- Jan 3 Karl Collan, Finnish composer, born in Iisalmi, Finland (d. 1871)
- Jan 5 August Valentine Kautz, German-American Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Baden, Germany (d. 1895)
- Jan 10 Herman Koeckemann, German Catholic prelate, born in Ostbevern, Germany (d. 1892)
- Jan 17 Eduard Reményi, Hungarian violinist and composer, born in Miskolc, Austria-Hungary (d. 1898) [some sources cite birth year as 1830]
- Jan 17 Lewis Addison Grant, American teacher, lawyer, and Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Winhall, Vermont (d. 1918)
- Jan 23 Calvin Edward Pratt, American Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Worcester County, Massachusetts (d. 1896)
- Jan 24 Adam Jacoby Slemmer, American Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania (d. 1868)
- Jan 24 Ferdinand Cohn, German biologist, born in Wrocław, Poland (d. 1898)
- Jan 24 Karol Studzinski, Polish violinist and composer, born in The Free, Independent, and Strictly Neutral City of Cracow (now Kraków, Poland) (d. 1883)
- Jan 27 Louis Schubert, German, violinist, composer, and pedagogue, born in Dessau, German Confederation (d. 1884)
- Jan 27 Samuel Allen Rice, American Attorney General of Iowa and Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Cattaraugus, New York (d. 1864)
- Jan 28 Michel Abeloos, Flemish sculptor, born in Leuven (d. 1881)
- Jan 28 Thomas Carmichael Hindman, Jr., American attorney, and Confederate Army Major General, born in Knoxville Tennessee (d. 1868)
- Feb 8 Antonio Cagnoni, Italian composer, born in Godiasco, Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia (d. 1896)
Jules Verne (1828-1905)
Feb 8 French novelist known as the "Father of Science Fiction" (Around the World in 80 days), born in Nantes, France
- Feb 12 George Meredith, English poet and novelist (Diana of Crossways), born in Portsmouth, England (d. 1909)
- Feb 12 Robert Ransom Jr, Major General (Confederate Army), (d. 1892)
- Feb 14 Edmond François Valentin About, French writer (Le Roi des montagnes), born in Dieuze, Lorraine (d. 1885)
- Feb 15 Johan Hendrik van Dale, Dutch schoolmaster and lexicographer(Van Dale's Great Dictionary of the Dutch Language), born in Sluis, Netherlands (d. 1872)
- Feb 19 Johannes von Miquel, German politician (Vice President Kingdom of Prussia 1897-1901), born in Neuenhaus, Kingdom of Hanover (d. 1901)
- Feb 22 Robert Alexander Cameron, American soldier and newspaper publisher (Union Army), born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 1894)
- Feb 29 Antonio Guzmán Blanco, Military leader, diplomat and politician, President of Venezuela (1870-77, 1879-84, 1886-87), born in Caracas, Great Colombia (d. 1899)
- Mar 1 James Fleming Fagan, American farmer and Condeferate Army Major General (Shiloh; Mark's Mill), born in Clark County, Kentucky (d. 1893)
- Mar 1 Vittorio Bersezio [Carlo Nugelli], Italian playwright, born in Peveragno (d. 1900)
- Mar 2 Jefferson Columbus Davis, American Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Clark County, Indiana (d. 1879)
- Mar 4 Elisha Franklin Paxton [Bull Paxton], American Confederate general (Stoneville Brigade at Battle of Chancellorsville), born in Rockbridge County, Virginia (d. 1863)
- Mar 8 George William Martin, English chorister, organist, composer, educator, and founder of the National Choral Society, born in London, England (d. 1881)
- Mar 17 Patrick Cleburne, Irish -born American Major General (Confederate Army), born in Ovens, Ireland (d. 1864)
- Mar 18 William Randal Cremer, English politician and pacifist (International Arbitration League, 1903 Nobel Peace Prize), born in Fareham, England (d. 1908)
Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906)
Mar 20 Norwegian playwright (Peer Gynt; Hedda Gabler), born in Skien, Norway
- Apr 4 Margaret Oliphant, Scottish novelist and biographer (Beleaguered City), born in Wallyford, Scotland (d. 1897)
- Apr 5 Pietro Platania, Italian composer, born in Catania, Italy (d. 1907)
- Apr 6 Charles William Field, Major General (Confederate Army), (d. 1892)
- Apr 8 George Baird Hodge, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), born in Fleming County, Kentucky (d. 1892)
