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James Hewett Ledlie (April 14, 1832 – August 15, 1882) was a civil engineer for American railroads and a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He is best known for his dereliction of duty at the Battle of the Crater during the Siege of Petersburg.

Early life Ledlie was born in Utica, New York. His obituaries in the New York Times and The Philadelphia Inquirer claimed he graduated from Union College, in Schenectady, New York, Burnside, despondent at the change in plans, resorted to a lottery to select a replacement division. Ledlie drew the short straw, and disaster resulted. His division was the smallest and weakest in the IX Corps, and he did not brief his troops beforehand. They entered the crater out of curiosity instead of moving safely around its rim, as Ferrero's division had been trained to do. Unable to exit the steep sides of the crater, they were slaughtered by Confederates firing down on them. 3,798 Union troops were casualties in the ill-fated battle that achieved none of its objectives. Most damning for Ledlie's reputation was that he did not lead, or even accompany, his men into battle, and a few weeks earlier, during the attacks on Confederate entrenchments at Cold Harbor, he had run and hidden for cover, an event that the enlisted men did not forget, but which managed to escape Burnside's attention. During the Battle of the Crater, Ledlie and Ferrero were observed behind the lines in a bunker, drinking liquor.

Ledlie was criticized by a court of inquiry into his conduct that September. On orders from Gen. Grant, Maj. Gen. Meade effectively dismissed Ledlie from the service in December. He formally resigned his commission on January 23, 1865.

Postbellum career Ledlie resumed his career as a railroad civil engineer in the West and South. He participated in the construction of the transcontinental railroad as an employee of the Union Pacific. He also worked on constructing the Nevada Central Railroad line from Battle Mountain to Austin, Nevada, racing to get the 92-mile line built in half a year to meet a deadline before a bond issue expired. His crews got within two miles of the city limits of Austin before the deadline, and at the last minute, town officials quickly extended the city limits to meet the tracks.

Ledlie died in New Brighton, Staten Island in 1882 and is buried in Forest Hill Cemetery in Utica.