Colonel Charles E. Hooker, Confederate Military History, a library of Confederate States Military History: Volume 12.2, Mississippi
Clement Anselm Evans, Ed.

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Biographical.

[234] [235]

Major-Generals and brigadier-generals, Provisional army of the Confederate States, Accredited to Mississippi.

Brigadier-General Wirt Adams, of Mississippi, was one of the most dauntless cavalry leaders of the war. He was a commissioner from Mississippi to Louisiana to ask that State to go with Mississippi in secession and the formation of a Confederacy, and as soon as Mississippi seceded he went to work to recruit soldiers for the Confederate army. He raised a regiment known as the First Mississippi cavalry, and was commissioned colonel on October 15, 1861. Until the spring of 1862 he was engaged generally in scouting and picket duty, keeping the Confederate generals apprised of the movements of the enemy and occasionally skirmishing with detached parties. In the spring of 1862 he was given charge of the companies organized under the call of Governor Rector, of Arkansas. Accompanying Van Dorn to Mississippi he served on his staff as chief of artillery in the battle of Corinth. In the campaign in north Mississippi, both before and after Shiloh, he was ever on the move with his command until the name of Wirt Adams was famous throughout the West. When the Federals were advancing upon Chattanooga under Negley in the summer of 1862, Adams, with a smaller force, impeded their march and brought their schemes to naught. In the campaign resulting in the battles of Iuka and Corinth he performed very important services. During the Grierson raid in the spring of 1863, Colonel Adams did the best that could be done with the means at his command to check and impede the movements of the great Federal raider. At Union Church, though unable to defeat Grierson, he did cause him to turn aside from his intended attack upon Natchez. For his important services during the Vicksburg campaign he [236] was made brigadier-general in the provisional army of the Confederate States, being commissioned on September 28, 1863. During 1864 the scene of Adams' operations was in north Alabama, Mississippi and west Tennessee. As the year 1865 opened it was evident that the days of the Southern Confederacy were about numbered. The army of the Tennessee had been worn down to a feeble remnant. What was left of it had been sent into North Carolina to help the forces in that section make some sort of headway against Sherman. General Wilson was preparing his great cavalry expedition to sweep through Alabama and Georgia. Forrest, with a remnant of his once splendid and invincible cavalry, attempted to make head against the numerous and splendidly equipped body of horsemen led by Wilson. If he could have concentrated his bands, widely scattered for the purpose of guarding many points, he might have repeated the victories of Okolona and Guntown. But the various regiments belonging to his command, with their broken-down horses, could not get together in time to offer effective resistance. Wirt Adams with his brigade formed part of the force with which Forrest tried to stem the tide of disaster. Though the Confederates fought with the old-time spirit, it was all in vain. At last news came of the capitulation of the main armies of the Confederacy. Then Forrest and all the bands led by him laid down their arms also, and peace again reigned throughout the land. General Adams returned to his home in Mississippi and resumed the vocations of civil life. On May 1, 1888, he was killed in Jackson, Miss., by John H. Martin. Thus perished a man who had once led Mississippi's sons in the thickest of the fray and who had gone unscathed through many a storm.

James L. Alcorn, a brigadier-general of State troops, was born in Illinois, November 4, 1816, and was reared and educated in Kentucky, where he served in the legislature [237] in 1843. In 1844 he removed to Coahoma county, Miss., and engaged in planting. He was a prominent and trusted leader in the Whig party. In the Mississippi convention of 1861 he served as a Union delegate and earnestly opposed secession. He yielded, however, to the decision of his State, and was appointed by the convention one of the brigadier-generals of State troops. He marched with his troops into central Kentucky in the fall of 1861, and served under Gen. S. B. Buckner. Not receiving any commission from the Confederate government, he spent much of his time acting as a recruiting agent, and was quite successful in getting Kentuckians to enlist for the war. He succeeded in getting his own command, a brigade of Mississippians, to enlist in the Confederate service. Then at his own request he was relieved from duty and was succeeded by Gen. Lloyd Tilghman, who said, in a letter to Asst. Adjt.-Gen. W. W. Mackall: ‘Under all the circumstances, I doubt not that General Alcorn has made the best of things.’ General Alcorn upon his return home was placed by Governor Pettus in command of troops enlisted for sixty days. These were under the orders of Gen. Leonidas Polk and were armed with every variety of weapon. General Alcorn's service throughout the war consisted in getting soldiers ready for the field. In this capacity he was faithful and diligent. After the close of the war the State government of Mississippi was reorganized on the plan of President Andrew Johnson. Brigadier-General Humphreys was elected governor, and to prove to the people of the United States the sincerity of their renewed allegiance the legislature elected to the United States Senate two old-line Whigs, Wm. L. Sharkey and James L. Alcorn, who, like Alexander Stephens of Georgia, had opposed secession until the question was decided and had then bowed to the will of the State. Representatives were chosen at the same time, but Congress, in the hands of the ultra-radical wing of the Republican party, refused admission to these senators and representatives. At a [238] subsequent election, held under the reconstruction acts, he was the nominee of the regular Republican convention of the State for governor, and defeated Lewis Dent, a brother-in-law of General Grant, who was the candidate of the Democrats. Alcorn had joined the Republican party in the hope of building up a white Republican party in the State and with the idea that many of his old Whig followers would join him. Governor Alcorn was elected to the Senate of the United States in 1871, and in November resigned his post as governor to take his seat in that body, where he served with honor. He was a member of the State constitutional convention in 1890. His death occurred at Eagle Nest, December 20, 1894.

Brigadier-General William E. Baldwin entered the Confederate service early in 1861 and was commissioned colonel of the Fourteenth Mississippi infantry. He was assigned to the army in central Kentucky and in February, with his command, constituted part of the force at Fort Donelson. The important part borne by him and his troops at that important post is best told in the report of General Pillow, who said: ‘I speak with special commendation of the brigades commanded by Colonels Baldwin, Wharton, McCausland, Simonton and Drake.’ And again, ‘Colonel Baldwin's brigade constituted the front of the attacking force, sustained immediately by Colonel Wharton's brigade. These two brigades deserve especial commendation for the manner in which they sustained the first shock of battle, and under circumstances of great embarrassment threw themselves into position and followed up the conflict throughout the day. Being mostly with these two brigades, I can speak from personal knowledge of the gallant conduct and bearing of the two brigade commanders, Colonels Baldwin and Wharton.’ Baldwin and his command were involved in the surrender of Donelson. After being exchanged he was assigned to the army of West Tennessee, and on December 6, 1862, [239] was engaged in a spirited and successful battle at Coffeeville. General Tilghman, who commanded on this occasion, says in his report: ‘I take special pleasure in mentioning the names of Brig.-Gen. W. E. Baldwin, of my own division, and Col. A. P. Thompson, commanding a brigade in General Rust's division. These officers, in command on my right and left, displayed the greatest good judgment and gallantry.’ General Baldwin had received his brigadier-general's commission on the 9th of September, 1862. His command consisted of the Twentieth and Twenty-sixth Mississippi and the Twenty-sixth Tennessee regiments of infantry. He led this brigade at Port Gibson, Baker's Creek (Champion's Hill), the Big Black, and through the siege of Vicksburg. Here he was a second time made prisoner of war and paroled. After his exchange he was assigned to the command of a brigade in the district of Mobile. His further participation in the war was, however, soon cut short by his death, which occurred on the 19th day of February, 1864. In his death the Confederacy lost a gallant and efficient soldier and Mississippi an illustrious citizen.

Brigadier-General William Barksdale, famous in the annals of Mississippi both as a statesman and a soldier, was born in Rutherford county, Tenn., August 21, 1861, and before he attained his majority was admitted to the bar. He settled in Mississippi and was at one time editor of the Columbus Democrat. In the Mexican war he served as a non-commissioned officer in the Second Mississippi regiment, of which Reuben Davis was colonel. After that war he was prominent in the politics of Mississippi. He was an ardent State rights Democrat, and as such was elected to represent his district in Congress in 1853. When the war between the States began he hastened to espouse in the field the cause which he had zealously supported in peace, and entered the Confederate service as colonel of the Thirteenth regiment of Mississippi [240] volunteers. At First Manassas Barksdale's regiment was with Early's command, which by its flank attack assisted in completing the discomfiture of the Federals. One company of this regiment was engaged in the battle of Leesburg (Ball's Bluff). With the rest of his command Colonel Barksdale, at Edwards' ferry, held in check a considerable Union force which otherwise would have gone to the help of their friends at Leesburg. At Savage Station and Malvern Hill Barksdale commanded the Third brigade of Magruder's division, and in August, before Second Manassas, he was commissioned brigadier-general. In the Maryland campaign he was in McLaws' division, which did some of the heaviest marching and fighting of that campaign. At the battle of Fredericksburg Barksdale's brigade of Mississippians was posted along the river front to prevent the crossing of the Union troops until Lee should be ready to let them come. His brigade kept up such a hot fire that it defeated nine attempts of the Federals to construct their pontoon bridges. Then the powerful artillery of the Union army from Stafford poured a terrific iron hail upon the gallant Mississippians and the town of Fredericksburg. But the defense was kept up until all the Confederate troops had been able to take their proper positions, and then Barksdale's men were withdrawn from their perilous post. This heroic fight had long delayed the crossing of Sumner's grand division and had caused Franklin's grand division, which had crossed farther down, to return to the Federal side of the river to await the result of Sumner's efforts. Thus Lee secured twenty-four hours to prepare for the assault and also had full notice of the points of attack. During the battle of Chancellorsville Barksdale was again fighting at Fredericksburg with Early, whose task was to hold Sedgwick in check and prevent him from falling on Lee's rear. In the second day's battle at Gettysburg this intrepid brigade sustained an irreparable loss in the fall of its gallant leader, and the [241] army of Northern Virginia was deprived of one of its most useful brigade commanders.

