North Alabama Civil War Generals: 13 Wore Gray, the Rest Blue A selection of Essays from the Authors of the Tennessee Valley Civil War Round Table This book is dedicated to two previous presidents of the Tennessee Valley Civil War Round Table Brian Hogan who served between 1993 - 2007 and John Allen who served between 2007 - 2012 i A Message from the TVCWRT President, Carol Codori “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.” - Margaret Mead This book is the work of one small group of thoughtful, committed citizens: the Little Round Table (LRT). They’re a segment of our 200+ member Tennessee Valley Civil War Round Table. They meet in seminar style in addition to our regular meeting, to delve deeply into the conflicts of 1861-1865. Most participants would be too humble to say the LRT can change the world! I will say from personal experience, however, that their sessions had the power to stir me to become a more serious student. I’m sure that this well-researched record about Civil War leaders can also motivate you. Major thanks go to LRT founder and coordinator John Allen. His excellent introduction will enlighten. I shall simply add that our entire TVCWRT appreciates his vision and devotion. We also thank Arley McCormick, a tireless worker for all of our Tennessee Valley Civil War Round Table events and the person who spearheaded this project. Thanks to our editor Jacque Procter Reeves, President of the Huntsville-Madison County Historical Society and member of our Civil War Round Table. She is a model citizen-scholar who has given many hours to this work. For the finale of the American Civil War Sesquicentennial in 2015, it seems fitting to prepare a record of these key LRT sessions from the past several years. It is my honor to invite you to share our historical legacy. Carol A. Codori, President Tennessee Valley Civil War Round Table ii Preface This book grew out of a topic in the Tennessee Valley Civil War Round Table’s (TVCWRT) spin-off discussion group, the “Little” Round Table. Long-time member and former president of the TVCWRT, Brian Hogan, began to notice in his research, that there were enough Civil War generals from North Alabama to form the basis of a Little Round Table (LRT) discussion. And so it was. Initially, there were a dozen generals, but further research turned up five more. The generals were assigned to individual members of the LRT group, who gave oral reports on them at LRT monthly meetings. We were enthralled with the results. I encouraged Arley McCormick, our newsletter editor, to collect the research notes and put them into a booklet; and so, we did. But after nearly a year, that booklet grew to become this book. Five of the seventeen generals fought for the Union during the Civil War. A few generals had been U.S. soldiers, but switched sides when the South seceded. Several others were already out of the army, but rejoined one side or the other when hostilities broke out. Here, in alphabetical order, are snippets of the 17 generals in this book: USA Maj. Gen. David B. Birney was from Huntsville, Alabama. Most illustrative of David Birney's seriousness and dedication to the Union and the Republican Party is one of the final episodes of his life: after Birney's health collapsed on October 8th, 1864, he was rushed by train from the York Peninsula in Virginia to his home in Philadelphia in order to convalesce. State elections were occurring at that time, and Birney had himself carried to the polls where he voted a straight Republican ticket. He died eleven days later. In his delirium, he iii shouted orders and encouraged his men. His last words were “Keep your eyes on that flag, boys!” USA Brevet Maj. Gen. William Birney, David Birney’s brother, was also from Huntsville. Our author found it ironic that William Birney’s ambition to lead U.S. Colored troops on the battlefield in all-black brigades and divisions was undone during the Appomattox Campaign. The undoing was by his own Union commander, Maj. Gen. E.O.C. Ord, who relieved Birney from command of the one U.S.C.T. division involved in the pursuit of Lee's army. His command was divided up by assigning each brigade to another division in the pursuing force. This took place two days before Lee's Army was surrounded and forced to surrender at Appomattox. USA Brig. Gen. Thomas Turpin Crittenden was born in Huntsville, Alabama, but grew up in Texas and became a lawyer. After enlisting in the Union Army, he led his brigade in battle during the second day of Shiloh. He was a competent commander