William Barksdale

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William Barksdale

William Barksdale (born August 21, 1821 in Smyrna , Rutherford County , Tennessee , † July 3, 1863 in Gettysburg , Pennsylvania ) was a Brigadier General of the Confederate States of America in the Civil War .

Life

Barksdale moved to Columbus , Mississippi as a young man . Here he settled as a lawyer and became a member of the Democrats . After the Mexican War , he left the army with the rank of captain in 1847 and turned to politics. From March 4, 1853 until his resignation on January 12, 1861, he was a member of the United States House of Representatives . In 1861 he joined the Confederate Army and became Colonel of the 13th Mississippi Regiment, with which he was ordered to the east, and fought on August 28 and 30, 1862 in the Second Battle of the Bull Run .

According to his skills as a commander, he was then promoted to brigadier general. After General Richard Griffith was wounded , he also took command of his troops and two other brigades. In 1863 he was commissioned to keep Marye's Heights near Fredericksburg so that General Robert Edward Lee could prepare for the Battle of Chancellorsville , which took place on May 2nd and 5th, 1863. In the Battle of Gettysburg from July 1 to 3, 1863, he and his Mississippi Brigade reached the site of the battle shortly after midnight on July 2. When the Corps of General Longstreet attacked the left flank of the Union troops by the hard-fought "Peach Orchard", he led his brigade against an enemy artillery position and was hit nine times and seriously injured. When the Union forces counterattacked, the Confederates retreated, leaving their fatally wounded commander behind. The seriously injured man was rescued by Union troops and taken to the hospital in the Hummelbaugh House, where he succumbed to his serious injuries the following day. He is buried in Greenwood Cemetery, Jackson, Hinds County, Mississippi, USA.

In the film "Gettysburg," Barksdale can be seen at the morning briefing of Lieutenant General Longstreet's corps on July 2nd.

His younger brother Ethelbert was also a member of Congress for Mississippi from 1883 to 1887.

See also

Web links

  • William Barksdale in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)