Brigadier-General Samuel Benton, another one of the patriot dead of Mississippi who gave all that men can give, life itself, for the cause that he deemed right, early in 1862 entered the field as colonel of the Thirty-seventh (afterward called the Thirty-fourth) Mississippi. Soon after Shiloh we find him in command of two regiments, the Twenty-fourth and Thirty-seventh Mississippi, attached to Patton Anderson's brigade, of Ruggles' division. The greater part of his service during 1862 and 1863 was in north Mississippi and middle Tennessee. On the 11th of May, 1864, he relinquished command of the Twenty-fourth and Thirty-seventh Mississippi to Colonel McKelvaine of the Twenty-fourth, and took charge of his own regiment. During the battle of Resaca the Thirty-fourth was on the right of Walthall's brigade and near the center of the general line. The high ground in front of their position ran around them in semi-circular form. They were therefore exposed to an enfilading fire from artillery on the left. For two days they endured this uncomfortable and dangerous position, exhibiting unfaltering courage throughout. The same courage and devotion to duty were shown by Benton and his men throughout the remainder of this trying campaign. In the battle of Kolb's Farm, June 22d, the losses in the brigade were heavy. In the battle of June 27th the Confederate army suffered but slight loss, though that of the enemy was very heavy. The most trying circumstance of the Atlanta campaign was the continual skirmishing and the consequent necessity of being ever on the alert. No man at any time could get a full night's rest, and officers and men were constantly on the watch. In the battles of July 20th, 21st and 22d all the commands suffered greatly, but in that of the 28th of July Walthall's, now Benton's brigade, bore an especially heavy part of the conflict. Just two days before Colonel [242] Benton had been commissioned brigadier-general. In the desperate charge of that day he was mortally wounded, and the career of this able and gallant officer came to an end before he had an opportunity to enjoy the honors of his new position.

Brigadier-General William L. Brandon entered the service in the spring of 1861, and as lieutenantcol-onel of the Twenty-first Mississippi went to Virginia, but not in time for the First Manassas, up to that time the greatest pitched battle that had ever been fought on American soil. The ardent Southern youth who went to Virginia in 1861 were all eager to be in the first great battle, and many of the later arrivals feared that they had missed the last great occasion to strike a blow for the rights of the South. The Twenty-first Mississippi was placed in the Potomac division of the Confederate army in Virginia, and during the summer and fall of 1861 was on duty in the northeastern part of the State. When Mc-Clellan in the spring of 1862 began his advance up the peninsula, the army under Gen. Joseph E. Johnston was thrown across his path. Then came Williamsburg and later Seven Pines. At the last-named battle General Johnston was wounded and the command of the army of Northern Virginia devolved on Robert E. Lee, who soon inaugurated an aggressive campaign. The soldiers who regretted not having a part in the victory of Manassas soon had an opportunity of proving their mettle on an even greater field. During the fierce battles of the Seven Days, the Twenty-first Mississippi suffered heavily in officers and men, losing for a time the services of its colonel, Benjamin Humphreys, and its lieutenant-colonel, Brandon, disabled by wounds. The severity of his wounds kept Brandon out of the field for several months. Returning to duty as soon as able he continued to serve as lieutenant-colonel until after Gettysburg. General Barksdale was killed in that battle and Colonel Humphreys became [243] brigadier-general, while Brandon was advanced to the rank of colonel. He led the regiment in the Chattanooga and Knoxville campaign, returning to Virginia with Longstreet. In the summer of 1864 he was promoted to brigadier-general and soon after was sent to Mississippi, where he was placed in charge of the bureau of conscription. In his own State he labored unceasingly to bring out every man needed for the service of the Confederacy. He zealously promoted the cause of the South, but when that cause was lost accepted the result in good faith and turned his attention to the rebuilding of the ruined fortunes of his State.

Brigadier-General William F. Brantly began his military career with the Twenty-ninth Mississippi regiment. Going through the campaign in north Mississippi and in Kentucky, we find him just before the battle of Murfreesboro colonel of his regiment. In this position he proved himself an able and gallant officer. General Walthall, in his report of the battle of Lookout Mountain, says: ‘It is due in particular to commend Col. W. F. Brantly, Twenty-ninth Mississippi regiment and Lieut.--Col. McKelvaine, Twenty-fourth Mississippi regiment, for the skill, activity, zeal and courage I have ever observed in them under similar circumstances, but which in an especial degree signalled their actions on this occasion.’ During the Atlanta campaign there was hardly a day when the Twenty-ninth Mississippi was not under fire. Even when the men were not themselves actually engaged they had to be on the alert and were constantly exposed to the annoying fire of the enemy's artillery. At the battle of Resaca the Federal artillery set fire to the works of this regiment, partly constructed of rails. During the morning of the 14th of May the enemy charged Hindman's division, and a part of the charging column got so near Brantly's position as to get under his artillery and for a while destroy the effects of its fire. Under the [244] eye of General Walthall, Colonel Brantly ordered a charge which routed the enemy, whose loss was greatly increased by the fire of the artillery upon his confused and retreating columns. Three times the enemy charged upon Brantly's line, but each time was decisively repulsed. One of the severest fights in which he participated during this campaign was at Kolb's Farm, June 22d, where the Federals under Hooker and Schofield attacked Hindman's and Stevenson's divisions. They were repulsed, whereupon the Confederates in turn failed to take the position of the Federals. On July 26th Col. Samuel Benton was made a brigadier-general, and he held command of Walthall's brigade until the battle of July 28th, when he was mortally wounded. Thereupon Brantly took command of the brigade. In this fight Colonel Brantly's regiment drove the enemy from the Lickskillet and Atlanta road and captured his temporary works, but could not maintain its position in them for lack of support. Brantly was now made brigadier-general, and all through the subsequent campaign in north Georgia, north Alabama and Tennessee commanded Walthall's old brigade, now in the division of Gen. Edward Johnson. He also led his brigade in the campaign of the Carolinas, surrendering with Gen. Jos. E. Johnston.

Brigadier-General James Ronald Chalmers was born in Halifax county, Virginia, January 11, 1831. His father was Joseph W. Chalmers, who, having moved to Mississippi when James was a lad, settled at Holly Springs and became United States senator. The son was prepared for the South Carolina college at Columbia, where he was graduated in 185, and returning to Holly Springs studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1853. He was district attorney in 1858, and in 1861 was a delegate to the convention which passed the ordinance of secession. Being, like his father, an ardent State rights Democrat, he gave his vote in favor of secession. He entered the Confederate [245] army as colonel of the Ninth Mississippi regiment of infantry in 1861, and for a while commanded at Pensacola, Florida. On February 13, 1862, he became a brigadier-general in the Confederate army, and on April 6th was assigned to the command of the Second brigade of Withers' division, army of the Mississippi. He and his command did splendid fighting in the battle of Shiloh. When Bragg was conducting operations in north Mississippi he sent Chalmers with a force of cavalry to make a feint upon Rienzi in order to cover the movement of a body of infantry to Ripley, Miss. In executing this order Chalmers encountered Sheridan, July 1st, and a stubborn engagement took place. It lasted from about half-past 8 in the morning till late in the afternoon. Chalmers, ascertaining that Sheridan had been reinforced by infantry and artillery, retired. When Bragg advanced into Kentucky in the summer of 1862 Chalmers' command was a part of his force, performing its duties with courage and zeal. In the battle of Murfreesboro he and his men again rendered brilliant service. In April, 1863, General Chalmers was placed in command of the military district of Mississippi and East Louisiana. In 1864 he was assigned to the command of the cavalry brigades of Jeffrey Forrest and McCulloch, forming the First division of Forrest's cavalry. This division was subsequently enlarged by the addition of Rucker's brigade. General Chalmers bore a conspicuous part in the battle of Fort Pillow and in all the brilliant campaigns of Forrest in north Mississippi, west Tennessee and Kentucky, as well as in the Tennessee campaign of Hood. February 18, 1865, he was put in command of all the Mississippi cavalry in the Confederate service in Mississippi and west Tennessee. After the war General Chalmers was quite prominent in the politics of Mississippi. He was elected to the State Senate in 1875 and 1876, and in 1876 as a representative of his district to the Congress of the United States, serving in the Forty-fifth and Forty-sixth Congresses. He received [246] the certificate of election to the Forty-seventh Congress, but his seat was successfully contested by John R. Lynch. He was elected to the Forty-eighth Congress, and held his seat in spite of a contest. He also claimed election to the Fifty-first Congress, but on a contest the seat was given to his opponent. After that time he devoted himself to the practice of law. His home was at Vicksburg, Miss., until his death in April, 1898.