- Apr 13 J. B. Lightfoot, English theologist and bishop of Durham, born in Liverpool, Lancashire (d. 1889)
- Apr 13 Josephine Butler (née Grey), British feminist and social reformer (campaigned against the slave trade and Contagious Diseases Acts), born in Milfield, Northumberland, England (d. 1906)
- Apr 21 Hippolyte Taine, French philosopher and historian (Voyage in Italy), born in Vouziers, Ardennes, France (d. 1893)
- Apr 22 Guilherme Cossoul, Portuguese composer, born in Lisbon, Portugal (d. 1880)
- Apr 23 Albert, King of Saxony (1873-1902), born in Dresden, Kingdom of Saxony (d. 1902)
- Apr 24 Robert Brank Vance, American politician, U.S. House of Representatives from North Carolina (1873-85), born in Buncombe, North Carolina (d. 1899)
- Apr 27 Gerben Colmjon, Frisian linguist and publisher, born in Leeuwarden, Netherlands (d. 1884)
- May 2 Désiré Charnay, French traveller and archaeologist, born in Fleurie, France (d. 1915)
- May 8 Henri Dunant, Swiss humanitarian, Founder of Red Cross (Nobel 1901), born in Geneva, Switzerland (d. 1910)
- May 8 Sharbel Makhluf, Lebanese Maronite monk, born in Bekaa Kafra, North Governorate, Lebanon (d. 1898)
- May 12 Gabriel Dante Rossetti, English Pre-Raphaelite figure poet and painter, born in London, England (d. 1882)
- May 19 Adin Ballou Underwood, American Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Worcester County Massachusetts (d. 1888)
- May 20 James William Reilly, American lawyer, politician, and Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Akron, Ohio (d. 1905)
- May 22 Bartel Wilton, Dutch ship builder, born in Rotterdam (d. 1898)
- May 23 Edward Hitchcock Jr., 1st American physical educator (Amherst College), born in Amherst, Massachusetts (d. 1911)
- May 28 Alpheus Baker, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), born in South Carolina (d. 1891)
- Jun 2 James Cutler Dunn Parker, American organist, composer, and pedagogue, born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 1916)
- Jun 3 Jose Inzenga y Castellanos, Spanish composer, born in Madrid, Spain (d. 1891)
- Jun 4 Alexander William Campbell, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), born in Nashville, Tennessee (d. 1893)
- Jun 9 Carlo Marsili, Italian composer, born in Lucca, Duchy of Lucca (now Italy) (d. 1878)
- Jun 17 Johan Karel Jakob De Jonge, Dutch historian, born in The Hague, Netherlands (d. 1880)
- Jun 27 Junius Daniel, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), born in Halifax, North Carolina (d. 1864)
- Jul 3 John Austin Wharton, American lawyer and Major General (Confederate Army), born in Nashville, Tennessee (d. 1865)
- Jul 4 J. Johnston Pettigrew, American lawyer and Confederate General in the American Civil War, born in Tyrrell County, North Carolina (d. 1863)
- Jul 4 Wilhelm Ahlwardt, German orientalist, born in Greifswald, Germany (d. 1909)
- Jul 5 Paul Gabriël, Dutch water colors painter and etcher, born in Amsterdam (d. 1903)
- Jul 9 Luigi Oreglia di Santo Stefano, Italian Catholic churchman and last surviving cardinal of Pius IX, born in Bene Vagienna, Italy (d. 1913)
- Jul 12 N.G. [Nikolay Gavrilovich] Chernyshevsky, Russian philosopher (What Is to Be Done?), born in Saratov, Russia (d. 1889)
- Jul 19 Roger Atkinson Pryor, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), born in Petersburg, Virginia (d. 1919)
- Jul 21 John Rutter Brooke, American Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Pottstown, Pennsylvania (d. 1926)
- Jul 23 Jonathan Hutchinson, English surgeon and scientist, born in Selby, Yorkshire, England (d. 1913)
- Jul 29 Cuvier Grover, American Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Bethel, Maine (d. 1885)
- Jul 31 François-Auguste Gevaert, Belgian composer (Le diable au moulin), born in Huise, Belgium (d. 1908)
- Aug 2 Manuel Pavía y Rodríguez de Alburquerque, Spanish general, born in Cadiz, Spain (d. 1895)
- Aug 5 Giovanni Rossi, Italian composer, born in Borgo San Donnino, Duchy of Parma and Piacenza (now Italy) (d. 1886)
- Aug 5 Louisa of the Netherlands, Dutch queen consort of Sweden and Norway and princess of the Netherlands, born in the Hague (d. 1871)
- Aug 11 Edward Saloman, American politician, Governor of Wisconsin (1862-64), born in Ströbeck, Prussian Saxony (d. 1909)
