Category: Generals Wives

Wife of Union General George Armstrong Custer Libby Bacon met George Armstrong Custer at a Thanksgiving social in 1862, while he was visiting Monroe, Michigan on leave during the Civil War. She fell deeply in love with him, but her father refused to allow them to get married. Custer was from a poor undistinguished family and the Judge hoped Libby would have a better life than that of an army wife. Elizabeth “Libby” Clift Bacon was born at Monroe, Michigan, April 8, 1842 – the only surviving child of Judge Daniel and Eleanor Sophia Bacon. At twenty, Libby graduated as valedictorian from the Young Ladies’ Seminary and Collegiate Institute in Monroe. At 5′ 4″ tall with chestnut brown hair and…

Wife of Confederate General Ambrose Powell Hill One of the greatest love stories of the Civil War was that of Confederate General A.P. Hill and his wife Kitty. They met during the social season in Washington, DC a few years before the war and fell instantly in love. Their marriage was one of commitment and devotion from beginning to end. During the war, Kitty remained as close to Hill as possible, which caused him great anxiety for her safety. The Parting by John Paul Strain Not even the biting cold of a Virginia winter could cool the affection shared by General A.P. Hill and his wife Kitty Morgan Hill. Kitty Morgan was born in Lexington, Kentucky in 1834, one of…

Wife of Confederate General Daniel Harvey Hill Isabella Morrison was the daughter of a Presbyterian minister, Reverend Doctor Robert Hall Morrison, who was the first president of Davidson College near Charlotte, North Carolina. She was also the granddaughter of General Joseph Graham, who had seen extensive service in the Revolutionary War, including the Battle of Charlotte, and the Battle of Cowan’s Ford on the Catawba River. Image: General Daniel Harvey Hill An intelligent woman, Isabella had met Daniel Harvey Hill while he was visiting one of his married sisters, who lived near Cottage Home, the residence of the Morrisons in Lincoln County, North Carolina. Born in York District, South Carolina, “Harvey” had graduated from West Point in 1842, and subsequently…

Wife of Rear Admiral Samuel Phillips Lee Elizabeth Blair Lee (1818-1906) wrote hundreds of letters to her husband, Rear Admiral Samuel Philips Lee, who commanded the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron during the Civil War. Admiral Lee was away for long periods as commander of the USS Philadelphia, and in her letters to him Elizabeth described wartime life from her homes at Washington, DC and Silver Spring, Maryland. Elizabeth Blair was born on June 20, 1818, in Frankfort, Kentucky, and was the only daughter of Francis Preston Blair and Eliza Violet Gist Blair. She was the younger sister of Montgomery Blair and Francis Preston Blair, Jr. Her father was a journalist from Frankfort, Kentucky, and his editorials in support of the…

Wife of Confederate General George Pickett Image: A publicity photo taken during her early years as an author and narrator LaSalle Corbell Pickett was a prolific author and lecturer, and the third wife of George Pickett, the Confederate general best known for his participation in the doomed assault known as Pickett’s Charge during the Battle of Gettysburg. She gave her birth year as 1848 in order to perpetuate the myth that she was the Child Bride of the Confederacy, and was only 15 years old when she married General Pickett. Early Years According to the Corbell family Bible: “Sallie Ann Corbell, daughter of John David [Corbell] and Elizabeth, his wife, was born the 16th of May, 1843.” Above the entry…

Wife of Confederate General J.E.B. Stuart Flora Cooke was born in Missouri on January 3, 1836, the daughter of Virginia career Army officer Philip St. George Cooke. Educated at a private boarding school in Detroit, Flora met the dashing James Ewell Brown (JEB) Stuart while her father was commanding the 2nd U.S. Dragoons at Fort Leavenworth. His friends called him “Jeb.” Stuart had recently graduated from West Point and was stationed on the Kansas frontier. As befitted the daughter of a colonel of cavalry, Flora was a skilled horsewoman, and she soon began going on long evening rides with Stuart. The young officer was as taken with Flora as she was with him, and it did not take him long…

Fiancee of General John Reynolds Catherine Mary Hewitt became engaged to future Union General John Reynolds in California in the late 1850s. Since they were from different religious denominations – Reynolds was a Protestant, Hewitt a Catholic – she kept their engagement a secret, even from her parents. Kate and Reynolds had decided that if he were killed during the war and they could not marry, she would join a convent. Born in Stillwater, Saratoga County, New York, there is some dispute about the year of Kate Hewitt’s birth but 1836, despite the date on her grave marker, appears to be the most consistent and logical year. Her life from the beginning was tragic and tumultuous as she lost her…

Wife of Confederate General Richard Ewell Lizinka Campbell was the daughter of a Tennessee State senator, who was also Minister to Russia under President James Monroe. She was born in St. Petersburg, Russia in 1820, and was named for the Russian Czarina who had become her mother’s close friend. She grew up to be a beautiful young lady. Image: General Richard Ewell Somewhere along the way, Lizinka’s first cousin, Richard Stoddert Ewell, developed a great love for her. He was born in the District of Columbia and raised in Virginia. Though he sought Lizinka’s hand, she married another man. On April 25, 1839, Lizinka married James Percy Brown, a lawyer who owned plantations in Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama. When he…

Wife of General William Tecumseh Sherman Ellen Ewing was a beautiful young woman who played the harp and the piano. After their marriage, the Shermans moved frequently and suffered many long separations as they followed the fortunes of William’s military and business careers. Then the Civil War completely disrupted their lives. Eleanor “Ellen” Boyle Ewing, the eldest daughter of Thomas Ewing and Maria Wills Boyle Ewing, was born October 4, 1824, and grew up in Lancaster, Ohio. Thomas Ewing’s close friend Charles R. Sherman, a judge of the Supreme Court of Ohio, died suddenly in 1829, leaving his widow with a family of young children. Thomas Ewing adopted William Tecumseh Sherman. Over the years, as Ellen and William grew up…