Brigadier-General Charles Clark was born in Ohio, in May, 1811. He could boast descent from the old Puritan stock, his ancestors having come over in the Mayflower. He was graduated at Augusta college in the State of Kentucky, and then moved to Mississippi, where he taught school. After pursuing this vocation in the city of Natchez and in Yazoo county he read law and, being admitted to the bar, located in Jefferson county. He also engaged in planting in Bolivar county. During the war with Mexico he entered the service of the United States as captain of a company in the Second Mississippi regiment, of which he was later elected colonel. Returning home after the peace with Mexico, he took great interest in the questions that were at that time agitating the country. All his sympathies were with his adopted State and he espoused her cause with all his heart. He was one of the brigadier-generals of State troops under Maj.-Gen. Jefferson Davis, and on the 15th of April, 1861, he became major-general commanding State forces. This position he resigned to take a lower one in the provisional army of the Confederate States. His commission as brigadier-general dated from May 22, 1861. His service was for a short while in the army of Northern Virginia and then in the army of Central Kentucky. He marched with the army of General Johnston to the field of Shiloh, and in that battle commanded the first division of the First corps of the army of Mississippi. At Baton Rouge, in July, 1862, he was so desperately wounded as to be disabled from further service. The people of Mississippi [247] elected him governor and he was inaugurated in January, 1864, at the city of Columbus, the temporary seat of government. He was already noted as a model gentleman, lawyer and soldier, and he proved to be all that the people could wish of a governor in such troubled times. He devoted himself assiduously to the improvement of the condition of the Mississippi soldiers in the field and to the bringing out of every man to the defense of the women and children at home. Sherman set out early in 1864 to march across the State, marking his track with desolation. Even private houses were burned, fences destroyed and mules and horses carried off. After the surrender of the armies in 1865, Governor Clark ordered all the State officers to return with the archives to Jackson, the capital, and called upon all the citizens to adhere to the fortunes of the State, maintain law and order, and meet stern facts with fortitude and common sense. About two weeks later Governor Clark was arrested by Federal troops and carried to Fort Pulaski, Ga. He was soon released, however, and returning to his native State spent the remainder of his days in peace.

Brigadier-General Douglas H. Cooper, then a prominent citizen of Mississippi, in 1861 was sent by the Confederate government to secure the alliance of the Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw and Seminole tribes. He was successful in winning over portions of those tribes to the cause of the Confederacy and was commissioned colonel of the First Choctaw and Chickasaw regiment of mounted riflemen. Some of the Indians preferred allegiance to the United States government. Colonel Cooper determined to force these into submission or drive them out of the country; so he collected a body of troops, partly his own regiment and partly white troops. In November and December, 1861, he fought the battles of Chusto-Talasah and Chustenahla, defeating the Federal Indians and driving their armed bands of the Territory [248] into Kansas. Besides his own regiment Colonel Cooper assisted Col. Albert Pike to raise two others. All these forces, under Gen. Albert Pike, participated in the battle of Pea Ridge, Arkansas, which was fought on the 7th and 8th of March, 1862. In August, 1862, General Hindman assumed personal command of the Confederate troops in northwestern Arkansas. These consisted of between 9,000 and 10,000 men, about 3,000 of whom were Indians under Colonel Cooper. On September 30th, Col. J. O. Shelby with 2,000 Missouri cavalry, and Colonel Cooper with about 4,000 Indians and mixed troops attacked and defeated Gen. Frederick Salomon near Newtonia. General Schofield, with a strong Federal force, then advanced upon the Confederates, who were obliged to retire before him. Blunt pursued Cooper and defeated him at old Fort Wayne, driving him back into the Indian country. Soon after the defeat of Banks in Louisiana in April, 1864, and that of Steele in Arkansas, General Price determined on another expedition into Missouri. The plan was for the Confederate troops under Cooper (now brigadier-general with commission dating from May 2, 1863), assisted by Maxey and Gano in Indian Territory and western Arkansas, to make demonstrations against Fort Smith and Fort Gibson and the line of communication between these points and Kansas; while another Confederate force was to threaten Little Rock, and Price with about 2,000 men, assisted by such gallant leaders as Fagan, Marmaduke and Shelby, was to march into Missouri. This was the last great military enterprise of the Confederate forces in the Trans-Mississippi. Price gained some important successes at first, but at last such overwhelming force was concentrated against him that he was compelled to retreat with heavy loss. This was the last operation of importance in which General Cooper participated during the war. His command consisted of the following troops: First Choctaw and Chickasaw regiment, Second Choctaw regiment, First and Second Cherokee regiments, and the First [249] and Second Creek regiments, Choctaw, Seminole and Creek battalions, and Howell's Texas battery. After the war General Cooper continued to reside in Indian Territory, where he died in 1867.

Brigadier-General Joseph R. Davis, a native of Mississippi and nephew of Jefferson Davis, entered the service as a captain and at the organization of the Tenth Mississippi, April 12, 1861, was elected lieutenant-colonel. The regiment was sent to Pensacola and formed a part of the army under Gen. Braxton Bragg. A detachment of this regiment was engaged in the combat on Santa Rosa Island on the night of October 8th and the morning of the 9th, 1861, in which the camp of Wilson's Zouaves was captured and destroyed. During the fall and winter of 1861-62, Colonel Davis (for he had been so commissioned on August 21, 1861) acted as aide to President Davis, visiting the troops from New Orleans to Richmond and reporting thereon in Richmond. He was then appointed a brigadier-general, under the command of Gen. G. W. Smith, of the department of Richmond. His brigade was composed at first of the Second, Eleventh and Forty-second regiments of Mississippi infantry, to which were added the Twenty-sixth Mississippi and the Fifty-fifth North Carolina infantry. It was on duty in southeast Virginia in the winter of 1862-63 and the spring of 1863; was forwarded to Lee in time to take part in the Gettysburg campaign, and formed part of the Confederate advance under Heth on the 1st day of July, 1863. There was desperate fighting in which the Confederates, at first repulsed, finally swept everything before them. In the grand charge of July 3d Gen. Joe Davis' Mississippi brigade, that fought so stoutly the first day, crossing bayonets with the Iron brigade, bore a prominent part in the work of Heth's division under Pettigrew. The Second Mississippi, of that brigade, lost half its men that day, but was still ready to fight. Its battleflag was [250] a few years ago still in possession of its old color-bearer, who at that time lived at Blossom Prairie, Texas. This flag has the names of more than 20 battles imprinted upon it. Davis' brigade in the battle of the Wilderness was one of those hurled by Longstreet with such telling force on the Federals on the 7th of May, 1864. Through all the subsequent battles of the campaign between Lee and Grant—Spottsylvania, North Anna, Cold Harbor, and the various successes and failures of the campaigns around Richmond and Petersburg—Davis led his men, encouraging them to stand firm and endure to the end. At Appomattox Court House the Mississippi brigade of Joseph R. Davis surrendered with the rest of that gallant army which for four years had been the prop and stay of the South, and had successfully defended its part of the general field until everything else was gone. General Davis returned to his home justly proud of the honor which he had enjoyed in commanding such gallant men, resumed the practice of law, and was prominent as a citizen of Mississippi until his death at Biloxi, September 15, 1896.

Reuben Davis, major-general of State troops, was born in Tennessee, January 18, 1813. He studied medicine and for a while practiced, but after a few years abandoned that profession and took up law. He preferred to try his fortune now in a new field, and accordingly moved to Aberdeen, Miss., where he was quite successful. From 1835 to 1839 he was prosecuting attorney for the Sixth judicial district of the State. In 1842 he was appointed judge of the high court of appeals, which position he resigned after serving only four months. When the war with Mexico began he laid aside peaceful pursuits and entered the field as colonel of the Second Mississippi volunteers. Returning to Mississippi after the war, he again took up the practice of law and re-entered the politics of his State. In 1855 he was elected to the State [251] senate, and he performed the duties of that station until 1857, when he was elected to represent his district in Congress. This position he continued to hold until 1861, when he resigned to enter the military service of the Confederate States. The people of the generation that has grown up since that famous struggle cannot imagine the enthusiasm that pervaded all classes in the opening of the war. Not only the young men rallied enthusiastically to the defense of the South, but men of middle life, and even in some instances the aged were eager to show their devotion to home and country by giving up the ease and comforts of home to risk the perils of the camp, the march and battle, and if need be lay life itself upon the altar of country. Though past the military age, Colonel Davis was eager to serve his country once more in the field. He was made a brigadier-general of State troops, and then major-general, and in this capacity he led to Bowling Green, Ky., 2,000 sixty days men, raised in response to the call of Albert Sidney Johnston in the fall and winter of 1861. He was assigned by General Hardee to command of the fortifications at Bowling Green, December 20th, and one of Hardee's brigades was also for a time under his command. When the period of enlistment of his troops expired he returned to Mississippi and continued to serve his State and country in various positions, also resuming the practice of law. While defending a prisoner he became involved in a quarrel with the prosecuting attorney and was shot in the court house at Columbus, Miss., December 15, 1873.

