Civil War Confederate Brigadier General. He was born in Louisville, Kentucky, and was a graduate of the United States Military Academy, where he was 17th in the class of 1852. Upon graduation he fought Comanches in Texas for the next 9 years. On May 9, 1861, he was promoted to Captain of the 2nd United States Cavalry. On May 10 he resigned to join the Confederacy.Except for a brief stay in St. Louis and duty teaching cavalry tactics at the academy, he had not often been out of Texas in a decade. But as a Confederate staff officer, on February 15, 1862, he found himself in Tennessee walking out across Confederate lines to ask Brigadier General Ulysses S. Grant for surrender terms. He had received his Confederate army appointment as a staff Major assigned successively to forces under Brigadier Generals Gideon J. Pillow, John B. Floyd, and Lloyd Tilghman in Tennessee. After the fall of Confederate Fort Henry and Tilghman's capture, Grant's forces converged on Fort Donelson, where Pillow passed command to Floyd, then escaped. Floyd in turn passed command to Brigadier General Simon B. Buckner, then escaped. And Buckner gave him a note to carry to Grant offering surrender. He was exchanged after a brief period as a prisoner of war. On General Joseph E. Johnston's recommendation he was given a commission to Brigadier General. He then assumed command of cavalry under Major General Earl Van Dorn, who had been his Major in thier days in the United States Cavalry. He saw action in the engagement at Thompson's Station, Tennessee, in spring 1863, then moved to Johnston's command for operations around Vicksburg. His next and last transfer was to the Confederate Department of West Virginia and East Tennessee, where he served as cavalry commander of a body of men that varied in number and was briefly led by Brigadier General John Hunt Morgan after his escape from the Ohio State Penitentiary. In this theater of the war he dueled with troops led by his old West Point classmate Brigadier General George Crook. When he heard of General Robert E. Lee's surrender, he was still in the field, commanding Kentucky horsemen and led by a senior Brigadier General , John Echols. Echols wanted to join forces with Johnston's army in North Carolina, but he believed resistance useless and disbanded his men, advising them to go home as quietly and as safely as possible, ending his part in the Civil War. Later he farmed in California and served as secretary of the state board of engineers. He committed suicide, apparently because of poor health caused by old war injuries.
Civil War Confederate Brigadier General. He was born in Louisville, Kentucky, and was a graduate of the United States Military Academy, where he was 17th in the class of 1852. Upon graduation he fought Comanches in Texas for the next 9 years. On May 9, 1861, he was promoted to Captain of the 2nd United States Cavalry. On May 10 he resigned to join the Confederacy.Except for a brief stay in St. Louis and duty teaching cavalry tactics at the academy, he had not often been out of Texas in a decade. But as a Confederate staff officer, on February 15, 1862, he found himself in Tennessee walking out across Confederate lines to ask Brigadier General Ulysses S. Grant for surrender terms. He had received his Confederate army appointment as a staff Major assigned successively to forces under Brigadier Generals Gideon J. Pillow, John B. Floyd, and Lloyd Tilghman in Tennessee. After the fall of Confederate Fort Henry and Tilghman's capture, Grant's forces converged on Fort Donelson, where Pillow passed command to Floyd, then escaped. Floyd in turn passed command to Brigadier General Simon B. Buckner, then escaped. And Buckner gave him a note to carry to Grant offering surrender. He was exchanged after a brief period as a prisoner of war. On General Joseph E. Johnston's recommendation he was given a commission to Brigadier General. He then assumed command of cavalry under Major General Earl Van Dorn, who had been his Major in thier days in the United States Cavalry. He saw action in the engagement at Thompson's Station, Tennessee, in spring 1863, then moved to Johnston's command for operations around Vicksburg. His next and last transfer was to the Confederate Department of West Virginia and East Tennessee, where he served as cavalry commander of a body of men that varied in number and was briefly led by Brigadier General John Hunt Morgan after his escape from the Ohio State Penitentiary. In this theater of the war he dueled with troops led by his old West Point classmate Brigadier General George Crook. When he heard of General Robert E. Lee's surrender, he was still in the field, commanding Kentucky horsemen and led by a senior Brigadier General , John Echols. Echols wanted to join forces with Johnston's army in North Carolina, but he believed resistance useless and disbanded his men, advising them to go home as quietly and as safely as possible, ending his part in the Civil War. Later he farmed in California and served as secretary of the state board of engineers. He committed suicide, apparently because of poor health caused by old war injuries.
Bio by: Ugaalltheway
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