Winfield Scott Featherston

Winfield Scott Featherston (born August 8, 1820 in Murfreesboro , Tennessee , † May 28, 1891 in Holly Springs , Mississippi ) was an American politician and brigadier general in the Confederate Army .

Life

Featherston grew up and went to school in Tennessee. He then moved with his parents briefly to Georgia and then to Mississippi, where they settled in Houston and he studied law. In 1840 Featherston was admitted to the bar, after which he opened a small law firm and engaged in politics. As a candidate for the Democrats , he was elected to the 30th and 31st Congress (March 4, 1847 - March 3, 1851), but lost the following election and continued to run his office. In 1856 he moved to Holly Springs. In 1860 he took part in the deliberations on the secession in Kentucky as a representative of Mississippi .

Civil War

When the Civil War broke out , Featherston joined the Confederate Army and in May 1861 was commander of the 17th Mississippi Regiment, with which he was used in Virginia until the following year . On March 4, 1862, Featherston was promoted to brigadier general. Towards the end of the war he was captured and on 1 May 1865 parole in Greensboro ( North Carolina released from captivity).

In the same year he continued his law office and stood unsuccessfully for the election of the US Senator for Mississippi. In 1876 and 1880, Featherston was a member of the Mississippi House of Representatives and in 1881 he was judge of the Mississippi Second Judicial District. In 1890 Featherston was elected to the Constituent Assembly ("Constitutional Convention").

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 0132759918 )
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, Baton Rouge LA 1959 (also: ibid. 2006, ISBN 0-8071-3150-4 ).

Web links

Winfield Scott Featherston in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

Winfield Scott Featherston in the database of Find a Grave (English)

Remarks

↑ In some sources the date of birth is wrongly given as August 5, 1821.
↑ Some sources mention the year 1887.

personal data
SURNAME	Featherston, Winfield Scott
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American politician and Confederate general in the Civil War
DATE OF BIRTH	August 8, 1820
PLACE OF BIRTH	near Murfreesboro , Tennessee
DATE OF DEATH	May 28, 1891
Place of death	Holly Springs , Mississippi

[Info1-1] In some sources the date of birth is wrongly given as August 5, 1821.

[Info2-2] Some sources mention the year 1887.