Brigadier-General Winfield Scott Featherston was born in Rutherford county, Tenn., August 5, 1821. He was educated at various academies and while at school in Georgia, in 1836, served as a volunteer against the Creeks. He afterward studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1840. He removed to Mississippi and soon became prominent in official circles. He was elected to [252] Congress as a Democrat and served from 1847 to 1851. In 1860 he was sent by his State to confer with the authorities of Kentucky on the subject of secession. In May, 1861, he was made colonel of the Seventeenth Mississippi. He took an active and honorable part in the first battle of Manassas, also at Leesburg. On the 4th of March, 1862, he was commissioned brigadier-general. His command was conspicuous in the Seven Days battles before Richmond, during which General Featherston was wounded. He served in the Virginia army until January, 1863, when at his own request he was sent to assist in the defense of Vicksburg. He was assigned to the division of General Loring and was engaged in the battle of Baker's Creek. At the close of this disastrous struggle General Loring found his division cut off from the main body of Pemberton's army, and marching eastward joined Gen. J. E. Johnston at Jackson. After the fall of Vicksburg, Loring's division, to which Featherston's brigade was attached, served under General Polk in Mississippi. In the spring of 1864 these troops marched eastward and joined Johnston at Resaca, Ga., in time to take part in that battle. In all the subsequent battles of the Atlanta and Tennessee campaigns Featherston and his men were engaged. For a while, when Loring was acting as corps commander (immediately after the death of Polk), General Featherston had command of the division. Featherston commanded his brigade in the final campaign in the Carolinas and was included in the surrender of Johnston's army, April 26, 1865. He then returned to Mississippi and resumed the practice of law. He was a member of the Mississippi legislature from 1876 to 1878, and again from 1880 to 1882. In 1887 he was made judge of the Second judicial circuit of the State. This distinguished citizen of Mississippi, so honored both in war and peace, died at Holly Springs, May 28, 1891.

Major-General Samuel G. French, who distinguished [253] himself during the Confederate war by gallant services, was born in New Jersey, November 22, 1818, and was educated mainly at the academy in Burlington. On July 1, 1843, he was graduated at West Point with promotion to brevet second lieutenant in the Third artillery. He served mostly on garrison duty until the Mexican war, where he was engaged in the battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma, and soon after commissioned second lieutenant, June 18, 1846. For gallant and meritorious conduct in the several battles at Monterey he was brevetted first lieutenant, and in February, 1847, he was brevetted captain for like services in the battle of Buena Vista, where he was severely wounded. He — was appointed first lieutenant, Third artillery, March, 1847, and captain in the staff, assistant quartermaster United States army, January 12, 1848. On May 31, 1856, he resigned his commission and became a planter near Vicksburg, Miss. In this occupation the war of 1861 found him. When Mississippi seceded the governor sent for Captain French and appointed him chief of ordnance in the army of Mississippi. The work of obtaining arms and munitions of war was a difficult one, but Captain

French with untiring energy accomplished the arduous task. In April, 1861, he was appointed major of artillery, and, in October, President Davis sent him a dispatch asking him to accept the position of brigadier-general. On the 23d of October he received his commission, and from November 14, 1861, to March 8, 1862, he had command at Evansport, Va., blockading the Potomac river. On March 14th he was sent to relieve Gen. L. O'B. Branch at New Bern, N. C. Kinston and Wilmington were also in his department. On July 17, 1862, he was assigned to command of the department of southern Virginia and North Carolina, with headquarters at Petersburg. May 28, 1863, he was ordered to report to Gen. Joseph E. Johnston at Jackson, Miss. There was much discouragement at that time in the Southwest on account of Pemberton's [254] disastrous defeats in the field and because of the fact that Vicksburg was now closely besieged. There was also much distrust among soldiers and citizens of all officers of Northern birth. General Johnston therefore addressed a communication to Mr. Davis to the effect that it had been suggested to him that General French's arrival would be a source of weakness instead of strength. President Davis in his reply informed General Johnston that General French was a citizen of Mississippi and a wealthy planter until the enemy had robbed him. He also stated that before the Confederate States had an army, General French ‘was the chief of ordnance and artillery in the force Mississippi raised to maintain her right of secession.’ General French entered upon his duties and was soon one of General Johnston's most trusted officers. The people of Mississippi knew him already and believed in his fidelity and honor. He served under Johnston and then under Polk in Mississippi, and was in Polk's (afterward Stewart's) corps under Johnston and Hood in 1864. He and his division, consisting of the brigades of Cockrell, Ector and Sears, were engaged in all the battles of the Atlanta and Tennessee campaigns, and were surpassed by none in heroic devotion to the cause of the South. In the fall campaign in north Georgia it was French who made the gallant attack upon Corse at Allatoona. He had driven the Federals from their outer works and into a little star fort, and was pressing the attack with vigor when he was informed of the approach of Sherman's army. He was compelled reluctantly to retire when victory was almost in his grasp. At the battle of Kenesaw Mountain it was the guns of French on Kenesaw that poured such a destructive fire upon the Union forces, who had broken through the right of Walker's skirmishers, as to drive them back before they came within range of Walker's line of battle. Wherever French was engaged he and his men never failed to give a good account of themselves. General [255] French is now living in Pensacola, Fla. He is a gentleman of high culture and is greatly esteemed, not only for his reputation as a general of decided ability, but as a man of sterling integrity and worth.

Brigadier-General Samuel Jameson Gholson was born in Madison county, Ky., May 19, 1808. When nine years of age, he moved with his parents to Alabama. He received his education in such schools as the country afforded and then studied law in Russellville, where he was admitted to the bar. Moving to Athens, Miss., in 1830, he soon began to take an active part in State politics. From 1833 to 1836 he served in the legislature. In 1837 he was elected to Congress as a Democrat to fill a vacancy, and a few months afterward was elected for the full term. His seat, however, was contested and given to his opponent. While in Congress he became involved in a dispute with Henry A. Wise of Virginia. The controversy became so warm that a duel was with the greatest difficulty prevented by John C. Calhoun and other friends of the two gentlemen. In 1838 he was appointed United States judge for the district of Mississippi by President Van Buren. This important office he held until 1861. When Mississippi seceded he enlisted as a private in the forces of that State, but was soon elected captain of a company. He was promoted to the rank of colonel of State forces, and later in the year to that of brigadier-general. He was present at Fort Donelson, where he received a wound. He was in the field again in the summer of 1862, being present at the indecisive battle of Iuka. He was also a participant at the battle of Corinth, where he was again wounded. He continued to serve in the State forces, of which he was made major-general in the spring of 1863. On May 6, 1864, he was commissioned a brigadier-general by the Confederate government and put in command of a cavalry brigade operating in Alabama, Mississippi and east Louisiana. This brigade consisted [256] of Mississippi troops that had just been turned over by that State to the Confederate government. It was assigned to the First division (Chalmers') of Forrest's cavalry. In 1864, when the Federals advanced upon Jackson, Miss., Gholson was again wounded. But he was soon in the field again and we find the gallantry of his brigade highly commended in the official reports of the Atlanta campaign. After the disastrous conclusion of the Tennessee campaign, Gholson and his horsemen continued in active service in Mississippi. During Grierson's expedition (December, 1864, and January, 1865 to destroy the Mobile & Ohio railroad, Gholson's brigade constituted part of the force that disputed his advance. In an affair at Egypt, December 27, 1864, the Confederate cavalry, though disputing Grierson's advance with great courage and determination, was finally defeated. Grierson, in his report of this fight, announced that General Gholson had been killed, while Col. Joseph Karge, of one of Grierson's regiments, reported him as mortally wounded. Neither report was correct, but General Gholson did lose his right arm. He survived the war several years and in civil life received deserved honors from his fellow-citizens. From 1866 to 1868 he was a member of the State legislature, and during 1868 was speaker of the house of representatives of Mississippi. He died at his home in Aberdeen, October 16, 1883.

