George Wythe Randolph

George Wythe Randolph (born March 10, 1818 on Monticello near Charlottesville , Virginia , † April 3, 1867 on "Edge Hill" near Charlottesville) was a lawyer, brigadier general in the Confederate Army and Secretary of War of the Confederate States .

Origin and family

Randolph was the youngest son of the governor of Virginia , Thomas Mann Randolph , who was in office from 1819 to 1822 , and his wife Martha , daughter of the 3rd US President Thomas Jefferson .

The members of the Randolph family were descendants of Pocahontas and her British husband, John Rolfe . They have been part of the political establishment of the United States of America since independence (1776). Edmund Randolph was the first attorney general under President George Washington .

Randolph married Mary E. (Adams) Pope (1830–1871) in 1852, who made their second marriage. The marriage remained childless.

Live and act

Career until 1860

George W. Randolph was a midshipman in the US Navy from 1831 to 1836 and attended the University of Virginia from 1837 to 1839 to study law. After graduating and admitted to the bar, he began practicing in Richmond , Virginia , where he was soon valued for his excellent professional skills. Randolph sympathized politically with the secessionists, but he did not work actively for their goals until the beginning of the secession crisis.

Civil War

The successful attorney voted for secession at the Virginia State Assembly in 1861 and resigned from his seat in the State Assembly at the beginning of the American Civil War to join the Confederate Army. During the war, Randolph served as a major with the Richmond Howitzers battery he established under the command of General Magruder . During the battle at Big Bethel on June 10, 1861, he commanded the left wing artillery of the Northern Virginia Army as a colonel .

Promoted to brigadier general on February 12, 1862 , he was assigned to defend Suffolk , Virginia. The Confederate President Jefferson Davis appointed him on 18 March 1862 Minister of War. Its main tasks were to ensure the supply, equipment and transport of the army. At the same time he was responsible for recruiting. In addition, he had to coordinate the sensitivities of the generals, MPs and the president. Randolph was strategic and insisted on strengthening the western and southern parts of the country. He believed that without possession of the ports, the Confederation could not hold the territories. Together with the president he planned a campaign to retake New Orleans , Louisiana . The plan remained, however. He also advocated a stricter draft law and a plan to decentralize the army.

Randolph contracted tuberculosis during his tenure . Since his plan for the defense of the West, despite the approval of General Josiah Gorgas, was rejected, he resigned on November 15, 1862 from the management of the War Ministry. A short time later he resigned from the army because of his illness. Randolph and his wife broke the blockade of the US Navy and spent the remainder of the war in England and France to cure his illness there.

post war period

George Wythe Randolph returned to Virginia as a sick man in September 1866 and died on April 3, 1867 on "Edge Hill" near Charlottesville, Virginia as a result of the pneumonia that was not cured . He was buried in the family grave of the Jefferson family on Monticello.

literature

Jon L. Wakelyn: Biographical Dictionary of the Confederacy Louisiana State University Press, Baton Rouge ISBN 0-8071-0092-7

Web links

predecessor	Office	successor
Judah Philip Benjamin	Minister of War the Confederate March 24, 1862 - November 15, 1862	Gustavus Woodson Smith

personal data
SURNAME	Randolph, George Wythe
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American politician, Confederate Secretary of War
DATE OF BIRTH	March 10, 1818
PLACE OF BIRTH	Monticello , near Charlottesville , Virginia
DATE OF DEATH	April 3, 1867
Place of death	Monticello