Emerson Opdycke rose from first lieutenant to colonel of the 125th Ohio Infantry, having earlier served with the 41st Ohio. He fought at Shiloh, Chickamauga, and through the Atlanta Campaign, but is best remembered for leading his reserve brigade in the decisive counterattack that saved the Union line at the Battle of Franklin in 1864. Brevetted major general, he later resigned, entered the dry-goods business in New York City, and died there in 1884 from an accidental gunshot while cleaning a pistol.