Brigadier-General Richard Griffith was at the beginning of the war treasurer of the State of Mississippi. At the first call of his State he responded ‘ready,’ and as colonel of the Twelfth Mississippi went to Virginia. . In November, 1861, he was commissioned brigadier-general and ordered to report to Gen. J. E. Johnston for duty with the brigade previously commanded by Gen. Charles Clark, who had been transferred to another field. A greater part of 1861 he was in the vicinity of Leesburg. When the campaign of 1862 began in Virginia the Confederate [257] army was led by General Johnston to the peninsula in order to check McClellan's advance upon Richmond. There was much maneuvering, and some skirmishing and battles between portions of the armies. At Seven Pines Griffith's command was present and ready for action and under fire of the enemy, but not actively engaged. But during the Seven Days of battle around Richmond every command was put upon its mettle. General Griffith's brigade was at that time in the division of General Magruder, who during the decisive battle of June 27th at Gaines' Mill by his skillful management kept the far larger part of the Union army at bay while Lee overwhelmed the weaker portion. During the next day he continued in front of the enemy watching his every movement. On Sunday morning it was evident that McClellan was making for the James. The whole army started in pursuit. When Magruder reached Fair Oaks station he found the enemy's lines in that vicinity, which had been evacuated, in possession of a part of Kershaw's brigade, the remainder of his own command being then on the march. He ordered Major-General McLaws to consolidate Kershaw's brigade and place it on the right of the railroad, and as the other brigade of General Mc-Laws did not arrive for some time, Magruder ordered two regiments of Griffith's advance brigade to take post in reserve, also on the right of the railroad, so as to support Kershaw's brigade, leaving the Williamsburg road still farther on the right unoccupied and open for Huger. He then formed the other two regiments of Griffith's brigade on the left of General Kershaw, their right resting on the railroad. Brigadier-General Cobb's command, which marched in rear of Griffith's, was, as soon as it arrived, formed on the left of these two regiments, two of his own being kept in reserve. The enemy, having ascertained Magruder's position, opened a brisk artillery fire upon the Confederates, wounding the gallant General Griffith so severely that he died the next day. Thus, at Savage [258] station, fell this noble son of Mississippi on the threshold of what promised to be a brilliant career.

Brigadier-General Nathaniel H. Harris is another one of the galaxy of gallant officers who so nobly illustrated Mississippi during the war. Fully imbued with the sentiments which inspired the South in the sixties, he entered the Confederate army in April, 1861, as a captain in the Nineteenth Mississippi. This regiment was sent to Virginia and placed under the command of General Griffith. During the greater part of 1861 it was stationed near Leesburg, Va. On October 18, 1861, it was engaged in a skirmish under the eye of Gen. Nathan G. Evans. In the spring of 1862 the heroic record of the Nineteenth Mississippi really began, with the battle of Williamsburg. Lieut.-Col. L. Q. C. Lamar, who succeeded to the command on the fall of Colonel Mott, in his report of this battle says: ‘To Capt. N. H. Harris of Company C special praise is due, not only for his gallant bearing on the field, but for his unremitting attention to his command.’ Captain Harris was soon after this appointed major of the regiment, his commission dating from the battle of Williamsburg, March 5, 1862. At Seven Pines Major Harris acted on the staff of Gen. Cadmus Wilcox, and was complimented in the report of that officer. From the campaigns in northern Virginia and Maryland Major Harris returned to be honored by being promoted lieutenant-colonel, November 24, 1862. On the 2d of April, 1863, he was appointed colonel, and as such he participated in the battles of Chancellorsville and Gettysburg. On January 20, 1864, he was promoted to brigadier-general to fill the vacancy occasioned by the death of General Posey. The brigade to whose command he now succeeded was composed of the Twelfth, Sixteenth, Nineteenth and Forty-eighth regiments of Mississippi infantry and was assigned to Mahone's division of A. P. Hill's corps. The hardest campaign of the war was now before [259] them. At the Wilderness, at Spottsylvania, Cold Harbor and before Petersburg and Richmond, the brigade under its new commander maintained its former renown. In the desperate fighting at the bloody angle on May 12, 1864, Harris and his Mississippians gained the applause of their comrades by the gallant manner in which they rushed through the blinding storm of lead to fill the gap on Ramseur's right. In the last fight at Petersburg the men of Harris' Mississippi regiment formed part of the force of 250 men who so long and stoutly held Fort Gregg, repulsing three assaults of Gibbon's division. After the war General Harris lived a while in Mississippi and then removed to California.

Brigadier-General Benjamin G. Humphreys was born in Mississippi in 1808, in Claiborne county, where he grew up to manhood. When old enough he entered the United States military academy at West Point, but did not complete his course there. He became a planter in Sunflower county, and this was his occupation when the war began. He immediately raised a fine company which was assigned to the Twenty-first Mississippi. His commission as captain of this company was dated May 18, 1861. On the 11th of September, 1861, he was commissioned colonel of the Twenty-first. He led this regiment at Seven Pines and in the Seven Days battles. McLaws' division, to which his regiment was attached, was left below Richmond to watch the movements of the enemy when Lee started on his march against Pope, and hence did not rejoin the main army until after Second Manassas. The Twenty-first Mississippi belonged to Barksdale's brigade of this division. This whole command was distinguished throughout the Maryland campaign, and in the following December at Fredericksburg gained immortal renown by its repeated repulses of a whole Federal corps in the attempt to cross the Rappahannock before Lee was ready to receive them. Again, at Chancellorsville, [260] Humphreys displayed his fitness for the command of brave men. On the first day at Gettysburg the gallant Barksdale fell mortally wounded, and Humphreys succeeded to the command of the now famous brigade, consisting of the Thirteenth, Seventeenth, Eighteenth and Twenty-first regiments of Mississippi infantry. From September, 1863, until the following spring, the brigade served under Longstreet in Georgia and in Tennessee, paralleling at Chickamauga and Knoxville its heroic deeds in Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania. Through all the unequaled hardships and dangers of the Overland campaign and of that around Richmond and Petersburg until the final end of all at Appomattox, Humphreys and his gallant men remained faithful, and, when the final catastrophe came, returned to their homes with the consciousness of duty well performed. When President Andrew Johnson was carrying out his reconstruction plan, General Humphreys was elected governor of Mississippi and was inaugurated on the 16th day of October, 1865. In his inaugural address he said: ‘It has been reported in some quarters that our people are insincere and the spirit of revolt is rampant among us. But if an unflinching fidelity in war gives evidence of a reliable fidelity in peace; if the unvarying professions that spring from private and public sources furnish any evidence of truth, it is sufficiently demonstrated that the people of the South, who so long and against such terrible odds maintained the mightiest conflict of modern ages, may be : safely trusted when they profess more than a willingness to return to their allegiance.’ The radical Congress, however, overthrew the government established in Mississippi under the President's plan, and established in its stead the carpet-bag government which oppressed the people of Mississippi until its overthrow by the people in the election of 1875. After his removal from the gubernatorial chair General Humphreys returned to planting and retired from public life. He died in Le Flore county, [261] Miss., on the 22d day of December, 1882. Gen. Robert Lowry says of him, in his ‘History of Mississippi’: ‘His name will long remain the synonym for knightly honor, for fidelity to every trust, for loyalty to every duty.’

Brigadier-General Mark P. Lowrey, one of the brigade commanders of Cleburne's celebrated division, became colonel of the Thirty-second Mississippi, in the Confederate service April 3, 1862. After more than a year's service in north Mississippi and Tennessee he was promoted to brigadier-general, October 6, 1863. This was after the battle of Chickamauga, where every brigade and regiment of Cleburne's division was hotly engaged. At Missionary Ridge, Cleburne's division repulsed every attack made upon it, and at Ringgold Gap defeated Hooker and saved Bragg's army and its wagon train. Lowrey's brigade bore its full share of these noble achievements. For the battle of Ringgold, Cleburne and all his officers and men received the thanks of the Confederate Congress. During the hundred days of marching and fighting from Dalton to Atlanta and all around the doomed city, and at Jonesboro, Cleburne's men sustained their high reputation, and there were none among them better than the brave soldiers of Lowrey's brigade, nor a leader more skillful and intrepid than he. One of the most spirited, and to the Confederates successful, affairs of the whole campaign was at Pickett's mill, in May, where Cleburne's division repulsed the furious onset of Howard's whole corps, inflicting on the Federals a loss many times their own. In this affair Kelly's cavalry, consisting of Allen's and Hannon's Alabama brigades, first encountered a body of Federal cavalry supported by the Fourth corps. Cleburne, seeing the maneuver to turn his right, brought Granbury's brigade to Kelly's support, while Govan sent the Eighth and Ninth Arkansas regiments under Colonel Baucum to the assistance of Kelly. This little body met [262] the foremost of the Federal troops as they were reaching the prolongation of Granbury's line, and charging gallantly drove them back and saved the Texans from a flank attack. General Johnston in his report says: ‘Before the Federal left could gather to overwhelm Baucum and his two regiments, Lowrey's brigade, hurried by General Cleburne from its position, as left of his second line, came to join them, and the two, formed abreast of Granbury's brigade, stopped the advance of the enemy's left and successfully resisted its subsequent attacks.’ The victory was one of the most brilliant won by the Confederates during the Atlanta campaign. At the battle of Atlanta, 22d of July, Lowrey's brigade captured some of the eight cannon taken from the enemy by Cleburne's division. General Lowrey went safely through the fierce battles of Franklin and Nashville, and led his men on the disheartening retreat from Tennessee and in the campaign in the Carolinas in 1865. After the war he made his residence in California.

