St. John Richardson Liddell

St. John Richardson Liddell (born September 6, 1815 in Wilkinson County , † February 14, 1870 in New Orleans , Louisiana ) was a farmer from Louisiana who served as a general ( Brigadier general ) in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War. He was an advocate of slave emancipation in terms of its military utility and was murdered by a former Confederate officer in 1870.

Early years

Liddell was born into a wealthy family of planters near Woodville, Mississippi . His father owned a plantation . He went to school with Jefferson Davis , who would later become head of government of the Confederate States. Liddell attended the United States Military Academy from 1834 to 1835, but dropped out before graduation. Liddell moved to Catahoula Parish , Louisiana and started his own plantation, "Llanada," near Harrisonburg , Louisiana. It was here that a long-term enmity with Charles Jones began in the 1850s, which would later end in his death.

Civil war

Western theater of war: 1861–63

When Louisiana left the United States, Liddell joined the Confederate Army and was given command. He began as a staff officer to his friend William J. Hardee and Albert Sidney Johnston. He later commanded the Arkansas Brigade in Patrick Cleburnes Division of the Army of Tennessee (between 1862 and 1863). In this capacity he took part in the battles of Perryville and Stones River . In Stones River he lost his sixteen year old son Willie Liddell, who died in battle.

Liddell commanded a division in Chickamauga in 1863. He declined promotion to major general to be closer to his plantation, which was threatened by Jayhawkers . Liddell was pressured by General Braxton Bragg , a former classmate at West Point, to become Chief of Staff and replace General WW Mackall. Liddell refused.

Trans-Mississippi Theater of War: 1863–65

Liddell asked President Davis to command the district of northeast Louisiana. This was approved and so he commanded this area during the so-called Red River Campaign in 1864. At the Battle of Mobile he commanded the infantry until the surrender in 1865. During his last command, Liddell and Edward Canby took part in the Battle of Fort Blakely . Here he was captured. Canby stood up for Liddell and later obtained parole from the federal government.

Liddell to slavery

Liddell wrote to Edward Sparrow , a Senator from Louisiana , in December 1864 , giving him his impression that the war was unfavorable for the CSA. He called for the emancipation of slaves in order to increase the Confederate army. Senator Sparrow showed the letter to General Robert E. Lee , who approved of Lidell's ideas.

Life after the war

In 1866 he wrote his memoir. In these he counted critically with the Confederate army command, with Confederate officers and politicians including Davis and Bragg. He could no longer complete the memoir because he was murdered.

Liddell was murdered by Col. Charles Jones in 1870. The cause was a decades-old conflict over land ownership. Jones had hired a gang of murderers who also murdered Liddell's family and friends.

The St. John Richardson Liddell Chapter # 271 of the Military Order of the Stars & Bars in Bay Minette, Alabama was named after him.

literature

• Andrews, CC History of the Campaign of Mobile . New York, 1867.
• Anonymous. "The Jones-Liddell Feud." Unpublished manuscript. Catahoula Parish Court House, Harrisonburg, La.
• Booth, Andrew B. Records of Louisiana Confederate Soldiers and Louisiana Confederate Commands . 3 New Orleans, 1920.
• Busbice, Roger L. "Catahoula Parish Rebel, Gen. St. John R. Liddell," North Louisiana History 15 (Winter 1984), pp. 49-52
• Connelly, Thomas L. Autumn of Glory: The Army of Tennessee, 1862-185 . Baton Rouge, 1971.
• Hughes Jr., Nathaniel C., and Lidell, St. John R., Liddell's Record , Louisiana State University Press, 1997, ISBN 978-0-8071-2218-1 .
• Johnson, Ludwell H. Red River Campaign . Baltimore, 1958.
• Kane, Harnett T. The Bayous of Louisiana . New York, 1943.
• Lanza, Michael L. "The Jones-Liddell Feud." Red River Valley Historical Review II (Winter, 1975), 467ff.
• Maury, Dabney H. Recollections of a Virginian. New York, 1894.
• Richardson, Frank L. "The War as I Saw It, 1861-1865". Louisiana Historical Quarterly, VI (January, April, 1923), 86-106, 223ff.
• Roland, Charles P. Albert Sidney Johnston: Soldier of Three Republics . Austin, 1964.
• US Government. War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies . 128 Washington, DC, 1880-1901.
• Winters, John D. The Civil War in Louisiana . Baton Rouge, 1963.

Web links

• Obituary of General St. John Richardson Liddell (English)