Ambrose Everett Burnside (May 23, 1824 – September 13, 1881) was an American soldier, railroad executive, inventor, industrialist, and politician from
Rhode Island, serving as
governor and a
United States Senator. As a
Union Army general in the
American Civil War, he conducted successful campaigns in
North Carolina and
East Tennessee, as well as countering the
raids of
Confederate General John Hunt Morgan, but suffered disastrous defeats at the
Battle of Fredericksburg and
Battle of the Crater. His distinctive style of
facial hair became known as
sideburns, derived from his last name. He was also the first president of the
National Rifle Association.