sentences:  Nine generals of the war were born in or near Huntsville, split five to the Confederate and four to the Union.On the morning of April 11, 1862, Union troops led by General Ormsby M. Mitchel seized Huntsville in order to sever the Confederacy's rail communications and gain access to the Memphis & Charleston Railroad.Huntsville was the control point for the Western Division of the Memphis & Charleston, and by controlling this railroad the Union had struck a major blow to the Confederacy.