Brigadier-General Robert Lowry is a native of South Carolina. When a little child he was taken by his father on his removal to Perry (now Decatur) county, Tenn., and afterward to Tishomingo county, Miss., and while yet in boyhood he went to Raleigh, Smith county, Miss., to live with his uncle, Judge James Lowry. When he reached manhood's estate he adopted the profession of law and soon rose to prominence. He represented the people of his county in the lower house of the State legislature, and was then elected from his district to the senate of Mississippi. When the war began he entered the Confederate army as a private in Company B of the Sixth Mississippi infantry. Upon the organization of the regiment he was elected its major. At the battle of Shiloh Colonel Thornton resigned because of wounds, and Major Lowry was elected colonel and commissioned on the 23d of May, 1862. He led this regiment at the battles of [263] Corinth, Port Gibson and Baker's Creek. Of his conduct at Port Gibson Gen. Martin E. Green said: ‘Col. Robert Lowry, of the Sixth Mississippi, deserves the highest commendation for his coolness and promptness in executing every order.’ During the Atlanta campaign his regiment was attached to the brigade of Gen. John Adams, Loring's division, one of the best in the army of Tennessee. At the battle of Kenesaw Mountain, in command of the brigade skirmish line, he repulsed two attacks of the enemy. At the battle of Franklin General Adams was killed, and Colonel Lowry succeeded to the command of the brigade, which embraced the Sixth, Fourteenth, Fifteenth, Twentieth, Twenty-third and Forty-third Mississippi regiments of infantry. This force he led in the battle of Nashville and during the retreat from Tennessee. On February 4, 1865, he received his commission as brigadier-general. He shared in the campaign in the Carolinas and participated in the battle of Bentonville, the last one fought by the army of Tennessee. Returning to Mississippi after the war he went to work under the new order of things to assist in the rehabilitation of his State. Against his protest he was nominated by the Democratic State convention in 1869 for the office of attorney-general. At that time the Republicans had control of the State and he was defeated. In 1881 he was elected governor of Mississippi to succeed Governor Stone. He was inaugurated in January, 1882, and gave such satisfaction that he was re-elected in 1885. His administration of eight years was strong and vigorous and added greatly to the prosperity and development of Mississippi. During his administration there occurred a notable event. Jefferson Davis, ex-president of the Confederate States, by invitation of the legislature visited the city of Jackson. As Mr. Davis entered the hall escorted by Governor Lowry cheer after cheer resounded through the building. The speech of Mr. Davis was one replete with feeling and aroused the greatest enthusiasm. In 1890 Governor [264] Lowry turned over the governorship to Col. John M. Stone, who had once before served the State acceptably in that capacity. General Lowry is one of the most highly esteemed citizens of Mississippi, to whose interests he has always been true in war and in peace.

Major-General Will T. Martin, one of the dashing cavalry leaders of the war, entered the Confederate service as captain of a company of cavalry. On November 14, 1861, he was commissioned as major of the Second Mississippi cavalry, attached to the Jeff Davis legion. Two days later we have a report of operations of his command in the neighborhood of Falls Church, Va. He surprised a body of the enemy at Doolan's, capturing prisoners, wagons and horses. For this he was mentioned favorably in reports of Gens. G. W. Smith and Joseph E. Johnston. Just before the Seven Days battles at Richmond, Martin, who was now lieutenant-colonel of the Jeff Davis legion, accompanied Stuart in that daring raid in which he made the entire circuit of McClellan's army, bringing in prisoners, booty, and much information of great importance to General Lee. Gen. Wm. W. Averell, of the Union army, said of this expedition: ‘It was appointed with excellent judgment and was conducted with superb address. Stuart pursued the line of least resistance, which was the unexpected. His subordinate commanders were Colonels Fitz Lee, W. H. F. Lee and W. T. Martin, all intrepid cavalrymen.’ On December 2, 1862, Colonel Martin was commissioned brigadiergen-eral in the provisional army of the Confederate States. He was then sent to Tennessee, where he was put in command of a division consisting of Roddey's and Cosby's brigades. He participated in Van Dorn's brilliant victory at Spring Hill, on March 5, 1863, and during the Tullahoma campaign did great service to the army, as did all the cavalry commands. When Longstreet went into east Tennessee, General Martin accompanied him [265] and rendered very efficient service. On November 10, 1863, he was commissioned major-general. He was now placed in command of a division of Wheeler's cavalry corps, including the brigades of John T. Morgan and Alfred Iverson. He served through the Atlanta campaign, leading his division skillfully through the various cavalry engagements, his men fighting with equal valor as troopers and as infantry. Toward the close of the year 1864 he was assigned to the command of the district of Northwest Mississippi. Here he was employed until the close of the struggle, protecting the people against raiding bands as far as his resources would permit.

Brigadier-General Carnot Posey was born in Wilkinson county, Miss., in August, 1818. When the Mexican war began in 1846 he entered the Mississippi Rifle regiment commanded by Col. Jefferson Davis, holding the rank of first lieutenant. Every one is familiar with the story of Jefferson Davis and his Rifles at the battle of Buena Vista; how, at a critical moment, when on one part of the field the day seemed lost, the gallant Mississippians, under the lead of their talented and heroic colonel, made one of the most brilliant charges of the whole war, restoring the fortune of the day and winning for themselves a fame which shall never die so long as the story of Buena Vista shall form a part of the record of American valor. In this splendid feat of arms, young Posey bore a manly part and was disabled by a wound. When the war ended he returned to his Mississippi home and resumed the pursuits of peace. But when at last the fire of sectional strife that had been so long smoldering broke out into war, Posey entered the service of the Confederacy as colonel of the Sixteenth Mississippi. In this capacity he shared in the brilliant victory of First Manassas and in the smaller but no less decisive success at Leesburg, or Ball's Bluff, in October of the same year. As colonel of the same regiment he bore an honorable part in the campaigns [266] of 1862, that memorable ‘year of battles,’ so full of marvelous exploits, when Lee's gallant army raised the siege of Richmond, bowled over Pope at Manassas, crossed into Maryland and, while one wing of the army captured Harper's Ferry, the other wing kept McClellan in check and repulsed him at Sharpsburg, crowning the year's work by the tremendous victory at Fredericksburg. Before the last named battle Colonel Posey's meritorious and gallant conduct had been rewarded by a commission as brigadier-general, which he received on the first day of November, 1862. His brigade consisted of four Mississippi regiments and formed a part of Anderson's division of A. P. Hill's corps. In the campaign of 1863, at Chancellorsville and again at Gettysburg, General Posey conducted himself with the gallantry for which he had always been distinguished. At Bristoe station, on the 14th of October, General Posey was severely wounded in the left thigh by a fragment of shell. He was carried to Charlottesville, Va., and there died on November 13, 1863. He gave to his country the supreme gift, devoted service crowned with a patriot's death.

Brigadier-General Claudius W. Sears entered the army in the Forty-sixth Mississippi regiment, of which he was commissioned colonel December 11, 1862. The regiment served in north Mississippi, and took a gallant part in the defeat of Sherman at Chickasaw Bayou by Gen. S. D. Lee, also being among the successful defenders of Fort Pemberton on the Yazoo, under Loring's command. Colonel Sears commanded the regiment in the battle of Port Gibson, May 1, 1863. The brigade to which it was attached, W. E. Baldwin's, of M. L. Smith's division, was in reserve during the fighting at Baker's Creek, and during the siege of Vicksburg, which followed, performed its share of fighting on the lines. ‘Colonel Sears, Forty-sixth Mississippi,’ said General Baldwin, ‘merits favorable notice for his conduct during this trying time.’ [267] After the surrender of Vicksburg he and his men were for several months on parole, but early in 1864 he was in command of his brigade, and on March 1st was promoted to brigadier-general. In April, being stationed at Selma, he was ordered to report to General French at Tuscaloosa, Ala., and in the following month reached Rome, Ga., in command of a brigade composed of the Fourth, Thirty-fifth, Thirty-sixth, Thirty-ninth and Forty-sixth regiments and Seventh battalion Mississippi volunteers. Sent to Resaca on May 16th, the brigade took a conspicuous and gallant part in the famous campaign of May to September, 1864. During the battles around Atlanta in July he was disabled by illness. In General French's final report of the campaign General Sears was commended for valuable services. It was his fortune, in Hood's north Georgia campaign in Sherman's rear, to be engaged in the desperate fight at Allatoona, in reporting which French acknowledged his indebtedness to Sears' bravery, skill and unflinching firmness. At the battle of Franklin, Tenn., his brigade won new honors, many of the men and officers gaining the main line of the Federal works in the famous charge. Subsequently he co-operated with Forrest in the siege of Murfreesboro, whence he was ordered to Nashville, where he commanded his brigade with skill and firmness until late on the 15th of December, when he was severely wounded, losing a leg, and fell into the hands of the enemy. The surviving fragment of his brigade was surrendered by Gen. Richard Taylor in May, 1865, and General Sears was restored to his home at the close of hostilities.

