CSA Bios: Slaughter, Slack, Simms, Sibley - 1/25/2007 8:12:24 PM
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I included some additional information on Sibley, which could be combined with the christof39 information to make a useable bio.
Brig. Gen James E. Slaughter, CSA (b. 1827, d. 1901) Commander of the last engagement between Confederate and Federal troops near Brownsville, James Edwin Slaughter made the most of his field command. Slaughter, a great-nephew of President James Madison, was born on the family estate in June 1827. The estate later was the center of the Cedar (Slaughter’s) Mountain battlefield. While attending Virginia Military Institute, Slaughter withdrew to accept a U.S. Army commission at the outbreak of the Mexican War. He stayed in the army and was a first lieutenant in the First Artillery when he was dismissed May 14, 1861. He was commissioned a captain of artillery in the Confederate Army and served on the staff of Gen. Braxton Bragg at Pensacola. He was promoted to major in November 1861 and appointed brigadier general in the Provisional Confederate Army March 8, 1862. Slaughter served as an assistant inspector general on the staff of Gen. A.S. Johnston and was at Shiloh when his boss was killed. He remained on staff for Johnston’s successors, Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard and Bragg through the Kentucky Campaign. His first line command was at Mobile, Ala. He was transferred to Galveston, Texas, as chief of artillery there in April 1863. He joined the staff of Gen. Magruder and later became chief of staff. Slaugher’s major battlefield command came in the final engagement of the war near Brownsville, Texas May 12, 1865. Following the war, Slaughter lived several years in Mexico before returning to Mobile as a civil engineer. He also was the postmaster there. He lived the final years of his life in New Orleans, but died during a trip to Mexico City Jan. 1, 1901.
Brig. Gen. William Y. Slack, CSA (b. 1816, d. 1862) It’s highly likely William Yarnel Slack never knew he was promoted to brigadier general in the Confederate army. And it’s probable the high command in Richmond didn’t know it had promoted a dead man. Slack, born Aug. 1, 1816 in Mason County, Ky., spent most of his life in Missouri. At three years of age, Slack and his father moved near Columbia, Mo. The younger Slack studied in Columbia and settled in Chillicothe, Mo., to start his law practice there. Slack joined the military as a captain of the Second Missouri Volunteers under Sterling Price for the Mexican War. He returned to his legal practice after 14 months in military service. In 1861, Missouri Governor Claiborne Jackson appointed Slack to become a brigadier general in the Missouri State Guard. The Missouri State Guard ended up joining with Confederate forces and Slack led his troops at Carthage and Wilson’s Creek. He was hit in the hip at Wilson’s Creek, but recovered in time to rejoin his command in October 1861. Slack was hit again at the Battle of Elkhorn Tavern (Pea Ridge) with the ball striking him only an inch from his old wound. Slack’s medical prognosis was good until he had to be moved in fear of being captured. After a seven-mile move to Moore’s Mill, Slack took a turn for the worst and died March 21, 1862. Slack received his Confederate brigadier general promotion to rank from April 12, after his death.
Brig. Gen. James P. Simms, CSA (b. 1837, d. 1887) A long-serving regimental officer, James Phillip Simms was another brigadier who ascended to his rank late in the war. Simms was born Jan. 16, 1837, in Covington, Ga., and was practicing law there when the Civil War began. He first joined the 53rd Georgia Infantry, although his date of enlistment is in doubt. Records first mention him as being nominated for major Sept. 24, 1862. His unit was pressed into combat during the Seven Days Campaign under Gen. Magruder. It’s believed Simms was with his unit during the battles of Second Manassas and Fredericksburg. The 53rd Georgia captured the colors of the Second Rhode Island at Salem Church in May 1863. After fighting at Gettysburg, Simms went to Georgia with Longstreet’s command for the Battle of Knoxville. Back with the Army of Northern Virginia, Simms was with his troops during the Overland Campaign and went to the Shenandoah Valley District in Kershaw’s Division. After Goode Bryan resigned in September 1864, Simms took charge of his brigade. He received credit for his role at Cedar Creek. Wintering in Petersburg, Va., Simms received his promotion to brigadier general Dec. 8, 1864. During the retreat from Richmond, Simms was one of a number of generals captured at the Battle of Sayler’s Creek, April 6, 1865. He was released from Fort Warren July 24, 1865, and returned to Covington, Ga. Simms twice served in the Georgia state legislature (1865-66 and 1877). He practiced law and did that until his death, May 30, 1877.
Brig. Gen. Henry H. Sibley, CSA (b. 1816, d. 1886) Notes that can be added to any bio being put together, info from Warner’s “Generals in Gray” and “Historical Times Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Civil War.”
Not to be confused with Minnesota’s Union Maj. Gen. Henry Hastings Sibley (b. 1811, d. 1891)
U.S. Military Academy Class of 1838
1838-39-Seminole War
Utah expedition against Mormons
Mexican War-breveted for gallantry
Resigned U.S. Army May 13, 1861, same day he was promoted to major, First U.S. Dragoons
“His alleged predilection for the bottle was widely publicized,” (during the New Mexico Campaign), Warner’s Generals in Gray.
Command could not subsist after battles of Valverde and Glorieta Canyon. Force retired to El Paso, then San Antonio in May 1862.
He was charged twice and court martialed along with Capt. Alexander Grant of the Gunboat Cotton. Sibley was charged with disobedience of orders and unofficerlike conduct. It was alleged that Sibley failed to protect a steamboat filled with wounded and abandoned his post at the head of the retreating columns. Sibley said he had been sick. The tribunal found him not guilty for a “train of circumstances.” He was censured for a lack of promptness in planning an attack.
At the close of the war, Sibley was listed by Gen. Edmund Kirby Smith as having no command.
From 1869-73, he served as a general of artillery in the Egyptian Army. When he returned, he lectured on the experience. In ill health during the final years of his life, he died in Fredericksburg, Va., Aug. 23, 1886.
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