and leader, but his career and reputation were ruined when he and his entire command were captured at Murfreesboro, Tennessee, by Nathan Bedford Forrest's cavalrymen. CSA Brig. Gen. James Deshler was a native of Tuscumbia, Alabama. He graduated from West Point in the same class with J.E.B. Stuart. After secession, he joined the Confederate Army and was promoted up the ranks from Captain to Brigadier General by the time he was 30. However, at the Battle of Chickamauga, Deshler was killed by an exploding Union artillery shell while inspecting his brigade. CSA Maj. Gen. John Brown Gordon was born in Upson County, Georgia and moved to Jackson County, Alabama to manage his family’s interest in coal mining. He had no previous military experience but his Civil War exploits could be the subject for a character study and military tactics of the era. He was involved in most of the Army of Northern Virginia’s battles and carried the scars of bravery with him till he died in 1904. iv CSA Brig. Gen. John Gregg was a native of Lawrence County, Alabama, and graduate of LaGrange College near Florence. He was a newspaper man, a lawyer, and a judge. In the Civil War, he fought for the Confederacy in both the Western and Eastern Theaters. During the Battle of Chickamauga, Gregg was shot in the neck and left for dead. His body was robbed by Federal soldiers. But he recovered, despite the severe wound. His death at the age of 36 came less than one year before the end of the war at the Battle of Richmond. He was buried in his adopted home state of Texas, where a county was named in his honor. USA Brig. Gen. Andrew Jackson Hamilton, of Huntsville, Alabama, became a lawyer and politician in Texas, where he was forced to flee to the north because of his anti-secession views. President Lincoln appointed him Military Governor of Texas, and Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton, commissioned him a Brig. Gen. over volunteers. After the war, he served as a Justice on the Texas Supreme Court. USA Brig. Gen. Daniel McCook Jr. was from the famous family of “Fighting McCooks.” Born in Ohio, he attended college in Florence, Alabama. He was a law partner in Kansas with William Sherman. At the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain, he was mortally wounded, then promoted to Brig. General for his bravery. He was a poet, and was revered by his men. CSA Brig. Gen. John Hunt Morgan, a native of Huntsville, was the leader of Morgan's Raiders, known as the “Thunderbolt of the Confederacy” for his bravery and daring exploits. He is best known for a daring attack north of the Ohio River referred to as Morgan's Raid when, in 1863, he and his men rode more than 1,000 miles covering a region from Tennessee, up through Kentucky, into Indiana and on to southern Ohio. This would be the farthest north any uniformed Confederate troops penetrated during the war. He was killed in an ambush in Greeneville, Tennessee, in September 1864. His early home in Huntsville still stands. v CSA Brig. Gen. Edward A. O’Neal, of Madison County, Alabama, was a lawyer and a dedicated leader, but was found in disfavor for actions at Gettysburg. Still, he continued to contribute to the war effort until the end. In 1882, O’Neal was elected Governor of Alabama. CSA Brig. Gen. Edmund Winston Pettus, a native of Athens, Alabama, served as a U.S. Army lieutenant in the Mexican War, but later rose to Brig. General in the Confederate Army where he exhibited conspicuous bravery. Following the end of hostilities, he was a leader of the Ku Klux Klan in Alabama, and later was elected to the U.S. Senate where he became the last of the Confederate brigadiers to sit in the upper house of Congress. His brother, John, was governor of Mississippi. CSA Brig. Gen. Philip D. Roddey was a favorite son of Moulton, Alabama, where he was first a tailor, then a sheriff, and then a steamboat owner. To keep the Union Army from capturing his steamboat, Roddey burned it. He then joined the Confederate Army, raised a cavalry company, and shot up the ranks to become a Brig. General, fighting under Generals Wheeler and Forrest. After the war, he was a successful businessman, first in Tuscaloosa, then in New York City, and later in London, England, where he died in 1897. CSA Brig. Gen. Lawrence Sullivan “Sul” Ross was a Texan, but attended college at Florence, Alabama. He was an Indian fighter (and seriously wounded), a Texas Ranger, one of the youngest Confederate generals, a two-term governor of Texas, and was president of Texas A&M University.