William Henry Forney

William Henry Forney

William Henry Forney (born November 9, 1823 in Lincoln , North Carolina , † January 16, 1894 in Jacksonville , Alabama ) was an American lawyer, politician and brigadier general of the Confederate States of America in the Civil War .

Life

Forney was born in Lincoln County , North Carolina in 1823 . In 1835 the family moved to Alabama, where he and his brother John Horace , also a later Confederate general, were tutored by private tutors. In 1844 he successfully completed his studies at the University of Alabama . He then went on to study the law and work in his older brother's law firm in Jacksonville. In 1846 he left his hometown and fought with the 1st Alabama Volunteer Regiment in the Mexican-American War . In 1848 he returned to Jacksonville, was admitted to the bar and engaged in politics. From 1859 he was a member of the Constituent Assembly ("Constitutional Convention")

Civil War

When the war broke out, he first served as a captain in the 10th Alabama Infantry Regiment, whose commander was his brother, and was on December 20, 1861 at Dranesville for the first time in combat operations in which he and his brother were wounded several times. At the beginning of 1862 Forney was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and then took part in the March to June Peninsula Campaign under General Robert E. Lee , where he was wounded again near Williamsburg . During the subsequent inpatient stay in a hospital, Forney was arrested by Union troops, but released in September.

Returned to the Confederate Army, he was promoted to ( Colonel ) and was given command of the 10th Alabama Infantry Regiment, which he then also in the Battle of Fredericksburg from 11-15. December 1862 and in the Battle of Chancellorsville on May 2nd and 5th, 1863, where he was wounded again. He was only able to resume his duties in mid-1863. In the same year he was wounded in several skirmishes and captured again. It was not until the fall of 1864 that Forney was released, this time after a year in prison, and returned to the Confederate Army. On February 15, 1865 he was appointed brigadier general and was given command of the Northern Virginia Army , with which he took part in the Appomattox campaign from March 29 to April 9, 1865 and on the last day at Appomattox Court House together with other generals.

After the war, Forney pursued his political career, was elected to the Alabama Senate and was a continuous member of the US House of Representatives from 1875 to 1893 .

William Forney was a nephew of Congressman Daniel Munroe Forney of Virginia .

See also

• List of Confederate Generals in the Civil War

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 0-13-275991-8 )
• 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

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

• William Henry Forney in the database of Find a Grave (English)