Pittsfield Mass bm's.  Civil War Union Brigadier General. Born in Lanesborough, Massachusetts, he was the son of Massachusetts Governor George N. Briggs and had a successful law practice, when he enlisted in the Union Army at the start of the Civil War. In 1861, he was promoted Colonel in command of the newly formed 10th Massachusetts and in May 1862, he led his Regiment at the Battle of Fair Oaks, where he was seriously wounded. For his gallant conduct on the field, he was promoted to Brigadier General on July 17, 1862. During the Maryland Campaign in September 1862, he was assigned to command the 2nd Brigade, 3rd Division of the V Corps and in early 1863, he commanded a Brigade in the VII Corps. He was placed in command of a Brigade in the 1st Division, I Corps on August 1863 and for the remainer of the war served on court-martial boards in Washington D.C. He returned to a political and law career after the war, serving as Massachusetts Auditor (1865-68) and was District Court Judge of Berkshire County until he resigned from the bench in 1873. He died at age 63 of heart disease in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.