Emory Upton was born in 1839. After graduated from West Point in May 1861 he joined the Union Army. Commissioned as a second lieutenant of the 4th US Artillery, he took part in the first battle at Bull Run where he was wounded.

After recovering from his wounds and took part in the Maryland campaign. After fighting at Antietam (September, 1862) he was promoted to colonel and saw active service at Fredericksburg (December, 1862), Gettysburg (July, 1863) and the Wilderness (June, 1864).

Wounded at Spotsylvania, Upton was forced to return to Washington. However, he recovered in time to take part in the siege of Petersburg before being wounded at Opequon. By the end of the war Upton had reached the rank of major general.

After the war Upton was appointed commandant of West Point. He also toured the world collecting information on military tactics. His books include Tactics for Non-Military Bodies (1870), A New System of Infantry Tactics (1874) and Armies of Asia and Europe (1878). Suffering from an incurable disease, Emory Upton committed suicide on 15th March, 1881.