Civil War Confederate Army Officer. Upon graduation from West Point in 1853, he was assigned to duties in New York and Texas. He resigned from the regular army on February 28, 1861 to join the Confederate service. He became Chief of Commissary for General Braxton Bragg at Pensacola, Florida. On January 14, 1862, he was commissioned Colonel of the 27th Mississippi Infantry. When General Bragg was ordered to Corinth in the spring of 1862, Jones was left in command of the remaining force at Pensacola. It was expected that Jones would have to coordinate the evacuation of the city, which took place over a two month period. On May 9, 1862, he ordered his troops to burn the remaining military installations and supplies and march north. His actions were criticized by naval authorities because they believed that some of the supplies could have been saved. Jones joined Bragg in the Kentucky campaign and participated in the Battle of Perryville. His last field action was at the Battle of Stones River in January of 1863. After that battle, he was frequently ill and unfit for command. He assumed command of Fort Caswell near Wilmington, North Carolina; but resigned his command in 1864 because of failing health. After the war, he found little success at farming and turned to the field of education. He was a professor of agriculture at Maryland Agricultural College, superintendent of schools of Warrenton, North Carolina, and superintendent of an Indian school at Santa Fe, New Mexico. He worked at the Cheyenne and Arapahoe Agency in Oklahoma for a brief period, and relocated to Prescott, Arizona with his family in 1908.
Civil War Confederate Army Officer. Upon graduation from West Point in 1853, he was assigned to duties in New York and Texas. He resigned from the regular army on February 28, 1861 to join the Confederate service. He became Chief of Commissary for General Braxton Bragg at Pensacola, Florida. On January 14, 1862, he was commissioned Colonel of the 27th Mississippi Infantry. When General Bragg was ordered to Corinth in the spring of 1862, Jones was left in command of the remaining force at Pensacola. It was expected that Jones would have to coordinate the evacuation of the city, which took place over a two month period. On May 9, 1862, he ordered his troops to burn the remaining military installations and supplies and march north. His actions were criticized by naval authorities because they believed that some of the supplies could have been saved. Jones joined Bragg in the Kentucky campaign and participated in the Battle of Perryville. His last field action was at the Battle of Stones River in January of 1863. After that battle, he was frequently ill and unfit for command. He assumed command of Fort Caswell near Wilmington, North Carolina; but resigned his command in 1864 because of failing health. After the war, he found little success at farming and turned to the field of education. He was a professor of agriculture at Maryland Agricultural College, superintendent of schools of Warrenton, North Carolina, and superintendent of an Indian school at Santa Fe, New Mexico. He worked at the Cheyenne and Arapahoe Agency in Oklahoma for a brief period, and relocated to Prescott, Arizona with his family in 1908.
Bio by: Thomas Fisher
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Born in Virginia
Died in Prescott, Arizona
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