Men of the Confederacy
Jefferson Davis was born in 1808 in Fairview, Kentucky. After graduating from West Point in 1828, he served on the frontier for seven years. Following the death of his first wife (the daughter of Zachary Taylor), he withdrew to his Mississippi plantation. He married Varina Howell in 1845.
Davis served in the U.S. House of Representatives as a Democrat from Mississippi from 1845 to 1846, but resigned to volunteer for service in the Mexican War and was credited with securing the victory at Buena Vista. He returned from that war to serve in the U.S. Senate from 1847 to 1851 and then as U.S. Secretary of War from 1853 to 1857. He went back to the U.S. Senate in 1857 but resigned in 1861 when Mississippi seceded from the Union.
He was chosen President of the Confederate States of America provisional government and served in that capacity from 1861 to 1862 and was elected to that position serving from 1862 to 1865.
Instead of surrendering at the culmination of the War Between the States he left Richmond, capital of the Confederacy, and was captured in Georgia on May 10, 1865.
After two years of imprisonment, the first months in shackles, he was released without trial. He retired to his Mississippi plantation, and also traveled some in Europe. Refusing to request amnesty, he resolutely defended the Southern cause in speeches and books including "The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government" (2 vols. 1878--81).
Jefferson Davis died in 1889.
was born in 1807 in Westmoreland Co., VA, the son of Henry "Lighthorse Harry" Lee. He graduated second in his West Point class of 1829, without a single demerit. He married a great-granddaughter of Martha Custis Washington.
Lee held assignments with the Army Corps of Engineers and then distinguished himself in combat during the Mexican War, 1846 to 1847. He returned to duty as an engineer and served as superintendent of West Point from 1852 to 1855. He transferred to the cavalry and served on the Texas frontier. He commanded the troops that put down John Brown's raid in Harper's Ferry, VA., in 1859. Lee opposed secession in 1861, but resigned from the U.S. Army in order to fight with his state of Virginia, having turned down Lincoln's offer to command U.S. forces in the field.
He held a variety of posts with Confederate forces until July 1, 1862, when he succeeded Gen. Joseph E. Johnston in command of the troops soon known as the Army of Northern Virginia. He then engaged in a series of campaigns and battles that, because of their stunning attributes, continue to be admired by students of military history.
Among these actions were the Seven Days' Battles, the victory at the Second Bull Run in August 1862, the invasion of Maryland that ended in the Battle of Antietam in September 1862, the great defensive victory of Fredericksburg in December 1862 and the battle known as his masterpiece, Chancellorsville in May 1863.
After Chancellorsville he decided upon a risky venture, a second invasion of the North that he hoped would end the war. After three days of fighting at Gettysburg in July of 1863, he conceded the gamble had failed and led his badly damaged army back to Virginia.
With resources dwindling, Lee fought Ulysses S. Grant's forces in a series of brilliant but costly defensive struggles that continued through the winter of 1864 and into 1865. By the beginning of Grant's spring offensive, Lee commanded an army doomed by the overwhelming numbers and resources of the Union. Finally stopped at Appomattox Courthouse, Va., Lee surrendered on April 9, 1865, effectively ending the Confederacy's fight.
Although indicted for treason, he was never tried, and he urged all Southerners to take the oath of allegiance to the United States and get on with the rebuilding of one nation. Decisive and willing to run large risks to get at his opponents, he ranks among the greatest of battlefield commanders.
After the War Between the States he became president of Washington College (now Washington and Lee) in Lexington, Va. He died there in 1870 of a heart ailment.
Because of the way he conducted himself in defeat as well as in victory, he became many Americans' ideal of the gentleman Christian soldier. Among his many notable words were those as he looked over the forces at Fredericksburg before the carnage: "It is well that war is so terrible. We would grow too fond of it."
was born in 1824 in Clarksburg, Virginia. He graduated from West Point in 1846 and served in the Mexican War.
In 1852, he resigned from the army and accepted a professorship at Virginia Military Institute. A Presbyterian, he was noted for his dedication to his faith.
At the beginning of the War Between the States, upon his joining, he was appointed a brigadier general and organized a brigade of Virginians that fought at First Bull Run. It was at this engagement that his unit was described as standing its ground like a "stone wall". This sobriquet became attached to Jackson after this time. His Shenandoah campaign in 1862, in which his diversion prevented McClellan's reinforcement on the Virginia Peninsula, is graded a military masterpiece.
He mysteriously faltered during the Seven Days' Battles on the Peninsula in June and July of 1862. By Second Bull Run in August of 1862 he and Lee had perfected their auspicious alliance. Victory at Fredericksburg, and Jackson's noted flank march at Chancellorsville in 1863 made Lee's victory there possible. Sadly, within hours after he had routed the Union right, he was accidentally shot by one of his own men while riding by in the dusk. He died eight days later. Lee said simply, "I know not how to replace him."
was born 06 Feb 1833 in Patrick Co., VA.
He graduated from West Point in 1854 and served in the 1st Cavalry on frontier duty. He was an aide to Robert E. Lee at Harper's Ferry. In 1861, he resigned his duties with the U.S. government. "Jeb" was the Confederacy's best-known cavalry commander. He fought at the first Battle of Bull Run in 1861, and in 1862 led 1200 troopers in a remarkable ride around McClellan's army. He led his cavalry in other important campaigns in Northern Virginia, but was criticized for losing contact with Lee for a week during the Gettysburg campaign in 1863. He was mortally wounded at Yellow Tavern, Richmond, VA, where he died 12 May 1864.
was born 08 Jan 1821 in Edgefield District, South Carolina. He died on 02 Jan 1904 in Gainesville, GA. He graduated West Point in 1842 and participated in the Indian campaigns, and the Mexican War. He resigned his position with the United States in June 1861.
In June of 1861 he was at First Manassas and by October of the same year was a Major General in command of a division. He participated at Williamsburg, Seven Pines, Seven Days, and the Second Manassas campaigns. Longstreet was in command of a corps at Sharpsburg and served further at Fredericksburg, in the Suffolk campaign, and at Gettysburg, Chickamauga, Knoxville, at the Wilderness where he was wounded. He served in the defense of Richmond and was at Appomattox.
After the war he was variously an insurance agent, lottery supervisor, United States minister to Turkey. He wrote his memoirs in his later years.
Designated one of the best fighters if sometimes over-deliberate, his methods balanced well with the bold tactics of Lee and Jackson.
was born in Upson Co., GA on 06 Feb 1832. He was the son of Zachariah and Malinda Cox Gordon and was the fourth of their twelve children. He died in Miami, FL on 09 Jan 1904 and was buried at Oakland Cemetery, Atlanta, GA.
He was Colonel of 6th Alabama. Gordon was wounded six times at Sharpsburg. He assumed temporary command of the Georgia brigade with an appointment made permanent retroactive to May 7,1863 following a petition of officers. Gordon served as brigadier until promoted Major General in command of a division for exploits in battle of Wilderness. Post war, Gordon was Governor of Georgia, Member, U.S. Congress, and Commander-in-Chief of United Confederate Veterans.
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Copyright ã Elaine Randall English, 2000-2006
