded four times. At the close of the war, Bartlett became the manager of several iron works, most notably the Tredegar Iron Works in Richmond, Virginia. Early life Bartlett, the son of Charles Leonard Bartlett and his wife Harriett Dorothy Plummer, was born in Haverhill, Massachusetts, attended Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts and entered Harvard College in 1858. The Civil War began during his junior year and, almost immediately after hearing of the surrender of Fort Sumter, Bartlett enlisted as a private with the Massachusetts Volunteer Militia. Civil War service Bartlett initially enlisted in the 4th Battalion Massachusetts Infantry, also known as the New England Guards, which was garrisoned to defend Fort Independence in Boston harbor. At the time, the three forts in Boston were entirely unmanned and Boston harbor almost defenseless. Fort Independence was the only of the three forts equipped with cannon, however most of them were facing the city and not the water. The 4th Battalion, including Pvt. Bartlett, had much work to do to put Fort Independence in order. Bartlett served with the battalion for the unit's full 90-day term, from April to June 1861. 20th Massachusetts On August 8, 1861, Bartlett was commissioned captain in a new regiment then forming—the 20th Massachusetts Infantry—and given command of Company I. It was known as the "Harvard Regiment" because many of its young officers, including Bartlett, were Harvard students or recent graduates. Shortly after arriving in Virginia in September 1861, Capt. Bartlett led his company into battle for the first time when the 20th Massachusetts took part in the Battle of Ball's Bluff on October 21, 1861. The engagement was a great defeat for the Union Army. Hoping to avoid any further such defeats, Major General George B. McClellan, the commander of the Army of the Potomac, to which the