Although Gideon Pillow had opposed secession, Governor Isham Harris appointed him the senior major general in the Tennessee Militia as of May 9, 1861. In July, Jefferson Davis appointed him as brigadier general in the Confederate States Army. He commanded the troops...
We continue the discussion of Confederate generals at Fort Donelson to escape the surrender with the second-in-command, Gideon J. Pillow, who had himself and his chief-of-staff rowed across the Cumberland River after being placed in command by the fleeing John B....
This month, I’d like to take another story from Statesmen of the Confederate Cause by Burton J. Hendrick to tell the tale of the $15,000,000 in Confederate bonds. Having failed to gain English and French recognition in the first year of the American Civil War, the...
One element of the Battle of Fort Donelson which should surprise modern readers is the fact that the most senior Confederate officer present, John B. Floyd, elected to escape rather than share the fate of the soldiers under his command. Brigadier General John B. Floyd...
This time, I offer comments about a great reference book which I recently completed: Blue, Gray, and Red: Two Nurses’ Views of the Civil War. I received this book as a gift from my good friend, John P., whom also gave me the book Statesmen of the Lost Cause, a...
Early LifeLloyd Tilghman was born in “Rich Neck Manor”, Claiborne, Maryland, great-grandson of a Maryland representative to the Continental Congress and grand-nephew of a man who had served on George Washington’s staff during the American Revolution. He attended the...
