Category: Generals Wives

Wife of Confederate General and Senator Charlotte Wigfall, wife of the 1st Texas Regiment’s Colonel, made her wedding dress into a Lone Star Flag for the Regiment, and presented this flag that she had sewn by hand to the regiment in the summer of 1861. Carried by the 1st Texas Infantry of General John Bell Hood’s Brigade, the flag was captured during the Battle of Sharpsburg – September 17, 1862 – after nine of the men who carried it had fallen. Image:Mrs. Wigfall’s Wedding Dress by Dale Gallon Charlotte Maria Cross was born in 1818, and there is no further information about her early years. Louis Trezevant Wigfall was born April 21, 1816, on a plantation near Edgefield, South Carolina,…

Wife of Union General George B. McClellan As a young lieutenant, George B. McClellan, was very fond of his commanding officer’s young daughter, Ellen Mary Marcy, but she was in love with another future Civil War general, Ambrose Powell Hill, and it took McClellan seven long years to win her hand in marriage. Image: Ellen Mary Marcy McClellan with her husband Ellen Mary Marcy was born in 1836 in Philadelphia. She was the blonde, blue-eyed daughter of Major Randolph Marcy – explorer of the famous Red River and Federal chief-of-staff in the first years of the war. Marcy was an army officer who gained a good deal of fame in the decade just before the Civil War, as an explorer…

Wife of Union General Irvin McDowell Helen Burden, born June 27, 1826, was the daughter of Henry and Helen McOuat Burden, who came to America from Scotland via Quebec. The family settled first in Albany, New York, then Troy, New York, where Helen’s father owned the Burden Iron Works, which made horseshoes. Image: General Irvin McDowell Irvin McDowell, born 1818 near Columbus, Ohio, entered the West Point Military Academy in 1834, when he was 16 years old. He graduated from West Point in 1838, and served on the Northern frontier during the Canada border disturbances, on the Maine frontier pending the disputed Territory controversy, and in the Mexican war under General John Ellis Wool. Helen met McDowell through General Wool,…

Fiancee of General James B. McPherson Emily Hoffman met James B. McPherson while he was stationed in San Francisco, California in 1858, and they soon became engaged. McPherson returned east in 1861 to serve in the Union army. He was finally granted leave to marry Emily in spring 1864, but the wedding would never happen. Image: General James B. McPherson Emily Hoffman was born at Baltimore, Maryland, in 1839. Her father was a prominent businessman. Born in Clyde, Ohio, in 1828, James Birdseye McPherson left home at 13 to clerk in the Green Springs store of Robert Smith, who helped McPherson get an appointment to West Point. There he excelled academically, developing into a skilled engineer, horseman, and tactician, graduating…

Wife of Confederate General John Brown Gordon Rebecca (Fanny) Haralson, born on September 18, 1837, was the daughter of General Hugh Anderson Haralson of LaGrange, Georgia. Her father had represented Georgia in Congress for many years and was Chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs during the Mexican War. Image: General John Brown Gordon and Fanny Haralson Gordon John Brown Gordon was born in Upson County, Georgia, February 6, 1832, to Zachariah and Malinda Cox Gordon, the fourth of twelve children. His father was a prominent Baptist minister and plantation owner. Around 1840, Zachariah moved his family to Walker County near Lafayette, where he built a summer resort hotel to take advantage of the medicinal appeal of the springs on…

Wife of Confederate General James Lawson Kemper General James Kemper was wounded then captured by Union forces during Pickett’s Charge at the Battle of Gettysburg. His wife Belle was informed that she could not see her captured and badly wounded husband because Confederate authorities had refused the same courtesies to a Union family. Kemper was released after three months’ imprisonment, but never fully recovered from his wounds. Image: General James Kemper Cremora Cave was born in 1834, the daughter of Cremora and Belfield Cave. James Lawson Kemper was born on June 11, 1823, to William and Maria Allison Kemper in Madison County, Virginia. He was the sixth of eight children, and his childhood was spent at the two-story family home…

Wife of Union General John C. Fremont Jessie Benton Fremont wrote many stories that were printed in popular magazines of the time as well as several books of historical value. Her writings, which helped support her family during times of financial difficulty, were mostly about the American West. She was outspoken on political issues and a determined opponent of slavery. The daughter of Missouri Senator Thomas Hart Benton and his wife, Elizabeth, Jessie Benton was born in Lexington, Virginia, but was raised in Washington, DC. Her father educated her as if she were his son, and taught her about American society and politics, introducing her to the leading politicians of the day. Jessie was very close to her father, who…

Wife of Confederate General John Gregg Mary Francis Garth was raised in the lap of luxury in Decatur, Alabama. Her father, Jessie Winston Garth, was an Alabama senator and one of the wealthiest plantation owners in the state. He was also a Unionist, who strongly opposed secession, and was willing to give up his hundreds of slaves if it meant saving the Union. Image: Confederate General John Gregg John Gregg was born in 1828 in Lawrence County, Alabama. He was a well-educated man, and spent most of his formative years either attending or teaching school. In 1847, he graduated from La Grange College and studied law in Tuscumbia, Alabama. In 1852, at the age of twenty-four, he moved to Fairfield,…