Brigadier-General Jacob H. Sharp entered the Confederate service in a subordinate position, and from Shiloh, through the Kentucky campaign and at Murfreesboro, fought his way to the front until we find him at Chickamauga colonel of the Forty-fourth Mississippi. In that same position he participated in the battle of Missionary [268] Ridge. Frequent battles, in which daring officers in their soldierly devotion exposed themselves recklessly until killed or disabled for life, made rapid promotion for those of lower grades, and frequently they in turn gave way to others below them. One cause of the undaunted courage of the soldiers of the Confederacy was the example of audacity set them by their gallant officers. The Atlanta campaign had barely started when the severe wounding of General Tucker, himself lately promoted, brought Colonel Sharp to the front and made him brigade commander. In his new sphere he displayed even more conspicuously the gallantry which had carried him so rapidly from one grade to another. At the battle of Ezra Church three new brigadier-generals came at once into prominence. Gen. John C. Brown, who on this occasion commanded Hindman's division, says in his report: ‘In the action Sharp's and Brantly's brigades acted with great gallantry.’ Again he says: ‘I must be pardoned for bearing testimony to the conspicuous gallantry of Brigadier-Generals Brantly, Sharp and Johnston, all of whom had received notice of their promotion a few moments before going into battle.’ Maj.-Gen. Patton Anderson, in a report of the operations of his division (formerly Hindman's), makes the following statement: ‘To the brigade commanders, Brantly, Sharp and Manigault, I am especially indebted for their prompt obedience to every order and cheerful co-operation in everything tending to promote the efficiency of their commands and the good of the service. Their sympathy, counsel and hearty co-operation lightened my burden of responsibility, and contributed to the esprit de corps, discipline and good feeling which happily pervaded the division, and without which the bravest troops in the world cannot be relied on.’ General Sharp led his brigade through the Tennessee campaign and afterward in the campaign of the Carolinas, fighting his last battle at Bentonville [269] and surrendering with Joe Johnston at Durham station on the 26th of April, 1865.

Brigadier-General James Argyle Smith was born in Tennessee, and from that State was appointed a cadet at the United States military academy, where he was graduated July 1, 1853, and promoted in the army to brevet second lieutenant of infantry. He served on frontier duty at various posts in Kansas, and in garrison at Jefferson Barracks in Missouri, was in the Sioux expedition of 1855, and engaged in the action of Blue Water, September 3d; was employed in quelling the Kansas troubles of 1856-58, and took part in the Utah expedition. In December, 1859, he was commissioned first lieutenant of the Sixth infantry. When the secession movement began, he was on leave of absence. Being a Southern man in sympathy as well as by birth he sent in his resignation, and entered the service of the Confederate States, with the rank of captain of infantry. In March, 1862, he was promoted major and was acting adjutant-general to Gen. Leonidas Polk. At the battle of Shiloh he was lieutenant-colonel of the Second Tennessee. Col. Preston Smith, commanding the First brigade of the Second division, army of the Mississippi, in his report of the battle of Shiloh spoke particularly of the gallant bearing of Lieutenant-Colonel Smith. At the battle of Perryville he commanded the Fifth Confederate regiment, and his gallant service was thus mentioned by Gen. Bushrod Johnson: ‘The Fifth Confederate regiment was promptly moved by Col. J. A. Smith upon the enemy behind the stone fences. The fire of the Fifth Confederate regiment was particularly destructive, plainly thinning the enemy's ranks at every volley. Three times the flag of the enemy was cut down, and finally they were beaten back utterly whipped.’ At the battle of Murfreesboro Colonel Smith was again complimented in the reports of Major-General Cleburne and Brig.-Gen. Lucius Polk. Again in [270] his report of the battle of Chickamauga Gen. Lucius E. Polk said: ‘Colonel Smith of the Third and Fifth Confederate regiments acted with his usual courage and skill. He has since been promoted. Promotion could not have fallen on one more worthy.’ With the rank of brigadier-general he succeeded to the command of Deshler's Texas brigade, of Cleburne's division. During the Atlanta campaign he commanded this brigade part of the time and Granbury part of the time. On the 22d of July, near Atlanta, Smith was in charge, and on that occasion the brigade captured three lines of the enemy's works, 15 pieces of artillery and 2 stand of colors. General Smith was wounded and forced to quit the field. Many of the other officers were wounded and part of the command captured. Subsequently he was in command of Mercer's Georgia brigade, of Cleburne's division, and after the death of Cleburne at Franklin, General Smith commanded the division at Nashville. He and General Bate commanded the two divisions of the remnant of Cheatham's corps which went into the Carolina campaign of 1865, and Bate, commanding the corps at Bentonville, said that he could not confer too much commendation upon General Smith as a division commander in that battle. He was equal to every emergency, and his conduct inspired his command to heroic deeds. After the war General Smith settled in Mississippi. He was a farmer from 1866 to 1877. In the latter year he was elected superintendent of public education of the State.

Brigadier-General Peter B. Starke, a distinguished cavalry commander, became colonel of the Twenty-eighth Mississippi cavalry regiment by commission dated February 24, 1862. His regiment was attached to the command of Gen. M. L. Smith, for the defense of Vicksburg, and in September was nearly 700 strong. Stationed at Panola in November, he gave notice of the advance of Hovey's expedition from Arkansas, and during that [271] fruitless movement by the enemy his regiment was engaged in various skirmishes. From this time during the long-continued efforts for the reduction of Vicksburg the Confederate cavalry was busily engaged in watching the movements of the enemy. At the organization of forces outside Vicksburg by General Johnston he and his regiment were assigned to the cavalry brigade of Gen. W. H. Jackson, first composed of the regiments of Pinson, Harris, Starke, and Adams, and Steede's battalion. In March, 1863, he participated in the victory at Thompson's station, Tenn., under General Van Dorn. When Jackson became commander of cavalry division, under Gen. Stephen D. Lee, Colonel Starke was assigned to command of the brigade, which in February, 1864, included the regiments of Pinson, Starke and Ballentine, Webb's Louisiana company, and the Columbus, Georgia, light artillery. He was stationed before Vicksburg when Sherman started out on the Meridian expedition. He resisted the advance of one corps of the enemy on February 4th, and on the 24th attacked Sherman's retreating column at Sharon, inflicting considerable loss on the enemy. His conduct in this campaign was warmly commended by General Jackson, and General Lee said: ‘Colonel Starke, commanding brigade, showed skill and gallantry on every occasion, and won my confidence.’ During the Atlanta campaign his brigade was commanded by Gen. Frank C. Armstrong, and he was for a part of the time in command of his regiment. Commissioned brigadier-general November 4, 1864, he took part in the cavalry operations during Hood's Tennessee campaign. On February, 1865, he was assigned to command, near Columbus, of one of the three brigades into which General Chalmers divided the Mississippi cavalry, and the following regiments were ordered to report to him: Wilbourn's Fourth, Wade's Sixth Mississippi and Eighth Confederate, White's Eighth Mississippi, Twenty-eighth, Eighteenth battalion, and part of the Fifth regiment. [272] His command was included in the surrender of General Taylor's army.

Brigadier-General William F. Tucker entered the Confederate service as captain of Company K, Eleventh Mississippi regiment, which in May, 1861, was mustered into the Confederate service at Lynchburg and assigned to the Third brigade of the army of the Shenandoah. This brigade was commanded by Gen. Barnard E. Bee, and did valiant fighting at First Manassas. From that day to the end at Appomattox, the Eleventh Mississippi followed the fortunes of the army of Northern Virginia, except that Company K was, at the reorganization, transferred to the Western army and formed part of the Forty-first Mississippi regiment. Of this regiment Tucker was commissioned colonel on the 8th of May, 1862. It was assigned to the brigade of Gen. Patton Anderson, and later was under General Chalmers. At Murfreesboro, Chickamauga and Missionary Ridge, Colonel Tucker commanded his regiment. On the 1st of March, 1864, he was commissioned brigadier-general, and assigned to command of the brigade distinguished under Chalmers and Anderson, the Seventh, Ninth, Tenth, Forty-first and Forty-fourth regiments of Mississippi infantry, and Ninth Mississippi battalion of sharpshooters. During the Atlanta campaign occasional battles between portions of each army were frequent. One of these partial engagements was that of Resaca, in reporting which General Hood said: ‘On the 14th the enemy made repeated assaults on Hindman's left but not in very heavy line. Walthall's brigade, occupying the left of Hindman's [division] suffered severely from an enfilade fire of the enemy's artillery, himself and men displaying conspicuous valor throughout, under very adverse circumstances. Brigadier-General Tucker, commanding brigade in reserve, was severely wounded.’ General Walthall in his report said: ‘The fine brigade which was posted in my rear for support, though it had [273] the shelter of the ridge, sustained considerable loss, mainly from the enemy's artillery. Its commander, Brig.-Gen. W. F. Tucker, was severely wounded, while observing the enemy's movements from my position during the first day's engagement, and was succeeded in command by Col. Jacob H. Sharp of Blythe's regiment. To both these efficient officers I am indebted for valuable suggestions and repeated offers of help, for which their command was kept in a constant state of readiness.’ General Tucker was not in active service again. On September 15, 1881, he was killed by an assassin at Okolona, Miss.

