John Henry Winder

John Henry Winder as Colonel in the Confederate Army

John Henry Winder (born February 21, 1800 in Somerset County , Maryland , † February 7, 1865 in Florence , South Carolina ) was a professional soldier and officer in both the US and the Confederate Army (CSA), where he was the last one Major General (German: Major General ) reached.

Life

Winder was the son of US Major General William H. Winders and his wife Gertrude Polk.

In 1814 Winder was appointed to the US Military Academy at West Point , New York , from which he graduated in 1820 as the eleventh of 30 cadets in his class. Then he was promoted to Second Lieutenant (German: Lieutenant ) of the artillery and used in the US Rifle Regiment at Fort McHenry in Baltimore . This was followed by further assignments in Florida with the respective transfers, most recently to the 4th US Infantry Regiment. On August 31, 1823, he initially resigned from military service and in the same year married Elizabeth Shepherd, daughter of a plantation owner. The following year his father passed away, leaving the family in great financial difficulty, forcing the mother to convert her house into an aparthotel . Winder's attempt to run his father-in-law's plantation failed, and after his wife's death in 1825, he returned to military service on April 2, 1827. He was reinstated as a Second Lieutenant and assigned to the artillery. On November 30, 1833, he was promoted to First Lieutenant (German: Oberleutnant ). In 1837 Winder became a tactics instructor at the Military Academy at West Point, where one of his students was the future President of the Confederate States Jefferson Davis . After only one year he had to give up this activity because of irascible behavior towards a cadet and was transferred to the 1st US Artillery Regiment on May 23, 1838 as a regimental adjutant . Here he stayed until January 20, 1840. Various uses followed (use in the Second Seminole War 1835–1842 ) up to the beginning of the Mexican-American War . On October 7, 1842 Winder became the Captain (dt .: Captain transported).

War against mexico

Winder fought valiantly in the Mexican-American War and was promoted to Brevet Major for his service in the battles of Contreras and Churubusco on August 20, 1847 . Another promotion to Brevet Lieutenant Colonel (Lieutenant Colonel) took place on September 14 of the same year for the services rendered on the occasion of the Battle of Mexico City . He was wounded on the same day near the Belén Gate, which secured one of the entrances to Mexico City.

On November 22, 1860, Winder was promoted to major in the regular army.

American Civil War

On the eve of the Civil War , Winder decided on the cause of the South, resigned from the US Army on April 27, 1861 and joined the Confederate Army. Here he received the rank of Colonel (German: Colonel ) in the infantry on May 16, 1861 and was promoted to Brigadier General (German: Brigadier General ) on June 21 . The next day, he was assigned the role of Assistant Inspector General of the Camps of Instruction in the Richmond , Virginia, Virginia area. He held this position until October 21, 1861. From 1862 to 1864 he was Provost Marshall of Richmond and at the same time until 1865 Commissary general of Confederate prisons (General Commissioner for the POW camps). Winder was in charge of the notorious camps at Castle Thunder , Belle Isle, and Libby Prison in Richmond.

Winder was also in command of the 2nd District of the Military Area of North Carolina and South Virginia from May 25 to June 7, 1864. A few days later, he himself briefly took command of the Andersonville prison camp until July 26 . His role there is still controversial, as he was the superior of the camp commandant Henry Wirz , who in turn was sentenced to death for war crimes after the war. By November 21, 1864, Winder had finally assumed command of all prison camps in Georgia and Alabama , and then became head of the Confederate Bureau of Prison Camps . He kept this post until his death. Winder died of a heart attack on Tuesday, February 7, 1865. His body was brought to Maryland and buried in Green Mount Cemetery in Baltimore.

literature

Arch Fredric Blakey: General John H. Winder, CSA University Press of Florida, Gainesville FL 1990, ISBN 0-8130-0997-9 .
John H. Eicher, David J. Eicher: Civil War High Commands. Stanford University Press, Stanford CA 2001, ISBN 0-8047-3641-3 .
Jon L. Wakelyn: Biographical Dictionary of the Confederacy. Greenwood Press, Westport CT et al. 1977, ISBN 0-8371-6124-X .
Ezra J. Warner: Generals in Gray. The Lives of the Confederate Commanders. Louisiana State University Press, Baton Rouge LA 2006, ISBN 0-8071-3150-4 .

Web links

References and comments

↑ Winder's father fought against the British in the war of 1812 . He was a 2nd cousin of Charles Sidney Winder, also a general in the Confederate Army.

↑ Other sources speak of an illness as the cause of his death, which he contracted on the occasion of a visit to the prison camp in Florence

personal data
SURNAME	Winder, John Henry
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American officer, major general of the Confederation in the Civil War
DATE OF BIRTH	February 21, 1800
PLACE OF BIRTH	Somerset County , Maryland
DATE OF DEATH	February 7, 1865
Place of death	Florence , South Carolina

[1] Winder's father fought against the British in the war of 1812 . He was a 2nd cousin of Charles Sidney Winder, also a general in the Confederate Army.

[2] Other sources speak of an illness as the cause of his death, which he contracted on the occasion of a visit to the prison camp in Florence