Daniel Smith Donelson

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
General Donelson

Daniel Smith Donelson , (born June 23, 1801 in Sumner County , Tennessee , † April 17, 1863 in Montvale Springs , Tennessee) was a Confederate general in the Civil War .

Life

Donelson was born in 1801 as one of three sons to Samuel and Mary Donelson. One of his brothers, Andrew Jackson Donelson , later became the private secretary of President Andrew Jackson and ran unsuccessfully as US Vice President at Millard Fillmore's side in 1856 . Donelson graduated from the Military Academy at West Point , New York , in 1825 and then served as a lieutenant in the US Army . Half a year later, on January 22, 1826, he resigned and became a planter in Sumner County. At the same time he joined the Tennessee Militia and was promoted to brigadier general in 1829. In 1834 he moved to Florida and tried his hand at planting there, but without success. Two years later he returned to Tennessee, where he worked again as a planter and from then on also engaged in politics. In 1841 Donelson became a member of the Tennessee House of Representatives , but only for a two-year term. 12 years later, in 1855, he returned to the House of Representatives. This time he also became its speaker at the same time .

When the Civil War broke out in 1861, Donelson volunteered for the Tennessee Militia. Upon his return to the militia, he was restored to his old rank as Brigadier General; after Tennessee joined the Confederate States , he also became a Brigadier General in the Confederate Army. In the following two years Donelson did active service in the army and fought, among other things, from December 31, 1862 to January 2, 1863 in the Battle of the Stones River . Shortly before his death, he was promoted to major general in early 1863 and appointed to command in East Tennessee.

The fortress in Tennessee, which became famous in the Battle of Fort Donelson in 1862, was named after Daniel Smith Donelson.

See also

literature

  • David J. Eicher, The Civil War in Books: An Analytical Bibliography , University of Illinois, 1997, ISBN 0-252-02273-4 .
  • Richard N. Current, Encyclopedia of the Confederacy (1993) (4 vol.) ( ISBN 0132759918 )
  • John H. Eicher & David J. Eicher, Civil War High Commands , Stanford University Press, 2001, ISBN 0-8047-3641-3 .
  • Ezra J. Warner, Generals in Gray: Lives of the Confederate Commanders , Louisiana State University Press, 1959, ISBN 0-8071-0823-5 .

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ In some sources 1802 is erroneously given as the year of birth.
personal data
SURNAME Donelson, Daniel Smith
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Confederate General in the American Civil War
DATE OF BIRTH June 23, 1801
PLACE OF BIRTH Sumner County , Tennessee
DATE OF DEATH April 17, 1863
Place of death Montvale Springs , Tennessee