Major-General Earl Van Dorn was born near Port Gibson, Miss., September 17, 1820. He was graduated from West Point, 1842, as brevet second lieutenant and was assigned to the Seventh infantry. Of the same regiment he was commissioned second lieutenant November 30, 1844. In the war with Mexico he was engaged in the defense of Fort Brown, the storming of Monterey, the siege of Vera Cruz, the battles of Cerro Gordo, Contreras, Churubusco, Chapultepec, and capture of the city of Mexico. He was promoted first lieutenant March 3, 1847, brevetted captain April 18, 1847, for gallant and meritorious conduct at Cerro Gordo, and brevetted major for like service at Contreras and Churubusco. He was wounded on entering the Belen Gate of the city of Mexico. His services in the United States army were varied and efficient. He served in Florida against the Seminole Indians, and commanded an expedition against the Comanche Indians, being four times wounded in a combat near Washita Village, Indian Territory, October 1, 1858. Two of the wounds were inflicted by arrows and proved quite dangerous. He was commissioned captain of the Second cavalry March 3, 1855, and major in the same regiment June 28, 1860. Upon the secession of Mississippi he resigned his commission in the United States army, and was appointed brigadier-general of the State forces by the [274] Mississippi legislature, and afterward major-general to succeed Jefferson Davis. He was commissioned colonel of cavalry in the regular Confederate service to date from March 16, 1861, and for a short time was in command at Forts Jackson and St. Philip, below New Orleans. Then going to Texas he was put in command of that department, April 11th. With a body of Texas volunteers on April 20th he captured the steamer Star of the West, in Galveston harbor, and on the 24th of the same month received at Saluria the surrender of Maj. Caleb C. Sibley and seven companies of the United States infantry, and that of Col. Isaac V. D. Reese with six companies of the Eighth infantry. His promotion in the Confederate army was very rapid, to brigadier-general in June, and to major-general in September, 1861. Going to Virginia he was assigned to command of the First division, army of the Potomac, during the latter part of 1861. Thence he was transferred in January, 1862, to the command of the Trans-Mississippi district. There, in general command of the forces of Price, McCulloch and McIntosh, he brought on the battle of Elkhorn, which was wellcon-ceived, but failed of success through the untimely loss of the latter two officers. Ordered by Gen. A. S. Johnston to cross the Mississippi, he brought his army to Corinth just after the battle of Shiloh, and joining Beauregard, was in command of the army of the West, which formed one corps of the forces occupying Corinth until the latter part of May. His next service was in command of the district of Mississippi, with headquarters at Vicksburg, during the naval operations against that place in the summer of 1862. After Bragg moved toward Kentucky Van Dorn was left in command of a force called the army of West Tennessee, with which, aided by Price's army of the West, he made an attack on Rosecrans at Corinth, October, 1862, in which his troops made a gallant fight, but suffered heavy loss in the attempt to carry the enemy's works. The circumstances of the battle and the retreat [275] which followed were the subject of investigation, and while he was vindicated from certain charges made against him, he was transferred to command of cavalry. At the head of the force which he organized he defeated Grant's formidable invasion of Mississippi in December, 1862, by the surprise and capture of the garrison at Holly Springs, and the destruction of the stores accumulated. He formed a splendid cavalry command in Mississippi and west Tennessee, with such able lieutenants as Forrest, Martin, Jackson, Armstrong, Whitfield and Cosby. In March he assailed a force of the enemy at Thompson's Station, Tenn., capturing over 1,000 men. General Van Dorn was one of the brilliant figures of the early part of the war. As a commander of cavalry he was in his element. He was a man of small, lithe figure, elegant person, and a bravery and daring that were unsurpassed.

Major-General Edward Cary Walthall, of Mississippi, was born at Richmond, Va., April 4, 1831. Going with his family in childhood to Holly Springs, Miss., he received an academic education at that place, and then studied law. He was admitted to the bar in 1852, and in the same year began the practice at Coffeeville. His ability as an attorney, early manifested in his career, resulted in his election as district attorney for the Tenth judicial district in 1856, and re-election, 1859. After the withdrawal of his State from the Union he promptly resigned this official position to enlist in the military service. He became a lieutenant in the Fifteenth Mississippi regiment of infantry, and was soon afterward elected lieutenant-colonel. In the spring of 1862 he was elected colonel of the Twenty-ninth regiment, and he was promoted brigadier-general in December, 1862, and major-general in June, 1864. His earliest services in the field were rendered in eastern Kentucky, which he entered under the brigade command of General Zollicoffer. At the battle of Fishing Creek, in January, 1862, Lieutenant-Colonel [276] Walthall led in the attack upon the Federal force of George H. Thomas, and in this first battle he and his regiment received the most enthusiastic praise from the commanding general. Subsequently, in command of the Twenty-ninth regiment, in the brigade of General Chalmers, he participated in Bragg's campaign in Kentucky, taking a prominent part in the attack upon Munfordville, which resulted in the capitulation of the Federal garrison. In November following he was recommended for promotion by General Bragg, and was promptly commissioned brigadier-general and assigned to a brigade of Polk's corps. Sickness prevented his participation in the battle of Stone's River, but in the subsequent operations in Tennessee and north Georgia he was active in command of a brigade of Mississippians. On the bloody field of Chickamauga he was with his brigade in the heat of the fight against Thomas and won new laurels as a gallant soldier, capturing and holding, until his division was overwhelmed and forced to retire, the battery of the Fifth United States artillery. During the investment of Chattanooga, on November 15th, he was sent with his brigade, worn down to 1,500 men, to hold Lookout mountain. He formed a picket line on Lookout creek and up the western slope of the mountain, with orders, ‘if attacked in heavy force to fall back, fighting, over the rocks.’ Assailed by Hooker's force of 10,000 men, he fought what is called ‘the battle above the clouds,’ which, though not strictly a battle, and certainly not above the clouds, but in the midst of a heavy fog, was a gallant struggle in which his men were under fire of artillery as well as musketry, and, finally taking a position on the brow of the mountain, held it until withdrawn at night. General Bragg reported that Walthall's brigade ‘made a desperate resistance.’ A Northern writer, after noting that Walthall's Mississippians ‘were known to be brave and their commander one of the most daring of officers,’ echoes the query of Bragg in his official report, ‘Why Walthall was not reinforced, [277] is one of those matters in military history that is an enigma,’ and proceeds, ‘Situated as he was, Walthall and his Mississippians made one of the bravest defenses that occurred anywhere at any time during the war. It was sublimely heroic under fearfully exasperating circumstances.’ Then transferred to Missionary ridge, with his 600 remaining men, Walthall's heroic qualities shone out in the midst of fatal disaster. Throwing his brigade across the ridge, he checked the headlong rush of the enemy, and after nightfall withdrew in good order. Though wounded in the foot he kept in the saddle until the fight was over, and his men went into camp on the other side of Chickamauga creek. He shared the honors of his division and corps commanders, Cheatham and Hardee, and was mentioned by Bragg as ‘distinguished for coolness, gallantry and successful conduct throughout the engagements and in the rear guard on the retreat.’ Going into the Atlanta campaign with his brigade in Hood's corps, he held for two days with great steadiness under the concentrated fire of the enemy, an important position on the field of Resaca, and was promoted major-general and given command of Cantey's division of Polk's corps. He was an important factor throughout the whole of the campaign, at the front in the repulse of the Federal attack at Kenesaw mountain, charging with gallantry and gaining a foothold in the enemy's works at Peachtree creek, and making a desperate fight at Ezra Church. The disastrous Tennessee campaign followed. At Franklin his men charged with wonderful heroism upon the Federal intrenchments. He was in the heat of the fight and had two horses shot under him. After the first day's fight before Nashville, French's division was added to his command, and on the retreat, with eight picked brigades, Walthall was depended upon to defend the rear of the broken army, in conjunction with Forrest's cavalry. After a terrible experience amid the discomforts of a rigorous winter he finally reached the vicinity of Tupelo with a [278] remnant of his command numbering less than one of its brigades eight months before. Fighting to the end, General Walthall commanded a division of Georgians and Tennesseeans in the campaign of 1865 and surrendered with General Johnston. At the close of this remarkable military career he returned to the work of his profession, at Coffeeville, removing to Grenada in 1871. He at once became prominent in the political struggle into which his State was plunged, and, with the same fearless leadership that had characterized his participation in war, he strove to restore to his people the blessings of peace. He led the delegations of his State as chairman in the national Democratic conventions of 1868, 1876, 1680 and 1884, and in the first convention held the position of vice-president. March 12, 1885, he took his seat as United States senator by appointment to succeed L. Q. C. Lamar, the latter having been called to the cabinet of President Cleveland, and was elected by the legislature in 1886 and re-elected in 1888 and 1892. He resigned from the Senate in 1894, on account of ill health, but resumed his seat in March, 1895. While a member of that exalted body he died at Washington, 1898.