- Aug 16 Joseph Bradford Carr, American Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Albany, New York (d. 1895)
- Aug 17 George William Warren, American composer and organist, born in Albany, New York (d. 1902)
- Aug 17 Jules Bernard Luys, French neurologist (d. 1897)
- Aug 24 George Hume "Maryland" Steuart, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), born in Baltimore, Maryland (d. 1903)
- Aug 26 Erik Anthon Valdemar Siboni, Danish organist and composer, born in Copenhagen (d. 1892)
- Aug 28 William Alexander Hammond, American military physician and Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Annapolis, Maryland (d. 1900)
- Aug 31 George Leonard Andrews, American professor, civil engineer, and Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Bridgewater, Massachusetts (d. 1899)
- Sep 8 Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, American professor and Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Brewer, Maine (d. 1914)
Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910)
Sep 9 Russian novelist (Anna Karenina, War and Peace), born in Yasnaya Polyana, Russia
- Sep 15 Aleksandr Mikhailovich Butlerov, Russian chemist who discovered hexamine in 1859, born in Chistopol, Kazan Governorate, Russian Empire (d. 1886)
- Sep 19 Fridolin Anderwert, Swiss Federal Councilor, born in Frauenfeld, Switzerland (d. 1880)
- Sep 28 Friedrich Albert Lange, German philosopher and socialist (Neo-Kantianism), born in Wald, Solingen, Germany (d. 1875)
- Oct 2 Charles Floquet, French statesman and 44th Prime Minister of France, born in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, France (d. 1896)
- Oct 3 Woldemar Bargiel, German composer, born in Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia (now Germany) (d. 1897)
- Oct 8 Francisque Sarcey, French writer (Le Temps), born in Dourdan, France (d. 1899)
- Oct 10 Samuel J. Randall, American politician (Speaker of the United States House of Representatives), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 1890)
- Oct 19 Adolfo Fumagalli, Italian piano virtuoso and composer, often for just the left hand, born in Inzago, Italy (d. 1856)
- Oct 23 Turner Ashby, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), (d. 1862)
- Oct 27 Jacob Dolson Cox, Canadian-American statesman, lawyer, and Major General (Union Army), born in Montreal, Quebec (d. 1900)
- Nov 2 Byron Grimes, American Major General (Confederate Army), born in Pitt County, North Carolina (d. 1880)
- Nov 3 Joseph Hellmesberger, Sr, Austrian violinist, composer, conductor, and pedagogue (Vienna Conservatory, 1851-93), born in Vienna, Austrian Empire (d. 1893)
- Nov 7 Ludwig Deppe, German composer, born in Barntrup, Germany (d. 1890)
- Nov 14 James Birdseye MacPherson, American Major General (Union Army), born in Clyde, Ohio (d. 1864)
- Nov 21 William McComb, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), born in Mercer County, Pennsylvania (d. 1918)
- Nov 25 Franjo Rački, Croatian historian and politician, born in Fužine, Austrian Empire (d. 1894)
- Nov 26 René Goblet, French politician (41st Prime Minister of France), born in Aire-sur-la-Lys, France (d. 1905)
- Nov 30 Jedediah Hotchkiss, American topographer and cartographer, born in Windsor, New York (d. 1899)
- Dec 8 Clinton Bowen Fisk, American abolitionist, Brevet Major General (Union Army), helped establish 1st free public schools in the South, born in York, New York (d. 1890)
- Dec 8 Robert Bullock, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), born in Greenville, North Carolina (d. 1905)
- Dec 16 John Beatty, American banker, statesman, and Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Sandusky, Ohio (d. 1914)
- Dec 23 Mathilde Wesendonck (née Luckemeyer), German writer, poet (Tagebuchblatter), and object of composer Richard Wagner's infatuation, born in Elberfeld, Rhenish Prussia (d. 1902)
- Dec 28 Karl Ludwig Kahlbaum, German psychiatrist (pioneer in classifying mental health), born in Driesen, Prussia (d. 1899)
- Dec 30 Mark Perrin Lowrey, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), (d. 1885)
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